I Cooked! - Parmesan Chicken & Salad Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette

This is an amazing recipe, and pretty easy to make!

Preheat Oven: 200 F

4-6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 C. Flour
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
½ tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp. Water
1 ¼ C. Seasoned Bread Crumbs
½ C. Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese, plus extra for serving
Butter
Olive Oil

Directions:
1. “Butterfly” the chicken breasts then cover with waxed paper on a flat surface.

2. Flatten with a rolling pin or meat mallet until ¼” thick

3. Combine flour, salt, pepper & Parmesan cheese on a dinner plate

4. In a shallow dish beat eggs and water

5. Put bread crumbs on a dinner plate

6. Coat each chicken breast on both sides first with flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs

7. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet, then cook 1-2 chicken breasts on medium heat 2-3 minutes each side until cooked through

8. Add more olive oil and butter to do the next set of chicken breasts

9. Put finished chicken breasts on a baking sheet in oven (200 F) to keep warm until ready to eat

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Lemon Vinaigrette

¼ C. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (2 Lemons)
½ C. Olive Oil
½ tsp. Kosher salt
¼ tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Salad Greens to serve with same number of Chicken Breasts made

Directions:
1. Mix dressing, then toss with salad greens

2. To serve: place a mound of salad on top of each chicken breast, then grate a little more Parmesan cheese on top 

I've made this twice. The first time I made it frying the chicken in the olive oil/butter combo suggested, and the second time using Grapeseed (aka rapeseed) oil. The grapeseed was so much better! The chicken came out crunchier and far less greasy! Honestly though, my favorite part of this recipe is the vinaigrette! It's divine, especially if you prefer vinaigrette over nasty ol' sugary or creamy dressing! 


(sorry no pics, my hands were covered in egg and breadcrumbs while cooking. Just use your imagination.)

Wine Jelly?

This summer DivaMom and I bought Wine Jelly from Pentamere Winery while we were at the Renaissance Festival. We LOVE this stuff! Pentamere is in Tecumseh, way too far to drive, and the jelly isn't available to purchase online, which has led DivaMom to want me to make some.

I've never done any jelly making in my life! I've never done any canning either!

I've found quite a few recipes online, but all of the require boiling the wine which I think would change the flavor. You could taste the alcohol in jelly we bought, so we don't really want to boil it out.

Do you have any recipes, suggestions or recommendations? Let me know in the comments section or via Twitter @adiningdiva.

Product Reviews - Presorvac Marinator, Maverick Voice Alert Anticipation Digital Thermometer, and Mediterranean Chicken Recipe

First, The Recipe:

Mediterranean Grilled Chicken

(serves 6)

2 lbs of boneless chicken breast (either whole or cubed)

4-6 cloves of garlic

½ cup of lemon juice

2 teaspoons of thyme

1 teaspoon of paprika

¼ - ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)

1 teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of black pepper

½ cup of olive oil

Combine ingredients in a bowl (plastic with a cover), pour over chicken, and refrigerate 6 hours or over night.

Bring the meat to room temperature.

Prepare the grill or preheat the broiler.

Remove meat from the marinade, reserving the marinade. If using chicken cubes, thread on to skewers. Place the chicken on the grill rack or broiler pan and grill or broil until cooked through, basting with reserved marinade while cooking. Cooking time will depend upon the size of poultry pieces. Do not let the meat become dry.

I love this recipe. It's tasty, easy to whip up, and I usually have all of the ingredients on hand, but I hate the marination time, so when I saw the Presorvac Marinator on Woot.com I had to try it (especially since it was only $29.99 with shipping)! 

 

I cleaned the chicken and put it in the marinator's dish:

added the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and other assorted seasonings:

 Popped the top on and started it up:

This thing is VERY loud. Don't use this if you have a sleeping baby! The marination cycles (there are 5) lasts about 10-15 mins. After it ran once I flipped the chicken over and ran it again. This is what it looked like after 2 cycles:

Normally I would grill the chicken outside, but since this is December in Michigan, I decided to bake it instead. I preheated the oven to 400 sprayed a baking dish with olive oil cooking spray then placed the chicken in the dish:

Clean up is pretty easy, both the lid and marinator dish are top rack dishwasher safe. the motor part isn't so I just wipe that down with a wet cloth (not that it really gets dirty). I baked the chicken until the internal temp reached 180. 

I also have a new cooking thermometer, also bought via Woot.com:

I put the probe into the chicken and it will let me know when it is ready.

It's a little weird having the cord in the oven plugged into the "brain" on top of the stove, but the probe/cord are oven safe up to 450, and I have another for the grill that is safe up to 600. The thermometer is pretty easy to use and it came with batteries so that's always a plus. When the food is done the thermometer actually says "your meal is done" however it doesn't remind you the probe and the cord are hot. I burned first the back of my hand on the cord, and then the pads of my right thumb, forefinger and middle finger on the probe (yes, I'm that much of a dumbass that I didn't learn my lesson after burning myself the first time).

The end result:

I completed the meal with Garlic Mashed Potatoes (from a box) and some steamed broccoli.

So you must be wondering...what is the verdict on the marinater? Thumbs Up! It's a winner! The meat was juicy, tender, and well marinated! If you like marinaded meat, this is a must have!

I Baked - Cup o' Joe Cookies

'tis the season for baking cookies. I love chocolate and coffee, so when I ran across this recipe making it was a no brainer!

So this recipe calls for blending cocoa powder, instant espresso granules and whipping cream together, then "crumble" the sugar cookie log into the mixture...I just decided to throw the whole log in there!

And mixed (hey, it's hard to stir!):

and mixed (Pretty gross, huh?):

until it was well blended. Then I formed it into little balls (yeah they looks like little brown turds) :

And then I took a drinking glass and smushed the balls flat. (my friends always called me a "ball buster"):

And then I topped each one with chocolate chips or chunks. You can use whatever kind of chocolate you like. This time I used Semi-Sweet, but next time I might go with dark chocolate.

If the chocolate has a while film on it, it is perfectly fine to use. The chocolate hasn't gone "bad", but the cocoa butter in the chocolate has separated from the other solids and rested on surface.

Here's the finished product (notice the white on the chocolate chunks has disappeared):

These were pretty easy, didn't make a mess, and were quick to bake. If you have little kids you can make this with them as a treat...if you don't have issues with the little bit of espresso powder.

Snowed In! - Pan Fried Hamburgers

I live in Michigan and we got hit with a winter storm over the weekend. I was stuck inside and had to feed myself. Luckily I had a few provisions on hand.

Ground Beef:

To which I added Worcester Sauce, seasoned bread crumbs, and minced onions. Then I formed patties:

And covered the patties in sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Placed it in the pan with some sliced onions:

while that cooked I toasted a bun in the toaster oven. Once the meat was finished I placed a piece of Swiss cheese on top and everything on the bun:

Surprisingly this turned out much better than I anticipated (ok, so I burned the first pan, but the burger was tasty).

I rarely make burgers at home, mainly because they never taste as good as a restaurant burger, but I have to admit, this one came pretty darned close!

I Baked! - Lemon Ricotta Cookies (Giada De Laurentiis)

I love lemon cookies. They are probably my favorite, so when I found this recipe I was very excited!

I followed instructions exactly to bake the cookies, and used fresh lemons and zested them myself.

I mixed the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set them aside. Then I creamed the butter and sugar together:

added the eggs one at a time:

added lemon juice, zest, and ricotta cheese and blended:

added the dry ingredients slowly:

Dropped the dough onto parchment paper covered cookie sheets and baked:

While the cookies were baking I made the glaze. I put an extra 1/2 lemon worth of juice.

The recipe calls for 15 minutes, since I used one of those insulated or double layer pans it took more like 25 for them to cook completely. I let them cool for about 10 minutes then I put the glaze on:

I should have waited a little longer. The glaze kinda melted off and pooled around the cookies.

These cookies are very cake like, almost like eating the top of a muffin.

The cookie didn't have much of a lemon taste, but the glaze with the extra lemon juice was awesome. This recipe is a little complicated, so it's not a recipe to make every day, but for special occasions it is a perfect sweet treat!

I Cooked - Grilled Chicken Parmigiano (Rocco DiSpirito)

I found this recipe for Grilled Chicken Parmigiano. I've always been a fan of Rocco DiSpirito's, I even have his books, but I've never made any of the recipes. I always feel overwhelmed when I open the cookbooks.

The recipe calls for making marinara. Well, that wasn't going to happen. I bought store bought generic organic marinara. And what's the point of buying canned Roma tomatoes then dicing them yourself? I just bought a can of diced tomatoes with Italian herbs. I couldn't find low fat cheese so I used regular cheese, and I wasn't buying new panko crumbs so I just used what I had at home. Yeah, I know I defeated the purpose of this being low-cal, but I'm about convenience.

 I pounded out the chicken the best I could, and seasoned it with salt and pepper:

 I grilled it on my stove top grill:

According to the recipe the grilling should have taken 1.5 minutes per side. I found it took much much much longer.

I then placed the chicken in a dish with marinara, diced tomatoes and basil:

 Then topped with cheese and baked:

 These are the products I used:

When it was done I sprinkled the panko crumbs on top:

I have no idea what purpose the panko crumbs serve, but since the recipe called for them, I put them on. I made a pot of rigatoni since I can't just eat chicken and cheese.

This turned out surprisingly good! You can't go wrong with fresh basil though. Overall this recipe was pretty easy, quick, and tasty. If you have kids you might be able to get them to eat this one.

The Butter Incident

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday...never turn your back on melting butter in the microwave.

As usual I was multitasking...cooking, typing, and watching TV. I needed melted butter so I cut 3 tablespoons from a stick of butter, put it in a small plastic cup and nuked it. I set the microwave for 1 minute, turned my back to rinse my hands off and all I heard was "BOOM!" I turned around and looked at the microwave...the plastic cup was upside down in the front right corner of the microwave and there was butter EVERYWHERE. Me, being the brainiac I am, opened the door and butter came flooding out. You would have thought it was a tidal wave. It seemed like far more than 3 tablespoons!

With butter dripping from the microwave on to everything on the counter and splattered all over the microwave I set to cleaning it up. I now know what the coast guard was dealing with in the Gulf of Mexico! No matter what I did, what I used, the butter just moved around. I couldn't get it to clean up! I broke out the Fantastic cleaning stuff, and started spraying. Butter puddles be damned! Everything was soaked in layers of butter and Fantastic.

After about half a roll of paper towel I managed to get the majority of the mess cleaned up (I tried to use a dishrag, but that just made matters worse).  I don't remember what I did with the plastic cup. In all the chaos I may have just thrown it in the trash, or it's somewhere tucked away for a nice surprise mess to be discovered in a month or two.

I'm dangerous in the kitchen...now you know why I eat out so much!

I Cooked! - Beef & Beer Stew

I love beef stew. It's one of my favorite meals. My mother always made it from a recipe on a crusty old index card that got lost in the many moves over the years, so I went in search of a good recipe.

I stumbled upon this recipe and it looked easy. Easy is one of my criteria when I pick a recipe since most of my friends are moms with small children or single ladies, and neither group have the time or desire to spend hours in the kitchen. Since this one didn't require browning the meat first, making a roux, or any effort beyond buying the ingredients and throwing them in the crockpot, I was all for it!

I was leery at first. Could it really be this easy and taste ok?

Yes! As it cooked our place filled with the smells of beer and beef, and had my mouth watering for hours before it was ready to eat.

This is how it all looked 2 hours into cooking. 

It cooked on high in the crockpot for about 6 hours and I was careful not to give into temptation and open it! When it was finished, I wasn't all that excited about the flavor. It lacked a little oomph (for lack of a better description), but next day it was delicious!

The finished product!

Traditionally I make rice to go along with the stew, but it's fabulous on it's own. I like to have something on the side so tortilla chips worked well for me.

Variations:
I love burgundy beef, so next time I think I'll use a good burgundy wine instead of beer. When I do that, I'll let you know how it turns out. If you are adverse to using alcohol, you probably could use beef broth instead.

Review - Holly Hotel (Holly, MI)

The Holly Hotel is a misnomer. It hasn't been a hotel in decades. It is a restaurant with a comedy club in the basement.  DivaMom received a certificate for Holly Hotel in honor of their 31st anniversary. It was $31 off of a meal for two, and considering 1 meal can cost that much it was brilliant marketing especially if you send it to someone that can't allow a coupon to go to waste.

I made reservations for 7:45, I arrived on time and another couple walked in right behind me. The server that was on the phone when I walked in (I assume she was taking a reservation) looked around the room, and addressed the couple that walked in behind me and asked them if they had a reservation. They answered "No" and she said that there were tables being cleared off and she would be able to seat them shortly. Then she walked away. No acknowledgement of my existence, nothing. She returned soon after, and seated them without even so much as looking at my direction. Now I know my parents weren't glass makers and she couldn't see through me, but I have no idea why I was ignored. I stood there for about 10 minutes before another waitress came out (I had seen her and she had seen me as she was racing around taking care of her tables) and even asked if I had been helped. I told her what happened, she apologized profusely, and proceeded to seat me in what can only be described as "the train room."

The train room is a small 4 table room set up much like a dining car of a train. There are paintings and drawings of trains everywhere and there are overhead luggage shelves much like I'd imagine an old style train would have. I love this room. To add to the ambiance the entire hotel is decorated for Christmas, with classic old-fashioned ornaments that remind me of my childhood, lots of evergreen vines, and colored lights. There are even wrapped "presents" on the luggage shelves.

For dinner I ordered the Tournedos of Beef Tenderloin and it came with a salad or soup (I chose the green salad). DivaMom ordered the Chicken Strudel Holly Hotel (shredded breast, broccoli, herbed gournay, filo) and it came with cranberry quinoa. She also ordered the French Onion soup.The Holly Hotel also serves fresh bread and butter with their meals, and last night it was avocado/pepper butter with a cheese focaccia. I hate avocado, but this butter was amazing! It was slightly salty and it complemented the light cheese taste of the bread.

The soup arrived first, and DivaMom was in heaven. She loves their french onion soup because the cheese is on the bottom, the soup in the middle and the soup crock is topped with pastry dough and baked. This arrangement helps her avoid the cheese, while still enjoying the soup and bread. (she's a little crazy if you ask me, the best part of french onion soup is the cheese!). My salad arrived next. It was salad greens filling and surrounding a small shell made of filo dough, with dried cranberries and a blackberry vinaigrette. The salad was delicious, but could have used blue cheese crumbles to offset the sweetness of the vinaigrette. The filo dough shell was a little cumbersome to eat, I finally just picked it up with my fingers and bit into it. It was light and crispy, just the way filo should be!

The entrees arrived and I was not disappointed! I had 2 medallions of beef tenderloin with "glace de veau" (aka, gravy), some roasted mixed root veggies (carrots, parsnips, potato, and mushrooms), and mashed potatoes. The chef send out a third piece of meat with the explanation that when he plated the food it didn't look like enough meat. I ordered my meal well done, and I was happy to see my request was met. The meat was tender, but not pink, not an easy task but he/she (IDK the gender of the chef) achieved it! The gravy was tasty, which is amazing to me since I HATE gravy, and the mashed potatoes were perfection! I didn't care for the roasted veggies, but they were well seasoned and what I ate of them tasted ok. I'm not a fan of parsnips or mushrooms.

DivaMom and I passed on dessert. For once there wasn't anything on the dessert tray that struck our fancy, but we have had their personal apple tart, and it is amazing with a little vanilla ice cream.

Despite the little hiccup in the beginning the experience was enjoyable, the server that we had was great, and the environment is beautiful. Holly Hotel is a nice place to go for a nice slow meal. Don't go there if you are in a hurry or looking to kill time before another event (unless the event is the comedy show in the basement).