Wednesday Night Supper

Can you believe I'm on the toilet as I type this?  No its not what you think, my daughter is in the bathtub playing and this is the only time I have to sit down and update my blog so here goes...

Since Justin's Grandma Rose passed away in early 2009 we've been having his grandfather Nick, aka "Gramps" over for dinner every Wednesday night. Grandma Rose was not only the smile and heart of her Italian family, but the woman could cook so she left pretty big shoes to fill and I've worked hard to make her proud. Week after week we have Gramps over for dinner and he has never once complained except to tell me that I should have made more which I take as a huge compliment.  When planning my Wednesday meals I try to keep them simple and rustic with an equal amount of protein, carbs and vegetables. I'm not sure why I feel its necessary to have all three with every meal but when I don't make all three, my plate always looks somewhat naked.  Tonight's meal was a first for me and turned out great so I thought I'd share with you all.

Roasted Chicken with Veggies-

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto or bacon, cut into ribbons
• Leaves from 2 small sprigs fresh rosemary (or dry rosemary)
• 1 whole chicken, quartered (about 3 pounds)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Veggies (Brussels sprouts, carrots,  potatoes, onions etc.) Whatever you prefer. 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put a roasting pan over medium heat on your stove (both front and back burners lit) and get it good and hot. Drizzle the pan with a 3 tbs. olive oil.  Add the prosciutto or bacon and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the meat is crisp and lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Push to 1 side of the pan. Season the chicken on both sides with a generous amount of salt and pepper and add it to the pan, skin side down, in a single layer. Cook for about 5 minutes until the skin begins to set and crisp. Turn and cook 3 more minutes. Turn the chicken again (bone side down), throw in some veggie of your choice (I used Brussels sprouts)  stick the pan in the oven and roast until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 30 more minutes.

You can serve as is or make a sauce. If you chose to make a sauce follow these directions. Take the pan out of the oven. Remove the chicken and prosciutto/bacon from the pan and arrange on a platter to keep warm while you prepare the pan sauce. Pour out all but about 1 tablespoon of the rendered chicken fat and return the pan to the stove top. Stir in the stock and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, scraping up the flavors stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until reduced to a syrup, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.Drizzle the pan sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.

I also roasted some sweet potato fries (Costco freezer section) on a baking sheet at the same time as the chicken and they were a nice compliment to the meal. 

Enjoy! 

Thanksgiving Traditions

Happy Thanksgiving!

When Justin and I began to date,  I not only gained a great man but I also gained a second family. At the time,  Justin's parents, Glenn & Willow lived in Santa Monica 5 blocks from the beach and it quickly became our tradition to spend every Thanksgiving with them.  Justin's mom is a phenomenal cook so when it comes to Thanksgiving we eat like royalty!  Some of my favorite memories are of Justin and I visiting his parents in southern California. It was a simple time in our life before everything revolved around bottles, blankies and bedtimes. And though I wouldn't  trade my life as a parent for anything, I"m so very thankful for the memories I have of our first few years of dating and our trips to Santa Monica.

Justin's family deep fries their turkeys and I admit, I wasn't real keen on the idea at first. I couldn't imagine eating a turkey that wasn't cooked in the traditional way but I had also grown tired of eating the same old oven baked bird every year.  Because of this I kept my mind open and am now proud to say that deep fried turkey blows oven baked turkey out of the water! When it comes out of the oil the outside is crisp and brown but the inside is filled with succulent juices that will run down your chin and end up on your best Thanksgiving outfit. Two years ago my in laws moved to San Francisco so we now spend this holiday in a city that runs neck and neck with the beauty of Santa Monica. As I type this message, the Bay Bridge is in the distance, the ocean is only blocks away and our turkey is bubbling outside. I wish I could take credit for this beautiful meal but Willow has once again outdone herself and she's done with ease and a smile on her face. I envy her ability to juggle the stress of this holiday year after year and am dedicating this post to her.  Not many women can feed a group like us while always having a smile on her face!  I must also pay tribute to Glenn, the best darn turkey fryer this side of the Mississippi.

Before I sign off I want to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are all so fortunate to have a warm roof over our heads, family, friends and good food in our tummies. This holiday is Super Bowl of cooking and I'm looking forward to the big game!

The only contribution I made to this years meal is these delicious green beans. Enjoy!

Green Beans with Almonds
William Sanoma

Ingredients:

• Coarse salt, to taste
• 2 lb. slender green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Fill a large pot three-fourths full of lightly salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the green beans and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside. (The beans can be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance, covered tightly and refrigerated until ready to use.)

In a large fry pan over medium heat, toast the almonds, stirring continuously, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

In the same pan over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add the shallots and sauté until translucent and beginning to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir in the beans. Sauté, stirring continuously, until heated through and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley and almonds. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and serve immediately.

Serves 8 to 10.

Sunday Breakfast

Who's in the mood for some Sunday Breakfast?

So I found this recipe in a cookbook my mom gave me as a wedding gift. Its called "New Cookbook Bridal Edition" and I highly recommend it. There are tons of simple, delicious recipes in this book and I've used it countless times. I didn't have everything to make this recipe so I used what I had. Its in the oven now so I'll let you know how it turns out :)

Farmers Casserole

Nonstick cooking spray
3 cups frozen shredded hash browns
3/4 cup shredded cheese
1 cup diced ham or Canadian bacon (I cooked some bacon and used that instead)
1/4 cup green onions (I used fresh spinach leaves instead)
4 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
salt
pepper

I also added chopped olives with the spinach. To be honest I think you could probably add just about anything to this (Mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes etc. and it would turn out good)

1. Coat 2-quart square caking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange potatoes evenly in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with cheese, ham, green onions.

2. In a bowl combine eggs, milk, salt & pepper. Pour egg mixture over potato mixture.

3. Bake, uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day everyone....

I hope you all had a great day celebrating our Veterans and Military.  We spent the day in San Francisco with Justin's parents and it reminded me of how lucky we are to live in such a diverse and beautiful country. Yeah USA!  We're also fortunate to have parents that live within blocks of  Pier 1, Chinatown, Union Square and the financial district so we spent the day enjoying the city.  I've lived here my entire life and though I've been to endless Giants and 49er games, I don't think I've really appreciated the beauty of SF till recently! Especially Embarcadero and the Fairy Building. Did you know they have a farmers market almost every day and they also have an indoor/outdoor marketplace that is full of amazing specialty shops and even a Sur la Table. It is a culinary lovers dream to walk through that area of the city and a challenge to keep from buying everything in sight! We walked all over the city today and I'm proud to report that Kate was a trooper. She just sat in her stroller happily screaming over the noise of the city and smiling at all the strangers. We left the city around 3:30pm and within an hour we were right back to reality....As we pulled into the driveway my mind went straight to the kitchen. "What do I make for dinner tonight"?

Days like today make me want to be lazy with dinner. It would have been so much easier to come home and pop a frozen pizza in the oven but instead we decided to rotisserie a chicken on the BBQ. Have any of you ever done that ? We have a rotisserie attachments for our BBQ and we just recently realized how easy and delicious it is to make your own rotisserie chicken, pork etc. 

Rotisserie Chicken on the BBQ:

Rub the chicken with olive oil, melted butter, salt, pepper, herbs, garlic powder and onion powder. Use the kitchen twine to tie the chicken up tied so that it keeps its form while its turning on the rotisserie. Once its tied tight and seasoned stick rotisserie skewer threw the middle. Get the BBQ temperature to 375 and cook for about an hour and 15 minutes or an internal temp of 170-180 degrees. 

Side Dish: Roasted Broccoli:

Put two bunches of fresh broccoli florets in large bowl. Toss with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Place on baking sheet and bake at 375 for 1/2 hour.  

I have to say that our dinner put frozen pizza to shame and left us with enough leftover chicken to make sandwiches and keep Kate fed for a couple days. Yeah! 

Hope you all had a great day!

Cheers,

Jamie

My Little Kitchen

You don't need a lot of counter space to make a great meal!

Martha's famous Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I would like to pay tribute to my friend Angela's mom, Martha Fairfield. When we were kids Martha made this for us and before they moved away she gave my mom this recipe. My mom passed it down to me and I've been adding my own little twists and ingredients ever since. I must say its a real crowd pleaser!

Martha's Chicken Enchilada Casserole

1 Rotisserie Chicken (pulled apart)
1 Can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of diced green chili's
1 Can of chili with no beans
1 Bag of Mexican shredded cheese
1 small can of diced black olives
1 bag of flour tortillas (I've also used whole wheat but they don't hold up as well as flour)

Preheat oven to 350. Remove chicken from bones, shred and place in large bowl. Combine chicken, soup, green chili's and chili with no beans and stir well. Place half the mixture in the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Tear tortillas into pieces and cover the mixture with the tortilla pieces. Put the rest of the soup mix on the top of the tortillas and top with lots of shredded cheese and black olives. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Take foil off and bake for another 10 minutes. When cheese is melted, its ready to serve!

I've also made this with rice. I  just made a box of Mexican Rice-A-Roni and added that into the soup mixture.

This is a great meal to take to a pot luck or friends house. I often make it ahead and just bake it before I leave for the party.

Bone Appetite!

After a busy day - Easy Dinner

I've made this many times on busy weeknights. The biscuits are tricky. If you don't cook them long enough they get brown and crispy on top and are raw in the middle so I often have cook them a bit longer than the recipe calls for. Sometimes I even cut the biscuits in half so there is less breading.


East Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients

• 1 3 1/2- to 4-pound rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
• 1 10-ounce package frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream-of-mushroom soup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 10-count tube refrigerated biscuits

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Combine the chicken, vegetables, soup, salt, pepper, and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.
2. Transfer the mixture to an oven-safe casserole, cover with foil, and bake for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the foil, cover the filling with the biscuits, and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.