Chicken and Rice

Tonight I went back to an old favorite for dinner; Cumin-Dusted Chicken Breasts with Guacamole Sauce and Yellow Rice. The sweet and smoky rub on the chicken contrasts beautifully with the bit of spice in the guacamole sauce. This is a recipe that I found several years ago on the Cooking Light website and I printed it off, which is a good thing since I can no longer find it on their website. It is one of my favorite chicken recipes. The yellow rice is simply long-grain white rice cooked in chicken broth with some turmeric to give it the bright yellow color.

Cumin Dusted Chicken Breasts with Guacamole Sauce

For the Sauce:
1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne pepper)
1 avocado, seeded and coarsely mashed

For the Chicken:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black peper
4 6-oz. chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
Olive Oil

Prepare the sauce by combining all ingredients and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare the chicken, combine the sugar, cumin, salt, and black pepper; sprinkle evenly over chicken. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with olive oil. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Turn chicken over. Place pan in oven; bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until done. Serve chicken with sauce.


Yellow Rice

2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 cup long-grain white rice

Bring broth to a boil, add salt and turmeric. Stir in rice and cook according to package directions.


I started dinner tonight by making the sauce for the chicken and setting it aside. I then started the rice which took 15 minutes to cook once I added the rice. I allowed it to sit, covered for another 5 minutes when the timer went off. While the rice was simmering, I sauteed the chicken and then popped it in the oven once I flipped it.


This is a very easy dinner to pull together, it is relatively inexpensive, it seems to be pretty healthy and above all it is delicious.

I rate this meal:

Chili and Cornbread

With the cooling off of the weather this week, I have been craving some cooler weather classic dishes and what is more fall like than chili (especially the week that the regular season NFL starts)? By the way, the weather has cooled down to the 80's today which felt great. I love Ree Drummond's chili recipe from her Pioneer Woman Cookbook which I have owned for quite a while. She now has her own show on Food Network which I have enjoyed watching; both episodes so far have been great and I'm sure it will be a hit.

The other component to dinner was cornbread and for this recipe, I turned to Melissa D'Arabian who makes a wonderful cornbread which she calls Brunch Cornbread. She adapted a cornbread recipe for her French husband who did not grow up eating cornbread which is why I like this recipe. I also did not grow up eating cornbread. What makes this cornbread recipe unique is that it has a lot more flour than cornmeal and so has a different texture in the end. I also served it with the Maple Lime Butter which she recommends.

Simple, Perfect Chili (from Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook) Serves 6
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 lbs. ground beef
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup masa (corn flour)

Optional Ingredients
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 can Rotel tomatoes

For Service
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Chopped Onion

Begin by measuring the spices, chopped garlic, oregano, cumin, cayenne, and chili powder.

Place the ground beef in a large pot and throw in the garlic. Cook the beef until brown and drain off the excess fat.

Pour in the tomato sauce, followed by the spices and the salt. Stir together well, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If the mixture becomes overly dry, add in 1/2 cup water at a time as needed.

After an hour, place the masa in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup water and stir together with a fork. Dump the masa mixture into the chili.

Stir together well, taste, adjust the seasonings, and add more masa paste and/or water to get the chili to your preferred consistency, or to add more corn flavor. Add the beans, jalapeno, and tomatoes if desired. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with shredded cheddar and chopped onions. I enjoyed just a small dollop of sour cream in addition to the cheddar and onions.



Brunch Cornbread
1 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal (not coarse)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup

For the Maple Lime Butter
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon lime zest
Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking dish with butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together very well the eggs, milk, butter, applesauce, and maple syrup. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir or incorporate (do not overmix). Pour into the prepared dish and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve with Maple Lime butter.

Maple Lime Butter: In a small bowl, mix the softened butter, maple syrup, lime zest and salt. Mix together until well incorporated. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to firm up slightly before serving.


Gerry and I agree this meals gets:

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuits

I don't normally cook breakfast for dinner, but I decided to do just that yesterday. I had recently watched an episode of Kelsey's Essentials on the Cooking Channel where her show was dedicated to breakfast foods and I was intrigued by her homemade sausage patties. On her show she served her breakfast sandwich on Portuguese rolls which I have not found here in Texas, so I decided to make biscuits for the bread. As it turns out, the biscuits were not a great move since they were not sturdy enough to hold the fillings. The whole thing turned out okay, but I'm not sure I will do it again.

I used Tyler Florence's biscuit recipe which follows:

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup vegetable shortening, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk, plus additional for brushing

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender or your hands or a stand mixer fixed with a dough hook until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add 1 cup buttermilk. Using your hands, quickly fold the dry ingredients into the buttermilk until a sticky dough forms. You may need to add more buttermilk.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to create layers. Press the dough out to 1 1/2-inches thick and cut with a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter. Lay the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with buttermilk. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and golden brown.


Here is Kelsey's recipe for Homemade Breakfast Sausage:
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

In a large bowl, mix the ground pork, maple syrup, sage, salt, fennel seeds, garlic, onion and crushed red pepper. Form into 4 sausage patties.


I started with the biscuits and while they were baking, I mixed the sausage and made the patties. I browned the sausage patties in 1 tablespoon of oil in my cast iron skillet about 4 minutes per side until a nice crust had formed and they were cooked through.

I fried up some eggs and topped each egg with a slice of American cheese when I flipped them. I covered the pan so the cheese would completely melt.

I topped a biscuit half with a sausage patty, topped with an egg with all the melted cheese on top and a drizzle of ketchup.

In theory, this sounded good but the biscuits just fell apart as we tried to eat.

I give this dish:

A Southern Classic - Shrimp and Grits

I have had this recipe in the back of my mind for quite a while now...so long that I had to dig through a few of my Cuisine at Home cookbooks to find it and I'm glad I remembered it. This is one of those recipes that if you judge it by name, it really does not sound appealing - Shrimp and Grits; the shrimp part sounds okay but the grits part makes me think of a southern breakfast and how does that tie in with shrimp? As it turns out the grits part of this dinner is like the creamy polenta part of an Italian dinner. They both just work. This recipe had one more element to help put it over the top - a tomato cream sauce. The grits were smooth and creamy, the shrimp mixture hot and spicy, and the tomato cream sauce brought an element of richness and a little bit of cooling contrast to the spice in the shrimp.

Definitely a keeper!

Gerry and I agree:


Shrimp and Grits with Tomato Cream Sauce

For the Grits:
1 cup white or yellow grits
Salt and pepper to taste
4 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided

For the Sauce:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups tomato, diced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup scallions, chopped (green part only)
1 tablespoon white wine
salt and pepper to taste

For the Shrimp:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup yellow pepper, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
16 large shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails left on)
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon each cayenne, kosher salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons white wine

For the Grits:
Prepare grits according to package directions (use equal parts milk and water for the liquid). Season and keep warm.


For the Sauce:
Saute tomatoes in 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook for 2 minutes, then add cream and broth. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes.

Stir in scallions and tablespoon of wine. Season with salt and pepper, simmer 3 minutes. Keep sauce warm over very low heat.


For the Shrimp:
Saute kielbasa in tablespoon butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Add onion, peppers, and garlic; saute until onion is softened, about 4 minutes.

Season shrimp with Old Bay, cayenne, salt, and pepper, then add to keilbasa. Saute 3 minutes, or until shrimp are fully cooked. Deglaze with white wine and cook 1 minute, or until wine evaporates.

To serve, divide grits among 4 bowls, top each serving with a teaspoon of butter. Top each bowl of grits with the shrimp and kielbasa mixture and spoon a little of the cream sauce over all.


This recipe slightly altered from Cuisine at Home, Weeknight Menus.

September means Roast Chicken

I know that today is Monday and I usually follow the Meatless Monday guidelines, but a perfectly roasted chicken has been calling my name. Today really cooled down (by Texas standards - it was a cool 65 degrees early this morning and I think the high only hit 85 degrees this afternoon) and hence the craving for roast chicken.

I started the process by adding some dried rosemary, marjarom, and thyme to softened butter and mixing well. I rinsed and dried my whole chicken and stuffed the cavity with some lemon wedges and salt and pepper. I trussed the chicken and spread it with the seasoned butter and sprinkled with salt and pepper. It went on a rack in a roasting pan which had veggies under it and roasted for 1 1/4 hours at 425 degrees. I did baste it a few times during the roasting time.

Once the chicken was done, it got a rest time while I used the drippings to make a gravy. I removed the chicken and put the roasting pan over a burner to brown the onions, celery and carrot in the bottom of the pan. Once browned, I removed the vegetables and deglazed the pan with some chicken stock and allowed the stock to cook down a little. I added a butter/flour mixture to the reduced chicken stock and allowed it to simmer until thickened.

Our classic side dishes were mashed potatoes and carrots.

The perfect fall dinner and we agree
+

Roast Chicken with Gravy
1 whole chicken 3-5 lbs.
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 lemon, cut in wedges
Salt and pepper, taste
1/2 onion coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, scrubbed and coarsely chopped

For the Gravy
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper, to taste


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Rinse and dry chicken thoroughly. Season inside with salt and pepper and stuff with lemon wedges. Add dried herbs to the 4 tablespoons of softened butter and mix to combine. Truss chicken to make sure it retains its shape, rub it with the herbed butter and season with salt and pepper. Place the mirepoix (also known as the chopped onion, celery and carrot) in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place rack in pan, over mirepoix and place chicken on rack. Roast in a 425 degree oven for 1 1/4 hours and test with an instant thermometer inserted into thigh (thermometer should read 160 degrees when inserted into meaty part of thigh, without touching bone).

When done remove chicken to cutting board to rest, covered with foil for 10 minutes.

Place roasting pan with mirepoix over a burner to brown veggies. Once browned, remove veggies with a slotted spoon. Deglaze pan with 2 cups of chicken stock and allow to reduce by almost half. Mix equal amounts of softened butter with flour and gradually whisk in to reduced chicken stock. Allow to come to the boil and reduce heat to a simmer until cooked down and thickened.

Enjoy!

Elizabeth's Birthday Celebration

As a family, we celebrated Elizabeth's birthday on Saturday. The tradition of having the birthday honoree pick all their favorite meals and activities for the day continues. Elizabeth kept her choices pretty simple which was great for me by trying some new homemade items in keeping with my recent motto of "why buy what I can make".

Breakfast was a selection of fresh fruits - watermelon, cantaloupe, mango, grapes and raspberries with homemade muffins. I made blueberry muffins and Val made banana crumb muffins and both were delicious.

Lunch was a Chef's salad which she has picked for a few years in a row now for lunch. A bed of nice crisp Romaine lettuce, some sliced turkey breast, sliced ham, slivers of American cheese, cubes of Cheddar cheese, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and wedges of hard-boiled eggs. There was a choice of two homemade dressings - The Best Salad Dressing in the World (literally the name of the recipe we found online by googling the best salad dressing in the world) and homemade Ranch. There were also 3 store-bought dressings. There was a choice of homemade honey oatmeal bread and homemade sourdough bread. I made some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert for lunch. Elizabeth loves red velvet cake (might be the choice for their wedding cake) and I had been wanting to try a recipe for them so it was the perfect time to give it a shot. They were delicious!

Dinner was a "make your own pizza bar". I made another batch of pizza dough on Friday and stuck them in the freezer so Saturday morning all I had to do was pop the frozen dough in the refrigerator to thaw. By dinnertime they were ready to be rolled out. I took the dough that would normally make a medium size pizza and divided it in four to make individual size pizzas. Once I had the dough rolled out on a piece of parchment paper each person came in and topped their pizza. The toppings included a choice of jarred pizza sauce, the homemade sauce I had made earlier (which is way too spicy), cooked ground beef, slices of pepperoni, caramelized onions, sauteed green and red peppers, sauteed mushrooms, black olives, shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan. Each pizza went in the oven for 8 minutes. It was a lot of fun and everyone got exactly the perfect pizza for them. Her dessert choice was Peanut Butter Pie which is somewhat of a family favorite.

With my new motto, here is a list of what I made for this special day:
Blueberry Muffins
Sourdough Bread (from previous batch where I had stuck one loaf in the freezer)
Honey Oatmeal Bread
Mayonnaise
Ranch Dressing (using some of the mayonnaise)
The Best Salad Dressing in the World
Red Velvet Cupcakes and Cream Cheese Frosting
Pizza Crust
Pizza Sauce
Peanut Butter Pie.

I have been posting a recipe a day lately and now I am faced with the decision of which recipe to post and I think it will be for my blueberry muffins which I have been making for years.

Blueberry Muffins
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup milk
2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix all ingredients except blueberries until smooth. Add berries. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes.

These muffins come out perfect every time, the trick is not to overbeat the batter since it has baking powder in it.

Creamy Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms

Tonight's dinner started with wanting to use some leftover pantry and refrigerator items. I had a good size piece of Gruyere cheese left in the refrigerator along with some heavy cream that had to be used now and some fresh thyme. I also had half of a box of linguine in the pantry along with some chicken stock. I had a couple of chicken breast halves in the freezer that I defrosted earlier in the day. My only purchase for dinner was an 8 oz. package of mushrooms and dinner was fabulous. It was creamy and cheesy with that slightly nutty flavor from the Gruyere cheese.

Creamy Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms

8 oz. linguine
1/2 cup diced onions
8 oz. mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
2 chicken breast halves

Cook linguine following package directions.

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil and butter over medium high heat until butter is melted. Add chopped onions and saute briefly. Add mushrooms, crushed garlic, and fresh thyme and saute until onions are softened and mushrooms are golden. Season with salt and pepper. Add flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring for two minutes to create a roux. Add the chicken broth and stir to deglaze pan, simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened. Add the heavy cream and allow to come to a simmer. Add the Gruyere cheese and stir until melted.

Meanwhile I sliced the chicken breasts, seasoned them with salt and pepper and sauteed in another skillet in olive oil for a few minutes until cooked through.

I added the cooked linguine along with the sauteed chicken to the sauce and tossed everything to combine.

Our rating: