Main Dish | I Can Cook That

Venison Chili with Jalapeno-Cheddar Corn Muffins

I spent most of Saturday in the car driving to/from North Jersey in a freak Nor’easter snowfall that really made the ride quite an experience. After yesterday, it is clear that winter is (sadly) not too far away, so I better get started on some of my favorite cold weather foods. First up, chili.

I just joined a new farm club called Arganica, that just started delivering to Philadelphia. I actually joined it because my CSA share is ending and I still wanted to receive different vegetables during the winter months. However, as I was looking over their offerings, their meat and fish section is what really caught my eye. I decided to take a chance on a new type of meat I’ve never cooked with before: venison. When I mentioned I was planning on making venison chili to my boyfriend, his eyes lit up. Here’s hoping my chili can live up to whatever high expectation he has for this meal! To go along with the chili, I also made pepper Jack corn bread muffins.

For those a bit wary about venison, the meat is actually quite lean; venison is lower in fat, calories and cholesterol than beef, pork, or lamb.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

2 lbs ground venison

4 strips of bacon

2 cans red kidney beans, drained

1 can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon hot sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon ground chili

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 jalapeno (or similar) pepper, seeds removed and chopped

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup weak coffee

Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Sour cream

Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

Are you getting sick of my pumpkin recipes? I think this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce actually brings me to over a dozen posts on pumpkin-flavored desserts/meals. I wasn’t lying when I said I was pumpkin obsessed! Anyways, I’ve been trying to make this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce from Cooking Light for almost 2 weeks, but for the life of me could not find wonton wrappers. I finally just adapted the recipe to use fresh pasta sheets from By George in Reading Terminal.

Ingredients (makes 3 servings):
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, divided
6 pieces of fresh pasta lasagna sheets, rolled thinner if desired (I used pumpkin pasta, no surprise there!) – about 1 lb.
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1 tablespoon egg substitute or one egg, mixed
3 tablespoons hazelnuts, chopped
Fresh sage leaves for garnish

Note: It would be super helpful to have a ravioli stamp, (or ideally, to have a ravioli maker!) but you can get the same results by pressing firmly and separating using a knife.

To make the Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce, add a salted pot of water to your stove over high heat. Bring to a boil.

Begin by making the ravioli stuffing. Add the pumpkin, panko, Parmesan, minced sage, salt, pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg to a bowl. Mix to combine.

If you’d prefer to make the pasta as thin as possible, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough even more. Place a generous teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture on one sheet of pasta, evenly spaced (I used my stamp as a guide). My sheets were able to hold about 6 teaspoons of the pumpkin mixture.

Using a brush, surround the pumpkin mixture with a thin layer of eggwash. This will help hold the pasta pieces together.

Place another lasagna sheet on top of the original sheet, covering the pumpkin mixture.

Using the ravioli stamp, press firmly around each pocket of pumpkin mixture. If you do not have a ravioli stamp, just use your hands.

Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the ravioli into individual pieces. Repeat with remaining pumpkin mixture and lasagna sheets.

Your pot should now be boiling. Add half of the ravioli to the pot. Cook for about six minutes or until the ravioli begins to rise to the top.

While waiting for the past to cook, make your sauce. Add the milk and flour to a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute until it thinks slightly.

Remove from heat. Add the butter, stirring until it fully melts. Stir in the crumbled Gorgonzola. Add more minced sage leaves if you’d like.

Add 6 ravioli each to three plates. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the Gorgonzola sauce. Add a teaspoon of chopped hazelnuts, a few sage leaves, and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

This Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Saucewas pretty darn good. I think it could handle a boost in nutmeg though; there was something missing from the overall flavor of the dish.

I strongly suggest adding a lot of sage leaves to the plate, a bite of fresh sage with every forkful was delicious!

I liked using fresh pasta instead of wontons; wontons tend to break apart in the cooking process, especially with a heavier filling like pumpkin.

I wish I knew what ingredient would really kick this recipe up from good to great; please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!

Meatloaf Muffins

I don’t think I’ve ever had a craving for meatloaf. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I’ve only had meatloaf once. So I never actively seek out making meatloaf, much to my boyfriend’s disappointment. However, we both had long, exhausting work weeks, so I thought he deserved a comfort-food meal. Cooking light had a recipe for Meatloaf Muffins that I thought would work great; he could eat as much as he wanted and then have perfectly portioned “muffins” that I could freeze.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
3 bell peppers (I used one orange, yellow & red), chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1/2 teaspoon sriracha
1 pound ground beef, extra lean
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, cut out of its casing (I used 2 sausages)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your onion, carrot, garlic, and peppers. Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, basil, parsley, garlic and peppers. (Note: I completely forgot about the peppers and had to go back and saute them on their own. Just pretend they are in the photos. Shh.)

Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add the sausage, cut out of the casing, beef, 1/2 ketchup, sriracha, panko, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper, eggs, and the cooled onion mixture in a large bowl.

Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Add the mixture to the muffin tins. (I used large muffin tins so there were only 6. This recipe also works with the standard size 12. For the large, 1 muffin is a serving. For the standard, 2 muffins are a serving.)

Top each with two teaspoons ketchup. (I got bored/creative)

Bake for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees. (The larger muffins ended up taking about 35 minutes total).

Serve with sauteed green beans and baked potato wedges if desired.

So what’s the review from my boyfriend? Very good! There was a slight hint of sriracha without making the meatloaf spicy. The sausage added a smoky taste to the meatloaf, and the peppers added a slight crunch to the meal. He ate the meatloaf with a side of ketchup mixed with hot sauce and seemed to really enjoy it.

The best part of this dish is the remaining “muffins” can be frozen for future meals.

Yum

Meatloaf “Muffins”

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
3 bell peppers (I used one orange, yellow & red), chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1/2 teaspoon sriracha
1 pound ground beef, extra lean
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, cut out of its casing (I used 2 sausages)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your onion, carrot, garlic, and peppers. Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, basil, parsley, garlic and peppers.
Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add the sausage, cut out of the casing, beef, ½ ketchup, sriracha, panko, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper, eggs, and the cooled onion mixture in a large bowl.
Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Add the mixture to the muffin tins. (I used large muffin tins so there were only 6. This recipe also works with the standard size 12. For the large, 1 muffin is a serving. For the standard, 2 muffins are a serving.)
Top each with two teaspoons ketchup.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees. (The larger muffins ended up taking about 35 minutes total).

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Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce

I have had quite the hankering for Mexican recently, so I was so happy that the October issue of Cooking Light included a bunch of delicious sounding Mexican inspired vegetarian meals. I decided to go for the Black Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, because they can easily be frozen for future lunches and dinners. I substituted a few of the ingredients for what I already had, but you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

2 Cajun peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups chicken broth, divided

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

The juice of 1 lime

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups pre-shredded Mexican-blend cheese, divided

3 thinly sliced green onions, divided

Cooking spray

10 (6-inch) corn tortillas

5 tablespoons light sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare the peppers, onion and garlic cloves. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over high heat. Add onion and cook for 1 minute.

Reduce heat to medium and add the garlic and salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 cups broth, parsley, tomato paste, and cumin.

Cook for 10 minutes, or until it thickens slightly, stirring occasionally.

While this is cooking, add the extra cup water and the chopped peppers to a food processor. Pour the onion mixture into the food processor when finished cooking. Blend until smooth. Stir in lime juice and cayenne.

Combine the beans, 1 cup of cheese, and half the green onions in a bowl.

Add 1/2 of the sauce to the bottom of a cookie pan coated with cooking spray. Add 3 tablespoons of the bean mixture to to each tortilla.

Roll up, placing the seam side down.

Add to the cookie pan.

Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas.

Top with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with remaining green onions and serve with sour cream.

This recipe has so much flavor! I was really pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. I am pretty sure I didn’t allow the sauce to reduce enough, but it thickened up in the oven and still tasted wonderful.

A serving is two enchiladas, so I actually have 4 meals left over after making this. As I mentioned before, enchiladas freeze really well, so 3 are going into the freezer and one will be my lunch tomorrow, win!

To make this recipe more effective for a weeknight, you can make the ranchero sauce ahead of time an refrigerate it until ready to use. The recipe took about an hour from start to finish.

Southwestern Burgers with Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries & Chili Aioli

The high humidity continues in Philadelphia so I decided to just give in and have a summery meal. I made this inside on a grill pan, but the burger can be made on an outdoor grill just as easily. I will focus more on making the fries, because the burger is mostly stacking ingredients.

Ingredients:

Burger:

4 hamburger patties

4 slices of pepper jack cheese

1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado

4 hamburger buns

Sweet Potato Fries:

4 larger sized sweet potatoes, cut into wedges

Salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 teaspoons chipotle powder

Chili Aioli:

1/3 cup mayo

1 tablespoon chili sauce (like Sriracha)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into wedges. I honestly don’t think I succeeded in actually getting “wedges” but oh well. Place on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and sprinkle with salt.

Melt the butter, either on a stovetop or in the microwave.

Drizzle the melted butter and sprinkle the chipotle powder over the sweet potato wedges.

Cook for 30-40 minutes, turning each piece over half way through so that they cook evenly.

While the fries are cooking, combine the Sriracha and mayo in a bowl.

Cook the burgers to desired degree of doneness. Toast the buns on the grill as well. Add about 1 teaspoon of the aoili to the tops of each bun. Top each burger with one slice of cheese, a slice of red onion and 1/4 of the avocado.

Serve with the fries and the aioli.

I am in love with this dinner. I seriously considered making this again the next night. The sweet potato fries were the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, especially when paired with the aioli. I could eat the fries and aioli by themselves! I always love avocado on burgers, and the addition of pepper jack cheese and red onion made it even more delicious. This is a must try meal!

Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

I honestly don’t know why I don’t make more dinners that involve chicken. I guess I just never have any on hand. This week, we were celebrating one of my friend’s birthdays by making her dinner and we settled on a chicken dish. I was really at a loss for what to make, so luckily Budget Bytes came to the rescue with her recipe for Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken. (Please excuse the photos in this post. I wasn’t exactly planning on making a post about it so they aren’t that fantastic. But this recipe is too good not to share!)

Ingredients:

For Chicken:

4 thin chicken breasts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Basil, thinly sliced
Parsley, chopped

For Bruschetta:

4 medium roma tomatoes
1 small sweet onion
1 medium garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Continue reading Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

Bacon-Topped Meatloaf

I didn’t grow up in a meatloaf household. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve only had meatloaf once. So when my boyfriend put in a special request for meatloaf I wasn’t exactly thrilled. But he rarely asks for anything specific, and is always willing to eat whatever I make (I jokingly refer to him as “I Can Eat That”) so I think he deserves this one request. I decided to try a recipe from Tyler Florence with a few changes.

Ingredients:

Tomato Relish:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and finely diced

4 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, and finely diced

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 12 ounce bottle of ketchup

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

Meatloaf:

1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

3 tablespoons milk

1 pound ground beef

1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed

2 eggs

Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs

Salt and pepper

3 bacon slices

Continue reading Bacon-Topped Meatloaf

Gnocchi

I have wanted to try to make gnocchi for some time now. Luckily, I am part of a food swap and they were willing to let me experiment on them. Here’s hoping they turned out well! I used this article as a base for my recipe.

Note: I actually made the gnocchi twice because I wasn’t happy with the original result. I used smaller potatoes the first time (see below photo) and I found that the normal Idaho potatoes were much better for this recipe. (Special thanks to my boyfriend for a lot of his help during the making of the gnocchi)

Ingredients:
3 large russet (Idaho) potatoes, scrubbed
1 egg yolk
About 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Begin by pricking each potato all over with a fork. This will allow some of the heat to escape while it is baking in the oven.

Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for about an hour and a half, or until the potatoes are soft.

After removing the potatoes from the oven, cut each potato in half to allow the steam to escape.

While the potatoes are still warm, scoop out the insides into a potato ricer into a bowl.

Place the potatoes onto a clean work surface, like your counter, and form into a rectangle and allow to cool enough that they are not hot to touch.

Season the potatoes generously with pepper. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl and drizzle the over the potatoes.

Measure 1 1/2 cups flour and sprinkle a bit of flour over the potatoes as needed (the less flour you use the better). Using a pastry scraper, mix the flour and egg into the potatoes by chopping everything up and folding it in on itself, until well mixed. The dough should sort of resemble coarse crumbs.

Bring the mixture together into a ball.

Sprinkle some on the work surface. Place the dough on top and flatten into a disk.

Dust the dough with more flour. Using your hands, fold and press the dough until the flour is incorporated. Do this two more times, incorporating the flour each time. If the dough still feels sticky, repeat once more.

Divide the dough into four equal parts.

Roll each section into a long thin roll, about 1/2″ thick.

Cut into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces.

Because I was making these for a food swap, I arranged all the pieces on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil and put them in the freezer overnight.

I then divided the gnocchi into freezer bags and popped them back into the freezer.

To cook, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Drop the gnocchi into the water and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, or until they float to the surface. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and top with whatever you prefer: tomato sauce, pesto, butter, etc. (I’m a big fan of tomato sauce with some pesto mixed in, yum!)

I tried a few of these and they were pretty good! I hope that they continue to get better as I make them but I thought this recipe turned out well, here’s hoping those in the food swap agree!

Mushroom Risotto

This past weekend, Kennett Square held it’s annual Mushroom Festival. I unfortunately didn’t get to go this year, but my parents dropped off a variety of mushrooms for me. When I have a lot of different types of mushrooms, my go to recipe is a mushroom risotto.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
2 cups assorted mushrooms, sliced (I used oyster, shiitake, portobello & trumpet)
1/2 a small onion, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine
4 cups chicken stock
4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Continue reading Mushroom Risotto

Broiled Thai Curry Salmon & Baby Bok Choy

As much as I try to like bok choy, I just don’t really like the flavor. However, I received two baby bok choy in my CSA so here’s my attempt to hide the cabbage-y taste using a Bon Appetit recipe as a base that includes a Thai Red Curry sauce.

Ingredients: (this only makes 1 serving)
2 baby bok choy
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1/2 can coconut milk
the zest of 1 lemon
the juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 6-ounce salmon fillet
Chopped scallions, for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat your broiler.

Roughly chop the baby bok choy and place on one side of a cookie sheet.

Place the salmon on the other side of the cookie sheet and season with salt and pepper.

Broil for 5 minutes. Stir the bok choy and broil for another 4 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through and the bok choy has crisped a bit.

While the salmon and bok choy are cooking, heat the oil in a saute pan and add the red curry paste.

Cook for 30 seconds and add coconut milk and lemon zest. Boil until the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice and fish sauce.

To serve, add baby bok choy to a plate and top with salmon. Drizzle curry sauce over the entire plate. Top with chopped scallions if desired.

The curry sauce did a fantastic job of making the baby bok choy palatable. I still did get a hint of the taste of the baby bok choy, but it was much more subtle than just a steamed bok choy recipe. I wish the sauce had a bit more spice to it, so next time I’d probably increase the amount of the red curry paste.

I was apparently quite hungry and started eating this before I topped the salmon with scallions. Oops. But after having a few bites without the scallions and a few bites with, I strongly suggest adding them, they really work great with this dish.

Kara-Age Popcorn Shrimp

One of the best parts of starting this blog is that I get to make food outside my comfort zone. I try to make new and different recipes to expand cooking repertoire. As a member of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a box of Kikkoman Kara-Age Soy-Ginger Seasoned Coating Mix. Kara-Age (pronounced KAH-rah AH-geh) is a method used in Japan in which meat is coated in a soy sauce, garlic and ginger, dipped in flour, and fried. Although Kara-Age is typically used for chicken, I decided to try to make a “Kara-Age Popcorn Shrimp”.

Ingredients:
1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp (medium or small)
1 package Kikkoman Kara-Age Mix
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon chopped mint
Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Depending on the size of your saute pan, you may need more or less oil- you want about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in the pan. Heat the oil to 350 degrees.

Pour the package of Kikkoman Kara-Age Mix into a plastic bag. Add the shrimp to the bag, seal the bag, and shake well to coat each piece of shrimp evenly.

Remove shrimp from the bag and discard the remaining mix.

Pan-fry 6-8 shrimp at a time in the hot oil for about 2 minutes per side, or until shrimp is cooked.

Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel.

Repeat with remaining shrimp. Squeeze lemon juice over the cooked shrimp and sprinkle with chopped cilantro and mint. Serve hot.

I tend to think all fried things taste the same. Well, Kikkoman just proved me wrong. The soy-ginger flavor still shines through the crispy fried coating and delivers awesome flavor. The cilantro-mint-lemon topping adds even more flavor to the dish without competing with the seasoning.

This can be served as an appetizer, or as a meal. I love how quick this was, probably 10 minutes in total to prepare and make. Very little effort for a whole lot of flavor!

To make this recipe healthier, instead of frying the shrimp, broil them on a sheet coated in olive oil. Spray the shrimp with cooking spray before broiling.

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

It’s difficult to not associate barbecues with Labor Day weekend. The unofficial end of summer is usually spent the same way summer began on Memorial Day: relaxing (preferably at a beach) and enjoying the company of friends and family while eating burgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken. Well, there was no beach for me this weekend, but I was still able to “grill” despite the kind of crummy weather so that I still got my barbecue fix. Cooking Light has a surprisingly simple looking recipe for Pulled Chicken Sandwiches that I just had to try.

Ingredients:

For the chicken:
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray

For the sauce:
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses

Remaining ingredients:
8 sandwich rolls, toasted
Pickles, your choice

Don’t let the number of ingredients deter you from making this. It really is simple! The original recipe actually used dark brown sugar, but I had light brown sugar on hand. Feel free to use whichever one you happen to have. You can substitute chicken breasts for this, but thigh meat adds extra juiciness to the sandwich that you really don’t want to miss out tasting.

Begin by preheating your grill. I was stuck indoors, so I just used a grill pan.

Combine first 7 ingredients (light brown sugar through ginger) in a small bowl. I somehow misplaced my measuring spoons so I kind of eyeballed all of these ingredients. Don’t worry about getting the perfect amounts, it’s more about the proportion to the other spices.

Rub the mixture evenly over the chicken.

Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray.

Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 180 degrees, turning occasionally.

Let stand for 5 minutes.

Shred with 2 forks.

Set to the side for now.

Prepare your onions. If needed, slice your pickles. My boyfriend prefers sweet pickles so we bought the mini ones and minced them for an easy topping.

To prepare sauce, heat oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and the next 5 ingredients (chili powder through ground red pepper) and cook for 30 seconds.

Add ketchup, vinegar and molasses.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.

Stir in chicken and cook for 2 minutes, making sure the chicken is thoroughly coated in the sauce.

Toast the buns.

Place about 1/3 cup chicken mixture on bottom halves of the toasted roll.

Top with pickles if desired.

This recipe was promising from the start. I haven’t seen my boyfriend so excited for a meal I’m cooking in a long time; he even offered to help out! (He worked on grilling and shredding the chicken while I prepped and worked on the sauce, it really sped up the cook time). And this recipe really delivered. It tasted like it had slow cooked for hours, subtly sweet and spicy at the same time. I really don’t like pickles, but my boyfriend had his topped with pickles and said it really made the sandwich that much better.

This meal could easily be used in the winter months to remind you of the warmer weather. You could make this as I did on a grill pan, or to really enhance the flavor, you could cook the chicken in a slow cooker for 5 hours on low.

Eggplant Parmesan Stacks

I received another eggplant in my CSA share this week so I thought I’d attempt Eggplant Parmesan. I saw this slightly different version of the recipe on MyRecipes.com, originally from Sunset Magazine and thought I’d give it a try.

Ingredients: (makes 2 servings)
1 eggplant
1/2 tube cooked polenta
Olive oil cooking spray
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1 can (14 oz.) tomato purée
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (6 oz.)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Begin by preparing your eggplant. Rinse the eggplant and cut off both ends. Cut the eggplant crosswise into 4 equally thick slices.

Using only half of the tube of polenta, cut the polenta crosswise into 4 equal slices.

Lightly spray a cookie sheet with the cooking spray and add the polenta and eggplant to the sheet. Spray another layer of the cooking spray on the slices.

Cook for 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft and the polenta is heated through.

While the eggplant and polenta are cooking, prepare your onion, basil and garlic.

Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the onion, garlic and basil.

Cook until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomato puree and 1/4 cup water.

Stir to combine. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and cover to keep warm until the eggplant and polenta are finished cooking.

When the rounds are heated, sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the slices. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

To assemble, add one of the larger slices of eggplant to a plate.

Top with 1 tablespoon tomato sauce.

Add one polenta slice.

Top with another tablespoon of sauce.

Repeat with another eggplant slice, tomato sauce, polenta slice & more tomato sauce. Top with 1 tablespoon panko. Repeat this process to plate the other eggplant Parmesan stack.

If desired, spoon the remaining tomato sauce around the stacks.

What an inventive “eggplant Parmesan” dish! It was really simple too, the whole meal was ready in just over 30 minutes.

I think I honestly prefer this version to the traditional eggplant Parmesan. I always find the breading to be a bit too heavy for the eggplant so the polenta was a happy alternative. Not to mention, I was able to make only two servings so nothing went to waste! Now to find a recipe to use the rest of my polenta…

Corn, Tomato & Basil Risotto

After a weekend of brownie and brie baking, I’m back on track making normal meals. Keeping with my tomato-corn themes, I was happy to find a recipe from Fine Cooking that included both of these ingredients. Even better, it is also a risotto!

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups of frozen corn kernels
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. torn fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

So I chickened out this time on the corn. Out of my last batch of a half dozen corn cobs, 5 (FIVE!) of them had worms. Goo. I understand it is very difficult to grown corn organically, but I needed to just take a step back from the whole surprise-in-my-corn.If you are using fresh corn, click on the link above to see the original recipe, I used frozen kernels for mine so I had to adapt the recipe accordingly. You will need three corn cobs.

Add the chicken broth to a pot and heat over medium-low heat. In another saute pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the rice and stir to coat.

Add the wine and cook until absorbed, about 1 minute.

Ladle in 1 1/2 cups of the warm broth into the saute pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broth is absorbed (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add a 1/2 cup of broth at a time, waiting until the broth is absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup.

Combine the tomatoes,olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of the basil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

I’d be happy just eating this!

About 16 minutes into the cooking of the rice (you’ll still have broth left), stir in the corn. Continue to add the broth in 1/2 cup increments until the rice is creamy, about 20 to 25 minutes in total.

Remove from heat and add the Parmigiano cheese and tomato-basil mixture. Top with the remaining basil and serve.

Somehow, this risotto was light and refreshing. I loved the sweetness from both the tomatoes and corn, it tasted like summer! I ate the leftovers from this the next day for lunch and it held up really well, which is always a plus.

Oven-Roasted Halibut with Quinoa and Warm Tomato Vinaigrette

I’m still working through my tomatoes (no complaints here), and I am trying to experiment with different ways to use the tomatoes. I found this recipe for Oven-Roasted Sea Bass with Couscous and Warm Tomato Vinaigrette and used it as a base. I substituted halibut for the sea bass (Chilean sea bass is severely overfished, often illegally, and also has a high content of mercury. Try to buy Pacific halibut because Atlantic halibut is also overfished). I also used quinoa, which was already in my pantry, instead of couscous.

Ingredients:
1 scallion (green onion)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
2 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices lemon, halved

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut scallion into 3-inch pieces, and those pieces into thin strips (see photo below).

Prepare your garlic, tomatoes, and lemons.

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until garlic begins to brown.

Add the tomato and scallions and reduce heat to medium, cooking for 1 minute.

Remove from heat; stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice, vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Keep warm.

Combine 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and chicken broth in a medium saute pan and bring to a boil. Gradually stir in quinoa and chopped chives and cook for 15 minutes on low. heat Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes.

Fluff with a fork. Cover and keep warm.

Season fish with salt and pepper. Place fillets on a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Place 4 halved lemon slices on each fillet.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve over quinoa, and top with vinaigrette. Garnish with more chives, if desired.

These ingredients worked SO well together. The tomatoes added a slight sweetness to the vinaigrette, which brightened up the entire dish. The quinoa added a nice earthy flavor.

Be sure to top the halibut with a lot of the tomato vinaigrette. I actually went back for more for my serving.