I mentioned yesterday that the picture above comprised much of what I ate last week: pan-roasted chicken with varying sides.  The recipe came from the June 2010 issue of Everyday Food magazine.  You are going to see alot from that magazine around here.  The recipes are simple for me to follow and don’t take a huge amount of thought from me.  Just what I need as I enter the uber-busy season at my particular job.  This recipe was quite tasty, though it did take a bit of time to prepare.  Seems like there should be a way to shave some time off this recipe.  I’m just not sure how.  As well, the whole recipe had a few issues that I need to deal with, but it was a nice solid first attempt. 

The recipe called for chicken breasts, or something of the sort, but I had a family pack of chicken legs on hand, so that’s what I  used.  The chicken pieces were sprinkled liberally with salt, pepper, dried thyme, and Tony Chachere’s.  

Before I go on with this recipe, I’m going to digress a bit.  Lately as I’ve been cooking, I’ve come to realize one thing that is missing from much of the recipe’s that I use (especially ones like Everyday Food): a good seasoning mix.  I like Tony Chachere’s.  It’s what my mom uses, what I’ve grown up on and am used to.  I read blogs that talk about the umami factor.  I’m still not real clear on what that is; however, I’m starting to wonder if partly, for me, if that factor might be Chachere’s.  It is what seems to be that missing flavor that I’m always looking for in a recipe.  It’s making its way into alot of my cooking lately. (And dear Tony’s if you see this, know I love you okay?). 

Seasoned chicken is placed into a skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat.  Each side of the chicken is pan roasted.  This process takes 3-5 minutes. 

Your chicken should be nicely browned.  It is at this point I realized why the recipe calls for a flatter piece of chicken.  I couldn’t really get all the edges of the chicken browned.  Ah well, it still was tasty in the end. 

Once the chicken is nicely browned, transfer it to a large, rimmed baking sheet.  No reason to oil the baking sheet since your chicken with be a bit oily.  I think in the next incarnation of this recipe I will drain the chicken before this step.  Or leave a step that is to come. 

While I was pan-roasting the chicken, I sliced up a Vidalia onion and diced two cloves of garlic. 

After cooking the chicken, I placed a wee bit of water in the bottom of the pan to sort of get the bits up (Is that deglazing? I think it is.).  To this, I added the sliced Vidalia onion and the diced garlic.  Be sure to use a Vidalia onion here if at all possible.  Their sweet taste adds a lovely flavor to the overall dish. 

Cook until the onions are softened but not completely translucent. 

Spread the semi-cooked onions and garlic across the chicken. 

This is where I think I made my great mistake in this recipe.  I covered the whole thing.  The original recipe called for shallots to be used, but I’ve never had a shallot.  Therefore, I didn’t have any in the house and had none for the recipe.  But I did have that Vidalia onion, which I felt would be a nice substitute even if it wouldn’t give the same flavor as a shallot most likely would.  I was worried the oniones would not do well if not covered.  This contributed to the chicken legs not getting as crispy as I might like and staying a wee bit more oily than I would have liked.  Next time, I think I would either bake the dish uncovered for half the time or bake the chicken minus the onions/garlic for awhile.  I could always add the onions/garlic about 10 minutes before the end of the baking time. 

The baking sheet should go in a 450 degree oven, roasting the chicken until cooked through, about 15 – 20 minutes. 

Once finished baking, I pulled all the meat from the chicken legs for easier bento packing. 

Verdict: This recipe is a keeper.  While I had a few foibles in the process, I think they are easily overcome obstacles.  This one I’m adding to my recipe index! 

Pan Roasted Chicken modified from Everday Food (June 2010) 

Ingredients: 

• Package of chicken legs (can also use other bone-in chicken pieces)
• Dried thyme
• Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning (or similar seasoning mix)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Vidalia onion, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• Olive oil

1. Wash and dry the chicken legs.
2. Sprinkle all sides of the chicken legs with thyme, Tony Chachere’s, salt, and pepper.
3. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a high-sided skillet on medium-high heat.
4. Once the oil begins to shimmer, place chicken legs into the skillet.  Do not overcrowd.  Cook in batches if necessary.
5. Brown chicken legs on both sides, about 3-5 minutes per side.
6. Remove chicken legs to a paper towel lined plate and allow to drain.
7. While chicken drains a bit, a small amount of water into the skillet to loosen up the bits on the bottom of the pan.
   Reduce heat to medium-low.
8. Place sliced Vidalia onion and diced garlic into the skillet.  Cook until onions are softened but not completely translucent.
9. On a rimmed baking sheet, layout chicken for baking.  Top chicken with the cooked onions/garlic.
10. Place in a 450 degree oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
11. Once chicken is baked, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly for a few minutes before serving.
12. Enjoy!

Here it is…the recipe for these lovely turkey meatballs.  Yes, I’ve quite enjoyed these already, even though I just made them the other day.  I have some packed up in my bento for tomorrow.  The recipe came from the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Everday Food magazine, with a few tweaks by me.  Let’s get started.

Our ingredients list is fairly simple.  You need fresh breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup of evaporated milk (you could use regular too), 1 large egg, 2 garlic cloves, minced, 1/4 – 1/2 tsp Tony Chachere’s seasoning, 3 tsp green onion, 1/2 tsp dried parsley, and 1.5 lbs of ground turkey (lean is best).  Not shown are salt and pepper.

We start our recipe with fresh breadcrumbs.  I didn’t show the process for this, but it is easy.  Throw 2 slices of bread into a food processor and pulse until the pieces are nice and small.

Pour the 1/4 cup of evaported milk into the fresh breadcrumbs.

Mix the milk into the breadcrumbs until large lumps form.  Set off to the side for 3-5 minutes for that milk to soak into the crumbs.  While you wait, prep the rest of your ingredients.

In a large bowl, place the turkey meat, green onions, garlic, parsley, Tony Chachere’s, and egg (no shell!).  Also add 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper.

As you’re making the recipe if you want some of that extra “it” factor, throw in a few dashes of worcestershire sauce (say that 3 times fast!).  Thanks Liz for recommending this and getting it stuck into my subconscious.

Mix everything together for a most unappetizing looking picture.  But never fear!  Things will start looking better soon.

By now, your breadcrumbs should be finished soaking.  Place the breadcrumb/milk mixture into the bowl with the turkey mixture.

Mix in the breadcrumbs with the turkey mixture.

Using a large spoon, scoop out spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into meatballs.  I almost thought I should have flattened these a bit to make them easier to pack in my bento.  I might have to do that next time.

Set your oven to broil and broil meatballs for for 10 – 12 minutes, or until completely cooked through.  Flip meatballs over 1x midway through cooking.  Mine took 10 minutes to bake.

Once cooked, remove from oven and enjoy!  I hope you like these if you try them!

Turkey Meatballs adapted from Everyday Food magazine, Jan/Feb 2008 issue

Ingredients
2 slices of fresh fresh breadcrumbs,processed to fine breadcrumbs
1/4 cup of evaporated milk (regular milk works too)
1 large egg
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 – 1/2 tsp Tony Chachere’s seasoning
3 tsp green onion
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 tsp pepper
3 dashes (about 1 tsp) Worcestershire sauce
1.5 lbs of ground turkey (lean is best)

To make the meatballs:
Pulse bread in a food processor until chopped into fine breadcrumbs.
Pour the 1/4 cup of evaported milk into the fresh breadcrumbs.
Mix the milk into the breadcrumbs until large lumps form. Set off to the side for 3-5 minutes for that milk to soak into the crumbs. While you wait, prep the rest of your ingredients.
In a large bowl, place the turkey meat, green onions, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, Tony Chachere’s, worcestershire, and egg (no shell!). Mix together well.
Place the breadcrumb/milk mixture into the bowl with the turkey mixture.
Mix in the breadcrumbs with the turkey mixture.
Using a large spoon, scoop out spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into meatballs. Place on a greased jelly roll pan.
Set your oven to broil and broil meatballs for for 10 – 12 minutes, or until completely cooked through. Flip meatballs over 1x midway through cooking. Mine took 10 minutes to bake.
Once cooked, remove from oven and enjoy!

It is amazing to me that vegetables I thought I never cared for cooked are proving me wrong when roasted.  Cabbage is another example.  I love cabbage raw.  If you live in the South, coleslaw is a fact of life, and a tasty one at that.  However, cabbage cooked is a fact of life, especially around New Year’s, and a stinky fact of life at that.  Usually cabbage is boiled, or cooked somehow similarly, until completely limp and unappetizing to my palate.  It is something I always avoided.

Then, I saw the Feisty Foodie featured cabbage roasted with bacon on her website.  And I thought, “Hmmm, I wonder if I would like it like that?”  I really enjoy brussel sprouts roasted, and they are supposed to be a type of wild cabbage.  I decided to give roasting cabbage a whirl.  I picked up a head of cabbage at the Farmer’s Market last weekend for $1.  The outer leaves were removed and disposed of, and the cabbage was washed thouroughly.  Then, I cut the cabbage into eighths.  This was done by cutting the cabbage in half and then in quarters.  Then each quarter was cut in half.  Cabbage slices were placed on a foil lined baking sheet.  Each cabbage wedge was brushed with olive oil then sprinkled with fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt.

Cabbage wedges were roasted in a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes, turning over mid-way through the process.  When I first pulled them out at the end of the 25 minutes, they were browned, but not that wonderful roasted color.  However, I knew they had been in long enough and didn’t want to overcook them.

But then I flipped them over and there was that lovely roasted look!  Oooohhh la la.  I tried them with a spritz of lemon juice as many of the online recipes I read suggested.  Very tasty.  Next time, I’m going to try a salad dressing I really like instead, or possibly sprinkle the cabbage leaves with a garlic and herb seasoning.

Ingredients:

Cabbage
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper to preference

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit.
2. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage, and wash the vegetable well.   After washing, dry off the cabbage.
3. Using a sharp butcher knife, cut off the bottom “knot” of the cabbage where the outer leaves were, being careful not to cut off the full bottom of the cabbage.  You need to keep the cabbage intact.
4. Cut the head of cabbage in half.  Cut the halves in half to create quarters.  You can stop here at this point.  If you prefer, cut each quarter in half to create eighths.
5. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lay the cabbage wedges out on the baking sheet.
6. Brush each wedge of cabbage with olive oil.
7. Sprinkle each cabbage wedge with kosher salt and black pepper to your preference and needs.
8. Roast wedges at 450 degrees for 25-30 minutes until brown or slightly crispy.

Asian pears.  I love them.  But what I love even more is trying to photograph them.  A little mom & pop farm at my local farmer’s market sells these when they are in season.  And I always snap up a basket while they hve them.  The original photo just wasn’t doing it for me.  Choosing a green background wasn’t the best idea, or so I thought.  I process my photographs in Lightroom 2 and love all the presets that are available.  The preset used to create this fun photo was created by SarahJi and was found at Presets Heaven.  I used “Cool Vintage” to create this photograph.

Desktop Wallpaper – Standard (1024 x 768)
Desktop Wallpaper – Widescreen (1440 x 900)
Pears – Original
The shape of this photo does not lend itself to a 4×6 or 8×10 print.  This is sort of a wide and narrow print, almost panoramic in a way (though it is a true panorama).  I have offered a nearly full size version of this print for you to download and print out to whatever size you wish.

Aaaaah, cherries.  One of my favorite fruits.  I like them plain.  I like them in a pie.   And I like them right here in this photo too.

Desktop Wallpaper – Standard (1024 x 768)
Desktop Wallpaper – Widescreen (1440 x 900)
Print – 4 x 6
Due to the nature of this photograph, an 8 x 10 version is not offered.  The cropping for an 8 x 10 cuts off the cherries too much.

Today, I have fun plans.  I’m meeting a friend, and we’re going off for a morning of photography fun.  It is my last day of my mini-vacation from work.  It’s been a nice 3 days to relax, recharge, and start cooking/blogging again.  But I’m ready to go back and to see if I can keep everything going again with work involved.  Such fun.

Last night, I made these pork chops.  And I can’t decide if they are good or not.  Well, let me rephrase.  They were good.  I enjoyed eating this particular one.  I have a few more in my fridge for upcoming meals.  Don’t be surprised if you see one in Thursday’s bento lunch box.  However, I think the stuffing can be improved  I just don’t know how.  I’m not one for mushy things, and stuffing, to me, always seemed a bit on the mushy side.  Is it supposed to be?  You tell me…

I’ve had this idea in my head for awhile, so figured why not give it a try.  I had everything but the walnuts.  That was easily taken care of on a recent trip to the grocery store.  And the leftover walnuts were used in brownies for desert.  YUM!  I’ve listed this as a recipe since I am giving how-to.  Please take it with a big cautionary note that I’m not sure if this stuffing is right.  Comments and suggestions would be most welcome.

I started everything off by toasted an 8 oz bag of chopped walnuts.  Only about a 1/3 of these were used in the stuffing.  Another 1/3 (or so) were used in brownies for dessert.  Which means, I have toasted walnuts leftover to do something fun with.  What I don’t know.  I also don’t know if they will last to do something fun with.  I  keep eating them (love toasted nuts!).  Walnuts were toasted in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.  When the walnuts become fragrant and a bit brown, take them out and taste one.  If they taste all nice and toasty, voila!, they are ready.

While the walnuts toasted, I gathered my apples for slicing and dicing.  While I pulled out 3, I only ended up needing two.  In actuality, I could have used just 1 since I had alot of stuffing leftover in the end.  These are Braeburn apples.  I have no idea if another type would do or not, but I think any apple that is appropriate for baking would do nicely.  I’ve used Braeburns to bake with before, and they do okay enough.   I wouldn’t use Red Delicious as they don’t hold up so well in the oven.  Or so I’ve found.

Two apples were diced to a small, thin size.  Oh, and copious amounts were eaten while dicing.  Because I’m always afraid to dice that last wee bit for fear of cutting off part of a finger.  Once diced the apples were placed in a bowl of water with the juice of one lemon to prevent browning while the bread was prepared.

Next came the bread.  I had the last remnants of a multi-grain bread in my freezer.  I took out a few slices for the stuffing.  I thought this might give a nice “nutty” flavor to the stuffing wholly different from the walnuts I planned to add.  It certainly did.  And while the bread got a bit mushy in the way that stuffing seems to get, it wasn’t near about as mushy as stuffing seems to normally be.  It held its own quite nicely.

The bread was diced into 1/2″ cubes.  Those pieces that seemed a wee bit too big were torn apart by hand.  Oh, this bread.  I love this bread.  And it is what I did with this bread that I think is where I made my mistake.  You’ll see in a  minute.

Next, it was time to prep the pork chops.  Here we have some nice thick chops, about 2 inches thick I think.  I should have measured and totally forgot to.  I purchase these at my local warehouse club (Sam’s Club).  I think I pay about $13 for 9-10 thick, awesome chops.  It is one of the better deals I think they have.  I love pork chops like this.

Each pork chop is cut down the middle, but not cut completely through.  It’s an almost butterfly I think.  You want to leave one side of the pork chop intact so you can stuff the inside.

Now, let’s put two tablespoons of butter in our skillet.  Let the butter melt, and the skillet heat to a nice medium temperature.  It happens to be setting #4 on my particular electric stove.  And let me just say, I am enjoying this stainless steel skillet I purchased.  It’s awesome.  I’m still having trouble with things sticking to the bottom of it, but clean-up is a breeze.

Once the butter is melted and bubbling slightly, it is time to get cooking.  The bread misstep is coming soon.  You’ll see. 

Into the butter all those wonderful apples went.  Things started to smell nicely right away.  Once the apples sauteed a bit, I added the bread.

This is where I think I made my mistake.  That bread soaked up every bit of liquid in the pan, of course.  Something I didn’t think too hard about ahead of time.  I hope I can convince myself to make this again in the future.  If I do, I think I’d add just 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan (or a bit less) and toast those diced pieces of bread first.  Then remove from the pan, add a bit more butter, and sautee the apple a bit.  Then, combine everything at the end.  All in all, this way wasn’t bad.  I just wonder what would make it better (and possibly crispier).  I sprinkled the concoction with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Once everything had sauteed a bit, I threw about 1/2 cup (plus a small handful more) of walnuts into the mixture.  Everything was stirred around well, then removed to a bowl.

Since I had a hot pan on the stove, I decided to add another pat of butter and throw in the pork chops.  Each side was seared, but the chops were not cooked through.  I thought the searing might help the baking process.  I was right.  They came out juicy and wonderful after baking.

Pork chops were placed on a foil-lined baking sheet and sprinkled with salt and pepper on both sides.  After seasoning, each pork chop was stuffed with a generous helping of the apple/walnut mixture.  Chops were placed in a 350 degree oven and baked for 30 minutes.

Ahhh, this did come out pretty well over all.  But that stuffing needs a wee bit of work.  The pork chops themselves were tasty and flavorful.  All in all it was a great meal for the night.  A new recipe, Julie & Julia playing on Netflix, and a brownie for dessert.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I had vanilla ice cream for the brownies. 

Be the bento everyone!  Have a great Wednesday.

Apple/Walnut Stuffed Pork Chops (A Recipe in Progress)

Ingredients:
6, 2″ thick pork chops, sliced down the middle about half way
2 Braeburn apples (or other baking apple)
4-5 slices multi-grain bread
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Butter
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

• Toast the walnuts for 10-12 minutes in a 400 degree oven until slightly browned. Taste to make sure they are toasted.
• Peel and core both apples. Dice into small thin pieces. Place diced pieces in a bowl of water with the juice of one lemon. This will help prevent browning while the rest of the recipe is prepared.
• Dice bread into half-inch cubes.
• Slice each pork chop down the middle lengthwise, but do not cut completely through. Leave one side of the pork chop intact so you can stuff the inside.
• Heat a skillet on your stove on medium heat with two tablespoons of butter.
• Drain the apples from the lemon-water.
• Once the butter is melted and bubbling slightly, place the apples in the skillet and sautee until slightly softened.
• Next, add the bread. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder over your stuffing mixture. If you prefer to use other spices, feel free to season to your liking.
• Sautee for another 3-5 minutes.
• Add the 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts to the skillet. Mix well. Turn off the heat and remove the mixture to a bowl.
• Deglaze your pan with a bit of water. If necessary, scrap the pan of any leftover bread residue and swipe the pan clean with a paper towel.
• Add a pat of butter to the pan.
• Sear each side of the pork chops until a nice golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. Do not cook the pork chops through.
• Place pork chops onn a foil-lined baking sheet and sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.
• Spoon a generous amount of the apple/walnut/bread mixture into the inside of each pork chop (the cut you made earlier).
• Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
• Take out of oven and check that the chops are cooked through.
• Eat and enjoy!

Sometimes, a picture just says, “Hey, I need to be in black & white.”  And when it says that, I listen.  Because I love the simplicity of a monochromatic photograph.  And this is one that I definitely like how it came out.

Desktop Wallpaper – Standard (1024 x 768)
Desktop Wallpaper – Widescreen (1440 x 900)
Print – 4 x 6
Print 8 x 10

Eggplants are a gorgeous color.  That bright, vibrant purple is an amazing natural color.  However, sometimes, a photograph needs all the color leached out of it.  I find sometimes you see the texture better that way.  And this photo had alot of nice texture.  From the fabric the eggplants rest upon to their rough, fresh skins, to their scrunchy tops, these eggplants had much to say.  They are from my local farmer’s market.  Though I must say, they photograph better than they taste (or at least the recipes I tried).

Desktop Wallpaper – Standard (1024 x 768)
Desktop Wallpaper – Widescreen (1440 x 900)
Print – 4 x 6
Print 8 x 10

More from the Baton Rouge Farmer’s Market.  Peaches, organic & home grown in Louisiana.  They were super sweet and super delicious.  And I’m not a huge fan of peaches really.  I bought these on a whim.  The farmer’s were handing out tastes of peaches.  And I was suckered in by the sweetness.  An amazingly good purchase indeed.

Desktop Wallpaper – Standard (1024 x 768)
Desktop Wallpaper – Widescreen (1440 x 900)
Print – 4 x 6
Print 8 x 10

More blueberries!  If you haven’t seen the first picture of the blueberries, click here.  Otherwise, enjoy this one with its featured downloads.

Desktop Wallpaper – Standard
Desktop Wallpaper – Widescreen
Print – 4×6
Print – 8×10