Braised Rosemary-Garlic chicken with Ginger-balsamic peach sauce

Today was Sunday, and we got our act together, regarding the weekly grocery list, early enough in the day to make something that could take a little longer. The funny thing was that this dish actually didn't end up taking that long, other than marinating. The actual cooking portion of the meal didn't take much over a half hour. This dish falls in the "I have no idea what I am doing but I am just going to throw some stuff together and hope it turns out" category. It did. There were complex layers of flavor, and the mixture of sweet and savory was delicious. The big girl won't eat peaches, so I was a little nervous about how it would be received, but she thought the chicken and sauce were really, really good. The toddler kept yelling "more" and "mine" at the sauce. 

I started out by brushing and marinating chicken breast filets in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and garlic. They got to marinate for about 5 hours. 

Then, come time for dinner, I cut sweet potatoes into french-fry sized pieces, tossed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I baked these at 200C/400F for 25 minutes. In retrospect, I would have done 50/50 with sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Parsnips would also be good.

I sautéed the chicken in some olive oil, browning well on both sides.  

I puréed a can of peaches in the blender, to use in the sauce

I always have a little ginger on hand in the freezer, ready to grate for soup or sauces.

Grated ginger

A little wine to deglaze the pan

Some chopped onion for flavor

Some water and chicken bouillion

A sliced, fresh peach as garnish

Sweet potatoes out of the oven

The chicken topped with peach slices

I strained the sauce, removing the onion and other remnants, leaving a smooth and delicious sauce behind. 

Braised Rosemary-Garlic chicken with Balsamic peach sauce

For marinade:

3 T. finely chopped rosemary

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 T olive oil

1 T balsamic vinagrette

3-4 chicken breast filets

Mix together first four ingredients and brush chicken with them. Marinate in airtight container several hours or overnight. 

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

1 onion, chopped

1/2 c. white wine

1 can peach halves

1 chicken bouillion cube or equivalent

1 c. water

1 T grated ginger

salt and pepper

1 ripe peach, peeled and sliced

In a large, deep pan, heat 1 T olive oil and butter over medium heat. Sauté chicken until well-browned on both sides. While chicken is browning, purée 1 can of peaches and liquid in blender and set aside. Remove chicken to plate, tent with foil to keep warm. Spoon out any burnt garlic and rosemary, and sauté onion about 2 minutes until soft. Spoon out and add to plate with chicken.

Turn up the heat a little, and add wine, scraping up from the bottom to deglaze the pan. Reduce to 1/4 cup and then turn down the heat to medium again. Add puréed peaches, bouillion cube, water, ginger, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir, scraping up from bottom to combine well, and bring to a boil. Add chicken, onion, peach slices, and any drippings from the plate. Stir to combine, and gently boil, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and sauce is reduced, about 15 minutes. 

Remove chicken to serving platter with a slotted spoon, and top with peach slices. 

Strain the sauce with a mesh strainer to remove any solids. Serve chicken with sauce and oven-roasted veggies on the side. The veggies take about the same amount of time as the chicken and sauce.

Serves 4. 

Flygande Jakob

 

This is a Swedish dish known as "Flygande Jakob", which means, literally, Flying Jacob. It has always been one of big girl's favorites. Lately, she has gotten it in her head that she won't eat bananas, so instead of adding them in the mix we have to garnish with them afterwards.

Flygande Jakob

1/3 c. creme fraiche (you could probably substitute this with something like greek yogurt.)
scant 1 c. whipping cream
1/3 c. Heinz chili sauce
1 tsp tarragon or herb mix to your liking
a dash of black pepper
1 roasted chicken, cut in bite-sized chunks
2 bananas, sliced
1 package of bacon, cut in small pieces and cooked.
1/3 c. salted roasted peanuts
Rice

Preheat oven to 400F/200C.

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the creme fraiche, chili sauce, tarragon, and black pepper.

In a glass dish, layer chicken, sliced bananas, bacon, and peanuts. Pour the sauce over, smoothing out a bit with a spatula. Bake for 20 minutes in the center of the oven at 400F/200C. Serve on top of rice.

Serves 4, with a little leftovers.

Curry-coconut chicken with tropical pico de gallo

Yesterday was a stressful day. The toddler has had a fever, likely a result of her vaccination a week and a half ago. She has slept like crap and therefore I have slept like crap. I tried to convince the big girl to go to her school's day program anyway, but if the toddler and I were going to be home, she was too. The toddler was out of diapers, so I had to drag everybody to the grocery store and get some, so therefore tried to make a list and pick up a few meals as well. 

It started out well. The toddler was being a trooper despite having a low grade fever and being slightly whiny, and the big girl is generally good about helping me keep her sister safe and busy. Unfortunately, this particular shopping trip quickly spiraled into disaster. Well, I suppose disaster is relative. Nobody got hurt, but my stress-o-meter was off the charts due to the involuntary insomnia. 

The toddler just had to get out of the cart, and was preparing herself to climb out unless I removed her, so I let her down. The big girl was given the task of following her while I tried to quickly collect all the produce I needed. On this particular trip, the big girl was in a begging mood. You know the kind. "Mom, can I get this?" over and over and over. I am okay with begging for produce. Even expensive produce. You want a Lychee? Sure, toss it in. However, the incessant whining and begging was starting to drive me nuts. Besides making me insane, she wasn't doing as good a job of corralling her sister as she usually does, which meant the toddler decided of her own accord that it was sample day. She bit a nectarine. She bit a passion fruit. She bit a couple bell peppers. She bit a chili pepper in half. I was trying to keep an eye on her while fending off the whining and shopping for what I needed, but I was always just a little too slow to prevent it. Since I am a person with conscience, I had to go with the "you bite it, you buy it" policy. So we bought all sorts of stuff that I hadn't intended on buying. The result? Tropical fruit pico de gallo. 

The lychees that the big girl had to have, then refused to eat. I even thought it looked like an eyeball once peeled, but it tasted good. In it went. 

The mango I did actually mean to buy was kept company by the previously bitten nectarine and peach. 

The chili pepper the toddler bit in half.

Silver onion

Straining the passion fruit the toddler bit.

Rolling a lime to release the juice

One last surprise strawberry from our patch outside

Along with a little cilantro from the garden

A little salt, a stir, and voilá

A can of coconut milk

A tablespoon of curry powder and 1/8 tsp. cayenne

1 minced mild onion and the juice of 1 lime

Poured over chicken and baked at 350F/175C for 45 minutes until done in center.

Mama needed a drink after that day, so I made myself a Pina Colada. 

Previously bitten Tropical fruit Pico de Gallo

1 mango, chopped
1 passion fruit, strained
2 lycheese, chopped
1 mild onion, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1-2 minced chili peppers
juice of 1 lime
Strawberries (optional)
2 peaches or nectarines, chopped
a few tablespoons cilantro, minced
salt to taste

Combine and let rest a while. Stir before serving. The salt draws more liquid out of the fruit as it rests.

Curry-coconut chicken

1 can (400 ml) coconut milk

1 T curry powder

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

salt to taste

1 finely chopped onion

juice of 1 lime

3-4 chicken breast filets

White rice

Combine first 6 ingredients. Lightly oil an oven-safe form or spray with cooking spray. Place chicken in the form and pour sauce over. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, until cooked through. Boil white rice according to directions on package and serve topped with chicken and sauce. Serve with Tropical pico de gallo or mango chutney if you prefer, and vegetable of your choice. 

During the ill-fated shopping trip, I told big girl to stop whining. She told me "This isn't whining, this is complaining." Then: "Now this is whining" and proceeded to whine in a manner reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard. 

Summer chicken salad with Herb and Parmesan Vinagrette, Roasted garlic on baguette

It has been hot this week, and we are on vacation, so salad seemed more appealing than a hot meal. 

I baked 2 chicken breast filets at 400F/200C with a little S&P for about 45 minutes (from frozen), and cut the tops off of 2 heads of garlic and wrapped them in foil to toss in the oven as well. 

 I hadn't thought about dressing while at the store, so had to improvise. So while the chicken and garlic were baking, I made a tossed salad, sliced and buttered a baguette lengthwise, and made dressing in the food processor. My hubby helped me by washing vegetables and taking care of the dishes, which he generally does at our house. 

Roasted garlic

Herb and Parmesan Vinagrette

A little of this and that

Chicken salad

Buttered baguettes, ready to go in the oven

Oven toasted baguette with Oven roasted garlic

Tossed Chicken Salad

2 baked chicken breasts, sliced

1/4 zucchini, julienned

1/3 c. pea shoots

1 small bell pepper, sliced or julienned

1 scallion, sliced

Fresh spinach

Chopped romaine

about 6 radishes, sliced

Herb and Parmesan Vinagrette

In food processor, combine:

3 T Extra Virgin olive oil

3 T Vinegar

4 T water

1 t sugar

a dash of salt

2 T fresh herbs (I used basil and oregano from the garden)

1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

Oven Roasted Garlic on baguette

In oven, bake garlic heads with tops cut off, wrapped in foil. It takes about the same amount of time as baking the chicken. Slice baguette lengthwise, then in smaller pieces if you like. I did it in thirds, then buttered the thirds and opened them butter-side up on a cookie sheet and baked them for 5-10 minutes while the chicken was being sliced for the salad. Then I sliced the thirds into portion pieces. 

Serve with the roasted garlic. You can squeeze the cloves out and spread them, or scoop the garlic out with a knife tip. 

Serves 3 or 2 adults and 2 kids. The toddler ate everyone's bell pepper, zucchini, and radishes, and a ton of chicken. The big girl ate a bunch of baguette pieces with lots of garlic plus some negligible amounts of salad and chicken. Her only complaint was that zucchini didn't taste like anything. My husband cleaned everything up at the end when the rest of us were done, as husbands are wont to do.

Lazy chicken pasta sauce

With all this baking going on, plus cooking for guests for my birthday party, I needed something really easy for dinner. This is one of those meals where I didn't really have a plan, I just went to the store and tossed some stuff in the cart.

What I tossed in the cart (and/or used for dinner) was:


1 T. butter plus 1 T. olive oil
1 whole roasted chicken, cut into chunks
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 c. cream
1 can of crushed tomatoes
3 T. basil, finely chopped
1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese (I always have parmesan cheese in my freezer ready to grate)
Salt and pepper
Pasta - I threw some mozzarella, sun-dried tomato, and basil filled Girasole into the cart as I whizzed by.

The result became Lazy chicken pasta sauce.

In a medium saucepan, heat butter and olive oil. Sauté onion for about 3 minutes, then add bell pepper and garlic and sauté until bell pepper starts to soften, about 2-3 minutes. Add cream and crushed tomatoes, then bring to a boil. Let simmer for a few minutes to thicken, then add parmesan cheese, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in chicken chunks and heat through. Serve over pasta. 

The toddler mostly just wanted to eat chicken, which is not surprisingly one of the few words she can say clearly. She did open up her little pasta pockets and eat the filling. The big girl opened her pasta pockets and discarded the filling, eating the pasta part. She loved the flavor of the sauce, and dipped her naked pasta pieces in it, while trying to avoid the bell pepper chunks. I do believe she ate some of the other solid ingredients. She did ask what made it orange, but I deftly changed the subject, because any sauces containing known and/or visible tomato contaminents are generally deemed inedible. Just ask Lasagne and Spaghetti Bolognese. We had hubby's Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner two days ago, and bribery and threats were involved in her consumption of just two spoons' worth of sauce. What she doesn't know, doesn't hurt her.

Salsa chicken pie

At my house, I am usually the weekend cook. I get home later than my husband during the week, so he usually has to get the meals started before I get home, and often has them ready and on the table. He doesn't have much culinary imagination, but the man can follow directions well. That is basically all any woman wants in a man, right? He even follows recipes in English, if I have explained/translated any weird ingredients or terminology in advance. Today, however, I got to leave work a bit early and so I started dinner once he got home, while he blew bubbles with the toddler and the big girl was off at the neighbors' playing.

I took a risk today with red food items: warm bell peppers and tomatoes, all in one dish. Big girl's refusal to eat red foods is arbitrary. Sometimes she does, sometimes she picks around them and eats the rest, and sometimes we have World War III. You never know which one it will be.

I started out by making an all-butter crust. It was one of those, "a little of this, a little of that" moments. In fact, this entire dish falls into that category. Therefore my measurements are approximations. I was eyeballing it, to be honest. I pulsed flour and cubed cold butter in the food processor until marble to pea-sized bits of butter were left, then added a tablespoon of cold water, pulsed, and added a smidge more until the dough stuck together when pinched. Then, poured the mealy mass into my 9 inch pie/tart form.

I pressed it out to cover the bottom and up the sides. Then I baked it at 425F/220C until set, just shy of starting to turn golden, 10 minutes. During that time, I cut 2 chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and sautéed, adding a few chopped shallots at the end. If you wanted to, you could cook the chicken and remove, then sauté 1 onion and some sliced mushrooms until soft. Hidden mushrooms aren't popular with the big girl, however.

Then I spooned the onion and chicken into the pie crust, which was out of the oven by now, and tossed in a chopped bell pepper and about 1/3 c. canned corn. Corn is an automatic selling point where the big girl is concerned, so I sometimes use it to make her forget the presence of other less desirable ingredients.

I mixed about 8 oz. cream cheese and a half cup of medium salsa in a large bowl, and spread on top. If you have normal children that weren't Mexican in a former life and do not enjoy spicy foods, I would go with mild. My oldest does, at least, which I attribute to the spicy cravings I had while she was in utero.

Then I garnished with a sliced Roma tomato and banana pepper rings. Jalapenos would do, but sometimes you just gotta use what you have in the fridge.

Then I sprinkled the top with shredded cheese, about 1/3 cup, and back in the oven for another 15 minutes, until the cheese is all melted and starting to turn golden.

The final result. The big girl told me that the crust was really good and had 2 helpings. She did, however, only eat the crust off the second helping, so she must have liked it. No complaints about red food items, although I did cut around any trace of tomatoes when dishing up her portion. The toddler had already eaten baby food while waiting, to improve her mood, and just tasted a little. She spent the rest of the meal bending down and talking to her food in baby jabber, which her sister found hilarious.

Salsa chicken pie

For crust:

6 T butter, cubed

3/4 c. flour

1-2 T cold water

For filling:

2 T olive oil

2 chicken breasts, cubed

3 shallots or 1 small onion

1/3 c. corn

1 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 c. cream cheese (8 oz)

1/2 c. salsa

1 Roma tomato, sliced

5-6 banana pepper or jalapeno rings

1/3 c. shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 425F/220C.

In food processor, pulse butter and flour until marble sized pieces of butter remain. Drizzle 1 T water and pulse first, then add a little bit more if needed, until you can pinch the dough and it sticks together. Press the dough out to cover bottom and sides of a 9 inch form, then pre-bake for 10 minutes, just prior to turning golden. 

While baking, sauté chicken in olive oil until cooked, add onion and sauté a few more minutes until onion is soft and chicken starts to brown a little. When done, place chicken and onion in the pre-baked crust, then add chopped bell pepper and corn. In a large bowl, stir together cream cheese and salsa. Spread on the top of the chicken and vegetable mixture. Garnish with tomato and pepper slices, then top with shredded cheese. Bake 15 minutes again, until the cheese is melted and starts to turn golden brown. 

Serves 2 adults and 2 kids.