Chicken Marbella

Even if you don't love one of of these ingredients, the sum is greater than the parts and I promise this is what you want to eat!  My family really liked it and I liked how easy it was to put together and how I could refrigerate it a day or so before and pop it in the oven on the night that we were going to eat it.  You don't need much by way of side dishes . . . maybe some bread to soak up the marinade and a green vegetable?  Let me know in the comments if you liked it and if you have any favorite Ottolenghi recipes that I should try next.

Chicken Marbella (serves 6)

from Ottolenghi Simple

2 dozen chicken drumsticks skin on and scored 3 or 4 times to the bone 

5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2T fresh oregano, picked, plus extra to serve

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

1 can pitted green olives

1/4 cup capers, plus 2 tbsp of their juices

10 Medjool dates, pitted and quartered lengthways

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 tbsp date molasses

salt and black pepper

Place the chicken in a large bowl and add all the remaining ingredients, except for the wine and date molasses.  Add 1 teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Gently mix everything together, cover the bowl and leave in the fridge to marinate for 1-2 days, stirring the ingredients a few times during the process.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Spread the chicken drumsticks out on a high-sided medium baking tray, along with all the marinade ingredients. Whisk together the wine and molasses and pour over the meat. Place in the oven and cook for 50 minutes, basting two or three times, until the meat is golden-brown on top and cooked through.

Remove from the oven, transfer everything to a large platter, sprinkle over some thinly sliced oregano leaves and serve.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

My daughters tease me all the time that chicken is my "favorite food."  It's actually tacos (duh!) but we eat a LOT of chicken on weeknights.  In my quest to change it up and still make a healthy meal everyone will eat, I tried this recipe recently and we all enjoyed it.  The ingredients are super simple and probably in your pantry and refrigerator - enjoy!

Lemon Rosemary Chicken (serves 4)

from Little Spice Jar blog

Ingredients: 

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lbs total)

1 1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

3 T butter

3 T lemon juice

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 chicken broth

1/2 T fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 T fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more/less to taste)

2 tsp honey

Heat the oven to 415 degrees.  Combine 2 T butter with the lemon juice, garlic, broth, herbs, and honey in bowl and microwave it in 30 second increments until the butter is melted (or you can do this in a saucepan on the stove).  Set aside.

Heat the remaining tablespoon butter in a large oven proof skillet.  Sprinkle the chicken with the lemon pepper seasoning.  Brown the chicken in the melted butter, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Pour the melted butter lemon mixture over the chicken and place in the oven for 13-17 minutes or until cooked through (internal temperature of 165 degrees).

Citrus Blueberry Muffins

Winter is the time for citrus in So. California.  The kumquat trees are dripping with orange fruit and the girls pick more every day.  Today I saw some lemons that had fallen to the ground when I was running so I rescued a couple and then picked a few oranges off our own tree and wanted to make some muffins.  After glancing through my shelf of recipes books, I couldn't find anything like the idea I had in my head so I used an Alton Brown "Old-School Muffin" recipe as the basis for these.  The citrus was subtle but good and the blueberries were a nice addition.  

Instead of using the citrus juice in the recipe, I used the peel of the lemon and orange and put it in the food processor with the sugar until it looked like this: 

I maybe should have pulled them from the oven a couple of minutes sooner but they were delicious!

Citrus Blueberry Muffins

makes 1 dozen

Ingredients:

1 lemon

1 orange

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

2 1/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup blueberries

Step 1:  Peel the zest of one lemon and one orange with a vegetable peeler (trying not to get too much of the white pith).  Combine with 1/2 cup sugar in a food processor or mini chopper and pulse until well combined.

Step 2:  Put that citrus sugar in a bowl and add vegetable oil, plain greek yogurt, 1 large egg, and 1 egg yolk.  Whisk together until smooth.

Step 3:  In a different bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  

Step 4:  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (don't overmix).  Add  blueberries.

Step 5:  Put batter into a greased muffin tin (makes 1 dozen) and bake in a 375 degree oven for 18 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

 

Baked Chicken Fingers

I found this draft of a post from last fall.  We spent 3 months on the Big Island after a 14 day quarantine to get out of the So Cal Corona madness for a little while.  The photos above are from some of our quarantine diversions.  After those first two weeks, we were waking up early (4:45am) to do online school and work and going to bed right after sunset (before 7pm), but we made the most of all those sunny afternoons! I'm missing the island, our friends, and living in a more "open" state right now - I'm not going to lie.  

This was one of my new recipe hits that I made over and over while we were in Hawaii . . . I haven't made it since but I should make a batch for the kids' lunch while they're doing school from home next week.  It's another recipe that approximates a deep fryer and take out food while being slightly healthier.  

I would make some dipping sauces to go with them and my two best ones were ranch dressing with a few squirts of sriracha and basil pesto with a scoop of mayo.
 

Oven Baked Chicken Tenders

1/4 c. flour

1 egg

1 T water

1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1.5 lbs chicken tenders 

Heat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.  I like to place a cookie cooling rack on top of the cooking sheet so that the tenders are not directly on the foil because I think they cook more evenly this way.

Make one shallow dish with the flour, another shallow dish with the egg lightly beaten with the tablespoon of water, and a third shallow dish with the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese mixed together.

Coat each piece of chicken with the flour, dip in the egg mixture, and roll in the breadcrumb mixture.  Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

New Year's Resolution

Do you make a New Year's Resolution?  Usually I have a theme or intention for the year and don't make specific resolutions but this year I was inspired by Big.  She is super goal oriented and on Christmas Eve, she read me a list of about 10 of hers . . . a few of which she's already made happen (like getting her Etsy shop up and running).  I was inspired by how she read through the Bible in a year and one of my goals this year is to do the same.  21 days in and so far so good.  

One of my other goals is to make some different recipes instead of the same old standbys.  It's easy to just make the same rotation over and over so that the girls don't complain about what's for dinner, but we all need to branch out a bit and try some new things.  My initial idea is to take something they like and make a different version.  I saw a recipe for a Moroccan Tagine that looked delicious and I thought that a tagine is basically a chili (right?).   Everybody ate some of it - it was a little too spicy for Little and Big didn't like the texture and I had leftovers for days.  

I like how it has lots of flavor, lots of vegetables, and you can easily omit the cooked chicken and double the chickpeas to make it a vegetarian main dish.  I used the harissa from Trader Joe's instead of just a paste so that may be why mine was a little spicy . . . but I added even more to my dish.  I served it with naan bread and you could also serve it over rice or cous cous.

Moroccan Chickpea & Chicken Tagine (recipe from Half Baked Harvest by Tieghan Gerard).

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped

1 T grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes

2 T harissa paste

2 tsp smoked paprika

3/4 tsp ground cumin

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 (14 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cup cooked chopped or shredded chicken

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, for serving

Instant Pot Instructions:

In the Instant Pot, combine onion, ginger, garlic, carrots, bell pepper, tomatoes, harissa, 1 cup of water, the spices and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.

Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.  Use a quick or natural release.  Open the pot and put it on saute.  Stir in lemon juice, chickpeas, chicken, and simmer on low until the protein is heated through, about 5 minutes.  Add more water to thin if needed.  Top with cilantro to serve.

Stovetop Instructions:

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  Add the onion, ginger, garlic and cook until fragrant 3-5 minutes.  Add the carrots and bell pepper and continue cooking for about 5 more minutes or until the carrot is softened.  Add tomatoes, harissa, 1 cup of water, the spices, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir, cover, and cook until the tangine has thickened and is stew consistency (about 15-20 minutes).

Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice, chickpeas, and chicken and cook until the protein is heated through, about 5 minutes.  If it's too thick, add more water.  Serve with cilantro on top.

Thanksgiving recap: So much food!

So full!

This Thanksgiving it was just the 5 of us (like last year) and we had a 17 pound Turducken that took us over a week to eat, a few side dishes that everyone likes, and 3 pies.  Well, it was only supposed to be one pie but a friend brought us a Hibiscus / Jamaica pie that was delicious.  Pie for breakfast, pie for lunch and a little turducken thrown in . . . you get the idea.

The worst part is that I didn't take any photos of the pies!  Little and Middle like pumpkin pie and they were in charge of the pumpkin cheesecake pie and Big does not.  My husband wanted a pie with ingredients from Hawaii so we settled on a Kona coffee, cocoa & coconut custard in a macadamia nut shell.  Big really likes chocolate but this was too much coffee and not sweet enough for her taste.  I didn't realize it when I was coming up with the recipe that this is really low sugar and might even work for my friends who are keto / low carb.  I thought it was delicious!

Pie #1:  Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie in a Graham Cracker Crust

A graham cracker crust (we bought one)

2 (8oz) blocks of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon, pinch nutmeg, pinch cloves)

1/2 cup frozen whipped topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well in between.  Place 1 cup of this mixture in the bottom of the graham cracker crust and set aside.  To the remaining mixture, add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice and mix until well combined.  Carefully spread this on top of the cream cheese mixture.  Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until the middle is almost set.  Let it cool at room temperature before refrigerating.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours (or overnight) and before serving, spread with whipped topping.

Pie #2:  Kona Coffee Cocoa Coconut Custard in a Macadamia nut crust

*The amount of custard will fill two pie crusts.  We only made one pie and ate the rest of the custard on it's own with a little whipped cream.

9 full sheet graham crackers

1/4 cup roasted macadamia nuts

1/4 cup toasted coconut

1 T sugar

5 T unsalted butter, melted

2 cans coconut milk (not "light")

1 cup coffee or espresso 

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 oz alcohol or liquer (optional - we used 1oz dark rum but you could also use Baileys or flavored bitters or add another flavoring or just skip it)

8 egg yolks

200g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Whipped cream, for serving

Start by making the crust.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Crush the graham crackers and finely chop the macadamia nuts.  Putting them in a food processor or mini chopper would work well (we did it the old fashioned way with a mallet).  Stir in the toasted coconut, melted butter and sugar and stir to combine.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a pie pan and bake for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let it cool.

For the custard, combine coconut milk, coffee, vanilla and salt in a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  We added the rum here so that the alcohol would burn off but if you want a more "spiked" version, you could add it later when the custard is off the heat.  

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks together.  Remove the coconut mixture from the heat and temper the egg yolks (constantly whisk them while adding 1 T of coconut mixture at a time, until you've incorporated about 1/2 cup without scrambling the yolks).  Once the yolks are tempered, slowly pour them into the coconut mixture, constantly whisking.  Return to medium heat and while stirring, allow the custard to thicken until it coats the back of a spoon.  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until completely melted.

Pour custard into pie crust and cool to room temperature then refrigerate for at least 4 hours to allow the custard to set.  Serve with whipped cream.

Fake Out Take Out

During Covid-19 days, we have done a lot of cooking and eating at home and tried to approximate versions of restaurant cooking that we miss.  While take-out is readily available in our area, we haven't ordered too much and a few weeks ago, I made this version of Orange Chicken that was delicious, not deep fried, and will continue to satisfy my craving for Orange Chicken.  The girls all enjoyed it and it was a hit all around.

Instant Pot Orange Chicken (serves 4)

Recipe from A Fork's Tale

4 chicken breasts

3/4 c. barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)

2 T soy sauce

3/4 cup orange marmalade

2 tsp cornstarch

Chopped green onions (for garnish)

Optional:  Cooked white rice or cooked ramen noodles (for serving)

Chop the 4 chicken breasts into large chunks.  If the breasts are sliced too thin or the chunks are too small, the end result will be dried out.  Add the chunks with eh barbecue sauce and soy sauce to the Instant Pot.  Cook on manual high for 4 minutes.  When it's done, do a fast release.  Take 1/4 cup of the liquid from the instant pot and put it in a bowl.  Whisk in the 2 tsp cornstarch.  Return it to the instant pot (the whisking should eliminate lumps).  Then, stir the marmalade into the instant pot.  Mix well and then change the setting to "Sauté" and leave it there for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Turn the heat off and let it sit for 5 more minutes.  The sauce will thicken.  Garnish with green onions.  Serve over rice, noodles, or by itself.