Gimme some {fried} chicken

Credit

My son is picky.

He does not have much variety in his diet.  However, lately he has been trying more things.  He has eaten ribs, chicken on the bone and steak to name a few.  Thank goodness the tides are changing.

I get being picky, both me and my husband were picky eaters and today we are so far from being picky.  My brother was as picky as my son is now.

He asked me to buy drumsticks, all of sudden.  He likes wings but they are all in sauces and he is not ready or willing to have sauce (Little Miss eats and tries everything).

I decided to make them fried chicken (drumsticks).  They came out really well.  He really enjoyed them. I have to really play around with some recipes as I like them with lots of crisp.  He wants the smaller drumsticks and wings, like the buffalo wings.  He doesn't like sauce so trying to find the smaller ones has been hard for me - unless I just don't know where to look since I have never bought them.

It was a good first try and now I made another batch and have it in the fridge for easy meals.

I got the recipe from Epicurious

Enjoy!

Zizette

• 1 3-lb. fryer
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. black pepper
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 1/2 cup Pet milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
• 1 qt. oil for frying

Cut chicken in eight pieces. Season well with salt and pepper. Set aside. Mix eggs, milk, and water. Pour mixture over chicken. Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a heavy paper bag, mix flour, paprika, ground thyme, and granulated garlic. Place chicken in bag with flour mixture. Shake until chicken is well coated.

Heat oil in a Magnalite fryer — oil should reach 350°F. Place chicken in hot oil. Fry, turning as chicken browns. Heavy parts such as breast, thighs, and legs will take 15 to 20 minutes, wings about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain chicken on paper towels.

Healthy Eating

The other day grandma picked up some fresh flounder to make for dinner, before her purchase she asked me if I would make it.  I said absolutely and the wheels got a turning.

(courtesy of Healthyirishman.com)

I took the filets, washed and dried them.  Laid the flat, put frozen spinach on center of the filet, sprinkled parm/reggiano on top of the spinach, rolled the filet and put into a baking dish.  I repeated with the rest of the fish filling the dish.  The dish was oval shaped (I only cooked 4 filets).  I added the remaining spinach and tri-colored peppers (they come in the bag at Costco) sliced in half around the filets. Drizzle olive oil over the fish.  Then I sprinkled Sea Salt, a little pepper and smoked paprika on top of the filets.  Finally I topped the fish with chopped (little cubes) tomatoes.  Covered baking dish with foil and baked at 350 for about 20 minutes, then removed foil for another 5-10 minutes.

You can serve over more spinach or even rice.  I just ate it with a salad but everyone else had a little pasta.

For the children I fried the flounder after dredging in egg and then a panko/breadcrumb mixture.  That had leftovers which I had for lunch the next day.  I need to make fish more often.

**Recipe for Baked Flounder

4-6 Flounder filets
frozen spinach
1/4 cup parm/reggiano cheese
Sea Salt
Pepper
Paprika (I had smoked paprika)
6 tri-colored peppers (yellow, red, orange)
1/2 tomato
olive oil

Enjoy!

Zizette

Savory Snowday

Yes, another day of snow. BUT Mayor Mike actually closed NYC schools.  5:15 am I got a text from a friend with the good news.

In anticipation of snow I had done some shopping and bought these really great fried eggplant slices from a local Italian grocer.  I envisioned making Eggplant Rollatine.  I had also purchased some fresh whole wheat pasta.  Hubby had gotten the bread.

Eggplant Rollatine

4 large slices of thin cut fried eggplant slices
1 pint of ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon  Italian seasoning blend
1/4 cup grated parm/reggiano cheese
1 jar sauce (Bertolli Marinara)
Fresh Mozzarella

Mix ricotta, italian seasoning and parm/reg.  Pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of a small baking dish (I use an oval dish - 9x13 will be too big unless you're making more).  Start assembly - lay eggplant slice take a quarter of the cheese mixture and lay in center of slice.  Roll slice eggplant up and lay seam side down in the sauce.  Repeat.  When complete slice mozzarella up and lay on top of eggplant.  Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Cook for 20 minutes with eggplant covered, remove cover and cook 10 minutes more.  Enjoy the eggplant with some pasta or alone.

I wanted to do this recipe because eggplant rollatine is one of my favorite dishes.  Now you can enjoy it too.


Zizette

New Recipe!

I think I have made meatballs a few times, just winging the recipe and other times adapting others. Well, tonight I tried a recipe of someone whose cooking I absolutely love, Lidia Bastianich. I really love her food. I have been to several of her restaurants (one's she has with her son and Mario Batali - they really are a great team). In any case, I decided to try her meatball recipe this evening and I am in LOVE.

These meatballs were so moist on the inside and just absolutely delish. The kids liked them too and you know my picky kids (I have one who does not like sauce so I have to rinse the sauce off with hot water - please). My son's only request is that the meatballs have cheese in them and he can actually tell when I have not had it in them.

Here's her recipe:

Spaghetti con Polpette di Carne

Meatballs

1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef
1 cup fine, dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Meanwhile, crumble the pork and beef into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle the bread crumbs, 1/3 cup grated cheese, the parsley, and garlic over the meat. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl until blended. Pour over the meat mixture. Mix the ingredients with clean hands just until evenly blended. Don't overmix. Shape the meat mixture into 1-1/2 inch balls.

Dredge the meatballs in the flour until lightly but evenly coated. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil and the vegetable oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Slip as many meatballs into the skillet as will fit without crowding. Fry, turning as necessary, until golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes. Adjust the heat as the meatballs cook to prevent them from overbrowning. Remove the meatballs, and repeat if necessary with the remaining meatballs.

Add the browned meatballs to tomato sauce and cook, stirring gently with a wooden spoon, until no trace of pink remains at the center of the meatballs, about 30 minutes. Serve over pasta. Enjoy!

Then I was being a bit ambitious this evening and even baked my family my chocolate chip cookies. They were very happy. I am sure they will be gone by Saturday. I will make more or try something new this weekend. I am thinking about trying Bakerella's cake pops for Maya's Halloween party next week.

Happy Friday!

Thanks Kim

About a week ago my dear friend Kim made a delicious meal that I really enjoy making, Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic.

I think she first introduced it to me last year and when I tried it I knew I loved it. I never felt that it was a difficult recipe and even today I did not feel this way.

I have sort of been MIA a bit lately. The new school year has kicked my booty. Just adjusting to a new situation and staffing has been quite a challenge for me.

So, I am starting to get myself back in the groove. The cooking and baking, the things I want to do and I am not.

I took on the big task of a carnival but I should not have taken it on. It really is too much but I can never say no. The only benefit is that it will be over this weekend and then I can go back to working on myself and my family.

So, this evening I made this fabulous dish. AND I finally took pictures of me cooking along the way (the picture taking is something I want to do better).

Sauteed chicken

The garlic smelled so good (not sure if there are exactly 40 cloves in there)

The final product with all the yummy sauce

I chose to put it over egg noodles to save the time with what the children will eat and I really was not in the mood to make roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Actually that is hubby's signature dish and he was busy using the wet vac on our flooded basement. It was a very good dinner and I am so glad Kim brought it back into my memory.

Enjoy!

Zizette

Bad Mommy Award or Just Evil Mommy?

I think that is what I am in the running for today.

You see I have told my children a little white lie.

Actually I didn't lie, it was an omission, or rather an assumption by them (see I am putting it off on the little lads - bad mommy, huh?)

I decided that my little children needed some variety in their diet.

They love the same foods all the time. I try to have some diversity but they are who they are and I guess it is mostly my fault so now I have to work hard at getting them to eat new foods. The thing is there was a time when my pickiest eater son, did eat any and all foods his nanny, Julie gave him and then one day something changed.

So, tonight I did a trick from the past.

I have done it before but one day got caught so I have not dared to do it again,

until

TODAY

I was shopping and bought Boneless Pork Loin Chops.

You know, the thin ones that you can totally pass off as chicken, specifically Chicken Cutlets?

I did it.

I made the pork cutlets and the kiddies thought they were chicken cutlets. I never said chicken, I just said cutlets. Sam even asked to have his with cheese on top - like his chicken - "No problem" says his evil, I mean Wonderful mommy.

Can you believe they ate EVERY.SINGLE.MORSEL?

They had a fabulous dinner, Pork with Cous Cous and Green beans (fresh from the Farmers Market - more on that later).

Oh yeah, my other time. In the past I have passed off fresh fish fried as a cutlet and the kids have loved it as well, until one day I bought frozen flounder from a favorite place. It was not good, too salty or something off but I did not know until Sam tells me after one bite, "this is the WORST chicken you have ever made MOM!" I said, "No it's not, it's the worst fish I have ever made!" He could not believe I tricked them. For a while he wouldn't eat my chicken and he loves my chicken. So, I had to wait until the memory was out of his head. Today it was. My husband asked if he should tell the kids about the pork, I told him "NO WAY."

So, am I really that bad since I did something good? I am happy they liked it and it gives me more to give them.

Zizette

You Must Try This Despite the Name

Over the weekend a friend was telling me about a great dessert she makes.

Me, always in for a good recipe says, sure what is it?

She is describing tasty goodness to me and I ask what is it called? She says the first time she smelled it at a friend's house (amazing) her friend told her she could not tell her the name until after she ate it.

But this was not going to be the case but before she told me she did tell me how much EVERYONE loves this new dessert she is making ALL THE TIME NOW (and so is her mom ;) ).

Ok

Are You Ready?

DUMP CAKE

Yes I said it, Dump Cake!

So EASY AND SO GOOD.

Here we go:

2 Cans of Cherry Filling (21 oz cans)

**Some recipes I looked up called for 1 can Cherry and 1 can Pineapple - not so into pineapple so went with double cherry - but you could probably use any filling - next time**

1 box of vanilla cake mix (my friend uses white cake mix but I used Vanilla)

2 Sticks of butter

Preheat oven to 350. Dump cans of filling into greased 9 x 13 PYREX baking dish (do not spread). Sprinkle cake mix over the filling (do not spread, sprinkle). Cut butter up into little slices (I did teaspoon slices) and spread them out evenly over the cake mix. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour (looks golden and bubbly).

Serve warm with Vanilla Ice Cream. It is delish. Can you believe my kids even liked it? A dessert with fruit. It is almost cobbler like. YUMMY!

Enjoy it!

Zizette

New Recipe Love

A few weeks ago in a back and forth email amongst the family my sister in law's last line was that she tried this fried pickle recipe and she would pass it on to another in our family (I was blindly being cc'd at the time so as to keep up with a plan).

Then about a week ago I am checking out Pioneer Woman's site and I see she has a recipe for Fried Pickles here.

I continued to look through the site and found more recipes dear ole sister in law has introduced to me lately and some were on there (coincidence, I think not).

So I made them tonight.

Can you say DELISH??

I loved them and so did my Foodie, Food snob husband. I did make it with a Sirachi mayo and it was fabulous.

I am so in love. I only did half of a recipe as I was not sure if they were going to be good or not.

I promptly called my sister in law and told her I made them. I told her why I made them and about Pioneer Woman's site - she said she got her recipe from Cuisine Magazine (she gets a lot from them). Hers was also made with Crushed Pretzels and served with a Honey/Mustard type of sauce.

I did make an adjustment to my recipe - I used Panko bread crumbs - which I highly recommend - I liked the crispiness of it better as I crushed them to be more fine and then ran out - so I got lazy and used regular bread crumbs. I think I will stick with the panko next time all the way through.

I sent my friend a text telling her that they were great and unfortunately my family ate them all.

But

my sister in law told me they were good cold the next day, at least to my 17 year old nephew they were.

I will definitely be making those again. (and working on my food photography)

Zizette

It happens every time, they all become blueberries

I love this time of year because it is blueberry season. Especially in our neighboring state of NJ.

While shopping the other day I saw Organic Blueberries (frozen) and was thinking Smoothies. I love Smoothies but I like them with this protein and super greens stuff added.

When I got home my mind changed from smoothies to cobbler. I was going to make it yesterday but it was very hot and the kids ended up in my parent's pool until dinnertime (which we had there since our plans fell through).

I was going to make cobbler and fried pickles.

Even though I was feeling a bit under the weather today I decided than even after having a long day at camp and not well I would cook a dinner for my family.

I did just that.

I cooked. One of their favorites (the kids) Chicken cutlets, Cous Cous and peas and corn in a basil butter sauce (okay not their favorite but I am trying to get more veggies in them).

While they ate I decided to tackle the cobbler.

Blueberry Cobbler

3/4 Stick of unsalted butter (6 tablespoons)

1 Cup Flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

2 cups blueberries (approx 11 oz)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In an 8x8 baking dish melt butter (I did it on the stove top on low). In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir in sugar until combined well. Add milk and whisk batter until just combined. Pour batter mixture into melted butter but do not stir. Pour blueberries into center of batter, do not stir. Bake cobbler in middle of oven for 40 minutes or until golden and berries exude juices.

Serve warm with Whipped Cream or ice cream.

It was fantastic. This kids had it with ice cream. Had I been more ambitious I would have made fresh whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Zizette

Creme Brulee - My favorite

A few years back a dear friend, Simone, introduced me to this fabulous recipe for Creme Brulee French Toast. It is my favorite and now for special occasions I make it.

Today I made it for a baby shower at work tomorrow.

Creme Brulee French Toast

1 Stick of unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons Corn syrup

1 8 or 9 inch round country loaf (I use Challah bread)

5 large eggs

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon Grand Marnier

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a small saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over moderate heat until smooth, pour into a 13 x 9 baking dish. Cut six slices of bread 1 inch thick and lay together in baking dish squeezing them slightly.

In a bowl wisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla, grand marnier (optional) and salt until combined and pour over bread. Chill bread mixture at least 8 hours up to 24.

Preheat oven to 350 and bring bread to room temperature.

Bake bread mixture, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden - 35-40 minutes.

Serve hot french toast immediately.

Enjoy!

Kasey, You are my Hero

I have been reading Lola B's blog by Kasey for months now.

She talks about how she does not cook often BUT lately she has been cooking and I have tried a few of her recipes.

And you know what, they have been AWESOME!!!

Tonight I tried her chicken enchiladas.

HOLY MOLY!!! LOVE THEM!

Not only that but they seriously remind me of a FAVORITE dish from one of my favorite dishes from one of my all time favorite restaurants in San Diego.

Casa De Pico - LOVE IT. Even though it is no longer in Old Town San Diego I love their food.

The Chicken Enchiladas I made to day remind me of that dish - yet it's name completely escapes me and I cannot find it on their website.

I am absolutely in love. I only wish my kids would eat it. Hopefully hubby will.

Check out the recipe here.

Ahh and after texting my sister in San Diego all afternoon I finally came up with the name of the dish - Pollo Fundido. Muy Excelente!

Thanks again to Kasey for helping me out tonight and bring back great memories.

Zizette

New Experiment

So, I am tryng to keep up with my promise to try new recipes.

For some reason I have this memory stuck in my head that my mom used to cook Chicken Cacciatore.

Which is so odd since my mom's idea of spaghetti sauce back in the day was ketchup.

I had the idea suck in my head and decided to go for it. It was fabulous.

I sort of looked at a recipe and sort of improvised.

Chicken Cacciatore

1 Chicken cut up (8 pieces or so - you can use just breasts, with bone and skin, if you like)

Salt

Pepper

1 28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes

1 package mini portobellos

1 small onion

Olive oil

Italian seasonings

Salt and pepper the chicken in a bowl or plate. 2-3 turns of olive oil in a big pot. Add onions until translucent (add a little salt and pepper), then add chicken to brown the skin. Add mushrooms until cooked. Add crushed tomatoes and let simmer.

I really don't know how long I let it simmer but it was delicious over some egg noodles. My daughter tried it and she loved it. The sauce was great too. I plan on making this one again.

Enjoy!

Cooking Side by Side

My husband is a trained chef. He studied at The Culinary Institute of America. The premier culinary school.

However, he does not cook all that much. I do. Which I don't mind, I love to cook.

But yesterday I had planned on making a stuffed pork tenderloin. It was defrosted and I had all the ingredients that I wanted to use to stuff it - mushrooms, onions, garlic and herb cheese spread and pumpernickel bread.

Hubby and I worked side by side in our tiny kitchen. He doing a lot of the chopping and cutting and me mixing, sauteing and cooking.

It was actually very nice EVEN though he is a VERY ANAL man when it comes to cooking.

I also made a Butternut Squash Risotto, hubby did all of the cutting for those ingredients.

We had some friends over to share in our tasty food. It was delish.

In the end Hubby put some of the sliced pancetta on top of the pork tenderloin.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Risotto

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 ounces pancetta, diced
• 1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.

In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes and Parmesan. Mix well and serve.

My Promise

I did promise this year that at least once a week I would try a new recipe I have never made before so I did.

An Awesome Spinach-Artichoke Dip.

Now I always make that spinach dip from Knorr and it is so very tasty but I wanted to try to make the one like the restaurants.

And I did. It was pretty easy. I would add more cheese next time. We had so much extra since our company had to cancel but we found great ways to utilize this dip. (I ate it every day as a little snack - ;) but don't tell anyone). Hubby put it in top of his chicken cutlets that I made.

I used a recipe from one my favorite gals, Paula Deen.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
• 2 (13 3/4-ounce) cans artichoke hearts
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a casserole dish with nonstick spray.

Heat the spinach in a microwave oven on high for 5 minutes and squeeze dry. Drain the artichoke hearts and coarsely chop in a food processor.

Combine all the ingredients except the jack cheese in a large bowl. Stir well. Scrape into the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle the jack cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Transfer to a chafing dish and keep warm over a low flame. Serve with bagel chips.

I also served it with pita chips my husband made. Enjoy!

One Resolution

I guess I may have more but today I decided on this one and it is probably the one I can most likely keep, to make 1 new recipe per week.

You see, I love to cook and even more I love to bake. Always have.

I can remember back when I was 16-17 that I worked in a camp and decided to cook Mexican food (since I had just moved from Southern California to NY permanently) after camp one day.

So, I do vow to make 1 new recipe each week. (Mind you for those of you who did not know, my husband is a Culinary School Graduate from mind you the BEST culinary school AND he does NOT regularly cook for us!) SHAME ON HIM>

SO, I will do this experiment.

Today, I cooked a mean Butternut Squash Soup ala Michael Chiarello.

Enjoy I know we will.

• Cook Time:

  25 min

• Level:

  Easy

• Yield:

  4 servings

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Ingredients

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup (1/4-inch) diced onion
• 1/4 cup (1/4-inch) diced celery
• 1/4 cup (1/4-inch) diced carrot
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Sea salt, preferably gray salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• About 4 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon ground toasted coriander, optional
• 1 1/2 cups Roasted Winter Squash recipe
• 1/2 cup half-and-half, optional

To serve:

• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, optional
• 2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds, optional

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and cinnamon stick and saute until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the chicken stock and the coriander, if using, and bring to a boil. Simmer for several minutes. Stir in the squash until smooth, then simmer gently to let the flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. (The soup can be made ahead to this point, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for several days or frozen for about 1 month. It will thicken as it cools and may need thinning with stock or water when reheating.)

Return the soup to the pan and reheat gently. Add the half-and-half, if using. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Keep warm until service.

To serve:

Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Garnish evenly, with the cheese and pumpkin seeds, if desired.