Tag Archives: italian

Experimenting With Quinoa

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I’ve finally come to accept quinoa as a healthier substitute for rice (high in protein and fibre compared to white rice). To make a simple pot of  quinoa, like rice, you boil water (2 cups water for one cup of dry quinoa), add the quinoa and let it cook covered on low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Also like rice, you can mix quinoa with anything you would normally eat with rice. I figured, let’s pretend this quinoa is rice so for tonight’s veggie dinner I made…Mushrooms and Quinoa Risotto Style!

I read the article on Wikipedia for risotto and followed the instructions to use butter, olive oil, garlic, and thinly sliced shallots to sautee the quinoa. But first I quickly sauteed the vegetables I chose to use:

2 celery stalks, diced

1 small orange (or red) bell pepper, diced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, whole – did I mention yet how much I love to bite into these? Careful though, I nearly burned my mouth with delicious hot tomato juice

I used a 454 gram/16oz package of mixed mushrooms – the package I found had enoki, crimini, oyster, portabellini and button mushrooms…of course half were button mushrooms. Coarsely chopped.

On medium heat in a large skillet heat oil and add celery and bell pepper until a bit soft (I like the celery to have a bit of crunch to it).  I added fresh ground pepper, oregano and fennel seeds at this point.  Add the mushrooms and cook until their liquids have released and are starting to evaporate. Transfer vegetables to a bowl and set aside.

For the liquids I used about a quarter cup of dry sherry and three cups of broth, your choice of flavour but I used beef…I was craving meat! In a saucepan heat the broth and keep on medium heat so the liquid stays very hot.

Now begins the risotto part. In a large skillet or a large pot, heat olive oil and cold butter. Toss in chopped garlic and shallots and cook for about 30 secs on medium heat. Add the quinoa and stir to make sure the grains are well coated. Look out for quinoa shrapnel!

Pour sherry into skillet and stir gently. When it has evaporated start adding the hot broth half a cup at a time and stirring constantly. Continue to add the broth in half cup measurements until it’s all incorporated into the risotto.

Just when the last bit of broth has been stirred in, add the vegetables and cherry tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes or so for flavours to mix. Remove from heat and stir in some cold butter and grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately and devour. I won’t post any pictures because I fear if I do you may not want to make this and it is SOOOO worth it!

Chicken Parmesan

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Jay celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday and I took him to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Centre. I’d never been and I was beyond impressed. After walking around for hours, looking at the posed remains of humans, we headed back home to eat. I made a very simple dinner of chicken Parmesan, rice, and salad.
The chicken Parmesan I made last night is a variation from the recipe found on Nervous Chef’s blog here.

Chicken Parmesan, serves 2-4 depending on how hungry you are
4 chicken thighs, I didn’t remove the skin or bones
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Frank’s Redhot
Pinch of salt and pepper

1 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
Pinch of salt and pepper

1 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 5 oz can tomato paste
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary
Water
Salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese

Mix together in a large bowl the milk, eggs, garlic powder, onion powder, Frank’s Redhot, salt, and pepper. Place the chicken pieces in the bowl, cover, and place in the fridge to soak for 4 to 6 hours.
Once you’re ready to start cooking, make the sauce by heating about a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic and cook another 30 seconds before adding the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir in the sugar, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper. Fill the empty can of tomato paste with water and add that water to the pot. Lower heat and simmer.
Preheat oven to 325F. In a shallow plate or bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper. Cover each chicken piece in the bread crumb mixture making sure each piece is well coated. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken until just brown on each side.
In a baking dish, large enough to fit the chicken pieces without overlapping, pour half the tomato sauce on the bottom. Place the chicken in the pan and pour the remainder of the sauce over top. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese and put back in the oven for about 6 to 8 minutes more.
I served this with fried rice with corn and a simple salad. Jay was very happy and he absolutely loved the tomato sauce.

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Timpano!

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Last night, a friend celebrated his 30th birthday and, like most foodies, he wanted to make dinner. He chose to make timpano, something he and his fiancée saw in a movie called The Big Night. It’s basically a sort of pizza dough stuffed with pasta, sauce, sausage, meat, hard boiled eggs, cheese, and I don’t know what else. Let me just say that this was fantastic and I have to make this dish at some point in the future. It’s baked inside a domed shaped vessel similar to a mixing bowl, like this:

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Once it’s baked, you flip it over and it looks like this:

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Served in slices that make you smile and rub your belly in appreciation:

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With dinner, we ate fresh baked bread that Jay made that afternoon. It comes from a Rose Levy Beranbaum recipe (found here) and it is amazing. The bread is so nice and thick, rich, and full of yum.

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For the birthday boy, I made the Perfect Party Cake. This time, however, I’ve used the recipe as detailed in Dorie Greenspan’s book. Personally, I preferred the original Dorie version (which can be found here on tablefare’s blog) much more than the one I made for my birthday.

Covered in shredded coconut.

Covered in shredded coconut.

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Hunter Style Chicken aka Chicken Cacciatore

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I’ve started a distance learning program on writing. There are five classes in total and the official start date for these classes was on Friday. Because I decided to scamper off to a noisy campsite – Oastler Lake, a CN train goes by every couple hours even throughout the night – over the weekend, I didn’t get to start my schooling until yesterday. I spent the entire day catching up and going ahead of schedule and in the process causing my brain to momentarily shut down. It’s been a while since I was in school and the effort I was putting in was astounding. So it’s no surprise that I was feeling ravenous way before dinner time. After not eating a proper home cooked meal for three whole days I forced myself to draw in some energy to cook. Luckily, what I made was super easy. And dessert was easier.

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Beneath the thick tomato sauce and tender vegetables lies a juicy, meaty chicken leg served over basmati rice. It smelled like a cheese pizza. Very yummy and incredibly easy to make. This recipe comes from a Weight Watchers book I’m trying to cook my way through. The recipe in the book makes enough for 8 people but I had to alter mine to make 4 servings so that Jay and I could each have seconds. This of course defeats the purpose of Weight Watchers since it’s all about portion control but whatev, I was really hungry and this was tasty.

Recipe for Hunter Style Chicken, Serves 8

1 2.5-3lb chicken cut into 8 pieces and skinned – I used two chicken legs

1/2 tsp salt – I did not use salt and it didn’t need any

1/4 tsp ground pepper

3 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bell peppers, red and green, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced

1 celery stalk, chopped – I did not add this because I didn’t have any

1 (1 pint) container tomato pasta sauce  - I used Classico Four Cheese Blend…could be why it smelled like a cheese pizza.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken and heat 2 tsp of the oil in a large skillet (I used a large pot) over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken 3-4 minutes on each side then transfer to a plate. Add the remaining tsp of oil and add the onion and garlic, stir and cook until softened. Throw in the peppers, mushrooms and celery, cook until softened, about 5-6 minutes. Put chicken back in the skillet (or pot) and add the pasta sauce, stir to coat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for another 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. In my version, prior to adding the chicken and pasta sauce, I added some marjoram and savoury to the vegetables.

I was craving something sweet last night but earlier that day when we went to buy groceries, Jay and I made it a point to not buy any candy or other types of junk food. I was opening up cupboards looking for something when I saw a can of evaporated milk. You ever notice those cans have a recipe for 5 minute fudge? I’d always been curious about that and so I finally tried it. It didn’t take 5 minutes to make. It was more like 10 minutes but no matter. Then there’s also the waiting time which could be anywhere between 1 and 2 hours. Anyway, what you do is put 1 and 1/3 cup of sugar (I only used 1 cup), 2 tbsp of butter and 2/3 cups of evaporated milk into a sauce pan and heat until it boils. Stir it until it’s thick though I didn’t really notice a change in thickness when I made it. After letting it boil for about 5 minutes I removed it from the heat and I stirred in 2 cups of marshmallows and 2 cups of chocolate chips. Then I poured the mixture into a square baking pan lined with waxed paper. Next, into the fridge until firm. When it was firm, I cut it into little squares and I was surprised the marshmallows didn’t completely melt and were still somewhat whole. I really liked it. It was nice and rich and I loved biting into bits of marshmallow.

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