Chicken Philly Sandwiches

The last meal I made before the birth of our son was something I was pretty proud of. My wife pulled out a boneless, skinless chicken breast from the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge. I asked if she had any plans with it ... but she didn't. So I looked around and what else we had in the house and decided I could make a pretty fantastic sandwich.

I started by sauteeing some sliced onions and bell peppers with minced garlic scapes. Then I used this wonderful "Pullman's Porkchop" seasoning that was a gift from Chicago. It has pepper, onion, garlic, (more of what I already added), salt, ginger, hickory, and some other "spices".  It's a really versatile seasoning that goes on meats & veggies alike.

You know what a pregnant lady needs in her dinner? Beer. Don't worry folks, I cooked off any trace of alcohol before serving it. But after I got some nice color and softness in my onions & peppers I some Budweiser and let it reduce down until it got sticky.

Then I added some chopped chicken breast and cooked them quickly. I added them to some whole wheat bread on a little light mayo.

I missed a photo opportunity, but I topped each sandwich with shredded cheese and got them all nice and melty in the middle and crisp and toasted on the outside. It's great to bite through a crunchy sandwich and have a gooey rich center. The beer adds some great flavor to the peppers & onions to really make this chicken sandwich sing. Yum. I was happy for sure.

Cucumber-Onion Salad

In Iowa there is a popular Italian restaurant called Biaggi's with several locations. When I go there for lunch, I usually leave feeling most pleased with a very simple side they serve. It's the cool and crisp cucumber salad with raw onions.  So when my wife decided to make it for us the other night, I was very excited.

She used some lemon cucumbers that we bought from our farmers market and sliced them very thinly. Then if you want to see good knife skills, let my wife loose on some raw onions. They were so thin, they only had one side! (Guy Fieri always says that.)

I asked her what she put into it, and this is what she said:

4 parts water

1 part white vinegar

pepper

garlic salt

I asked, "No sugar?" "Nope"

I can't figure it out, but there is some real sweetness in there. I love how it's a little salty, a little bitter, and somehow sweet. It's cool and refreshing, with a nice bite and texture to compliment all sorts of meals.

Creamy Tomato-Alfredo : At-Home Chopped Challenge

My wife was 40 weeks pregnant last week. This meant we didn't have a ton of groceries in the house. A: she wasn't really in the mood for a lot of things. and B: we weren't sure if we would need to leave the house for 3 days at any moment. So I got to play an at-home version of the Food Network show "Chopped".

Enter: Tomato-Alfredo Sauce

OK. Pasta. I can do this no problem. But wait -- we only have lasagna noodles in the house. What will I do?

It's time to get a little MacGuyver on dinner. So I par-boiled these in salted water and then drained them and arranged the noodles on a cutting board to let them cool a little. Once my hand cold hold onto them without getting burned, I sliced them into strips.

If you know this blog at all, you know I can't just open up a jar and serve it as is. So I needed to add garlic, onions, and fresh tomatoes to the sauce in a saute pan.

I added the cut noodles and finished cooking them in the sauce so they would soak up as much as possible.

Top it all with some Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, and some simple garlic bread and you've got a pretty good little dinner. I hadn't ever had this sauce before, but it was really rich. So it was nice to add some more depth of flavor with garlic and onions, and cut the richness with some acidity in the fresh tomatoes.  All in all, it was pretty good. (And my wife ate it all. Bonus.)

Tomatoes & Anchovy Butter Pasta

 Anchovies?!?!!  Eeeeeewwwwwwwwwww.

Right? Wrong. I had never cooked with this much-maligned little fishes before; but they are really easy to work with and add a really robust flavor to a dish.

I accidentally bought sardines at first. That will not substitute because those are little fish that look like little fish. These will break down and emulsify into your sauce. So make the extra trip to the store like I did.

Slice up a bunch of cherry tomatoes lengthwise. I think they look better that way, but I'm sure they will turn out fine either way. If your knife is sharp enough, this should be really easy. If it isn't, try using a serrated knife so you don't smash the tomatoes.

Heat 4 tbsp of unsalted butter in a skillet over medium heat with 2 anchovy fillets and 4 garlic cloves (I like minced).  Cook this for four minutes, stirring often, until the butter has turned brown from the broken down anchovies & garlic.

Cook 1/2 lb of spaghetti in salted water for about 5-6 minutes until al dente, reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy water, and drain the pasta.

Do not rinse. Repeat: do not rinse.

Addthe tomatoes to the sauce and cook 8-10 minutes until they soften and begin to fall apart.  Add the pasta and 1/2 cup starchy water and finish cooking the pasta in the sauce.  Top it all with fresh parsley and serve.

 This sauce is so rich, and just a bit funky (but in a very good way). It isn't a real aggressive flavor either. There is a real rich depth of flavor that just coats your pallet with that rich sauce. The tomatoes are soft and sweet and play really nicely with that rich sauce.

Beautifully Breaded Chicken

I have seen this idea in our Bon Apetit magazine over & over again ... in a Hellman's maynaise ad!

I wanted a few smaller fillets, so I split the breasts in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. (I left the one on the end alone so I could shred it for quesadillas later.)

Mix together 1/2 cup of mayo with 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese and spread it out onto your chicken.  Top it all with Italian bread crumbs and bake up to 20 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken is) in a 425-degree oven.

This breading locks in all the great moisture of the chicken, while getting that perfectly golden brown crust you really want in a breaded chicken breast.

The mayo & cheese will add a great salty richness to the dish that makes it really decadent and rich. The pictures looked so good I had to give it a try. I'm a sucker for a great breaded chicken breast, and this hit all the notes for me.

Grilled Bread Salad with Roasted Red Peppers & Onions

Yum. Tell me that doesn't look inviting. The glare from the sunlight almost makes it look like this bright salad is actually glowing!

There's a local bread maker at our farmer's market that has these wonderful fresh loaves for sale every Saturday. This is one he calls "Everything" -- which made us think of those fantastic bagels from Panera. So we got some great red peppers and a red onion to throw on the grill.

Quarter the onion so it won't fall between the cracks. If you have an olive oil mister, it is great for spraying both sides of all the veggies and the bread. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and roast about 10-12 minutes, flipping once. My wife likes the onions cooked down pretty far so they release all the natural sugars and ease a little in their assertive bite.

The goal is to char the peppers like this. If you have the luxury of owning a gas stove, you can actually set the peppers directly onto the flame and get the same effect.

Scrape all the black off and you will be left with these beautiful roasted red peppers.  Slice them into 1-2" sections along with your onions and toasted bread.  Toss the peppers & onions in a large bowl with olive oil, sherry vinegar, and paprika. Stir it around to coat everything and then add your bread. Toss at the last minute with fresh chives.

The bread was still crunchy, which added a great texture to this dish. The sweet onions pair nicely with the roasted red peppers, and the paprika and vinegar add some big flavors to the party.  We paired this with our smashed potatoes & jalapenos to make an all-vegetarian dinner. And you know what? With all those bright, fresh ingredients and bold flavors -- I never even missed the meat.

Smashed Potatoes with Jalapenos

This is not your mama's potato salad! I have been trying all sorts of lighter, freshened up, potato salads this summer. This one is easily the boldest. It packs a serious punch.

My friend Eric gave me some fresh peppers from his garden to start things off. Slice these up thin and set aside. If you want a little less heat, you can punch out the seeds & ribs and throw them out.

Toss the potatoes in a small amount of olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Then arrange them on a baking sheet and roast in a 450-degree oven for 30-35 minutes, flipping once.

Meanwhile whisk together 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and 1 tbsp whole grain mustard in a large bowl.  Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup of olive oil until it is well mixed together. Set your roasted potatoes on a cutting board and smash them with the flat side of your knife.

Add the peppers, potatoes, and season with salt & pepper.

Mix everything together, top with either parsley or chives, and serve. My mouth didn't know what to do with all these bold flavors! You get the bite and pucker that comes from tangy vinegar. Then there is the heat from the peppers, and the depth and punch of the dark mustard.  If you're looking for something to liven up your dinner, this is the dish.

Cilantro Pesto

After dinner at my in-laws, they asked "What do you do with all this cilantro?"

"We'll take it." we answered. We buy it all the time. You will almost never find our refrigerator without some fresh cilantro in the herb-keeper. And as it turned out, we already had quite a lot. So my wife had a brilliant suggestion to make some pesto.

I added about 1.5 full bunches of cilantro (stems and all) into the food processor. Next I added about 6 garlic scapes and 3-4 green onion greens. I added a bit of olive oil and salt & pepper and blended it until it was smooth. The garlic scapes lend a mild garlic flavor and will enhance that bright green color.

This stuff is fantastic, let me tell you! I spread some out on one side of a tortilla and made shredded chicken quesadillas with queso blanco and it was awesome. If you like the freshness and aromatic quality that cilantro adds to so many dishes, you would be well-served to have this great little condiment in your fridge.

What an excellent idea, honey.

Farmer's Market Fresh, Flavored, Pasta

I have written many times about how much my wife & I enjoy waking up on Saturday morning and heading down to the farmer's market. There is so much more to sample than fresh produce. There is art, fresh-brewed coffee, salsas, meat, dairy, and all sorts of fresh pastries. We crave the apple cider donuts!

This past weekend I was visiting our in-laws in the Quad Cities and we went to their farmer's market. They had something I had never seen in Iowa City -- fresh pasta! Not only that, but a lot of it was flavored. After menu planning our dinner for Saturday night, I was tasked with making a fresh summer pasta salad. This "Calypso Blend" sounded amazing: Lime, Mango-Peach, Red Chili ... yum!

We were grilling fresh peppers, zucchini squash, and corn on the cob to go with our brats & hot dogs. So I sliced up some fresh tomato, red bell pepper, and cilantro to go into the pasta salad.

After boiling the pasta for a few short minutes in salted water, letting them drain & cool, I added it to the bowl and topped it all with some parmesan cheese, salt & pepper, and lemon zest. Then you can make the simplest vinaigrette with equal parts fresh lemon juice & olive oil.

It really is that simple. I like this kind of pasta salad because it isn't as heavy as a mayonnaise-based pasta salad. It seems bright and fresh for summer. The cilantro adds a nice floral note, and the lemon gives it a real pop with all that acidity.  You could really tell we used fresh pasta because it had a great chewy texture. The seasoning came through on the pasta too and rounded out the dish nicely. I got a few compliments from my wife's family ... and that always feels nice.

This picture is really blurry for some reason, but here it is anyway:

Summer Green Minestrone

This mean, green, vegetable-packed soup was a sure-fire hit to please The Mrs. Soup is a sort of odd choice for a hot & humid July meal, but the pictures sold me. I'm very visual when I pick out recipes -- which I realize is juvenile. But that's how my mind and stomach work.

This isn't your heavy, cream-based, meat-loaded, winter soup to warm you up during a soul crushing Midwest winter. It's a light and bright summer soup chalk full of greens that will treat you well.

Start by chopping the white & pale green parts of a large leek.

Then sliced up a fennel bulb, two stalks of celery, and half of a white onion.

Saute that all in some olive oil with salt & pepper for about five minutes until they soften and start to turn translucent, but before they brown.

Boil a small pasta in salted water for about 5-6 minutes until it is just al dente.  Meanwhile, add four cups of chicken or vegetable stock to your vegetables along with two thinly sliced carrots, and one cup of either lima beans or fava beans. Heat it all through while the pasta is cooking, then combine everything in the large pot.

Pulse together some parsley, olive oil, and salt & pepper in a food processor to make a very simple pesto. I added garlic scapes to the party to add a hint of garlic flavor.

Top it all with your fresh pesto, and maybe some sharp cheese. There is so much depth of flavor here, it's amazing. The fennel, leeks, and aromatic vegetables really make this soup sing. It's really light & fresh, but the beans add a nice heartyness to it so you won't be left hungry.

Israeli Couscous, Radicchio, & Blistered Tomato Salad

My wife picked this recipe out of our latest Bon Apetit magazine. I would have (and probably did) glanced right over this and never given it any serious thought. But I am really glad she found it. I have already given the recipe to someone at my office.

It starts by grilling some radicchio. Cut it in half, spray or drizzle it with olive oil, and season with salt & pepper. Then get a nice char on both sides. Radicchio is a bitter vegetable, and charring it will heighten that flavor even more.

I decided to use my cast-iron grill pan to help with blistering the tomatoes. It seemed a lot easier than worrying about them falling through the grates, and I thought it would be more effective than a saute pan. I drizzled some olive oil  and again seasoned with salt & pepper. Cook them over high heat until the skin bursts and the tomatoes blister.

Bring in the charred radicchio and let it cool. Then slice it thinly and toss into a large bowl.

Cook some Israeli couscous in salted water with a tbsp of butter. These little gems are great. They're like rich little spherical pastas. I love using them.

Next, I chopped up some fresh oregano from our herb garden.

...and some fresh parsley.  Thinly slice some onions and leave them raw. It would be best if you can get them sliced super thin so that raw onion taste isn't too offensive. Then combine everything together and toss with a little more salt & pepper. You could finish it with some toasted almonds if you have them. (We did not.) Add some ricotta or Parmesan cheese to finish.

We decided to add some fresh lemon juice to balance out all the bitterness from the radicchio and onion. There is also a nice sweetness from the tomatoes, and a great richness from the buttery couscous. If you need a good vegetarian dish with a lot of bold, contrasting flavors -- then this dish is for you.