Tomato & Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup

"Carmageddon" has officially hit Louisville.  While probably not as drastic as the major traffic that was caused in Los Angeles - but definitely something that perturbs me.  I love Louisville for the fact that it doesn't have 'major city traffic'.  Sure, we have crazy rush hour, but nothing compared to cities like LA, New York, or even Nashville.

Until last Friday.  The Sherman-Minton bridge was closed "indefinitely" due to some cracks found in some foundation beams.  While yes, safety is priority - it has put Louisville (and most parts of Southern Indiana - as the bridge connects New Albany, IN to Louisville) in a traffic tizzy, because now everything has to filter through to the other bridge (The Kennedy) - adding about 76,000 more cars that way.  And don't even get me started on the stupid detours.  My normal 20-25 minutes commute to work took a little over an hour today.  Yeah, I wasn't in a good mood.  But surprisingly enough, my commute home was more of normal pace, about 30 minutes.  I'll just have to think smarter for tomorrow's drive in.

Now that I've got my rant out of the way (I'm sure you all just wanted to hear about my traffic annoyances, right?) - let me tell you about something that calms me down... soup.  Yes, soup.  Now that fall has set in, soup will be a regular occurrence in our house - at least weekly.  And this week's soup?  This wonderful tomato and roasted red pepper soup.  Perfect for dipping grilled cheese!

Ingredients: 
Adapted from Sea Salt With Food's recipe

2 Red Bell Peppers
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, peeled and diced

3 Cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped

2 Heirloom Tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 tablespoons Tomato Paste
small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1 & 1/2 teaspoons Cumin
1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Sour Cream
Croutons

Broil red peppers under a broiler or open flame on gas stove until charred on all sides.  Place red peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Set aside until cool enough to handle.  Peel, remove seeds, and roughly chop.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook until soft and translucent but not brown in color, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then turn the heat on high and mix in the tomatoes, tomato paste, peppers, cilantro, cumin, and paprika. Sauté the mixture for a minute or 2, and add the chicken stock.  Bring mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Allow the soup mixture to cool slightly, then puree it with an immersion blender. Bring the soup back to the boil and season with some salt and pepper. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, some croutons, and a grilled cheese sandwich (if you're the dipping kind of gal like me!)

This was super tasty, made great use of our CSA tomatoes, and will be a soup that paired perfectly with a simple grilled cheese!


Hope you guys have a great Tuesday!  See you tomorrow night!

Garlic & Herb Marinated Chicken Thighs

With summer in full swing, the weather is hot, the grills are going... I read about all these fun summer food festivals around the country: Ribfest in Illinois, Pineapple Festival in Hawaii, K-Town BBQ Cook Off & Texas Music Concert in Texas, Food For Thought's Green Cuisine in Michigan, Portland International Beer Festival in Oregon, Jazz & Rib Fest in Ohio, Louisiana Watermelon Festival in Louisiana... why doesn't Louisville have anything exciting like this? Sure, we just had the SoulFood Festival & Taste of Frankfort... but seriously, I think there would be a huge market for more food-related, festival-type activity in Louisville... so let's get on that, okay? Okay.

Speaking of grilling and summer, you could easily sub the chicken thighs for chicken breasts and just cook accordingly, but I'm a fan of the lower cost and juicier outcome of chicken thighs. The marinade is surely interchangeable with other meats as well.


Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon lemon zest
juice from 1 lemon

Combine all ingredients, except for chicken, in a large plastic freezer bag. Make sure they are mixed well and add in chicken thighs. Remove bag of air and seal tightly. Roll the bag up and place into a medium bowl (to prevent any leaking out onto your fridge shelf) in the fridge. Let marinate for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat a grill to medium high. Soak a wad of paper towels with vegetable oil and carefully rub on grill rack to prevent chicken from sticking.

Grill chicken for about 5-7 minutes per side (or if using breasts, a little less than that), or until cooked through.

We served this with a quick ranch pasta salad!

I love the quick cook time of this dish. Yeah, you've got to marinate it overnight, but that's just something you have to throw in a bunch of ingredients in a bag and forget about until the next day. Easy enough, right? Right. Enjoy!

Chili Con Carne

So I'm not much on fast food. Sure, I'll take an occasional trip through the Taco Bell drive through after a night of drinking, but besides that, I'm a pretty anti-fast food kind of gal. As I stumbled upon a new website (to me anyway), Fancy Fast Food, I was a bit more than intrigued. The current recipe on there is a spin on KFC's new Double Down sandwich. If you haven't seen this sandwich... it's pretty ridiculous. I mean, I like chicken more than your average joe, but this is a little excessive. Practically, it's two fillets of breaded and fried chicken, sans bread, and with Monterrey Jack cheese and bacon in between. Yeah... heart attack in one bite, right? So to fancy it up, Erik from Fancy Fast Food pointed out that it's nothing but a gimmicky Cordon Bleu, and made it look palatable after turning it into an amuse bouche. Hmm... maybe fast food isn't bad after you strip it down and turn it into something else eh? I don't know, I think I may still have to stay away from it...

And I know chili really isn't on one's mind in the summer time, but this chili con carne is surprisingly light and delicious. Definitely even better for leftovers the next day after the flavors have gotten a chance to meld with eachother!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Rocco Dispirito's "Now Eat This!" - Super-Light Mexican Chili Con Carne With Beans

4 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
35 oz. can whole tomatoes, chopped and juice reserved
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. ground turkey breast
14 oz. can seasoned black beans, drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
chopped jalapenos (optional)

In a large dutch oven, combine the garlic, onion, bell pepper, tomatoes & juice, chili powder and cumin. Bring to a boil under medium high heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Bring the heat back up to medium high and add in ground turkey. Break up the turkey and add in black beans. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, or until turkey is cooked through.

Ladle chili into bowls and top with shredded cheese and jalapenos.

This is definitely a quick fix meal for a busy weeknight. The chili was ready within 30 minutes and you can definitely play with the amount of spice you want to achieve. Enjoy!

P.S. - we're not OFFICIAL! members of Grasshopper Distribution CSA here in Louisville! Our first pick up is July 7th and we're (mostly me) majorly excited!!!

Ginger Honey Chicken

Well, it's officially summer... in my book anyway. After a whole WEEK AND A HALF with just gray and rainy skies, the sun finally showed it's face again this past weekend. And you know what? I worked ALL WEEKEND long. But I know I'll get other chances to enjoy the nice weather we're currently having (hopefully). One thing that does scream summer to me is grilling. Summer = grilling. I know more people are grilling all year round more often, but there's just something about the sun shining, the weather being hot, and a grilling, that just screams summer to me.

Something I wish I'd just go out and buy already, a grill basket. They're just easy to cook practically anything from vegetables to fish in. Definitely would help with the problem of fragile fish on the grill, that's for sure! If you wanna check out a great grill basket, Foodbuzz.com's Daily Special today happen to be just that!

A great grilled chicken recipe comin' right up!


Ingredients:

1 cup honey
3/4 cup soy sauce
5-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 in. piece ginger root, peeled and minced
1 jalapeno, minced
3-4 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless

In a small saucepan, combine honey, soy sauce, garlic, shallot, ginger, and jalapeno under medium high heat. Stir until honey is just melted and ingredients are well combined.

Place chicken thighs in shallow dish and pour honey soy mixture on top of chicken. Let marinate in fridge for at least 1 hour (I let mine sit for about 2 & 1/2 and it was PERFECT!).

Light a charcoal grill under medium high heat. Grill chicken for about 5 minutes per side (depending on thickness of thighs) or until cooked throughout. Let rest for about 10 minutes and slice into strips. I served this with white rice and carmelized carrots!

This was absolutely exceptional. The honey, soy sauce, and ginger were prevalent in the chicken, but didn't overpower one another. The chicken was succulent and juicy! Enjoy!

Shredded Chicken Tacos

How was everyone's weekend? Mine... pretty eventful. Of course, being in Louisville, it was the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. A pretty rainy day, but had a few beers with friends, which is always good. I don't do any betting, so I can't say I won any money, but nonetheless, a good time.

I'm happy to say that today was my last day of class for the semester. I now have a FULL summer off, no class, just work (which I can deal with)... so plenty more free time.

Speaking of which, I've got a busy May planned. My sister has asked me to cater her sorority formal at the end of the month and I'm scared and excited at the same time. I pretty much have to make enough food for about 30-40 people (it was supposed to be 60+, so it's a tad bit less stressful, but still...) Anybody have any good tips on how to cater for large groups of people? I figure they're college students, so it can't be too hard to give them something other than ramen noodles and easy mac... right?

Anyway, I love tacos because they're quick, they're versatile, and they're pretty much delicious any way you stack 'em up!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 & 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
3 boneless and skinless chicken thighs
1 cup salsa
1 cup chicken stock
juice from 1 lime
tortillas
jalapenos
shredded cheese
sour cream

In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil under medium high heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes or so.

Stir in cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.

Add in chicken in one layer, then top with salsa and chicken stock. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. (You could honestly cook for longer if you're using chicken thighs because it's practically impossible to overcook them)

Remove the chicken and let cool on a cutting board for about 5-10 minutes. Continue to heat sauce under medium heat.

Shred chicken with forks and add back into sauce. Stir in lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

Assemble tacos any way you like, we like adding some shredded cheddar cheese, pickled jalapenos, and sour cream.

These were pretty fantastic. They were ready in no time, and definitely made for lots of leftovers. Enjoy!

Sirloin Steak w/ Stir Fried Peas and Red Rice

I've got a throbbing headache. Hopefully, as I write this post, the Ibuprofen will do its job and it will throb less as I keep typing. Key word = hopefully. This week has just been full of great weather... until today, of course. It rained like it's never rained before (or at least so far this year). and I'm pretty sure it will continue to rain all weekend, which is a shame because I would really like to get out there and play tennis again. So here's hoping the weatherman is wrong, and don't forget to set your clocks FORWARD on Sunday!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's March 2010 issue: 'Stir Fried Red Rice w/ Sliced Sirloin Steak & Peas'

1/2 cup red rice (I found this at Whole Foods)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. sirloin steak, sliced thinly
salt and white pepper, to taste
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 cups each of chopped kale and swiss chard
1 cup thawed frozen peas
3 tablespoons soy sauce
small handful chopped cilantro
juice from 1 lime

In a small pot, cover the rice with water and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down to low for about 25-30 minutes, when most of the water has been taken up by the rice. You could definitely use white rice if you wanted to for this, but I think the red rice gives it a somewhat sweet aspect. Not sugary sweet, but just sweeter than your normal rice I suppose.

When rice is finished, spread onto a baking sheet to cool.

In a large skillet, heat up 1 tablespoon of the oil under medium high heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Be careful not to let the garlic burn, so stir constantly.

Season the sirloin strips with salt and add to the skillet with the garlic. Brown each side, about 1-2 minutes per side (depending on how thick you cut your slices) and then transfer to a plate.

Heat remaining oil in skillet and add the onion and ginger. Cook until onion is soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the kale and swiss chard and cook until wilted, about 1 or 2 more minutes. Then stir in the red rice, peas, and soy sauce. Add back in the sirloin strips, as well. Mix well and heat through. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Stir in some of the cilantro and squeeze the lime juice over mixture. Mix well again. Serve while its hot!

This was great because it was like having everything incorporated into one. The sirloin was evenly distributed among all of the vegetables and there was a good ratio of rice. The red rice was really interesting, not too different from normal white rice, but it had a subtle sweetness to it, I thought. And if the meal wasn't delicious enough, it was just beautiful! Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Soup

I apologize in advance, this was supposed to be posted yesterday and in my whirlwind of studying/homework/procrastination, it seemed to have slipped my mind. Trust me, I've been banking on Friday since Sunday. This is a week I've been dreading, and it's mostly my fault. I had plenty of time to do these things, but no, I had to procrastinate. I cleaned the pantry, the fridge, the spice cabinet, the living room... all to avoid homework. Who does that?!?! That's insanity. I hate cleaning... but I dread homework. Anyway... here's a somewhat lazy soup... that I have to warn you... is pretty darn spicy, so I'd cut the hot sauce by a bit if you're not the spicy lover we are (and even we could only eat half of our bowls because of the heat).

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 to 1 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce (depending on your taste)
1 cup shell pasta
blue cheese for topping

In a medium bowl, add flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge the chicken chunks and set aside.

In a dutch oven over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides. Remove the chicken and set aside again.

Add remaining tablespoon of butter to pot and add vegetables. Cook until soft and translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add back in the chicken, chicken stock, hot sauce, and shells. Cook until noodles becomes soft. The longer you let it sit, the spicier it will get!

Top with blue cheese and dig on in!

This was definitely delicious, just incredible spicy. If I made it again, I would definitely only use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of hot sauce as opposed to the 1 cup. I mean, I like really spicy things, but this was sinus cleansing spicy. I did have a cold still and it did have my nose running for about 30 minutes. So if you're into that, be my guest and add the full cup! Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Salad

Now I know you all are probably going to get tired of me talking about my upcoming wedding... but let's face it... this is my blog and I can talk about anything I want to. Haha, but seriously, I think it helps with my stress level if I just dump it down onto here because I think Andy is thinking I'm a little nuts right now. But anyway, we had a snow day from school yesterday and I started a wedding binder. It's mostly consisting of ripped up pages from magazines that "inspire" me or are cool ideas for certain aspects of the wedding. I find myself not doing homework and thinking about wedding plans, so it's a distracting hobby that's for sure.

Anyway, I loved this salad because it's so simple and quick. And I made on a night that I worked until 10:30pm, so I didn't get home until 11 and I was ready to eat. This came together in minutes and was quite delicious.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Tasty Art's blog

2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into strips
mung bean sprouts
1 can of pineapple chunks, drained
1 carrot, grated or shredded (I did both)
1 head of iceberg lettuce, roughly chopped
pinch of sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of brown sugar

Wash all your vegetables (lettuce, carrot, and mung beans) and bring together in a large bowl. Add pineapple and chicken. Toss everything together pretty good.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients to make a quick Asian dressing. You can either serve the lettuce on plates/bowls and then add dressing or toss dressing into large bowl to get everything coated pretty well. I just added it to the large bowl and combined everything.

Like I said, easy peasy. This was delicious, refreshing, and didn't give me that "I scarfed this down so fast because I was hungry and now I'm bloated feeling" before bed. Needless to say, it was about 11:30pm by this time and I didn't need a full stomach to put myself to bed. Enjoy!

Baked Tilapia

Well, so far the week has been great. It's going by quickly, that's for sure. Had an organic test (got a B!) and tomorrow a Microbiology test (not looking forward to this one). I'm still in "engagement fever", and I don't see it slowing down. I probably have to tell the story 3-5 times daily, but I don't get sick thinking about it, or our future life! Enough about me, it's about the food! This tilapia was great! Fast, easy, gone in a flash!

Ingredients:

2 Tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons butter, melted
juice from 1 lemon
1 & 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Preheat oven to 425 F and put tiliapia fillets in a glass baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together butter, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano, and paprika. Pour mixture over tilapia fillets.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until fish is white and flaky. Serve with a side of roasted veggies (I did roasted fingerling potatoes) and enjoy!

This was seriously gone in minutes. It was so juicy and delicious! The fish was done perfectly and the flavor was just jam packed! The only thing wrong with it was it was gone so quickly! I may make double the fish next time I do this!

Pumpkin Pasta

I know what you're thinking. Pumpkin Pasta? That's weird! Yes... I agree. Very weird. So weird, I had to give it a go to see what it was like. Result? Eh... so so. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Feeling adventurous? Give it a go and see for yourself!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Dulcis in Furno's Blog

1/2 box of pasta (I used shells)
1 small pumpkin, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
parmesan cheese

It's a basic recipe for a basic cream sauce. Flavor wise? Turned out, well... basic.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente.

While waiting for the pasta, get a large skillet and heat up the oil under medium heat. Add in onion and cook until translucent and soft, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the cubed pumpkin and cook until softened, about 20 minutes. Periodically, throughout, try pressing down on the pumpkin to sort of mush it down. Season with salt and pepper.

This is as far as the original recipe goes. Me, I wasn't satisfied with that. It just tasted kind of blah. So I had to spruce it up.

To the softened pumpkin and onion, add 1/2 cup cream and about 1/4-1/2 cup parmesan cheese
(depending on how thick or cheesy you want it). Let simmer until slightly thickened, shouldn't be too long, no longer than 5 minutes.

Drain the pasta and stir in with cream sauce. Salt and pepper to taste and serve!

Like I said... this wasn't anything spectacular. It was just weird. I don't know if pumpkin is meant for pasta. Not for me anyway. Enjoy!

Chicken Piccata

I remember watching an episode of Top Chef one time and one of their challenges was to recreate a "classic dish". Chicken Piccata happened to be one of those "classic" dishes. Maybe it's because I grew up in a half-Asian household or maybe I was just sheltered, but I didn't know what the heck Chicken Piccata was. Well... now I do. And it's delicious. And it's classically simple, and worth getting to know.

Ingredients:

Adapted from Playing House's blog

1/2 cup flour

4 chicken breasts, cut in half and flattened

salt and pepper to taste

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1 lemon, cut in half

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

Preheat your oven to 200 F and place baking sheet on middle rack.

Put flour in shallow bowl. Pat the chicken down with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Coat each piece lightly in the flour and shake off any excess.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches (I did 2 batches of 4 pieces), add chicken to skillet and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. They'll cook pretty quick because they're somewhat thin. After each piece is done, place on baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until all chicken is complete.

Add the shallot and garlic to the skillet and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Thinly slice one half of the lemon and cut into half moons. Add the lemon slices, along with the chicken broth to the pan and scrape up any sucs (brown bits). Simmer this mixture until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the white wine and squeeze juice from leftover lemon half into the skillet. Turn the heat down to low and stir in butter pats, one at a time. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with sauce on top of chicken. I also braised some spinach really quick in some chicken stock. Andy kept raving how it went exceptionally well with the chicken piccata itself.

This was a quick meal. This was a delicious meal. I think both of those components qualify it as a winner and a keeper. What "classic" dishes do you keep in your memory banks? What "classic" dishes have you heard of but never tried? Enjoy!

Garlic Noodles w/ Chicken

All I can say is yum! These were perfectly done garlic noodles and thanks to White on Rice Couple for posting this recipe which they got from Steamy Kitchen's cookbook (there's a link on their page for the book, which I think I'm going to invest in soon!)

Ingredients:

1 box spaghetti noodles
2 large chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
3 tablespoons butter
6 leaves fresh basil, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1-3 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add noodles. Cook until about al dente, roughly 7-9 minutes for spaghetti noodles. Strain the noodles and add back into pot. In a separate large skillet, melt butter under medium heat and add garlic. Saute garlic until fragrant, about a minute. Then add chicken and cook until white throughout. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and set aside.

Add brown sugar, soy sauce, and oyster sauce to skillet. Stir until brown sugar dissolves and then add chicken and noodles. Make sure to coat everything evenly with the sauce.

Remove from heat and stir in basil. Serve and eat up!

This was such a quick meal to prepare and tasted really like authentic garlic noodles. I highly recommend the cookbook it came from and will be snagging up a copy of my own soon! Enjoy!

Spinach Pesto Pasta

Talk about easy. This was incredibly tasty and the difficulty level was -3. My dogs could even probably make this. It whips up in a matter of minutes, basically just the amount of time it takes your pasta to cook! And I've been working with the white balance measurements on my camera, and I think my pictures are steadily improving, right? Right.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1-3 cloves garlic
1 & 1/2 cups fresh spinach
1/4 cup fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1/4 t0 1/2 cup olive oil
1 box spaghetti/fettuccine noodles

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add a tablespoon or so of salt. Then cook noodles until al dente, 6-8 minutes.

While noodles are cooking, combine remaining ingredients in food processor. You may have to do the spinach in batches because it's so bulky at first. I'd save the olive oil for last too because you don't want too much olive oil, just enough to get a good consistency out of the rest of the ingredients. Blend until you reach that desired texture.

Drain noodles and return to pot. Mix in pesto or serve pesto on top of noodles. I chose to mix it in because you get those beautifully colored noodles! I served it with some toasted french loaf that I rubbed some fresh garlic on. Yummy! Enjoy!

Panko Encrusted Chicken Breasts w/ Maple Mustard Pan Sauce

Well that was a doozy to say out loud. Good thing it's simpler than it sounds. Now I have to make a confession. Mustard scares me. Pretty much any condiment does: mustard, ketchup, MAYO (especially mayo), relish, it all freaks me out. I don't know what it is, but if you ever wanted to have me in a panic attack, just throw a bunch of condiments on me and I'll be set. So I was kind of weary making this sauce, but I've been learning to face my fears and overcome, and that is what I did...

Ingredients:

5 boneless chicken breasts, each cut in half crosswise
2 eggs
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, divided
1-2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

If you're in a bad mood or angry at something when you start to make this, then this recipe is definitely going to relieve some stress. Place a few chicken breasts in a large plastic bag and flatten with a rolling pin or bottom of a pan. Really get it good, but don't murder the chicken, that's just wrong. You want it to be about 1/2 inch thick.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, parsley, and a squirt or two of the Dijon mustard. Like I said, mustard wigs me out so I kinda skimped on the mustard a bit. But you can add as much as you like if you're into that.

Dip chicken in egg mixture and season with salt and pepper.

Then dip chicken into panko and cover all over.


Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium to high heat. Cook chicken until it has a nice brown crust, about 4 minutes per side.

Make sure you don't overcrowd your pan, I did about 3 pieces per batch, but it just depends on the size of your chicken. Set chicken aside in a pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

In another small bowl, mix together the broth, syrup, coarse-grained mustard, and a few squirts of dijon mustard. Add this mixture to the pan used for searing the chicken and reduce to about 3/4 cup. Should be about 4-6 minutes. Then add chilled butter and stir until melted. Plate chicken and spoon sauce over top!

This was really good. I loved the panko crunch and the chicken was nice and tender. The sauce was great. It was a little sweet, but you could definitely get a good hint of mustard. And it didn't freak me out. Not to mention our dinner guests were pretty pleased also. (Patting myself on the back now). Enjoy!

Chicken Teriyaki With Garlic Noodles

Yes, I'm Asian. That's pretty obvious. I've only made chicken teriyaki once. I found a new recipe on it, that I tweaked a tad and turned out that Andy really enjoyed it. He couldn't stop raving about how good the kitchen smelled and how good the chicken tasted, so it looks like this one is a keeper. Found the basis for this recipe from the blog Imperrfections.

Chicken Teriyaki Ingredients:

2 large boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup sake (I really think this is the magic ingredient)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
salt to taste

The one thing that I switched up from Imperrfection's recipe was the sake.

The previous teriyaki recipe I used had sake in it, and I really think it balanced out the sweetness factor from the sugar so I toned down the vinegar and added the sake. And don't hesitate to do some sake bombs at any given moment. Makes the cooking process even more fun!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Line a roasting pan with foil. Salt and pepper chicken strips and add to pan with foil.


Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a saucepan. I think cornstarch is like a miracle ingredient sometimes. Instantly thickens things and is a way cool science experiment when used in a matter of ways. But I'm not here to talk about science, it's all about the chicken right now.

Add rest of ingredients and bring to a simmer. Stir often until sauce is thickened. You'll be able to tell right away because the sauce will start to "bubble in slow motion." You'll know what I mean.

Pour sauce over chicken and mix so it coats the pieces evenly.

Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Garlic Noodles Ingredients:

1/2 box penne pasta
1/4 box linguini
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, chopped
2 & 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

I pretty much followed this recipe to the tee, except I used a different pasta(s). Mainly because it was in my cupboard and why go out and buy more pasta when I've already got an assortment? Right? Right.

Cook pasta according to package directions until you get it al dente. Drain and set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in large skillet. Add garlic and onions and cook until soft, about 4 minutes.

Add fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, and remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Toss in pasta and mix until evenly coated with sauce. Serve with teriyaki.


This was quick, easy, and absolutely delicious! Great for a busy weeknight meal. Enjoy!