Cinnamon Chicken

Living abroad may be full of challenges, but sometimes, just sometimes, you can have an intercultural culinary success. I am tentatively stepping into my new cooking clogs here in the Netherlands, where I am cooking without the 900 kitchen gadgets that we all take for granted at home. This has been just fine as I use Max as my taster and critic, but I had not yet cooked for others until this weekend. Max and I were invited to the home of one of his colleagues who lives in Amsterdam. It was a potluck, and the logistics were tricky. We had to make something that could be taken by bike to the train station, survive a 25 minute train ride, and a 30 minute walk (because who would not walk through Amsterdam on a rare sunny Saturday evening?). Oh, and the kicker was that the guests were from Italy, France, Spain, New Zealand, Germany, India, and the Netherlands. How was I going to please the tastes of any of these guests whose home countries offer some of the best cuisines? Like Erin, I try to learn from my mistakes, but this was no time for experimentation. I looked over the list of recipes I had recently tried, and asked Max to choose his favorite. It was the Cinnamon Chicken recipe I made a couple of weeks ago. The recipe is from Runners World Magazine

I changed the amount and type of chicken, and made some daring metric conversions. Here is the recipe as I made it (conversions re-converted--if that is possible). I also re-wrote some of the instructions, as I found the original recipe to be a bit jumbled.

The ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. kosher salt (we used Gros Sel de Guérande, a French sea salt)
1tsp. freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves garlic, minced (separate 2 cloves for use later)
1 1/2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 coarsely chopped yellow onions
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup water
1 cup chicken stock
5 oz. tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, choppped (dried oregano works just fine)

The steps:

1. Boil water with a pinch of sea salt and set aside. Meanwhile, prepare your chicken stock in another pan and set aside.
2. Mix the cinnamon, kosher salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Pat the chicken breasts with paper towels and then rub the cinnamon mixture on the chicken breasts.
   
3. Heat olive oil in deep skillet, and add chicken, browning for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
4. Lower heat to medium-high and add 3 of the minced garlic cloves and onions to the skillet. Stir for about 3 minutes, until onions are just beginning to soften.
   
5. Add the wine, and stir occasionally until wine is evaporated.
6. When the wine has evaporated, add the water, chicken stock, tomato paste, remaining 2 minced garlic cloves, and oregano. Stir until well blended.
   
7. Return chicken breasts to the sauce mixture (they should be about 3/4 covered in sauce).
8. Cover the skillet and simmer on low heat for about an hour until chicken is tender.
9. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with rice or pasta.

The first time I made this (pictured below) I served it with rice. For the potluck, I just packaged it and we reheated it at the host's home. I was very pleased when I got a thumbs up from the New Zealander, the Spaniard, the French woman, and the Italian. I hope that it brings happiness to the taste buds of my American friends back home!

Trivia question: This recipe was originally labeled Koto Kapama (Cinnamon Chicken). What language does Koto Kapama come from? I don't have the answer, so I hope someone knows.

To Ketchup or not to Ketchup...That is the Question. (a.k.a. Mom's meatloaf!!)

There is a great debate in the culinary world about what makes a true meatloaf. For me, it is my mom's savory "loaf de beef" with some gravy on top. For my husband, he misses his mom's sweet, sticky ketchup-topped meatloaf. However, because I was cooking, I won out on this one (and David just added a side of ketchup to his meal). No matter what your preference, you can't deny the amazing thing that is a loaf of meat cooking in its own juices. Savory, moist, wonderful, and simple.


Mom's meatloaf (a family secret revealed)!:


1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c. saltine crumbs
1 1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 cup minced or grated onion
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. sage
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce


Mix ingredients in the order shown. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees in an ungreased loaf pan or shallow baking dish.

Add some mashed potatoes and gravy (fresh or pre-made), some balsamic and butter asparagus and red pepper (sauteed), and my favorite comfort food side dish: Canned carrots, cooked with butter and Lawry's Seasoning Salt (the sugar in this salt mixture is heaven on carrots).


And then get ready for delicious:

This is a culinary triumph. For culinary tragedies, please see below...

You win some, and, well...you lose some.

I love to try new recipes. On average, I probably try one new recipe a week. Some of these are more successful than others (as you might imagine). Since this blog is supposed to be about our kitchen tragedies as well as our triumphs, I thought I would give you a couple of recipes that, while not awful, turned out a bit problematic for various reasons. It is not that I think these recipes are bad to begin with or can't be saved--that's not true at all. They all looked great on paper. (i.e., it's not the recipes, Erin, it's you!!!)

So what went wrong in my execution? I have tried to work it out and have come up with the below conclusions, but I would LOVE your ideas/thoughts as well.

Recipe Numero Uno: Chicken Broccoli Pasta Bake

Recipe Source: http://www.aimeesadventures.com/ (A great source for healthy, quick dinners, including nutrition info and WW points for each meal. Family friendly stuff that real people eat. Except for "Taco Ring" I'm scared of that one. Because, well, tacos aren't shaped like rings and really shouldn't be. But I digress...)

1 lb. Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breast Halves, cut into bite sized pieces

1 lb. Bag Frozen Broccoli Florets

3.5 oz. (approx. 1 Cup) Barilla Plus Multigrain Rotini Pasta, uncooked

1 Cup Fat Free Shredded Cheddar Cheese

10.75 oz. Can 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup

10.75 oz. Can 98% Fat Free Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 Tablespoon Dry Minced Onions

1 1/2 Cups Fat Free Chicken Broth

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, broccoli, macaroni and cheese. In a small bowl, whisk the soup, broth, onions, garlic powder and pepper together; stir into the chicken mixture. Spray a 9X13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Stir, and then bake 25-30 minutes longer, or until the chicken juices run clear and pasta is tender. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

What went wrong:

I made some substitutions to account for what we had on hand and (David's) dietary preferences:

• I substituted the chicken for a pre-cooked turkey breast, which we cut into cubes.
• I added a bit of extra pasta because it looked a bit soupy.
• Because the hubby detests onions, I added 1/2 tsp. of onion salt.
• The store was out of Broccoli Cheese soup so I used 98% fat free cream of broccoli instead.
• I used low-fat cheese because I don't believe in fat-free cheese. Unless you like munching on plastic. Then go right ahead and enjoy.

On this one, it was a simple mistake of not thinking ahead. I never use low sodium chicken broth or low-sodium canned soup because I think it tastes awful. So coupling that with adding pre-cooked turkey breast and additional (onion) salt equaled tons of extra sodium in the recipe. The result was decent (but only because I love salt) and required you to drink a gallon of water with each bite so your blood pressure didn't sky-rocket.

How to fix it:

Next time I would make at least one of the cans of cream soup a Healthy Request soup (with lower sodium). I would use onion powder instead of onion salt. I would use the uncooked chicken or turkey breast instead.

Another note on this recipe...We upped the temp a bit and added some cooking time, which was absolutely required. You have to check the dish at various stages to make sure the pasta gets done.

This recipe had potential and looked pretty in the casserole dish, so maybe you would like to have a go at it?

Recipe Numero Dos: Balsamic Chicken with Butternut Squash Ravioli

Recipe Source: The chicken and sauce recipe comes from Cooking Light's 5 ingredient, 15 minute cookbook.

4 skinned, boned chicken breast halves

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsps olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 package of butternut squash ravioli

Some manner of vegetables for your side item.

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Add chicken to pan. Cook 5 minutes until browned. Turn chicken over and cook another 6 minutes (or until the chicken is done). Stir in vinegar, honey, and basil and cook 1 more minute.

Make the ravioli as described on the package.

Plate the ravioli and chicken and drizzle the pan drippings over all.

What went wrong: We substituted dried basil instead of fresh because we didn't have any fresh herbs on hand. While we knew enough to use half the amount of dried basil (because dried herbs are much more concentrated than fresh), the dish turned out peppery and did not have that wonderful savory basil taste (or gorgeous green color).

How to fix it: Get out there and buy some fresh herbs!! This recipe would be wonderful with that one change.

Recipe Numero Tres: Chicken Piccata

Recipe Source: Free magazine we received in the mail. Cuisine at Home. This is the recipe (however, this person has doubled it, so keep that in mind unless you are feeding 8). http://www.recipezaar.com/143009

What went wrong: We used too much lemon, not enough salt and for some reason, the chicken stuck to the bottom of the pan and caused the sauce to have bits of browned flour in it.

How to fix it:

• Too much lemon can easily be solved by actually MEASURING. (whoops)
• Too little salt can be remedied by actually TASTING the sauce before serving (Tom Colicchio and Gordon Ramsay would be horrified!)
• On the brown bits....We used the amount of oil it called for. We waited for the oil to heat properly before putting the cutlets in. So I really don't know what happened there. Any thoughts?

In any event, this recipe wasn't a complete disaster by any means. It just wasn't as good as it could be. I, if I must say so myself, it looked pretty on the plate!!

__________

So, in the end, you win some...and you lose some. I'm definitely not a professional chef. I do not even play one on tv. Therefore, I will chalk these up to rookie mistakes and try, try again.

And just remember..."If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball." --Patches O'Houlihan

Spaghetti and Red Sauce with Italian Sausage

This is my favorite homemade(-ish; it uses canned tomatoes and sauce) marinara, or Red Sauce, recipe adapted from my Dad's (Chef Love) recipe.  I added the diced tomatoes and red pepper, because I like my sauce a little chunky and a little spicy (kinda like me, ha ha).  

One of Dad's nicknames for me is "Number One", because I am the 1st child, and we loved us some Star Trek: The Next Generation where Captain Picard called First Officer Riker "Number One." Yes, I am a nerd.

Chef Love and Number One's Red Sauce 

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, thinly sliced and diced

2-4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 (14.5 oz) cans tomato sauce

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, in juice

1 tbsp crushed red pepper

coarse salt

1/4 c. red wine

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium to medium low heat.  Sauté onion until transparent (NOT browned), about 5-7 minutes.  Add garlic and 2/3 of the basil, and sauté until basil wilts.  Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, red pepper, and the rest of the basil.  Add salt to taste, and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.  Add red wine and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes.

We had this on Friday night with thin spaghetti and Johnsonville's Hot Italian Sausages that I boiled and then browned on the stovetop. We watched the last two episodes of The Wire, Season 4.

This was so good that we will have the same exact thing tonight (Sunday).  We may grill the sausages since the rain has ended and it is a beautiful Spring evening in Memphis.

"Ahhh, the Calla Lillies are in bloom a-gain!"--Pee Wee Herman

(I already told you I was a nerd.)

Tasty Fish for Picky Boys

I have been trying to incorporate more fish into our diet, but Tom isn't the biggest fan. This has put me on a search for tasty fish recipes that will satisfy even a picky eater. Here are a couple that I have made recently.

Blackened Catfish

I used this recipe from Everyday Food, and it turned out great! I started out with my broiler on low, but ended up switching to high to get the true "blackened" effect.

I served it with Savory Butter Corn and Garlic Pepper Green Beans.

Savory Butter Corn

Place 10oz frozen sweet corn kernels in a small saucepan and add water to just cover. Cook over medium-low heat until warmed through, about 5-7 minutes.

Add 1 tbsp butter or margarine, 2 tbsp thinly sliced scallions, and coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Tilapia Cutlets

A couple weeks ago I made this recipe from Cooking Light. It was meant to be served as a sandwich, but I served it with a side of pasta and tomato-spinach compote.

The compote recipe was from Everyday Food, but I changed it around a bit...

Tomato-Spinach Compote
1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced 

4 garlic cloves, slivered 

Coarse salt and ground pepper 

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, in juice
1 (6oz) bag of baby spinach

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to soften, 5 to 7 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juice and spinach; cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted and sauce is slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Serve over hot, cooked pasta.

Somehow, I forgot to take a photo of this one... darn. The leftover compote was delicious tossed with cooked pasta and some shredded parmesean cheese.

Chicken Quesadillas--A Taste of Home

Max and I have been missing our frequent visits to Rincon Mexican Restaurant in Lexington, KY where we used to live. There is nothing in the Dutch cuisine which comes close to Mexican fare, so I decided to make it myself...now that I am a cook...of sorts.

This recipe is from AllRecipes.com which Carrie has a link for in the lefthand column. Some guy named Tony Cortez is to thank for this recipe. I made some minor adjustments, but he gets the credit.



Serves: 2-4 (depending on your appetite)

The Ingredients:

2 Tomatoes diced (4 if you are using the tiny Dutch variety)
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (I used closer to 3 because I LOVE it!)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (I couldn't find one in my grocery store--still good without it)

salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into strips
1/2 onion (additional), thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced (I like red and yellow bell too for added color and taste)

2 cloves garlic, minced
4 (12 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or mozzarella +40 in the Netherlands)
1/4 cup sour cream, for topping

The Directions:

1. In small bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapenos, salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon olive oil, add chicken until cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside.

3. Return skillet to heat and add the second tablespoon olive oil. Saute the sliced onion and green pepper until tender. Add garlic and sautee for an additional couple of minutes. Add half of the pico de gallo and all of the chicken to the skillet. Stir in for a minute or so, then remove from heat and cover pan to keep it warm.

4. In another skillet (if you have 2), heat a tortilla. sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese on the tortilla as it warms, then 1/2 of chicken and pico de gallo, then top with another 1/4 of the cheese, put a second tortilla on top, and wait for the bottom tortilla to become lightly browned. When browned and the cheese is melted, flip the quesadilla (don't worry--it's not going to fall apart). Brown the other tortilla. When top and bottom are finally slightly crisp and brown, remove from the pan, cut into quarters, and dress it up with a dollop of sour cream and guacamole if you like, a sprig or two of the cilantro, and some of the extra pico de gallo.

We served this with refried beans from a can (sorry cooks), which were incidentally the only beans we could find in our local store. Years from now they will talk about the great Dutch bean shortage. The extra pico de gallo made the refried beans look prettier, and the leftover pico de gallo will be better the next day, I just know it! We only ate one for dinner, so this can easily stretch into two meals. The first one (pictured) was not as crisp as I think it should be. If I were in the US, I would probably add corn as a side! Until we get more daylight in the evenings, I can't take decent "During" shots of the cooking process. The space is too small and the flash makes a shadow. My apologies!

We watched the last 3 episodes of Scrubs: Season 4 to go with the nostalgia theme.

Not Food...

Spring has arrived in Memphis! So many new fresh and delicious food choices to come.