Chicken Piccata and Potato Stacks

A rather busy Saturday means a dinner that is easy to prepare. Chicken Piccata. Always easy and always delicious.

The Chicken Piccata was from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network website. I love this recipe!

Ingredients
2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

The Potato Stacks were much easier than I thought. I used my Mandoline and popped this in the over in no time. I found the recipe for these at Jughandles Fat Farm blog. First time at that blog. Lots of good stuff to read there.

The vegetable was green beans. Blanched, a little olive oil and salt and pepper. 

Potato and Spinach Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce

I was so excited when I saw this recipe in the New York Times. I made the Potato and Spinach Gnocchi. They were so light and fluffy. Like biting into little clouds. The sauce was pretty quick to put together. Sauteed carrots, celery and onion. Add crushed tomato and vodka. Salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Finish with a bit of cream. Love this type of meatless Friday dinner!

Chicken Stew with Puttanesca Sauce

Can you believe I have never made Puttanesca Sauce? Why? I have no idea! But I will now be making it more often. Where's the bread! You do not want to waste a drop of this.

The recipe comes from From Biba's Italian Kitchen. This is running a close second to Chicken Cacciatore for favorite chicken recipes. And we get to have leftovers tomorrow night. One pan and two meals... gotta love that.

Ingredients  (Serves 4) -
1/3 cup exra vigin olive oil
One 4 pound chicken cut up into 8 serving pieces, washed and dried on paper towels
Salt to taste
4 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced (I cut it in half so I could remove it)
2 - 2 1/2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes with their juces put through a food mill to remove the seeds (I used crushed tomatoes, I do not have a food mill but more on that later this week)
Dried red pepper flakes to tast
8-10 pitted blackolives, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. capers, rinsed

Method -
Heat the oil in a wide bottomed casserole over medium heat. When the oil is very hot, slip in the chicken piece without crowding them. Cook until the chicken is golden on both sides, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a large platter.

Discard half of the oil in the casserole. Add the anchovies and the garlic and stir quickly a few times (Remember that the oil is very hot and the garlic will turn golden in no time at all). Add the tomatoes and bring to a gentle boil. Season with salt and red pepper flakes. Return the chicken to the casserole, reduce heat to low and cover the pan partially. Simmer 30 to 40 minutes, turning the chicken pieces and stirring occasionally. Add the olives and the capers, and simmer 5 to 10 minutes longer. If the sauce is a bit thin, transfer the chicken pieces to a large platter, raise the heat under the pan and boil the sauce down to a thicker consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve.

Lentil and Rice Soup

A long long time ago my mom and I would watch Biba's Italian Kitchen on TV.  We loved her and her style of cooking. So it was natural that my mom got me her cookbook. Of course my mom had to borrow it. I still have her page markers in the book with the recipes that she wanted to make.
Tonight's recipe was one of the first one's that I made from the book. For tonight's dinner I prepared the soup yesterday and made the rice separately so it could be added to the heated soup tonight.

Ingredients -
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup minced yellow onion
1/4 pound pancetta, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1/2 pound (1 1/2 cups) brown or green lentils, washed
2 cups chopped canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, with their juice
1 1/2 quarts meat broth or 3 cups canned meat broth and 3 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup Arborio Rice
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 garlic clove, minced


Method -
Heat the oil in a medium size sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, Pancetta and parsley and cook, stirring until the onion and pancetta are lightly golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the lentils and stir once or twice. Add the tomatoes and cook a minute or two. Add the broth and bring to a gentle boil. Season salt and pepper. Cover the pot partially and cook over low heat until lentils are tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Stir a few times during cooking.

Bring a small sauce pan of water to a boil and add the rice. Cook, uncovered until rice is tender but still firm to the bite, about 15 minutes. Drain the rice and add it to the soup. Let the soup rest for 20 minutes or so before serving. Serve hot or at  room temperature with a generous sprinkling of freshly grated Parmigiano.

Beer-Braised Beef and Onions with Smashed Potatoes

 

Wow. Easy description of tonight's dinner. The meat melted in our mouths. I made 2 beef shanks and we devoured them. It was the best recipe for beef shanks I have found so far. I found this recipe on La Cucina Italiana site. Trust me you will love this!

Ingredients -
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds onions, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 pounds meaty cross-cut beef shanks (about 4 ossobuco)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 (14.9-ounce) cans dark beer such as Guinness
2 cups beef broth
2 1/4 pounds Yukon gold potatoes

Method -
In a 5 1/2-quart Dutch oven or wide heavy pot with lid, heat oil over medium-high heat; add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and golden, about 8 minutes. Remove pot from heat.

In a large heavy skillet, melt 2 1/2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. In batches, brown shanks, 3 to 4 minutes per side, wiping pan and adding up to 1/2 tablespoon more butter, if necessary.

Transfer shanks to a cutting board. Cut meat off bones (reserve bones); cut meat into 1-inch pieces. Transfer meat and bones to pot with onions; stir in paprika and season generously with salt and pepper. Add beer and 1 cup broth; bring to a simmer and cook, partially covered, adding remaining cup broth to pot as necessary to keep meat covered by at least 1 inch, until meat is very tender, about 2 hours.

When meat is 30 to 40 minutes from being done, put potatoes into a medium saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring water to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes or more, depending on size of potatoes. Drain and peel potatoes; transfer to a large bowl. Add remaining 5 tablespoons butter and coarsely mash; season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer meat, bones and onions to a large bowl. Into a second large bowl, strain braising liquid through a fine-mesh sieve; put any remaining onions into bowl with meat. Remove marrow from bones and stir into meat mixture; discard bones. Adjust seasoning.

Arrange meat and potatoes on a large serving platter; moisten with a little braising liquid. Serve warm.

Sausage with Fennel and Olives

Tonight's dinner was from Lidia's Favorite Recipes. This book is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It will be on the top of my list for possible Christmas gifts! Sausage with Fennel and Olives, Salsicce con Finocchio e Olive. We do not eat a lot of Fennel. Fennel always reminded me of a holiday. It was something my Dad liked to have on the table at the end of the meal. He would cut slices of it for me. He loved it and I of course enjoyed it too.

I was pleased with the result of this recipe. Chris really enjoyed it. The fennel almost melted in your mouth. I made this on Monday and so Chris just had to heat it up when he got home.

Sausage with Fennel and Olives (serves 6)
I did cut the recipe in half and of course did not use the garlic!

Ingredients -
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 sweet Italian sausages (about 2 pounds)
1 cup dry white wine
6 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup large green olives, squashed and pitted
3 large fennel bulbs (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method -
Pour half of the olive oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages; cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes or more. Carefully add wine and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Transfer sausages to a platter; pour over cooking liquid.

Add remaining olive oil to skillet over medium heat. Add garlic cook about 1 minute. Clear a hot spot and cook the crushed red pepper in it for a couple of seconds. Add olives; toss and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add fennel chunks and stir to combine. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, cover skillet, and cook over medium high heat for 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fennel softens, and begins to color. Add a little water to the pan if fennel remains hard; you want it to be wilted but not mushy.

When the fennel is cooked through, return sausages and wine to skillet. Toss together with fennel and cook, uncovered for about 5 minutes. Adjust the season to taste.

Baked Chicken with Eggplant, Zucchini & Tomato Ragout

 This was from Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food. Again another easy to prepare dinner.
We served it over the bread I made on Monday. The chicken was nice and moist and we have enough of the ragout leftover for another use.

And the best part is the recipe is online! Just kind of busy tonight to type it out.
So here you go -
Baked Chicken with Eggplant, Zucchini & Tomato Ragout

Cannellini, Chorizo and Red Onion Soup

This week I am cooking from the two cookbooks I received for Christmas. Lidia's Favorite Recipes and Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food. The past two nights have been from Lidia's Favorite Recipes but tonight we used the Gordon Ramsay book.

Cannellini Bean, Chorizo and Red Onion Soup was suppose to be Lima Beans but one of us really doesn't like Lima Beans So I opted for the Cannellini. What an amazing soup. So easy to prepare and the flavors were nice and spicy. There is nothing to put this soup together. Try this before you open a can of store bought soup.

To go along with the soup I made grilled cheese sandwiches with the leftover meatloaf from last night. I added some fresh mozzarella and roasted red peppers. The bread I used was made on Monday. I love this recipe. The results were beautiful.


Cannellini Bean, Chorizo and Red Onion Soup

Ingredients
8 oz Chorizo sausage, skin removed
3 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced (Yup left that out!)
fresh thyme sprigs
2 14 oz cans lime beans, drained and rinsed (or cannelini bean!)
sea salt and black pepper
squeeze of lemon juice
handful of chopped Italian Parsley

Chop the chorizo into small bit-size pieces.  Bring a pan of water to a boil.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan and add the onions, garlic and thyme. Cook stirring for 2 minutes, then add the chorizo. Stir over high heat a few minutes until the oil has taken on a reddish-golden hue from the chorizo
Add the beans and pour just enough boiling water to cover them. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 10 minutes.
Season generously with salt and pepper and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Scatter over the chopped parsley and serve.

This is too easy not to make!

Polpettone di Manzo Con Ricotta

This is the second time I have used this recipe from Lidia's Favorite Recipes. I just love it. And even this time I forgot to heat up the tomato sauce! Heck I even forgot to add the Mozzarella cheese! No harm done it was still delicious.

For a side dishes I made Mashed Potatoes (of course), and I roasted Brussels Sprouts. Just in a little olive oil and salt. Perfect. And I saw someone who will remain nameless go back for seconds of the sprouts!

And I did some baking today ...

Chicken and Rice

 

Comfort Food Alert!!!! From Lidia's Favorite Recipes. Oh this was very good. Perfect for a cold day like today. It was quite easy to make. It required a bit of hands on time but so worth the time spend at the stove.

This recipe serves 4 to 6 people. I cut it in half and still had leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients -
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup onion cut into 1- inch chunks
1 cup carrot cut into 1- inch chunks
1 cup celery cut into 1- inch chunks
2 plumb cloves of garlic (I did not add the garlic)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 fresh bay leaf (I used dried)
1 cup dry white wine
5 cups hot chicken or turkey stock (I used chicken)
2 cups Italian short-grain rice such as Arborio
2 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
3 tbsp chopped Italian
1 /2 cup grated Parmigiano, plus more for passing


Method -
Trim any extra fat from the chicken and cut the thighs into 1 inch chunks.  In a food processor, mince the onion, carrot, celery and garlic into a fine textured pestata.
Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan and set over medium high heat. Stir in the pestata and and season with one teaspoon of the salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the pestata has dried. Toss in the chicken and the bay leaf, and sprinkle with one more teaspoon of the salt. Cook until the chicken is browning and caramelizing. Raise the heat and add the wine, stirring and scraping up the browned bits in the pan. Cook until the most of the wine has evaporated. While stirring, pour in the hot stock and the rice. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce the heat to keep it bubbling gently. Cook for 14 minutes (It took me 20 minutes), or until the rice and chicken are fully cooked and the rice is a creamy consistency.

Turn off the heat and drop in the butter, stirring until it's completely incorporated, then stir in the parsley and the 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Serve immediately with additional cheese to pass around at the table.