Daily Dish - Chicken, asparagus pizza

Well, now that the kitchen is done, we're back to being able to cook in it regularly.  It's a joy!  I'm making a conscious effort to keep the excessive number of appliances we have off the counters as much as possible.  I'm also making an effort to use them more! 

My little brother is general manager of a very high end restaurant, so qualifies as a mega-foodie.  As it turns out, he has been known to sneak around our kitchen, when visiting, to evaluate what appliances we might be missing, and then fills in the blanks for holiday gifts.  That is how we ended up with our bread machine.  We weren't particularly happy with the pizza dough recipe that came in the instructions booklet, so gave this one a shot, which turned out nicely.  I made a double batch so that we could freeze half for later.  I definitely enjoyed the convenience of being able to attend to the little one while the machine worked it's dough magic - hands free!  Of course, you could make your own pizza using a store bought dough or base as well.

Chicken asparagus pizza

- 1 cooked chicken breast, cut into cubes
- 4oz skinny asparagus (cut into 2" pieces)
- 1/2 medium onion (thinly sliced)
- 1/2 red bell pepper (sliced)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup grated mozarella cheese
- 4 tsp olive tepenade

Pre-heat the oven to 425.  If using raw dough, roll out the dough and put onto the pizza pan.  Once the oven is at temp, put the prepared dough in the oven for about 5 minutes to crisp the top.  This prevents it from becoming soggy once the toppings are added.  Remove from oven and add toppings - use the olive tepenade as your base, then top with mozarella cheese, chicken, veggies, and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.  Bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Enjoy! 

Daily Dish - Tagine

Silly me keeps forgetting to grab the recipe card I wrote out for the tagine I made on Sunday.  I'm going to attempt to replicate my recipe here, which was a hybrid of various recipes I found online.

My mom first made tagine for us during the annual parent visit over the holidays last year.  I had no idea what it was so, for those of you who are also unclear, it is a Morroccan dish named after the clay pot that it's made in.  Fortunately for us foodies, you don't actually need a fancy earthenware pot to make this dish!  I opted for the crockpot which, seeing as I ran out of counter-space due to an over-abundance of kitchen appliances, was tucked away for the summer.

Ingredients (Serves 2): 2 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks 1 red onion 4 cloves garlic 1 carrot 1 tbsp flour 4 oz dried pitted prunes 1 tbsp tomato paste 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes 1 (14 oz) can garbanzo beans 2 tbsp honey 1/4 pint chicken stock

Spices: 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp tumeric 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper salt & pepper

First, sautee the onion and garlic in some olive oil. Then add the chicken stock, and carefully mix in the flour until dissolved and not lumpy.  Next add the honey and tomato paste, again mixing until smooth.  Add the spices, with salt and pepper to taste.  Finally, add the can of tomatoes. 

Brown the chicken pieces.  I used chicken breast but you could very easily use any part of the chicken that you want. I'd actually never done chicken in a crockpot before (wings not withstanding) so forgot to lightly brown the chicken, but will definitely be adding this step next time around. 

Add the sauce, the chicken, and all the other ingredients into the crockpot.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours (or you could leave it for 7-8 hours on low).  We decided to serve with rice, although more traditionally this would be served with couscous or flat bread. I've read that you can garnish with cilantro or lemon, which I plan on doing next time around for sure!  This can also be made with beef or lamb, or substituting apricots and almonds for the prunes.  Essentially, there is no reason not to try different combinations each time you make it.

All in all a really tasty meal and even better, you can leave it unattended while you go do your thing, with the added benefit of the house smelling delicious while it cooks!

Yes, that is a paw.  Deuce photo-bombed again!

Daily Dish - A little faux Cordon Bleu

Sometimes I'm trying to think of what to cook for dinner and I'm completely uninspired.  That's when Food Network comes in handy.  Today, while perusing chicken dishes, I came across this Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe from Tyler Florence.  No prosciutto, but we have deli sliced ham.  No gruyere, but we have a 5 Italian cheese blend.  Done!

I decided to make a little grilled veggie (asparagus, carrot, green onion) pasta on the side, tossed in a simple sauce of my own.  These are approximations because, as you know, I never really measure anything!

- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- Italian seasoning
- Salt & pepper
- Grated parmesan

Daily Dish - Thai Chicken Pasta

From the very first time I tried the Thai Linguini at California Pizza Kitchen, I was in love.  Thai food is one of my favorites and this was a pretty cool fusion that one day, a couple of years back, I decided to try and replicate at home.  The beauty of this particular dish is that you can have fun with the veggies being used and, as someone that tends to not measure anything, the sauce is really made to suit your own taste.  You can make it more nutty or spicy according to your own preference.  What I'm providing here really is nothing more than a guideline!

Ingredients (estimated):
1 large chicken breast
4 tbsp Peanut butter
2 tsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tsp Chili Oil (or other similar spice to suit your own taste)
2 Carrots
1 Bell pepper (I also added zucchini when cooking it for these photos)
3 cloves Garlic
Linguini, spaghetti, noodles, or whatever you'd like to throw it on top of!
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Cooking instructions:
Chop the chicken into chunks and chop up the veggies.  Brown the chicken until cooked through and set water to boil in a separate pan to cook the pasta or noodles.

While the chicken is cooking, in a small bowl, mix together the peanut butter with soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and chili oil.  Add approximately a 1/4 cup of water to create a smooth paste.  (This is my favorite part because you get to taste test the sauce to your liking.  Keep adding any of the ingredients as necessary and add more water if the sauce gets too thick).  Set the sauce aside.

Once the chicken is cooked, add the garlic, and veggies to the pan and sauté everything together.  At this point, your water should be about boiling so add the pasta or noodles according to the appropriate cooking time.  Add the peanut/chili sauce to the chicken and veggies, let simmer on low for about 5 minutes.

Pour over the pasta or noodles and garnish with some fresh cilantro.  Enjoy!