2 frozen chicken breasts - mostly, but not completely defrosted
pesto (or a basil, garlic, olive oil mixture) 2 T
1 garlic clove minced
flour - 1/3 C
lemon juice - 3 T
white wine - 1/2 cup
capers - 2T
Slice the chicken breasts into slices about 1/4 inch thick
place about 1/5 C of flour in a shallow dish - add black pepper
dredge the chicken slices in the flour, tapp off excess and set slices aside on a plate
heat 2T olive oil in a large skillet
add chicken slices and cook without moving for about 3 minutes, turn each piece and cook on the other side
when chicken is cooked, add wine, pesto, capers, lemon juice, and garlic to the pan
toss to combine and coat
remove and place chicken slices
add a bit more wine to the pan and deglaze, spoon pan sauce over chicken slices
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saffron Cinnamon Rice
2/3 c rice (I used white jasmine rice)
half an onion - coarsely chopped
2/3 C chicken stock
1 garlic clove - mashed
1 pinch of saffron threads
1 pinch of cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
olive oil
Heat 1 T olive oil in a skillet with a lid - add onions and saute for a few minutes
add saffron threads to chicken stock
add rice grains and more oil if necessary - saute for 4-5 minutes until rice begins to brown
peel and chop garlic - add to the rice and stir - let cook for another 30 seconds
slowly add chicken stock - saffron mixture - let boil and then reduce heat so mixture simmers
add cinnamon and cayenne pepper
cover and simmer for 15 minutes - stir occasionally, stir and add more liquid if necessary
half an onion - coarsely chopped
2/3 C chicken stock
1 garlic clove - mashed
1 pinch of saffron threads
1 pinch of cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
olive oil
Heat 1 T olive oil in a skillet with a lid - add onions and saute for a few minutes
add saffron threads to chicken stock
add rice grains and more oil if necessary - saute for 4-5 minutes until rice begins to brown
peel and chop garlic - add to the rice and stir - let cook for another 30 seconds
slowly add chicken stock - saffron mixture - let boil and then reduce heat so mixture simmers
add cinnamon and cayenne pepper
cover and simmer for 15 minutes - stir occasionally, stir and add more liquid if necessary
Garden salad with grapefruit vinaigrette
Plant red lettuce and arugula in a garden and wait several weeks for leaves to emerge - watering as necessary
Tear off enough leaves for two salads, pick for critters, rinse, and spin
take a left-over grapefruit half prepared from breakfast but not eaten earlier in the week out of the fridge (or create one if necessary) Pick the half- supremes out of the fruit and set aside
Squeeze the juice into a bowl - add 1.5T olive oil, 1T balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp honey to the juice and whisk. Taste and correct.
Place the leaves in bowls - add the supremes, some chopped onions, some dried craisins, and whatever else. Add the dressing and serve.
Tear off enough leaves for two salads, pick for critters, rinse, and spin
take a left-over grapefruit half prepared from breakfast but not eaten earlier in the week out of the fridge (or create one if necessary) Pick the half- supremes out of the fruit and set aside
Squeeze the juice into a bowl - add 1.5T olive oil, 1T balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp honey to the juice and whisk. Taste and correct.
Place the leaves in bowls - add the supremes, some chopped onions, some dried craisins, and whatever else. Add the dressing and serve.
Simple pomodoro sauce
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes (a good brand)
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
3 cloves garlic
10 basil leaves
3 T olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
Dump can of tomatoes and can juice into a saucepan, add sugar, salt and garlic (skinned and sliced, but not mashed)
Cook over low heat fo 30 minutes.
Mash tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon and then continue to cook for another 15 minutes
Remove from heat, Mash more if necessary, add remaining ingredients (checking for taste) - stir to combine.
Simple - very tasty
I made this with the sweet potato ravioli (separate post) but came to realize that this was not the right sauce for it - though I did add a T to the center of each serving for color and is was tasty.
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
3 cloves garlic
10 basil leaves
3 T olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
Dump can of tomatoes and can juice into a saucepan, add sugar, salt and garlic (skinned and sliced, but not mashed)
Cook over low heat fo 30 minutes.
Mash tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon and then continue to cook for another 15 minutes
Remove from heat, Mash more if necessary, add remaining ingredients (checking for taste) - stir to combine.
Simple - very tasty
I made this with the sweet potato ravioli (separate post) but came to realize that this was not the right sauce for it - though I did add a T to the center of each serving for color and is was tasty.
Sweet Potato Ravioli
Sweet Potato Ravioli with sage butter sauce:
Pasta:
2.5 C all purpose flour
1 C semolina flour
Pinch of salt
4 eggs - lightly beaten
Sift flours and salt into a mound on a counter - make a well and add eggs. Incorporate eggs with your fingers and form gooey mess into a ball - kead for 10 minutes.
I found the "dough" to be to solid to knead by hand so I threw it in a stand mixer with a dough hook and added (a bit at a time) about .25 C water - the mixer got a dough ball formed (worth doing) but was not squishing it enough to get it smooth - so I kneaded the ball by hand for 10 minutes and let it sit for 15 - this worked very well - the dough was not too dry, but held up very well to rolling and cutting.
Break off plum sized chunks of dough and run through a pasta roller on decreasing widths to get pasta sheets.
Filling:
2 sweet potatoes - peeled and chopped into 1" cubes
1/3 C chopped cashew nuts
1 T brown sugar
2/3 C chicken stock
.5 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/5 tsp. thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic
Boil the potato chunks in water in a small or medium saucepan for about 8 minutes - until they are cooked through like potatoes for mashing. Drain the potatoes, add the chicken stock and mash - add more stock or water if necessary to create a smooth consistency.
Mince the rosemary leaves and smash the garlic - put both in a mortar and pestle and mash into a paste - add the paste to the potato / stock mixture.
Mash the cashews in the mortar and pestle and add to the mixture
Add remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat - adding more liquid if necessary - (I suppose I could have skipped the mashing and thrown everything in a food processor this would have helped keep chunks out of the nuts - through the end result was tasty - perhaps next time) - also, taste and correct - I made this up as I went. Some grated Parmesan, or some ricotta might be a good addition.
Sage Butter Sauce:
Melt 2T butter in a small sauce pan and add about 8 sage leaves (I had some frozen and the were fine) cook for a few minutes and then add about 3T of white wine - I used a chardonnay that I then served with the meal). Strain into a small bowl - pushing on leaves to extract all sauce.
Assembling and cooking the ravioli:
grate a bunch of Parmesan cheese - at least 1 C grated
Take a pasta sheet (probably about 5 or five inches wide by 4 feet long - and place it on a counter (dry! and, I initially used dishtowels under the pasta - but this made it difficult to cut the raviolis out) place small (about 1.5 tsp) dollops of the sweet potato mixture on half of the sheet (thr other half will be floded over on top) - spaces with enough clearance around each to cut out a ravioli - fold the other half of the sheet over the dolloped half and press the dough carefully around each dollop so the tops and bottom sheet meet (be caseful not to rip the top sheets)
use an espresso cup or some similar round object with about a 1.5 " diameter - cut out raviolis (ther are many ways to do this - I will try a pizza cutter next time)
Do not stack the raviolis between cutting and cooking - I did and had a difficult time separating them (many were ripped)
the left over dough can be re-rolled.
Cook the raviolis in boiling water for about 3-4 minutes.
Remove from water with a slotted spoon and serve topped with sage butter sauce (above) and a relatively big mound of freshly grated Parmesan cheese - which will melt with the heat of the raviolis and the sage butter sauce.
Pasta:
2.5 C all purpose flour
1 C semolina flour
Pinch of salt
4 eggs - lightly beaten
Sift flours and salt into a mound on a counter - make a well and add eggs. Incorporate eggs with your fingers and form gooey mess into a ball - kead for 10 minutes.
I found the "dough" to be to solid to knead by hand so I threw it in a stand mixer with a dough hook and added (a bit at a time) about .25 C water - the mixer got a dough ball formed (worth doing) but was not squishing it enough to get it smooth - so I kneaded the ball by hand for 10 minutes and let it sit for 15 - this worked very well - the dough was not too dry, but held up very well to rolling and cutting.
Break off plum sized chunks of dough and run through a pasta roller on decreasing widths to get pasta sheets.
Filling:
2 sweet potatoes - peeled and chopped into 1" cubes
1/3 C chopped cashew nuts
1 T brown sugar
2/3 C chicken stock
.5 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/5 tsp. thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic
Boil the potato chunks in water in a small or medium saucepan for about 8 minutes - until they are cooked through like potatoes for mashing. Drain the potatoes, add the chicken stock and mash - add more stock or water if necessary to create a smooth consistency.
Mince the rosemary leaves and smash the garlic - put both in a mortar and pestle and mash into a paste - add the paste to the potato / stock mixture.
Mash the cashews in the mortar and pestle and add to the mixture
Add remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat - adding more liquid if necessary - (I suppose I could have skipped the mashing and thrown everything in a food processor this would have helped keep chunks out of the nuts - through the end result was tasty - perhaps next time) - also, taste and correct - I made this up as I went. Some grated Parmesan, or some ricotta might be a good addition.
Sage Butter Sauce:
Melt 2T butter in a small sauce pan and add about 8 sage leaves (I had some frozen and the were fine) cook for a few minutes and then add about 3T of white wine - I used a chardonnay that I then served with the meal). Strain into a small bowl - pushing on leaves to extract all sauce.
Assembling and cooking the ravioli:
grate a bunch of Parmesan cheese - at least 1 C grated
Take a pasta sheet (probably about 5 or five inches wide by 4 feet long - and place it on a counter (dry! and, I initially used dishtowels under the pasta - but this made it difficult to cut the raviolis out) place small (about 1.5 tsp) dollops of the sweet potato mixture on half of the sheet (thr other half will be floded over on top) - spaces with enough clearance around each to cut out a ravioli - fold the other half of the sheet over the dolloped half and press the dough carefully around each dollop so the tops and bottom sheet meet (be caseful not to rip the top sheets)
use an espresso cup or some similar round object with about a 1.5 " diameter - cut out raviolis (ther are many ways to do this - I will try a pizza cutter next time)
Do not stack the raviolis between cutting and cooking - I did and had a difficult time separating them (many were ripped)
the left over dough can be re-rolled.
Cook the raviolis in boiling water for about 3-4 minutes.
Remove from water with a slotted spoon and serve topped with sage butter sauce (above) and a relatively big mound of freshly grated Parmesan cheese - which will melt with the heat of the raviolis and the sage butter sauce.
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