Breakfast Break

Nothing fancy today, just a reminder that biscuits and gravy are the best thing ever and you should treat your family to this treat at least once a year! Its a great way to dirty every dish in your kitchen, eat then lay around in your pj's the rest of the day! You can always have me do it! Have a great weekend!

Lighten Up!

Ah the infamous alfredo sauce..packed to the gills with the heart stopping stuff we all love. Most alfredo sauces have at least one stick of butter and two cups of cream. Tack on all the cheese and you are definately not talking about a figure friendly dish! Because of its high fat and calorie content, its not a regular at our house. I would be stricken with guilt for weeks over the event and my arteries would punish me as well. BUT when you get that craving for something it just will not go away until the need is met and I had that this morning. I considered making the original roman fat laden sauce for my dinner tonight-then I looked at my gutter and thought again. I made a low fat alfredo a few years ago-in fact it was my second blog entry in my old blog. The picture was fuzzy, the lighting was bad and the pasta was meh too. Here it is!

I knew it could be better so I whipped this up. The original recipe is from cooking light and I have to say they did a damn fine job of reinventing the alfredo sauce. Its thick and creamy and cheesy just like you expect it to be, but minus most of the guilt. I don't think that anyone would notice the difference between the real deal and this version. It has only ONE Tablespoon of butter and uses low fat milk. The key to the sauce is the cheese you use.
Maybe its the guilt I was craving because after dinner I still wanted a fried ice cream blast from Sonic :)

Fettuccine Alfredo w/Chicken!
Adapted from Cooking Light

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 oz package of sliced bella mushrooms-sauteed (optional)
2 T Cream cheese
9 oz of fresh pasta (or the dried-we like the fresh)
1 1/3 cups of 1% milk
1 T of butter
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup of parmasan cheese-grated
salt
fresh cracked pepper
1 T all purpose flour
chopped parsley for garnish

For the chicken: preheat oven to 375. Lay breasts on a baking sheet. Drizzle each with olive oil and then salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven for about 35 minutes.
Meanwhile...
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt. Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.
***I also reserved a cup or so of the pasta water to use after I mixed the pasta in to make the sauce silky. Start slow-I think I used 1/4 cup all together

Chicken Satay Stir-Fry with Orange Scented Jasmine Rice

I don't have a lot of experience with asian cuisine. To me, when I get a craving for this fare its just a hell of a lot easier to cruise down to Bo Lings and let them do the dirty work! I try to make something new every week or so and this recipe struck me as interesting. I am not a fan of RR, but her recipes are usually point on and very tasty! I loved using some different ingredients and spices that I don't normally get to use. This was really good and we had lots of leftovers :)

Chicken Satay Stir-Fry with Orange Scented Jasmine Rice
Courtesy of RR
3 3/4 cups water
2 oranges, zested
2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed
2 tablespoons canola or safflower oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds chicken breast tenders, 2 packages, sliced on an angle into bite-size pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium yellow skinned onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, quartered and sliced
1 cup shredded carrots, store bought, or 2 medium carrots cut into matchsticks
6 scallions, cut on an angle into 2 inch pieces
1 cup snow peas, a couple of handfuls
Satay sauce:
4 rounded tablespoonfuls chunky peanut butter
3 tablespoons dark soy, Tamari
3 tablespoons honey
1-inch ginger root, peeled and minced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 orange, juiced

Garnish:
2 ounces (1/4 cup) chopped peanuts or nut topping, available on the baking aisle
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves or flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves


Heat water with orange zest to boiling. Add rice, return to boil, stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice until tender, 18 minutes. Fluff with fork.
For stir-fry, heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken, garlic and onion, stir-fry 3 minutes. Add remaining veggies and stir-fry 5 minutes more. Heat all ingredients for sauce together in a small pot over low heat, stirring the sauce until all ingredients are combined. Transfer stir-fry to a large platter and pour sauce evenly over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle the platter with chopped nuts, cilantro, and basil. Serve jasmine rice in a separate dish with an ice cream scoop to serve the rice with -- it makes perfect, pretty, round portions of rice on the dinner plates.

Jalepeno Cheddar Cornbread

I will be honest. I was not looking forward to this recipe for BB this week. The thought of hot corn bread in the middle of the summer just did not appeal to me at. all. Cornbread goes with soup and chili and things that conjur up images of cold, wintery weather. Its hot and muggy here-how can I possibly incorporate cornbread into that equation?
Turns out the cornbread was awesome and I quickly got over my judgements after tasting these little babies. Then again, I think anything that has 2 sticks of melted butter and 2 cups of heavy cream and cheddar cheese in the batter is going to be a winner one way or the other! These were light and super flakey. The jalepeno gives them a great little kick without being too overbearing. Imagine the biscuits at Red Lobster...now ratchet that up about 10 notches. I decided to make these in muffin tins instead of a sheet pan so that 1)I would not eat the whole pan and 2)They could be easily transported and dispersed to those lucky people who might be to taste these!

Jalepeno Cheddar Cornbread (Muffins)
Recipe Courtesy of Ina Garten

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided
1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions
3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Eggs Benny

I have been craving this breakfast dish for several weeks now but sometimes we all don't get up over here during your standard breakfast hours (cough cough). This weekend I decided I could wait no more and we dined like kings and queens! This was actually my first attempt at poaching eggs and I have to say they turned out perfectly. There is something about this dish that makes it the ultimate breakfast of champions. Buttery english muffin, some deli ham or canadian bacon, the egg but the BEST part is the silky hollandaise sauce over the top that puts it over the edge. This will definately be made around here a lot more often now that I have conquered the poached egg. I want to play around with this in the future though.
I can see smoked salmon instead of the ham or a florentine version with spinach. YUM.
Ooh! This is definately something you could do for a brunch or entertaining. The eggs can be poached ahead of time and then put back in simmering water before service.

Lost

Ok, I have a confession to make. I think I am one of the only red blooded 20-45 year old person in the civilized world that has NOT seen Lost. My husband has consistently watched it since day 1 and I resisted. I think the fact that the first episode involved a very graphic plane crash is probably what did it. :) Now that I have had some time to come to terms with the fact that you simply CAN't get away from Lost-I have decided to embrace the Lost. We rented the first season on dvd from Netflix and I have been pretty well hooked since.
I was thinking about my friends on the island today while trying to figure out what to have for dinner. I love the fact that they still show some of the day to day operation of surviving on a freaking island! Scaveging, hunting, making shit up as they go along. I went by their example today and decided I was going to make dinner with stuff we already had here.
NOrmally I would venture off to the store and spend another 15 dollars but I stopped myself. There is no reason for that I say! Well, another reason is that my hair was a mess and Dr Phil was just too good but back to the story!
People, what I made tonight was good and tasty and conserving and all that crap-BUT it was not pretty. I do not have a name for it but I will list the items and let your imagination run wild.

Can of chicken
Cream of chix soup
Cream of mushroom soup
Smoked Sausage
Cheese
Box of squiggly pasta
garlic seasoning
sour cream

Chris said..."Its like the suicide drinks we used to make at Skateland". That pretty much sums it up.

Barefoot Blogger-Parm Chicken

Another Barefood Blogging event for your enjoyment! I actually made this a few weeks ago and saved it for the deadline today. It was very good, although I wish I had made the chicken a little thinner or used chicken cutlets-which I have had little luck finding locally. This is a great week night meal that is fast and fuss-less. I liked the double dipping of the chicken in the egg to create that nice crust on the outside. It was great with salad! Thank you to Megan for a great recipe!
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Parmesan Chicken
Ina Garten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.