One Pot Meal: Baked Chicken

One pot meals are a thing of wonder.  This especially rings true for a messy cook such as myself. Despite the fact that we have somewhere on the order of four times more counter space now than we did in our last home, I still manage to cover all the surfaces during some of my more involved cooking/baking days. I have been known to exclaim, "I don't have anywhere to put this!" only to have my husband look at me in bewilderment. In my defense, it usually involves needing my sink, which is, in my opinion, rather small for the size of our kitchen.

With my parents coming to visit last Sunday for a grandson-fix, I was inspired to make this by a lonely whole chicken wasting away in our deep freezer.  This recipe is easy all around (even more-so if you get your butcher to cut up the chicken for you) and great for when you have company.  Toss all the ingredients in a roasting pan and pop it in the oven for 50 minutes.  We even used the roasting pan as the serving dish and let everyone pick out what they wanted, buffet style.  With just one dish to clean up, it allowed for less time in the kitchen and more time where it counts - with family!

Simple, but classic flavorings of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and thyme make this baked chicken dish a great choice for last minute guests, or anytime you want a wholesome, comforting meal with minimal effort.

Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic, and Thyme

Source: Slightly adapted from Everyday Food, October 2009
Yield: Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

 

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (3 to 3 1/2 pounds), cut into 8 pieces and breasts halved crosswise
• 1 pound white new potatoes, halved (quartered if large)
• 1 large red onion, cut into eighths
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated and left unpeeled
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 pound baby carrots
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange chicken, potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, thyme, and lemon in a 12-by-16-inch roasting pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and vinegar and drizzle over chicken and vegetables.
3. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Turn chicken skin side up. Roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 50 minutes.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I recently talked about regional differences in traditional breakfast foods. With our first little one here now, we seem to be starting some breakfast traditions of our own. Once each weekend, we get up and cook a delicious breakfast together, be it biscuits and gravy, eggs with toast and hash browns, bagel sandwiches, or my favorite - pancakes! It's a nice change from a bowl of cereal or cream cheese laden bagel, and fun to prepare a meal together.



We typically use my favorite pancake recipe with apples and (sometimes) cranberries, but last week I got inspired to make peanut butter banana pancakes. I'm not sure where the urge came from, but my husband sometimes slathers peanut butter in between his pancakes, so I knew he would be on board! At the last minute, chocolate chips sounded like a perfect addition, so I tossed a few into the batter.

I am so happy with how these pancakes turned out. There is a great balance of the three main components, which complement each other well in every bite!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Source: Adapted from my favorite pancake recipe
Yield: Serves 4 (2 pancakes each)
Preparation time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 minutes

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup oat bran
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 banana
• 1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Add the peanut butter and honey to a heat-safe bowl. Microwave in 20 second intervals on low power until mixture is softened and warm. Mash half of the banana, and slice the remaning half into 1/4 inch thick rounds, then cut the rounds into quarters. Stir the mashed banana into the peanut butter mixture.
2. Stir together oat bran through cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine milk, egg, and oil; stir to mix.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stir just until mixed. Fold in peanut butter mixture, chopped banana, and chocolate chips.
4. Heat griddle or pan, then spray with cooking spray. Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto griddle, repeat with remaining batter. Heat until bubbles form at the surface and bottom is lightly browned, then flip and cook through.

Curry Shrimp with Green Beans and Soba Noodles

A few weeks ago I mentioned one of our favorite curry recipes, and said it was one of two favorites. Today, I am bringing you the other favorite! After trying so many different recipes, this one always stood out as the best. When I went back to evaluate why, and compare all the recipes, I found that this one calls for twice the curry powder that the others do. That could definitely explain why we like this recipe so much more!



As luck would have it, I wanted to make this right as we ran out of curry powder. I was due to refill some other spices, so I turned to my trusty spice store, Penzeys, for a new order. I flipped to the curry page in the catalog and was instantly overwhelmed. There were so many different kinds, and I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize "curry powder" was really a blend of several different spices. I thought curry powder was just - curry powder, like turmeric is just turmeric. Boy, was I wrong!

I grabbed my empty curry jar and scanned the ingredient list, then picked the one in the catalog that sounded the closest and crossed my fingers as I placed the order. I chose the sweet curry powder, and it turned out to be the perfect choice. It was just the right blend for us!

This is a fabulously quick, easy, one pot meal - great for a weeknight. This combination of spices is our favorite curry sauce, which I suspect we will be able to use in many other curry dishes in the future!

Curry Shrimp with Green Beans and Soba Noodles

Source: Slightly adapted from The Gracious Pantry
Yield: Serves 2-3
Preparation time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 minutes

 

Ingredients

• 1 pound frozen shrimp (peeled and deveined, tail off)
• 1 can light coconut milk (14 oz)
• 1 pound fresh green beans
• 3 green onions, diced
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 4 teaspoons curry powder
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 ounces soba noodles

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients except soba noodles in a large pot or pan, cover and bring to a boil.
2. Once you have a nice rolling boil, remove the lid and continue to cook over medium to medium-high heat.
3. Add soba noodles and cook an additional 3-4 minutes, until noodles are soft and shrimp are cooked through.

Tilapia with Lemon Pesto and Oven Roasted Tomatoes

We've been in a fish rut for a months now. All I seem to make with our stash of frozen tilapia is fish tacos. While fish tacos are pretty darn awesome, I knew I would need to move on, eventually. For a while I could blame it on the nice weather (I'm talking last summer, here), but even in the dead of winter, I turned to that easy-to-prepare, delicious, healthy fish taco recipe.

I could further blame it on the fact that most of the tilapia recipes in my queue call for breadcrumbs, and I can't find whole wheat breadcrumbs in the store. Or, I did eventually find some, but a look at the ingredient label revealed that they contained high fructose corn syrup. (In breadcrumbs? Really?) They immediately went back on the shelf. Yes, I know I can make them at home, but I'm too lazy busy to figure out how to achieve the right texture.

Enter one of my favorites blogs: Elly Says Opa! This recipe caught my eye because I had some pesto to use up, and allowed me to skirt around my bread crumb debacle.

This turned out to be a quick, simple way to prepare a flavorful dish!

Tilapia with Lemon Pesto and Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Source: Elly Says Opa!
Yield: Serves 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pesto
• 1 lemon
• 2 tilapia filets
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Toss the tomatoes and the garlic with the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Roast for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, juice the lemon and reserve both the juice and the juiced lemon. To the juice, add the pesto and stir to combine. Season the tilapia with salt and pepper and then spread the pesto mixture on top of the fish.
3. Take the pan of roasted garlic and tomatoes out of the oven and nestle the cut lemon into the pan. Place the tilapia on top of the lemon and tomatoes and put back in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the fish is flaky and no longer opaque. Spoon the tomatoes over the fish.

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

"You've never had biscuits and gravy?"

My husband was shocked, but no, it was not something my parents ever made for breakfast when I was growing up. I'm from the Boston area, and breakfast was usually either cereal, various preparations of eggs, sometimes with bacon, various pastries, or the occasional loaf of Polish rye bread from Alice's Bakery in Southie. My husband is from northern California, which doesn't scream "biscuits and gravy" to me, but his mom grew up in Kansas, so that's probably where it comes from!

What is standard breakfast fare in your neck of the woods?

These tender, flaky biscuits are a fabulous complement to the creamy gravy, which has just the right spice from the fennel in homemade sausage.

Biscuits and Gravy

Source: Slightly adapted from Beantown Baker and Good Things Catered
Yield: Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes
Total time: 27 minutes

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (I used Earth Balance vegan butter sticks)
• 3/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
• 8-12 ounces chicken sausage (I chopped up 7 pre-cooked patties, which ranged from 1 to 1.5 ounces each, since that is what we had on hand)
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
• pepper

Instructions

1. For the biscuits: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture until the butter pieces are pea sized. Add the milk, stirring just until combined.
2. Turn dough out onto a work surface dusted with powdered sugar or whole wheat pastry flour. Roll out dough to 1" thick.
3. Cut dough into rounds or other desired shape. Top each biscuit with a small cube of butter.
4. Bake biscuits at 450 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes.
5. For the sausage gravy: Brown sausage in a skillet. Add milk and flour to pan and whisk together to form a gravy. Add more milk to thin the consistency out, more flour to thicken the consistency. Season with pepper to taste.
6. Serve gravy over biscuits.

Irish Soda Bread

Despite a significant amount of Irish in my blood, I'd never had Irish soda bread until last weekend. With Saint Patrick's Day upon us, I've seen requests for this recipe everywhere, and it piqued my interest. When I first saw the (very simple) ingredient list, I thought, "What is so special about this bread?"



It seemed easy enough to whip up, so that I did. My first loaf was dense and almost chewy - not good eats. This recipe turned out so much better for my second attempt, and had me singing the praises of Irish soda bread along with everyone else.

This tasty bread is crisp on the outside, but so soft on the inside. The buttermilk lends great flavor to the bread - tear off a piece and enjoy with butter, jam, or just by itself! Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Irish Soda Bread

Source: Slightly adapted from Cate's World Kitchen
Yield: 1 loaf
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/8 teaspoons baking soda (fresh is best)
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F, and grease a baking sheet (or line with parchment)
2. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and wisk together with a fork.
3. Stir in half the buttermilk, then add the remaining buttermilk 2 tbsp at a time.
4. You want the dough to be just a little bit moist. It should hold together, but not be sticky. If you accidentally add too much milk, knead in some flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
5. Shape into a ball, then cut an X into the top.
6. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown. (If you tap on the bottom of the loaf with your knuckles, it should sound hollow).
7. Let cool as long as you can stand to wait, then serve with butter and jam.
   Best if eaten within about 3 hours of baking.

Basil Chicken in a Coconut-Curry Sauce

It's easy to get lost in the sea of recipe sources these days. There are cookbooks, family recipes tucked in a recipe box, magazines, Food Network shows, more magazines… and let's not forget all the other food blogs I have in my Google Reader. Every once in a while I think of those poor cookbooks (collecting dust), hanging around the kitchen, and find it refreshing to crack them open and rediscover the recipes waiting inside.





I recently pulled out my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for some inspiration, and found plenty! I kept jumping from one page to the next, finding quite a few recipes to choose from given what ingredients I already had in the house. I was sold on this recipe, however, as soon as I saw the title. First off, it would use some basil that was dying a slow death in my refrigerator (and good basil is a terrible thing to waste). Second, I've been mildly obsessed with curry lately. In the last month, I've probably made five different curry dishes. Two have emerged as our favorites, for different reasons, and this is one of them.

We love this dish because marinating the chicken in the spices allows for a nice punch of flavor. The dish is balanced by the sauce, which uses fresh garlic, onion, and ginger, and has a surprisingly subtle background of basil.

Basil Chicken in a Coconut-Curry Sauce

Source: Reworded from Better Homes and Gardens Bridal Edition Cookbook
Yield: Serves 4
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

 

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1 can unsweetened light coconut milk (~14 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into ribbons
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 3 cups cooked rice (use brown rice if you are following a clean eating diet)

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl combine curry powder, black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and the chili powder. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Add to spice mixture in bowl; toss to coat. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours to allow spices to penetrate meat.
2. Pour oil into a wok or large nonstick skillet; heat over medium-high heat. Add half of the chicken to wok. Cook and stir for 4 to 6 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from wok. Repeat with remaining chicken.
3. Add onion, jalapeno peppers, and garlic to wok; cook and stir about 8 minutes or until crisp-tender.
4. Stir together coconut milk, cornstarch, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt until smooth. Carefully add to onion mixture in wok. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly.
5. Return chicken to wok. Stir in basil and ginger. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve over hot rice.

Vanilla Bean Cake

In 2007 after we moved to the Chicago area, I started a job that allowed me a 4 day work week. I jumped at the chance to have that schedule, since I had a long commute and it meant saving wear and tear on my car, and making a dent in the gas bill. However, when you combine 3 day weekends + a husband with a demanding job + not being close to family or friends... you get a whole lot of free time.

I dove into cooking, then blogging, then cooking groups like TWD and BB. I filled my weekends with trying new recipes and new techniques, hoping to find favorites that I could someday share with someone other than my husband.

Last year we moved back to the east coast, little more than an hour from where I grew up. When it was time to plan our son's baptism, I knew right away that I wanted to make the cake. This is what I'd been working towards - years of building experience in the kitchen, so I could share the fruits of that labor with family and friends!

For this cake, I pulled from some old favorites, tried new recipes, and built my first stacked cake! I was really happy with how it came out, considering how rushed I was putting it together.  The top section is a 6-inch, triple layer cake made with Beatty's Chocolate Cake (water instead of coffee, though) and chocolate mousse filling.  The bottom was a 9-inch, triple layer cake made with vanilla bean cake and raspberry filling.  I also made Swiss Meringue Buttercream for the first time for this cake, and loved it!  I'll be posting that recipe once I work out some kinks that I had with it.

This vanilla bean cake recipe was perfect. Fluffy, moist cake with great vanilla flavor - I couldn't get enough!  This is definitely my new favorite white cake recipe.  I made 1.5 times the below recipe to have enough for three 9-inch layers. 

Vanilla Bean Cake

Source: Reworded from Confections of a Foodie Bride
Yield: Two 8 or 9-inch cake layers
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cubed and softened to room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and line two 8-inch or 9-inch baking pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Split and scrape the vanilla pod into the butter, discard pod (or reserve for another use). Beat for 3 minutes on medium-high speed until the butter is light and creamy in color. Stop and scrape the bowl. Cream the butter for an additional 60 seconds.
3. Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl before each addition. Add the eggs one at a time. Reduce the mixer speed. Stir vanilla into the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an off-set spatula. Lift up the pan with the batter, and let it drop onto the counter top a couple of times to burst any air bubbles and allowing the batter to settle. Center the pans onto the lower third of the oven and let bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is lightly brown on top and comes away from the sides of the pan and a skewer inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.  I found that 45 minutes was too long for my cake and ended up overbaking them a bit, so check early. 
5. Let cool completely in the pans before removing the cakes and frosting.

Party Punch

In February, we celebrated our son's baptism. Such an event brought all sides of my family together (sadly my husband's family lives clear across the country, so it's hard to attend events like this). When planning the menu, I arrived at the beverage category and things quickly got out of hand. You see, there are some polar opposites in my family. When my mom's side gets together to celebrate an event, they bring along certain friends: Caymus, Cakebread, Jameson (why not add a little Irish to your coffee?), Veuve, Van Gogh, Bud, and Coors. My dad's side? They bring out the Martinelli's. Yup - sparking apple cider is about as wild as it gets there!

I created the Mom's side portion of the menu with simply red and white wine, and two types of beer. After running it past her, she thought that mimosas, espresso martinis, and a third beer offering were in order. I had to politely remind her that this was a Sunday afternoon event - no need to run the gamet on alcoholic beverages! We compromised and ended up somewhere in the middle. For the Dad's side of the menu, I found this suggestion for punch on a cooking board that I frequent. I wanted to do something other than just water and soda, and this was a fabulous choice! What are your family gatherings like? Are the offerings more like Mom's side or Dad's side?

This party punch is easy to throw together, fruity with a little zing from the ginger ale. A great treat for all party guests!

Party Punch

Source: Ammie of Adventures in my kitchen
Preparation time: 5 min

Ingredients

• 2 quarts cranberry juice
• 1 can pineapple juice (46 ounces)
• 2 cups orange juice
• 2 liters ginger ale
• 1 orange, sliced

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients except orange slices to a large punch bowl with ice. Stir to combine.
2. Float orange slices in punch for garnish.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate with Whipped Coconut Cream

Hot chocolate is one of the most comforting winter indulgences, I think. Warm, creamy, delicious chocolate - perfect for curling up with when it's cold and snowy outside. I look forward to enjoying hot chocolate all winter long, and it's one of the only ways I truly enjoy chocolate. My husband loves it, too, and when I saw this recipe for peanut butter hot chocolate, I knew he'd be excited about it.

 

Chocolate and peanut butter is such a classic combination, and they marry well together in this lovely twist on classic hot chocolate. Growing up, my favorite topping was none other than the classic Fluff. I loved that stuff (well, I still do!) but it's not exactly fitting into the clean eating lifestyle. Enter: the genius happening over at The Gracious Pantry. Tiffany recently introduced her readers to a whipped cream alternative made from coconut milk. Given my recent addiction to all things curry, I had some coconut milk in stock and decided to try it out.



All I can say is coconut cream = awesome. I forgot all about Fluff once I topped my hot chocolate with this heavenly stuff. I'm sure you are wondering if you can taste the coconut. I could when sampling it alone, but I skimped a bit on the honey/vanilla. Once atop the hot chocolate, I couldn't pick out the coconut at all. Just lovely, creamy deliciousness to perfectly complement more lovely, creamy deliciousness.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate with Whipped Coconut Cream
Source: Slightly adapted from Dolcetto Confections/Martha Stewart
Generously serves 2

2 cups skim milk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons sucanat
1 tablespoon whipped coconut cream

In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm milk until it just begins to simmer and bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Whisk in chocolates, peanut butter, and sucanat until melted and smooth. Cover and continue warming over low heat until warmed through. For a thicker cup of cocoa, simmer hot chocolate uncovered until desired thickness is achieved. Ladle hot chocolate into individual mugs, top with whipped cream.

Whipped Coconut Cream
Source: Reworded from The Gracious Pantry

1 14 ounce can regular coconut milk (do not use light milk)
1 tablespoon. agave or honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coconut cream (recipe follows)

1. Identify which end of the can you'll open with the can opener (for some cans that's the bottom) and place it that-end-down in the fridge for at least a day. The longer, the better. Gently turn the can over and open it. The cream should be solid at the (now) bottom of the can, with a layer of clear liquid on top. Pour off the clear liquid (great for use in smoothies or added to juice for a tropical touch).

2. Scoop the cream out of the can and into a medium bowl. Add honey and vanilla extract. Blend or whisk together until well combined.

3. Refrigerate coconut cream for a few hours to set; it will thicken slightly when chilled.

Note: If you find that even after chilling, the cream won’t stiffen up, put it into a blender with 1 package of unflavored gelatin. Let it sit out for about an hour. Once it’s thick as it should be, put it back into the fridge to chill further.