A new Lemon Zester!

So the gadget addiction continues. I saw this ZestNest in a magazine and I knew I'd love it. It didn't take me long to add it to the collection.  Easy to hold, the zest doesn't go everywhere and it's easy to clean.

What to do with that lemon zest? Chicken Piccata!

Woodie's World Famous Chicken Piccata
posted by Woodie many times at the Cooking Forum

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

4 chicken breast halves, boned and skinned (I cheat and buy the thin sliced chicken cutlets!)
salt and pepper
flour (enough for coating)
3 tablespoons butter
juice of 1 lemon
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
I like to add a little lemon zest (optional)

Put a piece of waxed paper on the counter and place chicken on top. Use a meat pounder, the side of a saucer, the unsharpened side of a heavy knife or other object to pound the breast into a thin piece that’s uniformly thick (about an inch). Or you can buy cultets already sliced thin. Salt and pepper the chicken generously, then coat with flour. Melt butter in a large skillet and brown chicken on both sides.

Remove chicken from skillet. Add lemon juice, chicken broth and wine. Boil down until it’s about one-half cup. Place chicken back in skillet, add zest, cover and cook 3 minutes. Remove cover and serve.

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Another gadget...

Adding to the gadget collection. This time it's a quesadilla maker, a gift from a friend.
It's a fun kitchen toy, with lot's of filling possibilities and they do come out much neater than when I make them in a pan or the oven. Unless of course you overfill them like I did the first three times. Got the hang of it and they came out great.

This one is filled with grilled chicken, cheese and salsa.

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This has a-peel!

So I am a little addicted to kitchen gadgets and toys, I'm sure you dish addict people will understand the kitchen addiction!  I already have the Y-style peeler to julienne and I found that it worked great, but just a little difficult for me. The julienne mandoline worked great, especially for potatoes and apples, but there is always that fear factor after a few slicing incidents and an abundance of band aids. Then someone mentioned a side peeler on their blog so I googled and then ordered one by Messermeister.

My new favorite kitchen gadget. For now anyway :)
There's a new lemon zester coming any day now.

To make Zucchini "Pasta" peel a few zucchini using a julienne peeler or mandoline. Saute with some oil and garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Top with fresh Parmesan shavings and serve.

or  this...

Zucchini "Spaghetti"

adapted by http://theresalwaysthyme.blogspot.com

Printable Recipe

4 zucchini, trim the ends and julienne

2 tablespoons olive oil (for the pan)

salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups marinara sauce (homemade or store bought)

1 cup (or more) freshly grated cheese

Saute the zucchini in a bit of olive oil, add a little salt and pepper to taste, don't cook the zucchini too long, you don't want it turning to mush. Add the tomato sauce and grate a little cheese on top, and mix it in. Take it off heat and pour it into a bowl, and grate some cheese on top and serve!

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Oh Fork!

It's too hot to cook this week. No recipes from my kitchen for now. We had a lots of take-out. Especially pizza. Brick oven pizza!

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Mini Chicken Pot Pies

So I cheated in the kitchen. When my friend Debbie from Mountain Breaths gave the heads up that Williams-Sonoma was having a sale on the Breville Mini Pie Maker I jumped right away and ordered one. I'm a sucker for kitchen stuff! But I am a little baking challenged.  So I took the easy way out. Store-bought dough. Soup from a can. I know. I know. That was practice. Next time from scratch. But these mini pies were a big hit anyway.

photo from the Williams-Sonoma Website

Took a couple months to finally have a moment to use it and I am so glad I did. First time around was mini chicken pot pies. I need a little more practice, this one needed more filling so the top would have browned better. My son ate the one that was somewhat picture perfect. And it must have tasted as good as it looked because he wanted a second. And some to take to work tomorrow.

This is a basic recipe. Instead of pie shells in the tins, I used store bought pie crusts that are rolled. Two pie crusts per box, made about 6 mini pies, if you re-roll out the scraps. Next time I will try homemade dough. Hopefully. But this worked out fine.

Really Easy Chicken Pot Pie

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

2 (9 inch) deep dish frozen pie crust shells, thawed (or not!)

10-oz frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups cooked, diced chicken breast
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
8 cremini mushrooms, sliced thin

1 potato, diced and par-boiled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl combine the mixed vegetables, mushrooms, chicken, cream of chicken soup and milk. Pour mixture into one of the pie crusts. Turn the other crust over and pop out of the tin onto the top of the filled pie. Poke a small hole in top crust.

Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

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Wordless Wednesday: Kitchen Equipment

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Tomato Paella

This is a delicious recipe and a nice change from the usual side dish. I didn't grow tomatoes this year but the vine tomatoes from the supermarket have been very good so far. Miss Picky even liked it, but did comment on the flavor, a bit different for her but we couldn't figure out if it was the saffron or the smoked paprika. Either way she decided different was ok and had a second helping.I used the broiler to dry it out a little more and it made a nice crust on the top. Best part according to my kids who fight for the burnt edges. Not a problem actually because I have a tendency to burn food.

I used a strawberry gadget to core the tomatoes. Worked liked a charm on the tomatoes.

Paella With Tomatoes

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

source: NY Times, recipe by Mark Bittman

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/dining/051mrex.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/dining/05mini.html?ref=dining

Printable Recipe

3 cups stock

1/2 cup -1 cup white wine

4 ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into thick wedges

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, minced or whizzed in a food processor

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon tomato paste

big pinch saffron threads (optional)

2 teaspoons Spanish pimentón (smoked paprika), or any other paprika you like

2 cups short-grain rice like Spanish Calasparra, Bomba rice or Arborio rice

chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Warm the stock in a saucepan.

Put oil in a 10- or 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, saffron and paprika and cook for another minute more. Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is shiny, about another two minutes. Add the wine and stir, let it cook down for another minute or two, then stir in the stock.

Arrange the tomato wedges on top of the rice and drizzle with juices that accumulated in bottom of bowl. Put pan in oven and roast, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Check to see if rice is dry and just tender. If not, return pan to oven for another 5-10 minutes. If rice looks too dry but still is not quite done, add a small amount of stock and roast another few minutes. When rice is ready, you can turn the broiler on for a few minutes to give the tomatoes some color and crisp the rice on top.

Carefully remove pan from oven, it will be extremely hot. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

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Onion Soup

There is nothing like a good bowl of French Onion Soup, topped with gooey cheese, melting over the toasted bread, soaking up that delicious broth. When I saw Rita's version over at Sage Cuisine I dropped my plan for lentil soup and went with the onion. This one was a little sweeter than the French Onion Soup I had made previously. We loved Rita's recipe. It was a HUGE hit. 

Thanks, Rita, your recipe is a keeper!

Normally I'm not too safety conscious, hence the two good slices I gave myself with a handheld mandoline a while back. My friend Renee mentioned these cutting gloves that fisherman use and I thought I'd give them a try. Kind of goofy looking and they stunk after 7 big onions, but my fingers were intact. I'm a convert. They worked well for me. Thanks Renee. All ten of my fingers thank you!

Blade X5 Cut resistant gloves

And just to let you know, the gloves, they are machine washable!

Good as new.

I made a few changes to the recipe because of what I had on hand, I didn't feel like going out for more beef broth, and mixing chicken stock with the beef broth worked nicely in the past. And I used a little more Sherry. I used low-fat Jarlsberg and a little less butter. The kids had Mozzarella. I need to look for Gruyere. I loved the addition of a bit of sugar and the balsamic vinegar.

French Onion Soup

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Source: Sage Cuisine

Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups onions, sliced

1 shallot chopped

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons Sherry

4 cups beef stock

4 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

4 slices of toasted French bread

Gruyere cheese or any good melting cheese you like

Heat butter and oil on medium heat; add onions, salt, sugar and shallot. The onions will very slowly caramelize, stir regularly, you are looking for the onions to become golden brown. This will take over thirty minutes or more. You don't want the onions to burn, so keep an eye.

Deglaze the pan with the sherry, and allow to reduce for 2-3 minutes.

While the onions are almost done caramelizing, add the chicken and beef broth in a stock pot; add the balsamic vinegar and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

At this point you can store it the fridge or the freezer.

To serve:

Preheat broiler for 5 minutes.

Toast bread in toaster or under broiler until golden brown; set aside.

Place 4 ovenproof soup bowls on baking sheet or pan. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with toast slices. Add cheese evenly over top.

Place tray of bowls under broiler; broil for about 3 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and golden. Be very careful, the bowls will be extremely hot.

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