Spiced Peaches and Chicken

This is definitely one of my very favorite dishes, both to make and to eat. One of my roommates at BYU gave me the recipe (Cara Powers, now Vivian, for anyone wondering) before my mission, and it's been a favorite ever since. I make it a lot of times when I take dinner to other people because it's so great. It's easy, fast, inexpensive, kid friendly, and has a totally different sort of taste that is exciting and lovable. Might as well rename it Mary Poppins. Practically prefect in every way.

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Ingredients:

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2 lb chicken

1/2 C flour

salt and pepper

3 Tbsp cooking oil

1 C orange juice

1 1/2 C diced peaches

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp vinegar

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp basil

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Directions:

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1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks. Combine the flour and salt and pepper in a bowl and coat the chicken pieces with the flour mixture.

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2. Warm the oil in a frying pan, and fry the chicken until nicely golden (add more oil if needed).

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3. While the chicken is cooking, combine the orange juice, peaches, brown sugar, vinegar, nutmeg, and basil in a very large frying pan and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

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4. When chicken is done, pour off the oil and add the chicken to the sauce mixture. Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the pan - there's a lot of goodness in those brown bits stuck on there.

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5. Stir it all together, cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

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6. Serve with rice. Yum!

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Substitution Tips:

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You can make this gluten-free by not breading the chicken at the beginning, just salt and pepper it and fry it up. Then add some cornstarch or other thickening agent to the sauce after adding the chicken.

If you don't have orange juice, you can use the juice from a can of mandarin oranges, just measure it out and make up the difference with juice from the peach jar.

I generally use regular white vinegar, but apple cider vinegar works well too.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I remember in one of my BYU wards we had a Relief Society activity where one of the girls showed us some nicer recipes. She demonstrated stuffed chicken breasts, which I thought were a nice idea and then promptly forgot about. I recently rediscovered this little wonder, and have developed a very handy little method that makes it a cinch. This can be a really gourmet-looking and -tasting dish, but it is actually very quick. Plus, you can put pretty much anything you want in the stuffing and/or sauce, so let your creativity go wild.

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Here's a picture tutorial:

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1. Put your boneless skinless chicken breast in a ziplock bag. I usually don't like the extra-large size chicken breast -- something about walking down the aisle and noticing that the chicken breasts are larger than mine (did I just type that?) is rather disconcerting, but when they are on fire sale, I'll buy a pack and put them individually in the freezer. Then this step is easy, I just take the bag out of the freezer and defrost in the microwave. I usually use a large breast like this (a little less than a pound) for two servings. If you need more, just use more individually bagged chicken.

2. Using a handy mallet like this one (or a frying pan or even a can of vegetables), pound your chicken out flat until it fills the bag.

3. Carefully slide the chicken out of the bag, cut it in half, and reshape it with your fingers if needed. Then spread the filling in the center of each piece.

4. Roll the pieces up with the filling in the middle, secure with toothpicks, and if necessary, shape with your fingers. Rub generously with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes (chicken is done when juices run clear or it reaches an internal temp of 160).

6. When done, remove the toothpicks and serve.

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Alternate serving methods:

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A. After baking, grill the outside. I love my handy over-the-stove griddle for this. The grilling is just a nice finishing touch, as shown here.

B. Ryan suggested this idea - if the filling isn't too runny, slice it width-wise this and serve with garnish or drizzle your choice of sauce over it. This would be really fun for an appetizer or party serving.

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Some filling ideas:

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A. Lemon (keep the rind, but use just one thin round per serving and slice it lengthwise) and garlic slices with an herb like tarragon (or I love herbs de provence). Drizzle lemon juice on top, and add a few thin rounds to the pan for added lemon-y goodness.

B. A nice garlic basil pesto.

C. Cream cheese, chopped kalamata olives, and garlic (a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette drizzled on top is delicious).

D. Ham and swiss cheese with a honey-mustard glaze (extra for dipping at the table).

**Just remember that chicken breast is generally rather dry so if you don't have much juice in your filling, try topping it with some kind of sauce to add moisture, and don't be stingy with cheese in the filling.

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If you come up with other great fillings, please share!

Homemade Potato Gnocchi

Adapted from this recipe.

1 pound Russet Potatoes

3-4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 cup flour, plus more for dusting

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake potatoes approximately 45 minutes or until soft. Bake them directly on the oven rack, piercing them with a knife or fork prior to baking. Cut in half and scoop out flesh. Pass potatoes through a potato ricer or grate them. You should have about 2 cups. Make a mound of potatoes on the counter with a well in the middle. Add 3 of the egg yolks, the cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Mix in the potatoes and mix well with your hands.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of flour over the potato mixture and press it in well with your hands. Gently work it in to the dough. Gradually add more flour, folding and pressing the dough together just until it holds (try not to knead it). If the mixture is too dry, add another egg yolk or a little water. It should feel firm but yielding to the touch. Test the consistency by forming a rope half an inch in diameter. If it holds together well, it is ready. (I ended up adding a lot more flour than the recipe called for.)

Keeping your dough and your work surface lightly floured, cut the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 1/2 an inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2 inch long pieces. Lightly flour the gnocchi as you cut them. (This step is important if you want the gnocchi to dry and not stick together into a huge mess! Not that I know from personal experience... :) You can cook these as is or try to form them into a classic gnocchi shape by following the directions given at the above link.

My gnocchi didn't look so good:

But they tasted great!

Scatter gnocchi on a cookie sheet. Set cookie sheet in front of a fan on low for half an hour, turning after 15 minutes. Bring a large pot of water to boil and drop in the gnocchi. Cook for about 90 seconds from the time they rise to the surface. This is obviously hard to time since they all pop up at different times, but they will take on a different texture-kind of bumpy and white-when they are done. If you are unsure, just taste one and see if it's done. Remove cooked gnocchi from water and serve as desired.

Note: I thought this was yummy, but unless you are a huge fan of gnocchi, probably only worth the work occasionally.

Apple Pancake Dutch Baby

I found this recipe here the day we got back from Utah last December. I made it that night, and we have loved it ever since!

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

Thinly sliced apples (I use one medium apple)

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. milk

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place butter, apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon in pie pan and bake until apples are soft (3-5 min.). Beat together flour, milk, and eggs until smooth. Add to pie pan and bake 12-15 minutes.

Tips: You can put the butter in the pie plate and put it in the oven while it's preheating to melt it. Also, I typically double this recipe for Sam and I and bake it in two pie plates. Sam easily eats one and a half (or more) himself.

Roasted Red Pepper Rotini Caesar

This pasta dish is so quick and easy, but the taste is kind of complex...a really good combination of flavors. This is Sam's favorite kind of pasta he's ever had...and I got the recipe off of the back of the Ronzoni rotini box! He was eating it for lunch at his lab one day, and the lab manager asked him for the recipe because she thought it looked/smelled so good. It's great for those nights when you need something quick to throw together!

1 13.25 oz. pkg. rotini noodles (I typically use whole wheat, although white is pictured above)

1 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, diced

4 cups of fresh or frozen spinach, chard, sugar peas, basil leaves, arugula, pesto, artichoke hearts, or broccoli florets

1 cup Caesar dressing

shredded parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat a large saute pan with a light film of oil, toss in red peppers and spinach; heat until warmed (about 1 minute). In the large saute pan, toss cooked pasta with spinach and peppers. Add Caesar dressing, stirrin frequently until heated through (approximately 3-5 minutes). Top pasta with desired amount of parmesan cheese, cracked pepper, and salt (the cheese, salt, and pepper really do make a big difference).

To make things even faster, you can toss the dressing, spinach, and peppers in with the pasta without sauteing them. I've done it that way and it works beautifully.

Whole Wheat Batter Bread

I dug this recipe out of some papers I had from my college cooking class. I had no idea how good it would be! But wow. Sam and I were both amazed by this bread. And seriously, please don't give up the honey butter. It makes this bread incredible! It's very fast, easy, and nutritious, and it has the consistency of a sweet bread. It is really dense with a very soft crust. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

2 1/2 cups hot water

1 tablespoon yeast

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup honey

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 to 5 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in hot water. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Add oil, honey, salt, and half of flour to yeast and water. Mix with flat beater attachment. Switch to dough hook (if using a KitchenAid stand mixer, or switch to your hands if you're not) and add enough of the remaining flour to make a thick, sticky batter. This dough is very sticky. Knead well (at least 5 minutes in the mixer), place dough in two well-greased loaf pans, put pans in warm oven, and TURN OVEN OFF. Let loaves sit in warm oven for 20 minutes. With loaves still in oven, turn oven to 350 degrees. Set timer for 30 minutes. Remove bread from oven when timer goes off. If loaves aren't nicely browned, bake for an additional 3-5 minutes. Brush with butter and remove from pans to cool. Eat warm with honey butter spread on top. (To make honey butter, simply whip equal parts butter and honey until light and fluffy.)

NOTE: My bread pans are the larger size, so I put all the dough in one pan. I still only let it sit in the oven for 20 minutes before baking. I'm not sure if the consistency would turn out the same if it is cooked in two pans, like the recipe says. Maybe you can try it and let me know!

White Chip Mint Chocolate Cookies

These cookies were inspired by Great Harvest Bread's "Mint Blarneys." Mom and I decided to combine the recipe on the back of Nestle White "Morsels" (Sam pointed out that they don't even have chocolate in them!) with the Mint Blarney idea, and this is what we came up with. This recipe makes a double batch, so don't be too alarmed when you see a whole pound of butter on the list of ingredients!

1 pound (4 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1-2 tsp. mint extract

4 eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/3 cups cocoa

4 1/2 cups flour

12 oz. pkg. white "chocolate" chips

12 oz. pkg. milk chocolate chips

Cream together butter, sugars, vanilla, and mint extract (to taste). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add salt, baking soda, and cocoa. Mix well. Add flour and mix until combined. Stir in both packages chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour. Shape into balls and cook at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until centers are just set. Cool on pans for about 5 minutes or until cookies are easily transferred to cooling racks with a spatula.