Erin's Easy Eats

Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage, Bell Pepper, and Fennel

March 30th, 2008 by Erin

I always love looking though my Cooking Light magazine until I realize that every recipe has about 9,253 ingredients to make up for the fact that it is “light cooking.” Well, most of them, at least. This one did not, and it had sausage, which I love. I was a little apprehensive at first - mostly because I’d never had gnocchi until about an hour ago, and wasn’t sure how this dish would work, texturally. It ended up being wonderful, and super simple. The combination of flavors (sweet and savory) and textures (crunchy fennel, slightly gummy gnocchi, and crisp sausage) went very well together. I think we actually improved upon the original recipe by substituting what was both on hand and available at the grocery store. (The original recipe calls for basil, pine nut and chicken sausage, as well as Asiago cheese. I’ve listed what we used below.)

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. package vacuum packed gnocchi (I looked everywhere and eventually found it with the fancy Italian food in the yellow cans and jars - not sure what brand that is)
• 6 oz. smoked chicken and apple sausage (the recipe says to remove the casings, which I found impossible) sliced thinly
• 1 c. thinly sliced fennel
• 1 c. thinly sliced onion
• 1 c. thinly sliced red bell pepper
• pepper
• 1/4 c. shaved Parmesan

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add sliced sausage and cook until lightly browned (or not so lightly, as you can probably see in the picture,) remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan (without washing) add another teaspoon or so of olive oil, and add peppers, fennel, and onions. Reduce heat to medium and cook until veggies are tender, about 13 minutes. While the veggies are hanging out, cook gnocchi according to package directions. Reserve 1/4 c. of cooking liquid and add to pan when veggies are done. Add back sausage, add pepper and cheese, stir until cheese is melted.

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An update…

March 30th, 2008 by Erin

I have not abandoned you.  I am still here!  I have just been eating simple things like spaghetti and take out.  And things you have already seen here.  This week, you can expect one new recipe, if it’s good, that I found in this month’s Cooking Light magazine:  Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage, Bell Peppers, and Fennel.

I’m also gearing up for next week’s tour-de-force cooking extravaganza.  Things like creme brulee, coq au vin, a crepe cake, and roasted duck breasts (which I have no idea where to find…) and maybe the chocolate cake that landed me a husband.

So stay tuned!

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Fancy Things

March 20th, 2008 by Erin

So I’m planning quite a feast for a few weeks from now… three nights of coma-inducing food bliss.  It won’t be cheap.  It won’t be easy.  But it will be good.

However, I only have ideas for two things to make.  (Potato crusted salmon with cream sauce, and coq au vin, plus desserts, which are not an issue.)

What is your favorite “fancy” food?  Something that really shows people you’re cooking to impress?

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Chicken Parmesean

March 20th, 2008 by Erin

This is one of those foods where everyone’s mom does it best, I think. My mom never made chicken parm, and I sort of just invented this process… So now she makes it the best and I love it because it is mine. (Although I’m not sure I’ve ever had hers… normally when I eat this at her house it’s because I’ve made it.)

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved
• 1 c. seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan (Really, Kraft works best for this particular step)
• 1/2 c. flour for dredging
• 1/3 c. milk
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs butter + 1 Tbs olive oil
• Sauce (I use jarred, but you can feel superior and make your own)
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese

Beat egg into milk. Mix Parmesan into bread crumbs. Set up a three part “dunking station” for your chicken - flour, milk/egg, and cheese/breadcrumbs. Dip first into flour, then milk, then breadcrumbs. Cover completely at each step. Heat a nonstick pan at medium heat (enough for a sizzle when you put the chicken down,) add olive oil and butter. Cook until browned on both sides, flipping after about 3 minutes.

Now, I do this part a little weirdly because I want my chicken coating to stay mostly crispy. Turn down the heat really low and put a lid on the chicken, and let it cook for another 7 minutes or so. Then, remove it from the pan, put the sauce in, and add the chicken back. Top with cheese, and cook for another 5 minutes at medium-low or until sauce is bubbly and chicken is cooked through. Serve over pasta.

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Shrimp with Tomato Cream Sauce

March 18th, 2008 by Erin

This is another recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I have yet to make food from her blog that is bad. Really. Her chocolate cake alone convinced my husband to marry me (although he’ll say otherwise) so um, yes!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. white wine
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 3 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh basil
• 3/4 lb. penne, cooked to package directions

Sautee shrimp in about 1/2 Tbs butter and 1/2 Tbs olive oil until opaque. Remove from pan. Add onion and garlic to pan, add another Tbs or so of butter and olive oil, and cook until onions are just soft. Add wine. Let cook for just a second, and add tomato sauce. Turn heat down, add cream. Chop shrimp into bite sized pieces, add back to sauce. Add salt and black pepper to taste, add parsley and basil. Stir in pasta, and devour.

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Mahi Mahi with Couscous and Mango Salsa

March 16th, 2008 by Erin

I will admit that the first time I made this dish, it was anything but easy.  It took me forever because I had no idea how to go about attacking a mango and making it edible.  It turns out I was trying to use mangoes that were NOT ripe enough.  They were like cement and I would slice my finger while trying to cut the mango and curse and be unladylike.  That is all better now though.  This meal is quite pretty, and cooks up really fast once the prep work is done.   Make the salsa first, preferably earlier in the day so that it gets a chance to hang out and mingle in the bowl.  It’ll still be fine if you don’t, it’s just better that way.

Salsa:

• 1 mango, peeled and diced
• 1 small red pepper, chopped
• 1 jalepeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1 ” ginger, peeled and grated (hello, microplane!)
•  20ish blades chives, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder (fresh garlic seems to strong here)
• salt to taste
• juice of one lime

 

Mix it all in a bowl and set it aside.

Couscous:

• 2 c. water
• 1 c. plain couscous
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 handful raisins
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 10 chive blades, chopped
• 1 seedless orange, peeled and chopped

Bring water, curry powder, carrots, and raisins to a boil.  Add couscous, cover and let stand ten minutes.  Fluff with a fork, stir in chives and oranges.

I cook the mahi mahi in a pan with just salt, pepper, and lime juice until cooked through.

Posted in dinner, fish || 1 Comment

Jerk Chicken Salad

March 10th, 2008 by Erin

My mother ate this at a Pampered Chef party and I spent the entire time picking out bacon so I would eat it because it is just that good. Now, we use turkey bacon because it really does add a good flavor to the salad, but truthfully we’ve had it without too and it was almost as good. Lots of chopping involved here - get your buddies to help you cook the bacon and baby sit the chicken in the pan while you prep everything else.

• 2 Tbs Jamaican jerk seasoning
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 lb chicken tenders (or breasts cut into strips)
• 1 can pineapple chunks (the bigger can)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped/crumbled
• romaine lettuce (or a mix, whatever you have)

Put chicken in a bowl and add jerk seasoning, toss to combine. Cook in nonstick pan until cooked through. Set aside. Run a knife through your pineapple so it’s not all huge like it is when it comes out of the can. Put everything in a bowl and toss it up. Serve with dressing:

Pineapple Lime Dressing

• 1/3 c. mayo
• 2 Tbs pineapple preserves
• zest and juice of 1 good sized lime

Whisk all together with a fork, add a little milk if it seems too thick to be salad dressing (depends on your lime.) Drizzle over salad and consume tremendous amounts.

Posted in chicken, recipes || 1 Comment

Raspberry Pear Buckle

March 10th, 2008 by Erin

Every month, our school has data days. (Ugh.) In order to make this torture somewhat more bearable, they’ve started having people bring in desserts to share. It makes it better, because we get food. Teachers love food. Everyone was bringing “chocolate something” so I made this instead. It is essentially a “dump cake” because really you just put everything in it and then dump it in a pan and you’re done. Lovely!

• 1 can sliced pears in syrup (15oz)
• 1 box yellow cake mix (18.25 oz)
• 1 box vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix (3.4 oz)
• 1 container plain yogurt (8oz )
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 package frozen raspberries (10 oz) dry pack without syrup
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar - packed
• 1/2 cup walnuts -chopped
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 13×9x2 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Drain canned pears, reserving about 2 tablespoons syrup. Cut pear slices crosswise in half.

In large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, yogurt, eggs and oil. With mixer on low speed, beat 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl, until blended. On high speed, beat 2 minutes. Fold in pears and raspberries. Turn batter into prepared pan (distribute batter evenly, but do not flatten top as bumps of fruit and batter will create “buckle”). Sprinkle top with brown sugar and walnuts.

Bake in 350 degree F. oven 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove to wire rack; let cool.

In small bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar and 2 teaspoons reserved pear syrup until smooth. Add additional pear syrup, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to make pourable icing. Place icing in small plastic food-storage bag; snip off tiny end of one corner. Drizzle icing over cooled cake. Cut into squares.

Posted in recipes, sweets || 1 Comment

Peach Pie

March 10th, 2008 by Erin

Sorry for the relative lack of updates, folks. I promise a deluge in the next few days (really!) We’ll start things off with one of the two desserts I’ve made recently. I had a bag of frozen peaches from the fall. A woman at my school always sells flats of peaches and I couldn’t use them all before they started to go icky. So I peeled them, quartered them, and froze them (wow, that sounds like a medieval torture technique) and then the other day, they turned into a wonderful peach pie! I used the Perfect Pie Crust from the Pioneer Woman, and it really was a great pie crust recipe. I may try it with butter flavored Crisco (that sounds icky too, but really, shortening crust is superior to any other) the next time. The husband complained about the box of tapioca upon purchase but didn’t even notice it in the pie. It provides a nice thickening without being sweet or requiring lots of cooking with flour or the temperamental cornstarch.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup quick tapioca
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• double pie crust of your choice
• 1 Tbs milk + 2 Tbs sugar for top
  

Mix it all together and let sit 15 minutes. Fill unbaked crust with peach mixture, top with remaining crust. Flute edges (or squish with a fork if you’re fluting stupid, like me) and cut steam holes. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Cover edges of crust with foil. Bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove foil, continue baking 20-25 minutes.

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Pesto Pizza

March 7th, 2008 by Erin

Nom nom nom. That’s what this pizza is. It is strongly flavored, creamy, and potentially the most fattening and horrible thing that anyone could ever eat. But it is SO GOOD. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I ate for two years when I didn’t eat meat, and I couldn’t think of anything. Clearly I ate stuff, as evidenced by my portly figure, but what was it? I can’t have lived on meat substitute the entire time… and for the majority of it, I was with the man, and he hates eggplant so it had to have been something else… It’s driving me crazy trying to remember.  Anyway.  I ate all of this before I remembered to take a picture.  Whoops.

Ingredients:

• 1 pizza shell
• 1/2 c. prepared pesto (get the stuff from the refrigerated section, not in a jar)
• 4 oz. goat cheese (I bought the crumbles this time because I’m lazy)
• mushrooms, sliced
• red onion, *THINLY* sliced

I love my pizza stone, and that’s what makes things crispy.  Cook according to package directions, don’t go nuts.  The goat cheese won’t ever really melt, but it will get hot.

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