Tag Archives: dinner

Chicken Anne Boleyn

Posted on April 21, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, I started the day having Mohawk Valley adventures, until I got sidelined by a sinus headache (could have been a migraine; I don’t know from headaches). After taking a nap and lamenting my wasted afternoon, I managed to fix something for dinner that I thought might make an acceptable cooking post.

First I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees, then sat back down to read my book some more. A wise woman once told me you can’t rush into these things (I think it was my mother). Finally I rousted myself back into the kitchen, where I put some frozen pre-cooked chicken strips into my cast iron frying pan to heat (it always takes longer than the package says). I covered it with a glass lid that just happens to fit the pan perfectly (the pot the lid went to broke a long time ago).

Then I took some fresh asparagus, rinsed it, broke off the tough ends, broke it into pieces and put it in a glass baking dish. I had some oil in the refrigerator with garlic and spices in it, which I had used the last time I roasted vegetables. I poured some over the asparagus and put it in the oven. Set the timer for nine minutes, although I figured it would take longer than that.

I put some water on to boil for some cheese tortellini, then read my book some more. I stayed in the kitchen reading it, though, to keep an eye on the chicken. It’s a biography of Anne Boleyn, which I’ve read before, but these history books always bear re-reading.

After a while I thought to put some frozen spinach in with the chicken. I poured some of the garlic/spices oil over that and kept it covered. It took even longer than expected, but that was OK, because the tortellini water took a long time to boil. The asparagus, too, took longer than expected. I kept taste testing it. I love asparagus.

Eventually everything was done. I put it in a metal bowl, added some pepperoni, feta cheese and Italian salad dressing and stirred well. I had actually meant to do all this at least an hour before I did it, chill it and call it salad. As it turned out (we’ll blame the headache), Steven was due home any minute. I decided it could be warm salad. Leftovers will be regular.

Perceptive readers may have noticed I did not cook with wine, as I like to do. Well, I knew I had a blog post to write. I didn’t want it to be full of typos.

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St. Patrick Sausage Balls

Posted on March 19, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Since yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, I thought it would be a good idea to cook something green. I just happened to have a large green pepper I had purchased at Hannaford. I had also purchased some Hannaford All-Purpose Baking Mix (they didn’t have my usual Jiffy). This was going to be good.

Regular readers (if any) will recall that Saturday I had wanted to make sausage balls but lacked the proper ingredients. I still had the sausage (from Dino’s in Utica, NY). Now I had the baking mix. The green pepper would be a new addition to the recipe, which in any case I couldn’t find. I found a similar recipe in a book. I felt confident in my ability to wing it.

I started by peeling and crushing some cloves of garlic. I set the timer for 15 minutes, so the garlic could reach its full antioxidant benefits (or is that cancer fighting qualities? Whatever). I chopped up a yellow onion and put it in a cast iron frying pan with some olive oil. Then I cut up my green pepper into small pieces and added that to the onions. I put the sausage in the pan all in a lump. I figured it would be easier to break apart as it cooked. I added the garlic shortly after the sausage, as soon as the timer went off.

It took a long time to cook, as sausage often does. I kept chopping the sausage into smaller and smaller pieces with the spatula, which helped. At last it was ready. I emptied it into a bowl and added two cups of baking mix.

And it didn’t seem to do much but kind of sort of coat the sausage a little. I added some more. Then a little more. Then I poured some milk over it. Finally I got a consistency I liked.

I turned the oven on to 350 degrees and sprayed no-stick stuff on two baking sheets. I dropped the sausage mixture onto the sheets by the spoonful. I filled both sheets and a pizza tin. I put them in to bake for 20 minutes. I took the oven temperature and baking time from the recipe I had found, which may have been silly of me, since I didn’t really follow anything else in it.

The sausage balls turned out perfectly tasty. Perhaps I could have taken them out of the oven a trifle sooner, but really not too bad. Some people like them extra brown. Steven and I enjoyed them. And there are plenty left over. I ate a couple before typing in this post. Still perfectly enjoyable. I hope all my readers enjoyed Menu Monday.

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Unable to Entertain with a Cooking Post

Posted on March 17, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday (Saturday) I thought to cook something good, so I could do a cooking post today instead of having Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I had some lovely sausage from Dino’s in Utica, NY that was thawed out and ready to go. What to do with it?

Of course, sausage is always good in spaghetti sauce, and I do love me some spaghetti. However, I did not have any green peppers. I have many times made perfectly tasty sauce without green peppers, but for some reason yesterday, I just did not feel that I could. And I was definitely not inclined to go to the store. Oh dear.

I thought, really, wouldn’t it be a good idea to go out to eat? After all, dinner at Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner would support a Main Street business, which I believe I mentioned in yesterday’s post is something I intend to do. I had mentioned dinner at Crazy Otto’s to Steven that morning, and he seemed a little unenthusiastic. Oh, he loves Crazy Otto’s. It’s just that after a long day of work, he would rather stay home, put on his sweats and relax.

Steven was working till 6:30. As the afternoon wore on, I started to think how happy Steven would feel to come home and see me in sweats. I do like to make my husband happy. I was ready for the sweats on, bra off portion of the day anyways. Surely I could cook SOMETHING.

Then I thought of Sausage Balls. We love to have appetizer-y things for dinner! I started to search for the recipe, first pouring myself a glass of wine, because I like to cook with wine.

And then the whole thing came to a grinding halt. We didn’t have enough Jiffy Baking Mix. I was already in my sweats. It was after 6:15.

I suppose as Saturday night disasters go, this was pretty minor. We still had plenty of options regarding food. I talked Steven into one of my favorites: we called Carney’s Corners and got delivery. A Chicken Bacon Ranch Sub and Potato Wedges. We also ate some cottage cheese, which I think goes delightfully with potato wedges (unless you are having ketchup; I don’t care for ketchup on my cottage cheese).

So here I am on Wrist to Forehead Sunday, unable to entertain you with a cooking post. I went to Hannaford this morning, though, so things may be looking up for tomorrow. Stay tuned.

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Semi-Fancy Eggplant

Posted on January 17, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I purposely cooked a semi-fancy supper last night so I could have a blog post today. Then I thought I had probably written a post about that recipe (if you can call how I cook a recipe) before (full disclosure: I’m too lazy to check). Then I thought maybe I would find different things to say about it. I do tend to do these things differently every time, depending on circumstances.

Circumstances this time were that fresh cilantro was on sale at Hannaford, and it looked pretty good. I picked up some eggplant, too, because I like eggplant roasted with cilantro. Then I grabbed some Roma tomatoes, because there would certainly be enough cilantro to also make a batch of salsa, maybe even for the pending dinner meeting of Ilion Little Theatre Club.

I hesitated long and hard over the mushrooms (good to roast with eggplant). I did not like the way the pre-washed, pre-sliced ones looked. The unsliced ones looked extremely dirty. I do hate washing mushrooms (point and laugh if you must). I finally found a package I could live with.

I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees. I’ve done eggplant at 350, but it seems to me that 350 is baking and 400 is roasting. I think I read that somewhere. I peeled and pressed a goodly amount of garlic (no worries about vampires at my house) and set the time for 15 minutes.

I pulled the blender out of the cupboard and poured in the rest of my olive oil then supplemented that with some canola oil. I pulled a bunch of cilantro leaves off the stems and threw them in. No point in chopping them when the blender would do it for me.

Plenty of time while the garlic breathed (or whatever it does) to chop up the eggplant. I had not gotten such a large one as I sometimes do. They say the smaller ones have better flavor (no, I don’t know who “they” is). I always pick whichever looks good at the time.

I had it in my head that I had to wash the mushrooms. Me and my middle-aged memory. Imagine my delight when I realized I had so purchased a pre-washed pre-sliced package.

Eventually I put the garlic in the blender, blended, poured some of the resulting mixture over the eggplant, stirred, poured that into a glass baking dish (previously sprayed with no-stick; I left that part out), and put it in the oven. I set the timer for 20 minutes and thought I could type in yesterday’s blog post.

No luck. The computer was acting up. Now what to do? Oh, all right, I could start on the salsa, which, if it turned out well I would bring to Thursday’s dinner meeting. My actual salsa method I will save for a future blog post (waste not, want not, I sometimes say).

Regarding the roasted vegetables, I stirred the eggplant after 20 minutes then set the timer for a further 15. When the eggplant was looking pretty good I put on water for farfalle, sometimes called bow-tie pasta, I believe. Normally I have roasted vegetables over angel hair, but sometimes I like to mix things up a bit.

The farfalle was to cook for 12 to 14 minutes, so when I put that on, I added the mushrooms (tossed with the oil-garlic-cilantro mix) to the eggplant. I tossed the cooked pasta with a little of the oil mixture as well.

Steven had bread and butter with his pasta and vegetables. I put grated cheese on mine.

Roasted eggplant is one of my favorite meals. I’ll probably write another post about it the next time I fix it. Dire warning or preview of coming attractions? You decide.

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Suddenly Supper

Posted on January 14, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a new feature? Instead of Wrist to Forehead Sunday, I’ll have What’s for Supper Sunday. I’ll talk about what I cooked on Saturday. It worked last week, maybe it’ll work this week.

Unfortunately, it is not that exciting this week. I had thought to spend the afternoon lovingly creating my creamy potato soup, which Steven loves. It is labor intensive, and I was in a labor adverse mood. I thought I could throw something together at the last minute instead.

I actually did not wait until quite the last minute, which would have been after Steven got home. He worked till 6:30. I started moving about ten after six. I started, as I often do, by peeling and pressing garlic, then setting the timer for fifteen minutes. I had in mind to do something with some frozen, already cooked chicken breast tenders. Such a handy item to keep in the freezer.

I also had two avocados I thought I’d better do something with. I figured they had reached the mushy stage, so guacamole seemed a good bet. For another reason, that’s about all I know to do with avocados anyways. I did not have any green chiles, which my favorite recipe calls for, so I thought I’d just wing it.

I used garlic, dehydrated minced onion, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. It seemed a little bland, but I put it in the fridge to let the flavors blend.

In the meantime I had put the chicken in a frying pan and was heating it through. I took some tomato sauce out of the freezer and put it in a bowl of warm water to thaw. I’ve mentioned this sauce before: it comes with some pizza crust we sometimes buy but we absolutely never use it in the pizzas. Waste not, want not, I always say (among other things).

When the chicken was somewhat heated, I added the sauce, the rest of the crushed garlic, some fresh portabella mushrooms I happened to have and a can of pieces and stems along with the water in the can. I added some tap water too, because the sauce seemed a little thick. I added basil and oregano and covered it.

And that was about it. I kept lifting the lid to stir it around. Then I cooked some shells to put it over. It turned out pretty good.

The guacamole, however, was not one of my better efforts. We didn’t get into it last night, but I did taste it after it had set for a while. Still a little bland. I may add something more to it before we consume it, probably later today. I’ll let you know.

I had big plans for today’s dinner too, so you may have been in for another cooking post tomorrow. However, a sinus headache intervened. You’ll be happy to know that drugs, rest and coffee helped, so at least you will be spared another post detailing my pain. Only I don’t feel like cooking. Is that a wrist I feel against my forehead? Ah well, it is Sunday.

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Popeye Would Have Liked It

Posted on January 10, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I got such good results with my Chicken Cordon Bleu, I thought I would invent a recipe for Chicken Florentine.

I learned a long time ago from Mr. Food (may he rest in peace) that “florentine” means “with spinach.” I’ve made Mr. Food’s recipe for Steak Florentine. I’ve eaten Eggs Florentine at a Chauncey’s Restaurant in Vermont. I could get silly and say the old Popeye cartoons were Violence Florentine, but, you know, I used to like those. My sisters and I would sing the Popeye song every time our mother fixed spinach.

Where was I? Ah yes, inventing a recipe. We preheated the oven to 350 degrees. Steven put in potatoes to bake (he was helping me cook because of my bad ankle) (see yesterday’s post).

I grated some mozzarella cheese (not as much as I grated for the Cordon Bleu, because I did not intend to make a cheese sauce). Once again, I did not pound the boneless skinless thighs (once again, instead of breasts), but sliced them so that I could kind of sort of fold them open. I put cheese, spinach and baby portobello mushrooms on them (I bought the pre-washed, pre-sliced mushrooms. I’m not too lazy to slice, but it is such a pain to wash mushrooms) (and I used fresh spinach, although I suppose the frozen kind would work just as well). I folded the chickens over and rolled them in breadcrumbs as best I could.

A word about the breadcrumbs. I normally buy the Italian Seasoned, but when I shopped on Sunday, I noticed 4C were made in Brooklyn, NY (Hannaford puts out helpful signs telling you these things). They were “Seasoned” not “Italian Seasoned,” but when I read the ingredients, it looked to me like they used all the same stuff. I thought, why quibble over an adjective? I went with the New York State brand.

One further note: I saw the word “wheat gluten” in the ingredients, too, and made a mental note not to use breadcrumbs in anything I may fix for my friend Phyllis. I have become more aware of gluten since I found out Phyllis has Celiac’s. Is that a HIPPA violation to mention that? Oh dear.

After I got the chicken in the oven I put some spinach and mushrooms in a casserole dish, drizzled olive oil over them, sprinkled on a little lemon pepper, garlic power and minced onion (oh, stop shaking your purist gourmet fingers at me! I’m sure garlic powder and dehydrated onions are perfectly respectable), and tossed it with a bamboo spoon and fork (just to give you an accurate picture). I did not put that in the oven till the last ten minutes or so.

As a matter of fact, Steven put them in. I set the timer for twenty minutes, showered, then flipped the chicken while Steven poked the potatoes. I set the timer for a second twenty minutes and left Steven with instructions to check things again, decide how much longer it needed, and put the spinach/mushroom mixture in for the last ten minutes or so. Then I went upstairs and started writing yesterday’s blog post (which I composed at the computer. Today I am writing in a regular paper notebook on a break at work) (again, in the interests of an accurate picture).

Steven cooked the chicken and potatoes an additional ten minutes while the other vegetables cooked. The potatoes perhaps could have baked a little longer, but it was a yummy dinner. I felt pleased with myself. Perhaps I’m no Rachel Ray, but I do my best.

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Don’t It Make My Chicken Bleu

Posted on December 31, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I’d change up Wrist to Forehead Sunday with a cooking post. Saturday I figured out how to make Chicken Cordon Bleu.

The only recipe I had was the memory of a co-worker telling me how she made it in the late ’80s. That is, she told me in the ’80s. When I reminisce about the ’80s with my friends, we don’t usually share chicken recipes. But I digress.

I started out by pouring myself a glass of wine, because I like to cook with wine (sometimes I put it in the food) (I read that on a refrigerator magnet or a t-shirt sometime). I set the oven on 350 degrees to preheat and grated some mozzarella cheese.

So right away I differed from my friend’s recipe. She used slices of cheese and ham which she cut into strips and rolled up together. I had nice chunks of leftover Christmas ham my sister had given me and a brick of mozzarella I had purchased that morning.

I differed from every Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe I’d ever heard of by using boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts. I have better luck with thighs not drying out on me. Plus, I like dark meat. I think you’re supposed to pound the chicken with a hammer to flatten it out, but this is something else I’ve never had much luck with. I sliced it in half through the thickest part and spread it open.

I put the grated mozzarella on, then the ham, folded it back together and rolled it in Italian Style Breadcrumbs. My mother always uses Italian Style for all her breadcrumb needs.

I put the chickens in the pan (on which I had previously sprayed no-stick cooking spray) and stuck a couple of toothpicks in them to keep them from opening back up. I’m not sure if the toothpicks were really necessary. I ended up taking them out after 30 minutes anyways, when I flipped the chickens with the help of barbecue tongs.

The chickens ended up cooking about 50 minutes total. Thirty, then flip, then check after 10, then after 10 more. While they cooked I made a cheese sauce with the extra mozzarella I had grated (I never guess the right amount).

And here’s where all you cooking purists will shake an admonitory finger at me. Also nutrition purists. I used a can of cream of mushroom soup to which I added the cheese and some spices. Well, you purists can shake your fingers or your heads or your groove things for all I care. My mother had suggested the cream of mushroom soup when I told her my dinner plans earlier. Everybody agrees that my mother is a marvelous cook. So there.

The Chicken Cordon Bleu turned out very tasty, even, dare I say, yummy. We had it with a macaroni salad I made using some leftover ziti (waste not, want not). And I am especially pleased that it enabled me to keep my wrist from my forehead on a Sunday.

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Crock Pot Creativity

Posted on August 17, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I haven’t done a cooking post recently, and I did some cooking last night (Wednesday), so I thought this might be a change of pace.

Wednesday’s dinner was grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. I thought about doing something to make it more memorable, like adding pesto or using real butter, but I was impatient to eat so I used the traditional, easy method. I did use farm stand tomato, so it was local (and yummy!), but that wasn’t what I meant to write about anyways. I got creative for Thursday’s dinner.

You see, Thursday is two days away from the DARE 5K (you knew I’d get back to talking about that sooner or later, didn’t you?). A guy at the Sneaker Store in New Hartford, NY, told me to eat a steak dinner two days before the Boilermaker and pasta the night before. The Sneaker Store, just to give a quick plug to a local business, is where I purchase my running shoes, because they are so helpful and knowledgeable. In this case, I had stopped in for running socks and advice about the intensity of my workouts the week before the big race.

I don’t know how to cook a steak, but I can throw a London Broil into the crock pot. I figured beef is beef. This would work.

I also happened to have an eggplant, which I know goes good with beef. I chopped the eggplant into bite sized pieces and put them in the bottom of the crock pot, which Steven had helpfully sprayed with no-stick stuff for me. I had some pesto I had made on Sunday, so I drizzled that over the eggplant and stirred.

My pesto is not made according to a real recipe. This time I used a combination of olive and canola oil to which I added fresh basil from my container garden, crushed garlic (which I let breathe for 15 minutes) and fresh grated Parmesan. I whirred everything around in the blender till it looked good. We had it with angel hair and chicken. I always try to make enough pesto for leftovers.

I put the London Broil on top of the eggplant, brushed it with pesto and sprinkled on a little garlic powder for good measure. Then I made a note on our grocery list to buy more garlic powder. Purists are now throwing up their hands in horror that I do not use fresh garlic exclusively. To these people I say, as kindly as possible, get over yourselves.

Then I looked in the cabinet for diced tomatoes or tomato sauce and found I have none. What’s that all about? Well, I don’t get to Aldi’s, that excellent source for canned food, as often as I used to. Also, for a while there I was going a little crazy with the diced tomatoes. They were piling up and I kept neglecting to rotate my stock with the result that some cans expired. By a couple of years. So now I err on the other side and don’t have things when I need them.

Steven found me some tubes of pizza sauce in the freezer. I’ve mentioned this sauce before: it comes with the pizza crust we sometimes buy (and for you purists who are now raising your hands in horror because I don’t make pizza crust from scratch and/or because I’m using the sauce that comes with it, oh, just put your hands down. Who asked you?). I put the tubes in some hot water to thaw and went upstairs to write yesterday’s blog post.

When I returned I squeezed the tomato sauce over the beef and eggplant and put the whole thing in the refrigerator. I have a fancy crock pot (purchased some years ago with money my mom and dad sent me for my birthday. Thanks, Mom and Dad!). The bowl comes out of the heating unit, for ease of cleaning and to put your food in the fridge overnight. A very handy feature.

Steven’s assignment today is to put the crock in the pot (or is it the pot in the crock?) and turn it on low, eight to ten hours before we plan to eat. If that turns out to be before I type this into my computer, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

ADDED NOTE: Haven’t tried the stuff yet, but it smells good and I’m hungry! I hope you’re eating well tonight, too.

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