This Would Get You Chopped!

I don't know if any of you have ever watched the show Chopped on the Food Network, but it has become one of those food shows that just happens to be on all the time at my house.  This dinner tasted pretty good, and would have been wonderful if I hadn't not been in the mood to cook it.  I took this chicken recipe from my friend Maggie's blog.  Basically you just butterfly chicken breasts, spread pesto inside, and top with tomatoes and shredded cheese.  I probably used more cheese that she did (I stuffed some inside the chicken too), but the flavor of the dish was great.  I served it with my fool proof rice and roasted broccoli.  Broccoli is one of the veggies that I would rather not eat but I figured that since I am a "grown up" now I should make myself eat it every once in a while.  Usually I drown it with cheese but I decided to try roasting it to see if the garlic, EVOO, and caramelized ends would make it taste good.  And I think it would have, like I said, if I had been in the mood to cook.  I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.  This is Rob's plate before and after.

In my rush to get everything made and being not in the mood, I burnt the broccoli.  Oops!  I didn't think it was too bad but as you can see Rob clearly showed what he though.  I will try roasting broccoli again and next time I will take my time and watch it.

A Weekend of Dinners

Wow am I behind in posting!  It is mostly because Rob has hijacked the computer to analyze all of his NCAA stats in order to do his brackets (I hope I said that all right).  Now that he has like 50 brackets and all of his spreadsheets printed I finally get the computer back.  =)

Two Sundays ago we had Rob's parents over for dinner and they got to see our new kitchen.  I made a roast which turned out very good.  Rob agreed!  It is also another recipe I developed myself which I am trying to do more of.  I mixed together the following ingredients and spread it all over the roast.

garlic powder
brown sugar
onion powder
salt
pepper

I used my famous celery "rack" to keep the meat from sitting on the bottom of the pan and added some carrots and onions to the pan as well.  About 20 minutes into cooking I added 1/2 cup red wine, 1/4 cup marsala wine, and 1/4 cup beef broth to the bottom of the roasting dish.  While the meat was resting I put all the stuff in the bottom of the pan into a pot and added some more beef stock.  I boiled the liquid for about 15 min and let it reduce.  It made a great gravy.

I always have trouble cooking roasts.  I usually blame it on the cut of meat if it comes out bad.  I have searched times and cooking temperatures, looked at all the charts and I still just basically cook it for a while then feel it to see if it's done.  This time it only took about 45 minutes (it was about 4lbs).  However, the thicker end, which I would think would be more on the rare side, was more done than the thinner side!  I don't know how that happened but it was good.

I only have a picture of the dinner all plated.  I used the left over meat to make steak sandwiches with onions and cheese during the week.  I love when I can make a meal and use it over again.  =)

Roast Chicken

Saturday night we had some friends over for a roast chicken dinner.  I woke up ready to make my special rub, and I have to say I had a kitchen blunder that made me think I should go on that Worst Cooks in America show.  I had bought parsley (or what I thought was parsley) at the store a few days earlier and took it out to chop it with the rest of my ingredients.  I kept thinking to myself and actually said out loud at one point, "This doesn't smell like parsley."  I added it to my mixture of butter, lemon zest, onion powder, garlic, salt, and pepper, rubbed it ALL over the chicken (inside the cavity, under the skin, you name it, I put it there).  Then I decided it would be a good idea to look at the so called parsley.  It was cilantro!  I hate cilantro.  Needless to say I let this ruin my whole day.  Rob tried to scrape the cilantro off as best he could and then recommended I just buy another chicken if it was going to make me that upset.  I just really don't like serving something I know will be bad to my friends.  Eventually I went out and bought parsley, remade the rub, washed my chicken, and started over.  It turned out good even though I was sure I tasted some cilantro in there.


This is one recipe I actually made up myself and I think that it is pretty good.  The lemon zest really freshens it up.  I just eyeball the ingredients, mix them all together, and rub it all over the chicken making sure to get it under the skin.

Ingredients:
butter
onion powder
PARSLEY
lemon zest
garlic
salt
pepper

A Little Something Special

We were always a meat and potatoes family, and then one year my dad decided to de-bone a leg of lamb for Christmas.  That sealed the deal.  A few years ago he started making lamb loin chops which became my sister's "going back to college" meal.  Every time she would have to go back to school we would have these for dinner.  Rob isn't the biggest fan but he will indulge in this delicious meal every once in a while.  I have been cooking chicken like it's my job so I decided that we would have a little something special today.  My dad never really writes down recipes so I really just have a scrap of paper with some ingredients written on it - no measurements, so this is technically my shortened version of ingredients.  Jen has had them though and given them her seal of approval.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

4 lamb loin chops (usually my dad and I buy the big ones at Costco and split them)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic - minced
salt
pepper

Mix dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, spread on chops and let marinate (I guess you could do this over night, I never think of it in time.  I also have to do this while Rob isn't around because he HATES mustard, you don't taste mustard in the end, it just adds a nice flavor.)

Turn the broiler on in your oven and make sure the rack is all the way at the bottom.  Place chops on a rack on top of a baking sheet.  Broil chops for about 10 minutes, check them, and turn over.  Continue broiling until medium rare.  Mine were small so they only took about 15 minutes total.

I was so excited today when I found fingerling potatoes at the supermarket near my school.  I usually use baby Yukon Golds because I can never find them.  I slice the potatoes long ways and cook them in a pan with olive oil, butter, and onions.  If I am short on time I microwave the sliced potatoes for 5 minutes and then add them to the onions, butter, and olive oil, otherwise I just cook them altogether and cover them in the beginning so that they steam and get soft. (about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your potatoes.)

Then I take the top off to crisp the outsides up a little and add 1 clove minced garlic. I always make some extra because they make perfect home fries Saturday morning.

Served with green beans and mint jelly - a perfect special meal.

Fool Proof Rice

This one is for my friend Jamie.  When I went to my cooking class I learned how to make really good rice that is fool proof.  Rob always makes Minute Rice which I somehow always mess up.  I always preferred regular Uncle Ben's White Rice until I tried this.  This recipe uses basmati rice which I like a lot.  If you buy the kind in the bag you have to rinse it first under water.


Ingredients
basmati rice
1/2 cup diced onion (I like vidalia)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
chicken stock
salt
olive oil


Directions


Follow the directions for your rice with regards to amount of rice and amount of liquid.


Put olive oil in a oven proof pot with diced onions.  Add a pinch of salt.  Sweat the onions a little then add garlic.  Next add rice and cook for a minute or two.  

Toast rice for a few minutes.

Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Cover and put in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Take out and fluff with a fork.

Fluffed rice ready to serve.

I served this with lemon garlic string beans and my version of chicken cordon bleu.  This dinner got an "I like it" from Rob which is high up on his scale so I will definitely be making this one again. 

Something Sweet

I decided to start with a recipe that got a "really good" which is a rating that doesn't come very often in our house.  This is saved for things that are especially good.  Other family members might give something a really good, but Rob is somewhat of a picky eater.  Not so much in what he eats, but more in finding the little things that could make the dish that much better.  He saves those "really goods" for things you would find from a 5 star chef.  That is the reason why I love them so much!  


I was never really in love with any of my chocolate chip cookie recipes, and after spending 12 days home sick I felt like I needed something to do.  I found this recipe by looking for pictures of thick, soft, and chewy cookies on google.  They looked amazing, and they tasted amazing too.  They were soft and chewy throughout and just a little crispy around the edges.  I was shocked by the 1/4 cup scoop but they didn't spread as much as I thought they would.  You really do have to watch these and follow the directions exactly.  Taking them out when they still look way too soft and letting them cool on the baking sheet is the secret to keeping them chewy.