Quick Chicken and Rice dish

I made a version of what was called Buffalo Rice. It was supposed to be a quick meal based on Chicken Wings. I did not have blue cheese, so I used left over Fontina cheese.

1C rice
Salt
3T butter
2 uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 oz of blue cheese
2T hot sauce (I used one)
1 C chicken broth
Cook the rice. I soak mine for an hour or so and bring to a boil, cover and turn the heat to low for 10 minutes. I use Japanese rice called Rose’s. Melt the butter in a large skillet. I used garlic cheese butter from Wegman’s. Cut the chicken in ½ “cubes and cook in the butter and add the hot sauce. Add the chicken broth and rice and finally the cheese. I also added frozen peas and carrots. Jim thought this was very good. Again supposed to feed four, but Jim ate it all. Very easy and fast, just what I needed for a busy day.

Grilled yogurt chicken with cucumber salad

This was the frustrating day from hell. I have been dealing with HP for about 2 weeks now over my printer. Unfortunately as I like to do multiple tasks at the same time, I did not notice that the pop-up said set up not update and clicked on it. So this pop up keeps coming up and interfering with everything I do. So after weeks of working with the online help, I got very mad and called the corporate headquarters in CA. I asked if they had customer service. For me, I was very calm and collected as I went through multiple layers of people in the office. Finally I am connected to Katy who not only gives me a year of free online service but connects me to someone in Canada who speaks English and she proceeds to help. We spend 1 ½ hours on line and she seems to get the pop up turned off. Next day I turn on the computer and yes the pop up from hell is back. I decide that I will wait for Jim to have time to talk to them as I am on the verge of throwing the printer out the window. Today Katy calls and I tell her my thing and she says, why don’t you uninstall and reinstall, sounded good to me. Now mind you I have a perfectly working printer my only problem is a popup, a very persistent popup. Immediately following her call we had two realtors call wanting to show the house and Jim and I had errands to run. We did our thing and they did there’s. I came home got out the instructions and uninstalled my perfectly working printer. Next it is time to reinstall. I tried 4 times, nothing. So finally I call the year of free of help that HP has given me. I was on the phone for 2 ½ hours. When we finished everything seemed to be working perfectly. Needed to make dinner, as it was 6:00PM and I had not done a thing. Could not make what I was planning as we would have eaten at midnight. So I went to plan B which was to be tomorrow. So, I restart the computer to find out that my wireless has been disconnected, my AOL is down, and my accesses to icons on the face are gone, and the pop up is still there. It is now 9:30 PM and I have now repaired the damage that started with a call to HP help at 4:00 PM.


Luckily this dinner was fast and good. It is in the April Sunset Magazine. The chicken breasts were in the freezer, but my friend Jane taught me this fast thaw method that is much better than the microwave. I took out 3 breasts and sealed them in a plastic bag. I used the small side of the sink. Put them in the sink and fill with water. The water sucks the frozen out of the meat and it is all evenly thawed in minutes. So from here, follow the recipe. There are parts that I just ignored.
Serves 4, Time 30 minutes
4 boned, skinned chicken breast halves
1 ¼ C plain whole-mild yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
1¼ t ground cumin
1t fresh lemon juice
3/4t kosher salt
1/2t chili flakes
¼ t ground turmeric
1T vegetable oil
1 English cucumber, cut into ¼” dice
2T minced shallot
1/4C chopped fresh mint leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
My chicken breasts were frozen Purdue from Costco so the tender was already removed. They are thin so I did not need to pound to ¼” thick. I just needed to thaw them.
Mix the yogurt, cumin, lemon juice, salt, chili flakes and turmeric in a bowl.
Next as I am waiting for the chicken to thaw, I cut up the cucumber, mint, and shallot and mixed in a bowl. I added 1/2C of the yogurt mixture to the bowl and combined. The chicken was thawed and I added the remaining yogurt mixture to the bag and squished around to coat thoroughly to coat. They want you to marinate for 10 minutes. Jim heated the grille and cooked them for about 4 minutes. The meal was very good.
Jim served a 2005 Viansa Piccolo which is made with Sonoma Count Sangiovese grapes. It was excellent.

Smoochie Poochie Kisses and Turkey Meatloaf

Today I cooked for both my guys. Jim was going out and I was running low on WW flour and did not have the mint or parsley dried. So I asked Jim to pick some up for me. Three items only took 3 calls with a list and directions that all could be found in the same isle. The last call informed me that a small bottle of mint was $5.00 and he wanted to know whether to buy the store brand of parsley or the more expensive Mc Cormack brand. I said store brand was fine as it was being used in Max’s treats. “Where is the mint being used,”he asked? “In Max’s treats,” I answered. This answer was followed with a loud groan. Max really likes his Smoochie Poochie Kisses. This comes from The Good Treats Cookbook for Dogs, by Barbara Burg. This is my 16th cookbook dedicated to cooking for animals.

2C whole wheat flour
½C wheat germ
1/2 C water
1 egg beaten
¼C vegetable oil
1T minced mint, dried
1T minced parsley, dried
Combine all the dry ingredients and whisk together. Put the water, egg, and oil in a small bowl and whisk to beat the egg. Add them together and when combined put on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to ¼” think and cut with a small cutter. Re-roll and continue cutting until it is all used. I used a small bone shape. It says makes 60 treats, I got 80.
Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, turn off the oven and let biscuits harden and cool in the oven for 1 hour.

For dinner we had Meatloaf and artichokes.
I found really good smaller artichokes in the market. I steamed them in a pot and served with the delicious butter sauce that was left over from the lobster.
The meatloaf is from Martha’s Everyday Food show. It says serves 6, but we have very little left.
2T vegetable oil
½# cremini mushrooms sliced
Salt and pepper
2 small leeks, white and light-green parts only, thinly sliced, washed and dried
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 C shredded fontina cheese, about 4 oz
1 slice day old bread, cubed
1 large egg
1T finely chopped fresh sage leaves (I used a third less dry)
1 ½ # ground Turkey
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet heat 1T oil and add the mushrooms. Cook until golden about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the remaining oil to the same skillet and add the leeks and garlic they said, until soft about 4 minutes, season with salt and pepper. I wish I had cooked them until golden like making French onion soup as I thought the onion taste was too prominent in the finished loaf. Add to the bowl with the mushrooms. Let cool and then add the fontina cheese, bread, egg, sage and turkey. Add ¾ t salt and ¼ t pepper and mix all together with your hands. For this part I use disposable latex gloves. Put parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet and form a 10” loaf on the pan. I had some leftover small tomatoes and I cut them in slices and arranged them decoratively on top. It says to bake for 45 minutes. Mine took longer as I used an instant read thermometer and it had not reached 165. I baked 15 minutes longer to a temp of 160. I let it set for 10 minutes and it was 165 degrees.

The wine that Jim served definitely needed aerated. I did not like it until he performed this function. The wine was a 2007 Viansa Athena, a blend of Sonoma County Dolcetto grapes which originate in the Piedmont of Northern Italy. Very little is grown in CA. It makes a light red wine but this did benefit from using the Vinturi aerator.
For those of you who are interested, the carpet is still drying and I believe that my second application tomorrow will eliminate the wine stains. I am living proof that there is life after spilling red wine on light carpet.

Fish with Beets, Bacon and Balsamic and Meyer lemon Crepe Cake

If you never hear from me again on this blog, Jim has killed me. Tonight I came into my office with a glass of red wine, set it on my desk that was loaded with papers, and it did not stay upright. I will have to say that red wine is chilling on light grey carpet, but the abuse I suffered verbally tonight was totally uncalled for. I can’t begin to tell you how many spills I have cleaned up around the dining tables that have been left by the dinner Sommelier. But here is dinner tonight. Possibly it is the beets that caused the bad humor. I like beets, Jim could do without them.
Last night I did not blog about my strawberries as I did not make them until I had finished. I have these wonderful big strawberries. I warmed some chocolate chips in a little heavy cream and rolled the strawberries in them. They were ok; I probably should have added some vanilla.
Today was all Martha which means my back is in pain. I originally wanted to make her Shad Roe with Beet, Bacon and Balsamic. She aired this on her TV show on Monday and I was at the market on Wednesday. They said the shad season was over. I had already loaded my basket the other 10 ingredients Martha called for so I looked for something that had the same shape as this was a salad compose. I chose long thin pieces of cod. Serves 4

4 medium red beets
4 medium golden beets
1 fennel bulb, sliced
2 garlic cloves
1 apple, quartered
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 fresh bay leaves
½ C plus 3 T EVOO
½ C AP flour
Salt and pepper
4 pieces of shad roe (I substituted the cod)
8 slices of thick-cut apple wood smoked bacon
3T butter
Salt
¼ C assorted coarsely chopped herbs, parsley, tarragon, chives
1 C Frisee
¼ C balsamic vinegar
Place the beets in different pots according to color. Make sure that after all is added that you have pots big enough to cover the contents by 4” of water. To each pot add ½ of the first 5 ingredients. The directions say to simmer for 35 minutes. Mine took about 55 minutes. Drain separately and disregard all but the beets. Peel and cut into quarters. Place in separate bowls and then mix in 2 T of EVOO, salt, and pepper in each bowl. Cool.
Next cook the bacon in a skillet. When finished set aside the bacon and retain only 3T bacon greases. Add 1 3T of EVOO and the same amount of butter to the skillet. Put the fish or shad into a container with ½ C AP flour and add salt and pepper. Add the fish to the skillet. Cook to 135 degrees. It does not take long.
In the meantime, rinse and chop the Frisee. Place on the plates. Add the quartered beets and the bacon. When the fish is done place on top and sprinkle with the EVOO/Balsamic mixture.
Jim hates beets but said he liked it. But that was before I spilled the wine.

We have not had the following yet, but I made it because I had left over lemon curd that I made from the angel food cake leftover egg yolks.

Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake
3/4C AP flour
1/2C sugar
¼ t salt
1 ¼ C milk
3 large eggs
1/2t vanilla extract
Mix the above ingredients and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. Lightly coat a crepes pan with butter. Do not expect the first 3 to turn out. I have a very old French crepe pan. I also have a non-stick pan the same size. I still use the old French crepe pan. Keep adding butter to 6T as you make each crepe. Heat the pan, add the butter, and add about 2T of batter. Swirl to fill the bottom. Cook to brown the bottom and flip. Cook the other side and place on a plate. I put wax paper between each crepe. You need 15 total.

Meyer lemon mousse
Add IC of whipped heavy cream to lemon curd. For the lemon curd recipe go to http://wwwmarthastewart.com , if you did not make the one on my blog.
So next place a crepe on a plate, top with about ¼ C of the lemon/crème mixture. Keep doing this until you use all the crepes or the lemon/crème mixture up. Slice in wedges and I am serving with my strawberries.

Jim served a 2007 Viansa Estate Carneros Chardonnay, Cento per Cento. Of all the wines that Jim has shipped in from CA through wine Clubs, Viansa is my favorite. This one was wonderful.

Lobster Tail and Aspargus Tart

Max learned tonight that lobster is his favorite food. Jim was up in Valley Forge last night to attend a GE old-timers event. I went out to dinner with Elaine to the Chinese restaurant across from the gate. This AM he visited our old farmer’s market in Wayne, PA and said hello to our friends the Alderfer’s and had breakfast. When we lived in PA we went to the market every Saturday AM. Jim had breakfast and I shopped; stacking the bags at his feet while he ate. It was and, he says still is, a great place to buy fresh food. He brought some great looking bread home. On his way back he was stopping at Costco to buy gas and called to ask if we needed anything. I initially said no and then I thought, I’d like lobster tonight. I found a recipe for broiled lobster tail with buttery Pernod sauce. I accompanied this with a Martha Stewart recipe for Asparagus-Parmesan Tart. Jim served Champagne. Very elegant Saturday night.


The Lobster recipe came from Le Cordon Bleu, Complete Cook; Home Collection. The sauce was to die for and the directions for cooking the lobster tails were perfect. Yes, we gave Max a couple bites of lobster and that was a big mistake. Jim bought very large tails and so I gave him some of mine as I could not finish it. After the first bite, Max tried to climb into Jim’s lap to obtain more.

Tart
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
AP flour for dusting
1 egg, well beaten
10 medium asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed, shaved into thin strips using a vegetable peeler
2 t EVOO
Salt and pepper to taste
½ C finely grated Parmigianino-Reggiano cheese
bPreheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface, just until the creases are smooth to a 10” sq. Lightly score a ½” border on all four sides. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Whisk 1 egg and brush the borders of the pastry. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Toss the shaved asparagus with the EVOO, salt, and pepper. When the pastry is baked, take a spatula and press down the center of the pastry. Arrange the asparagus and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake 5 minutes more and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before cutting into 4 pieces. This was good and elegant looking with the lobster.

Next for the lobster, start with the sauce.
1 star anise
½C water
2T Pernod
¾ C unsalted butter, cubed
Place the anise and the water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to low and cook for about 10 minutes to reduce the water to 2T. Add the butter in small amounts whisking as you add to melt. Add ½ the Pernod. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the sauce over warm water. If kept on the stove it will separate. I put the sauce pan in a bowl of warm water and put it on a turned off burner. Remember the oven was on and later the broiler would be on. It kept perfectly. Right before serving, add the second T of Pernod.

For the lobster tails, bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove. Add the tails and boil for 2 minutes. Remove and drain. With the meat side down cut the shell but not all the way through the meat. Open and brush the meat with butter. Preheat the broiler on high. Place the tails meat side down and broil for 5 minutes. Turnover and broil for an additional 5 minutes. I had my oven rack on the second notch down from the broiler.

The lobster and sauce were fabulous. Jim said this is better than butter. I answered it is good, but it does contain a stick and ½ of butter.

We had a vintage 1992 Jacquart Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, Reims. It was cold, dry, crisp and perfect with the lobster.

Lemony Lentil Soup with Greens and Corn and Basil Muffins

Tonight we had soup and corn muffins. Both were very good. In fact they were so good that Jim who served himself 3 times after the first serving accused me of stuffing him. The soup came from a January Better Homes and Garden article.
Soup
2t canola oil
1small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
12C chicken broth, they say low-sodium, I used my homemade stock
16zo green lentils
1t dried basil
1t dried thyme
1t salt
6 oz kale leaves
3T fresh lemon juice, 1 lemon
1t finely grated lemon peel
After you have chopped the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, heat the oil in a 6 qt. pot. Add the vegetables and sauté for 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn. Add all the stock, lentils, and herbs. Bring to a boil and add the kale. Turn to low and cook for 35 minutes. Add the lemon juice and serve. Top each serving with grated lemon peel.
This soup serves 8 with a meal to follow. Jim had 4 servings; I had 1, so we have a lot left. It was great soup. You could use vegetable stock and make it vegetarian. I don’t think the stock made a difference other than possibly the salt level as mine was homemade.

The corn muffins came from this past Wednesday’s Washington Post from a new cookbook called “Dishing up Maryland.”
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
1 ¼ C flour
¾ C yellow cornmeal
2T sugar
3t baking powder
¾ t salt
1C low fat milk, I used non fat
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ C vegetable oil
1 C frozen corn kernels that have been defrosted
3T minced basil
I messed this recipe up so bad and it was still wonderful. First as the muffins were half done, I realized that I forgot the vegetable oil. Also I read the 3T as1T for the basil. I definitely have to make these again, but for all the mess-ups, they were very good, I can hardly wait to do it right. Nothing different than any other muffin, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the corn kernels to the dry ingredients. Mix the wet together and stir to combine. Spray the muffin tin with oil. Makes 12 muffins

Jim served what he calls the house wine. Gnarly Head, Old vine Zin.

Beef Satay Fried Rice

I felt sorry for Jim last night. The dinner had no meat, lots of veggies; and it was not real good. I had to get up early to go to the Dr., so I took the same cookbook with me to see what we had at home that I could make for dinner that he would like. I called from the Dr’s office and found out that we indeed had 1# of Buffalo steak in the freezer. I told Jim to take it out. I drove home and had to make Max’s food for the month. Jim decided as the cupboard was bare and we were busy the rest of the week, we had to grocery shop before dinner. So, he went off for a haircut and I started making dog food and the weekly list. Then we went to Wegman’s.
Tonight’s dinner was said to become a family favorite and I could certainly agree. I added snow peas to the recipe and Jim agreed with me that it would not have looked as good or tasted as good without them.
2t vegetable oil, divided
1# boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut in 1/2 “thick slices. I used buffalo steak
2 medium carrots peeled and julienned
1 medium red bell pepper thinly sliced
4 green onions with tops thinly sliced
½ # snow peas
½ t Thai red curry paste
6C cooked rice; I put 2 cups of Rose’s rice in a pan with 2C of water. I soaked it most of the day, then cooked as usual. Bring to a boil, cover and put on low for 10 minutes.  Don't know it it was 6C, but it was pleanty.
¾ peanut sauce
½ C dry roasted peanuts
1t salt
½ t ground black pepper
Add 1t of the oil to the wok and heat for about 3 minutes. I have a scanner that tells you when a pot reaches the correct temperature for what you want to do. The minutes stated were exactly the temperature on my stove for stir fry. Add the meat and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Remove the meat and add the remaining 1 t of oil. Stir fry all vegetables for about 4 minutes and add the rice. Mix for a couple of minutes and add the beef, peanut sauce, peanuts, salt and pepper. Cook a couple of minutes and serve immediately.

Says serves 6, we have one serving left. Jim really liked it. We had a Rasteau Cotes Du Rhone Villages with this meal that we bought at Wegman’s. Jim aerated it. It is a good one to buy and put down. I think it has a long life.