Chicken with fruit preserves, cranberry, and wine

There are two things I love adding to chicken: a good marmelade/homemade preserve (cranberry, mixed-fruit, anything) and wine.

So I combined those two things a few weeks mixed in with some of my favorite spices and heaven came out.  This week, I decided to add leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving (see recipe below).

Even the beginner can wing this one.

Prep time: like 5 minutes

Cook time: 1 hr

Ingredients: 

Chicken breast

Fruit preserve

White marsala wine ($3.00 at stores- you can cook with it every week for a yr and not run out)

Touch of powdered ginger (1/2 tablespoons)

Salt n Pepper

Paprika

Cranberry sauce (or fresh cranberries) << not necc. in an addition to preserves, can do either/or. 

Directions: 

1. Combine fruit preserves, wine, spices

2. Let the chicken marinate in the sauce as long as you can

3. Top cranberries and throw it in the oven 350 for an hour

- You can also cut the chicken into cubes and cook it over a stove for 30-40min (20 min on med, 10 on sim)

So simple. So good.

Miso Salmon with Stuffed peppers

My sister gave me this recipe for miso glazed Salmon- its the reason I bought Miso paste in the first place (haven't looked back since).  The stuffed peppers is a beautiful result of what happens when my roommate Kim and I combine our ethnic forces.  The peppers were stuffed with a mix of rice, corn, white chedder cheese (GASP- my traditional self cringed, but trusted my roomy- so worth it) and eggplant, thrown in the oven, then simmed in a lightly seasoned curry cinnamon sauce- my mom's recipe.  Yes, it was an orgy of sorts. And it was delicious.


Ingredients:
disclaimer: all measurements are estimates- trust your tastebud


Salmon - 5 pieces in our case
Miso paste - 2/3 tbsp
Brown sugar - 2 tbsp (to taste)
Rice vinegar - 2 tbsp
White wine- 1/4 cup
Soy sauce- 2/3 tbsp


For the stuffed pepper, you can literally stuff it with anything, vegetables, beef, generally you want to cook in slightly and mix it all up


Fresh bell peppers- 4
White rice  (about a cup or two)
Corn (1 can)
Pre-fried eggplant (or sauteed zucchini)
Cumin
Salt n' Pepper
Dash of Thyme
Red pepper flakes


Sauce: Cinnamon, Curry (dash of each), 3 TBSP Chicken stock/bouillon cube or whatever they call it in this country, Salt n' Pepper


Directions: 
Mix all the ingredients for the salmon together, whisk until brown sugar is crushed
Let sim for about an hour (essentially, however long you can)
Place salmon on sheet, drizzle miso sauce (and leave some on the side for when the dish comes out of the oven)
You can also grind some fresh pepper and drizzle some sugar over the Salmon right before they go in the oven
Broil on 400 + for 8-10 minutes on each side


For the peppers:
1. Cook rice
2. Saute vegetables (not all vegetables need to be sauteed- we didn't cook our corn, for example)
3. Mix the rice with whatever your ingredients are
-----> preheat oven :) 350-ish
4. Add spices
5. Stuff the peppers with said vegetables/beef/cheese
6. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the stuffed pepper (my roommate suggested this, I was skeptical, but it came out genius, the crunch has such a nice texture with the soft pepper).
7. Throw em' in the oven 20-30 min should do.


For the sauce:
Saute onions, add one cup of water, and spices


8. Take peppers out of the oven, put them on a lightly oiled pan
9. Drizzle sauce over pepers
10. Let cook 15-20 more minutes


Et voila!
The mix of these two dishes was extraordinary.  Any wine or light beer compliments this well.
Post additions, changes, concerns!


Oh, and as my mom says to her 3-yr old culinary students: Don't forget to drizzle some love
:)


Happy holidays.

Coconut Curry Chicken with Butternut Squash and Chick Peas

I found butternut squash on sale (I'm a sucker for sales) and for some odd reason the first and only thing that came to my head was this dish.  I've never heard of it.. but figured it sounded good.  And let me tell you, delicious! (And ask my friends, despite this blog, I'm pretty critical of my cooking).

Anyway, it was really easy, and I limited my use of spices.. well, in respect to my normal use... I also made a pretty big serving.  Also, I don't put measurements because I never measure

Ingredients:
Coconut milk- (1/2- 3/4 can)
Chicken Breast (3 medium size)
Butternut squash (1/2 of one)
Chick peas (1 small can)
Onion (1 med-large)
Curry (2 tbsp)
Paprika (1/2 tbsp) - or a dab of chili powder (or both why not)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dab of sugar
... I think that's it... but by the end I thought it was missing just a lil' something, so I added a bay leaf..

1. Defrost, wash, and cut off fat of chicken breasts
2. Marinate the chicken in 1/2 can coconut milk and spices (for however long you can- 30min-1hr)
3. Cook on med/low butternut squash with 1/4 of coconut milk for 15-20 min
4. Throw in the chicken (cook on Med for about 15 min)
5. Stir, taste, add more spices if need be
6. Sim for about an hour for best taste

Serve over rice. (Oh, yeah, cook the rice, too.  I'm not your go-to person for cooking rice.  Ever since I read an ethnographic book where Iraqi women in a rural village judge each other based on their rice, I decided my rice could never be as good, and if I'm going to learn it might as well be from one of them.)

Serves: 4
makes for killer leftover too!

Thanksgivinggg made simple. and sweet.

American food is not my forte.  My moms family is from Yemen, my dad was born in Morocco.. they met somewhere in Israel.. so my food tends to reflect those general areas of the world. 

But it is our favorite all American holiday where we celebrate consumption, excess, and genocide.  So this afternoon.. I got in the spirit and got baking. 

Cranberry Sauce and Zucchini Bread: 

Cranberry Sauce:

Ingredients:

Fresh Cranberries (1.5 lb)

Brown Sugar (1.5 cup of sugar, add more to taste)

Ginger- grated (SHOCKING)
Orange zest
Lemon zest
Cloves (2) as my mother says "For aroma!" (Fun fact: the word in hebrew for a clove is tziporen, literally, a person's fingernail. Mmmmmmmmm. 

Directions:

Rinse cranberries
Cook the cranberries on a very low heat
Add immediately sugar, ginger, orange zest and lemon zest
Cook for 20 minutes
Taste
Make additions :) cinnamon perhaps? Go for it. Pomegranate juice, why not?

ZUCCHINI BREAD:
I learned how to make zucchini bread today.. well I've made it before.. but sometimes I just do what I'm told, other times I engage myself more closely with the food.  My best friend Sammy is a chef of the sort that you don't meet every day.  Bakes his own breads, pastas, challah to die for, german dumplings.. the list would literally take me a decade. Anyway, we used Paula Deen's recipe, and its fabulous.. and oh, so easy, even a baketard like me did it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/zucchini-bread-recipe/index.html

Enjoy! And have a merry merry thanksgiving.  

Leek, Broccoli, and Roasted Pepper Pizza


Yum.
Ok, so I didn't exactly cook this from scratch.  I'm not a baker.  I don't measure things (all the numbers I use below are estimates) I don't like following directions (so don't follow mine) and I like winging things (so substitute whatever I use for whatever you feel like).


I used a sick focaccia from Sam's club for $2.99 which is what made this dish so friggin easy and fun.


Ingredients:
Dough (can buy pre-made) or focaccia
Whatever vegetables (or meat) you want as toppings (in my case: leek, broccoli, and roasted peppers)
Cheese (I used sliced Mozzarella and grated parmesan)

Tomato sauce
Make your own with tomato paste, olive oil, oregano, basil, paprika, garlic, chili powder, salt, pepper, sugar
Or buy pre-made marinara sauce

Directions:
Defrost your dough or pre-made crust
Preheat the oven to 350
Sautee the vegetables together with a little olive oil for about 20 minutes (depending on the veggies)
I threw in a touch of rosemary and garlic salt
Slice mozzarella


Ok the rest is pretty easy.. I mean I had never done it before..  Stack it all up- crust, sauce, cheese, veggies, I topped it with some parmesan, and throw it in the oven.  I can't remember how long I put it in the oven for.. but since your ingredients are mostly already cooked, I aimed for melted cheese as my indicator for when it is ready.. depending on the dough/crust it may be different.. so .. wing it... you're bright.
Top with fresh grated pepper.
Goes great with a merlot.

Moroccan Meatballs and Orzo

OK. I don't know what exactly is Moroccan about these meatballs, other than the fact that I started making them based on watching my Moroccan grandmother doing it for years.


Its super easy, and actual cooking time (as in time you spend cooking) is minimal.. 20 minutes.


Ingredients:
Ground meat (can mix the beef with ground Turkey as well for a leaner and a bit more environmental dish)
1 large onion
Ginger
1/2 zucchini or 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
2 cups of green peas
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 can of tomato paste
Cumin
Paprika
Olive oil
Vegetable oil


Directions:
Defrost ground meat, put in a medium size bowl.  Mince half onion, the other half cut into small cubes.  Mince or grade fresh ginger (or put about two tablespoons of ground ginger). Grade zucchini. Mix the minced onion, ginger, zucchini, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper, and cumin together.  Yes, mixing ground beef means use your hands. I wasn't kidding about the whole- get ready to get dirty thing.
This is the fun part.  Use your hands to glob some meat and roll a ball of whatever size you so desire (expect them to shrink a tiny bit).
Put some vegetable oil on a pan, add the other half of the onion and peas to the pan.  Let sit for 5-6 minutes or until the onions are slightly browned.  Add meatballs.
This part I did for the first time.  I have seen my Israeli fam do it this way for years, so I figured I would wing it.  I basically made a quick tomato sauce: Olive oil, tomato paste, water (around a cup but eye-ball how thick or thin you want the paste) a pinch of sugar neutralizes the sweetness of the tomato, paprika, pepper (go crazy) and salt.
Cook everything together on medium for 20 minutes and let sim for another 20 minutes.


My sous chef made the orzo.  A bit undercooked, but still delicious.  Turns out a day later, the orzo is perfect for leftovers.. The meatballs I used the next day for spaghetti and meatballs... thought about a meatball sub. Ah, the beauty of leftovers..

On the eve of my first blog... You gonna deglaze that?


Ok, so I realize, I'm kind of a tool for starting this blog on the same day South Park premiered their Food Network spoof. So good. SO inappropriate.  But yes, us foodies have a sick sick love for food.  And we're damn proud.


Check it
Whole Episode  http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s14e14-creme-fraiche


If you can only watch a clip -- http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/360880/you-gonna-deglaze-that#tab=featured