getting a little corny again.

it looks like ever since i've discovered the wonderful thing that is the cornish hen, i can't seem to stop cooking it! it's probably the cutest little bird that i've worked with so far and i just can't get enough. needless to say, i find that my fridge is constantly stocked with one or two of these little buggers. :)

Since this is essentially a whole mini-me chicken, i decided to try my hand at butchering it to little pieces. and i have to say...that is trickier that it looks! deciding to refer to my all-time favorite chef for advice, butchering a chicken didn't seem too intimidating afterall. true, my first try really mangled my hen...BUT! the second hen turned out much better now that i knew what the heck i was doing, lol.

for this recipe, we decided to make some lemon chicken and have a very veggie multigrain pilaf to go with it. discovery? don't eat the sliced lemons...they're strictly garnish/aromatics for a reason. yeuuck! :'(

 

Moist Lemon Chicken
(from Inspired Taste)

1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in, trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon lemon zest (1 teaspoon for rub and 2 teaspoons for sauce)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil (1 tablespoon for rub, 1 tablespoon for cooking)
1/4 cup (60 ml) lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) low-sodium chicken stock
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Heat oven to 400 degrees F (200 C).

Prepare Chicken:
1. Make rub for chicken. Combine mustard, 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest, oregano, thyme, salt and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small bowl. Use fingers or a brush to coat chicken on both sides with the mustard rub.

2. In another bowl or measuring jug, combine remaining lemon zest (2 teaspoons), lemon juice and the chicken stock. Set aside.

Flavor Oil with Garlic:
1. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a large oven-safe skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic then cook about 1 minute or until you can smell toasted garlic and the garlic has browned around the edges. Remove and discard the garlic, but leave the oil.

Cook Chicken
1. Add chicken, skin-side down into the hot garlic-infused oil and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the skin has turned golden brown.

2. Flip the chicken then add the lemon juice mixture from before. Stir (and add lemon slices) then slide the pan into the oven and bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 175 degrees F (79 degrees C).

Finish Lemony Sauce
1. Remove pan from oven then transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with aluminum foil. There should still be liquid in the pan. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the liquid to a gentle simmer.

2. In a small bowl, use your fingers to mix butter and flour together, making a dry, crumbly paste. Whisk the flour and butter into the sauce. The sauce will thicken slightly and look glossy.

3. Nestle the chicken back into the pan then serve.

Yields 4 servings.

 

Quick Very Veggie Pilaf
(makes about four servings)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 cup brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
1 (16oz.) package Trader Joe's Multigrain Blend with Vegetables
1 stalk green onion, green parts only and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In pan, heat the olive oil until hot. Add the garlic and onion then cook until onion is semi-transclucent. Add the brussels sprouts and season with salt and pepper. Cook for five minutes or until the sprouts are tender, then add the multigrain blend. Cook until grains are heated through, seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Top with sliced green onions and serve.

dinner guests.

today was a quiet day. laundry in the morning and had one of our friends for dinner. we hadn't seen them in a long time and we knew that they liked a good tasty meal. so, my sister and i decided to make the same poultry recipe from before but used chicken quarters instead of dealing with butterfling a few cornish hens.

we changed up the sides to brussles sprouts and tried a new recipe for mashed potatoes. the mashed potatoes came out surprisingly good. they went well with the chicken and the brussels sprouts and were slightly savoury and tangy from the garlic, green onion, and lemon--they ended up bightening the whole meal. :) it's been decided: they're soooo going to be a repeat in the future!

 

Mashed Potatoes with Lemon, Garlic and Chives
(bareley adapted from Creative Culinary)

1/4 cup buttermilk (i didn't have any so i just used fat free milk we had in the fridge)
6 tablespoons butter (used a little less, maybe 5 tsp max?)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel (reserved some for garnish)
juice of a little less than half a lemon
1/2 cup chopped green onion (or fresh chives) (reserved some for garnish)
2 pounds red potatoes, cut in half (do not peel) (used mixed baby potatoes)

1. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes; do not brown. Mix in lemon peel, then green onion or chives. Set aside. (added the lemon juice around here and let it cook for a little bit--try not to let it cook too long, you want the onions to still be slightly green when they're done)

2. Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Return potatoes to pot and mash roughly; these are not meant to be the consistency of regular mashed potatoes. Add onion mixture, buttermilk and remaining 3 tablespoons butter and mash together. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Garnish with fresh chives or green onion. (decided to just mix everything together with the reserved chives and lemon zest.)

makes 4-6 servings.

moroccan heat.

in the past few weeks, my sister has been moving in with me and the best friend. and just like our previous sixteen years of life together, we were once again sharing a room. it's crazy how much one person accumulates things that make up their surroundings. a candle dish here, a couple chairs there...pretty soon we realized that with already two people's worth of stuff in the apartment, her things was *not* going to fit.

the solution?

well, we had to get rid of a lot of things. it was a very hard lesson of letting go and deciding which was garbage and which ones were definite keepers. and coincidentally, this exercise of "letting go" was also an existential metaphor for dealing with her recent break-up. and with that meant time in the kitchen to push back some memories and make some new ones that were just a tad less painful.

my sister can sometimes be very delicate when it comes to matters of the heart. but food, especially ethnic food, could always bring up her spirits when she's in a slump. since we had an excess of shrimp from both of our houses combined, we scoured the internet for something "exotic" to make that didn't stray from our existing pantry items. we found two winners...a recipe for shrimp and something to make with barley. the result? sweet and spicy moroccan shrimp with savoury spiced barley and brussels sprouts salad.

Tip: Make the salad first then shrimp to prevent the seafood from overcooking.

 

Sweet and Spicy Moroccan Shrimp
(from A Teaspoon of Happiness)

1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
1 1/2 lbs of shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp oil

1. Mix seasonings and flour together in a small bowl.

2. Toss the mixture with the shrimp until evenly coated. (i added a little bit more olive oil here to thin out the paste the spices made with the shrimp)

3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

4. Add the shrimp to the pan and fry until thoroughly cooked - turning occasionally (shrimp should be completely pink).

 

Savoury Spiced Barley and Brussels Sprouts Salad
(adapted from MiNDFOOD)

1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch saffron threads
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/4 - 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups barley
3 cups chicken stock

1 lbs Brussels sprouts, halved

2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, thickly sliced
1/2 cup oil cured olives

1/4 cup parsley leaves, chopped
2 spring onions, sliced

Combine spices and set aside. Reserve 1/2 cup of stock to the side then cook barley according to package directions using the rest of chicken stock. Meanwhile, in a separate pot, steam Brussels sprouts in the reserved stock in medium heat until the pot is almost dry. Add the olive oil and onion and cook until the onion is slightly translucent. Add the spice mix and the olives and sauté until fragrant. Add the cooked barley and cook additional 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the parsley and spring onions, tossing to mix. Serve warm or hot topped with the sweet and spicy morocco shrimp and a small drizzle of olive oil.

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?!

sufferin' succotash, it's cordon bluey!

i've been looking at different things to do with chicken since, a). i cannot cook red meat cuz it ends being tougher than hell and even harder to chew, and b). my significant other isn't partial to fish and pork. So that leaves me with chicken. not that that's a bad thing...chicken is probably one of my favorite ingredients to cook with. and now, a recipe i've been itching to try: chicken cordon bleu!


mmmmm....rich and tasty. :D
so let's start off with the side. i've been looking to make some succotash since it's just one of those things that we *never* made in my house growing up. It was either frozen corn with a little bit of butter or it was mixed veggies straight out of the freezer bag. i was intrigued when i went online a week ago and found pictures of succotash while perusing corn recipes.



reading through the recipes of succotash, i gathered that it's basically whatever veggies you have in the fridge, plus some spices for flavor. sooo, that's exactly what i did. what the succotash ended up entailing were brussels sprouts that were about to go bad, half a red bell pepper i randomly had lying around, leftover corn from dinner a couple nights ago, some onion, some frozen edemame, garlic, grated cheese, dash of worcestershire sauce, and dear old salt and pepper. throw in some rosemary, saute it for a bit, and wah-lah! instant side!


and now for the main course. i would have to say that the most enjoyable part of making this dish was pounding the hell out of the chicken. :D lol, what an awesome stress reliever! and not to mention that i scored the meat tenderizer from the local dollar store, whoo-hoo! hey, if it gets the job done and i didn't have to pay and arm and a leg for it, then to that, i say huzzah. go-go-cheapo ranger! ;) ps, check out my cute slat and pepper shakers...they're bunnies!!



first of all, let me say that putting together the cordon bleu is a bitch to do. period (hey, that rhymed!). it may have to do with the fact that i used chicken thighs instead of breasts but...wow. mucho respect for cooks that actually make it look picture perfect. that is some serious sewing skills with toothpicks. but i digress...

And the second show of respect are for those that make it "golden brown". argh! mine got caramelized!! D': yes, heat is too high, blah blah.....at least they didn't go up in flames and burn the whole apartment complex down. that would've been bad, to say the least.

cookin' in style. :D

and last but not least, a pic of me cutting the veggies. it was date night and i wanted to surprise the boyfriend with a pretty outfit, fixed hair, and perfume a'la cordon bleu, lol. i'm glad he enjoyed it. :D