Mc Chicken

The last of the kale in the fridge needed to be made into something for dinner. First I got the blsl chicken breasts and seasoned them with salt, pepper and McCormick's new Perfect Pinch Savory All-Purpose seasoning. Cooked them up in some olive oil, added garlic, onion and kale and then some half 'n' half and parmesan/romano and there you have it. Plate the vegetables and set the chicken on top..restaurant worthy if I do say so myself!
If you haven't tried Perfect Pinch, you really should. All Purpose contains thyme,oregano,rosemary,paprika,chili pepper,ginger,cinnamon,turmeric,garlic,onion,
orange peel,lemon peel and citric acid. No salt. There are some good recipes under the label as well as on McCormick's website.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
McCormick Perfect Pinch Savory All- Purpose Salt Free seasoning
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 onion sliced thin,lengthwise
4 handfuls of torn kale
1/4 c. half 'n' half
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan/Romano

Pound chicken breasts to flatten. Season with salt, pepper and seasoning. Heat 2 swirls of olive oil in the pan and saute chicken. Remove from pan and cover to keep warm. Saute garlic and onion in same pan. You may have to add a little oil. When softened, add kale. Saute until wilted. Add half 'n' half and cheese and stir to combine. Add chicken back in just to warm up. Plate the vegetables and set the chicken on top. Voila!

Maybe it isn't Cappuccino Chili

The weather was demanding some kind of soup or stew so I decided on Irish Beef Stew. So I asked Bill to get me a bottle of Guinness stout at the liquor store. He came home with a Lagunitas Cappuccino stout from California. What was he thinking??? "But it had a really neat label",he says defensively. I looked it up on the internet and as far as drinking it the reviews were pretty bad but there were several recommendations for chili. So, change in plans...chili it is..

1 lb stew meat
1 lb sausage
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 poblano peppers, chopped (from my garden)
4 cajun peppers, chopped (from my garden)
2 cans fire roasted tex mex style diced tomatoes
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 cans pinto beans rinsed and drained (I used made-from-scratch beans)
12 oz stout

Cook and drain sausage and set aside. Salt and pepper the stew meat and toss in flour to coat. Swirl olive oil in pan. Brown the meat and then set it aside also. In the same pan cook onion, garlic and peppers until softened. Put everything but stout in the crock pot and stir to combine. Pour in the stout. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low.
At this point in writing down the recipe I double check the ingredients. Wait a minute...there was no chili powder and no cumin! Thinking back, there was none added. So what did I make? Is it chili if there's no chili powder? But he said it was the best chili ever. Whatever this is,it tastes great even if it isn't technically chili!

Beans 'n Greens

I love kale and surprisingly so does Bill. He's not a big fan of turnip greens, etc. but I make him eat some for New Years every year. There was really nice kale for only 99 cents a bunch at the store the other day so I bought some. I intended to make Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana (copycat recipe) but realized when I got home that I forgot the half and half. So I made my other standby which is chicken with canneloni beans and kale. Looking through some similar recipes, I made a few adjustments and came up with this.

1/4 c. flour
salt and pepper
2 chicken breasts (sliced in half lengthwise and pounded flat)
1/4 bunch of kale (rinsed and not dried and torn in pieces)
1 can cannelini beans (rinsed and drained)
1/4 c. flour
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon rosemary crushed
2 teaspoons flour
1/2-3/4 c. chicken broth
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (rooster sauce)

Salt and pepper the chicken. Shake it in a bag to coat. Swirl olive oil in a frying pan and cook chicken till golden brown on both sides. Take chicken out and cover with foil to keep warm.
Using the same pan, add a little more olive oil. Cook onion and garlic until translucent. Add 2 teaspoons of flour and stir to make a paste. Add rosemary. Add 1/2 c. broth and stir until thickened. Add kale in a little bigger than bite size pieces and beans. Continue to cook until kale softens. It should still be bright green. You may want to add some more broth at this time. Stir in a teaspoon of chili garlic sauce.
Ladle beans and kale onto a plate and top with chicken. Enjoy!

Bill's Best BBQ Ribs

When it comes to ribs around here it's a man's world. Every year at the Super Bowl party Rocky brings his ribs. People walk in the door and ask where Rocky's ribs are. It's a source of annoyance to my husband who has been trying to duplicate those ribs forever. Well, last night we had the most incredible ribs ever!

I do the prep work and Weber does the rest but who am I to argue with the king of ribs...

First prep the ribs..

Baby back ribs, 2 slabs to a pkg
Dry rub

Turn the ribs over (so it looks like a boat). Slide a kitchen knife under the silver skin. Grab hold of it and pull it off in one piece. This takes a bit of work but once you get the hang of it you wonder why you were fumbling around with it at first. Generously cover with rib rub and put in a large baggie. Refrigerate at least overnite.

For each slab of ribs take a large sheet of heavy duty foil, lay an ice cube in the center, lay a slab on top with the curve side over the ice cube. Wrap foil tightly around ribs. Cook in your gas grill @ 225 for 3.5 hours on indirect heat.

Take ribs off grill and unwrap. Brush with your favorite bbq sauce and grill just long enough to carmelize sauce. Enjoy!

Recipe for dry rub:

1/4 c. chili powder, 1/4 c. paprika, 2 T. onion powder, 2 T. garlic powder, 1 t. cumin, 1 T. cayenne, 2 T. thyme, 2 T. basil, 2 T. oregano, 2 T. coriander, 1/2 t. white pepper, 1 T. black pepper. The original recipe calls for 1/2 c. kosher salt but I do not add salt to mine. Put this in a large shaker jar and keep in the refrigerator. It can be used as a rub for beef, pork or chicken and also for seasoning cajun recipes.

The Feast of the Two Fishes

For years and years I worked on Christmas Eve and usually got home after 9:00 pm. Sometimes we closed at 6:00 but people just didn't want to leave and then we had to clean up. So now that we can enjoy Christmas Eve I like to cook something special. Bill always cooked Christmas dinner because I was always exhausted and enjoyed being catered to, but Christmas eve I think I just fell asleep.
The Italians have the feast of the Seven Fishes but since there are just two of us we had the feast of the Two Fishes!
This recipe is the result of watching too many cooking videos on You Tube. It seems as though there are as many recipes for mac 'n cheese as there are cooks. For years I have made mac 'n cheese by making a roux with butter and flour and milk. Several Southern cooks I watched skipped this step entirely and mixed everything in a big bowl and then transferred it to a baking dish. They also used eggs and you can go with half and half, fat free half and half or evaporated milk or 2%. It's Christmas...it's half and half!
If we had won the lottery this recipe would be called Lobster Mac 'n Cheese....

"Almost Lobster" Mac 'n Cheese

1/2 lb elbow macaroni or you could use Campanelle (Italian for "little bells" and they soak up lots of sauce)
1/2 stick butter or I can't believe it's not butter
1 8oz. pkg Trans Ocean Lobster Classic
1/2 lb medium cooked shrimp
1 pkg Kraft Italian 5 cheese with added cream cheese (Mozzarella, Provolone, Romano, Asiago and Parmesan)
2 cups half and half with 1 egg whisked in
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
Dash of cayenne
Salt and pepper

Cook macaroni (al dente) and drain. Put in a big mixing bowl and while still hot add the butter cut up in pieces. Stir to melt butter and coat macaroni. Break up lobster into chunks. It will come apart in squares about 1 inch. Add lobster and shrimp to bowl, cheese, half and half, egg and seasonings. Stir all together. Grease a 1.5 quart casserole. Pour in everything. Cover and bake for 30 min. at 325.

Prepare topping.

2 tablespoons of melted butter combined with 1/4 c. Panko bread crumbs.

Uncover and put breadcrumbs on top. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 15 more minutes until lightly browned.

Rumble, rumble...Woo Hoo!

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate & wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out & screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Yes, I stole that from my famous cooking blogger Laurrie! Words to LIVE by....

Intent on living up to the chocolate part, I submit the following recipe...also not mine but worth adding to your recipe box.

Trader Joe's Rumble Cakes

1 stick TJ's Unsalted Butter
2 TJ's Eggs
1 box TJ's Truffle Brownie Mix
1/4 cup TJ's Dried Tart Montmorency Cherries
1/4 cup TJ's Walnut Halves and Pieces
1 box TJ's Frozen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Preheat the oven to 350°. Bring the butter to room temperature and combine the eggs with the butter and whisk/ mix. Slowly add in the brownie mix. Once the mixture is uniform, add in the cherries and walnuts; set aside. Lightly grease a brownie pan and place the chunks of cookie dough sporadically around the bottom of the pan (there may be a few pieces of cookie dough left, do with them what you must). Pour the brownie mix over the top, evenly coating the cookie dough. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean. Enjoy! Serves: 10
Cooking Time: 45 Minutes

If you don't have a Trader Joe's, you could make your own brownie mix (but TJ's Truffle Brownie Mix!!!) and you could make your own cookie dough (but TJ's !!!). With or without TJ's you could use dried cranberries and toasted pecans (which I did) and make it all your own.

There is some question as to what size pan is a "brownie pan". I used a 9x9 pan which took a really long time to cook. Someone said 45 minutes at 325 but it took mine over an hour. It was looking more like cake since it filled the pan to the top when it cooked. I'm thinking it probably meant a 9x13 pan at 350 for 45 minutes. Just watch it and you can tell when it starts to pull away from the sides and the toothpick comes out clean. I'm rather partial to the big, chunky, chocolatey results.

If it gets a little overcooked on the edges there is a remedy. Put chunks in a parfait glass, pour some coffee liqueur over and top with whipped cream!

Woo Hoo !!!!

Sausage and Farfalle

I saw this package of Johnsonville smoked chicken sausages with cheese and chipotle peppers and decided it had to go in the shopping cart. So then last night while surveying the contents of the fridge, I pulled out the last 5 stalks of asparagus and the last of the sliced portobella mushrooms and started cooking. Olive oil in the pan with two smashed garlic cloves. Rinse the asparagus well to get rid of any sand. The secret to asparagus is to hold the bottom of the stalk and then gently snap. The break will come so that the woody part is gone and only the tender part remains. Sometimes just a little comes off and sometimes a lot longer piece.

Growing up, my mother would make us eat the whole thing and I hated asparagus. A child of the depression, she could not bear to throw any food away...woody broccoli stalks came to the table too!

Diagonally cut the asparagus and toss it in the pan. Cook until "crisp tender" (starting to get soft but still bright green). Add the mushrooms. Slice sausages and add to pan. Meanwhile I cooked some mini farfalle. Really cute mini bowties from Barilla. Drain the pasta reserving about 1/4 cup of cooking water. Add pasta to the pan. Then add two tablespoons of homemade pesto which I keep in the freezer. Then add enough of the pasta water to make it "saucy".

Serve with grated parmesan.
Mmmm...there were even leftovers for lunch the next day!