Spaghetti with Chicken, Grape Tomatoes, Basil and Parmesan

I found this recipe on a Weight Watchers blog that I just discovered. I don't actually do Weight Watchers, but am always looking for healthy delicious recipes. This blog is chock full of them.

This also looked like a great way to use up some of my basil plant, other than making pesto. Our tiny city balcony doubles as an herb garden in the summer and has been very good to us - especially the basil plant.


So sad to think that this same amount of basil will cost me $3.99 in the winter.



Onto the recipe though, this was such a light and refreshing summer time meal. Also, I didn't tell Joe until AFTER that it was a Weight Watchers recipe : )

I followed the recipe from Gina's blog closely, however it is a possibility that I added a tiny bit more olive oil than this called for ; )

Almond Crusted Salmon with Lemon Leek Sauce

Salmon is one of my routine pick ups from the grocery store each week. While it is so versatile and I love experimenting with new receipes for it, it is easy to end up thinking of salmon the same way you do as chicken. You have it so much that you feel like you've exhausted every possible way of making it.

Enter, a new recipe and new ingredients. I would never think of combining salmon and leeks in a dish, but I found this fabulous recipe on Good Things Catered.

I have made this recipe twice now and been pleased with the outcome both times.

I did make two healthier substitutions to the recipe; 1) Used olive oil instead of butter (for the sauce and the crust) and 2) used 1% milk instead of heavy cream.

Still delicious!

DIY Sushi

Mmmm....sushi.

So during my blogging hiatus, my brother made sushi for my mom one weekend while she was in town. I started taking pictures and convinced him to do a guest spot on my blog.

I finally got the slacker to come over and do it.

Here he is!

Hello! Thanks to the Melonhead for giving me a guest spot here.

If you're anything like me you know what it is like to be addicted to raw fish, especially salmon. You'll get a sushi craving one day and absolutely nothing else will do for dinner. The only problem being that it's an easy $20/person + tip for delivery to get your 'fix'. I was eventually fed up with spending that type of money on a regular basis and decided it was time to learn to make it for myself. As a disclaimer I have never taken an actual sushi class but have just picked up on how to make it from the friendly staff at my fish store. My method is what amounts to a very serviceable way of making sushi for yourself and is by no means the final word on the craft.

Let's get started...

The most important thing about sushi is the fish. Duh. But really, you need to get fish that is very fresh. Grocery store fish is not going to cut it. You'll have to scout out your area to find a fish market that gets daily deliveries and hopefully is fanatical about their trade. For those of you in the Chi I can recommend Dirk's, on Clybourn in between Fullerton and Armitage. They get fresh deliveries 6 days a week. These are also the aforementioned friendly staff that helped me get started.

The Rice:
Use some type of fancy rice here. Actual sushi rice is obviously great. I like to use Jasmine rice. Before cooking it rinse the rice a few times with water to get rid of residual white stuff. Bring to a boil 2 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice. Simmer for 15 minutes. Don't take the lid off once you start simmering. Some rice will stick to the pan but that's what we want here, that being said make a little extra to account for what will be lost.

Get a pan going on the side with 1/3 cup rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons salt for every cup of rice. Bring this concoction to a slow boil and stir until everything is dissolved in. Turn off the burner and cool. Once the rice is done, continue to simmer until it has absolutely soaked up all the water, dump into a large wooden bowl. Stir in the rice vinegar concoction. ***You do not have to add all the vinegar mix, do this step according to taste*** I personally do not use the full amount recommended. 1/3 cup is kind of the minimal amount of vinegar you need to coat the bottom of a pan. It's also the recipe I got online but like I said I think it's too much for 1 cup of rice, too vinegary. Spread the rice out on wax paper to cool.

Prep:

While the rice is cooking start prepping the fish. Cut that salmon all delicious looking like in the picture above. I guess two and a half inches by one inch is a good estimate for our nigiri pieces. For rolls we're cutting cubes, maybe 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch and as long as possible. Tuna is another staple of sushi and I recommend some nigiri pieces of that as well. Fresh yellowfin tuna will have a nice rich, dark red color to it. You will need to skin the salmon and you'll need a sharp knife to do so. If you ask nicely perhaps your fish market will do it for you. If you're doing this at home be patient. Flip the salmon over, skin side up, and start working the knife under the layer of skin. Keep peeling back the skin as you go. You will want to get rid of the skin and the pink to reddish layer in between the skin and the orange salmon meat.

This would be a good time to say that you want a large, sharp knife for this ordeal. I give my knife a good sharpening every time right before making sushi. It helps to peel the fish, cut it cleanly and to cut the rolls at the end without squishing them down.

You can prep your fixings for the rolls at this time as well. Avocado and seedless cucumber are a must. Cut the avocado into long cubes. Skin the seedless cucumber and cut into long strips. A good spicy mayo is important. Dirk's makes their own and sells squeeze bottles so I'm not much help at the moment but there are plenty of recipes online to make your own. I also have some Hichimi Togarashi on-hand which is a blend of hot spices commonly used in making spicy sushi rolls. If your fish store caters to the do-it-yourself sushi crowd they will likely sell this as well. These basic ingredients have been enough for me so far.

Rolling:
Take your sheet of Nori (seaweed) and spread the cooled (still somewhat warm is a good thing, just not hot anymore) rice out on it with a spoon. This step will likely try your patience the most. You need to be careful not to rip the seaweed as you spread this sticky rice out onto it. I recommend prepping a few sheets at once and keeping them to the side so that you can make your rolls all at once without this time consuming step in between each one. For your first time I recommend cutting the nori in half for rolls that are easier to roll up as they are only half as long. The picture above uses this approach.

For the next step cheat. Take a piece of cling wrap and cover your bamboo mat with it. Hold it together on the backside with a piece of tape. This will really help avoid any disasters if you decide to give the inside-out roll a try (rice on the outside).

Lay your ingredients along the length of the roll. Cube-like lengths of fish, cube-like lengths of avocado, strips of seedless cucumber, whatever else you want. Add any spices or spicy mayo. I usually do a basic spicy tuna roll with the spice mix, spicy mayo, the seedless cucumber and an absurd amount of tuna. I always make the basic Alaskan roll as well, avocado and salmon. Again with lots of salmon, way more than you'd get in a restaurant, this is one of the reasons we are doing this at home. From there feel free to mix it up with whatever combinations of fish and fixings you want. I like to mix in yellow tail fish with tuna, avocado, cucumber and spicy mayo for a roll. Another good one is salmon, avocado, the spice mix and cubes of mango. The hot/sweet mix along with the salmon is becoming a new favorite roll of mine.

Now, carefully make the all important first turn. You don't need to get all the ingredients inside that first flip but they should all be rolled up after two full turns. You only get about 2 and a half or three full turns before the roll is complete.

Wrap the bamboo mat around the completed roll and give it some gentle pressure to firm it up. Remove to a cutting board and gently slice it up. Slide the knife underneath the sliced roll and transfer to a serving plate.

Nigiri pieces are easy, you just need to be okay with having your hands covered in sticky rice. Simply take some of the sticky rice and work it around in your palms to create a little ball of rice, smaller than the strips of fish you are about to lay on top of it. Place the fish on top and yep, it's that easy.

Serving:

Chop sticks are optional but soy sauce is a must. Serve a small dish/bowl on the side for everyone. Dip your nigiri pieces and individual roll slices into the soy sauce. Edamame makes a great appetizer or side. You can pick up a bag of this in the frozen food aisle. Ability to work a microwave is all that is required to make it. You may also garnish your rolls and nigiri with pickled ginger and wasabi if you're into that sort of stuff. Pickled ginger is bought as is and wasabi is bought as a powder that you add water to. You end up with a paste that basically amounts to green horseradish. Some people like to add a little bit to every bite to kick up the spiciness.

So there you have it! Pour a glass of wine, sharpen that knife and bring your patience with you. I have found making sushi to be an enjoyable experience. You are guaranteed big, fat rolls with tons of fresh fish at a price that is less than that of any restaurant. Start small, making it for one or two and after practice you'll feel good about making sushi for a small crowd.

Finally, I've never liked that standard recipe format where they list all the ingredients at the beginning. It makes the recipe seem more like work and less like fun to me. So, I've highlighted as I've gone along all the ingredients and materials that I covered here. They are listed below for your reference:

Bamboo mat

Cling wrap

Tape

Sharp, large knife

Salmon

Yellowfin Tuna

Yellowtail

Nori (seaweed)

Avocado

Seedless Cucumber

Mango

Spicy mayo

Hichimi togarashi spice mix

Rice, fancy rice

Rice vinegar

Sugar

Salt

Soy sauce

Pickled ginger

Wasabi

Edamame

Lemon Rosemary Chicken & Tomato, Basil and Mozeralla Risotto

This was a "clean plate club" kind of meal. Growing up with 4 siblings, we were always in a contest to be the first one to join the "clean plate club". Come to think of it, I'm not sure why we cared so much, since we rarely had dessert, I don't think there was any real incentive to clean our plates. I'm always amazed looking back at how my parents managed to keep all five of us in line.

But I digress...I had my brother over for dinner the other night, and this meal was soooo delicious, it was one of those where you literally leave no trace of the meal on your plate.

The inspiration for the chicken came from Annie's Eat's Lemon Thyme Chicken. I thought this looked soooo good, but decided to use rosemary instead, since we have a bunch of it growing on our tiny balcony urban herb garden.





While I used all the same ingredients from Annie's recipe, I didn't follow the exact process, since Joe was messing around with our internet connection while I was trying to make dinner, I couldn't access the recipe.

So here was my version (pretty much the same as Annie's, except I took the chicken out of the pan once cooked and kept warm while I made the sauce. I also added the rosemary to the flour. Oh and I used chicken stock. Never mind, more different than I thought):


Rosemary Chicken
Adapted from Annie's Eat's

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
2/3 cup dry white wine
Juice of ½ a large lemon (or the juice of 1 whole lemon, if desired)
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 cup of chicken stock


* Heat up the oil in a pan

* Add the rosemary, salt and pepper to the flour. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour and add to the pan.

* Cook the chicken until done, about 5 minutes on each side. Set aside to keep warm

* To the pan, add the garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.

* Add the wine & lemon juice and cook a few minutes till reduced. Add the chicken stock and let reduce and thicken. Add the butter to finish the sauce.

Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella Risotto

Basic Risotto recipe

Use white wine & chicken broth as liquids

Add halved cherry tomatoes, basil & mozerella about 5 minutes before the risotto is done.

That's it!



Clean plate club!

Cilantro & Lime Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

One thing I've been making a lot of this summer is mango salsa. I love how well it goes with chicken and really any type of seafood. Usually I make it with avocado, but switched things up tonight since 1) the avocado I had was not ripe enough and 2) our jalapeno plant has finally produced!

I was worried that it would be too spicy and powerful, but the balance with the mango was perfect.

Lime and Cilantro Grilled Shrimp

12 pieces shrimp

1 lime

1 tbsp olive oil

1 handful cilantro leaves - chopped

salt

pepper

Whisk together the juice from the lime, olive oil, cilantro, salt and pepper.

Add the shrimp and let marinade up to a half hour.

Grill shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Mango Salsa

1 mango - chopped

1/2 jalapeno - diced finely

10 cherry tomatoes - chopped

1 scallion - chopped

1 handful cilantro leaves - chopped

1 lime

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin

salt

Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, squeezing the lime juice over.

Let chill in the fridge for at least a half hour to allow to the flavors to marry.

Assemble the tacos, adding ingredients as desired. I added black beans and a little bit of cheese.

Very, very healthy and tasty summer meal - enjoy!

Mediterranean Grilled Tuna Steaks & Sicilian Potato Salad - Oh, and I'm back!

Okay no more excuses...poor little neglected blog. Work has been back to normal for some time, summer is winding down. I'm back and promise to have more updates soon!

This dinner was soooo good I couldn't put off blogging for one more day!

I've had this recipe marked in an Every Day with Rachael Ray since last summer - I should have tried it sooner. These flavors are right up my alley and such a refreshing summer time meal.

I followed the original recipe closely, omitting the capers and anchovy paste - Joe wouldn't go near it with either of those ingredients. The potato salad still had an abundance of flavor, and the lemon was so refreshing.

I also added some minced garlic to the rosemary before rubbing on the tuna steaks.

Mediterranean Grilled Tuna Steaks & Sicilian Potato Salad

Every Day with Rachael Ray

2 pounds small red potatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick

Salt

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus more for drizzling

Four tuna steaks (6 ounces each)

2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary

Juice of 1 lemon, plus 2 teaspoons grated peel

Pepper

2 teaspoons anchovy paste

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

3 ribs celery, finely chopped

1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and chopped

3 tablespoons capers

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

In a large saucepan, add the potatoes and cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, add salt and cook the potatoes until just tender, 12-15 minutes. Drain and return to the saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, ladle potato cooking water over the sun-dried tomatoes. Let soak for 10 minutes; drain and thinly slice.

Pre-heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Drizzle EVOO over the tuna, sprinkle with the rosemary and lemon peel and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, whisk together the 1/3 cup EVOO, lemon juice, anchovy paste and garlic. Toss with the potatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion, celery, olives, capers and parsley.

Grill the tuna for 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Serve with the potato salad.

Belated German Chocolate Birthday Cake

Dear Blog,

I'm soo sorry I haven't written in awhile.  Its just that work has been so crazy, and while I am still cooking a lot, I just haven't had time to upload photos and stuff like that.

I promise...I'll never go this long again.

Love,

Mel

Ahem....okay now that I have that out of the way.  I really have been working non-stop, and while my wonderful husband is cooking dinner for us tonight, I am taking advantage by uploading pictures of the German Chocolate Cake I made him for his birthday last week.

Okay, the post is belated, the cake was not.  I haven't been that busy!

So when I asked Joe what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday he said he wanted German Chocolate cake and I happily agreed.  Umm...this is kind of a difficult cake to make I had no idea.  Difficult in that there are a lot of different steps and very time consuming (it took me 3 solid hours from beginning to end).

That aside - it is SO WORTH the effort.  This cake is so rich, moist and delicious.  

I used this recipe from David Lebovitz's blog.  His recipe was fantastic - the only change I would make the next time is to the icing.  It didn't thicken up like it should have.  I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but I would probably use the chocolate ganache recipe from Smitten Kitchen that I used for my Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, since I didn't have any problems with that recipe.

I ended up adding powdered sugar to get it to thicken.

Still, everything was fantastic and I can't wait to make this again.

Actually, maybe I'll ask Joe to make it for my birthday : )

Easter baking: Egg Shaped Cakes and Pretty Pastel cupcakes

Help!!!!! I've started baking and I can't stop!!!!!

Okay, if you follow my blog, you know that baking is a relatively new concept for me. I get so much inspiration from other blogs though, it has really encouraged me to do more of it.

Since Joe and I stayed in the city for Easter and didn't have a lot planned, I found myself baking on multiple occasions this weekend!



It started on Friday night, I decided to whip up some cupcakes and make a bunch of different pastel colors for the frosting.



I used the much raved about Hershey Chocolate Cupcake recipe (let me tell you, this is my go-to chocolate cake recipe now!) and just a standard buttercream frosting.

Since it was just Joe and I, logically I only made a dozen cupcakes. Uh yeah, I was seriously regretting that decision 24 hours later, after we had an impromptu dinner party (Joe got his Omaha steak order on Friday and we had to share!) but only had one cupcake left! Yeah, you do the math, but the two of us took down quite a few cupcakes.

Anyway, Joe caught me sneaking the last cupcake into the bedroom while our friends were still over because I was "too tired" to play another game of Yahtzee. Bad host!

So because we didn't get enough sweets, I decided to make these egg shaped cakes for us on Sunday.

I found this via Tastespotting.com on The Kitchen. This was such an easy process to follow, thanks to the step-by-step pics on the Kitchen.

I was pretty impressed with my novice carving technique!



So I took the author's suggestion on recipes and used Lemon Poundcake from Gale Gand and Swiss Buttercream from Smitten Kitchen for the egg coating and a basic buttercream for the decorations.

OH. MY. GOD. SWISS BUTTERCREAM.

This stuff is amazing! I re-read SK's post a few times before deciding I was brave enough to attempt this. It really was not that difficult, her tutorial is very helpful, and this was just delicous.

I am a big frosting fan and when I tasted this I realized it was my favorite frosting, I just never knew what it was called! If you don't like super sweet, immediately feel like you need to brush your teeth frostings, you have to try this, it is truly amazing.

Decorating these was so much fun and I was quite pleased with the result.

Happy Easter!

Chicken with Carmelized Onions and Gruyere Cheese

Sooo...I saw this on Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations a couple of months ago, and have been meaning to make it ever since.  I love Mary Ellen's blog because her cooking style is very similar to mind (LOTS of pasta and risotto, not a lot of baking).

OH. MY. GOD. This was so good.  If I had known how good it was, I would not have waited 2 months to make it!  

This is definitely a great meal for a cold night, good thing since we are having some especially cold weather in Chicago for the first week of April.

I followed Mary Ellen's recipe with a few modifications:

• I used sage instead of thyme (Not buying an $8 jar of dried thyme in this economy!) and dredged the chicken in flour and sage.
• No cheese on the inside of the chicken ( I was lazy)
• Again, had to add a carb.  Joe is quick to notice if one of the food groups in missing from the meal.  Actually the mashed potatoes I think really made the meal.

I whole-heartedly agree with Mary Ellen though; spinach, gruyere cheese and carmelized onions are a fantastic combination!

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; trimmed and pounded out a bit
2 onions, sliced
Salt and pepper
Pinch of thyme
Pinch of sugar
Paprika
Approx 3 tbsp flour
Olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Approx 1/3 c white wine
6 slices Gruyere cheese
Fresh spinach
Directions

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium heat

Add onions, pinch each of salt, pepper, sugar, and thyme. Let cook, stirring often, for approximately 30 minutes until the onions are brown and caramelized. Remove from pan.

Add another tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to pan

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge in flour, shake off excess.
Place chicken in the pan; cook approximately 4 minutes on each side.

When the chicken is done, top each piece with 2 slices Gruyere cheese.

Place under the broiler in your oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Top each chicken breast with some of the caramelized onions, and place under the broiler for another 2 minutes.

Serve over sauteed spinach (saute spinach in olive oil with salt and pepper for 3-4 minutes, until just wilted).

Parmesan Breaded Pork Chops, Spinach and Tomato salad, and my new backsplash!

Another weekend, another renovation project. While our master bath is at a standstill until the professionals can help with important things like plumbing, Joe couldn't let the weekend go by without another project, this time it was the kitchen backsplash.

While my mom asked the obvious question - "Why are you starting another project when you're not done with the first?" (we are sooo alike sometimes) - what can I say? The man is in a tiling mood.

So while the project was relatively easy, it wasn't until Sunday night that I actually got my kitchen back - and I love my new backsplash! Since Joe's been working so hard, I indulged him by combining his two favorite foods: cheese and pork.

I got this recipe from the Food Network, and was surprised because Nigella Lawson has never been one of my go to girls like Ray Ray or Giada, I may have to start trying her recipes more often.

This was very tasty and I'll definitely be making it again. The salad is very light and fresh, a great compliment to the heavy pork chop.

Source: Nigella Lawson, Food Network

Ingredients

Pork chops:
2 pork chops, approximately 8 ounces each
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup ground nut oil or similar, for frying

Garlicky spinach and tomato salad:
3 medium tomatoes
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 cups baby spinach leaves
Salt and pepper

Directions

Trim the thick white fat off the pork chops, cutting carefully around the outside edge. Lay the chops between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and, using a mallet or a rolling pin beat them until the meaty part of the chop is half as thick. You will need to beat around the bone, so turn them over once as you go.

Beat the egg in a shallow wide bowl with the mustard, oregano, and salt and pepper. On a large plate or platter, combine the breadcrumbs with the Parmesan.

Press each of the chops into the egg mixture, coating either side. Then dip the eggy chops into the bread crumbs, covering them evenly. Let them lie on a cooling rack to dry slightly while you heat the oil in a large frying pan. When a small cube of bread sizzles if dropped into the oil, then the oil is hot enough. Cook the chops until they are a deep golden color, about 5 to 7 minutes a side (depending on how thin you've managed to get them and how cold they were before going in the oil).

Meanwhile, quarter the tomatoes and take out the seeds, then cut the shells into strips and dice them. You can take off the skins, too, if you prefer, by steeping the tomatoes first into a bowl of just boiled water for 3 to 5 minutes. Combine the diced tomato, minced or grated garlic, oil, and lemon juice in a bowl, and season well with salt and pepper.

When the chops are ready, toss the spinach in the tomato mixture until well coated and divide the salad between 2 large plates, putting each chop alongside.

***I followed her recipe closely, but of course had to add a carb, and also when breading the pork chop, I dredged in flour before the egg.