Low Carb Chicken Parm

Here's the classic dish with a low carb twist! I found this recipe in a low carb magazine a few years ago (forgot the name, sorry for no source) and we make it from time to time. This time around it turned out extra good!

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breast, Butterfly Split 
1 Bag of Plain Pork Rinds, completely crushed
1 tsp Oregano 
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Parmesan Cheese
1 egg
1 cup of Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup of Mozzarella Cheese










Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Butterfly cut the Chicken Breast, and then split down the middle.
3. Do not open the bag of Pork Rinds, crush (using hands of a mallet) until the rinds are broken down to dust, try to completely pulverize them!
4. In a deep bowl, mix the Pork Rind Dust, Oregano, Garlic Powder, and Parmesan.
5. In another bowl, make an egg wash (you can add a tsp of water if it's a small yoke), beat well. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg wash, and then coat with the Pork Rind mixture.
6. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray, add coated chicken the the dish and cook in the oven for 40 minutes.
7. Take out pan, and cover each piece of chicken with 1/4 cup of sauce, and sprinkle a good serving of mozzarella cheese.
8. Put back in the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes.

Best served with a side of pasta (I know, I know...we used regular pasta which sort of defeats the low carb part...it's what we had in stock and tomorrow is payday). Too keep it really low carb, a nice spinach salad would work. I experimented with the sauce for the pasta, did some magic with Sherry Vinegar...still needs alittle tweaking but be on the lookout for that in a future blog.

Enjoy!!

Roasted Potatoes

Tonight we are focusing on our side dish, the always popular, totally tubular, Roasted Potatoes! These are great with almost anything. We had ours with skirt steak (sorry no picture, because it was eaten too fast, hopefully next time!), buttery mushrooms, and a side salad.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds new (red) potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (leave the skin on!)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
8 Fresh Thyme Sprigs











Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a roasting pan, combine potatoes, oil, chili powder, salt, pepper, and thyme. Toss well.
3. Cook the potatoes in the oven for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Potatoes should be brown and soft.
4. Take out and give it one more stir and it's ready to serve.

The Skirt Steak was delicious (I will be posting it in a future blog), I seasoned with salt, pepper, and everglades seasoning. Thanks to my buddy, Jason, for hooking me up with the everglades seasoning, I had never tried it before and it was a perfect spice to add to the steak!

Chicken Piccata

I always think of Chicken Piccata as Chicken Marsala's step brother. In ways it's the same but totally different. This recipe is a combination of various recipes I've tried over the years, I consider this one my own!

Ingredients

3 Chicken Breast, butterflied and split
1/4 cup of flour
Salt
Pepper
2-4 tbsp of olive oil
1/4 cup of dry white wine
1 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 cup of chicken broth
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of capers, drained
1 tbsp of butter







Directions

1. Butterfly cut the chicken breast and then split them (you can also just use chicken cutlets). Salt and Pepper both sides. Dredge the chicken cutlets in the flour.
2. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to deep pan, over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, cook for 2-3 minutes on one side (a light brown crust should form), flip over the chicken cover the pan, and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a warm plate.
3. Remove any fat still in the pan, and then deglaze with dry white wine. Add garlic, and cook for 2 minutes or when the wine has disappeared.
4. Add in chicken broth, lemon juice, and capers. Put chicken back in the pan and cook for 1 minute on each side. Return chicken to warm plate.
5. Add 1 tbsp of butter to the broth mixture and lower to medium-low heat. Mix well. Once the butter is melted, spoon sauce over chicken and serve. 

This is great meal to have with rice, roasted potatoes, or a side of pasta. It's always a good idea to make extra sauce (just double all liquid ingredients and garlic).

Souper Sunday Series: Cream of Mushroom Soup

There is a fungus among us! Mushrooms are one of my favorite things to cook with. My wife used to hate them but she has started to like them over the years. As long as they are Baby Bella, Katie is good with Fungi. In the second part of my Souper Sunday Series I decided to make homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup. After searching the web for a good recipe, I found that Chef John (from Foodwishes) had a nice recipe on his site. Chef John has not lead me wrong before so I decided to go with his recipe. As always it did not disappoint!

If this picture does not totally excite you, I suggest you stop reading now!

The recipe starts with 2 pounds of Mushrooms sweating out with some butter for a good 15-20 minutes. Adding a good pinch of salt allows the release of all that water in the mushrooms.

They will start to sautee and caramelize, the smell is amazing

Be sure to check out the full recipe over at Food Wishes!

Eventually after the soup simmered for an hour, you put it in a food processor and really mix things up.

All in all the soup took about 2 hours to make and it turned out really nice. We saved extra mushrooms from the sweating phase on the side to garnish, along with some fresh thyme.

Our soup meal was completed with a juicy cheese burger from the grill!

"Fancy" Fajitas

Not all meals need to be complicated, some just need some doctoring to make them great! A few weeks back, my wife and I had fajitas on the menu, this would usually consist of frying up some chicken or beef along with a few veggies and then adding in a trusty Ole El Paso Fajita Kit. I was feeling inventive that night so I threw in a few extra ingredients and it turned out to be a delicious combination.

Ingredients

2 top round steaks (or chicken), sliced thin
1 Bell Pepper, sliced thin
1 Onion, sliced thin
1 Ole El Paso Fajita Kit
1/2 cup of Dry Red Wine
Salt 
Pepper
3 tbsp Olive Oil









Directions

1. Slice up the beef/chicken, and the onion and bell pepper
2. In a deep pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and set to medium heat
3. Add Onions, along with a sprinkle of salt and cook for 4 minutes
4. Add Bell Peppers, and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Remove veggies from the pan.
5. Add 1 tbsp of oil, bring heat to medium-high and add small portions of the meat at a time (avoid crowning), the meat should brown fast and you do not want to cook too long. Be sure to get color on both sides.
6. Remove meat from pan, and add 1/2 cup of Dry Red Wine to deglaze the pan. Be sure to mix around and scrape the pan as the wine comes to a boil. Continue boiling and stirring for 1-2 minutes, lower back to medium-low.
7. Add the veggies back to the wine reduction, stir well. Next, add the meat and meat juices back to the same pan. 
8. Using the package of seasoning (from kit), add small amounts of seasoning and mix well. Continue until all seasoning is added. 
9. Over medium heat in a small frying pan, heat your tortillas individually, flip after 30 seconds, each should take only about a minute.
10. Allow meat, veggies and sauce to cook for 1-2 minutes and your ready to serve!

If using chicken be sure to check to assure the meat is fully cooked! If you eat under cooked chicken, you're gonna have a bad time!

Chicken Marsala

Two of my favorite ingredients, Chicken and Mushrooms! Can't get much better than that!! I've modified this recipe a few times but I think I've finally mastered it. In the past, I've found that the sauce can turn out a bit watery. This time I used a corn starch slurry to make the sauce thicker, and it was great!

Ingredients

3 Chicken Breast, cut in half
1/4 cup Flour
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp olive oil
1 cup of Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup of Marsala Wine
1/4 cup of Sherry Wine
1 cup of Beef Stock
1 tbsp of corn starch





Directions

1. Cut chicken breast in half and season with salt and pepper.
2. In a deep bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, pepper, and oregano.
3. Dredge the chicken cutlets in the flour mixture
4. Over medium heat, melt the butter and mix in the olive oil. 
5. Add the cutlets and fry for 3 minutes
6. Flip over cutlets and add mushrooms, continue frying for 3 more minutes
7. Add Marsala Wine, Sherry Wine, and Beef Stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
8. Remove cutlets from pan (cover to keep warm), in a small bowl mix 1 tbsp of corn starch with 2 tbsp of the sauce mixture. Be sure to mix well to avoid lumps. Bring sauce to a boil, and add the corn starch slurry into sauce. Mix well. Cook for another 2 minutes and reduce to low heat. The sauce should thicken a good bit. 
9. Either add chicken cutlets back into the sauce, or spoon over. Serve and enjoy!

This meal goes great with a side of rice, roasted potatoes, or pasta (especially with the thicker sauce). I made a small side salad which paired up nicely. The Red Wine and Vinegar, Ken's Dressing, is a favorite at our table.

Thanks for reading!! 

Hot Wheel Pasta and Ribeye Steak

Tonight we had another one of Chef John's (Food Wishes) creations, Hot Wheel Pasta. This dish had good bite but I think it could have been more tasty with a few extra spices. The recipe calls for anchovies fillet, which I never used to cook with before, but surprisingly it melted down and disappeared.

The pasta could have been a main course but I was in the mood for some meat! So I decided to go with Ribeye Steaks. I found an Italian Style Steak Sauce Recipe, which I modified a bit to give it a special flavor.

Steak Sauce Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tbsp dry white wine
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 tsp dry parsley
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic





Directions

1. Melt butter in the microwave (30-45 seconds)
2. Add all ingredients together in a bowl
3. Use a whisk to mix well
4. Spoon a tablespoon of sauce over steak

For the recipe for Hot Wheels Pasta, be sure to check out Food Wishes.

Also you can watch the video below:

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Found this recipe on Copykat.com, and Jennifer, my sister, put in a special request for it. This is the first in my Souper Sunday Series, I'm going to try to make a new soup every Sunday.

Ingredients (From Copykat.com)

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half
2 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth (if you enjoy a thicker soup, use 1 can)
Salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1 cup finely shredded carrots
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh spinach leaves
1 cup diced cooked chicken breast (you can use a rotisserie chicken)
1 (16-ounce/500g) package ready-to-use gnocchi

Directions (Also from Copykat.com)

Melt the butter into the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes translucent. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the half-and-half. Simmer until thickened. Whisk in the chicken broth. Simmer until thickened again. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, the thyme, parsley, nutmeg (if using), carrots, spinach, chicken, and gnocchi. Simmer until the soup is heated through. Before serving, season with additional salt, if necessary.

We had the 2 bowls of soup each, with Toasted Turkey and Gouda Sandwiches. 

YUM!! 

LIVE from the garden!

Coming to the table tonight an Olive Garden staple: Chicken and Gnoochi Soup!

Salisbury Steak wtih Mashed Potatoes

This was a really good meal, I can say the frozen food version of this meal is not my favorite but homemade is pretty tasty.

Ingredients
"Steak"
11/2 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (seasoned)
2 tsps dry mustard
1 cube beef bouillon (crumbed or powdered beef base)
4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp chili sauce
salt
pepper
 
"Gravy"
1 whole onion (halved and thinly sliced or diced if you prefer)
2 cups beef broth
4 dashes worcestershire (additional)
1 tsp kitchen bouquet (optional)
1 tsp starch (corn, mixed a little broth to make a thin paste)

Directions

1. Cut Onion into slices
2. Mix together beef, breadcrumbs, dry mustard, crushed bouillon, Worcestershire, chili sauce, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Shape meat into steak patties. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter. Add Steak patties and fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Turn down heat to medium, and flip over patties (they should have some sear on them) and continue cooking for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from pan and cover.
5. Remove excess oil (and burger bits) from the pan. Add sliced onion to pan and season with salt. Cook the onions for about 5 minutes, be sure to mix them a bit.
6. Add 2 cups of beef broth, Worcestershire, and kitchen bouquet; mix well. Mix 1 tsp starch with broth and add the the mixture
7. Cook for about 2 minutes, mixing well
8. Add steaks back into the pan, and continue cooking for 2 minutes.    

This meal goes really well with mashed potatoes, and a side of sauteed mushrooms.

Meal from the Vault

Tomorrow I'm making a Fallout 3 inspired favorite!! Get ready for some Salisbury Steak!!

Cornish Hen and Roasted Veggies

When I was a kid I loved going to Medieval Times, cheering for the knights, watching sword fights, and eating food with your hands. Who am I kidding, I still love all that stuff! There's something powerful about eating a mini-chicken. Ok, I think I've made it clear that Cornish Hen is one of my favorite meals.

Ingredients

Cornish Game Hen
1 Carrot, sliced
1 Potato, cubed
1 Onion, sliced
1 cup Chicken Broth
1/4 cup of White Wine
Salt 
Pepper
Poultry Seasoning
Cayenne 
Rosemary
Lemon Juice






Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Cut Veggies, and split the Cornish Hen down the breast bone. 
3. Spray the hen with Lemon Juice, and season with Salt and Pepper.
4. In a large Dutch Oven or roasting pan, place veggies on the bottom and place the hen on top.
5. Add Chicken Broth to the pan, and then season well with all other ingredients. Add White wine to the broth.
6. Roast the Hen and Veggies in the oven for 20 minutes
7. Reduce heat to 375 and continue cooking for 40 minutes. Be sure to based the hen every 15 minutes to keep it juicy. 
8. Let rest for 5-10 minutes and then dig in!

Remember poultry is considered done at 165 internal on the thickest meat (the legs), whatever you do don't ever eat under cooked chicken! 

I've even made a stock out of the Cornish Hen bones, since wine is used it gives the stock a nice sweetness. 
 

     
 

Getting Corny?

Tonight I am making one of my favorite dinners, Cornish Hens!

Check back later for the results!

Hot Bacon Salad and Mushroom Swiss Burger

This morning it was just going to be a regular burger night, but after searching the web and pantry it all came together nicely. 

The burger was seasoned with sea salt and pepper, then fried in a pan. The mushrooms were saute in a teaspoon of bacon grease, and deglazed with white wine.

The real special addition to this meal was the salad, which was covered with delicious Home made Hot Bacon Dressing. This is a sweet and spicy mix that made a second trip to the salad bowl necessary!

Ingredients

1/2 pound bacon, cooked in 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup minced onions

2 cloves minced garlic

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup sweet rice vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp cold water

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

 

This recipe comes from one of my favorite chefs, Chef John, over at food wishes. His blog is awesome and his instructional videos make it really easy to make delicious food. Be sure to check out his site. 

Here is his video on how to make Hot Bacon Dressing:

 

Pan Roasted Pork Chops with Radicchio & Apple Salad

After having a break from the cooking duties yesterday, it was time to get back in the kitchen. Tonight's meal was a recipe by Gordon Ramsay, when this guy isn't cursing up a storm on "Hell's Kitchen", he is cooking some amazing food. I've made many of recipes in the past and we have yet to be disappointed.  So the meal is a pork chop roasted in a pan with olive oil, along with spices and herbs. The final product contains a a deglazed Marsala sauce that was delicious.

The special side is a Radicchio and Apple Salad. Radicchio is leaf chicory that tastes bitter, but the apples (keep that skin on!) and cider vinegar bring out the sweetness. I'm thinking in the future I will add a diced onion to the mix.

Radicchio is pretty expensive but do not replace it with red cabbage because they taste completely different. Currently at Publix, Radicchio is $5.99 a pound.

When I make the pork chops again I will use fresh garlic opposed to minced, a few pieces burned so a few bites had burnt taste (nothing too bad, gave it a grill taste).

The rice was a 90 second Uncle Ben's variety bag.

I'm proud of my wife, this meal had two things she really dislikes in her meals. Meat w/ bones, and warm fruit. She tried everything and said she'd like to have the meal again.

Here is a video from Gordon Ramsay's show "The F Word", which features him making this dish, give it try:

 

It was a very good meal and it will be returning to our table soon!

It's a celebration!

Today is my nephew's 16th birthday! No meal for the blog today...

Here's a sneak peak at tomorrow's dinner: Pan Roasted Pork Chops!

Balsamic-Mustard Rib-eye Steak with Ratatouille and Mushrooms

This meal was packed with a lot of good flavors.

Ingredients

• 2 Rib-eye Steaks (8oz)
• 10 Baby Bella Mushrooms, quartered 
• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 Zucchini
• 1 Eggplant
• 1 Yellow Squash
• 1 Onion, diced
• 1 can of Tomato Puree 
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup and 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar 
• 1 pinch of sugar
• 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• Salt 
• Pepper
• Parchment Paper
• Asiago Cheese, Shredded

Directions

Ratatouille 

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Slice zucchini, eggplant, squash, and red pepper into disks using a mandolin.
3. Cut 1 Steak into small pieces (remove fat), and using a food processor chop the meat till it's the consistency of ground beef. Over medium-high heat, cook chopped steak, onion, and garlic until browned. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add Tomato Puree to meat mixture, also add 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar. Heat for 2 minutes, and transfer to casserole dish.
5. Lay zucchini, eggplant, squash, and red pepper in a pattern over the sauce. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover the casserole dish with parchment paper (try to cut the exact length of dish).
6. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
7. Serve with a small amount of cheese shredded on top

Balsamic-Mustard Rib-eye Steak

1. Heat Olive Oil in a pan over medium-high heat
2. Season Steak with salt and pepper
3. Add Steak to pan and cook for 2-3 minutes (depending how you like your steak)
4. Flip over Steak, and add a tablespoon of butter to the pan, cook for another 2-3 minutes spoon the butter onto the steak while it cooks.
5. Plate the steak and cover with foil, lower heat down to medium and after a minute add 1/2 cup of balsamic to the pan. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, until syrupy, and transfer to a bowl. 
6. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard and accumulated steak juices into the Balsamic sauce. Serve over Rib-eye steak.

 This might sound like a lot of steps but it really was only about a 45 minute meal. The preparation takes some time, but it's well worth it! 

Boil Warning! Be very careful when using the mandolin to slice your veggies, the blade is extremely sharp!!

The finished product might not be as pretty as some pictures show, the layering takes an artist touch. Mine wasn't much to look at but it tasted awesome!

 

Thanks for reading :)

 

Coming to the dinner table tonight: Ratatouille!

I've never made this before but have thought about it for awhile. Traditionally it's made with just vegetables but I'm going to change it up by adding some meat to the braising liquid.


Since it's more of a side dish our main course will be Steak with Balsamic-Mustard sauce.

My wife, Katie, is a big fan of Disney movies. I've always been a fan of the older stuff (my fav. Disney film is "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad") but some of the Pixar/Disney flicks are pretty fun. The movie, Ratatouille (2007), gets it's name from this dish and I think since seeing that movie I've always wanted to make it. Glad I'm getting the chance to make it tonight!

Who knows, maybe we'll do dinner and watch this movie tonight. Check back later to see the results.

Chicken Potato Leek Pie

This was a different take on the Turkey Pot Pie Recipe I usually make, this version is lower in calories (no butter).

Katie, Maxx (my son), and I all thought it tasted pretty awesome:

(Original recipe from My Recipes)

Ingredients

• 2 slices smoked bacon, chopped
• 3 cubed russet potato (about 8 ounces)
• 2 chopped carrots
• 3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 sliced leek 

• kosher salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 large egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Cook bacon in a large fry pan over medium heat until almost crisp, stirring frequently. Increase heat to medium-high. Add potato and carrot to pan; saute 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken; sauté 3 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and next 3 ingredients (through pepper); sauté 1 minute, stirring frequently.
3. Slowly add broth to pan, stirring constantly; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally. Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish. Top with dough, folding under and pressing down on edges to seal.
4. Combine milk and egg white; brush mixture over top of dough. Cut small slits in dough to vent. Bake at 450° for 30 minutes or until crust is golden. Be sure to bake on with a cookie sheet under your pie pan, to avoid loose dough. Let stand 10 minutes.

When I make this next time I will make my own dough (also I'll post that recipe at a later date), the store brought stuff is just not thick enough and too soft. Also I think some mushrooms would go nicely in this meal. We had a small side salad which was a great addition.

I had never cooked with leeks before, while searching how to properly slice a leek I learned they are extremely dirty since they grow in sand. Here's a great video to discribe how to clean and slice leeks:

How to Clean and Cut Leeks 

Thanks for reading more to come soon!!  

My wife, Katie, thought I should start a blog to chronicle all the meals I make for dinner. So I'm giving it a try :)

Here's is what I'm making for dinner tonight:

Chicken Potato Leek Pie

Check back later to see how it turned out.