Roasted Herb Chicken with Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

 

Herb stuffing:

A combination of the following minced fresh herbs:

Basil

Parsley

Chives

Rosemary

Zest from one lemon

 

2 large chicken breasts with ribs and skin

 

5 small red skinned potatoes, quartered

6 large Brussels sprouts, outer leaves removed and halved

4 large garlic cloves, halved

3-4 extra Rosemary sprigs

 

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Salt

Pepper

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

 

Using your fingers, gently separate the chicken skin from the breast, creating pockets to stuff the herb and lemon zest mixture in. Pat chicken skin dry. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in a 9”x 13” casserole dish. 

 

Surround with potatoes, Brussels sprouts, garlic and Rosemary. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

 

Bake for 35-40 minutes until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 degrees and skin is browned and crispy.

 

Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with veggies and top Brussels sprouts with freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional…but delicious!). 

Spicy Green Curry Shrimp over Coconut Lime Rice

Coconut Lime Rice:
1 cup white long grained balsamic rice
2 cups coconut water
½ Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp salt
2 green onion sprigs, sliced
Juice from one lime

Spicy Green Curry Shrimp:

½ yellow onion, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 lb raw shrimp, deveined and peeled
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp green curry paste
Salt
 
In a rice cooker, combine rice, coconut water, coconut oil and salt. Cook until ready. Stir in green onions and lime juice. Set aside and keep warm.

In a medium pan over medium high heat, sauté onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and garlic in EVOO until soft. Add shrimp and cook until pink. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside. Stir in coconut milk and curry paste; let thicken. Season with salt, to taste. Before serving, add shrimp back to dish to heat through. Don’t over cook.

Serve Spicy Green Curry Shrimp over Coconut Lime Rice in a shallow bowl. Garnish with minced fresh cilantro and enjoy.

Ice Cream Cake

 

1 pound cake, cut into thirds

8 oz chocolate ice cream, soften

8 oz strawberry ice cream, soften

Cool Whip, or whipped topping, defrosted

Strawberries, sliced

 

Place bottom layer of cake on a long plate. Spread layer of chocolate ice cream. Top with middle layer of cake. Spread with strawberry ice cream. Frost cake with whipped topping. Decorate edges and top with strawberry slices. Place cake back in freezer until it hardens. 

 

Enjoy! 

 

Crock Pot Carnitas with Corn Salad

Pork Carnitas:

2 lb pork shoulder
1 small onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
¼ cup minced cilantro
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp salt
Broth, enough to cover half way up the pork

Corn Salad (my version of Esquites – Mexican Corn Salad):

Fresh corn for 2 ears of corn (boiled or roasted)
2 green onions, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
Juice from one lime
2 Tbsp Cotija cheese
Chile con Lime (Chili with Lemon) Seasoning, to taste

Combine pork with seasoning and broth. Add to crock pot and cook for 8+ hours. Drain fat and juices, save about ¾ cup of juice. Shred pork and mix with extra juices. Leave in crock pot to keep warm until ready to eat.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the corn salad.

 
Serve carnitas in warm flour tortillas and serve with corn salad, guacamole and black beans.

 

Grilled Mahi Mahi over Coconut Lime Cilantro Rice with Mango Avocado Salsa

It was raining on this Cinco de Mayo so we decided to add a little sunshine to our meal with this tropical dish.
 

Coconut Lime Cilantro Rice:

3/4 cup white long grained basmati rice
1 1/2 cups coconut water or juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp minced cilantro
1 green onion sprig, minced
Zest and juice from 1 small lime

Grilled Mahi Mahi:

2-8 oz Mahi Mahi filets
Chile con Limon (Chili with Lemon) seasoning

Mango Avocado Salsa:

½ mango, diced
1 small avocado, diced
1 green onion sprig, diced
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
½ Tbsp minced cilantro
Juice from 1 small lime
Salt to taste

Start with the rice, by adding rice, coconut water, EVOO and salt to a rice cooker. Once rice is cooked, stir in cilantro, green onions, lime zest and juice. Set aside until ready to serve.

Season Mahi Mahi filets with seasoning and grill each side over medium high heat for about 8 minutes per side, or until it easily flakes.

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the salsa. Season with salt to taste.

Serve grilled fish over a bed of rice and top with mango avocado salsa.

 

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

2 servings

 

2 bakery style buns

 

Chicken Patty:

¾ lb ground chicken
2 tsp Frank’s RedHot sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Crumbled blue cheese

Using wet hands, combine all ingredients together (except cheese) and form two patties. Be careful not to over mix or patties will be dense. Note: chicken patties don’t cook down like beef patties do, so what you see is what you get. Build according to your bun size.

Grill or pan fry until cooked all the way through. Once you flip the patties, add cheese while the other side cooks.

Slaw:

1 large carrot, peeled into ribbons
1 large celery stalk, sliced
¼ cup thinly sliced cabbage
1 green onion sprig, sliced
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Buffalo Sauce:

1 Tbsp chunk blue cheese dressing
½ Tbsp Frank’s RedHot sauce

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and set in fridge until ready to use.

Assemble burgers by spreading buffalo sauce on each bun. Place patty with melted blue cheese on bottom bun. Top with slaw and more sauce. Place top bun on burger and enjoy!

 
If you love Frank's RedHot, be sure to try these recipes: Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs, Spicy Blue Cheese Chicken Dip or a Buffalo Chicken Salad!

Baked Ricotta & Spinach Stuffed Shells

Pick your favorite pasta sauce for this dish. I used a sundried tomato pesto sauce.

 

3-4 servings

 

8 oz jumbo pasta shells

2 cups ricotta cheese

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, save some to sprinkle on top

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese, save some to sprinkle on top

2 green onion sprigs, chopped

2 Tbsp minced fresh flat leaf Italian parsley

Zest from one lemon

1 cup frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained

About 10 fresh basil leaves, sliced

 

Cook pasta shells according to directions on packaging. Drain, set aside and cool.

 

In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, egg, bread crumbs, parmesan, mozzarella, green onion, parsley, lemon zest and spinach.  Stuff each shell with cheese and spinach mixture.

 

Add stuffed shells to a greased casserole dish. Top each shell with a spoonful of your favorite pasta sauce. Top with extra cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake on 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and broil for an additional 5 minutes. Let rest for about 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with basil leaves.

Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs

I came across this recipe on my favorite food blogger’s website, and my mouth watered instantly. You can find his recipe here. This recipe is a little different but I would imagine just as delicious. 

 

I have to admit, it felt wrong stuffing chicken into an egg, but it tasted so right!

Happy Easter!

 

 

3 boiled eggs

1 Tbsp Ranch dressing

1 Tbsp Frank’s RedHot, or buffalo wing hot sauce

¼ cup shredded chicken, roughly chopped

½ fresh jalapeno pepper, finely diced (optional)

Blue cheese crumbles 

 

Cut boiled eggs in half, lengthwise, and add yolks to a small bowl. Add Ranch and Frank’s RedHot to bowl. Using the back of a fork, mash everything together. Add chicken and jalapeno peppers and mix together. Using a spoon, add mixture back to eggs. Top with crumbled blue cheese.

 

If you like this recipe, you should also try my Sriracha Deviled Eggs.

 

Note: I used a drop of Sriracha sauce to dot each egg, purely for esthetics, since the Frank’s was too thin.

Saturday Breakfast: Corned Beef Hash

I don’t even like corned beef, but I went to the grocery store starving and it was on sale (after St Patty’s Day), so I said – what the heck? My husband feels the same way about it, but we both loved the way this meat came out, as well as the breakfast we used it in the next day!

 

Then my co-worker brought me three fresh eggs from her own chickens. There was one brown and two with different shades of green. I was so excited to try them since I’ve heard you can really taste the difference between fresh verse store bought eggs. The yolk was larger and more yellow. They were delicious. A great accompaniment to the corned beef hash.

 

4 servings

 

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

2 medium Russet potatoes, peeled, diced and boiled until tender (make the day before)

2 cups chopped corned beef - see corned beef recipe below, make the day before

½ small yellow onion, diced

½ red bell pepper, diced

1 large garlic clove, minced

2 Tbsp minced fresh flat leaf Italian parsley

Salt & pepper, to taste

 

In a large frying pan over medium high heat, add EVOO. Once oil is hot, add potatoes, corned beef, onion, peppers and garlic. Press down with a spatula and let cook for about 5 minutes. Mix in parsley, salt and pepper. Press down with spatula and cook for another 5 minutes, until potatoes and beef are browned and crispy. Serve with fried eggs and toast.

 

Crock Pot Corned Beef:

2 ½ lb corned beef brisket

Vegetable broth (low sodium)

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 bay leaves

 

In a crock pot, add corned beef. Cover with broth. Add garlic and bay leaves. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove from liquid, place on cutting board and cut against grain.

 

Tip: Make the day before and use leftovers for corned beef hash.

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

2 large red skinned potatoes, diced

¼ cup milk

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese

3 slices of crispy bacon, chopped

2 green onion sprigs, chopped

Salt & pepper, to taste

 

In a large pot of boiling water, cook potatoes until fork tender, about 6-8 minutes. Drain and return potatoes to pot. Add milk and sour cream. Mash until smooth. Mix in cheese, bacon and green onions. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Sautéed Chard and Carrots

I love making dinners that have a sautéed vegetable side, such as Swiss chard or kale, because it's fast, easy and tasty. I think a lot of people don’t cook with these leafy greens simply because they don’t know how. Swiss chard is an excellent source of vitamins K, A, and C, as well as a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron and dietary fiber.

 

 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
½ yellow onion, diced
1 bunch of Swiss chard, roughly chopped
2 large carrots, peel into ribbons
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add EVOO and onions; cook for 3-4 minutes. Add chard and carrots. Sauté for about 8 minutes, until tender. Stir in garlic, pepper flakes and salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve with your favorite protein.

 

Variations:

Substitute chard for curly kale or baby bok choy.

Egg Noodle and Vegetable Casserole

I know when some people hear the word ‘casserole’ they scrunch up their nose and say eewww! My mom is Czech so we didn’t grow up eating the traditional American casseroles, like green bean casserole or tuna noodle casserole (I couldn’t even type these without saying eewww!) – the kind of casseroles where you add a can of Campbell’s soup. Growing up, my mom used to make an egg noodle and ham casserole (fleky se šunkou) for us. This was great to eat warm, or even cold and cut into squares the next day.

 

4 servings

Wide egg noodles (about ½ a bag)

2 slices of butter
3 eggs
¾ cup half & half
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
6 oz grated Cheddar cheese
½ red bell pepper, diced
½ green bell pepper, diced
¼ cup chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

Cook noodles in salted water according to directions, about 6 minutes; drain. Toss noodles with butter and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, half & half, salt, pepper and mustard.

Add noodles to a large bowl. Pour egg mixture over noodles, add cheese, peppers and parsley. Mix until combined.

Add mixture to a greased casserole dish. Bake uncovered on 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until eggs set. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy with grilled pork chops, or as a light meal with a salad on a warm summer night.

Variations:

·         Add Pepper Jack cheese or a few dashes of hot sauce for a kick!
·         Add broccoli florets
·         Add ham
·         Add mushrooms
·         Add chopped fresh spinach
·         Add asparagus spears
 

Green Olives and Artichoke Rice

 

2-3 servings

 

¾ cup white, long grained Basmati rice

1 ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

¼ cup chopped green onions

¼ cup chopped green olives

¼ cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts

2 Tbsp chopped marinated sundried tomatoes

2 Tbsp chopped flat leaf Italian parsley 

 

In a rice cooker, add first 4 ingredients and cook until done. Mix in remaining ingredients. 

 

Serve with grilled sword fish and steamed asparagus. 

 

Helpful Tip:

Do you ever buy jarred artichokes, but don’t know what to do with the marinade after the artichokes are gone? I like to buy dried sundried tomatoes and add them to this marinade, then store in the fridge until ready to use. It softens them, making them available to use immediately, and adds great flavor.  You can also use the leftover marinade as a salad dressing too.

 

 

 

Chicken Noodle Soup with Vegetables

When I was up in the Bay Area last weekend, we went to a Polish market and found the perfect thin egg noodles for a broth based soup. This soup is too good and easy to not make from scratch every time! Perfect meal in a bowl to enjoy on a cold evening.

 

8 cups water
2 bouillon cubes (or cook chicken in vegetable or chicken broth instead of cubes with water)
1 large chicken breast (about 1 lb)
Celery greens

Lighter colored middle parts (remove these later)

½ cup dried chopped mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 cup dried egg noodles
2 large carrots, sliced
2 large celery stalks, sliced
4 large Brussels sprouts, sliced
1 cup broccoli crowns, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
3 green onion sprigs, chopped

In a large pot, add water and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil and add chicken breast, celery greens and center stalks, dried mushrooms and garlic. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 12 minutes. Remove chicken from pot; cool and cut into cubes. Remove celery stalks and discard.

 

Bring broth to a boil again and add noodles, carrots, celery, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and spices. After about 2 minutes, remove broccoli crowns with a slotted spoon; set aside. Turn heat to medium heat and cook until noodles are tender. Add cubed cooked chicken and broccoli back to soup. Add green onions. 

 

Serve with a nice crusty bread.

Culinary Staples of Rochester, New York

When people think of Rochester, NY they probably don’t think of it as a foodie destination or the culinary capital of the North East. Since my husband is from Rochester, we visit this city once a year to see family, not for the food like our other vacations, though there are some samples you have to have when you’re in town. These are the Rochester staples that we always get each time we’re in town, and I’ve recently discovered a third, and I can’t wait to go back to have it again!

First, when we’re in town, my husband and his friends always have to eat a Trash Plate at Empire Hots. I’m embarrassed to admit that I ate this plate sober, and liked it! This plate starts with a generous serving of your choice of home fries, mac salad, or beans… or a combo of two choices. We always go for the home fries and mac salad. Then it’s topped with two hamburger patties with melted cheese (or you can pick from your choice of hotdogs, sausage, pull pork, fried fish, chicken). After it’s is topped with “hot sauce”, which is a meaty mixture in a spicy red sauce, similar to a bean-less hot chili. Lastly, they finish it off with mustard and onions. Voilà, a greasy and delicious Trash Plate!

 

The second Rochester staple that you have to have is a Bill Gray’s cheeseburger. Bill Gray’s…home of the “world’s greatest cheeseburger”. This burger was so loaded that I ate it with a fork and knife and still needed a handful of napkins! You can order the deluxe cheeseburger that comes on a soft fresh baked roll topped with mustard, ketchup, relish, cheese, Bill’s hot sauce, lettuce, tomato and mayo. Finish off your meal, with some Abbott’s frozen custard or a frozen chocolate dipped banana.

 

Last, but definitely not least, is my lastest delicious discovery…Wegman’s Sourdough Miche bread. Amazing. First of all, Wegmans is the greatest grocery store I’ve ever been in. So spectacular that one location actually had their own restaurant across the street, Next Door, which served this amazing bread. The Miche bread is a round loaf made from a blend of whole wheat, white, and rye flours, with a sourdough tang. It literally melts in your mouth and I couldn’t get enough of it. I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area, so I know and love my sourdough bread, but this tops it all. Unfortunately, the grocery store was out of the bread when we stopped by after dinner, and now I can’t wait to get back to Rochester again so this bread can make sweet love to my mouth once again.

 

Grilled Chicken with Green Olive Salsa Verde

I found another awesome recipe from my favorite cooking blog, Closet Cooking. This would make a great topping for chicken or fish, or just use as salsa for chips.

 

 

Makes 1 cup

 

½ lb tomatillos, husks removed

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and deveined

¼ cup green olives

½ small onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove

Juice and zest from one lime

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

½ cup cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Place the tomatillos on a baking sheet under broil until skins blacken and bubble. Remove from oven and place in a covered container for 15 minutes; remove skins. Add tomatillos and remaining ingredients in a food processor and puree.

Served over grilled chicken with rice and beans, or enjoy as a dip for chips.

 

Grilled Pork Loin with Mustard Sauce with Capers and Parmesan

I found this sauce recipe from one of my new favorite cookbooks, At Blanchard's Table. I served it warm over a grilled, sliced pork loin.

 

1 lb pork loin

Italian salad dressing (for marinade)

 

Mustard Sauce with Capers & Parmesan:

(Sauce is enough for about 3 servings)

2 Tbsp drained capers

2 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

½ Tbsp Dijion mustard

Salt and Pepper, to taste

3 Tbsp sour cream

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

 

In a bag or bowl, marinate pork loin in Italian salad dressing overnight. Start grilling over high heat, to get good grill marks and crispies going on, then turn heat to low and continue cooking until pork reaches 160 degrees in the middle. Let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. 

 

In a small food processor, combine all ingredients for the sauce. Transfer to a small sauce pan over low and heat until warm.

 

Serve sliced pork with wild rice and steamed broccoli. Drizzle sauce over sliced pork.

Chimichurri Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower

Chimichurri Sauce & Marinade:
½ cup firmly packed fresh flat leaf parsley, remove stems
3 garlic cloves
¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp red pepper flakes

In a food processor add parsley and garlic; process with a few pulses. Stir in EVOO, vinegar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Use half of the sauce to marinate the salmon filets for at least 30 minutes. Save the rest to use as a topping once fish is grilled.

Roasted Cauliflower:

2 cups of cauliflower florets
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Salt and pepper
Fresh lemon juice
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place cauliflower on a baking tray, drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast cauliflower for 15 minutes. Using tongs, flip florets over, spinkle with lemon juice and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until florets are browned and just fork tender. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

 

Serve grilled fish over a bed of rice with cauliflower. Drizzle fish with extra chimichurri sauce.

If you like this recipe, try these:

Chimichurri Steak

Chimichurri Chicken Pita

 

NY Strip Steak Hash with Eggs

I created this breakfast using all the leftovers from our Valentine’s Day feast … and then added two eggs! Yum … and Valentine’s weekend continues!

 

 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

2 large red skinned potatoes, steamed or boiled, cubed

½ cup diced cooked steak

½ cup chopped steamed cauliflower

½ small yellow onion, diced

2 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

 

In a frying pan over high heat, drizzle EVOO. Add potatoes and cook until all sides are browned and crispy. Turn heat to medium, add steak, cauliflower and onion; mix together.

 

Create two holes in the hash mixture and crack an egg into each hole. Cover pan and let egg cook until the whites are settled, but the yolk is still soft (or cooked to your liking). Season with salt and pepper.

 

Enjoy with a few dashes of hot sauce and a side of fresh fruit.

 

Valentine's Day Feast featuring a 3-Cheese Fondue

Our Valentine's Day feast. It was a lot of work to prepare, but fun to enjoy this hands on meal together.

 

Our menu, except I forgot to add the fondue to the main course! :-(

To start, a mixed greens salad with sliced apples, spicy candied pecans and blue cheese.




Ben's signature NY strip steaks...cooked to a medium rare perfection!

Let the cheesy fondue fun begin!

3-Cheese Fondue

About 4 servings

½ Tbsp butter

½ Tbsp flour
½ cup white wine
½ tsp Dijon mustard
3-4 oz Gruyere cheese, grated
3-4 oz sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
3-4 oz Swiss cheese, grated
½ Tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour. Stir constantly to prevent burning. Slowly whisk in wine. Add mustard. Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir in lemon juice.

Before transferring to a fondue pot, rub a raw garlic clove on the inside of the pot.

Enjoy with your favorite steamed veggies and cubed bread.

Check out my NY Strip Steak Hash recipe that I made with the leftovers for breakfast the next morning!