Karena tidak ada cookie cutter, bentuk nuggetnya tidak ada yang sama tapi rasanya lebih ‘ayam’ ketimbang produk komersil. Tepung panirnya juga homemade, dari roti sisa kemarin. Sayang persediaan telur sedang tipis, jadinya panirannya tidak rata, dan tidak tebal. Kalau punya tepung panir warna orange, pasti lebih bagus.

Resep ini resep kalo lagi males, dari bawang putih, bawang bombay, cabe, semuanya serba bubuk

Resep:

• 350 gr ayam giling
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• garam
• gula
• bubuk ayam (saya pake Knorr non-MSG)
• bubuk merica
• 2 lbr roti buang kulit yang direndam dengan susu cair
• tepung terigu
• 1 kuning telur
• 2 putih telur

Cara:

1. peras roti yang sudah lunak, campurkan ke daging ayam, ratakan
2. masukkan semua bubuk, garam, gula dan kuning telur, aduk sampai rata
3. taruh adonan di pinggan tahan panas, buat tipis saja, supaya tidak terlalu tebal nantinya. boleh juga dimasukkan ke dalam cetakan kalau ada. kukus sampai matang, kira2 15 menit.
4. potong menurut selera.
5. celupkan potongan tadi ke putih telur, gulingkan di atas tepung terigu.
6. celupkan lagi ke putih telur, gulingkan di dalam tepung panir.
7. jangan langsung digoreng, tunggu hingga tepung panir lebih mantap posisinya :p
8. goreng deh. kalau tidak habis bisa dibekukan di freezer. jadinya cukup banyak (yang makan 3 orang) untuk resep di atas.

So here it is! I’m going to cook a new dish or two every day in December. I hope 30 days of complete devotion to learning a skill will be more productive time. I’m mainly inspired by Julie & Julia. I want to be Julia Child, has anyone seen her insanity?:

I bought this book “Company’s Coming: Most Loved Main Courses”, which is technically a book of all meat recipes. Chicken, beef, seafood, etc… I decided not to get one of those ADD large cookbooks with appies, desserts, etc, because then I will end up not making anything getting lost in the possibilities. I swiped this book for a buck at the VGH Thrift Store on Main and Broadway as I was shopping for costumes for a film I’m producing at the moment. One moment I’m thinking of a scatterbrained mother’s outfit for a horror film and the next moment I’m like “hey, I should make Sesame Chicken!” Though, eating at Reno’s today with some friends made me realize food to me whether in a swanky place or a sketchy diner like Renos always fascinates me, so this project is definately worthwhile for a foodie like me.

The first dishes I will make tomorrow are Sesame Chicken and Cantonese Chicken. I will have to wake up early around 630 to get to Safeway at 7am to get my bus pass and the random ingredients for thes recipes. For Cantonese Chicken, all I need to nab is some honey and for the Sesame chicken its the breaded part I need ingredients for. I realize this will be a costly experiment, but what the hell. I’m going to be making baked chicken at 730 and running to school around nine. I have to wake insanely early because of two things that occupy my time at 10am at Emily Carr:

1) I’m in the Free Candy show, so I have to set up my stuff ASAP. I bought a wire and a padlock to secure my laptop which is going to have my film on it. I am so sure some kid will want to hike my crap old laptop even if the screen can no longer stand on its own (its really a desktop PC now) and occasionally turns off by itself. Believe me, there are some people aching for a lappy even if its 256k and a monstrous behemoth that is my HP laptop from six or seven years ago. I just don’t want anyone to steal it hence the wire but we will see. The things I do for art….

2) I want free vegeterian sushi at the FVIM survey thing. They’re going to ask us what we feel about the program, if our expectations are met, what they can do, what we suggest, etc. Oh the suggestion sheet I’m going to write… Then again, I might just go, “yeah, this program is awesome, fuck yes give me more sushi”. Why else would they be feeding us anyway?

3) I seriously need to finish my animation before I super cram too many things for this weekend.

Nyeh, if I sleep in I will cry. I need to start December off and keep to this goal. Go, go, go!

The first of hopefully many successful Favorite Recipe Tweets…….
Tonite’s winning Twitter Post from #dinner #tweetwhatyoueat is an awesome RT and an awesome Curry! Yum! From the Tweet and the the original blog by Matt @FFFY. Enjoy!

Chicken Pasanda

For my last recipe celebrating National Curry Week, and also to use up a little more of the Total Greek Yoghurt I’ve been sent, I’m treating you to a Chicken Pasanda.

This is the curry that I always used to order when eating out at a restaurant. I just love the creaminess and nutty flavour of the sauce – the Total yoghurt is thick, tasty and full fat, so ideal for this.

There are a lot of ingredients and the method is long, but as they say no pain no gain! Give it a go, I think you’ll like it!

Chicken Pasanda
Serves 2-3

* 2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter (or a mix of 1 tbsp vegetable oil and a knob of butter)
* 1 medium onion, finely sliced
* 2 inch stick of cinnamon (or 2 tsp ground cinnamon)
* 3 green cardamom pods
* 1 inch piece ginger, finely grated skin on
* 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
* 1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
* 1 tsp turmeric
* 1 tsp coriander seeds
* 1 tsp tomato puree
* 6 tbsp natural yoghurt
* 2 tbsp ground almonds
* 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
* 2 tbsp raisins
* 1 tbsp dessicated coconut

Place a large thick bottomed frying pan on a medium heat and melt the ghee or butter. Add the onion and gently fry until golden. Add the cinnamon and cardamom pods and fry for a further 2-3 minutes.

Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, turmeric and coriander. Fry for another 2-3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan, before adding the tomato puree.

Add two tablespoons of the natural yoghurt, stir and allow to reduce. Add another tablespoon of yoghurt and once all the moisture’s evaporated add another tablespoon. Repeat this until you’ve added all 6 tablespoons.

Pour in enough boiling water to cover all the sauce. Give everything a stir, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place another pan (preferably non stick) on a medium-low heat and gently dry fry the almonds. Keep an eye on them as they’ll easily burn. Once a golden colour and smelling good remove from the pan.

Add a little vegetable oil or ghee to the same pan and fry the chicken until white with golden patches. Remove from the pan.

Add the almonds, chicken, raisins and dessicated coconut to the curry sauce and simmer for 25 minutes. Add a little more water or yoghurt if the sauce gets too dry. Scrape the bottom of the pan if it starts to stick.

Once the chicken’s cooked and you have a nice thick sauce you could add another tablespoon of yoghurt. Taste and season with a little salt before service with plain rice.

Oh, and don’t forget to fish out the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods!

The Original Post is Here
Matt is:

Hey! What’s going on? Happy Monday everybody! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend! I did! Yesterday (Sunday) I finally had the day off, FINALLY (it seems like having Sundays off will be a rare occurrence now), so I took advantage and spent the entire day doing hw. So  much in fact that I completed my English HW that I thought I never get done. (in fact I told myself that if I didn’t finish it, I wouldn’t go to class, lol sadly I did)

Today….was a crappy day (weather wise). It rained all day and it was cold, I can’t even imagine walking to my car in the winter at the school, its going to be brutal! I had classes today, English and Math, but once again no work! (off til Thursday! WHOO HOO!). Today in English we did a little pre test of the  departmental final, because that is what we are doing Wednesday! (what fun!) I hope I pass! In math, the same…as usual, what else is new? lol. After school, went home did some hw, chilled, yeah…..its the life! lol.

Here is what I ate today:

BREAKFAST: Bowl of Life Cereal

LUNCH: A Chef Boyardee Mini Bites Micro Ravioli

SNACK: A  pack of 100 calorie Emerald’s Cocoa Roasted Almonds

DINNER: Some grilled chicken, broccoli, a baked potato, and some milk

DESSERT: At Wal Mart yesterday I had bought some Edy’s Slow Churned Double Fudge Brownie Ice Cream. I wanted take the cake, but they didn’t have it! UGH! but this stuff was really good! no regrets buying it!

LATE SNACKS: A Jello Pudding and an apple

And that’s about wraps Monday! Hope you all enjoyed a nice day back to work/school, whatever!

Goodnight everybody!

]]> http://southwerk.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/can-ethical-decisions-be-life-or-death-choices/ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:29:02 +0000 southwerk http://southwerk.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/can-ethical-decisions-be-life-or-death-choices/

ABC news reports that Consumer Reports, the magazine, has released a new study that reports the following:

The bad news from a new study is that two thirds of store-bought chicken was found to be contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria.

This is a clear situation where ethics and morality have a role to play. Okay, now, ask yourself, can you ethically sell chickens contaminated with bacteria? Let’s be clear about the consquences. We are talking about food poisoning. Let me quote from wikipedia:

However, foodborne illness can result in permanent health problems or even death, especially for people at high risk, including babies, young children, pregnant women (and their fetuses), elderly people, sick people and others with weak immune systems.

So, we are talking about dead people and serious illness for thousands of others and since food poisoning can mimic other diseases like the flu, the numbers reported are too low.

Now, back to our moral dilemma. The bacteria from your chicken will kill some people often the elderly or the very young. On the other hand, you are participating in busines worth billion of dollars a year. (Tyson sold 26 billion dollars worth of food in 2005.) If your competitors do not act to fix the problem, they can sell chicken for less than you. You will lose market share and thousands of people might lose their jobs.

Now, you might say, “James, you have to draw the line here, we are talking about people’s lives.” I agree that lives are at stake, but I can’t help but point out that it doesn’t look like anybody is drawing a line.

Should we wait for industry to act? A study two years ago showed 80 percent of all chicken contaminated with bacteria. We’ve gone from 80 percent to 2/3 of all chicken sold. Isn’t that movement in the right direction? Don’t you know that incremental change is the responsible way to accomplish these kinds of goals? If you were to impose radical changes on the industry, everyone in American would have to pay a lot more for chicken. Don’t you want even the poorest in this country to have access to meat and the nutritional benefits it brings?

So, we come down to the usual questions. What are you willing to do as an employee of such a company? Where do you draw the line? What’s worth losing your job for? What’s the “right” thing to do?

Futher, as a society, what social costs are we willing to incur for low levels of bacteria in chicken: loss of jobs, increases in foreign competition and a greater price at the supermarket? What’s the social value of cheap chicken?

My conclusion is the following.

Selling chicken which you know to be contaminated with bacteria when you have the technology to eliminate some or all the bacteria is murder. I’m sorry about all the jobs. I’m sorry about the lost profits and danger of competition from foreigners but I just get upset about dead people, a personal weakness of mine, perhaps.

Since, it does not appear any chicken selling company is willing to make the first move to eliminate bacteria and endanger its bottom line, the government will have to mandate new standards.

Now, I realize that given time the free market will solve this problem. After all companies that sell chicken that kill will undoubtedly lose market share. Or will they? Reported levels of 80% didn’t stop people from continuing to buy chicken. On the other hand, this information does not appear to be common knowledge. It appears that the free market doesn’t function well when the consumers do not all have the same information. If death from chicken were certain instead of sporadic it would be easier for the public to make a good decision but food poisoning takes as long as a week to manifest itself. It’s hard to figure out what you ate over a seven day period and of course you might think it’s the flu. What do you think? Could this be an example of the free market yielding illogical or tragic results? Does the free market unfettered by government interference solve all problems?

This was a last minute lunch I threw together last week that turned out to be pretty awesome. It’s inspired in part by Arun’s lunch meat ceviche, and I ate it in the style of Lyssa’s tuna bombs.

Ingredients:
Green cabbage
Green apple
Shallot
Cooked chicken
Olive oil
Lime juice
Pepper

Simply chop the first 4 ingredients, then add olive oil, lime juice, and pepper to taste.

You could eat it by itself, like a salad, or you can use it to fill sweet bell peppers.

This salad had a very “clean” feel to it. Most paleo food does (as it should, since we are only eating pure, real food), but there was something about the combination of the crisp cabbage and apple with the lime juice that gave this salad an extra cleanness.

I love Thanksgiving! Family, friends, turkey/stuffing/gravy-filled meals, and four days to fill with whatever I felt like doing. I went Black Friday shopping, but dodging salespeople & shopping bags got old pretty quick. I just wanted to be in my warm kitchen cooking yummy food!

The grocery store was pretty empty (whew!), so I quickly grabbed my ingredients… and some Stoli to get me thru a long evening in the kitchen. I’ve got nothing to do tomorrow! I kicked off my prep work at 4pm-ish to have the meal almost complete when Dre got done work. The components of the main dish took up most of my time: roasting grape tomatoes with garlic & fresh basil; sautéing mushrooms with minced onions & butter; and, gleefully pounding chicken breasts to a 1/4 inch thick. Every smokey, juicy morsel of the resulting Roasted Tomato, Mushroom, & Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts reminded me that  it’s always worthwhile.

Tomatoes with Garlic, Basil, & Olive Oil to be Roasted

Just Stuffed

Roasted Tomato, Mushroom & Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Roasted Tomato, Mushroom & Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Roasted Tomatoes

• Grape Tomatoes – (1-2) pints, halved
• Minced Garlic – (2) T or more
• Fresh Basil - a few chopped leaves
• Olive Oil – (3-4) T, to grease dish & coat tomatoes
• S&P

1. Coat baking dish with olive oil or line with non-stick sprayed foil.
2. Add all ingredients and toss with olive oil.
3. Cook 30-40 min in a 400 degree oven. Stir a few times until tomatoes are bubbling, but not burnt.
4. Make a big batch, leftovers are great on French bread and added to pasta sauce

Sautéed Mushrooms

• White Mushrooms or Creminis or Baby Bellas -(2-3) cups, cored and sliced
• White Onion – 1/2 med onion, chopped
• Butter - (2) T

1. Melt butter in a saucepan on Med. Add onion & cook about 2 min.
2. Add mushrooms and give them room to breath. Julia says so.
3. Stir and cook until tender.
4. Use leftovers on a quick pizza or in pasta sauce, red or alfredo.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast - (3-4) breasts – trimmed, sliced lengthwise, & pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
• Smoked Mozzarella or Gouda – 1 oz per breast
• Roasted Tomatoes
• Sautéed Mushrooms
• Chicken Stock – (1) cup or so
• S&P
• Stovetop to Oven Sauté Pan
• Long toothpicks or Bamboo picks

1. Pound filleted chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness between sheets of plastic wrap.
2. Add a few spoonsful of tomatoes & mushrooms onto half of each chicken breast.
3. Layer slices of smoked cheese.
4. Fold chicken breast in half and secure by sewing a toothpick or bamboo pic to secure. S&P each side of the breast.
5. Pan sear breast in olive oil on Med-High until golden brown, about 5 min on each side.
6. Add chicken stock to pan and bring to a boil.
7. Cover pan with lid or foil and tranfer to 375 degree oven.
8. Bake for 20 min, let cool for 5 min, and serve with pan jus.
9. Leftovers make one KILLER sandwich!

I’ve been slacking a little on the postings, but this is why…..

All my creativity has been channeled into all the end-of-semester papers I have due.  I have:

1. A 15-20 page project proposal
2. 15 page paper on computer-mediated feedback in second language writing
3. Take-home Rhetoric final made up of 3 questions, 10 pages/question

60 pages in all…. I must be crazy.

But, since I was able to stay home today to work… I managed to snap a few pictures of my eats!

Breakfast was warm and comforting – a bowl of hot gluten free cereal with 1 egg + 1 egg beater (and lots of salt and pepper).

After writing for a few hours, I broke for a mid-morning power snack: apple slices + 2 boiled eggs + homemade hummus.

Lunch was simple but Oh-so-good!  A brown rice, chicken, and broccoli bowl with GF soy sauce.

Afternoon snack was more of an indulgence than anything.  A protein brownie bar + .5 T natural PB

I almost felt guilty… until I remembered how nutritionally sound it actually is!

And dinner was chicken caesar salad.  Oh, what yum!

Now, I am crashing… I have to keep up a decent amount of sleep if I want to keep the creativity flowing. Lord knows I’ll need it over the next 8 days!

Ok.. I was a little rushed in prep today so I forgot to marinate the meat before I cooked. Still tasted pretty good, though!

Stir-fry chicken and celery (with a little ginger for some zing)

Tip of the day: When marinating meats for sautéing or stir-frying, add corn starch last. It’ll help seal in the flavour and make the meat stick to whatever else you throw in.

It’s amazing how you can take a 5 day break and feel like you never left when you get back to school! My kids were pretty good, they were just tired from lack of sleep and too much tv and junk food over break! I am not so sure they were reading each day like I asked them

After school, I came home and changed my clothes to go on a run/walk with Katie. We did 3 miles in the freezing cold! We both figured it was better than nothing. Then I stopped at the store to grab a few things for the rest of the week.

I came home to make an easy and quick dinner of Indian food while Brady was at Verizon getting his new phone – the Droid. It is pretty sweet! I am excited to play with it.

When he got home, around 7:45, I was lucky to have not eaten my arm off. We sat down to a his and her meal.

Hers:

I had lentils with spinach spicy sauce and some Tandoori sauce mixed in, plus extra spinach. All of this served with brown rice and broccoli.

I could only eat about half of the lentil spinach mixture. I think my eyes were much bigger than my stomach tonight.

His:

Brady had the same thing minus the extra spinach and with chicken instead of lentils.

We both made cups of hot chocolate to take to bed so we could relax. I am reading and Brady is playing with his new phone. See you tomorrow!

This cheery little penguin helped me get back into the swing of things today. I’ve mentioned this before (probably a million times), but my classroom is the temperature of a meat locker, so I drink hot water all day long. I’m not a huge fan of tea, but I love holding something warm in my hands (and up to my cheek on occasion) – so I sip on hot H2O and I love it.

I actually felt very refreshed today. The alarm made me want to scream this morning, but I got over it as Jillian forced me to do squat jumps and plank-twists as the sun came up. The rest of the day went well, the kids were awfully chatty, but I honestly don’t mind “chatty” – there are worse moods when it comes to 8 year olds. I can do chatty.

I always call my class “Chatty Cathys” – and the boys hate being called Cathy. I guess I could call them “Chatty Charlies”…hmm, I think I like that!

I stayed at school way too late planning and re-arranging desks, so when I got home at 7ish, I was pretty hungry. The only possible thing I could have made for dinner was in the freezer – and I was kind of dreading it, but it came together surprisingly well and turned out to be exactly what I wanted.

Meeker cut up some chicken (because I am repulsed by raw meat) and then I seasoned it with salt, lemon pepper and garlic powder and sautéed it until slightly browned. Next, I added frozen broccoli and green beans and seasoned them similarly. Once everyone was cooked, I poured a mixture of mustard, soy sauce and water over the pan. Perfection. I ate it atop ½ cup rice and drizzled some sweet chili sauce over the top. It really hit the nail on the head.

Monday Night Football is on, but I plan to plug in some headphones to the computer and watch some Everwood…the best show. (I’m already on season three, Cait!)

Monday, check!

***

Edited to add…

I just found this piece of my mom’s cinnamon/chocolate cake in the back of the fridge. It was fantastic. That is all.

I chose Bastille in Alexandria for DC’s restaurant week purely because it was walkable from Braddock Rd Metro and it had 4 “$” signs. If only all shots in the dark were this much of a success! I would go back any day of the year, Restaurant Week or no. If that’s not high praise, I don’t know what is.

Appetizers

These beignets make for an upscale snack!

The calamari and shrimp beignets are plentiful. They come out burn-your-mouth hot, but have a lovely texture (crispy on the outside and a nice doughy texture on the inside). There are nice pieces of shrimp and calamari, so you know they’re not skimping by using ground up bits. The dipping sauce had a nice spice and is definitely recommended!

The cheese is melt-in-your-mouth and on the plate delicious!

The heirloom tomato and burrata cheese, basil and oregano vinaigrette appetizer/salad is refreshing and surprisingly different than other restaurants. I think it’s the cheese. The cheese is both creamy, rich, and light all at the same time. That’s light in texture, not in calories. This is some excellent full fat cheese!

Nice light, subtle flavor

The fennel soup was on special that night, and is not on the regular menu. I was feeling like I needed something light and comforting that day. It has a subtle anise flavor, with a creamy finish.

Dinner

Great fries!

The Bastille hanger steak, cabernet shallot sauce, and pommes frites were pretty tasty. If you’re in the mood for a steak and fries, it’s hard to go wrong with this. The fries were nice and crispy on the outside. But in the end, it’s a steak and fries. I’d rather get any of the other dishes first, despite this being excellently done.

No longer on the menu. Write your senator and complain!

Unfortunately, the lamb chops are no longer on the menu. They were paired with blanched green beans, roasted peppers and late-summer squashes, and resting on top of a fennel cous-cous bed. I think my husband licked the plate.

Expertly done!

As I said before, I was in the mood for lighter fare. The grilled Branzino filet with cherry tomato, fennel and orange ragout was a home run. The fish was nicely seared, sized, and seasoned. The ragout was perfect for late summer, boasting fresh from the market tomatoes and tender, young fennel. The roasted lemon added a needed bitterness. I would order this again in a heartbeat!

Score one for Chicken!

The Moroccan-style Tajine of chicken, pearl couscous and garbanzo beans was delicious with a wall of flavor! You could taste each piece, but together… oh my! Nice balance of veggies to couscous and garbanzo. The chicken was juicy and had great color!

Dessert

A nice end to the meal

The vanilla chiffon cake, white chocolate, and raspberries was delicious, but not my favorite. I’m not a fan of white chocolate (as evidenced by my choice in dessert, below). It looks dense, but don’t let that food you. It is light and soaks up the fruit puree beautifully.

Don't let the messiness of the plate fool you. This is a well crafted machine!

The Valrhona chocolate truffle cake with Kirsch and cherries made me do the happy dance. It’s decadent, rich, flavorful, and well-balanced. The plate looks like a murder scene. Don’t let that fool you. It is one of the best desserts I’ve had. If you’re not a fan of chocolate or gooey cakes, don’t get it.

Pho with chicken and mixed veggies.  Lime & Basil, Chapel Hill

The past month has been very chaotic here as my son turned one near the end of November.  While we have continued the Chicken Monday tradition at our table, my recipes have not found their way to my blog.  My apologies to all of my readers!  Here is a recipe that I made several weeks ago and is one of those tried-and-true easy favorites that can be made on a whim and is sure to please a diverse crowd.  Any time I see the words “chicken” and “bake” in the title of a recipe I get excited because the steps are usually easy, the house usually smells wonderful during the cooking time and the results are usually top notch.  This recipe comes from the The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, edited by Julie Fisher Gunter.

Mushroom-Chicken Bake

1 (2 1/2 to 3-lb) boiler-fryer, cut up and skinned (I used the “Pick of the Chick” pack from my grocer, but any package of breasts, thighs and legs will do if you can not find a cut up boiler-fryer)

1/2 cup zesty Italian dressing

1/2 tsp. paprika, divided

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 (4-oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.)  Place chicken in a greased 13 X 9-inch baking dish.  Drizzle dressing over chicken, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. of the paprika and pepper.  (Tip:  Turn the chicken so that the side you want to be the finished side, i.e. the side without the bones is face down for the first round of baking.  This way when you sprinkle the Parmesan on later, the wonderful crust that is produced during the bake forms on the side you actually want to eat!)

2.) Bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 30 minutes, basting occasionally.  Turn chicken, and add the mushrooms; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and remaining 1/4 tsp paprika.   Bake 30 minutes more or until chicken is tender.

The finished product, directly from the oven.

When the chicken is finished, it will be moist and surprisingly flavorful – more so than expected due to the few ingredients.  The Parmesan cheese forms a lovely crust, which replaces the lost skin and adds the perfect amount of saltiness to the dish.  I have made this recipe before and it can be served with any number of sides.  My favorites are rice and broccoli.  Other favorites are buttered egg noodles, mixed veggies or even mashed potatoes (white or sweet).

One change I will make next time I made this dish is to line the baking dish with foil first to make cleanup a little easier.  The leftovers (if there are any!) keep very well and the chicken will shred nicely to put over a salad or make into a sandwich.  Enjoy this comforting meal and you can look forward to another recipe next week – Chicken Monday has returned!

I am definitely in holiday recovery mode. I can not wait to crash in my bed. And that is exactly what I plan to do as soon as I hit publish.

For dinner we had planned to make eggplant parmesan with crab topping, but since we were both tired we decided to keep it simple.

For starters, I made a salad.

Baby spinach, broccoli slaw, grape tomatoes, blue cheese, and olive oil vinaigrette.

Without carrots my salad is looking Christmas-y.

For dinner we made sticky rice in the rice maker and TJ’s BBQ Teriyaki Chicken.

Why can’t I seem to get my bowl in the center of my picture?

We also threw in some frozen broccoli that we warmed up in the microwave.

I ate all of this and was still feeling a little hungry after 20 or 30 minutes so I ate some more of the rice and chicken.

To satisfy my sweet tooth I ate a square of Ghirardelli dark chocolate, I didn’t take a picture of it this time but there is one here. Mmm, mmm. Just enough.

One more quick task to do, I have to send the pics from our family dinner last Tuesday to my Aunt, and I am off to bed.

I just cooked this one!  It’s still steaming hot. When I cook chicken, I prefer recipes that have the chicken cook in liquid. Otherwise, the chicken goes too dry if you want to serve it the next day. This is a nice recipe with a smooth, velvety, carrot and potato sauce andCredits go to Kristia Mavroidi and her book  “183 fresh ideas”. I used chicken breasts instead of the original recipe’s whole chicken (in pieces).

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1-2 carrots cut in four
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 big or two small potatoes cut in four
• 3/4 white wine
• 2 tablespoons cognac
• juice from one lemon
• salt, pepper
• 1 more tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 tablespoon flour

How to make: Saute the chicken in a big, deep pan until light brown. Take it off the pan. Saute the onion, carrots and potatoes for  5 minutes. Put the chicken back in the pan, add wine, cognac and lemon. Add 1 cup water and let the food cook covered at low heat for 45 minutes. Take the chicken pieces out. Puree the rest in a food processor.  Wipe the pan clean, add 1 tablespoon butter or margarine and stir in the flour. Stir well until smooth (less than a minute) and add the puree. If the puree is too thick add some water and cook for 5 minutes. Pour over the chicken and serve it with mashed potatoes or a nice green salad. I’ll make the mashed potatoes tomorrow.

• Dark chocolate M&Ms are a wonderful addition to my Best Bowl of Oats Ever

• Workouts are only has good as the effort you put in. Especially Monday morning step classes.
• Calorie counting is okay every once in a while to make sure I’m not falling back into old bad habits.
• Amazing Grass does not make for an amazing meal replacement, but it does make for an amazing post-workout snack.

• I need to eat more healthy fats.
• Honesty is always the best policy.
• It makes no sense to work in a field you don’t love, when the field you do love is right in front of you
• I still have a lot to learn.

• The people I’ve met through blogging are amazing. You have all made my life so much richer. Every hour put into blogging has been worth it.

• I need to install food photography lighting in my kitchen.
• Chocolate whey protein powder is not a great addition to baked goods.
• If I’m not happy, I’m the only person who can fix it. Sometimes the solution is quite simple, other times it takes a little more work.
• Peanut butter tastes awesome in everything.

• Peanut butter hummus is also a wonderful addition to a turkey pita

• I will never, ever tire of pitas and carrot sticks for lunch.
• I thrive on the energy of other people. This is hard to do when I’m not surrounded by other people.
• Life is very, very long. If all goes well, I should have the opportunity to follow many dreams, and not just one.
• “Salary” does not mean more money than “wage.”
• Almond butter makes for a tasty salad dressing when mixed with sesame oil, Bragg’s, agave and lime juice.

• Tofu and chicken taste awesome together. I’m still a carnivore with the soul of a vegetarian.
• Eating does not have to be complicated. Just simple foods eaten when hungry, with an occasional piece of sumthin’ to make my tastebuds happy.
• I need to stop being who people expect me to be, and start being who I want to be.

Question of the Day: What did you learn this month?

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock
• 1/2 cup lite coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 shallot, sliced thin
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce (or 2 additional teaspoons low sodium soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast pounded slightly and cut into 1-inch strips

Directions

8 (8-inch) bamboo skewers, soaked for 20 minutes

• 3/4 cup Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce, recipe below
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted peanuts

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the chicken stock, coconut milk, soy sauce, shallot, garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar, lime zest, and ginger. Add the chicken strips and marinate for 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade.

Spray a nonstick grill pan with cooking spray and preheat over a medium-high flame. While pan is heating, thread chicken onto skewers. Grill 2 to 3 minutes per side, until meat is cooked through and has light grill marks.

Serve chicken skewers with Peanut Dipping Sauce, and garnish with basil or cilantro and chopped peanuts.

I am that person who has twelve half-finished knitting projects in every corner of the house and only one finished beanie. At least six of those unfinished projects are for my daughter. She had ONE finished sweater from me when she was a year old. Is she not the cutest?:

Now, only a mere four years later, I am working on a new sweater for the poor child of store bought winter wear! Needless to say, she has grown out of the one above. The new one will be a sweater vest with hood. I thought I’d crochet this one. It’s been a while since I’ve picked up the hooks!

My progress!:

4 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter

3 ¾ teaspoons salt, preferably kosher

1 pound penne

1 (2 – 2 ½ pound) plain roasted chicken

8 ounces thick-sliced bacon, cut into ½ pieces

3 teaspoons minced garlic

fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

1 ½ cups whipping cream

1 ½ cups whole milk

1 ¼ cups grated parmesan cheese

½ cup fresh bread crumbs

Coat a 9×13 inch baking pan with butter, set aside. Bring large pot of water to boil.  Add 2 teaspoons of salt and penne and cook until tender.  Drain well and place in large mixing bowl.

Remove and discard skin from chicken.  Cut chicken into ½ – 1 inch cubes so that you have 2 ½ – 3 cups.  Add to penne.  Sauté bacon in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until golden and crisp.  Remove from pan with slotted spoon, let drain and add to penne.

Pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon bacon drippings.  Add 2 tablespoons of butter to pan and place over medium heat.  Add garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper, cook and stir one minute.  Add to penne.

Heat cream and milk in large, heavy saucepan over medium heat until simmering.  Gradually whisk in 1 cup parmesan cheese and ¾ teaspoon salt.

Continue whisking 2-3 minutes until mixture thickens to consistency of light sauce.  .  Stir sauce into penne mixture and mix well.  Season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Spread penne mixture in prepared pan.  Sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup parmesan cheese and scatter bread crumbs on top.  Dot with remaining butter. Dish can be prepared 1 day ahead to this point.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes until hat and breadcrumbs are golden.

6 servings, 986 calories, 42 % fat, 54 grams protein, 89 grams carbs., 6 grams fiber, 46 grams total fat

The Word: We knew we wanted chicken but what could we do with it to balance it out? We threw some things together and out came this delicious dish! I love it when dishes just come together on the fly like this.

The Yin and the Yang: Chicken, Mangoes, and Strawberries are all a part of those foods reccomended for balance in the fall season. The abundance of mangoes and strawberries on this dish really help to balance with the chicken and yang styled spices. For the health benefits of mangoes and strawberries consult my Mango Lassi and Strawberry Crumble recipes found under the dessert tab.

The Recipe:

• 2 tbl garlic chili hot sauce
• 1 tbl honey
• 2 chicken breasts
• 3 tbl soy sauce
• 1 shallot thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup mango cubed
• 1/4 cup strawberries sliced
• 1/4 cup peaches sliced
• 1/2 tsp. crushed chilis
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp lime juice

1. Coat the chicken breasts in honey and garlic chili sauce evenly. Add soy sauce and cover. Allow to sit for several hours if possible.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix throughly. Allow to sit for atleast 30 minutes.
3. The chicken can be grilled or pan fried until done. We grilled.
4. Serve the chicken with your choice of side topped with the fruit and it’s juices.

The Result: So refreshing! The slight spice and the refreshing nature of the fruit made this such a delicious dish. We served this on a bed of sticky rice and I hope to do it again. It is amazing the things that can be thrown together with just a little creative energy!

Conquering knits has been my goal for the last week or so. So far, so good, although I’m still skeptical about how easy it is. This is the same as with the invisible zipper, everyone and their grandma kept saying it was to complicated so I spend years using the traditional zipper… little did I know.

We moved the chickens into the garage last week. We hosted Thanksgiving this year, and while both of us are vegetarian we still made the turkey. I thought it inhumane to keep the chickens around that smell. I was a bit worried about them being cold in the garage but they are doing just fine. They have a much bigger cage now. Cleo likes to fly out of it, check out the outside, poop on the top edge of the cage, and then fly back in. Tina also comes out but it takes more effort on her side. My mom thinks Cleo is a quail. I’m still suspicious about her being a roo, I guess I have to play the waiting game for a bit.

We are going to Asheville, North Carolina to visit a dear friend of ours this weekend. I’m really excited. Believe it or not, I’m already on my third trimester and this will probably be the last time I get to travel and/ or visit Appalachia for a while.

For tonight’s James Beard featured dish, we’re going to get the blogging train back on the tracks by posting about a dish which, in Mr. Beard’s recipe, calls for a form of pasta called rotelle. What are rotelle? Sounds fancy, but it’s just Italian for “little wheels.” In his original recipe, the dish is served over what generations of Cleveland children came to know and love as “Choo Choo Wheels.” Maybe you even remember the train printed on the back of the box of Ideal Macaroni that you could cut out and glue some uncooked Choo Choo Wheels onto, if you got the chance to swipe a few before Mom used them all to make your lunch.

Well, nostalgia is fun, but given that most of our diners here at the Bistro are past the age of sitting at the table playing with their Choo Choo Wheels, we’re substituting shell pasta in our Old Fashioned Chicken Fricassee. Trust us, it’ll still taste the same. Our chicken is a mixture of white and dark meat, with some of it thigh meat still on the bone for richer flavor. And you’ll get a lot of chicken along with this rich sauce that includes butter, flour, heavy cream, onions, celery, shallots, egg yolks, and some spicing courtesy of salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and lemon juice.

This is dinner just like Mom used to make…assuming Mom used James Beard’s cookbooks, that is. If not, you owe it to yourself to taste what you’ve been missing, especially on a day like today on which the snowflakes are starting to flutter down. Put your wheels down at the Bistro tonight, and enjoy some real comfort food.