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On the treadmill at the gym yesterday, I caught an episode of Guy Fieri’s “Off the Hook” on the Food Network. It inspired me to go home and make my own version of what he was cooking. He was using crushed pretzels and almonds to coat chicken strips. “Brilliant!” I thought. I had chicken tenders in my refrigerator at home, pretzels in the cupboard, and a four-year-old son who wants to eat chicken nuggets every night anyway. So I adapted his recipe to my liking and gave it a whirl. Guy Fieri’s full recipe can be found here: Awesome Pretzel Chicken Tenders with Spicy Honey Dijon Sauce.
My version is slightly different. I didn’t have buttermilk on hand nor did I have time to let the tenders marinate for long, but the results were still great and my 4-year old actually cleaned his plate (which I neither require nor encourage, but still).
This was the first time I was truly successful at keeping the coating on something frying. Was it the milk that made the difference or the fact that the coating was made of such granular pieces? I’m not sure, but it really worked.
Today I decided it was time to use the mandoline I recently purchased and what better way to give it a test drive than to slice sweet potatoes for home-made chips? I waited a long time before purchasing a mandoline. I had always wanted one, but whenever I saw one in a store, it was too exorbitant. Not so anymore. I purchased my Swissmar Borner V Slicer Plus for only about $40 and I learned today that it works great. Click on the photo to learn more.
It’s moving day for friends of mine and since they have four children aged 8 and under, I thought it would be nice to bring them dinner at the end of this stressful day. For a family of six plus a grandmother and an au pair, I knew that it would impossible to cook too much, so I decided to make a giant lasagna (and salad and bread). Raquel is health conscious and her children happily eat vegetables, so I decided to pull all of the health levers I could with this recipe: whole wheat pasta, lots of spinach, low-fat cheeses and of course, 99% fat free ground turkey. I made an extra one for my family and I can tell you, it tastes great. Even my picky 4-year old said, “Mommy. I like it.”
My breakfast was so good just now that I feel compelled to make it a blog post.
Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Leek chopped pretty finely
3 eggs
2-3 Tbsp whole milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
1. Heat olive in a sautée pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and sautée until softened, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes.
2. Beat eggs with milk, salt and pepper. Add egg mixture to pan where leeks are sautéeing. Sprinkle cheese on top of egg mixture. Reduce heat if necessary (medium to medium low is good). Let eggs set for a couple of minutes. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes. After that, I was able to flip mine over with a spatula and cook them on the other side for a minute or two, but you could always be patient and just wait for it to cook through while covered without flipping.
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Great for a dinner party or for a family meal, this easy to make chicken dish pleases kids and adults alike.
This video has been entered in the Macy’s: Keep America Cooking Video Contest. Please go give me a 5 star rating today. You can vote as many times as you like. Thanks!
While working out at the gym a couple of weeks ago, I caught an episode of Tyler Florence’s show on the Food Network, Tyler’s Ultimate. He did an ultimate Saturday breakfast with a blood orange mimosa, a home-made granola/yogurt parfait and a frittata with smoked ham and Gruyère cheese. Check out his recipes on the Food Network website: Tyler’s Ultimate: Episode TU0413H.
I’ve been tinkering with my frittata recipe for years and after watching his interpretation of the dish, I decided to give mine one last go and share the results with you. So much for my 45 minutes on the treadmill.
I first fell in love with the frittata on a trip to Spain, where it is called a Spanish tortilla. I was confused at first because I thought a tortilla was that flour thing you stuffed your burrito into, but it turns out that the word tortilla is derived from the word torta, which means “round cake”. A Spanish tortilla is typically a round omelette made with eggs, sautéed potatoes and onions. It is served at room temperature in cafés or Tapas bars. I was startled when it was served lukewarm, but that’s the tradition. Here in the States, we tend to like our frittatas hot out of the oven or off of the stove, but in Spanish Tapas bars, the frittata sits on the counter all day long waiting for the next customer.
My goal with this frittata is to make sure that the potatoes have just the right texture. They need to be fully cooked, but not overly cooked and it helps if they aren’t too starchy. You don’t want them to go “mush” when you cut through the frittata with your fork. For all of these reasons, I choose the waxy Charlotte potato. Another variety that works well is the Maris Peer. (Want to know everything there is to know about potato varieties? Visit the Potato Council website. The trick is to sautée the onions first and add the potatoes until both are fully cooked. Then you’re ready to cook the eggs with the potatoes.
It’s Asparagus season in Northern California. Bunches that normally go for $5.99 or $6.99/lb now go for $1.29/lb. That’s when I know it’s time for my favorite soup recipe: Asparagus Soup.
I’ve taken this recipe from the book Celebrating the Impressionist Table, by Pamela Todd. Published in 1997, it is now out-of-print, but it is full of sumptuous recipes. I love the premise of this book: to provide recipes for the foods seen in the paintings of Renoir, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet and others. Part art history, part cultural history, part cookbook, it satisfies the curiosity of anyone interested in understanding the day-to-day lives of these artists and their families as well as the role food played in their 19th century French lives.
Most important, though, is the fact that this soup is darn tasty.
Potage Argenteuil – Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
3 Tbsp butter
1 lb asparagus, trimmed and chopped with tips reserved
2 leeks, rinsed, trimmed and chopped
1 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
4 1/2 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken stock)
6 Tbsp light cream
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives (I didn’t have any this time, but I recommend using them)
pinch of grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
fresh chives, to garnish
Instructions
1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the chopped asparagus, leeks, and potato, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer to a blender or food processor and blend until very smooth. (You could even strain it through a fine strainer).
2. Return the soup to a clean pan. Stir in the cream and chives and season with the nutmeg, salt and pepper; keep warm.
3. Blanch the reserved asparagus tips in boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain and refresh immediately under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.
4. Spoon the soup into warmed bowls and garnish with the asparagus tips and chives.
I saw a photograph of mozzarella melted over an eggplant slice on an open-faced sandwich and it inspired me to create this recipe. It’s low-carb since there is no bread or pizza crust at all. You put the toppings right on the eggplant slice and bake. These mini-“pizzas” are super easy to make and you can do several variations in one batch.
Ingredients
1 large eggplant, 1/8 inch slices
Salt
Prepared spaghetti sauce
Possible Toppings:
Pepperoni slices (try the low-fat Turkey variety)
Fresh mozzerella, cut into 1/8 inch slices
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil leaves
Tomato slices or diced fresh tomato
(Any topping of your choice!)
Instructions
1. Salt the eggplant slices and let them sit for 30 minutes. Press the water out of the slices into a paper towel.
2. Preheat oven to 425˚F. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and lay the slices on the sheet without letting them touch.
3. Top each slice with a thin layer of tomato sauce and then add toppings of your choice.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and gorgeous. Allow to cool for 2 minutes before transferring to plate.
The eggplant “pizzas” are not stable enough to eat with your fingers. This is definitely fork food, but it shouldn’t be totally soggy either. If your slices are coming out really soggy, then there are a few troubleshooting tips: a) Salt them really well at the beginning and try to expel as much moisture as possible. b) Put less tomato sauce on. c) Don’t bake them for too long.
