Garlic Italian Chicken Thing NomNomNom

Clearly, I don't have a name for this dish yet. >3> Hi everyone. This is my first post here, but you'll find out that pretty much everything I make is eyeballed and thrown together, full of experimentation, and definitely not an exact science. I try to write it down as a recipe anyway, when I can, though.

This is what the wife and I made tonight for dinner, and it turned out quite well. :)

Time to Cook: Approx. 1 hour
Serves: Approx. 3-4 (2 of us ate, but there's plenty leftover)

Ingredients:
*One large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut up into bite-sized pieces
*Flour
*One medium zucchini, halved and sliced
*Approx. 1/2 bag frozen broccoli florets
*Approx. 1/2 bag frozen red, green, yellow bell peppers and onions mix
*Minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves worth)
*Oregano, Thyme, Tarragon, Salt & Pepper to taste
*Olive oil
*Butter
*Splash of white wine
*Grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
*Pasta of your choice

Preparation:
To begin with, toss the chicken with the flour in a large zip-top bag, to coat. Set aside.

Boil water for pasta and cook pasta according to package.

Meanwhile, In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the peppers and onions in about a tbsp of olive oil and with salt and pepper and garlic to taste. Drain that bad boy and set aside (the peppers produce a lot of liquid, those sneaky rapscallions).

Then, saute the zucchini and broccoli in about a tbsp of olive oil, with garlic, oregano, and thyme, salt and pepper, until the zucchini starts to look soft and sensual, like you know you love.

Next, add the chicken, sprinkling with oregano, thyme, and tarragon. Add more oil as necessary, so it doesn't get too dry and stick to the pan. Cook through. When it starts to look done, add a few pats of butter (maybe a tablespoon or two, for flavor), and a splash of white wine to the pan, making sure to scrape up whatever good things are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add back in the peppers and onions from earlier and mix to combine and heat through.

Serve it up over pasta (we used tri-colored rotini, which caught the sauce nicely), and sprinkle with cheese.

Then all that's left is the Nomming. So go to! Nom Away!

What do we Nom with?
Drink: Green tea ginger-ale, or Blue Nun Riesling wine
Music: Turkish Twist by Winterstar

Green Chili Cheese & Broccoli Stuffed Tomatoes

[Authentic New Orleans]

Time to Cook: 30mins.
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
*1 Package Cheddar Broccoli Rice
*Water - 2 1/4 cups
*Butter - 2 Tbsp
*Tomatoes - 6-8 Large
*Diced Green Chilies - 1 small can, drained
*Green Onions - 3/4 cup, chopped
*Swiss Cheese - 1/2 cup, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare rice according to package. While rice cooks, prepare tomatoes by cutting off tops and setting aside; you will re-use them later! Remove core and seeds from each tomato. When the rice is cooked add drained green chilies, onions, and cheese. Blend thoroughly. Stuff each tomato with the mixture and return the cap to the top. Brush each tomato with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

Preferred With What?:
Drink: Schmitt Sohne Relax Riesling
Music: Gold by Glen Hansard

easter dinner

I'm not a meat eater by nature...I really don't like it but I do however love ham, I just can't think about where it comes from when I eat it....

This year I tried a new glaze and it was DELI SH...

1 cup of brown sugar

juice from a can of pineapple slices

tsp of ground cloves

2 tbs of Dijon mustard

a juiced orange

orange zest

brought that to a boil then set it aside

scored my ham and cloved it with whole cloves and baked it on 350 for 2 hours then took my glaze that had thickened up and brushed the ham on and off for another hour...placed my pineapple slices on the ham the last 1/2 hour.....

Also a family fave from my mom Candied Yams

Boil yams

peal off skins and slice

in a pan melt 2 tbs of brown sugar and add 1 cup of brown sugar

place yams in pan on low heat and let the brown sugar coat yam and flip

IT was so GOOD

For desert which came the next day because we were both not feeling well that day with colds

WHOOPEE PIES!

Pie

Cream together

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2tbs vanilla

in separate bowl add

4 cups flour

1 cup cocoa

3 tsp baking soda

1tsp backing powder

1 tsp SALT

Toss

add dry ingredients to wet with 2 cups milk SLOWLY mix

drop on greased cookie sheet (I use an old fashioned ice cream scoop)

Filling

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

i jar of marshmallow fluff (big jar)

1 bag of powdered sugar

a few dabs of milk

Yeah not the healthiest of foods but sometimes you just have to go with the tasty unhealthy stuff and enjoy.

Pan-Seared Haddock

"Seasoned Fish"
[American]

Time to Cook: 10-15 Minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
*Paprika - 1 Tbsp
*Dried thyme - 1 Tbsp
*Yellow Pepper - 1 large
*Salt - 1/2 tsp
*Ground black pepper - 1/4 tsp
*Cayenne pepper - 1/4 tsp
*Haddock - 4 (6-ounce) fillets
*Olive oil - 1 Tbsp
*Butter - 1 Tbsp
*Lemon Juice


In a small bowl, combine paprika, thyme, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Pat mixture evenly onto fish.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and butter and when hot, but not smoking, sauté fish on both sides until crisp and golden, about 8 minutes. Fish should flake easily with a fork. Serve immediately garnished with lemon juice.

Preferred With What?:
Drink: Green Tea Ginger Ale
Music: Why Do I Lie? by Luscious Jackson

Welcome Chefs!

Just want to take a minute to thank everyone for accepting my invites so far. And I'd like to say how very excited I am to start a food blog with so many people that cook and appreciate good food because, well... food is everything!
First things first.
What to do? Simple.
Cook. Something new and exciting, something you've done a thousand times before, or even something you've only heard about, take a picture of it and post it with the recipe and ingredients you used.
This is a forum of recipes, so be creative and learn and trade with others here.

If you need an idea of how to format your post use my original dinners as a template.












Remember: everyone has different specialties and use it to your advantage to take from their experience and better yourself and broaden your culinary skills. Some people are better at deserts, some are better at baking, Italian food, Asian Cuisine, Eastern European, etc.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

"Americana Beef Peppers"
[American/Mexican]

Time to Cook: 30-45 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
*4 Green or red bell peppers
*Extra-virgin olive oil - 5 Tbsp
*1 Medium yellow - peeled and chopped
*1 Clove of garlic - peeled and chopped
*Lean ground beef - 1 lb.
*Rice - 1 1/2 cup of cooked rice or 3/4 cup of raw instant rice
*Tomatoes, fresh or canned - 1 cup
*Oregano - 1 tbsp chopped fresh or 1 tsp of dried oregano
*Fresh ground pepper
*Salt
*Ketchup - 1/2 cup
*Worcestershire Sauce - 1/2 tsp
*Tabasco sauce - 1 tsp.

Cooking:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds. Add several generous pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using a spoon to keep peppers completely submerged, until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and their flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp. Oil inside peppers, arrange cut side up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on how big the peppers are that you are stuffing), until the internal temperature of the stuffed pepper is 150-160°F.
(Pictured Version is w/o tomatoes)

Preferred With What?:
Drink: Goya Soda
Music: Latin Simone by Gorillaz

Spicy Shrimp Noodles

"Cantonese Noodles over Mexican Peppers"
[Chinese/Mexican]

Time to Cook: 20-25 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
*Chinese egg noodles - 12 oz.
*Vegetable stock - 2 1/2 cups
*Sunflower Oil - 1 tbsp.
*Green Pepper - 1 cut quarter
*1 Garlic Clove - peeled and finely chopped
*2 Jalapenos - deseeded and finely chopped
*Sesame sees- 2 tbsp.
*Dark Soy Sauce - 3 tbsp.
*Sesame Oil - 2 tbsp.
*Shrimp - 6 oz. cooked

Cooking:
Pour the vegetable stock into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the egg noodles, stir once, then cook according to the package instructions, usually about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the sunflower oil in a small skillet. Add the chopped garlic and peppers and cook gently for a few seconds. Add the sesame seeds and cook, stirring continuously for 1 minute, or until golden.

Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, and a shrimp to the skillet. Continue cooking for a few seconds, until the mixture is just starting to bubble, then remove immediately from the heat.

Drain the noodles thoroughly and return to the pan. Add the shrimp, along with the dressing mixture, and season to taste with black pepper. Toss gently to coat the noodles with the hot dressing.

Tip into a warmed serving bowl or spoon on to individual plates and serve immediately garnished with sprigs or fresh cilantro.

Preferred With What?:
Drink: Anything
Music: Vein Meter by Herbie Hancock

Wheat Soba Noodles with Tuna

"Pacific Salt Over Southeast Asia"
[Japanese/Thai]

Time to Cook: 15 minutes
Serves: 2 (3 with appetizer-sized portions)

Ingredients:
*Wheat Soba Noodles - 2 oz. (Explore Asian brand works best)
*Fresh Tuna - 6-7 oz.
*Green Pepper - 1 cut quarter
*White Onion - Half
*Minced Garlic - 1/3 tsp.
*Olive Oil - 2 tbsp.
*Large Brown Eggs - 2 (Organic eggs tend to have more to them and almost always bigger)
*Tuong Ot Sriracha Sauce (Optional)

Preparing:
Cut the onion and green pepper into small cubes and put aside. Cut the tuna with a sharp, straight knife (that is not serrated) into several fat slices. And have your eggs out and ready.
*Quick Note: This is easiest if you have a toaster oven that can broil.*

Cooking:
Bring 8 cups of water to boil, then add noodles and stir occasionally. While the noodles are cooking have a skillet warming up at medium heat, use cooking spray or a very sparse amount of canola oil to coat the surface then put in the slices of the tuna. If your brave and you trust where you get your fish from only let the top and bottom of the tuna slices cook then take them out.
While the skillet is still hot put in the onion, green pepper and minced garlic. While the vegetables are sauteing put your tuna slices into a toaster oven on a bed of aluminum foil and set it to broil.
Continually check your noodles, it usually only takes 6-8 minutes for them to cook all the way through.
Add the olive oil to skillet and mix the green peppers and onion around in it. Let it cook for 1 minute then add the eggs. Increase the heat to medium-high and immediately stir the eggs in with the vegetables. Turn the heat off for the tuna and let it sit in the toaster oven while everything else finishes. If you were brave before it should still have a little bit of pink remaining in the center.
When the noodles are done strain them, then add them in a lump on the skillet with the eggs and vegetables. Then take the tuna out and serve around the noodles and enjoy.

Preferred With What?:
Drink: White wine or hot Green or Black tea
Music: La Mamma Morta (Opera) song by Maria Callas, composed by Umberto Giordano

Introduction

First I'd like to put out there that I know that there's probably millions of food blogs online, if not more. The idea of creating this blog came up after I spoke with a good friend who had become addicted to food blogs in the summer of '08. What I'm putting together is a specifically-designed blog targeted at a wide audience using a number of different countries' foods as a backdrop to these posts.
Most importantly it isn't food I go out and buy at a restaurant. Instead this blog is for the meals I've created, whether they are original recipes or not. I may be making a new dish or changing or (in my mind) improving on older, traditional meals. Or I may just write about an easy way to make a seemingly difficult meal.
With these things said, I hope that everyone takes something from what I've made or tried to make in the hope of spreading the wonder of cooking in your own kitchen. And I hope to have followers and other people helping me cook soon as well.

It's all about experimenting.