poulet a l'orange...kind of.

well, i intentionally wanted to make gordon ramsay's sticky lemon chicken but i didn't have lemon....i had navel oranges. soooo, i did an orange chicken instead and made a side of sesame asparagus to go along with it. :D

when i go to bevmo to go shopping, i head straight to the minis and decide what liquor i can use in my cooking. i had actually bought a cointreau mini, which is an orange liqueur, a week ago and thought, great! this will go nicely with the recipe i was supposed to follow. it basically remained the same except i took out the water and subbed oj, and lemon juice for lots of orange zest, and cut the thyme in half. i let that sit for ten minutes while i prepped and cooked the chicken.

after that, it was making the glaze syrupy and tossing the chicken in it then making the asparagus side. so what did it taste like? like panda express without the breading but ten times better! XD i'm looking forward to making this again and maybe playing with different citruses and fruits. and i was surprised how well the thyme worked with the oranges...it would probably have been better if the thyme was fresh: the little bitty dry leaves slightly poked you in the mouth when you chewed, lol. also, one thing i think was missing was some sort of starch...maybe a rice dish? i don't know. but it was still pretty awesome. thank you mr. ramsay for this wonderful base recipe! now, all i have to do is see if i can make his other dishes! :D

 

Sticky Lemon Chicken
(from Gordon Ramsey and Food.com)

1 lb chicken leg/thighs, about 8-10
salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 to 4 tbsp honey
1 head garlic, each clove sliced in half
1 whole lemon, Sliced
1/4 to 1/3 cup water
1 tbsp thyme
1/4 cup fresh parsley or 2 tbsp dried parsley

1 .In a large skillet pan, add the oil to Med/High Heat. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook for about 5-6 minutes, turning each piece.

2. Add the garlic cloves, soy sauce, and honey to the pan, making sure to get all the chicken in the sauces. Coninue to cook for a 5 minutes.

3. Add the water and lay the slices of lemon on top of the chicken in the pan. Put a lid on the pan and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes.

4. Season the chicken with thyme and parlsey. Continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.

 

Sesame Asparagus
(from Delicious Dishes)

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 pounds asparagus, ends trimmed, cut on diagonal into 2-9nch-long pieces
4 teaspoons sesame seeds

Stir soy sauce and sugar in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Heat oil in heavy large skillet. Add garlic and stir 15 seconds. Add asparagus and stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Add soy mixture and toss until asparagus is coated, about 1 minute longer. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl; sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Serves 4-6

"what kind of sausage is this?" pasta.

the sweet thing about trying to get rid of stuff in your fridge, is that sometimes opportunity comes to do so. this i made on tuesday to feed the boys at work and that was the running comment. they were surprised it was chicken. :) it was definitely something a little healthier and different and, most importantly, used up some ingredients i had that was just sitting in my fridge: spinach, a can of diced tomatoes from a random shopping trip, sliced onions from last night's dinner, and sausage i bought on a whim.

i was actually kicking myself over this dish. i had made an excellent tomato sauce from scratch-ish and silly me, i added a dollop of ricotta cheese to the mix. this picture's before said dollop. it ended up muting the perfectly nice sweet taste of the tomatoes i was trying to go for. i fixed it a little and the boyfriend liked it a lot, but i think it would've been perfect sans the ricotta. *sigh*

 

Chicken Sausage Penne
(makes about 8 to 9 servings)

1 package savory-flavored chicken sausage, sliced diagonally
1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5oz.) can diced tomatoes with green pepper, celery, and onion
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 cups fresh spinach
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil

1 lbs penne pasta
water

Start pasta by boiling a pot of salted water on high heat. Once it comes to a rolling boil, add some olive oil and drop pasta. Cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, add olive oil and saute the sausage, onion, and garlic until the sausage has browned. Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Drain pasta and fold into the sauce along with the spinach until combined. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Note: for an optional cheesier note, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup ricota cheese before simmering and top with additional parmesan before serving.

marmite.

ah marmite. this is one of those substances that's got so much potential in the kitchen. i was looking up things to do with it and a whole slew of recipes came up. in the end, i decided that i wanted to see what it would taste like if paired with something that would soak up all that yeasty goodness. sooo...mushrooms on toast it was!

the result? well, i was a little disappointed that it didn't turn out the way i expected it to. i was missing something...probably a meat of some sort to balance out the saltiness of it all. what i ended up having was just a little too salty batch of mushrooms and an overpowering taste of the marmite. definitely too much product. next time, less marmite, and more main ingredient besides mushroom and parsley.... :/

valentine's day.

ah, valentine's day. this valentine's day consisted of a candlelight dinner, cuddling, and spending time with the boyfriend. last year we went out and rather than deal with the hassle of waiting in line to eat, we decided to make dinner at home instead. i've actually posted this dish before. it's one of the boyfriend's favorite and so that ended up being what we ate for dinner yesterday. :)



start off with olive oil, fresh rosemary, minced garlic, paprika, salt and pepper as a marinade for the chicken. stab the chicken a few times to let all that goodness soak in and let stand for about ten minutes in the fridge. afterwards, arrange the chicken in an oven-proof dish (or foil pan if you don't want to wash, lol), top with thin slices of butter and bake at a pre-heated oven for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees. you can forgo the butter if you want, i usually do if i'm just making it as a everyday thing. yesterday, tho, was something special. :D



first things first, cut the potatoes and boil them in salted water. while the potatoes cook, prep the chicken and the brussels sprouts. when they're done cooking, you can let the potatoes sit in the hot water and do the brussels sprouts like i did, or you can do the mashed potatoes. for these, i mashed it, added pepper and garlic powder to taste, added some butter, added milk till i got the right consistency, then finished it off with some spring onions.


you should get something that looks like this. yummm.... when i did the mashed patatoes, i turned the burner on low so that the mashed potatoes could stay nice and hot. hate it when food gets cold. :(




brussels sprouts. these i did between putting the chicken in the oven and before the mashed potatoes. start off with prepping them and cutting them in half. then i tossed them with olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper. put them face down on the pan, then tossed and roasted them until they got a nice little crispness to them. now set these babies aside.


in the same pan, poured in two parts balsamic vinaigrette dressing and one part honey, sprigs of rosemary, onion powder and paprika . brought to a boil and let it simmer until syrupy. took my brussels sprouts and made sure to evenly coat every single one of them with the glaze. if a few ended up in my mouth, that's a-okay! ;D and that's it!


and we had dessert! just something nice and simple. stewed some apples in cinnamon sugar butter then added a bit of spiced rum. mmm..... and how did we have it?


with cinnamon ice cream of course! this actually paired really well with ben and jerry's cinnamon buns ice cream. delicious! all in all, not too bad a dinner. no, what in the heck do i make today?!

chicken pizza of bbq awesomeness.

mmm . . . dinner. today was one of those cold, rainy days where all i wanted to do was spend the whole night warming up in the kitchen to make something nice and special. i've had chilli's old baby back ribs song stuck in my head all day so i decided to try my hand in making a bbq pizza from a recipe i saw a few weeks back.

when i first started getting an inkling for trying this recipe, i was actually googling corn images. i don't know about you, but when i try recipes online, i'm more inclined to go by the pictures of the food than the actual ingredients list. the ingredients list gets a looksie when it passes the visual test first. :) anyhoo, i ran across this video about roasting corn on the stovetop. i was like, wow! i never knew you could do that and not burn the house down! needless to say, i decided that it was definitely on the to-do list! and do it did! also decided to try it with the onion . . .

chicken was pan fried with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. when it was almost done, i took that off, cut it to little pieces, then topped it on the store-bought pizza crust along with the roasted corn and onion. the bbq sauce was right out of the bottle but i jazzed it up with brown sugar, honey, paprika and minced tomatoes to make it a little extra special. then after putting a four cheese blend on it, it was finished with a sprinkling of roughly sliced mushrooms.

right as it came out of the oven, it was immediately topped with fresh chopped parsley. mmm, this actually tasted as good as it smelled and looked. and the boyfriend definitely enjoyed this particular experiment. i didn't follow the recipe (of course) just because i wasn't diggin' how spicy it looked like it was gonna be...and i'm super happy i didn't. don't get me wrong i like spicy...just not too much on my pizza. :/

definitely hearty and filling. each bite was a gooey, bbq-ey bite of heavenly goodness. i was pleased that the crust came out nice and crunchy all throughout. will definitely be making this again. and what's so awesome about it is that it doesn't take a lot of ingredients to make! word of warning tho, it is a little time consuming. so if you want quick and dirty, look elsewhere for a quick pizza this one was all love and tenderness. ;)

 

Awesome Barbecue Chicken Pizza
(adapted from Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet)

1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh
1 ear of corn
1/2 medium red onion
2-3 mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/8 cup of tomatoes, minced
1/2 cup or so bottled barbecue sauce
1 tsp parika
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 package pre-made pizza dough (or make your own)
1-2 cups of four cheese blend of choice (you want to use the kind that melts easily)
olive oil
garlic powder
salt and pepper
a few sprigs parsley, chopped

Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees or according to pizza dough package instructions. Roast the corn and onion on the stovetop until slightly blackened (if you don't have a gas burner, roast on electric using a cast iron skillet). Cut the corn from the cob and slice thin the onion. Set aside. You can also just skip roasting the onion if it's too much or a bother...slicing it thin will do just as well. :)

Season chicken well with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pan fry with a little olive oil until almost cooked, about 6-7 minutes. Let cool slightly then carefully cut into strips then chop to bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Prepare the sauce by adding in the tomatoes, paprika, brown sugar, and honey. Stir well to combine. Roll out dough on a greased pizza pan then top evenly with the barbecue sauce. Take the chicken and layer evenly, then do the same with the onion and corn. Cover with the four cheese blend then finish with a sprinkling of the chopped mushrooms.

Cook pizza in the oven until crust is crisp and golden and the cheese is hot and melted. Immediately after removing from heat, top with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

Makes one tasty pizza.

polenta with egg and garlicky spinach.

quick breakfast for this morning. and good use of polenta that's been sitting in my fridge. mmm, tasty. :D