Recipe: Luscious Lemon Chicken Piccata

Subtitled: Crazy for Capers

I've been feeling a little bored with my own cooking lately. More accurately, I've been completely sick of my own cooking lately.  So, I decided to shake things up a bit. To get out of my cooking funk, I've tried a whole bunch of new recipes over the past few weeks, several of which have been company worthy.  Scott and Abby have loved it.  Caroline and Ben have been begging for chicken nuggets and hot dogs.

 I can't take any credit for the following recipe, but I can vouch that it is easy, quick and FABULOUS.   (For original version go to Cooking Light's Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata).

Lemon Chicken Piccata

(photo of my dinner on Monday -- sooooo good)

Ingredients:

1 to 1.5 pounds chicken breasts or cutlets
1 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/3 cup crisp white wine
1/2 cup lower-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (about 3 lemons) (regular lemons also OK)
2-4 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I skipped the parsley, but I'm sure it would look even nicer with it)

Preparation:

1. Place each cutlet between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound each cutlet to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet. Sprinkle cutlets with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish; dredge cutlets in flour.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add one half of the cutlets to pan, and sauté 2 minutes. Turn cutlets over; sauté for 1 minute. Remove the cutlets from pan. Repeat the procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon butter and 2 cutlets.
3. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook for 1 minute or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in chicken broth; bring to a boil. Cook until broth mixture is reduced to 2 tablespoons (about 4 minutes). Stir in juice and capers. Serve over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley.
4.  Enjoy!!


Most of the new recipes I have tried recently came from Cooking Light (March 2011), but I also bought a new soup cookbook that I absolutely love, the New England Soup Factory Cookbook.  This cookbook has some unusual soups and terrific versions of the classics.

Some of the last few week's gastronomic highlights:

• Artichoke and Goat Cheese Strata (also company worthy from Cooking Light, Mar 11)
• Mini Farfalle with Roasted Peppers, Onions, & Feta -- I omitted mint from the original Cooking Light recipe.  Scott gave this dish a rare 9 out of 10 (with 10 out of 10 only possible from Alba Restaurant).
• Spicy Tortilla Soup with Shrimp and Avocado (Cooking Light, Mar 11)
• Country Split Pea Soup with Bacon and Potatoes (comfort food from the NE soup cookbook above)
• Spinach, Feta, and Toasted Pine Nut Soup (creamy and satisfying from NE Soup Cookbook) 

Don't you wish you were here??


Recipe: "Fun" Burgers (and Grocery Shopping)

"FUN" Burgers are grilled portabella mushrooms topped with garden fresh tomato, roasted red pepper, fresh mozzarella, and a little pesto sauce served on a whole wheat bun.  These summer burgers are a nice alternative to traditional beef burgers -- filling, juicy, and quite tasty!  I should note that the name "FUN" burger (selected by Abby) is short for "Fungus" burgers, but the full name isn't nearly as appealing for a recipe title is it?

FUN Burgers
(my own creation)

Ingredients:
- Portabella Mushrooms (1/person), stems removed
- Thick slices of garden ripened tomato
- Fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch slices
- Roasted red pepper (we grilled ours, but you could use canned)
- Prepared pesto sauce (or you could use a bunch of basil leaves and a little oil)
- Whole wheat burger buns

1) Fire up the grill or heat up a grill pan.
2) Lightly brush the top of the mushrooms and peppers with olive oil.
3) Put the pepper and mushrooms on the grill (gill side facing coals) for 5-7 minutes.  Flip everything and cook another 5-7 minutes.  When the mushrooms are soft and mushroomy juices are collecting on the top, add a spoonful of pesto sauce into each mushroom top and then add slices of mozzarella and tomato into the tops and let cook for another 2 or 3 minutes to melt the cheese (put the lid on the grill for this step to melt faster).
4) Remove "Fun" burgers from grill; add the red peppers and enjoy! 
5) Try again sometime with other vegetables -- you could add spinach leaves or grilled zucchini or eggplant or whatever vegetables you would like to layer on top of melted mozzarella. 

Onto a totally different topic....grocery shopping has just gotten a whole, whole lot more fun in the greater Malvern area better because yesterday the Cadillac of grocery stores has finally opened its doors. Sunday was the grand opening of our new WEGMANS.  And, even though I knew it would be insanely crowded (and it was), I took the whole family to wander around the store and marvel at its immenseness (and also to try all the delicious free samples).  We snacked our way through the entire store -- trying triple creme bree on some kind of French bread, ultimate chocolate cake, blueberry/cranberry bread, corn pops with raspberry jam, etc., etc.  It is now my very closest and already my most favorite grocery store, and I am ridiculously happy! 

Yes, I do know that it is a wee bit pathetic to get this excited about food shopping.  Yes, I know that the prices are not quite as low as those at Giant when on 'Bonus Buy'.  But, the regular food prices are the same as Giants' and what a glorious difference in attitude towards food. The produce is fresh and featured!  It is shopping where food is celebrated, instead of the regular grocery shopping drudgery. And, in only one more week, Target is opening right next store.  I'm in mom-shopping bliss over here!!!!

Recipe: Company-Worthy Summer Tortellini Salad

Do you ever happen to make a dinner that completely satisfies what you're craving at that particular moment?  That doesn't happen to me very often since I usually do all the meal planning and food shopping on Saturdays and by the time the middle of the week rolls around, I'm in the mood for something completely different (like going out to a restaurant and/or having someone else cook).  But -- last night it happened.  Pasta salad bliss.  You should try this recipe the next time you're craving pasta salad.  Or just go ahead and make it tonight. 

 Summer Tortellini Salad

Summer Tortellini Salad

(Adapted from Wegmans "Menu" Summer 2010 Issue)

Ingredients:

1 package cheese tortellini

1 sweet red pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 to 1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 small bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces and tips intact

1 zucchini, diced

fresh mozzarella balls or slices (to taste)

3T pine nuts, toasted lightly

1 package grape tomatoes

6 oz (+/-) of jarred pesto or homemade pesto, if you're feeling really ambitious

basil leaves (to taste), sliced

2T olive oil or basting oil

salt

pepper

1) Preheat oven to 450F.  Line cookie sheet with foil.  Slice red pepper, asparagus, and onion.  Arrange on cookie sheet with 1T oil.  Lightly salt and pepper. 

2) Roast veggie combo for 10-12 minutes; stir and roast for another 10-12 minutes.

3) While the veggies are roasting, prepare tortellini according to package directions.

4) While tortellini is cooking, dice the zucchini.

5) Set first veggie combo into big bowl. Roast the zucchini with 1T of oil on same cookie sheet for 5-7 minutes.

6) Lightly toast pine nuts (I use the toaster oven for this -- 3 minutes is enough). These burn fast, so watch this step closely.

7) Drain tortellini and combine with veggies.  Add the tomatoes, zucchini, pine nuts, and pesto sauce all to same big bowl.  Stir and chill the salad if you can wait that long.  Add the mozzarella and enjoy! 

Adventures in the Kitchen - Chicken Marsala a la Oswald

Yesterday was a frustrating day from a to-do list standpoint.  For every baby step forward, I landed two large steps back.  For example, I finally collected all the winter outwear accessories (gloves, scarves, hats), and put it into the attic, an activity which took about 15 minutes in total.  Unfortunately, while that was happening, Ben spilled carrot juice all over the kitchen (sticky!) and Caroline pulled the screen door completely off its track in the kitchen (dramatic!).  By dinnertime, the house was trashed, I was officially over my limit, and I was facing bedtime by myself since Scott had a board meeting.

In order to salvage my day, I thought I'd try to make an extra delicious dinner (which coincidently required cooking with copious amounts of wine) in order to enjoy the 45 minutes Scott would be home for the day.  Fortunately, the neighbors came home from school and the kids played outside for a while, or else we would have been eating frozen chicken nuggets.

Last night's cooking goal was to make a Chicken Marsala dinner that rivaled our local Anthony's Italian Restaurant.  I consulted a few different sources for a recipe, but didn't hit upon anything that I liked or resembled Anthony's version.  So, I made up the following recipe on the fly. It was delicious.

Chicken Marsala a la Oswald

Ingredients:
Chicken breast - sliced thin and tenderized (I pounded with mallet)
1 to 1.5 cups Marsala wine (dry)
2T - 3T Olive oil
2T Butter
8 oz Mushrooms, halved
Bunch of asparagus, chopped into bite-sized pieces; tips left intact
Can of artichokes, drained
3T capers!! (or more if you love them)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic bread (optional)

1) Heat 2T of olive oil and 2T of butter to large skillet or dutch oven.
2) Salt and pepper chicken, then brown chicken for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. Reserve chicken on side.
3) Saute mushrooms until soft; if mushrooms absorb all liquid add 1T more olive oil. 
4) After mushrooms are ready, add wine, artichokes, and capers.  Reduce wine by about half.  The goal is to have some remaining liquid to pour over chicken at end -- so don't cook it down completely.
5) Add chicken and asparagus to vegetables; saute for a few minutes per side until chicken is completely cooked.  If you don't like asparagus crisp, then put it in with artichokes in previous step.
6) Serve and enjoy with garlic bread!