Recipe Reports

I’ve tried several new recipes this week. I’m somewhat surprised to report that they were all really good.

My daughter and I are both working on musical productions (at two different high schools — she is on the backstage crew for hers and I am the accompanist for mine). We had rehearsals every night this week either after school or evenings, and this weekend we have two concerts plus an extra rehearsal. Next week I have 6 shows (I think!) and two choir rehearsals and she has tech week (also known as Hell week in the theater realm).

SO — I’ve been looking for meals that are quick to fix and either either bake (can be left in the oven for an hour or more) or cook quickly.

Chicken walking through the village image by World Bank Photos via Flickr CC license

Chicken legs and thighs were on sale last week, so these are all chicken recipes.

Moroccan Sheet Pan Chicken

First up is Moroccan Sheet Pan Chicken. The recipe is from The Wanderlust Kitchen website.

Annabel Farley image of olives via Flickr CC license

Ingredients

For the Spice Mixture

• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¾ teaspoon paprika
• ¾ teaspoon turmeric
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed

For the Sheet Pan Chicken

• 1 lemon
• 2 large sweet onions, cut into 12 wedges each
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 3 skin-on chicken quarters (I used 8 chicken bone-in skin-on chicken thighs)
• 1 cup green olives, pitted
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I forgot to add this!)

Brian Siewiorek image of cilantro, via Flickr CC license public domain

Instructions

1. Preheat an oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a small bowl, prepare the spice rub by combining the salt, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cayenne, and black pepper. Stir in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, and the pressed garlic.
3. Cut the lemon in half and set one half aside. Cut the remaining half into thin slices, then arrange the slices in a single layer on a rimmed half sheet pan. Scatter the onion wedges over the lemons, then drizzle 1 Tablespoon of olive oil over the onions. Sprinkle the pan with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon turmeric. (I think you could get by with 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric. It is SO expensive!)
4. Place the chicken quarters on the pan, skin side up. Pat the top of the chicken dry, then brush the prepared spice mixture evenly onto the skin of each quarter. I rubbed the spices all over the chicken with my hands.
5. Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and roast for 45 minutes, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees and the juices run clear.
6. Scatter the pan with the olives and cilantro leaves. Squeeze the juice from the remaining half lemon onto the chicken. (I baked the olives on the pan with the chicken. I did remember the lemon juice, but forgot the cilantro.)

We had brown and wild rice with this. I poured the sauce from the pan over my rice and it was delicious.

 

Kate Ter Haar, lemons via Flickr CC license

One Pan Greek Chicken

Next up is another sheet pan recipe, this one from Damn Delicious:  One Pan Greek Chicken.

Ingredients

• 16 ounces baby red potatoes, halved (I had Idaho potatoes; I cut them into quarters. They were great.)
• 16 ounces green beans, trimmed (I used a 1 lb. bag of frozen green beans. It worked fine.)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional)

For the marinade

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano (or Italian seasoning)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mike Mozart image of green beans, via Flickr CC license

Instructions

• In a gallon size Ziploc bag, combine chicken, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and oregano; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Marinate for at least 20 minutes to 1 hour, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
• Place potatoes and green beans in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Top with chicken in a single layer.
• Place into oven and roast until the chicken is completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 45 minutes.*
• Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

This recipe was quick and easy, baked beautifully and was absolutely delicious.

Turmeric image by Steven Jackson, via Flickr CC license

Little Chicken image by poppy via Flickr CC

Pukka Yellow Curry

The next recipe was not quite so easy (my kitchen was a huge MESS by the time dinner was ready), but I think that might be just first-time-working-out-the-kinks issues. Pukka Yellow Curry is a Jamie Oliver recipe. The result was flavorful and very well spiced. It takes a pretty large pan to fit all the ingredients in.

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
• 2 yellow peppers
• 1 cube chicken bouillon
• 1-2 fresh red chillies (I used a jalapeno)
• ½ a bunch of fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon runny honey
• 1 level teaspoon ground tumeric
• 2 teaspoons curry powder (I used Penzey’s Sweet Curry)
• 8 chicken drumsticks
• olive oil
• 1 (14.5 oz can) chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon tomato purée (I left this out.)
• 320 g basmati rice
• 1 lemon
• OPTIONAL:
• fat-free natural yoghurt , to serve

Peel the onions, garlic and ginger and de-seed the peppers. Put 1 onion, 1 pepper, the garlic and ginger into a food processor. Crumble in the stock cube and add the chilli (de-seed it first, if you prefer a milder curry), the cilantro stalks, honey and spices, then blitz to a paste.

Place a very large casserole pan on a medium-high heat and fry the chicken drumsticks (pull the skin off first, if you prefer) with a splash of oil for 10 minutes, or until golden, turning occasionally with tongs. Remove the chicken to a plate, leaving the pan on the heat. Roughly chop the remaining onion and pepper and add to the pan to cook for a few minutes, then tip in the paste and let it cook down for around 5 minutes. Pour in 500ml of boiling water. Drain the chickpeas and add along with the tomato purée and a pinch of salt and pepper, then stir well. Return the chicken to the pan, pop the lid on, reduce the heat and simmer gently for around 45 minutes, or until the sauce darkens and thickens. Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro leaves.

With 15 minutes to go, put 1 cup (320g) rice and 2 cups of boiling water into a pan with a pinch of salt and simmer with the lid on for 12 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Serve the curry in the middle of the table with a few dollops of yoghurt (if using) and a scattering of coriander leaves, with lemon wedges for squeezing over and the fluffy rice on the side.

One Skillet Chicken with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

My last success recipe to share is from Little Spice Jar:  One Skillet Chicken with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ⅓ cup finely diced shallots (or red onions)
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley or basil

INSTRUCTIONS

 Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large oven proof skillet and then add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides. The chicken doesn’t have to be completely cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside. Add more oil if needed. Saute the onion until softened add the garlic and saute about a minute more. Then add the broth, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Reduce the liquid until about 1/3 to 1/2 cup remains. Add the butter and whisk (or use a fork) until it is melted. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the cream. Put the chicken in the sauce and then stick the whole thing in the oven for 5 minutes or so to finish cooking the chicken and heat up the sauce. Serve with hot cooked pasta or noodles. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley or basil.

image via Flickr CC by cookbookman17; Fresh Parsley — A bunch of fresh hand picked parsley. This parsley is bursting with flavor and ready for use.

Chicken image by Smudge 9000 via Flickr CC

 

 

 

The Tromp Queen’s Three Bean and Artichoke Summer Salad

In the last few years I have grown to enjoy three-bean salad.  You know, the kind my Mom likes — with kidney beans, green beans and wax beans, etc. in a sweet vinegary dressing?

I definitely did NOT like this type of salad when I was younger, but I must have acquired the taste for it somewhere along the line because I often make it now.

Image by Mary Lee Hahn via Flickr CC license http://tinyurl.com/qesj7bl

Well, the recipe I keep coming back to is Mollie Katzen’s in her “get cooking” book.

Recently, we were getting ready to grill brats (which is practically a required summer activity in Wisconsin), and I suddenly realized I didn’t have anything for a side dish.  I thought of making three bean salad, and went to my pantry cupboard to see if I had all the ingredients.  Well, I had most everything but not all the “usual” ingredients — so I’ll share what I came up with because I think it turned out to be very tasty.

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas
1 (15 oz.) can green beans
1 (15 oz.) can wax beans (yellowish, light green beans)
12 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts (quartered or chopped is fine)
1 cucumber (peeled, seeded, diced)
1 small onion (diced)  Red onion is pretty if you have it.
(if I had had celery or green pepper I would have diced them and added that, too)

Drain all the canned ingredients. Rinse the beans.  You could decide not to drain the artichokes (and just add the marinade to the dressing) but I didn’t do that this time.  Combine all the above ingredients in a large bowl and mix gently.

In a small to medium-sized bowl combine these ingredients for the dressing:

1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard (any kind is fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

That is it.

If you have time to make this ahead and chill it, the flavor would be even better.  I sometimes use fresh green beans or a bag of frozen green beans (cooked and chilled); they taste better than canned.

Suggested tweaks:  Next time I might add some kalamata or green pimento stuffed olives.  Maybe dill or a little garlic?  A squirt of lemon juice?

The original recipe calls for 1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans in place of the artichokes and doesn’t have the cucumber. But now that I’ve had three bean salad with cucumber and artichokes, I really like them in there.  I would add them AND the kidney beans next time.  In the past, I’ve also added other kind of beans I’ve had on had such as butter beans (which my Mom loves), baby limas, black beans, pinto beans, etc.  If you add several more kinds of beans, you will need to double the dressing recipe and scale up the other ingredients as well (onion, celery, etc.)

I hope you enjoy this Tromp Queen tweak to traditional Three Bean Salad.
Please let me know if you try it and how you like it!

Yet another simple addition: Pasta!  (and maybe shredded carrots, too?)

Image by Penny via Flickr CC license. http://tinyurl.com/o6kwf8l