Skillet Rosemary Chicken

This. Was. Amazing. The chicken was so moist and juicy. And flavorful! The lemon rosemary flavor was perfect. And along with the crispy, flavorful skin, YUM.

And the potatoes were great too! They absorbed a lot of the flavor, were soft but not mushy, and some had a nice crisp side without being burned. The only change I would make next time is to specifically salt the potatoes after boiling but before putting with the chicken because they needed more salt than the rest of the dish (not a big deal, I just salted the potatoes on my plate).

Oh, and if any of you are counting along at home, including the potatoes and crispy chicken skin, this meal is only around 415 calories. We added asparagus to that, and we were set.

"Skillet" Rosemary Chicken

adapted from Food Network Magazine
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound small red-skinned potatoes, halved, or quartered if large (for me this was only 4 potatoes)
  
• Kosher salt
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 tablespoon leaves
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed halves reserved)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450. Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes; drain and set aside.

Pile the rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board, then mince and mash into a paste using a large knife. *note- this cannot be done in a food processor- I tried* Transfer the paste to a bowl. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and the olive oil. Add

the chicken and turn to coat.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken; add the potatoes to the skillet and drizzle with the juice of the remaining lemon.*If you do not have an oven safe skillet, Instead of turning, move to a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil. and continue as directed.

Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halves to the skillet/cookie sheet; transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

You know it is finals time when: I randomly decide to poke my head out of my study hole and post.

This summer some friends and I initiated a dinner club. Each month 1 of us would host a dinner, come up with a theme and assign menu items. This was the dessert for out Mexican themed night (more Cal-Mex, but I certainly did not mind!). I was terrified it wouldn't work out and I would be left with a 9x13 pan of ick and no dessert to bring. Thankfully I was TERRIBLY wrong, and I had a 9x13 pan of deliciousness and a great dessert for my dinner club.Sadly, my dear friend and dinner club peer, Sam, is leaving for the Big Apple, so dinner club will likely fall to the way-side. If anyone in the No.VA area wants in to take her spot, let me know ;)

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
from laughingduckgardens.com

• canola oil to grease the pan
• 12 tablespoons (i.e. 1.5 sticks) of unsalted butter (not margarine), soften to room temperature, and divided into 9 T for the caramel/topping and 3 T for the batter
• 1.5 cups brown sugar
• 12pineapple rings - about 1-2 15-oz cans pineapple rings in juice (not in syrup)
• 4oz (1/2 of 8 oz jar) jar maraschino cherries, pitted and stemmed
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoons of whole milk
• Skimpy 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoons strong vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups + 3 tablespoon of all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Heaping 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs

Instructions:

1. Turn oven on to a temperature of 350 F

2. Oil the pan with a pastry brush (or your fingers) using up to 2 tablespoons of the canola oil. Make sure to get the corners and sides well. Do not be stingy as you want the cake to unmold easily. Roughly chop 9 tablespoons of butter and scatter at the bottom of pan. Put pan in oven while it’s preheating. Keep an eye on it, and take it out of the oven as soon as butter is melted. It should do so before the oven reaches 350 F. Put the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a very large bowl on the stove where it’s warm to help it soften.

3. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with the brown sugar evenly, again making sure to reach all sides and corner. Lift the pineapple slices from the juice (reserve the juice) and arrange them in a grid pattern. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the pineapple juice over. Sprinkle 1TBSP of maraschino liquid from the jar over the pineapple. You could push one cherry in the center of each ring now, if you want, but they’ll look better if you do this after the cake has been baked.

4. In a bowl, combine milk, the skimpy 1/2 cup canola oil and vanilla. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

5. In the very large bowl where you set it to soften, beat together the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter (which should be very soft by now) and the sugar until light and pale lemon colored. It will look “mealy”. Beat in the eggs, one by one, then add the milk mixture, and the flour mixture (1 cup at a time) beating well after each addition. Pour batter over the pineapple rings, smoothing it out as necessary. It may looks like there is no enough batter: there is!

6. Bake in the preheated oven until cake is golden and a toothpick or skewer comes out clean. I am not sure how long exactly, I believe about 40 min-1 hour ( I did not keep good track of time). It Will be about this color:

Remove from oven, let cool until you feel comfortable handling the pan.

7. Now comes the tricky part: inverting the cake. Position the cake inside a rimmed cookie sheet (rim facing up). Put another rimmed cookie sheet on top of the cake (rim facing down). The cake is now sandwiched between two rimmed cookie sheet. Clamp the two cookie sheets together and invert the cake quickly and decisively but carefully. Remove the pan from the cake carefully. If necessary, use a spatula to remove any stuck ring and put it back on the cake. Scrape any caramel from the pan and put it on the cake.

8. Push one cherry in the center of each ring.

9. Let cool and cut into squares, one for each ring

Mexican Baked Potatoes

Look how cute these are! They are like twice baked potatoes, Mexican style! Love it! While these were not "quick" (baked potatoes never are), they were REALLLY easy and very good. Because I use vegetarian fat-free refried beans, I don't think these are too unhealthy either. All in all, I would call these babies a success!

I used refried black beans this time, but I don't like the dark color it gave the inside, so if I were serving these to guests, I would probably use normal refried beans so that it was more of a brown and less of a burnt looking black. Then again, I always love the taste of black beans, so who knows, maybe I'll stick with it.

Oh, but about the vegetarian fat free refired beans? Come on, they are so much better for your arteries and still taste just as good. I feel fine eating them since the 2nd ingredient isnt "lard." Heeby Jeebies to that one.

I am entering this recipe into My legume love affair. Check out here and here for details if you are interested in entering.

Mexican Baked Potatoes
4 large russet potatoes, washed
3/4 cup vegetarian fat-free refried beans
2 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced
1 Tbsp taco seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup mild or medium salsa
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
sour cream and/or guacamole (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Prick the potatoes with a fork and bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour, or until tender. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and let the potatoes cool at room temperature for about 15 minutes before handling.
2. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the potato pulp, transferring to a small bowl and leaving a shell about 1/4 inch thick. Add the refried beans, scallions, taco seasoning, salt and pepper to the potato pulp; mash well to thoroughly blend. Stuff the mixture back into the potato halves and transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. (potatoes can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 24 hours before continuing)
3. Top each potato half with about 1 1/2 Tbsp of salsa. Bake in the center of the oven, about 15 minutes (about 20 minutes if they have been refrigerated), or until heated through. Sprinkle each half with 2 Tbsp of the cheese. Return to oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Serve at once, with the toppings (if using).

Chicken Cacciatore Stoup

Shhh…please don’t tell on me. I have a dirty little secret. Perhaps you can blame it on the fact that I’m a broke college student who will have an extra 3 years of law school tuition to pay for. I don’t know, but whatever the reason, I have a secret.

I consistently replace chicken breasts with small chicken cutlets in recipes. I cannot imagine eating a whole chicken breast myself, and sometimes, even when I halve the breast and serve it as 2 cutlets (1 per person) roomie still doesn’t eat the whole thing. According to the food pyramid, a serving of protein is the size of a deck of cards, When is the last time a full chicken breast was less than 2-3 times that size! So I am cheap and I halve the breasts to make them only slightly above the recommended serving size. Thus, I get the 6 packs of chicken breasts (about $8 on sale) and get about 12 servings out of them. Yes, I am cheap and violating many recipes, but it works for us.
There are some recipes, however, where the writer seems to understand my plight and my hesitation to give each person 3/4lb of poultry in one sitting. Rachael Ray seems to get it, especially in her chicken cacciatore stoup recipe. Between the potatoes and the veggies, you don’t ALSO need ¾ pound of chicken per person. She recommends “1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1 to 1 1/3 pounds” but I don’t think I see this size pack in my local grocery store. I usually figure it is 2 large or 3 small breasts, and it works great for portioning.

This recipe is great. Very hearty, healthy and versatile. I don’t feel bad doing substitutions (I have marked my normal subs below- due to my hate for mushrooms and lack of celery most times). It always comes out great if you follow the cooking times (I learned the “if you don’t follow cooking times” the hard way- follow cooking times). Keeping the chicken down and switching out mushrooms makes this a great, affordable dish.

Even for a cheapo with a secret like mine…

Chicken Cacciatore Stoup
A stoup is thicker than a soup, thinner than a stew.
Serves 4

1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1 to 1 1/3 pounds, diced (2-3 breasts)
Coarse salt and black pepper or grill seasoning (I use McCormick’s poultry blend)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (3 turns of the pan)
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1-inch squares (Depending on the size, I sometimes use 3 or 4)
4 portobello mushroom caps or 16 cremini mushrooms, sliced or chopped (I omit or replace with carrots, diced- see below)
4 ribs celery hearts, chopped (I don’t buy celery specifically for this. Can replace with carrots or omit)
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered lengthwise then thinly sliced (I realized I prefer a large chop not slices)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and quartered lengthwise then thinly sliced (I realized I prefer a large chop not slices) (Can also use a green pepper)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup dry Italian red wine, eyeball it

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped, 3 or 4 sprigs (or 1TBSP dried)
1 cup basil, arugula or baby spinach leaves, shredded or torn (optional)
Grated Parmesan, to pass at table
Crusty bread, to pass at the table

Heat a deep skillet or a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, and the chicken. Season it with coarse salt and pepper/grill seasoning and red pepper flakes.

While the chicken cooks, chop up the veggies.

When the chicken is evenly and lightly browned all over, 3 or 4 minutes, remove it to a plate and reserve. Add another tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, 1 more turn of the pan. Add the potatoes to the pan. Cook a couple of minutes, then add in the mushrooms (carrots), celery, and onion and cook another couple of minutes. Add in the peppers and garlic and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.

Add chicken back to the pan. Toss it with the vegetables. Add red wine to the pan and deglaze it, picking up drippings. Add tomatoes and stock to the stoup and stir to combine. Stir in rosemary and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes.

Turn off stoup and ladle into shallow bowls. Top with basil (for a sweet finish and balance to the spice in the soup) or arugula (for a peppery finish) or with spinach (for a woodsy finish). At the table, pass grated cheese for sprinkling on top of the stoup and bread for mopping up the bowl.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Veggies

Last night I had a few of my friends over for dinner, but as of 5pm had no idea what to make. Visiting the food network’s chicken recipe list I decided on Rachel Ray’s parmesan crusted chicken breasts with tomato and basil and roast potatoes with onions and peppers. When I got home I started working on the potatoes, then the chicken. STOP THE PRESSES! I only had 2 chicken cutlets. There were 3 of us, plus I wanted leftovers for today’s lunch. SACRE BLEU! Thinking on my feet, I decided to cut up the 2 chicken cutlets and add them to already cut-up pieces of chicken (I always cut up some chicken when I get home from the store so that I have it ready for stirfry). Altogether this was enough for 4 servings. Saved, but I had to alter the recipe to account for this. I decided to toss the chicken breast bites with grated parmesan and Italian bread crumbs. OK, chicken crisis averted, back to the potatoes. My darling Rachel and I would have a little fight over these babies. She would defend how her potatoes with peppers need cubanelles in addition to the bell peppers, and I would most whole heartedly disagree. I very strongly dislike cubanelles, so my potatoes went without. My potatoes also used the russets I had lying around, since I didn’t have any fingerlings or red. I chopped my potatoes (about 8 chunks of potato from each, and I used 3 or 4 large potatoes), chopped a green bell pepper, sliced a small yellow onion, added salt, pepper, red pepper and pre-chopped garlic (see the post on shrimp scampi for my thoughts on why pre-chopped garlic is the best). I doused the mix in olive oil and poured it onto a cookie sheet I covered with aluminum foil and pam. Then I thought. Yes, I THOUGHT. I thought that besides the green pepper, we weren’t really getting any good veggies in this meal. To me a potato is a starch, a fake veggie. We needed some real egetable that your mom would be proud if you ate. CARROTS! The boy doesn’t eat carrots so I add them to meals whenever he isn’t around. Since he wasn’t here for dinner, I used 3 handfuls of baby carrots, cutting them in half and adding them to the potatoes. Perfect. It looked great and now was good for us!

I popped the tray into an oven I pre heated to about 500. After 15 minutes I turned the potato mixture with a mixing spoon, and they were done about 5 or 10 minutes after that.

Back to the chicken. Once the potatoes were in the oven, I heated a large saute pan with pam and olive oil (I REALLY didn’t want cheese to crust onto the pan). I added the parmesan crusted chicken. I let it sit for a minute, then turned. Sat for another minute and then I started stirring more frequently so that all sides got the heat while cooking the inside. It eventually got a great crispy brown crust and was cooked but juicy inside. Sadly I only have the before picture. I was too hungry to wait and take a picture afterwards!

Everyone loved the meal. Thinking about it now I am getting really hungry and excited about the leftovers for lunch. Basically I used Rach’s recipe as inspiration, but did not actually make her recipe at all (hence why I won’t post it here. It was made into a generic method where the amounts of each ingredient no longer matter). I will admit that we used ketchup, but for a chicken and potatoes meal, it is hard to not break out the ketchup, whether it be parm crusted with roast potatoes, roast chicken with mashed potatoes or chicken strips and fries. It was good even without the Heinz, but the tomatoey syrup just made it phenomenal.

Advice for next time: Don’t cut the baby carrots. They had a nice roast to them, but I think they were a little too charred. Same with the onion. I will leave it in larger pieces next time. The chicken was so good I wouldn’t change a thing. It would go with the tomatoes and basil, but if you lack fresh tomatoes or have had tomato sauce the past couple days, ketchup works as a very good replacement. This was certainly a success.