Allison: Pan-fried Pesto Chicken

Adapted from the Pesto Chicken Breasts Recipe at:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1739,154180-231199,00.html


Pan-fried Pesto Chicken

Ingredients

• 3 whole chicken breasts (about 1 lb. each)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• About 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• Basil sprigs

• Pesto Ingredients: (but I just used Trader Joe's Pesto Alla Genovese)
• 1 c. lightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 3/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1 sm. clove garlic

Directions

1. Bone, skin, and split chicken breasts. Place each piece between plastic wrap and firmly pound with a flat mallet until each portion is about 1/4 inch thick. Cover and chill while you make the pesto.
2. Making Pesto: In a blender or food processor, combine basil, cheese, oil and garlic; whirl until a thick paste.
3. Spoon pesto equally onto each chicken piece. Roll up to enclose pesto; secure each roll with a toothpick.
4. In a 12-14 inch frying pan, melt butter in oil over medium-high heat. Dip each chicken roll in flour, shake off excess and add to pan.
5. Cook, turning as needed, until golden brown on all sides and meat is opaque in center; carefully cut to test, 6 to 8 minutes total.
6. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with basil sprigs.
   

Makes 6 servings.
(I actually divided this recipe by 3, and it only really made 1-- or 2 very small-- serving(s))


- Pounding the chicken to 1/4" thick is very important, since if it's thicker than that, it'll be hard to roll up around the pesto, and it will be a lot more difficult to cook it all the way through without burning the outside.
- For spreading pesto onto the chicken, I'd recommend leaving a pesto-less strip at the end, so when you roll up the chicken, you don't lose any pesto sliding off as you try to seal the end of the roll with a toothpick.
- I used colored toothpicks, and kept them in place for the entire flouring/frying process, which definitely worked fine, but as a warning-- some of the colors from the toothpicks came off on the chicken.
- This might look complicated, but it was actually pretty fast and easy! (Especially since I didn't make my own pesto). Would be good with garlic bread & a salad.

Kira: Yellow Soup

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil (or to taste)
• Salt to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp cumin seed
• 1 Medium yellow onion chopped into medium size pieces
• 1 Lemon, zested and cut in half
• 1 Small (1-1.5 inch length) piece ginger root, peeled and very finely minced or grated (or to taste)
• 1 Yellow bell pepper, chopped into medium size pieces
• 1 Orange bell pepper, chopped into medium size pieces
• 2 Yellow squash, chopped into half discs
• 1 Box of chicken broth
• 1/2 Cup basmati rice
• 2 Tsp chili powder (or to taste)

Directions

1. Saute salt, pepper, and cumin seed in bottom of large stock pot over medium heat until cumin seeds begin to sizzle.
2. Add onion and saute till creamy golden in color, stirring often.
3. Add zest of one lemon half, ginger root, yellow and orange bell pepper, and yellow squash and saute for 3 minutes, stirring often to heat the vegetables up and absorb some of the flavor. Add more oil if necessary.
4. Add chicken broth over the course of about 3 pours, stirring each time to heat the broth and spread the flavors.
5. Add basmati rice and squeeze in juice of one lemon half.
6. Reduce heat slightly, cover partway, and simmer until rice is cooked and vegetables are tender (about 20 minutes), stirring occasionally.
7. Add chili powder.
8. Serve and enjoy on a cool fall day with a nice salad and toasted buttered wheat bread for dipping.

Notes

• This soup can be made more or less spicy by increasing or decreasing the amounts of black pepper, ginger, and chili powder. Most of the spiciness comes from the ginger, the chili powder adds a nice smoky flavor.
• Be careful not to add too much ginger as it will over power the lemon zest and juice, and the more mellow flavors of the bell peppers.
• This soup could also easily be made vegan by making it with vegetable broth.
• If the soup is not lemony enough after cooking, add the zest and juice of the other lemon half.
• And as always: "It's always better the second day!"

Drambuie Oranges

From Scottish chef Nick Nairn

I chose this recipe because I needed something easy to make for a Burns Supper party (to celebrate Scottish poet Robert Burns' birthday). Most of the other Scottish recipes I found online seemed to involve strange animal body parts or lots of heavy cream. Or both. But this one was different: nothing but fruit + liquor!

** Takes no time to cook, but (ideally) several hours to chill!

Ingredients

• 6-8 small, juicy oranges
• 4 Tbsp. Drambuie (or more!)

Directions

1. Slice the top and bottom off each orange and set it on the cutting board. Cut away the outer skin so that there is no white stuff left behind, then slice each orange across into thin slices.
2. Arrange the slices in a large shallow dish. Drizzle the Drambuie over the oranges, cover and chill in the fridge for several hours.
3. Serve chilled.

Chiang Mai Noodles with Chicken

(From the book New Thai Cuisine, by Nathan Hyam. Whitecap Books, 2001.)



I just tried making these noodles on a whim, because I’d been craving something like this, and it was the best thing I’ve made in a long time. I barely modified the recipe at all—just followed it, and YUM.

Ingredients

• 7 oz. fresh egg noodles (200g)
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely sliced [But not so finely that it’ll become stringy]
• 6 large cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 2 Tbsp. red curry paste
• 1 lb. boneless chicken breast, finely diced
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• ¼ cup sliced cilantro
• ¼ cup finely sliced green onions
• ½ lime, juiced
• whole cilantro leaves to garnish

Directions

1. Cook the noodles in boiling water until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. [I recommend doing this a little later than I did, like maybe after step 2, while the onions are frying, so that the noodles don’t become too dry or stuck together by the time you’re ready to add them to the dish.]
2. Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a wok until it’s hot [until pale smoke rises]. Add the onion and fry until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on a paper towel.
3. In the same oil, fry the garlic until it’s crisp and golden; remove and set aside.
4. Add the remaining ¼ cup oil to the wok [lower the heat slightly] and stir-fry the curry paste for 1 minute. Add the chicken, fish sauce, and sugar to the curry paste. Stir-fry for several minutes on high heat.
5. Add the cooked noodles to the meat mixture and toss together to warm the noodles. Add the cilantro, green onions, and lime juice. Garnish with the fried onions and garlic and a few cilantro leaves.

Serves 4
[It seemed more like 2-3 servings-worth, but maybe we were just very hungry!]

Kira: Spinach, Tomato, and Asiago Cheese Scramble

Source:  Allison and Kira's combined culinary genius

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 heirloom tomato, diced
  
• 2 cups fresh spinach (about half a bag)
  
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Wash spinach and set aside temporarily.
2. Dice heirloom tomato and drain off extra juice (this prevents the scramble from becoming watery).
3. Beat eggs and milk in a small bowl until mixed well.
4. In a medium frying pan, heat oil in pan on medium heat and then saute tomatoes until some of the juice is burned off.  Add the spinach and saute 2-3 minutes.                                     
5. Add egg-milk mixture, stirring intially to cover most of the ingredients.
6. Leave on medium heat, stirring only occasionally, until eggs are cooked.
7. Top with asiago cheese, salt and pepper, and serve.  Great with slices of avocado and toasted baguette!

Allison, I very much enjoyed our breakfast where we made this.  It was one of those happy California breakfasts.  I truly think that whenever someone visits CA, they should always eat happy, healthy breakfasts.  

Sidenote:  EVERY TIME I type the word 'breakfast' I have to remind myself that it's spelled 'breakfast' and NOT 'breakfest'. Damn!

Kira: Sweet Fried Plantains

Whoa!  You guys have been busy.  I better start pulling my weight with this blog.

Source:  Allison and Kira's combined culinary genius

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe plantains (yellow, with lots of brown on the skins)
  
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  
• 1/3 c brown sugar
  
• 1/4 cup dried coconut
  
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup melted chocolate

Directions:

1. Cut the plantains diagonally, so that you have slanted discs (This makes for better surface area).
2. Melt butter in a frying pan on medium heat, then add brown sugar and plantains.
3. Stir till the plantains are covered with the butter-sugar mixture, then add coconut, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Cover with tin foil and cook until plantains are soft.
5. Remove from heat, top with chocolate, and serve.

These are also delicious topped with warm maple syrup and powdered sugar.  Mmm ... yum.

Thai Broccoli and Peanut Sauce with Mushrooms, Spinach, and Tofu

I'm sure that once upon a time I got my peanut sauce recipe from someone else, but I can't remember anymore, and now I kind of improvise and make it a little bit differently every time.

Ingredients

• jasmine rice - follow instructions on package, adding butter and a pinch of salt
• 1 - 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped (optional)
  
• broccoli, cut in florets
  
• tofu, sliced
• mushrooms, roughly chopped
• spinach
• 3/4 cup chicken or veggie broth
• 3 - 4 heaping Tbsp. chunky peanut butter
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
  
• soy sauce to taste
  
• fish sauce to taste
• chili powder / Shriracha sauce to taste

Directions
1. In a small bowl, stir and dissolve the chunky peanut butter into the heated chicken broth.
2. Add the garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, and chili powder / Shriracha sauce to the peanut sauce bowl to taste.
3. Chop up the vegetables and heat the sesame oil in a large frying pan. Add the onions and (optionally) the ginger, and stir frequently, over low heat, until the onions get soft.
4. Once the onions are soft, add the broccoli, tofu, and mushrooms, but wait to add the spinach until the last 2-3 minutes, because it cooks so quickly. Add more sesame oil if necessary to keep things from burning.
5. When the broccoli has cooked enough to turn bright green (or after even longer if you like your broccoli even softer), pour the peanut sauce onto the ingredients in the frying pan, and let simmer for a few more minutes until it reaches a desired consistency. Add the spinach, and stir occassionally.
6. Serve with jasmine rice.