Mediterranean Chicken

This is another recipe rave from Good Things Catered. I had this slated for the weekend, but we ended up going to a (fabulous) fish fry and brewery tour instead. I am so glad I ended up making it tonight! It's a simple, delicious way to do a basic chicken and vegetables. I served it with brown rice. Yum!

Mediterranean Chicken
Source: Good Things Catered

~2 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves
~salt and ground pepper
~1 tsp olive oil
~ medium sweet onion, halved and sliced thin (I used 1/2 an onion)
~1 small zucchini sliced
~1/2 small yellow squash, sliced
~2 cloves garlic, peeled sliced paper thin (I grated it)
~1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (small splash, really)
~1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock
~2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (oops! I read that as 1/2 cup. I did about 1 cup)
~1/4 cup kalmata olives, halved
~1/8 c. fresh parsley, chopped (I omitted)
~1 Tbsp fresh/green za'atar (or 1 tsp dried) (I omitted)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pat chicken breasts dry and season with salt and pepper. In medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, bring pan up to temperature and place chicken, breast-down, in pan and cook until slightly browned, about 2 minutes. Flip breast over and cook until slightly browned, only 1 minute. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Place oil and then onion (and zucchini/squash) into pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions start to caramelize, about 12 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Deglaze with balsamic vinegar and chicken stock and stir to combine. Let cook down for about 1 minute and then add remaining ingredients. Place skillet into oven and cook until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees, about 10 -12 minutes (depending on how much you browned the outside and the size of the breasts). Remove from oven, let cool for at least 5-10 minutes and plate.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Mint choc chip is my absolute favorite flavor of ice cream. When I got my ice cream maker, that is all I wanted to make! I originally was using the recipe that came with my ice cream maker, but before long I decided I didn't want to be making a recipe that used 2 cups of heavy cream all the time. After stumbling upon the Old Time Vanilla recipe that I love, I tried their mint version but something was... off. We didn't love it. I put mint on the back burner while vanilla and peanut butter became the mainstays in the house. This week, I knew it was time to get back to mint and work out the recipe. I am so glad I did!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from Doc Wilson

~1/4 cup egg beaters
~1/2 can of fat free sweetened condensed milk
~6 Tablespoons white sugar
~4 ounces heavy whipping cream
~16 ounces fat free half and half
~4 ounces skim milk (or 1%, or 2%, whatever you have)
~1/8 tsp salt
~1/2 teaspoon mint extract
~2 tsp vodka OR mint schnapps OR "The Good Doctor" (optional)
~1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I prefer small amounts of chocolate in my ice cream, feel free to load it up if you prefer more!)

In a large mixing bowl whisk together egg beaters, sweetened condensed milk, and sugar until thoroughly mixed. Add heavy whipping cream, half and half, skim milk, salt, vodka or schnapps, and mint extract. For the very best results (who wants anything less?), let the mix chill in the refrigerator for about four hours which allows the mix to "age" before freezing according to the directions with your ice cream freezer. Add the mini chips in the last 5 minutes of freezing. This recipe makes the perfect amount to fit in a 1.5 quart ice cream maker. Makes between 4 and 5 cups of ice cream.


yes, that's wrapping paper

2 RR: Cranberry White Chocolate Cake and Cranberry Apple Crunch!

One of my favorite blogs is written by Katie at Good Things Catered. She has amazing meals, party planning skills, and creativity in decorating. I love browsing all her ideas, and then promptly *stealing* them. (Seriously, if you haven't made Angie's Strawberry Cupcakes yet, you don't know what you are missing!) Anyway, this post is about two recipe raves for some recent jewels that she has posted!

A few months ago I feel in love with her Apple Crunch. I started craving it again as soon as she mentioned her new twist - cranberry apple crunch! I was sure I'd be a purist and stick to the original, but I bought a bag of cranberries for the other recipe I'm highlighting here, and figured I'd give the cranberry version a whirl to use up the extras. WOW, I am so glad I did! The cranberry take is even more amazing than the original, something I didn't think was possible! This stuff is heaven in a bowl - especially when combined with homemade ice cream. I altered it slightly since I'd be just me whoofing it down. :-)
Cranberry Apple Crunch
Source: Mixed and matched two recipes from Good Things Catered (here and here)

~1 to 1.5 cups fresh cranberries
~3 large apples, peeled, cored and diced (I used macintosh)
~1/2 cup oats
~1/2 cup packed brown sugar
~1/4 cup whole wheat flour
~4 Tbsp butter, cold
~1 tsp cinnamon
~1/4 tsp nutmeg
~1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray an 8x8 baking dish with baking spray (I used a 1.5Q oval casserole dish). Spread fruit mixture evenly in baking dish. In medium bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut butter into small pieces (or grate with a grater) and add to dry ingredients along with the vanilla. With pastry blender, cut butter into dry ingredients until all butter is about the size of a small pea. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over fruit. Place baking dish in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until apples have cooked down and begun to caramelize (oops! I left it in for 55). Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

The second recipe I wanted to talk about is Cranberry White Chocolate Bars. Now, I'm making them as written for a work event this week, but I figured I'd like to mess around with the recipe and see what I could do with the nutritional profile. (I mean, I realize I am still talking about a sugar filled dessert, but I can at least try, right?) I've had a bottle of agave nectar hanging around for a few months and I really wanted to experiment with using it in baked goods. I also wanted to revisit using pureed white beans in brownie/bar type recipes. Finally, I just picked up some whole wheat pastry flour, and hear that it can be used to substitute for white flour in these types of recipes (unlike whole wheat flour, which is only recommended for replacing half of the white flour in a recipe). So, I sat down and tweaked a little here, a little there, threw it together and ended up with an almost cake/quick bread like cranberry and (sunken) white chocolate bar. I can't wait to try the real version later this week, but so far, I am loving the results of my tweaking! I just have to remember next time to toss the chips in some flour so they don't sink straight to the bottom of the pan!
Cranberry White Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Good Things Catered

~2 Tbsp butter, softened
~1/2 cup packed brown sugar
~1 individual size container of unsweetened applesauce
~2 Tbsp agave nectar
~1/2 cup white beans (I used navy), pureed
~1/2 cup egg beaters (or 2 eggs)
~1 tsp vanilla
~1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
~2 scoops vanilla protein powder
~1/2 tsp baking powder
~1/4 tsp baking soda
~1/4 tsp salt
~zest of 1/2 orange
~1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
~1 to 1.5 cups dried or fresh cranberries
~1/2 cup white chocolate chips, tossed in flour to prevent sinking
~1/8 cup oats

Directions:
Preheat to 325 degrees and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, zest, nutmeg and set aside. In bowl of stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on high, about 3 minutes. (I actually tried doing this with a hand mixer and it was a failure so I can't comment on what it should look like!) Turn mixer to low and beat in applesauce, then agave nectar, then white beans. Slowly add egg beaters, then vanilla until thoroughly combined. Slowly incorporate flour mixture. Remove from stand mixer and stir in cranberries and white chocolate chips. Spread batter in pan, sprinkle over top with oats, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 1 hour. Remove from pan and cut into squares.

So, the results? It may not seem like much, but I'm pretty happy with the 40 calorie drop, and the loss of over 4 grams of fat per 1/16 portion of the recipe. I also love the gain of some fiber and protein. YAY!

	New	Original
Calories	142.0	180
Total Fat	3.8	8.1
(Saturated Fat)	2.7	5.4
Cholesterol	5.9	41.9
Total Carbohydrate	22.8	25.1
(Fiber)	2.2	0.0
(Sugar)	13.0	16.0
Protein	4.8	2.4

BB - Herb-Roasted Onions - spruced up!

Time for another episode of Barefoot Bloggers. I'll take this moment to say that I've loved everything we've made so far and am really glad I joined this group! This week's recipe is Herb-Roasted Onions - yum! I decided that just plain onion was a bit of a stretch for me, so I beefed it up a little by adding some chopped beets, butternut squash, and potatoes. These really added a lot to the dish (although I really should have sliced the beets into thin slices rather than cubes). I should have doubled the dressing with all that I added (even though I did use one less onion) but it was still great! We served with Herbes de Provence roasted chicken.

Herb-Roasted Onions
from Barefoot Contessa at Home on page 156
Chosen by Kelly from Baking with the Boys

• 2 red onions (I used one)
  
• 1 yellow onion
• 3/4 cup cubed butternut squash (frozen, because that's how I store it)
• 1 whole beet, sliced (would be better than the cubes I did)
• 3 small white potatoes, cubed
  
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl along with the squash, beets, and potatoes.

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the onion mixture and toss well.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the onion mixture to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl. Bake the onion mixture for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. (Took me longer because of the beets/potatoes - consider parboiling them first!) Toss the onions once during cooking. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake

With all the experimental baking I've done, I've never made cheesecake before. This is probably due, in part, to the fact that I don't like cheesecake. However, my husband DOES love cheesecake and when he came home with 3 giant cans of pumpkin pie mix instead of pure pumpkin puree, I checked out www.verybestbaking.com to see what I could use it for and decided on pumpkin cheesecake. I was really nervous about making the cheesecake because I always hear about how it didn't go well... cracked top, shrinking, etc. I read up on how to bake using a water bath (thanks Allrecipes!), and learned a few other tricks for mixing the batter properly. (Oh no! It says no over-mixing!!! This is by far my baking Achilles Heel.)


I was very pleasantly surprised to see that everything went REALLY well. No cracking (though if it did, I had that lovely topping to conceal it!), or any other funny business. I may be underbaked it a tiny bit. I didn't really let it chill the recommended amount of time before slicing, so that may have something to do with it, too. I modified the baking instructions based on what I read on allrecipes (listed in italics in the instructions). As I said, I'm not a cheesecake fan, so my husband was the only litmus test. I had planned on saving him two pieces, then bringing the rest to work. He refused to let me take it... so I'm thinking that means it was pretty darn good! Time to make room in the freezer!
Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake

For the crust:
1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

For the pralines:
1/2 cups chopped pecans
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water

For the cheesecake:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 can (30 oz.) Libby's Pumpkin Pie Mix

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.
For the crust:
Combine graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar in large bowl. Stir in butter. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan.

For pralines:
Combine nuts, brown sugar and water in same bowl. Reserve 3/4 cup praline mixture for topping. Sprinkle remaining praline mixture over crumbs in pan. Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.

For cheesecake:
Beat cream cheese in large bowl. Beat in brown sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Beat in eggs. Beat in pumpkin pie mix. Spoon over baked crust/nuts. Cover bottom of springform pan with foil to create a leakproof barrier for the water bath. Place springform pan into another, larger pan and place in the oven. Add boiling water to the larger pan to create the water bath. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until edge is set but 2-3 inches of the center still moves slightly. Sprinkle with reserved praline mixture. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the very center moves slighty. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in, with door closed, for one hour. Run knife around edge of cheesecake. Cool in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of springform pan, slice and serve.

Turkey, Brie, and Apple Sandwiches

On a recent trip to LA, I had the delight of enjoying a turkey, brie, and apple sandwich at the airport. It was SO good, that I decided to recreate it at home for my husband. I probably should have asked the shop what went into the sandwich, but it seemed pretty straightforward so I just winged it.

I picked up a long french baguette from the bakery, and sliced it into medium sub sized pieces, the sliced in half. I layered some chicken (the original sandwich had turkey deli meat, but I didn't have any of that... I think some leftover carved turkey breast from Thanksgiving would go great in these!), slices of brie, and slices of granny smith apple. I popped sandwich (open faced) in the toaster oven to broil for a few minutes, until the bread started to brown and the brie melted a bit.

YUM! The chicken I had cooked the night before on the stove, just with salt and pepper, and it was a little to peppery for me, but my husband loved it. I can't wait for leftover turkey at thanksgiving to make this again!

Baked Brie

We are HUGE fans of brie, and typically I just wrap it up in some puff pastry and bake it. I got a different recipe for baked brie at my bridal shower from the famed Linda. Since we wanted to celebrate my certification exam victory (I passed!), we decided to give this recipe a try while we enjoyed a good bottle of wine from our trip to Door County a few months ago.

The recipe is quite simple, it just calls for topping the brie with apricot preserves and slivered almonds, then baking at 350 degrees for 15-20 min. Since I love it wrapped in puff pastry, I still wanted to incorporate that. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until too late that my one sheet of puff pastry in the freezer was no longer worthy of consumption. But, I did have some roll out pie crust, so I used that instead.

I started with rolling out the pie crust, and spreading with apricot preserves and slivered almonds in the center.



I layed down the brie (with the rind cut off), then wrapped the pie crust up around the brie, cutting away a few triangles so as not to have an excess of crust.



I flipped it over, and layed it down on a parchment lined baking sheet. I used some of the leftover dough to make little leaf cut outs for the top (Hi, fall!).



In the oven it went at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes (I left it in a little longer for the pie crust. Mine happened to crack, and I suppose I could have saved it from the oven before that if I had been watching more closely.


This was absolutely delicious, as I expected! We served with crackers.