Monthly Archives: June 2011

Jun 26 2011
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Banana Bread

Ingredients

·         1 cup granulated sugar

·         8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

·         2 large eggs

·         3 ripe bananas

·         1 tablespoon milk

·         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 teaspoon baking powder

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Spread slices with honey or serve with ice cream.

Banana bread is super yummy and loved by all! This recipe is very simple and easy to follow. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients well before adding to the creamy mixture. Also, I like to add semi-sweet chocolate chips which makes the banana bread extra delicious! Depending on your oven baking time will differ, but I usually need to keep it in for an hour and 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Recipe can be found at:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/banana-bread-recipe/index.html

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Jun 26 2011
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Flank Steak with Red Wine Sauce

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 1/2 cups dry red wine

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 (2 pound) flank steak or tri-tip steaks

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in the wine. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces by half, about 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Whisk in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Strain the sauce into a small bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids in the strainer. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce warm

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the steak generously with salt and pepper. Cook the steak to desired doneness, about 8 minutes per side for medium-rare (the steak will shrink as it cooks). Remove the skillet from the heat and let the steak rest in the skillet for 10 minutes.

Transfer the steak to a cutting board and slice it thinly across the grain. Divide the steak slices among 6 plates, drizzle the sauce over the steak, and serve.

This recipe can be found in Giada De Laurentiis book Giada’s Family Dinners. It was somewhat time consuming because of the various steps, but well worth it. I made this recipe with one of my roommates, and we decided we did not want to discard the solids in the sauce. Rather than having a thin au jus type of sauce, we had a chunky sauce. Though the sauce was thicker, it was still very delicious (and if you like onions it is worth saving the solids!). Flank steak is a treat, and this recipe is a wonderful way to prepare it!

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Jun 26 2011
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Chicken Baked with Red Onions, Potatoes, and Rosemary


2 red onions, each cut into 10 wedges

1 1/4 lbs new potatoes, not peeled

2 bulbs garlic, separated into cloves, but not peeled

salt and pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

about 5 sprigs rosemary

1 (4lb) roasting chicken, cut into 8 pieces, or 8 chicken thighs, rubbed with sea salt to crisp the skin

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the vegetables and garlic in a single layer over the bottom of a huge roasting pan so that they will crisp and brown beautifully. Season with salt and pepper, pour over the oil and balsamic vinegar, and add the rosemary, leaving some sprigs whole and stripping the leaves off the rest. Toss the vegetables with your hand and tuck the chicken pieces in among them. Bake for 45 minutes, until cooked through

This recipe comes from the cookbook Pure Simple Cooking by Diana Henry. The recipe is extremely delicious and flavorful. It was very easy to prepare because everything cooks together in one pan. This recipe is also great because it goes with most vegetables. For this dinner I made sautéed spinach and roasted asparagus. I used chicken thighs which were very moist, and rubbing salt on the skin made it perfectly crispy. I highly recommend this recipe, as I am sure my friends who I prepared it for would agree!

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Jun 26 2011
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Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

·          4 slices whole-wheat bread (1-ounce each)

·         1 teaspoon dried oregano

·         1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

·         4 teaspoons paprika

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 teaspoon black pepper

·         2 egg whites

·         1/2 cup skim milk

·         1/2 cup all-purpose flour

·         4 (6 ounce) skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness

·         Olive oil cooking spray

·         1 jar good-quality marinara sauce (about 3 1/2 cups)

·         3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

·         2 tablespoons (1/2-ounce) shredded Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the bread in the bowl of a food processor and process until fine crumbs are formed, about 25 to 30 seconds. Put the crumbs on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, until golden. (You will wind up with about 1 1/3 cups toasted crumbs.)

In a medium bowl, toss the crumbs with oregano, garlic powder, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and milk together. In a third bowl stir together the flour, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Dip each piece of chicken, 1 piece at a time, in flour, shaking off excess, then egg, then bread crumbs, shaking off excess.

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place breaded breasts in a glass baking dish and spray on each side with cooking spray, about 5 seconds total per side. Bake breasts until cooked though and crumbs are browned, about 15 minutes. Top with marinara sauce, mozzarella and parmesan and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbling.

This recipe was WONDERFUL! I honestly think this is one of the most delicious dinners I have ever made! It was simple and so rewarding. To make things simpler, rather than making my own bread crumbs I bought Italian style Panko bread crumbs. Though they are seasoned I still added the seasoning from the recipe. A tip for breading the chicken: use one hand as a wet hand, and the other as a dry hand. This means only touch the egg with one and the flour and bread crumbs with the other. Also, I did not add milk to the egg mixture. Lastly, I used 2 cups of shredded mozzarella rather than the amount in the recipe. Highly recommended, this is a must-make recipe!

Recipe found at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/chicken-parmesan-recipe/index.html

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Jun 26 2011
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Greek Baked Chicken in Yogurt

I went home this weekend and Meemah (my grandmother) bought be a cookbook! The book is called Pure Simple Cooking by Diana Henry. Just looking through the book got me very excited because so many of the recipes sound wonderful! The first recipe I made is as follows:

Greek Baked Chicken in Yogurt

4 large chicken breasts, skin removed

salt and pepper

olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

16 oz greek yogurt

2 large egss, beaten

2 tbsp all purpose flour

2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

leaves from 2 to 3 mint sprigs, torn

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. preheat the over to 350 degrees F. season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and quickly brown them in a couple of tbsp of olive oil over medium heat- you just want a good outside color, not to cook the chicken through. remove these and set aside. saute the onion in the same pan- ass a little more oil if needed- until soft and just turning golden.

2. combine yogurt, eggs, flour, feta, dill, mint, and garlic in a large bowl and mix well.

3. lay the onion and the chicken in the bottom of an overproof dish into which everything will fit snugly. spread the yogurt mixture evenly on top and sprinkle with parmesan.

4. bake for 45 minutes. the yogurt will have set, and the chicken should be cooked through.

This was a very interesting recipe to try. I love Greek food, so I was really excited to make some myself. First off, I used 4 oz of Feta, which I don’t believe made too much of a difference. The dish came out great. I will admit at first when I saw it I thought visually it looked gross. But when I and my friends dug in, it was surprisingly good! I am used to having Greek food with regular yogurt, not baked. The yogurt topping on the chicken gets a very interesting texture, which took me a few bites to get used to. Overall, I really enjoyed this dish and would make it again! As a side dish I made sauteed spinach which went great because spinach is used in a lot of Greek food!

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Jun 26 2011
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Fried Tilapia

This is basically the same as the breaded chicken recipe except for this I used talapia. You first dip the talapia in flour, then egg, then panko bread crumbs. Then fry in a pan with a generous amount of oil. Very simple and a good crowd pleaser. Panko bread crumbs are japanese and are much better than using italian bread crumbs because they create a crispier, flakier crust on the fish (or chicken).

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Jun 26 2011
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Braised Chicken Thighs with Button Mushrooms

This recipe was delicious! But warning: it is hard work. There are a lot of steps in this recipe that makes the cooking time a little long, but it is well worth it! Rice is the perfect side for this dish because its great to mix together with the sauce. This is a very rich dish and very satisfying.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 6 chicken thighs
  • 1 tablespoon Essence, recipe follows
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 16 ounces button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup sliced yellow onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 cups dark chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 4 cups steamed white rice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Set a 10-inch, straight-sided saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Season the chicken thighs with the Essence, salt and pepper. Place the chicken, skin side down in the pan and sear until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the chicken over and sear on the second side for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the butter and mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until browned and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook, stirring often to make a light brown roux, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, stock and rosemary to the pan, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan, skin side down and cook the chicken for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook until the meat is very tender, about 30 minutes. Serve the chicken over rice and garnish with the chopped parsley.

Emeril’s ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

  • 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yield: 2/3 cup

Found at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/braised-chicken-thighs-with-button-mushrooms-recipe/index.html

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Jun 26 2011
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Orange-Sesame Pork Chops with Teriyaki Whole-Wheat Noodles

This is a very delicious dish. One of the great things about it is that you can make it diabetes friendly by using sugar free marmalade. While making the pasta I used the entire bag of edamame because we did not have use for half a frozen bag of them. However, I do not suggest you do this because there were too many. Also, make sure the pork is fully cooked through. It will most likely take longer than the recipe says to cook.

Ingredients

·   Salt

·   1 pound whole-wheat or whole-grain spaghetti

·   5 tablespoons vegetable or light oil

·   5 boneless pork loin chop 1 1/2-inches thick

·   Freshly ground black pepper

·   3 tablespoons orange marmalade

·   6 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

·   1 teaspoon sesame oil

·   1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced on an angle

·   1 cup shelled, frozen edamame

·   1 tablespoon black sesame seeds or toasted sesame seeds, optional

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for pasta, and cook pasta to al dente.

While pasta cooks, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chops with salt and pepper and cook 6 minutes on the first side, 4 to 5 on the second. Remove chops to a plate and reserve, cover with foil. Add 3 tablespoons orange marmalade, a couple tablespoons teriyaki sauce and a 1/4 cup of water to the pan, bring the sauce to a bubble and combine 1 minute, stir in sesame oil remove from heat.

While the chop cooks, heat a second skillet with 3 tablespoons oil over medium high heat. Stir-fry the scallions and edamame a couple of minutes. Drain pasta and toss with scallions and edamame and remaining teriyaki sauce, about 1/4 cup. Sprinkle noodles with sesame seeds, if desired.

Slice pork or leave chop whole and top with orange-sesame glaze. Serve teriyaki noodles alongside.

Found at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/orange-sesame-pork-chops-with-teriyaki-whole-wheat-noodles-recipe/index.html

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Jun 26 2011
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Chicken Stir Fry

Chicken Stir Fry

Stir fry is a great quick and easy meal to make. The best part is you can add or take out any vegetables you do or do not like. I mostly followed the recipe below but added waterchestnuts and took out the bok choy (due to poor selection in the super market). To make this meal even easier you can buy prepackaged vegatables that have already been cut up in the fresh produce department at the super market. A great side to serve with this dish is brown rice.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil, divided
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 2 pounds chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
  • 1 head broccoli, stems removed
  • 1 dozen mushrooms, sliced
  • 3 carrots, peeled and julienned
  • 1/4 pound green beans, diced
  • 1 head bok choy, chopped
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and stir. Place the chicken in the pan and brown 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan, slice into strips, set aside.

Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a wok over high heat. Add the vegetables and teriyaki sauce. Stir-fry quickly until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the chicken strips, combine well and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

Found at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-stir-fry-recipe/index.html

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Jun 26 2011
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A Taste of Spain

For dinner tonight I made Hake which is a type of white fish. When I was in Spain my host mother made this for me and my family and I loved it. All you do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the hake lightly with a touch of EVOO. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until fish is cooked through. Right before the fish is done, sauté some sliced garlic in EVOO. When the fish is done cooking, pour the EVOO and garlic mixture over the fish. It is that simple!

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