Chicken Breasts with Tomato-Herb Pan Sauce

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I’ve been wanting to try this recipe all summer. Several of my favorite blogs had posted it over the past couple of months and everyone raved about it. We had it for dinner earlier this week, and I can finally say I see what all the hype was about. It’s great because I usually have most of the ingredients on hand, so I could see it being a “go to” meal when other dinner plans did not pan out for whatever reason (which happens fairly often around here). I also have an over abundance of fresh oregano and marjoram in my herb garden right now that I’m trying to use up before we get our first frost in a month or so.

The dish was a breeze to put together. I did make a few changes from the original recipe. Since Hurricane Irene pretty much did away with the vegetable garden, I had to buy cherry tomatoes…and, they just weren’t the best. They diddn’t release very much liquid when they burst open, so I added some vermouth to help compensate and deglaze the pan. It imparted a definite flavor into the pan sauce, which wasn’t a bad thing. However, I felt like it distracted from the flavor of the tomatoes a bit. I’m looking forward to trying this dish again soon with some better quality tomatoes. I would play it by ear, and if you feel like you need a little more liquid, add a splash of white wine.

Chicken Breasts with Tomato-Herb Pan Sauce

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
3/4 teaspoon fresh marjoram, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes (12 ounces)
1/4 cup vermouth or white wine (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

In a small bowl, mix together the butter, garlic, oregano, marjoram, and paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

Preheat oven to lowest possible temperature. Using a mallet or heavy skillet, pound chicken to 1/2-inch thickness in between two pieces of plastic wrap. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Measure the flour onto a plate. Working with one breast at a time, press both sides into the flour. Shake gently to remove excess flour and repeat with remaining breast.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the oregano butter with the 2 teaspoons of oil in a large skillet set over high heat. Reduce to medium-high when the butter stops foaming. Lay the chicken breasts in the skillet and sauté until browned on one side, about 4 minutes. Flip and continue cooking 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a small pan or oven-safe plate and keep warm while preparing sauce.

Increase heat to high and add tomatoes to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to char and burst, about 5 minutes. Add remaining butter. Crush tomatoes slightly to release their juices and continue stirring until butter has melted. Add vermouth/wine to the pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the skillet to loosen the browned bits. Remove chicken from oven and add any juices that may have accumulated. Slice chicken and top with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.

Source: adapted from Cook Like A Champion, originally from Bon Appétit

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

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I had my first pumpkin cream cheese muffin at a very notorious coffee shop some years ago. They always looked gorgeous, but in the grand tradition of most store-bought baked goods…they were not anything to “write home about”.  I thought about trying my hand at making my own, figured that they were too complicated and forgot about them. When my friend Annie posted them last year, I knew I had to make them.  I did not get around to making them last year (pregnancy was in full swing at the time), but they were at the top of my list for this fall.  I finally got around to  making them last week, and let me tell you, they are wonderful!

I personally feel like they fall under the realm of cupcakes more than muffins. The pumpkin cake is so light and moist. Not that dense cake that a muffin usually calls it’s own. I’m not going to complain though, I can eat a “muffin” in the morning for breakfast and not feel the least bit guilty. Then again, I’ll eat a cupcake for breakfast and not feel the least bit guilty either. At least I’m honest. Whenever you choose to enjoy them, I’m sure that you (and whoever else you share them with) will love them, and love you for making them. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Yields 24 Muffins

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth.  Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter.  Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil.  Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350? F.  Line muffin pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil.  Mix on medium-low speed until blended.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend.  Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.  Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons).  Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces.  Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well.  Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely.  Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Source: Annie’s Eats

Potstickers

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potstickers

Who doesn’t love potstickers? I’ve always loved them. I’d always order them from the local chinese restaurant. But, they’re usually flabby and greasy. Neither of which I find to be an appealing trait. So, a few years ago I decided to try to make them at home. My first few attempts I found to be very frustrating, and more or less fruitless. I used the packaged round wontons, and they just wouldn’t cooperate for me. I ended up throwing them all away in disgust.

So, when this dish came up in cooking class last fall, I must admit that I was a bit nervous. Visions of balled up dough and bits of ground pork all over the kitchen came flooding back to me. Thankfully, these were a breeze to make. The homemade gyoza wrappers were so much easier to work with than the store-bought variety. ‘Round these parts we like pan-fried dumplings, but feel free to steam, or (Heaven forbid!) deep fry them as well.  If you think this batch will make too many for your needs, no worries. They freeze beautifully! Just quick-freeze them on a baking sheet, then place them in a Ziploc bag for storage. Good for up to 3 months. Cook as directed, but add about 7  minutes of cooking time when covered.

Pork Potstickers

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced

1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 lb ground pork

Stir together flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water in a bowl until a dough forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface until just smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes.

While dough stands, halve ginger, then finely chop 1 half and cut remaining half into very thin matchsticks (less than 1/8 inch thick).

Combine 5 tablespoons soy sauce with ginger matchsticks in a small bowl.

Reserve 2 tablespoons scallions to add to the ginger soy dipping sauce.  Then finely chop remainder and put in a bowl along with pork, finely chopped ginger, garlic, and remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce. Gently knead with your hands in bowl until just combined. Chill, covered, 10 minutes.

While pork mixture chills, line a large baking sheet with paper towels and dust lightly with flour, then lightly dust a work surface with flour. Halve dough and rewrap 1 half. Pat remaining half into a flat square. Roll out dough into a 13-inch square (less than 1/8 inch thick) with a lightly floured rolling pin, dusting work surface with additional flour as needed, then cut out 12 rounds (very close together) using round cookie cutter. (If dough is sticking to cutter, lightly dip cutter in flour and shake off excess before cutting out each round.) Reserve scraps.

Transfer rounds to lined baking sheet and cover loosely with another layer of paper towels lightly dusted (on top) with flour. Roll out remaining half of dough and cut out 12 more rounds in same manner, then transfer rounds to lined baking sheet. Combine scraps of dough and wrap in plastic wrap, then let stand at least 10 minutes.

While scraps are standing, begin forming dumplings. Line another large baking sheet with paper towels and dust lightly with flour. Put 1 dough round on fingers of 1 hand near palm and put 2 slightly rounded teaspoons pork mixture in center of round. Fold round in half, enclosing filling, and pinch edges together to seal. Put dumpling on lined baking sheet and form 23 more dumplings in same manner (you may have some filling left over). Cover dumplings loosely with more paper towels. Roll out scraps into a 10-inch square (less than 1/8 inch thick) and cut out 8 more rounds. Form 8 more dumplings for a total of 32. Discard remaining scrap

Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place dumplings in pan and cover, cooking for 7 minutes. Remove lid and continue cooking for an additional 3-5 minutes, until bottom of dumplings are nice and golden brown on the bottom. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel lined plate. Serve with ginger dipping sauce.
Source:  adapted from Gourmet

Pot Roast with Stout Gravy

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Allow me to introduce you to this recipe. We go way back. I first stumbled upon it when browsing The Spice House’s website (which is owned by Bill Penzey’s sister. They’re just a whole family chock full of spice tycoons, I tell ya). At the time, St. Patrick’s Day was right around the corner. I’m not a huge fan of corned beef, unless it’s in hash form. The recipe called for Guinness to be used, so I though it would be a festive alternative to the traditional corned beef and cabbage. I was right, it was a huge hit. I went out with some girlfriends that evening, and when I returned…it had all been consumed by the husband.  And make no mistakes folks, it was a large roast.

Needless to say, it since became my standard pot roast recipe. So much more flavor that your  standard Crock-Pot variety pot roast. Not only that, but I feel like it’s been improved upon by trying out different beers. I had heard wonderful things about coffee-braised pot roasts. So, I thought it would be very interesting to combine the two. Again, boy was I right!

We have  2 oh-so-wonderful local breweries in my area (hey – we don’t have much, but we’ve got good beer by God!). Both happen to make wonderful, rich dark stouts that use coffee in the brewing process. The first is Dogfish Head’s Chicory Stout. If you haven’t heard about DogFish, and like beer, do yourself a favor and try something out. You can find them nationwide, if you look hard enough. The second is Evolution Brewing Company’s Rise Up Stout.  “Evo” started  up about a year or so ago, right here on the Eastern Shore, and have been putting out wonderful craft beers. Chances are if you don’t live in the Chesapeake area, you won’t find them. But, by all means, get out there and explore the beer coolers at your local stores. Lots of great microbreweries are springing up all over the place. I’m sure you could find something near you that is equally as wonderful!

I don’t list potatoes in the recipe, but feel free to add them in with the rest of the other veggies. I usually use red potatoes that I’ve halved.  However, it’s wonderful with mashed potatoes too. You want as much of the gravy as you can get, folks. Enjoy this recipe, I promise you that you won’t miss that corned beef a bit!

Pot Roast with Stout Gravy

1 3-4 pound chuck roast

2 cups beef broth

16 oz of dark-colored stout

2 medium onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 2″ pieces

1 small head of cabbage, cut into wedges

2 tbsp olive oil

kosher salt

black pepper

3 tbsp cold water

2 tbsp cornstarch

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Season beef generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.  Place roast in pan, and sear well on both sides until nice and brown. Remove roast to plate and set aside. Add onions to the dutch oven and cook, stirring often, until the onions are starting to brown on the outsides. About 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the beef stock to the pan, then slide the beef into the stock. Cover, and cook for 1 hour.

Reduce oven temperature to 350. Remove the roast from the oven, add the stout, re-cover, and cook for an additional 1 hour 15 minutes.  Remove roast again, add the vegetables and re-cover. Cook for an additional 45 minutes.

To make the gravy, remove the roast (and, it will be falling apart!) and place on a platter. Then, remove the various vegetables and arrange them on the platter as well. Cover it with aluminum foil to keep warm while you make the gravy. Using a fine mesh strainer, pour the braising liquid into a medium saucepan. Combine the cornstarch and the cold water in a small dish, then add to the gravy. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the cornstarch works it’s magic and the gravy thickens.

You can try to slice the pot roast, but I just like to use two forks to pull it apart into large chunks. Whatever floats your boat, though!

Source: adapted from The Spice House