Chicken Sriracha Surprise

So, I have attempted recently to be a bit more on the healthy side, but there's only so many days I can eat chicken breast in a row before wanting to run right back to the happy land of pasta. Chicken parm, chicken with asparagus, chicken marsala....over, and over, and over again. Not to mention, the chicken breast is the hardest to cook. Those of you who are thinking that chicken is by far the easiest thing to cook-hear me out: there's a special in between that you have to reach to get it just perfect...typically, I end up screwing this up and having very dry chicken. Yeah, I'm bad at the chicken breast thing.

After all this boredom and carb cravings, I came across this great recipe for pan roasted chicken that blew my mind with it's simplicity and tastiness. I am here to share this with you, as well as a pretty awesome cucumber, tomato, and feta salad:

What you'll need (chicken thighs):

-6 skin-on, bone-in Chicken Thighs (about 2 and 1/4 pounds)

-Salt and Pepper

-1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

What you'll need (thigh glaze):

-2 tbsp Drippings from the skillet of chicken (once completely cooked)

-1 tbsp Sriracha
-2 tbsp Brown Sugar
-1 tbsp Minced Cilantro

-Half a Lime

What you'll need (salad):

-6 cups coarsely chopped Cucumbers
-2 large Tomatoes, coarsely chopped

-1 bunch Scallions, chopped

-1 7 oz. package Feta, crumbled

-1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh Mint

-6 tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil

-1/4 cup fresh Lemon juice

-Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Begin by cleaning your chicken and then seasoning it with salt and pepper, making sure to cover the whole surface. 

Heat the vegetable oil in a cast-iron or nonstick skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Place the chicken into the skillet, skin side down, and cook for 2 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium heat and continue cooking skin side down. Rotate the chicken clockwise in pan to evenly distribute heat, until fat renders and skin is golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 13 more minutes. Flip the chicken and continue cooking until the skin is crispy and the meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. 

While you are cooking your chicken, you can prepare your salad. Combine the cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions, half of the feta, and mint into a large salad bowl. The oil and lemon juice will make up your dressing-grab a small bowl or tupperware and whisk the oil and lemon juice together; season the dressing with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat; add a little more salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the remaining feta over the salad.

Terrible lighting, but delicious salad! :o)

You should now be ready to extract the chicken from the oven and transfer to a plate.

Now you're ready to create your glaze. Grab a small bowl and combine the skillet drippings, Sriracha, brown sugar, cilantro, and juice to half a lime. Mix these all together and let it sit for a minute. 

Add as little or as much of the glaze as you would like and you are ready to serve!

Comfort Food

Who doesn't love a good bowl of hot macaroni and cheese? Ahh, comfort food.

I wasn't allowed to eat that "Kraft crap" as my dad called it, but he sure did make a damn good version of his macaroni and cheese. It put Kraft and Velveeta to shame....then again, so do most homemade mac and cheese recipes.

I went through a large Velveeta phase in college with my roommate, Amy. We would stock up on boxes of "Velveets" as we called it, and house it every time we had a few too many drinks in us. We were also poor college students and could only afford 99 cent Velveeta. If you ever had Velveeta, then you know that the grossest thing is the cheese mixture they give you. That prepackaged, gooey cheese mixture:


EW. Like, what is in that?! It was nauseating as you squeezed it out, but we added a little bit of pepper to it to make it seem a bit more legit. There were actually times that I made the Velveeta and then couldn't eat it because I became too overwhelmed by the thought of the production process of the cheese package.

So, it's time to skip out on 99 cent boxes, and spend a few more bucks to make a dish that is not only more delightful, but easy to make.

What you'll need:
-8 oz. Elbow Macaroni
-2 tablespoons Butter
-8 oz. of graded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
-2 cups Milk
-2 tablespoons Flour
-1/2 teaspoon Salt
-1/2 teaspoon Ground Pepper
-1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the Macaroni as you normally would or as the package instructions say.

While you're cooking your macaroni, in medium to low heat, melt the butter in a somewhat large sauce pan. Once the butter is melted, begin to pour in the flour, whisking constantly. Whisk for about 2 minutes, until the liquid is smooth. Again, whisking constantly, add the milk and continue to cook for five minutes until your mixture has thickened. Remove the saucepan from heat and add in the salt, black and red pepper, and 1 cup of your shredded cheese. I was out of red pepper so I added the TINIEST pinch of cayenne pepper to give it a kick. Then add the cooked macaroni and mix together.

Spoon your mixture into a 2 quart baking dish; sprinkle on the additional cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. I baked it for 18 minutes and then broiled it for the remaining two minutes as I like to have it be a little crispy on top! Let it sit for a few minutes and then it's ready to serve! Yum!

http://s4.hubimg.com/u/72967_f520.jpg

National Harbor 2011 Wine & Food Festival

So I know my traditional blog posts are about recipes and past stories paralleling them, but I figured this blog could also be a way to share events, shows, articles, anything really obtaining to the food industry and those of you who are interested in culinary art.

If you live in the DC/NOVA area, you might want to check out the National Harbor's 2011 Wine & Food Festival. This is my first year attending so I don't know what to expect, but I've been to an event before in the same location put on by the same agency and it was run very well and lots of fun!

So what can you expect to do/see at this event? Here's a little run down of what I got off the site:

-It's an all you can taste event. You pay $35 if you buy your tickets in advance online...so with that you get a complimentary glass that you can take to every tent and taste.
-Live Music. Enough said. You really can't go wrong with this. It also says "entertainers"...I'm not sure what exactly this means...
-Chefs from all over-these means local or famous....it sounds like they're doing meet and greets, but I'm really hoping they'll do some demos as well

All in all, it sounds like a pretty sweet event and I will definitely be in attendance! There's also a lot of places to eat and hotels to stay in surrounding the harbor, so if you're planning on using your complimentary glass to it's fullest, I recommend checking those out ;o).

Here's the site for more information:
http://www.wineandfoodnh.com/

I'm Really Glad there's One of You on Our Team

The perfect Superbowl meal: a hot bowl of chili. Now how this recipe came to me is an interesting story in itself, but I'll leave most of it to your imagination, mainly because attempting to duplicate and recap the events that occurred would be impossible. 

The night I first tasted this chili was at a "party" (5 people) in the midst of snowpocolypse 2010. This night was filled with four things: awkward advances, a silent (yet not so subtle) text fight, uncomfortable stories about road trips, and a cat named Toes.

At one point, mind you, I'm about five beers deep, I went downstairs to use the restroom. I closed the door, turn around, and Toes is IN THE BATHTUB, STARING ME DOWN. Please, take a moment and try and picture yourself in this situation. You're in a relaxed kind of buzz, in a strange apartment with Valentine's Day paraphernalia everywhere (hint much?), just taking a break to go to the bathroom before getting back to extreme board gaming. You turn around, expecting to see some candles or normal bathroom decoration and you get this:

I IZ WATCHING YOU! I HAZ THE CHILIZ!

 At least obtaining the chili recipe was a success.

What you'll need:

-2 lbs. lean Ground Meat (turkey/chicken/hamburger)

-4 cloves of Garlic, sliced

-1 medium White or Yellow Onion

-1 Green Bell Pepper

-1 Red Bell Pepper

-2 Jalapenos, diced

-2 cans Tomato Paste + 2 cans of Water (I think the size is 14 oz., but it's the regular sized can)

-2 cans Whole Tomatoes; you'll want to slice these in half, but save the juice

-3-4 cans Red Kidney Beans rinsed

-1 tbsp Olive Oil

-1-2 tbsp Cayenne Pepper

-1-2 tbsp Ancho Chili Powder

-1-2 tbsp Cumin

-1 tbsp Cinnamon

-Salt and pepper to taste

Begin by prepping  your ingredients. Dice the pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and onion. Once these are set aside, combine all the spices into one bowl.

Mix it on up.

All prepped!

Brown the meat in skillet and season with about half of the spice mixture.

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Begin adding all your diced vegetables and saute for about 2 mins. 

Once sauteed, add the kidney beans and saute another 1-2 mins. Feel free to add a little more Olive Oil at this point if need be. Add tomato paste and tomatoes and continue to mix.

At this point, the meat should be browned and you can go ahead and add it to the mixture, along with water and the remaining spices. Keep this simmering at a low heat and stir occasionally. You're all set! Feel free to add more spices to taste, as well as a Mexican cheese mixture, and eat this on a cold day in the next snopocolypse!

Significantly better than the Black Eyed Peas Half Time show.

And a special thanks to the awkward night, and amusing group of individuals, without whom, this post would be impossible; here's lookin' at you, Hallmark desperados. One love, from your snorting friend.

Broccoli > Carrots

Have you ever started cooking something, and you can't really pinpoint exactly what the dish will end up tasting like? That's how I felt about this dish, and it ended up surprising me with it's charm. This broccoli and cauliflower gratin can be done with or without the pasta...my preference, with! (Duh...I studied in Italy. A meal isn't complete without carb city.)

What you'll need:
-1 small head of Broccoli, trimmed into florets
-1 small head of Cauliflower, trimmed into florets
-2 cups Sour Cream
-1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
-1/3 cup Chives, finely chopped
-2 cloves of Garlic, peeled and grated or crushed into paste
-Salt
-Freshly Ground Black Pepper
-2 1/2 cups Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
-1 pound Penne Pasta

Preheat your oven at 375 degrees. Begin by boiling a large pot of water over medium heat. Salt the water and add the broccoli and cauliflower florets. Boil these bad boys for about 5 minutes, and then remove them with a strainer and drain. Once out of the pot, go ahead and start boiling the pasta in the same water until al dente. In the mean time, combine the sour cream in a large bowl along with the mustard, chives, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. You can now add your pasta and cauliflower and about 2/3 of the cheese. Stir to combine everything and then transfer to a pyrex or other baking dish. Cover with the remaining cheese and bake for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. 

CHEESEEE

And while you're waiting...

My dad sent me this recipe for Broccoli and Cauliflower Gratin and it brought back warm memories of eating broccoli at our kitchen counter in NJ. I used to beg for broccoli...what kind of kid BEGS for broccoli?? Me...apparently. Carrots, on the other hand, I was not so fond of.

During one specific dinner, when I was about 12, I was struggling with the consumption of my carrots. There were three baby carrots left in front of me, staring me down like they were Chuck Norris and I was about to get a roundhouse kick to the face. What, I ask, is so appealing about mushy, orange, cooked carrots that have the texture of baby food? Nothing, in my opinion. But on this night, it was not my opinion that mattered but my father's.

"Jessica, you're going to sit at the table until all your carrots are finished; you're not going anywhere until I see them consumed."

Everyone had already gotten up and was done with dinner, while I was left there in shame with my three pathetic carrots. I attempted every excuse in my power to get out of it.

"But I'm full!"
"But Katie had less carrots than me!"
"But I heard if you plant carrots in the ground, it's supposed to be good for the soil..."

Nothing worked. I looked up and my father was washing the dishes, passing time while he waited on my plate. So I decided to do what any innocent, well behaved child would do. I waited for my dad to turn his back, chewed the carrots for about 5 seconds, spit them into my napkin, crumpled it up and put it next to my plate.

"DONE!"

I was so impressed with myself; I had outsmarted papa bear! You couldn't even see the orange mush through the crumpled up napkin...WIN!

Boy, was I a dumbass. (Excuse my French, but I was.)

Upon examining my plate, he saw right through my not-so-clever tactics. My night ended with 6 more freshly cooked carrots (oh yes, he doubled the original amount). I also received the pleasant task of finishing the carrots that I had hidden in the napkin...yes, the ones I had already CHEWED AND SPIT OUT. Yay, mush-tastic delight.

But what does this have to do with today's recipe? Absolutely nothing! Except that cauliflower=broccoli > carrots!

So once your dish is finished baking, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a couple minutes. I set aside some extra grated cheese in case I wanted to add more to my plate. This dish was easy to make and delightful! I even got my friend to eat this and he hates broccoli...just sayin'.

Couldn't get a pic till halfway through; we were hungry!

Warming Fall Zuppa

Many of you, like myself, have probably discovered the phenomenon that is broccoli cheddar soup. Especially Panera's version. So when my dad said he had a recipe for it last week, I nearly fell off my chair. Here's a simple dish for those cold Fall days where all you want is a bowl of soup:

What you'll need:

-1 head of broccoli or 2 broccoli crowns

-1 container of chicken broth

-2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese

-3 table spoons of flour

-4 table spoons of butter

-1 onion chopped

-1 chicken bullion cube

-1 cup of milk

-Pepper

-Nutmeg

Clean the broccoli and cut into pieces. Save some of the florets for adding later if you want. In a large pot, sauté the chopped up onion in 2 table spoons of butter. Add the broccoli and the chicken broth. Make sure there is enough broth to cover the broccoli. Add the chicken bullion cube and pepper. Bring to a boil and lower heat until the broccoli is cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

In a sauce pan, heat 2 table spoons of butter, add the flour and cook until the flour starts to bubble and turns light brown. Add the milk and whisk in until it thickens. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until all of the broccoli is liquid in form. Add some of this liquid to the milk mixture to thin and then pour this into the soup. Bring to a boil and add the cheese. You can also add the florets here if you kept leftovers! Continue to stir until the soup is thick and the cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg and you're done!

Unfortunately, my camera died when I had already started cooking, so here's a picture I found online that was the closest to what mine actually looked like, yummo:

http://www.foodonthebrain.net/2009/02/17/broccoli-cheddar-soup/

A Story

One day after middle school, I headed through the back screen door of our home in Holland Township, NJ. My dad was whisking something in a bowl and I asked him what was for dinner. He held up some form of drenched meat and declared, "baby chickens." Not phased, I went upstairs and started my homework.

"GIRLS-IT'S DINNER TIME!"

My sister and I barreled down the stairs to fight over the best seat at the counter. No one liked the end chairs at our house-one was next to the door and you would either a. get continuously hit with the door by people walking in and out, or b. have to get out of your chair every 5 minutes and close and open the door for the dog.

Plopped down in front of us were these decadent looking chicken legs drenched in a sauce comparable to a barbecue-type dressing, laid over a bed of rice. Upon first bite, I concluded that baby chicken legs were the best thing I had ever tasted in my 13 years of life. Why had dad never made these before? Seemed like a simple dish and it tasted like someone bottled happiness in a jar and then spilled it onto my plate.

Salivating, I pleaded for more. When all the legs were gone, I took my pointer finger and picked up the rest of the sauce off my plate and licked it clean, rocking back in forth in my swivel chair with utter glee. As I was doing so, my father called my mother who was on her way home from work. They chatted as per usual, and then my father interrupted, "Rose...you'll never guess what your girls just ate."

Katie (my sister) and I exchanged suspicious looks.

"...They're licking their plates clean too..."

Seriously dad? Out of all the different stuff you've made us try and you're bragging about baby chickens...

"FROGS' LEGS!"

My swivel chair came to an immediate halt. No...the horror. Please no. NO. For the love of God, you are joking, dad. (insert whimpering sound here)

I looked out the back door at our pond and I could hear all the frogs ribbiting around me, upset that I had just barbarically devoured their cousins. It was like one of those scenes you see in movies where the protagonist is stuck in a hallucinogenic-type mode where there is a white orb around his/her head with items dancing around in a clock-wise motion. My orb contained frogs, ribbiting sounds, and dry heaving.

I think Katie must have had a similar orb experience because the look of absolute terror on her face matched my own. It was at this moment that we bolted back up the stairs and made a mad dash for our bathroom. We used up a half a tube of toothpaste, and I very clearly remember 4 cups of mouthwash to get the taste of panic out of my mouth. I can't explain the amount of extreme toothbrushing that went on and I attempted to find you a video to demonstrate said chaos, but I could only find an annoying guy screaming while brushing his teeth. The volume at which this man was yelling might deafen you and cause you to never read my blog again, so instead I provide you with something far more calming and interesting to look at:

 

And that's how I ended up getting tricked into eating frogs' legs. The End.