Month: January 2017

Simply Delightful

~ esgermack ~ Leave a comment

What to make when you’re looking for a very quick, no fuss meal, that is both deliciously gourmet but doesn’t require a big grocery shop? Nothing other than Spaghetti Carbonara, of course. Who hasn’t walked into the kitchen, starving, opening cabinets and the fridge asking, “what am I going to eat for dinner?” Well, recently was one of those nights, and spaghetti carbonara was the perfect answer. Filling, easy-to-make, and best of all, combines kitchen staples into something greater than the sum of its parts. The result is simply delightful.

Sometimes all it takes is a little patience and creative thinking to put together the “what to eat” puzzle and come through with the most delectable dinner, without even leaving the kitchen.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 box Spaghetti (or angel hair, penne, fusili, whatever looks good in the moment). My favorite is the tried and true Barilla brand which we always have in the kitchen
  • 1/2 container Parmesean cheese (it’s good to always keep in the ‘fridge, to throw on salads, pasta, anything, really)
  • 3 eggs (again, always in stock. You always need to be prepared to bake a cake, right?)
  • Spices, spices, spices. In this recipe, use salt, pepper, oregano, parsley flakes, dried basil leaves, garlic. These often neglected spices are just sitting in the spice aisle waiting for some love – use them!
  • 1/2 package of Prosciutto (often we have prosciutto, which has a ‘fridge life unopened of approximately 2-3 months. If you don’t have this, you can use ham or bacon. Use as much or as little as you like – to taste)

Shopping List 

  • There is none! Walk into your kitchen

Recipe, or rather, “what to throw together”

The first step, like with any pasta recipe, is to put on a pot of water to boil. If you’re cooking for two, boil approximately 6 cups of water. As a rule, I always add a teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt to pasta water before it boils. The oil will help the pasta not stick together and the salt infuses more taste into the cooked pasta.

While the water is heating up (takes about 10 minutes), you have time to make everything else that you’ll need.

First, take out the prosciutto/ham/bacon, whatever, and cut into small pieces on a cutting board. Cut to the size that will go into the pasta, so pretty small.

cut-prosciutto
Prosciutto, cut and ready to go into the pan to cook

Then, heat a frying pan (any basic pan). You won’t need any oil or butter for this because the meat has plenty. Wait for the pan to get to medium heat, and drop in the meat. Stir it around a little and keep on medium heat for the next 10 minutes (stirring every few minutes so it doesn’t burn). Your goal is to have the meat be a little browned on the edges, but not dried out.

prosciutto-cooking
Prosciutto cooking in the pan

Next, you can make the claim to fame of a carbonara dish, the egg/cheese sauce.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the approximately 1/2 container Parmesean cheese (nets out to about 1 cup of cheese), along with the three eggs. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, as well as the other spices you selected! Mix well together and set aside.

Combined Parmesean cheese, eggs, and spices
Combined Parmesean cheese, eggs, and spices
Spice cabinet party
Spice cabinet party

Your pasta water should be boiling by now, so place the dry pasta in the water. This should take about 7-9 minutes (depending on what kind of pasta you use).

pasta-cooking
After first placing pasta in boiling water

By now, you can also return to check on the prosciutto/ham/bacon that’s been cooking. If it’s browned on the edges at this point, you can just put the heat on “simmer” until the pasta is cooked.

When you’ve reached nearly the full cooking time for the pasta, have a taste. I prefer al dente (slight bite to it), and remember, the pasta will still cook even though it’s out of the water. Drain the pasta and now put it into the pan the meat is cooking in. The reason for this is you want to capture all the flavors.

Next, add the Parmesean cheese/egg mixture to the pan that now has the meat and the pasta. Don’t forget to add any additional spices we talked about in the ingredients section! Be generous and always taste test along the way.

mix-everything-in-pan-1
Putting it all together in the pan
mix-everthing-in-pan-2
Mixing it all together in the pan

It’s now time to plate it (“bowl” it) up and enjoy! Feel free to add a sprinkle of basil flakes to the top to make this meal look extra fancy. You’ll have saved so much time from this quick recipe, that you can enjoy a leisurely meal with a game of backgammon…and fending off your furry friends! 🙂

final-with-backgammon
Leisurely meal
final-with-sky
Sky skulking in the background

New Year’s Kickoff!

~ esgermack ~ 1 Comment

What better way to start a blog? By celebrating one of my most favorite dishes with my closest friends and out-of-this-world special boyfriend, David – on New Year’s Eve, no less! This post is dedicated to the gift sharing food with loved ones, and to thank David for this most special 29th birthday present. Thank you for paving the path of support for my pursuing a cooking blog, which we know I’ve been talking about for a very…long…time.

I was first introduced to the below recipe by David after he emphatically said this was one of HIS favorite dishes: Chicken and Basil Roulades with Mustard Sauce. This is a recipe out of the always reliable and beautifully illustrated Willams-Sonoma Chicken cookbook. (More to come in future posts about the significance for me of this often wrongly classified “bland” food, chicken).

As someone who is often times too comfortable with planning and details, it’s exciting (but also daunting) to have a literal blank page ahead of me. Funny enough, I’m actually inspired and curious to see how the blog evolves and what will naturally unfold from not having a plan. That is to say, I don’t have a predetermined format, writing style, or theme of posts that fits into a box. Similarly, my recipes are different than what you might find in a book because they are tested, tweaked, and tell a story. If I can promise you one thing, each and every recipe on here is carefully selected, made my me, and meant to also bring joy to you as it has to me. Happy reading/eating!

More formally plated meal for a sit down dinner
David is all smiles
Plated to share for a party
Enjoying among friends
Right out of the oven

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

Chicken Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • Boneless chicken breast (approximately 1.5 lbs)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/3 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup plain bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Shopping List

  • Large container of Danon Natural Plain Yogurt (32 oz) (low-fat or non-fat, if you prefer; won’t change the taste too much)
  • Small container of yellow Dijon mustard (I recommend the real stuff, like Maille or Grey Poupon; stay away from the artificially yellow hot dog stand mustard – it’s wise to splurge on good quality mustard because the taste really affects the recipe)
  • A small bundle of fresh chives from the grocery store’s produce section (stores also sell prechopped chives in a glass container – fine, too, if you want to save the step of chopping)
  • One stick of unsalted butter
  • 2 small containers of basil, prepackaged in a plastic container in the produce section
  • 1.5 pounds, approximately, of chicken breast (I recommend buying thinly sliced because you will be rolling the chicken tightly. Otherwise, buy regular sized breasts and pound to 1 cm thickness)
  • Tall cylindrical container of bread crumbs (I always stick with Progresso, “Plain”)
  • Plastic container of Parmesean cheese (I recommend the standard BelGioioso brand)

Recipe, with a pinch of Lizzie’s interpretation

First, the sauce: In the serving bowl you want to use alongside the meal (to save dish washing), stir together about 1/2 cup plain yogurt and 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard. The sauce is one of the best parts of the dish (especially good to have with rice on the side), so I like to make extra. Up to you the proportions for yogurt:mustard based on taste.

Next, rinse the chives and place on a cutting board. Chop them into small pieces that will go into the yogurt and mustard sauce you just made. It’s OK to not be perfect with the exact measurements – the sauce is where you have the most wiggle room.

Once you’ve finished chopping the desired amount of chives, stir into the yogurt mustard sauce and set aside. This may seem counter intuitive to not refrigerate, but we want the sauce to be room temperature.

Next, preheat the oven to 400°F.

Prepare a baking sheet by putting tinfoil to cover it (again, less cleanup). Melt the approximately 2 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe dish. Then, brush about half of the melted butter onto the tinfoil sitting on the baking sheet. It is very helpful to have a rubber bristled cooking brush here. Alternatively, you can spread the butter by pouring a little and using a small piece of Saran Wrap to coat the tin foil.

Next is the best part! Chicken-Time and Assembly Line-Time.

Take the basil and pull off the leaves from the stem. Place on a cutting board and chop into small pieces (not as small as the chives). Put to the side.

On a dinner plate, pour approximately 1 cup of the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of the Parmesean. Use your hands to gently mix together.

Next to this now prepared plate with crumb mixture, set out a large bowl where you will mix 1/3 cup yogurt with 1 tablespoon of mustard. I actually like doubling the recipe so if I run out of it, I don’t need to stop the Assembly Line mid-way and replenish. Unlike the sauce you made, this mixture does not include chives.

Next, take the chicken out of its package and rinse with cold water and pat dry. Lay out the breasts on a cutting board and lightly salt and pepper each side.

Wash your hands! Can never be too careful with extra washing around chicken.

Now to the Assembly Line and final step. Lay out in this order from right to left: salt and peppered chicken on the cutting board, basil leaves on their own cutting board, yogurt mustard mixture in the bowl, bread crumb and cheese mixture on the plate.

The process: 1. Put a healthy pinch of basil in the center of the chicken breast. 2. Roll the chicken breast the long way, starting on the right and tightly wrapping it around the basil. 3. Carefully dip the chicken wrapped basil in the yogurt mustard mixture. Make sure to healthily coat. 4. Roll the chicken now drenched with the yogurt mustard mixture in the bread crumb and cheese plate. Again, make sure to completely coat (this step is not, and will not, be perfect! Each chicken breast has its own shape and will look different once coated than the next. 5. Carefully transfer the coated chicken to the baking tray you prepared. 6. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken. 7. Once all the chicken is on the baking tray, drizzle the remaining melted butter on the top of each breaded, wrapped chicken roulade.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 400°F, or until the bread and cheese crumble is golden brown and the chicken is no longer pink.

Wait 3-5 minutes before serving. I recommend serving with a large spoonful of the yogurt-mustard-chive sauce (now room temperature). Don’t forget that you set this aside! I also suggest serving with white rice and a simple salad. The chicken combined with the rice and sauce is…well…you’ll have to taste for yourself .

Lizzie’s Extra Tips:

  • After you lay out what I call the “assembly line,” I suggest handling one piece of chicken at a time, from the basil stuffing through to the last step of putting it on the baking sheet.
  • The chicken may seem to unravel as you’re taking it down the line, but don’t worry. Try to make the rolls as tight as possible and hold together while dipping in the yogurt mixture and bread crumbs.
  • The best way to get a consistently even textured crust on each chicken roll is to wash your hands between dipping the chicken in the yogurt mixture and then in breadcrumbs. This way, the bread crumbs won’t get clumpy from the yogurt on your fingers. You can have a helper in the kitchen to turn on and off the water so you can wash your hands in between each piece of chicken, which is a helpful tip in the kitchen anyway when handling chicken and staying sanitary.
  • One of the most tasty parts is the bread and cheese crumb coating that will inevitably dribble onto the baking tray. Don’t let this go to waste and scoop this up to add to your plate. Delish!
  • Perfection isn’t attainable with this recipe. Part of the fun is actually working with different cuts of chicken every time and each roll will have its own personality!