Gramma's Chicken Dijon

Gramma and Papa on their wedding day - how cute are they??
Also,  day one of the Eating Keatings family!  

This recipe is an oldy but goody in my family.  Originally done by my grandmother, who is an amazing cook. While she doesn't cook anymore, in her time, she was hard to beat! She instilled the whole family with a love of food and a love of sharing it with one another.

This is a recipe that she would always make when lots of family was visiting - it's tasty, super quick to whip up, and also freezes wonderfully.  I hadn't made this for years, and I'm so glad I've rediscovered it tonight. The smell brought me right back to my childhood evenings on 122 Pine Street.

Besides the small amount of mayo and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, this is a relatively healthy dish, that still really satisfies the comfort food taste buds. The hubs went wild for it.  Hope you like it too!

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (trimmed up)
• 1 cup non fat greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup mayonaise
• 2 T smooth dijon mustar)
• 1 T worcestershire sauce (lee & perrins is best!)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/4 cup dried white wine
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (optional for a little kick)
• S&P
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

My dijon of choice.
Grey Poupon is also good.

Place your chicken in a greased baking dish, and sprinkle with a little fresh cracked pepper and salt.

In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Season with S&P to taste. Pour over the chicken breasts to coat well, and bake covered with foil for 45 minutes.  When 45 minutes is up, remove the foil, sprinkle the top of the chicken with a little bit of parmesan cheese, and broil until golden brown and bubbly. Let rest for a few minutes, and serve.

This is accompanied nicely by rice and some sort of green veggie.  I made brussels sprouts tonight - I'll share that recipe soon.

Happy eating!

Asian Style Pulled Chicken with Tatsoi Salad

I finally found the way to use the Tatsoi that I found at the Farmer's Market on Saturday, and it was awesome!  This green can be cooked or served raw (think Spinach, or baby bok choy).  The leaves have have a nice crunch and the flavor is fantastic, kind of spicy and earthy, but without any bitter notes. I'm definitely a fan of Tatsoi and am going to add this to my list of things to snatch up when they're in season.

After reading a lot about Tatsoi on the good ole interwebs, I decided that I wanted to do simple raw preparation of it, so I made a basic garden salad, and topped it with my ginger soy vinaigrette, a generous portion of sliced avocado, and some pulled chicken.  Having just returned from a business trip in North Carolina, I had pulled meat on my mind.  I decided to reinterpret pulled chicken and make it with an Asian flavor profile, and it was really tasty!  The hubs loved it and I'll definitely make it again (I think the chicken would be really great leftover and put into a wrap sandwich with lots of veggies).

All in all, the active prep time for this meal is pretty low, and it's a good 'man' salad when you add a big scoop of pulled chicken to the top. Hope you like it!

It's purdy, too

Asian Style Pulled Chicken:

• 2 T roasted peanut oil
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• Pinch of red pepper flake (optional)
• 2 large chicken breasts
• 3 T Soy Sauce
• 1/3 cup Aji Mirin Sweet Rice Wine
• 1/4 cup Dry White Wine
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Fresh ground black pepper

In a medium size sauce pan, add two chicken breasts (trimmed of fat and any ickiness) and cover with water.  Set over medium high heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and easily breaks apart with a fork.  Remove from water, and let cool slightly.

Once cool, use your fingers and a fork to shred the chicken.  Set aside.

In a sauté pan, heat the peanut oil over medium high heat.  Add the sesame seeds, garlic, and red pepper flake and cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant but not browned, stirring frequently. Add the ginger, and cook for 1 more minute.  Next, add the shredded chicken.  Immediately add the soy sauce and both wines.  Stir well to combine and turn heat to medium low.  Cover and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the cover, and turn heat to medium.  Let it cook until the majority of the liquid evaporates, stirring frequently.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (you might want to add a little more soy sauce). When done, remove from heat.  Set aside so that it cools enough that won't wilt your salad when added to the top.  It's going to be sweet and savory and oh-so-tasty, with a good crunch from the sesame seeds.

Ginger Soy Vinaigrette dressing:

• 1/4 cup roasted peanut oil
• 2 T soy sauce
• 3 T rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger
• 1/4 tsp roasted sesame oil
• Pinch of fresh ground black pepper
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake well until combined (if you don't have a jar handy, you could easily whisk this up in a bowl).  Let rest for at 15 minutes to let flavors marry, and shake well before dressing your salad.  This is great to make ahead.

For the Salad:

• 1 head of Tatsoi, leaves removed and large ones ripped into bite sized pieces
• 1 handful of baby spring mix or baby sinach
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1/4 red onion, shaved
• 1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 head broccoli, broken into small florets
• 1 avocado, sliced (I like to add this to the top of the salad once tossed and dressed)

I don't really need to put directions here - ya'll know how to make a salad I hope!

Farfalle with Broccolini and the Ingredient "who shall not be named"

Tasty new spin on weeknight pasta

Okay, let's get right to it.  What is this unnamed ingredient?  It must be revolting to not even warrant a spot in the title!  Well, the truth is, this magic ingredient is everything but revolting, unfortunately it is tarnished with a nasty reputation.  I'm talking about Anchovies.  These greasy, briny, tiny little bony fish filets in a pull tab can have such a bad rap, and they really don't deserve it!  When used the right way, they are simple magic.  They add a depth and flavor to your food that you would not get any other way.  Major, major umami.   I urge you, I beg you, try the little suckers out with this recipe.  They really make the dish.  I promise that they do not make the dish taste fishy, and I guarantee you won't even know they're in there in the end!


This is a recipe that I adapted from a recipe of Giada's - just kicked it up a bit to be a little more complex. It's fast, easy, and oh so tasty.  I hope you give it a whirl and become an anchovy convert like me!


Ingredients:

• 1 box farfalle (bowtie) pasta
• 3 T butter
• EVOO
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 anchovy filets, minced (don't skip these!!!)
• 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes
• 1 scant tsp dried oregano
• Approximately 3/4 cup seeded and diced fresh tomato
• 1 large zucchini cut into thin crescents
• 1 bunch broccolini, florets and top of stocks only (could substitute with 1 head's worth of broccolli florets)
• Grated parmesan
• S&P
• little bit of flat leaf Italian parlsey, chopped.

Try them, you'll like them!

Set up your pasta pot with water and bring to a boil.

Melt the butter in some EVOO over medium, medium-low heat. Add the garlic and anchovies and sauté for awhile, till anchovies 'melt' but garlic does not brown. Then, add red pepper flakes to taste, oregano, black pepper and a little bit of salt (anchovies and butter already have salt, and Parmesan is salty, so don't over do it)

Then, add the zucchini and sauté for a few minutes. Next, add tomato, and turn temperature down to medium low. I let all of these ingredients cook down till kind of mushy lumpy sauce is created. Perhaps this isn't the most gourmet way to serve the zucchini, but I like it when it falls apart and can help the sauce stick to the pasta. 

While your sauté cooks down, cook your pasta in salted water. When there are 5 minutes to go till al dente is reached, add your broccolini florets and cook along with pasta for remaining time. When done, drain the pasta and florets, and immediatly add the pasta and florets to your sauté pan. Reserve 1 ladle full of pasta water. Mix well and continue stirring and cooking over medium low for 2-3 minutes so that sauce permeates pasta. Add pasta water if you want it a little saucier.

Serve with a little fresh chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese on top.

Capresé Style Soup

Maryland was hit by a bit of an ice storm last night.  While the evening started off with a scenic snowfall of about an inch, it was quickly thwarted by the bully of the meteorological world, the evil "Wintery Mix." Soon, snow had turned to slush, and slush had turned to ice, and  every outdoor surface was coated with an ice glaze.  While somewhat pretty from within my nice cozy house, it is not fun to deal with.  Thankfully, it wasn't a very severe storm - the main roads were cleared relatively quickly, and to my knowledge there weren't any downed tree or power line problems.

So, while slipping and sliding my way up my front walk today after work, I began to think about how excited I am for summer.  A food blogging friend and I were just lamenting the lack of culinary creativity that strikes us in the dead of winter, and how everything is much more fun when you can grill outside, stock up on amazingly fresh and delicious veggies at your farmers market, enjoy homegrown herbs, and more.  Craving warmer summer days, I decided to do a winter version of a summer classic, and make a fresh tomato and pesto soup - let's call it Capresé style.   While nothing can touch the awesomeness of fresh summer tomatoes, the hubby and I enjoyed a 'sneak peak' of summer flavors in a dish that was still nice and comforting on such a crummy winter day.

So without further ado, here's my Capresé Style Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced in half.
• 1 cup crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup red bell peppers, chopped
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2-3 chicken breasts - cooked and chopped into bite size pieces (I used a time saving rotisserie chicken!)
• 1 box of Chicken Stock
• 1/2 cup store bought pesto sauce (I used Trader Joe's brand)
• 1/3 box of small tube pasta of your choice (I used mini Penne)
• 1 T flour
• EVOO
• Butter
• S&P

Directions:

Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat in a little EVOO and butter until tender and the juices have released, 3-5 minutes.  Add in the shallots and a bit of S&P and sauté for another 3 minutes. Add in the garlic and the bell pepper and sauté until the bell peppers are tender. Add in the flour, and stir well.  Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.  The pan might get very dry, but that's okay, just keep cooking and stirring.  Next, stir in your chicken and the grape tomatoes.  Cook until the tomatoes gets soft, about 3 minutes.  Then, add in your pesto and mix well.  Add in the chicken stock as well as 1 cup of water.  Stir well, and bring up to a boil.  Add the dry pasta, and instantly reduce heat to low.  Stir occasionally, and cook until the pasta is al dente.  Super easy, and pretty quick.  Enjoy!

Guest Post! Stuffed Crust Pizza a lá Christy!!

Mmmm...Cheesy Delicious Crust!

Well folks, you all must be starving because I haven't blogged a recipe in AGES!  Well, what's happened to this blog? Let's see.  It all boils down to two simple thing. One, I started a part time job. And, Two - I started another one!  Suddenly my days of playing housewife and wasting away the hours cooking lavish meals for the hubby are far behind me!  With that said, I AM still cooking, just a more abbreviated version of it.

Christy and her hubs - what a
beautiful picture!!

It took a gentle nudge in the form of an offer for a guest post to get me to log back in and post tonight. The nudge came from the lovely Christy H, who happens to be my little sisters best friend!  Knowing that my sister adores her, makes me adore her as well.  She's a kindergarten teacher (what lucky kids!) as well as a devoted army wife who was by my sister's side through more than one deployment.  If that doesn't instantly endear you, just read this recipe!  This is such a fun twist on pizza, and sounds absolutely delicious.  I hope you all give it a try, I know I will!

And without further ado - here's Christy's recipe!

Home made Stuffed Crust Pizza

by Christy H.

I am not a crust fan. Usually, I eat the whole slice of pizza and the crust goes to my husband or if she's lucky enough, my dog. BUT I do love stuffed crust pizza. The cheese inside the bread...YUM! We've been pretty budget conscious around our house lately and I've been trying to make as many meals at home as I could rather than ordering out (most the time it's healthier too!). So I decided to give it a go on making our own stuffed crust pizza.

What you'll need:

• Pizza dough (I used the recipe that came with my Kitchenaid Mixer, but use your favorite recipe, or you could probably use pre-made stuff from the store, Trader Joes has some good stuff for pretty cheap!)
• 8 mozzarella cheese sticks - I've done this with only 4 and then cut in half vertically if you don't want it AS cheesy (or if you forgot to buy extra cheese sticks! oops) but I think it was better with the whole stick
• Garlic powder/salt and a lil corn meal
• Sauce and toppings for your favorite pizza

What you do:

Make your dough according to the directions. I like to spread a lil bit of garlic powder/salt and corn meal before putting down the dough. It's a nice extra flavor on your tongue when you bite in! After your dough has risen spread it out onto your pizza pan or stone. Try to make it as even as possible and reach as far to the edge as possible. I'm still trying to perfect this as you can see in the photo. What I really need is someone to teach me how to throw pizza dough!

Take one cheese stick and place it at the edge of your dough. Carefully pull towards you as you roll towards the center. The extra tension will get out air. Press the dough together where it meets. 

Continue with the other 7 sticks folding over the extra dough in between cheese sticks. You should have a new shape...what is it!? an octagon!! Yes, I teach Kindergarten. Go around and press your seams again, just to make sure your dough won't unroll when it's cooking.

Before I put my toppings on I like to sprinkle garlic powder/salt on the edges (did I mention we like garlic at our house?) Then load your pizza up with whatever you want. We had supreme pizza so it was green peppers, onions, olives and mini pepperonis (seriously the cutest things EVER!)  Just for extra security, I make sure to place the cheese over the seam to help keep it together,

Follow the directions for your pizza dough (mine was 20 minutes at 450 degrees). Cut and you are ready to eat! My husband, Jon, is the pizza cutter in our house and he likes to cut in between the sticks, but it really doesn't matter. Enjoy!!

My Dad's Quick Apple Cake

My Dad & his girls.
From left to right: Riley, Olivia, Me!

Growing up with a stay-at-home Mom who's a professionally trained chef, my Dad rarely got a chance in the kitchen.  If left to his own devices, he can broil a mean Stouffer's french bread pizza, and makes a pretty good burger, but his truly creative ventures in the kitchen were pretty limited.  Two things he's known for in our family are his "Black Beans & Rice" as well as this Quick Apple Cake. When I was a kid, we lived in an awesome neighborhood that had lots of get togethers.  For pot lucks, my Dad would make this recipe, and it was always greatly enjoyed by everyone

I would say that my Dad is a foodie (although he just barely makes the cut since he would actually prefer PB&J over Lobster, which I do NOT understand).... he has an amazing palate and definitely knows and appreciates great food. This is sentimental, but true (so don't gag yourself with your wooden cooking spoon)... he's the best Dad a girl could hope for, so even if he couldn't cook worth a lick, I'd still love him. Here's his Apple Cake recipe, which I changed just a tiny bit - I made it last night and it's just delish.  The hubby and our dinner guests loved it too.  Tastes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

Slice of Autumnal Apple Amazingness!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 stick  plus 1 T unsalted butter
• 3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin wedges
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup plus 1 T granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup fresh apple cider
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a medium sized glass baking dish with the 1 T of butter.

Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and cook over medium low heat until golden, (this gives it a nice nutty and rich flavor... as if butter weren't rich enough already!) about 10 minutes, and remove from heat to let it cool slightly, but not solidify.

While the butter is melting, toss the apple slices with lemon juice, 1 T sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Spread the apples in the baking dish.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir the remaining sugar into the melted butter, then whisk in the milk, cider, and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and add the mixture to the dry ingredients.  Whisk thoroughly to make a smooth batter.  Pour evenly over the top of the apples (don't worry, it will seep into all the nooks and crannies) and sprinkle the top with some granulated sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown & crispy.

Super Delicious Canapés

This is an appetizer recipe that my family has been making for at least 40 years, and has become a staple at most family get togethers. Without a doubt, whenever anyone tries it, they love it, and ask what's in it!  I sort of hate to tell them, because it's soooo bad for you, but if you just have a couple pieces, that's not so bad, right?  Also, if you say that you don't like crab, you'll still like this.  As a kid, I hated crab, but still gobbled these down.

Last but not least, these are great when made ahead of time, which certainly helps make entertaining easier.  The wedges keep super well once frozen - just toss them in a ziploc freezer bag until you're ready to cook them.

Crabmeat & Cheese Canapés
Ingredients:
1 can crabmeat, regular size
1 jar Kraft brand Old English Cheese Spread
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp mayonnaise
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch of cayenne (optional, if you like a bit of spice, use it)
6 Thomas' brand English Muffins,  split

Directions:

The canapés - post-freeze, pre-broil.

Combine all the ingredients (except english muffins) and mix till thoroughly combined.  It's super important that your butter is completely softened, or it won't blend into the other ingredients.  Spread over the english muffin halves, and then place on a cookie sheet.  Cover with plastic wrap. Place in freezer and freeze thoroughly.  Once frozen, cut each half like a pizza into 6 wedges.

At this point you can either freeze the wedges in ziploc bag until ready to serve, or you can cook them now.  To cook, place under broiler and let cook until nice and browned on top.  Serve immediately.  And try not to eat the whole batch :)

Easy Pesto Pizza

Easy Pesto Pizza with Spinach Salad

I'm so behind on blogging!  Last week, the hubby and I celebrated both of our birthdays (27 for me, 30 for him), we had family in town, and a BIG 30th bday party on Saturday.... so I'm finally getting back to the blog.

I had a club meeting tonight and I needed a quick fix for dinner, so I came up with this recipe.  It's a super easy one that tastes like you spent more time on it than you really did.  The big time savers are the store-bought pizza dough and the store bought pesto sauce.  By all means, if you have time to do homemade versions of these things, do!  But if you're in a pinch for time, use these shortcuts and  you can whip this up in just a few minutes -  it cooks very quickly too. 

Ingredients:

• Frozen Pizza Dough, thawed
• EVOO
• Store-bought Pesto
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Grape Tomatoes
• Chopped Cooked Chicken Breast
• Torn Basil
• Shredded Parmesan
• Hot Pepper Flakes

Directions:

Spread with Pesto

Preheat oven to 385 degrees.  Take your store bought pizza dough, and roll it out/stretch it out to fit a cookie sheet.  I find making square pizza is a bit easier.  Brush the dough with EVOO, and par-bake until it just starts to puff up, approximately 3-5 minutes, then remove.

Take a spoon and spread the pesto sauce all over the crust.  You won't use as much pesto sauce as you would a red sauce, but make sure you have good coverage because the pesto packs a lot of the flavor!

ready for the oven

Next, top with shredded mozzarella cheese.  I like to use Sargento brand low fat cheese, and I find that one standard size bag is the perfect amount for one pizza.  Then, cover with sliced grape tomatoes (slicing them might seem a little labor intensive, but it really only takes a few minutes - if you want, just halve them... whole ones roll off too easily). Next, add your chopped chicken breast.  I had leftover grilled chicken, so I just used that.  Finally, top with some torn basil leaves, shredded parmesan cheese, and a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes (if you like spice).

Put the pizza in the oven, directly onto the center rack, this let's the crust get all nice & crispy. Cook until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is nice and golden brown.  Let cool on a cookie sheet for a few minutes, then slice & serve.  Enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Corn Salsa - Great for beginners

Finished Product - Mmmm!

I had a busy day today - job hunting, laundry, cleaning the house, super exciting phone calls with girlfriends, errands, etc.... so by the time 5 o'clock rolled around and it was time to think about dinner, I was lacking the motivation to get really creative.  I looked in the fridge and saw that I had a bunch of tortillas left from fish tacos last week, and also found a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer.  So I decided to make some Grilled Shrimp tacos.  These are so quick, and so easy, perfect way to ease you back into the work week!

For the Shrimp:

• 40-45 small/medium size shrimp - peeled, deveined, and tails removed
• 2 T Chili Powder
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp Adobo seasoning (found in the latino section of your supermarket)
• 1/4 onion, grated
• S&P
• Olive Oil

For the Corn Salsa:

• 1 cup cooked corn (super easy if you use frozen corn thawed out in the microwave)
• 1/2 cup black beans (canned is fine, just rinse well)
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 2 tsp Chili Powder
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 3 roma tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
• S&P
• Drizzle of EVOO

Shrimp on the Barby

Combine all ingredients for marinade and toss with shrimp.  Let sit in fridge for about 10 minutes, then skewer the suckers.  Grill until firm & pink, about 3 minutes per side.

Combine all ingredients for salsa, and refrigerate to let flavors marry.

While shrimp is cooking, place your tortillas wrapped in foil on the grill as well so that they heat up.

Once shrimp is cooked, remove from skewers. Serve shrimp on tortilla, topped with salsa.  I like to add a dollop of sour cream, some fresh cilantro, and a lime wedge on the side.  Enjoy!