Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mustard-Thyme Sauce

As I mentioned in my last post I am trying to get better about trying out at least 1 recipe per week that I have pulled from a magazine or online. So here is another recipe from my stack. I will admit that I wasn't the most motivated person this week. I was ambitious and bought the ingredients, but then it did take me another day or two to actually make the recipe. As with most things in life, even though I wasn't in the mood to cook dinner I was really glad that I did. Nothing can replace a healthy home cooked meal, especially when it turns out how you excpected! This chicken dish was full of flavor, but not fat! I am not the biggest fan of chicken with a bone, it is just harder to eat, so next time I plan to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but you can use whichever you prefer.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mustard-Thyme Sauce
Serves 4
Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned (~2.5lbs)
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 cup no salt added chicken stock, divided
4 teaspoons flour
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove chicken from pan; place in an 11 x 7–inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake at 425° for 16 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°. Remove chicken from dish; reserve drippings.

Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add butter; swirl to coat. Add onion and thyme; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Combine 3 Tablespoons stock and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture, remaining stock, and reserved drippings to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat, and add mustard, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, stirring with a whisk. Serve sauce with chicken.

Chicken and Orzo Skillet Dinner

This month I am a little behind on reading all of the magazines I subscribe to. However, this weekend I sat down to relax Sunday morning with my tea and the October issue of Cooking Light magazine. Per usual, I ripped out a bunch of recipes to add to the ever growing pile of recipes to try on our kitchen counter. And now with blogs and pinterest I also have "stacks" of virtual recipes to try as well. There is a method to my madness, I keep everything in a stack to try at least once. If it is a keeper, it gets added into my binder of go to recipes. I am going to have to try and be better about actually making at least one of the recipes I pull out a week.

Ok enough of my rambling and onto the cooking! Tonight I tried the chicken and orzo skillet dinner  from Cooking Light that claims it feeds 4 people for less than $10 and ready in 35 minutes. I always see shows and recipes that claim to be a bargain meal but never believe them since they tend to calculate out the cost of the exact amount of an ingredient, not the entire containter you usually have to purchase. However in this case it came in costing $13.75, I sprang for organic chicken, which made it cost a little bit more since the chicken alone was $7, overall not bad! At first I wasn't sure if there was enough flavor, but then we got a burst of flavor from the red pepper flakes. I did add a splash of white wine to the sauce in the pan. The leftovers would also be great as a cold salad the next day for lunch.

Chicken and Orzo Skillet Dinner
Source: Cooking Light Magazine October 2012
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast halves cut into bite size pieces
12 ounces uncooked orzo
2 medium tomatoes chopped
2 teaspoons no-salt added tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles

Directions:
1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with a sprinkle of salt & pepper (not listed in ingredients), then add to pan. Saute 6 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

2. Bring 6-8 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add orzo and cook for 8 minutes or until orzo is al dente. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid.

3. Add reserved cooking liquid, chopped tomato, tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper to skillet; cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add in chicken, orzo, and 3 cups spinach leaves, stirring until spinach wilts. Remove from heat and sprinkle with feta to serve.

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day - September

This is my third month participating in the Foodie Pen Pals hosted by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. It is always fun to"meet" other bloggers and blog readers while also receiving and creating a package! You are paired up with another blogger or blog reader and have a $15 spending cap to send your pen pal a package with items you have made or enjoy. I really like that you must include something handwritten, whether it is a note, recipe, etc. to make it even more personal.

This month I was paired with Athena from Fitness & Feta where she blogs about fitness and healthy living. She spoiled me this month and indulged into my love for chocolate. I opened the package and pulled out chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, then a gourmet chocolate bar with almonds & sea salt, and knew the theme must be chocolate. Then I really ripped the box open and found a raspberry chocolate candy, pretzel sticks with a chocolate dipping sauce and two types of hot chocolate. Since it is still warm here I am waiting for it to cool down a bit before making the hot chocolate. I already ate the crunchy chocolate, chocolate chip cookies and were not too sweet but a good crunchy snack that I ate on our weekend road trip. I was trying to be good and not eat all of the chocolate in a few days!

Challah French Toast

By now you probably know that breakfast is pretty much my favorite meal, except of course dessert. Since the Jewish holidays started this week, we had a challah in the house and what better way to use it up than with french toast. Normally Jason is in charge of breakfast but not french toast so this was my treat for us. This is perfect for weekend brunch! I just might have to make this again next week after another holiday dinner, if there is any challah left over. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Challah French Toast

Serves: 8 slices
Adapted from: Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:
6 extra-large eggs (I used egg beaters for 2)
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon good honey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large loaf challah or brioche bread
Vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, lemon zest, vanilla, honey, and salt. Slice the challah in 3/4-inch thick slices. Soak as many slices in the egg mixture, turning once.

Heat griddle over medium heat. Add the soaked bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Place the cooked French toast on a sheet pan and keep it warm in the oven. Cook the remaining soaked bread slices, until it's all cooked. Serve hot with fresh fruit and enjoy!

New Year and Wedding Anniversary

Shana Tova (Happy New Year)! While some don't love the holidays, I am not one of those people. They are usually surrounded by family, food and good times. Since moving to Florida the family part is not always there. And this year Rosh Hashanah fell on our wedding anniversary! We decided to make the best of both occasions by having a holiday dinner the first night of the holiday and then going out to dinner for our anniversary. Another bonus is that we both took the day off for the holiday and were able to spend the whole day of our anniversary together. I doubt we would have taken it off otherwise. Needless to say this has been a great year and time has flown by. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were surrounded by our closest family and friends to celebrate our wedding. I guess it is pretty perfect to have our anniversary on the holiday which is the start to new a year for us as husband and wife and also a new year in the Jewish religion. 

Now onto the food! In my family we usually had what I called growing up greasy chicken for the holidays. doesn't sound healthy but there wasn't anything greasy about it, just juicy. This year, my dad sent me a recipe for a roasted chicken that doesn't require a roasting pan or standing it up in a pan either. All you needed was a skillet, and everyone has one of those! You put the skillet in the oven when you turn it on so that it will be nice and hot and help sear the thighs so that they cook in the same amount of time as the rest of the chicken.

So despite being hundreds of miles away, for that night we both were creating the same meal for our family, kind of cool when you think about it that way. Only difference was that I made our families favorite Sour Cream Coffee cake for dessert that left them wanting to be here to enjoy ;) Now this chicken was pretty easy to make and was the moistest one we have ever had.

Weeknight Roasted Chicken
Serves 4
Source: Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients:
3/4 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 1/2 - 4 lb whole chicken
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position, place 12-inch oven-safe skillet on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine salt and pepper in bowl. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Rub entire surface with oil. Sprinkle evenly all over with salt mixture and rub in mixture with hands to coat evenly. Tie legs together with twine and tuck wing tips behind back.

2. Transfer chicken, breast side up, to preheated skillet in oven. Roast chicken until breasts register 120 degrees and thighs register 135 degrees, 25 to 35 minutes. Turn off oven and leave chicken in oven until breasts register 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 25 to 35 minutes.

3. Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes. While chicken rests, prepare pan sauce, if using. Carve chicken and serve.

Pasta with Homemade Marinara

Some how this past week just got away from me, despite it being shorter due to the holiday. I did however, get to watch a special on the Rachael Ray show that featured Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis making their family favorites. Giada showed a simple homemade marinara, which was the first thing she ever cooked her husband. It literally didn't require any fancy knife skills or too many ingredients. I guess you could say I was inspired to try my own hand at homemade sauce, especially since part of Jason's family is Italian after all. In about an hour the result was a delicious smelling house and tasty sauce simmering away. I really liked that this recipe gets the flavors from carrots, onion, garlic but you don't have to cut them up, just drop everything in and pull it out later once it has done its job.

Pasta with Homemade Marinara
Source: Giada de Laurentiis
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
(2) 32oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 medium onion, peeled
2 celery stalks cut in half
2 carrots, peeled and cut in half
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 dried bay leaves
2 Tablespoons butter at room temperature
5 fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1lb pasta of your choice

Directions:
In a large pot, add the crushed tomatoes, garlic, onion, celery, carrots, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about an hour. Remove and discard the bay leaves, onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Turn off the heat, add the butter and fresh basil leaves. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. cool, then cover and refrigerate. Re-warm over medium heat before using)

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about8-10 minutes. Drain pasta and place in a large serving bowl. Toss with the Parmesan cheese and then the marinara sauce and serve.

Quinoa with Black Beans

Happy Labor Day! This normally marks the end of summer and everyone heading back to school. However, in Florida it still remains hot and the kids have already been in school for a week! One thing that does remain the same, is that this holiday like most others, is synonymous with food and get togethers, so that is exactly what we did. While we didn't have an all American BBQ we did take advantage of the grill. Jason grilled up some juicy jerk chicken thighs and peppers and I made this bright and zesty quinoa with black beans and corn. I happen to really like cilantro and it brightens up this dish, especially with the lime juice. Next time I will definitely add in some diced bell peppers for some crunch and color. It is tasty warm but also just as good cold for lunch the next day.

Quinoa with Black Beans Slightly adapted from: Betty Crocker
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1  cup uncooked quinoa

1 can chicken or vegetable broth

1  cup black beans (from 15-oz can), drained, rinsed

1/2  cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed

1/4  cup chopped fresh cilantro

3  medium green onions, chopped

1  Tablespoon fresh lime juice (1/2 lime)

1  clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4  teaspoon salt

Directions:

Rinse quinoa thoroughly by placing in a fine-mesh strainer and holding under cold running water until water runs clear; drain well.

In 2-quart saucepan, heat broth to boiling. Add quinoa; reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Fluff quinoa with fork. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook uncovered about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.