Miscellania

This was an experiment, but it came out really good. I measured very little…as usual

This is what I used

Individually frozen Chicken breast tenderloins
Corn Starch
Dried Rosemary
Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
White Wine and Herb Chicken Broth
White Wine
Water
Matzo Ball Mix
Sour Cream

I think I used about 8-10 tenderloins. You could probably use less, there was a lot of chicken in this. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary, then very lightly dusted them with cornstarch. I browned them in olive oil in a skillet.

While they were browning I followed the package instructions for the matzo balls, except I added rosemary, garlic and black pepper.

I poured the chicken broth into a 2 cup measuring cup and into a pot. It was just shy of 4 cups of broth. I added enough water to make it 4 cups + 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup of a dry white wine. I added more garlic powder to the broth and heated it to boiling.

When the chicken was nicely browned and crusted on both sides, but still a bit pink in the middle, I removed it from the skillet and chopped it into bite-sized chunks. I added the chicken to the broth…carefully, it splashed easily.

After the matzo ball mix had sat the 15 mins the package specified, I formed it into  balls and dropped into the boiling broth. Then I reduced the heat to a simmer, covered and let it cook 30 minutes. After I removed it from the heat I gently stirred in 1/3-1/2 of a small container of sour cream.

This would probably good with onions, carrots and celery cooked in it as well, I just didn’t do it.

I baked some chicken tonight and it came out really yummy. Heres what I did:

Took a package of 4 skinless bone-in breasts and dumped the following on each one:
little bit of lime salt
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp good chili powder
generous couple dashes of ground cumin
3-4 dashes of Tabasco Smoked Jalepeño (aka Chipotle) sauce

I rubbed that all over the front and back of the chicken then added some salt and coarse ground pepper. I drizzled it generously with Olive oil and baked it at 375 for about 1 and 1/2 hours. 3 times I brushed the olive oil over the meat and I covered with foil about 1/2 way through. I added more olive oil if needed and would flip the pieces around in it to make sure they stayed moist.

I made the 7 Layer Brownie Bars off the Ghiradelli Brownie box and while it was toooo sweet for me, my favorite part was the pecans where some of the condensed milk had caramelized on them. So I decided I would try to make caramelized pecans. My first attempt isn’t a total failure, but I had too much condensed milk. I think next time I will mix the nuts with the milk in a bowl, giving them a thin coat and then bake them in the oven after straining them from the bulk of the sweetened condensed milk.

Tonight I am going to do a “mock grilled” pineapple. Our grill died, so I am going to use my little kitchen blow torch to brown & caramelize slices of pineapple. Hopefully it turns out ok.

With the warm weather I tend to start wanting a lot more fresh veggies and light food. So last night we had Citrus Rosemary Chicken, Tomato - Cucumber Salad, Steamed Broccoli and Parsley Red Potatoes.

Recipes/Instructions below

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We went to Pensacola today and I stopped at the International Market. I know what I am eating the next few days: Hummus, Tabbouleh and Naan. I also bought some spring roll wrappers and I am going to make cold spring rolls. I just have to find a good recipe for using Thai style wheat flour wrappers.