Chicken and Brie Panini

Panini's are like grown up grilled cheese sandwiches.  Cheese is a main component of any panini but you can mix it up by using different varieties of cheese, meat and other yummy fillings.  Brie is one of my favorite cheeses but not often used in sandwiches, mostly cheese trays.  When brie is served on a cheese tray it's usually accompanied by something sweet. Think figs, dried apricots...etc.  Yesterday, when I was thinking about this sandwich my mind turned to carmelized onions to add the sweetness necessary to use Brie.  Round out the chicken, carmelized onions and brie with some peppery arugula and you have one hell of a panini!

The Ingredients:
Ciabatta (or other crusty bread), sliced lengthwise
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, roasted and sliced
1/4 wheel of brie, room temperature
mayonaisse
2 onions, sliced
bag of arugula
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
1 tbls butter
1 tsp sugar

The method:
Pre Heat the oven to 400
Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place chicken breasts on the sheet.  Drizzle well with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until breasts are golden, juices run clear and internal temperature is 170 degrees.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
While the chicken is roasting add onions, butter and 1 tbsp olive oil to a saute pan.  Cook over medium heat until onions and wilted and starting to brown, about 15 minutes.  Add sugar and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.  To prepare the sandwich:  spread thin layer of mayo on both sides of the bread, spread brie on one side of bread, add a layer of chicken, arugula and finish with the camelized onions.  Place bread halves together and press down.  You can use a panini press or sandwich maker but if you don't have those items here is what I do:  Put half the sandwich in a saute pan, top with a sheet of foil and then add a heavy skillet.  I use my cast iron skillet.  Press down occasionally.  Cook over medium heat until bottom is golden, flip over and cook the other side the same way.  Slice and enjoy!  Bon Appetit!

Turkey Taquitos

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey!  You won't even know this is the same thing you've eaten for the past 4 days. Trust me.  Oh yah, did I mention this turkey dinner is healthy?  These yummy, healthy taquitos can be served with a salad or some rice made with chicken stock and tomatoes.

Ingredients:
2 cups leftover turkey (or chicken), shredded
1/4 cup of store bought salsa
1 c pepper jack cheese, shredded
8-10 soft taco size flour tortillas
cooking spray

The method:
Pre-Heat oven to 425 degrees
Cover a cookie sheet with non-stick foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Combine turkey, salsa and cheese in a bowl and mix to combine.  Place approximately 3 tbls of the mixture on one end of the tortilla and roll up tightly.  Place seam side down on the cookie sheet and repeat with remaining tortillas.  Spray the tops of all the taquitos lightly with cooking spray and place in oven.  After about 10 minutes turn the taquitos over and continue baking for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.  Serve with salsa and light sour cream.

Before baking...

After baking. Yum!

Toronto, Pamela & Jason's Wedding and Pizza Rustica

Oh my!  First blog since returning from Toronto for Jason and Pamela's wedding.  What fun we had visiting with all the family!  We arrived in waves from California...first Benjamin, then Mom, next to arrive was Mark, Andrew and me and finally Scott and Ileana.  We descended upon Pizza Rustica on a daily basis to eat up the delicious pizzas, salads and pasta's.  I already miss the rosemary & potato pizza.  I'll need to get that recipe from the cuz! 

The highlight of the trip was attending Jason and Pamela's wedding!  What an amazing, wonderful time!  Everything was perfect and the bride was beautiful!

Even the wedding favors were cool and I knew we'd put them to good use at our house.  One bottle is filled with balsamic vinegar (Andrew's favorite condiment) and the other bottle is filled with a garlic-chili oil that I whipped up.  The garlic-chili oil makes a great topping for pizza and pasta.  I also use it to saute shrimp.

Ingredients:

1 cup of olive oil

1 tsp chili flakes (or more to taste)

2 garlic cloves, smashed

The method:

Add all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until garlic cloves are slightly brown, approximately 10-15 minutes.  Remove garlic cloves before bottling.

Pumpkins and Seeds

A day late and a dollar short...that's me.  I know it's 3 days after Halloween but anyway, here are Andrew and me being Pumpkin Heads before we started cleaning the goop from the pumpkin seeds prior to roasting.


Here is how I roast Pumpkin Seeds:
Seperate the seeds from the pumpkin goop/innards by manual method or rinse in a collander.  Once the seeds are relatively clean, place in a large bowl and add water to cover.   Add about 1 cup of salt.  It should taste like the ocean.  Let sit about 8 hours or overnight, stirring occasionally.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain and rinse the seeds in a collander and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and cayenne pepper to taste.  Bake for 10 minutes and stir seeds.  Continue baking and stirring every 10 minutes until the seeds are golden, approximately 30 minutes.

BFD

BFD...Breakfast For Dinner.  Sometimes I get a craving to eat breakfast at night.  Usually, we'll do bacon, eggs and hash browns but this week the BFD craving came with a craving for Mexican food.  So hence, my recipe for Huevos Rancheros.  I serve this over refried beans topped with melted cheese and with warm, flour tortillas for dipping!

Ingredients:
Eggs
1 pasilla pepper
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 yellow onion
1 red onion
3 tomatoes
3 tomatillos
2-3 jalapenos, seeds and white membranes removed if you don't want too much spice
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil

The method:
Pre heat the oven to 400
Line a sheet pan with foil (for easy clean up).  Cut all vegetables into 1-2 inch pieces.  Peel the garlic cloves.  Place all on the sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil to coat.  Using your hands, toss the vegetables then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast until the vegetables are soft and browned in spots.

Before and after roasting the vegetables:

 

Place the roasted vegetables in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  Melt 1 tsp of butter and 1 tsp of olive oil in a skillet.  Cook the Ranchero sauce over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  In the meantime, prepare the eggs.  I usually do them over medium but feel free to make them the way you like.  Place the eggs on a plate and spoon plenty of Ranchero sauce over the eggs. Serve with refried beans and warm flour tortillas.  Yum!

Easy Peasy Pasta with Parmesan and Pancetta

This is my go to pasta.  Most of the time I have what I need on hand in the pantry or the freezer.  It's also very easy to substitute what you do have on hand.  Don't have peas but have asparagus? Go for it! Don't have pancetta but have bacon? Go for it?  No cherry tomatoes...leave them out or substitute regular tomatoes or 1/4 cup canned.  You get the idea. 

Ingredients:
1/2 large onion, chopped
3 thick slices pancetta, cubed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 container cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 c frozen peas
1/4 tsp chile flakes
10-12 basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan
1 pkg spaghetti

The Method:
Put large pot of water on for spaghetti.  When boiling, add 2 tbsp of salt and the spaghetti.  Cook 2 minutes less than the package recommends.  The remaining cook time will be in the sauce. Save some of the pasta water to add to the sauce if necessary.
In a large skillet, cook the pancetta to golden brown.  Remove to paper towel line plate.  Add the butter, olive oil and onion to the skillet.  Cook on medium for approximately 12 minutes until slightly carmelized.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the wine and reduce until almost gone.  Add the cherry tomatoes, peas, chile flakes, pancetta and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the chicken stock and heavy cream.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.  Taste for seasoning.  Add more chile flakes, salt and pepper if necessary.  Add the spaghetti to the sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add saved pasta water by ladelfuls if the sauce seems to dry.  Add the parmesan and stir to combine.

Home Run Chicken

Mark loves the St. Louis Cardinals.  He really, really, really loves Albert Pujols.  According to Mark he might just be the best, all-time, greatest player...EVER!  Picture this, Food Network is on (and it usually is in our house), Paula Deen's show is just starting and there on the screen is Albert and Dee Dee Pujol's!  Where is Mark?  Right in front of the television with a big smile on his face.  How could I not create the very meal Albert has been eating his entire life for the LOML?  It came out really good, even though the recipe found here on Food Network didn't include the most important component, a Dominican spice mixture, called Sazon seasoning.  A simple google turned up this method found here.  The entire meal was a success and we're having it again tonight!  Go Cardinals!