This was a really good, quick weeknight dinner. It’s from Gourmet magazine and I really just tweaked it a little by adding some lemon zest. We had this with some herbed polenta and uh, I think some broccoli. It was a week or so ago. It’s kind of a blur.

I think the thing I liked best about it was the stuffing kind of vibe. But it was on the outside. It was topping! Crispy topping rocks.

Chicken Breasts with Horseradish-Scallion Crust
This will serve two
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped scallion
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp drained bottled horseradish
1/2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon or a pinch dried, crumbled
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl whisk together mustard and mayonnaise until combined well. Now, I found it easy to make my own bread crumbs in the food processor and when I did, I just tossed in the lemon zest, tarragon, green onion and horseradish and pulsed it all together.

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 10-inch non-stick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown chicken, about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Transfer chicken to a shallow baking dish and pour off all but about 2 teaspoons oil from skillet. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove skillet from heat and add the breadcrumb mixture.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in bread crumbs, horseradish, tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste. Spread mayonnaise mixture on skin side of each chicken breast and top evenly with bread crumb mixture. Now, this is funny — I made the mayo/mustard mixture and put it in the fridge while I made the breadcrumbs and browned the chicken. Then, I totally forgot about it.

::slaps self on forehead::

I just kind of pushed the horseradish moistened breadcrumbs into the chicken and it seemed to work fine. So, you could probably skip the mayonnaise and mustard — your call.

Bake chicken in middle of oven 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through, and then let stand 5 minutes. If you want extra browning, give the top of the chicken a quick spray with olive oil before putting it in the oven.

Delicious! Okay, seriously, next week there will be talk of shoes.

This is a great meal for when you don’t really know what you feel like or what you want for dinner. It has everything — bread, cheese, veggies, and basil. If you wanted to go crazy, I bet you could even add some cooked, cubed chicken. jwa and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The slightly sweet cornbread really works with the tomatoes, cheese (what doesn’t work with cheese?) and lemony olive oil.

I just used a box of cornbread mix (Trader Joe’s brand), baked that (I added a little garlic, sautéed leeks and fresh herbs to the mix) and then let it cool before cubing it and drying the cubes of bread out a little in a 290 degree oven. That worked just great.

Cornbread Panzanella Salad
This recipe is based on one by Giada De Laurentiis.
4 cups cornbread, cut into cubes
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fontina cheese, cubed
1/2 hothouse cucumber, cubed
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zested and juice
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch red pepper flakes

Combine the cornbread, garlic, cheese, cucumber, onion, basil and cherry tomatoes in a large bowl. Toss gently.

Mix together the zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Toss with the veggies and bread in the same large bowl.

Now, just sit down and eat!

Wedding Flowers

I kind of tested out making a hand-tied bouquet with some $3.99 a bunch irises. For the wedding, I’m going to use burgandy calla lilies (and possibly a few fiddlehead fern thingies), but I figured the small irises would be a good practice flower.

I think it’ll work. I’ve decided to go the diy-route with Fiftyflowers and for our size wedding and flower needs, I am convinced this is a great choice. I gathered the flowers in bunches of three (10 flowers each bunch) and secured with floral wire.

Then, I wrapped everything together with more wire and then wrapped the big bunch in chocolate-colored satin ribbon.

This recipe is from Fondue: Great Food to Dip, Dunk, Savor and Swirl by Rick Rodgers. I think I’ve had it for about five years but I haven’t used it before this batch of fondue. Why use it now? Well, jwa got me this awesome fondue pot for my birthday! It was on my Amazon wish list but I didn’t really expect to get it (because, dude, it’s a $135(!!) fondue pot), and he completely surprised me with it.

I thought he was going to get me the tea kettle on my list and I picked up the box and thought, “Damn. This is very heavy for a tea pot.” Well, that’s because it was a cast iron fondue pot. Hooray!

For the first recipe, I thought and thought. Then I thought about it some more. What is worthy of the first fondue in this great new pot? Well, one that has red wine, a whole block of Tillamook extra sharp cheddar and two heads of roasted garlic, that’s what.

For the fuel, I went to the Williams-Sonoma by work and got a 3-pack of those gel tubs for fondue pots. It worked just fine in the burner. Oh and in my haste to start snacking (I mean, c’mon — it’s a whole pot of melted cheese and wine!!!), I forgot to wipe down the edges of the pot. So, pictures are not as pretty but we were dipping faster. Hey, it’s a trade off I’m willing to live with.

Cheddar, Roasted Garlic and Zinfandel Fondue
1 cup Zinfandel wine
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup roasted garlic puree (2 heads of garlic, roasted, then squeezed out and mashed with a fork)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Start by preparing your dippers. Cut up the bread, blanch the broccoli and brown the sausage.

When that is all done, bring the zinfandel and red wine vinegar to a simmer in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Then, in a bowl, toss the grated cheeses with the cornstarch. Add a handful of the cheese at a time to the simmering wine and vinegar, stirring until melted. Continue adding by the handfuls until it is all incorporated.

Next, whisk in the roasted garlic and add the pepper flakes. Taste and add a little salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer the fondue to a fondue pot and serve immediately. Keep hot over a fondue burner. Dip with broccoli, browned turkey sausage and hunks of bread — we used cubes of pumpernickel and some olive ciabatta.

For the broccoli, I just blanched the broccoli in boiling water for about 2 minutes.

Using the cheddar worked pretty well. The fondue had a very smooth consistency at first but towards the end of the pot, it did get a little grainy. I didn’t mind too much (and jwa not at all) because the flavor was so good. I’m thinking some sort of chocolatey dessert fondue next.

This was one of those recipes where I saw it on TV and rushed right out to get the ingredients. Plus it just looks so pretty all put together. jwa really liked it too — he had three bowls. And hey! It’s a salad. Salads are healthy and good for you.

The original recipe boiled the Brussels sprouts to cook them, which, you know, why boil when you can roast? Also, this way, you don’t loose any nutrients from the vegetables out in the boiling water — you just crispy them up. This will probably work for about four people as a nice side — this would be great alongside a bowl of soup. As a whole meal figure two hungry people.

Colorful Winter Panzanella
Adapted from a recipe by Michael Chiarello
For the croutons:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
4 cups day-old bread, crust removed, cubed
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:
1/2 a red onion, sliced thinly lengthwise
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar (I substituted red wine vinegar)
Gray salt
1 lb peeled, seeded, and diced butternut squash (1/2-inch dice)
1/4 cup plus 2 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, then quartered (if sprouts are very small, just halve)
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add the olive oil to a large skillet over moderate heat and let it heat up a bit. Add the garlic and thyme, and immediately add the bread cubes. Toss to coat well. Add most of the grated cheese and stir. Transfer bread to a baking sheet and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and salt and pepper and gently toss again while still warm to melt the cheese. Bake stirring once or twice, until the croutons are crisp and lightly colored on the outside but still soft within, about 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Soak the sliced onion in the vinegar and a pinch of salt for about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Toss the squash with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil, sage, salt, and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Next toss the Brussels sprouts with about a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper and arrange on a second baking sheet.

Bake both vegetables until the squash is tender and lightly caramelized, about 15 to minutes and the sprouts are tender and begin to turn about golden, 10-12 minutes. Let both cool down just a bit.

Into the reserved red onions and vinegar, whisk in remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with pepper. Taste and adjust olive oil to vinegar ratio if needed.

In a large bowl combine the roasted squash, croutons and sprouts. Add the vinaigrette and toss. Add the parsley leaves and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Garnish with grated Parmesan and serve.

I made these the other day and they were quite good — but the recipe (from Everyday Food magazine) may need a bit of tweaking. It calls for 2 cups of milk, which results in very wet, sticky dough. I turned mine out onto a very well floured board and patted more flour into it until I could work with it, but you may want to just use less milk. I’d suggest about a cup and a half.

The herbs smell so good while these are baking! Very Thanksgiving-y with the fresh sage. I just used a combination of mostly chives and a little bit of everything I could snip fresh from outside — sage, rosemary, oregano and thyme.

Herbed Biscuits
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
1/2 cup snipped fresh chives, thyme or sage, or a combination
1 1/2 - 2 cups cold milk (original recipes calls for 2 cups — I think that’s a bit too much)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, salt and butter.

Pulse mixture until pea-size pieces form. Through the feeding tube, add chives and milk; pulse just until combined. With my processor, I had to do this in two batches. I pulsed 2 cups flour with half the salt, baking powder and butter and then transferred to a large bowl. Then did the second batch and added that to the bowl. I mixed the milk and herbs with a spatula.

The consistency of my dough with the called for 2 cups of milk … try it with about 1 1/2 cups, I think.

Transfer mixture to a floured surface; with floured hands, pat to a 3/4 inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2 inch round cuter, cut dough into 16 rounds dipping cutter in flour to prevent sticking. Sprinkle tops lightly with flour.

Place biscuits on a baking sheet, 1 inch apart; bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

(If freezing — freeze single layer on a plate for 2 hours, then transfer to freezer bags. To reheat, use frozen. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes).

You can check out the full round-up here:
Weekend Cookbook Challenge Round Up at Once Upon a Feast.

Today’s post is one day early for the 8th Weekend Cookbook Challenge. The theme this month was a Foreign cookbook and the co-host is Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. Thanks to both here and WCC’s Sara.

For this event, I picked a dish (well two of them actually) from the cookbook, Quick & Easy Indian Cooking. It’s a cookbook that I’ve had for a while but hardly ever use. The Ek handi murgh aur masoor is Chicken, Red Lentils and Green Beans in One Pot. You could easily omit the chicken and make this dish vegetarian. I also made Poori, which are deep fried puffy breads.

There are a lot of ingredients but don’t let that scare you — it’s worth it.

Chicken, Red Lentils and Green Beans in One Pot (Ek handi murgh aur masoor)
6 tbsp vegetable oil
3 bay leaves
5 whole cloves
6 cardamom pods
2-inch stick of cinnamon
3 dried hot red chilis
2 pounds chicken (skinless & boneless), cut up into smaller chunks (I used chicken breasts but you could use breasts or thighs or a combination)
1 2/3 cups red lentil, sorted, washed and drained
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp salt
ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
6 oz green beans, washed and trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion, sliced into thin half rings
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 medium tomato, chopped (or 10-12 cherry tomatoes)
Garnish: Chopped cilantro
Optional: asafetida *

Add three tablespoons of the oil into a large non-stick pan and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick and red chilis. Stir a few times until the bay leaves start to darken. This will make your kitchen smell wonderful. Next, add the chicken pieces in a single layer and brown on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and spread out on a plate. Leave the oil and spices.

Turn off the heat and add the lentils, turmeric and five cups of water. Return the heat (high) and bring to a simmer. Cover partially and cook for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt, lots of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of the garam masala and the lemon juice on the chicken. Rub in and set aside.

When the lentils have cooked for 20 minutes, put in the chicken, all accumulated juices, the green beans and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring every so often.

Two minutes before the chicken and lentils are finished cooking, put the remaining oil in a small pan and set over high heat. If you are using it, add the asafetida and then cumin seeds. Ten seconds later, add the onion. Stir and fry until the onions get a little brown. Add the garlic. Adjust the heat if your pan gets too hot.

Add the ground cumin, the coriander, one teaspoon of garam masala and then the cayenne pepper. Stir and add the tomatoes. Now, pour the whole mixture into the lentils. Combine and serve over basmati rice with a little chopped cilantro. Now, onto the puffy bread…

Deep Fried Puffy Bread (Poori)
2 cups chapti flour or 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
7-8 tbsp water or milk

Add the flour(s) to a bowl and mix the salt in. Dribble the oil over the top and mix it in with your fingertips. Slowly add the water or milk to form a medium-soft ball of dough. Knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth. Form into a ball and rub it with a little oil. Set it aside, covered, for 15 - 30 minutes.

A few minutes (10-15) before eating, pour enough oil (I use one full jar of peanut oil) into a large, tall pot. Set over medium heat and bring up to 350 degrees. As it heats, divide the dough into 12 balls. Roll each one into a 5-inch circle. Keep the circles covered with plastic wrap while you work.

When the oil is up to temp, add a poori and use the back of a slotted spoon to pull the poori back and forth carefully in the oil. It should puff up. Turn the poori over and fry the second side for a few seconds (I think I cooked mine for about 10-15 seconds per side). Remove with the spoon and rest on a large paper towel-lined platter. Fry all the pooris this way.

Eat the pooris with your lentils and chicken over basmati rice.

* According to the book, asafetida is a brownish resin used in Indian cooking. There is also a ground variety. You can find it in an Indian grocery store. I didn’t look too hard for it but it will definitely add something to this dish if you can get your hands on some.

Hey, look, finally — a new post! This was a recent light dinner where I basically surveyed the kitchen and came up with a dinner based on what I found. A nectarine (pilfered from jwa’s breakfast fruit stash), some goat cheese, spinach, dried tarragon and some balsamic vinegar. Oh and also some sourdough bread. The result was a very summery and tasty grilled sandwich.

Nectarine, Goat Cheese & Spinach Panini
4 - 6 tbsp goat cheese
1 nectarine, washed and sliced
1 cup loosely packed, fresh spinach
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
salt & pepper
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
4 slices sourdough bread
olive oil
Other equipment: a grill pan and something heavy (a cast iron skillet, a foil wrapped brick, etc…)

First, start by spreading about 2-3 tablespoons of goat cheese on two of the slices of bread. Divide the dried tarragon between the two by sprinkling it on top of the cheese.

Next comes the nectarines. Arrange half of the slices on each sandwich bottom. Then, top with spinach.

Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on the covering of spinach and give each a little salt and pepper. Heat up your gill plan and brush one side of each sandwich with a little olive oil.

Place each down and top with your heavy item (a cast iron pan with a can on top, for instance) and let grill 2-3 minutes per side over medium heat. Before flipping it, brush the other side with olive oil.

You should get a nice golden color and good grill marks. Let sit for a minute or two before slicing in half.

Cut and serve warm. A green salad or some grapes go really well with this sandwich.

***

We had a good time in Port Townsend. I love going there. So relaxing and watery. Our room had a small kitchen and one night I made us a meal of goat cheese, marjoram and orange stuffed chicken with a orange juice and chick pea sauce. It turned out well — and I didn’t even have a meat thermometer! I’ll be posting on that very soon…

I am scared of breadmaking (and a bread machine doesn’t count). If I come across a recipe that involves a yeast packet, I typically run the other way, screaming. But, I decided to be brave when I came across this Parmesan Skillet Flatbread in the June/July Eating Well. For, I am scared of breadmaking but I love cheese. Such a dilemma. The cheese won — it usually does.

In the hot pan, the bread bubbled right up (yay! it worked!) and the kitchen smelled like toasted, nutty Parmesan cheese. I also got some nice air pockets in the bread that jwa and I both just loved. Give this is a try — it is such a great snack or meal accompaniment. And since you cook it on the stovetop, it’s not too heat-intensive for your kitchen in the hot Summer months!

Toasted Parmesan Flatbread in a Skillet
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 pckg active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 - 2 cups All-Purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 tsp salt

Start by whisking the water, 1 tablespoon of oil, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Let sit about 5 minutes, until it starts to get a little foamy.

While the yeast is sitting, assemble your dry ingredients by combining in a large measuring cup or bowl. This is the 1 1/2 cups AP flour, the wheat flour, the Parmesan and the salt.

After the yeast has sat, add the dry ingredients to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. If it is a little to sticky to work with, add a little of the remaining 1/2 cup of the flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 5 minutes.

Add the remaining teaspoon of oil to a large bowl and add the dough (shape into a ball first) and coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place (not a problem in the Summer!) for about one to one and a half hours.

Punch down the dough and divide into six equal balls. Roll out each ball on your floured work surface until it’s about seven inches in diameter.

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat until it is very hot. Place a dough circle on the heated pan and cook until it starts to bubble up, about 45 seconds to one minute per side.

Transfer to a plate or a wire rack and repeat with the remaining dough. You might have to adjust the heat a bit if the bread starts to brown to much. I turned mine down a couple of times.

I was just amazed at how wonderful these turned out. I let mine sit about 5 minutes before grabbing a hunk off one of the rounds and giving it a try. The cheese toasts a bit on the outside and it’s so good! I also really liked the wheat flour in this.

I made some of the lima bean dip and we gobbled that up with the bread. This would also go great with hummus, baba ganouj, any kind of Greek meal or lamb chops.

I’ve made this bread twice already in the last two weeks. Saturday, we had the most recent batch with red wine, oregano and honey grilled lamb chops (recipe coming this week) and some cucumber-dill salad.

***
If you feel like it, don’t forget Je Mange la Ville’s Amazing & Celebratory Cake-athon July 14th (Bastille Day!) for the one year anniversary! I’ll post mine on Friday and recap any submissions I get Monday, July 17th. So, if you’d like to participate, send me the url of your cake-like post by Sunday, July 16th.

Remember, ice cream cakes and other frozen pies or tarts count too!

This here is a spur of the moment kind of dinner. I had little fresh, marinated mozzarella balls in the fridge, as well as flat bread and spinach and basil. Add some cherry tomatoes, red onion and olives and you have yourself a Pesto & Mozzarella pizza (or 4 of them, as the mini-pizza case may be). This combination can also easily be used as the toppings for a large pizza as well, which I think I really, really want to try sometime soon, as this was fabulously good.

Another nice thing about this meal (and almost all of the vegetarian dishes that I’m posting about this week) is the stealthy use of spinach. It’s so good for you and so easy to slip into things. For a pesto, use 1/4 - 1/2 spinach and 1/2 - 3/4 basil. Use this baasil/spinach pesto on pasta too. Sneaky!

Individual Pesto & Mozzarella Pizzas
4 pieces of flat bread
1 big handful of baby spinach leaves
1 slightly smaller handful of basil leaves
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 olive oil
10-12 small, marinated mozzarella balls, rinsed of extra oil and cut in half
4-5 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/5 of a red onion, sliced into thin rings, then halved
10 black olives (kalamata or nicoise), pitted and chopped
dash of red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Make your pesto by adding the spinach, basil, walnuts, Parmesan and garlic. Give a few pulses until everything is minced up a bit and then stream in the olive oil until it is a pesto consistency. Taste and as salt and pepper as needed.

I wanted the flat bread to not get too soggy so I gave it a quick toast before adding any toppings. Just 3-5 minutes at 450 degrees should give it a little color.

Spread pesto on each piece of bread and add some of the mozzarella halves.

I arranged it like this until I remembered that I also had to leave room for the tomatoes. So, I took a few of the mozzarella halves off and replaced them with the healthy topping. Of course, I think just the cheese and pesto would have been very good too but there’s a time and a place for clogging your arteries and this isn’t it.

The next step in the pizza creation is the artful arranging of some red onion pieces and a delicate sprinkle of olives. Give the pizzas each a dash of red pepper flakes if desired and call it a masterpiece.

Pop your stunning pizzas in the oven at 450 for about 4-6 minutes or until the cheese is all bubbly. Let cool for about a minute and then cut each one into four pieces. Mmmmm…

Serve with a green salad for a full meal or hell — just eat two.

Tomorrow: a curried lentil soup. No cheese! Gasp!

I know the latest IMBB sung the praises of stale bread but really, can this be done too often? No. And, of course, the quintessential stale bread feast is French Toast. Add some nuts and fresh berries and you have one great breakfast. Add some mimosas and bacon for a truly decedent brunch.

Strawberry-Almond French Toast
1/2 to a full stale baguette (or other stale loaf of bread) — ours was a half a 2-day old French baguette from New Seasons
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup of milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 pint of fresh strawberries, washed and sliced
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup slivered almonds (or other nuts — I used walnuts as I had no almonds)
Maple Syrup

Slice the baguette into 1/2 inch thick pieces. When I know I am going to make French Toast, sometimes I even slice the bread when it’s fresh and then let it dry out already sliced.

Next, make your egg-milk mixture. If you use a whole loaf, you might want to add a bit more milk and perhaps even another egg. Add beaten eggs and milk together, along with the sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Whisk to a frothy incorporation.

Pour mixture into a baking dish or some sort of dish that can accommodate the bread slices. Speaking of which, add the bread slices and let soak for about five minutes on each side.

Heat a skillet and add the butter. Melt over medium heat. Add slices of your bread but don’t crowd the pan. The bread needs its space, man. Let your French toast cook on each side until golden and a nice crust forms — about 4-6 minutes per side.

Lay 3-4 slices out on each plate and serve with the berries, nuts and warm maple syrup.