Erin's Easy Eats

Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry

June 24th, 2008 by Erin

Although the preferred form of sweet potatoes in this house is with cinnamon, butter, and lots of brown sugar, this will do the trick sometimes too.  This makes a lot of food, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to do less and not be wasteful with half a pepper and half an onion… I always put things in the fridge and forget they exist until they are inedible.  I bought a new brand of curry powder this last trip to the grocery store, and I’m not sure I like it.  Any recommendations?  I can’t find curry paste over here in the boondocks…

I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve been wanting to try but summer vacation has made me lazy and I don’t want to do anything other than cross stitch and watch TV.  I know this is a bad combination, but it is satisfying, and will continue to be for a while still, I’m thinking.  I need to find a new TV series to entertain me… what I really should do is spring the extra few dollars for upgraded cable so I can watch Food TV all of the time.

• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into half moons
• 1 rounded tablespoon curry paste or 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
• 1 Tbs flour
• 1 1/2 c. chicken stock or broth
• 1/2 c. light cream
• 1/4 c. prepared mango chutney
• 10 oz. frozen peas
• 1/4 c. chopped cilantro

Heat up a large nonstick pan over medium high heat.  Add a little oil, and add sweet potatoes with salt, pepper, and curry.  Cook for about 4 minutes.  Move to side of the pan.  Add chicken to other side, browning for about 3 minutes.  Add onions, bell peppers, and toss everything to combine.  Add flour and cook for about one minute.  Add broth, cream, and chutney, and let cook for about 10 minutes, utnil chicken and potatoes are cooked through and sauce is thick.  Add peas and cilantro and simmer for one minute.  Serve over rice.

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“That Orange Chicken Thing”

June 23rd, 2008 by Erin

Really, it’s “Crispy Rosemary-Orange Chicken” but that just isn’t how things fly around here.

Whenever I ask Rick what he wants for dinner at some point during the week, he mentions this.  It is quite good, and as far as Rachael Ray recipes go, it actually is 30 minutes and easy.  (As opposed to most of her 30 minute endeavours that end up taking about 6 years.  But anyway…)  I’ve started putting this in a much bigger casserole dish than I did when I first made it to take advantage of the crisping action on the breaded topping at the end.  Crisp to your heart’s desire.  (I tell my mother to make this one all the time, but she never takes my suggestions.)  Rick took care of the green beans, only mildly insulting my ability to cook “good vegetable side dishes with actual flavor.”  Hrmph.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 c. chopped carrots (I actually eat carrots here)
• 1 very large yellow onion, sliced thinly, or 2 small/medium ones
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped finely (or use about 1 Tbs dry)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 2 Tbs flour
• Juice and zest of one orange (not together)
• 1 c. Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/2 Parmesan cheese (I use the el-cheapo stuff in the green can, shh…)

Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat, and cook chicken until lightly browned on all sides.  (Don’t worry about it cooking all the way through right now.)  Add onions, garlic, rosemary, and carrots, let cook another 3 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over, stir to cover things up, and let cook another 2 minutes.  Add broth and orange juice.  Bring to boil, turn down heat, and let simmer 10 minutes.  Sauce should thicken and reduce.

While things are simmering, combine zest, cheese, and breadcrumbs in a small bowl, toss to coat.  Preheat your broiler, too.

Place chicken mixture in a large, shallow casserole dish (I use a 12″ stoneware pan) and sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top (you might not use all of it - don’t drown the stuff in breadcrumbs.)  Place under broiler and keep a close watch - you want it to just brown and it will burn quickly.  (It takes me about 4 minutes.)

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Mac ‘n Cheese with Spicy Things

May 19th, 2008 by Erin

The bulk of this recipe was stolen from my favorite foodblog, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I will admit to making very few changes, but I wanted to share this with you because it is not at all like mac ‘n cheese, but more like… well, everything I ate in Scotland, meaning it has corn in it. And as you all should know by now, corn makes things better.

Coming down the pipe in the next week or so: another coconut shrimp recipe (I can never find one I really like,) ice cream cake (a really lazy version that you can only make if you have connections, people, connections are important) and perhaps, just maybe, some secret things. That I can’t talk about here. Even though I don’t think Rick reads this. Shhh…

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless chicken breasts, cut into medium sized, cookable pieces (I’ll explain in a minute)
• Chipolte chili powder (optional, I imagine, but I used it)
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped (are you noticing a pattern?)
• 1 1/2 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1 c. cream (I used light cream)
• 1 4oz. can chopped green chilies (there’s chopped again!)
• 1 c. corn (frozen and thawed, if you like, or from a can, if you’re feeling the laze)
• 4 cups cooked curly pasta (somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of a pound)

Set your water to boil for your pasta - the rest of this will be done faster than you think. Boil as soon as the water is ready, and cook it until just al dente, because it’s gonna hang out with some cream and some sauce and get soft but you don’t want it to get squishy.

I cook my chicken in large chunks rather than to chop it all up at first because I find the texture to be better. By this, I mean cutting a breast into thirds, seasoning it, cooking it, and then slicing it after it has a chance to rest. By all means, do it the other way, cutting into bite sized pieces and then cooking, if you like.

Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of chipolte powder. Cook about 4 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Set aside and let rest.

Over medium heat, add jalepeno, garlic, red pepper, and onion with a little olive oil, and sautee until just soft. Add corn and diced chilies. Let it hang out while you cut your chicken into bite sized pieces. Throw the chicken in there. Add the pasta, cream, and cheese. Stir until it is all melty. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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Tandoori Chicken and Phyllo Samosas

May 11th, 2008 by Erin

Both of these recipes came from this month’s Cooking Light. They are both absolutely wonderful. They are by no means “quick and easy” (the samosas took about 45 minutes, plus baking time, and the chicken takes about 15 minutes of prep followed by a day of marinating…) but the result is well worth it. Although I used bone-in thighs this time, I’ll probably use skinless, boneless thighs next time to get more marinade on the meat. This is served with a mint raita, which accompanies both parts of the meal well with a cool creaminess. I sent the husband outside to grill the chicken while I assembled and baked the samosas. I had never worked with phyllo dough before, and after a slight rough start (sorry, top three sheets) I found great success.

Tandoori Chicken (this is the full recipe, I halved with great success for four bone-in thighs)

• 2 tsp oil
• 4 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 ground coriander
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground red pepper (I used about half that)
• 2 c. chopped onion (no need to get it too fine)
• 1/2 c. chopped ginger (a lot, trust me)
• 1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 16 boneless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)

Heat oil in small nonstick skillet. Add paprika, cumin, coriander, garam masala, tumeric, and red pepper. Cook 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Place onion, ginger, jalepeno and garlic in food processor, blend until smooth. Add spices, yogurt, lemon juice, and about a teaspoon of salt. process until smooth. Transfer mixture to large ziplock bag, add chicken, squish around to coat. Marinate overnight, turning occasionally. Grill 7 minutes on each side until done (again, ours took longer ’cause of the bone-in business.)

Samosas

• 2 1/2 c. peeled, chopped baking potato
• 1 c. peeled chopped carrot
• 2 c. chopped onion
• 2 1/2 Tbs peeled, chopped ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 tsp. ground red pepper
• 1 Tbs ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 c. frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 16 sheets phyllo dough

Cook potato and carrot in boiling water until tender, about 12 minutes, drain. Heat large skillet over medium heat, add about 1 Tbs oil. Add onion to pan, cook until just softened. Add ginger, garlic, red peper, cook 2 minutes. Add cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. Add potato mixture, peas, cilantro and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Process half of mixture in food processor until coarsely chopped - it should retain it’s texture. Repeat with remaining half.

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare two cookie sheets with cooking spray (or non-stick foil or your trusty Sil-pat.) Place a sheet of phyllo dough on large chopping board. Fold in half lengthwise. Spoon about three tablespoons into top right corner. Fold end over end like a paper football. Instead of tucking the end under, spray lightly with cooking spray, press end to “body” of samosa, and place seam side down on cookie sheet. Repeat 16 times. (You’ll be talented by the end!) Place both cookie sheets in, and cook 13 minutes, rotate the sheets, bake another 12.

Mint Raita

• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 c. chopped mint
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients, stir around. Lick the bowl when you’re done with dinner.

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Shrimp Tacos with Two Kinds of Sauce

May 7th, 2008 by Erin

As planned, we whipped up some shrimp tacos and made the mayo salsa from the chicken biscuit “sandwich” from the other day. I also made up some pico de gallo, because it was requested.  They turned out very well, and other than the ton of chopping, cooked up quite quickly, too.

Shrimp:

Peel and devein about a pound of shrimp.  I sprinkled some taco seasoning mix on mine, and just sauteed them until they were just finished - I used large shrimp, so I didn’t overcook them for once.

To refresh your memory, the mayo salsa:

Salsa Mayo

• 1 c. chopped tomatoes (2 plum or 1 large regular tomato)
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• 3 Tbs chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (I was done with chopping at this point, ugh)
• 1/2 c. mayo
• 1/2 Tbs. lime juice
• 3 shakes Tabasco (see mom and dad, I eat it now!)

Mix everything together in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pico de Gallo - Essentially everything in the salsa mayo but without the mayo

• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 jalepenos, deveined and seeded to your liking (the more seeds/veins you leave, the spicier it will be)
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 1/2 c. chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 Tbs lime juice (maybe a little more)
• salt and pepper to taste

Stir it all together.

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Turkey Cutlets and Sauteed Mushrooms

May 7th, 2008 by Erin

This is a staple from my mom’s kitchen. I’m not really sure where she got the recipe originally, but it has stood the test of time. I add a little cheese (not originally in the recipe, as far as I can remember) and pretend like I’m making beautiful food from Take Home Chef, which I watched for about 2 hours today. Sigh.

Ingredients:

• 4 turkey cutlets (about 1 lb, total)
• 2 Tbs grainy Dijon mustard
• 1/4 c. white wine
• 1 c. seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced thinly (I really should stop buying the presliced mushrooms, which are sliced, apparently, with a saw held by giants. They are way too thick)

Mix breadcrumbs and cheese together. (I do this in a bag and pretend it’s Shake ‘n Bake.) Pat turkey cutlets dry. Spread each all over with 1/2 Tbs mustard apiece. Coat with breadcrumb mixture. Cook on a preheated nonstick skillet with a little olive oil over medium high heat, turning until nicely browned and cooked through. Add wine to pan, allow to cook off nearly completely, turning cutlets once to get both sides in wine. Remove cutlets from pan. Add a little bit more olive oil (or butter, if you’re me) and add mushrooms. Do not add salt until the very end, I promise. The mushrooms will brown and release their own juices. Then add the salt and pepper to taste.

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Chicken with Lotsa Stuff

May 1st, 2008 by Erin

This has a really fancy title. “Chicken Cutlets on Buttermilk-Cheddar Chorizo Biscuits with Tomato-Olive Salsa Mayo.” Whew. I believe they were supposed to be sandwhiches, but um, I did mine “open face” or lazy, and I could eat it with a fork, which is also lazy. I hate olives, so I left them out. You will never see olives on this blog. If you love olives, I am just saving them so there are more for you.

Really, the standout of this meal, which was new to us this week, was the salsa mayo. We were immediately trying to think of other things it could go with. Watch next week when we have the same salsa mayo with grilled shrimp tacos and Mexican rice.

Biscuits:

• 8 oz. buttermilk biscuit mix (I didn’t have this, so I made mine from scratch. Jiffy or Bisquick would work just as well and be a lot easier.)
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 lb. Spanish chorizo (which is already fully cooked) finely chopped

Place mix in a bowl, stir in cheddar and chopped chorizo. Add water or milk according to package directions. Form into 1″ thick square. Cut into 4 squares. Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes (mine actually took almost 20. I blame this on the “from scratch” business.)

Salsa Mayo

• 1 c. chopped tomatoes (2 plum or 1 large regular tomato)
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• 3 Tbs chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (I was done with chopping at this point, ugh)
• 1/2 c. mayo
• 1/2 Tbs. lime juice
• 3 shakes Tabasco (see mom and dad, I eat it now!)
• If you like olives, add 10 chopped green olives and let me know how it is

Mix everything together in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Beg my mother to tell you the Tabasco story in the comments.

Chicken

• 4 thin chicken cutlets (I halved breasts the thin way)
• 1/2 Tbs. ground coriander
• 1/2 Tbs. lime juice
• Salt and pepper

Season chicken with all that stuff. Cook on each side 3-4 minutes, until cooked through. (I imagine it would be equally wonderful on the grill.)

I just piled everything on top of everything else, but if you want a sandwich, split the biscuits, place chicken, then mayo, then some leafy lettuce, and then the biscuit top on top. Top on top. Hop on pop. Oof.

Posted in Uncategorized, chicken, dinner, recipes, sausage || 2 Comments

Moosewood’s Sunday Salmon

April 17th, 2008 by Erin

I love lox. I could eat it every day for breakfast with onions, and toast, and a little bit of creme fraiche. It is just that good. Forget breakfast - I would gladly eat it any time. This recipe always makes me think of Kenny, a co-worker of mine who has the same taste in salmon as well as the last name of the actual recipe, which is “Stein Sisters’ Sunday Salmon.” Kenny (Stein, not Salmon) is retiring this year, and perhaps I’ll manage to sneak him out a wedge of this stuff if it doesn’t disappear before tomorrow morning.

This recipe pulls double duty as a good brunch dish (with fresh fruit and bagels) or as dinner (with a greens salad with a tangy dressing.)

Ingredients:

• 4 medium potatoes (fist sized) sliced into thin half moons
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1/4 lb. lox, cut into pieces
• 2 Tbs fresh minced dill (or about 3/4 Tbs dried)
• 1/2 lb fresh salmon steak (or go for those vacuum packed ones. Don’t get the cheap canned stuff, as I did this time, and have to spend 15 minutes picking tiny bones and scales out. Ew.)
• 8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 c. milk (the original recipe calls for 1 1/4 c. but I found that it NEVER set so I reduced it a bunch)
• sweet (not hot) paprika

Boil potato slices for about 7 minutes, or until just tender. Line the bottom of a oiled (or sprayed) casserole dish. Meanwhile, sauté onions in butter until just translucent. Add lox and dill and saute for a few minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.

If you’re using fresh salmon, boil an inch of water in the bottom of a saucepan. Place salmon in a steamer rack or metal colander, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover, and steam 5-6 minutes. Flake into lox mixture. If you’re using vacuum packed (or, heaven forbid, canned) salmon, dump it out and break it up a bit. No need to steam. Add to lox mixture.

Distribute cubes of cream cheese evenly around the casserole dish (seriously, the cream cheese is the best part, so make sure everyone gets an equal chance to consume its delicious goodness), and then top with lox-onion-salmon mixture. Mix eggs with milk, and pour over entire thing. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until set.

Posted in breakfast, dinner, fish, potatoes, recipes || 2 Comments

Potato Crusted Salmon with Cream Sauce

April 10th, 2008 by Erin

Another one of those fancy meals! I used to make this for St. Patrick’s day. I didn’t this year because we went to my parents’ house (where I ate chicken fingers and everyone else ate corned beef, ew.) I serve this fish with either “frizzy salad” (all those fancy leaves) or mixed veggies, for the uncultured. I imagine if you like carrots, this would be great with steamed carrots.  (I hate carrots, even though you see them on the plate below, they were quickly moved elsewhere.)

Fish:

• 2 large potatoes, peeled
• 4 4oz. salmon fillets or steaks (I personally think fillets work better, but with skin/scales removed)
• 4 tsp. country Dijon mustard
• 1 egg

Grate potatoes on large holes of grater. Mix grated potatoes with egg. Pat fish dry, and lightly season with salt and pepper. Rub one side of each fillet (use 1 tsp on each) with Dijon mustard. Cover the mustard with enough potatoes to coat entirely. Wrap in plastic wrap to firm and press excess water/space out. Preheat oven to 425. In an ovenproof nonstick pan, heat 2 Tbs olive oil. Place fish potato side down. When they have started to get golden, flip CAREFULLY (get the best flipper in your house - that’s the husband, not me) to flip it over. Pop into oven for 5-10 minutes, until fish is opaque in center.

Serve with Chive Cream Sauce…

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 5 scallions, sliced as thin as you can, white part only
• 1 Tbs chopped garlic
• 3 Tbs white vinegar
• 3 Tbs water
• 1/2 c.chardonnay (or whatever white you have around)
• 1/2 c. evaporated skim milk
• 1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbs water
• 6 chives, chopped

Heat olive oil, and add scallions, sauté two minutes. Add garlic until fragrant. Add water and vinegar, let cook to almost dry. Add wine and reduce by half. Add evaporated milk and cornstarch mixture, remove from heat as soon as it boils and stir in chives, add salt and pepper to taste.

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Coq au Vin with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

April 8th, 2008 by Erin

I’ve planned quite a series of spectacular meals for the next few days… And there is a reason, I promise. But mostly, its an excuse to make great food and show off my culinary skills to my ever appreciative husband. Tonight, we tackle the French classic, and a light chocolate mousse with fruit as dessert. I started this the night before, just putting things in a bag and letting them marinate.

• 2 cups red wine
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (8-ounce) chicken breast halves, skinned
• 4-6 (4-ounce) chicken drumsticks, skinned
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
• 3 bacon slices, chopped (I used turkey, as always)
• 1/2 cup pitted dried plums, quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Combine first 9 ingredients (through the chicken) in a large bowl (I used a plastic bag) and marinate for at least 4 up to 24 hours. Remove chicken from marinade, reserving marinade, and pat chicken dry. Dredge chicken in flour, set aside.

Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan; set bacon aside. If you’ve used turkey bacon, like I have, you’ll need to add some olive oil (or whatever oil) to the pan to make the chicken brown (because turkey bacon really doesn’t have anything in the way of “drippings.”)  Add half of chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

Remove onion and carrot from marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving marinade. Add onion and carrot to pan; sauté for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in marinade, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add chicken, bacon, dried plums, and bay leaves; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour and for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Discard bay leaves. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

• 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/4 c. cream/milk (whatever kind you have from any other adventures you may be planning)
• 4 oz. cream cheese (half a block)
• 1/4 stick butter
• 1 head garlic, roasted

To roast your garlic, cut off the top to expose all of the heads. Put it in a tiny casserole dish with some olive oil, cut side up (so you can see the cloves), a little salt, a little pepper, and bake covered with foil at 375 for 45 minutes or so. Now, to the mashers. Boil your cut up potatoes for 20 minutes, drain, and return to pot over low heat. Mash ‘em up a bit with your potato masher. Add everything else (squeeze the garlic out into a bowl first so you can pick out any errant skins) and keep mashing, add salt and pepper to taste.  If they don’t look quite mushy enough, add some more milk.  (I went a little too far but they ended up tasting great.)

Posted in chicken, dinner, potatoes, recipes || 2 Comments