Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala has to be one of my favorite dishes of all time.  Here's a fairly easy version I whipped up tonight.

6-8 Chicken Tenderloins or 3-4 Chicken Breasts, skinless & boneless

1 C. Flour

4 T. Butter

1/2 C. Chicken Broth

2 Garlic cloves, minced

8 oz. Mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 C. Marsala Wine

1. Heat 2 T. Butter in large sauce pan. Pat chicken dry. Add salt and pepper to flour and place in medium-sized shallow bowl. Dredge chicken in flour mixture and place in pan.

2. Cook on medium-high heat about 2-3 minutes per side.  They will not be cooked through, they will finish cooking with the sauce. Remove chicken from pan.

3. Add Chicken broth and garlic to pan. Saute for 2 minutes and add mushrooms. Saute for another 4 minutes or until mushrooms are semi-soft.

4. Add marsala and remaining butter, away from heat. Simmer on medium heat for 7-8 minutes.  Add chicken back into the pan and finish cooking. Sauce will continue to reduce and thicken.  When chicken is cooked through and sauce is ready serve over pasta or mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Macadamia Crusted Halibut with Coconut Rice

Macadamia nut crusted Halibut

4  6 to 7 oz. Halibut fillets

1 C. Madadamia nuts

3/4 C. Panko

2 Eggs {beaten and mixed with 1 T. water}

Flour for dredging

Peanut oil for sauteing

Salt & Pepper

Place macadamia nuts and panko in food processor bowl fitted  with a work blade. Using pulse, crush nuts and panko together until you achieve a medium coarseness.  Don't overgrind or oil will extract from nuts.  Heat a large saute pan on mediuum heat.  Lightly season halibut, dredge in flour, shake off excess then dip in egg mixture, then place in macadamia nut mixture and coat well.  Press nuts on and lightly shake off excess.  Add oil to pan and place halibut in pan.  Continue cooking halibut until golden brown on both sides-about 6 to 8 minutes.  If using thick fillets, finish cooking in a 350 degree oven for 7-10 minutes.

Coconut Rice

2 C. Basmati rice

2 C. Coconut milk

1 3/4 C. Water

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Vegetable oil

1 tsp. White sugar

1 tsp. Coconut extract

Rub oil over the bottom and sides of a deep-sided pot with a tight-fitting lid.  Place rice, coconut milk, water, and salt in pot.  Put pot on the stove over medium-high heat.  Stir well.  Add the sugar and flavoring.  Continue stirring occasionally until it comes to a gentle boil.  Once it has come to a gentle boil, stop stirring, and turn down to medium-low heat.  Place lid askew on the pot, allowing some steam to escape.  Cook for 15-20 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave pot on the burner.  Cover the pot tightly and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. Fluff and serve.

I used this Anne Made Spicy Mango as a topping over the halibut. These stuff is amazing! It has just the right flavor and kick.  You could also use a pineapple-mango chutney. But if you can get this stuff I would definitely recommend it.  You can find it at Bloomer's Gift & Floral.

Tomato Basil Chicken in Cream Sauce

I didn't get a chance to take a picture of this one but it is phenomenal.  A client gave me this recipe a few weeks ago and I kept meaning to try it, now  I'm so glad I did. It's Delish...and quite easy.

2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 T. Oil from oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 C. White cooking wine

1/3 C. Whipping cream

1/4 C. drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced

3 T. thinly sliced fresh basil

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken to skillet and saute until golden.  Add garlic and stir 30 seconds.  Add cooking wine, cream, and tomatoes and bring to boil.  Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, about 3 minutes.  Transfer chicken to plates.  Add basil to sauce in skillet.  Increase heat and boil until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon, about 2 minutes.  Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper, spoon over chicken and serve.

Serving note: I think it would be great over some capellini pasta.

Oatmeal Cake

This is a surpisingly yummy cake...it came from "The Gathering of Friends" cookbook. I've made a few minor modifications to perfect the recipe. Enjoy!

The Cake:

1/2 C. Butter, melted

1 1/2 C. Oatmeal

1 1/2 C. Boiling water

1 tsp. Baking soda

1 3/4 C. Flour

1 C. Brown sugar

1 C. Granulated sugar

2 tsp. Cinnamon

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Salt

In a large bowl combine butter, oatmeal, and water.  Let sit for 20 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well until completely combined.  Spray bundt pan with Pam spray{with flour}*.  Pour batter into pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 33-38 minutes.

For Topping:

3/4 C. Brown sugar

1/2 C. Heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 C. Coconut

1/3 C. Butter

1 C. Pecans

Heat the butter, sugar, and heavy cream until the mixture begins to bubble on the sides, make sure the butter is completely melted {not boiling}.  Fold in pecans and coconut and spoon over hot cake.  Broil in oven for 2-3 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

*It is essential to use spray Pam with flour. I've tried this recipe all other ways and the cake will not come out of the pan.

A pescitarian meal

This weekend we had some of our wonderful neighbors over for dinner.  The wife is a pescitarian and so this presented an interesting challenge. I never cook fish or vegetarian meals.  So here's my first attempt. It was relatively easy and turned out well. I only have this picture of the shrimp and the vegetables but here's the menu:

Grilled Garlic Herb Shrimp Skewers

Grilled Vegetable Skewers

Grilled Pineapple Skewers

Cilantro-Lime Rice {recipe from last May, substituted Vegetable broth for Chicken}

Butter Lettuce Salad with French Vinaigrette

The Recipe:

• 2 pounds large shrimp (16 to 20 per pound), peeled, deveined, & tails on
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, small-diced
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced

Directions

Combine all the ingredients and allow them to marinate for 24-48 hours.  I added a little more olive oil and lemon juice to be sure all was thoroughly covered.

Skewer the shrimp, 4 or 5 shrimp on a 12-inch skewer. Heat a grill with coals and brush the grill with oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking. Grill the shrimp for only 1 1/2 minutes on each side.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Lately I've really been in the mood for anything with ginger and molasses.  These definitely fit the criteria and are super tasty.  I think i'll make these for neighbor gifts this year and package them up pretty. 

2 1/2 C. flour

2 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

3/4 C. butter, room temp

1/2 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 C. granulated sugar, plus more for coating & dusting

6 T. molasses

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with silpat liners.  Whisk together flour, soda, salt, ginger, allspice, and pepper.  Using kitchenaid mixer cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in molasses and egg.  Gradually add in flour mixture, mixing on low speed.  Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, and freeze for 20 minutes.

Remove dough from freezer.  Roll dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll in sugar to coat. Place on baking pan and flatten.  Sprinkle with more sugar {it takes quite a bit to get that white coating, so make sure it's a nice little mound}.  Bake until brown 10-11 minutes. Cool on wire rack & enjoy!

Malt Shop Cupcakes

I have to say these are some of my favorite cupcakes that i've made.  They are absolutely delicious.  Unfortunately, I can't take total credit on this one... this is a modification from Paula Deen's Chocolate Malt cake.

2 1/4 c. flour


1 1/4 c. sugar


3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa


1 1/2 tsp. baking soda


1 tsp. baking powder


1/2 tsp. salt


1 c. milk


1 c. malted milk powder


1 c. vegetable oil


3 large eggs


1 c. sour cream


1 tsp. vanilla extract


 

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl, combine milk and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add milk mixture, oil and eggs to flour mixture, beating at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla, beating just until combined.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pans and bake for 15-17 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely on racks.

Frost and garnish w/malted milk balls if desired

Malt Frosting


1 c. butter, softened


3/4 c. heavy whipping cream


1/2 c. malted milk powder


6-7 c. powdered sugar

Blue food coloring

In a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

In a small bowl, combine cream and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add cream mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed to combine. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth.  You may need to add more or less powdered sugar depending on desired consistancy.  Add 6 to 8 drops of food coloring, mix well. Add more if you would like a deeper color.  Frost cupcakes and enjoy!