Italian Skillet Chicken with Polenta

I used to hate eating polenta as a child. I thought it was torture.  This gross, corn-tasting mush slopped on my plate.  Now, I finally appreciate it's flavor and how you can add just about anything to give it an extra flavor boost.  Cheese being my number one choice!

The below recipe uses polenta almost like a biscuit topping.  It adds a nice subtle flavor and texture to the skillet chicken.  This dish was a big hit in our house, even our 1 year old ate some!

Only downside is that you have to juggle making the polenta while cooking the veggies in the skillet, but not tough.  Just remember to constantly stir the polenta so it doesn't form lumps or burn.  Oh, and make sure the skillet you're using is oven safe!!

The skillet dish topped with polenta, fresh from the oven.  A great flavorful dish, perfect for a cold or rainy day. 

Italian Skillet Chicken with Polenta, courtesy of America's Test Kitchen 30 Minute Suppers

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2lbs), cut in to 1" pieces

Salt & pepper

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

8 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered (I didn't use mushrooms!)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c. red wine

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes

4 c. water

1 c. instant polenta (I used Albers corn meal)

1 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Adjust oven rack 5" from heating element and heat broiler.  Pat chicken dry and season with salt/pepper.  heat oil in large oven safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking.  Cook chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.  Transfer to plate.

Add onion, bell pepper and mushrooms to skillet and cook until soft, about 8 min. Stir in garlic and cook til fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add wine and cook until reduced to glaze, about 1 min.  Add tomatoes, chicken, and any accumulated juices and bring to boil.  Reduce to simmer and cook until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked through, about 10min. Season with salt/pepper.

Meanwhile, bring water to boil in large saucepan.  Gradually which in polenta and cook over medium heat, whisking until very thick, about 5 min.  Stir in 1 cup cheese and season with salt/pepper.  Cover to keep warm.

When chicken is done, dollop 1/4 cup mounds of polenta on top of chicken mixture, leaving about 1/2" space between polenta mounds. (My pan size didn't allow me to use all the polenta)  Sprinkle remaining cheese over polenta.  Transfer to oven and broil until polenta is hot and cheese is just beginning to brown, about 5 min.  Serve.

Chicken Francese

This Chicken Francese recipe is so delicious.  The thin chicken cutlets are lightly coated with flour and egg, and the sauce has a wonderful lemony-wine-onion flavoring.  Because it uses thin sliced chicken breasts, the dish cooks faster than usual.

Any leftovers from this meal? Cube up the cooked chicken and toss with cooked pasta and coat with the remaining sauce.  Add some milk if you need to thin the sauce out...

My 3 year and 1 year old loved this meal, so give it a shot!

Chicken Francese, courtesy of America's Test Kitchen 30 Minute Suppers

1 c. plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
8 thin-cut skinless chicken cutlets (or cut 4 breasts halfed horizontally)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup lemon juice from 2 lemons
2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Table salt and ground black pepper

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 200 degrees. Set baking sheet and place sheet in oven.

Spread 1 cup flour in a dish. Beat eggs in second dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Dip each piece of chicken in flour, then egg, then flour.

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in large nonstick pan over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken until golden brown and cooked through, 2-3 min per side.  Transfer chicken to platter in oven. 

Add onion and additiona 1 Tbsp butter to empty pan and cook til soft, about 5 min. Add remaining flour from plate and stire until golden, about 1 min. Whisk in wine, lemon, broth and cook until reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, 10-15min.

Whisk remaining butter in to sauce and season with salt and pepper.  Arrange chicken on plate and pour sauce on top.

Broccoli is an excellent side for this meal, and quick to cook if you steam on top of stove or microwave.

Enjoy!

Kate's Strata

For Christmas brunch I made my friend Kate's excellent strata.  You put it together the night before and bake for about an hour in the morning.  The toughest part of the recipe is cooking and cutting the bacon (make the kids tear the bread apart!), and you could easily add a few ingredients if you have leftover ham, turkey, bell peppers, etc.  But, I don't think this strata needs any changing.  It is very good - so good that four people ate 3/4 of the 11x13 pan!

Highly Recommend!

Breakfast Strata, courtesy of Kate Hurley

1 package bacon, cooked and cut or crumbled into small pieces

½ loaf torn bread (I would use sourdough)
1 lb Monterey Jack Cheese grated
10 eggs
1½ cup milk
1/3 cup white wine
One bunch of green onions chopped
Pepper to taste and finish on top

Mix all; leave overnight. 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Unbaked Chocolate Peanut Butter Mounds

Today I started my Christmas cookie baking frenzy.  I started with one of the easiest cookie recipes I have, and it is one of the most popular too.  They don't look extremely appealing, but they taste very good!

These cookies don't need to be limited to the Christmas season.  They're a hearty cookie (or mound) that holds up well if you package them up and take them on the go... in a lunch, picnic, etc.  Just make sure you don't pack them where peanuts aren't allowed - like most schools!

Unbaked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, courtesy of my Grandma!

Fondue

I'm not one that hosts fondue parties, but I never turn down the chance to dip food in warm, melted chocolate.  We attend an annual fondue party at my mother-in-law's home every December and I know a few friends that go to annual fondue parties as well.

Here are a couple food/fondue pairings that I recently discovered and think are a must have for fondue - maybe you have tried a few?  If not, make sure to include some of these next time you heat up a batch of melted cheese, oil or chocolate.

For Cheese:

Sliced pears

Grapes

Small potatoes (boil until just tender and season with salt and pepper)

Cornbread - maybe a spicier version with jalapenos or peppers.

Warmed Pearl Onions

Cooked Sausage, sliced

For Oil or Broth:

Shrimp! I love this idea - quick cooking so you're not tortured with waiting.

Chocolate:

Glazed old fashioned donuts, cut in to 1" to 2" pieces

Pretzel sticks

Cookies - chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, sugar, etc...

Pears

Dried Apricots

Pound Cake

Marshmallows

If you need some fondue recipes, here is a link to Martha Stewart's website. Ten Fondue Ideas

Biscuits with Sausage Patties and Gravy

Tickling daddy works up a big appetite so I made the family a classic American dish, or as I like to call it, a truck stop dish.  It was fairly easy to prepare although it took slightly longer than the 30 minutes the recipe promised.  But, I know that the next time I make it I can probably whip it out under 30 minutes now that I know what I'm doing.

This is a great, hearty meal for a cold day.  And if you don't have a circle cutter for the biscuits, do what I did.  Shape the dough in to a rectangle and cut in to eight equal square shaped biscuits.  No one says biscuits have to be round!

Biscuits with Sausage Patties and Gravy, courtesy of America's Test Kitchen 30 Minute Meals
Serves 4
2 1/4c. flour

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

salt and pepper

1 1/2c. heavy cream

1 tsp ground fennel seed

1 tsp dried sage

1 - 1 lb package bulk sausage meat

2 Tbsp veggie oil

3 c. whole milk

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat to 450.  Line cookie sheet with parchment or silpat.

Whisk 2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt together in bowl.  Stir in cream until dough forms.  Place dough on lightly floured surface and make a ball. Knead dough briefly until smooth and pat in to 3/4" thick circle (or rectangle if cutting in to squares with knife), and cut out eight total biscuits using a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter. Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheet and bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

While biscuits bake, whisk remaining flour, fennel, sage, and 1 1/2 tsp pepper in small bowl.  Pat sausage in to eight 2 1/2" round patties an dcook in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned.  About 3 min per side.  Transfer to plate, leaving fat in pan.

Add oil to skillet and stire in flour mix. Stir constantly until flour is absorbed, about 1 min. Slowly whisk in milk and bring to boil.  Return patties to skillet and simmer over medium heat until gravy is thickened and patties are cooked through, about 5 min.  Season gravy with salt.

Split biscuits open, top with sausage patties and gravy and replace top half of biscuit.

Apple Cup Saturday!

Today is the big Apple Cup game and I wanted to make comfort food with an apple twist.

For dessert I made individual apple pies.  I purchased the mini pie tins from the grocery store and one package of pre-made crust (containing two rounds of crust).  I sliced about 7 granny smith apples thin and cut in half, liberally sprinkled with sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg.  Then I cooked them on the stove until they were slightly tender.

Before dividing the apples in the four mini pie tins, I drained them and cooked down the juice separately for a few minutes to make it more syrupy.

Once apples were divided in to the tins, I took a stick of butter and mixed with about a cup of flour and half cup of sugar.  Once the mixture is nice and crumbly I divided and sprinkled on top of the pies. Bake at 375 for 40-60 min, or until the juices start to bubble and the top is nicely browned.  (Check pie at about 20min and cover edges with foil if they're browning too quick)

For an appetizer I wrapped whole water chestnuts with thick slices of applewood smoked bacon.  Cut bacon in half and wrap around single chestnut.  Use a toothpick to close.  Bake at 400 for 10-20 minutes, you can also broil but watch closely.  This has got to be one of the most easy, cheap, and popular appetizers around.  You can typically find water chestnuts on sale for $1 per can, and there are about 20-25 in each. 

The finished pies:

The oil after frying chicken.  The finished product was so good - crispy outside and super moist on the inside.  The recipe is courtesy of Lisa Dupar and Pomegranite Bistro in Redmond, WA.  Recipe is at bottom of this post.

As a side to the chicken, I roasted fingerling potatoes in the colors of purple and gold!  You can typically find this mix in the grocery store.

Place the potatoes in a 8x8 pyrex or similar sized baker.  Add 1/3 cup unsalted butter, some salt and pepper, juice from one lemon and some chopped fresh rosemary if you have some.  Roast at 400 for 20-30 minutes or until tender.  Toss them frequently while cooking. 

Lisa’s Southern Fried Chicken, courtesy of Lisa Dupar
1 Whole Grown Fryer - cut for frying (ask the meat dept to do for you at grocery store)
Seasoning salt blend
1 Cup Buttermilk with 2 eggs - Egg Wash
Flour - All purpose
2-3 Sleeves of Saltine Crackers - Crushed by hand so your have coarse crumbs. (Not super fine.)
Corn or Peanut Oil for frying in a pan

Season chicken meat with your favorite seasoning salt. Dust with flour. Dip into buttermilk egg wash. Press into crushed saltine cracker crumbs.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over med-high heat.

Fry until golden brown in skillet. This happens very quickly. Place on baking sheet & bake in 375-degree oven for 40-45 more minutes or until done. Reserve until you need to serve – warm quickly. Serve with mashers and slaw.