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Ive been so busy this past week with Steves birthday that I havent had a chance to post but I have been taking pictures. Let me start by wishing my other half, Steve, a very Happy Birthday! I love you! XOXOXOX




Now about the food. While visiting with Steves parents this past weekend I noticed a cookbook on the bookshelf that I have never seen before. Its called "Eat Right, East Well - The Italian Way" by Edward Giobbi and Richard Wolff, M.D. There are a ton of wonderful recipes in this book and I look forward to trying more. I made very slight variations to the recipe because I wanted to use what I had on hand but nothing that really would compromise the end result. This recipe can be found on page 138-139 of the cookbook.

Pasta with Chicken Breasts

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:


1 whole chicken breast, cut into strips about 1/2 inches wide and 3 inches long
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pound tubular pasta, such as ziti, rigatoni, or penne
6 cups broccoli cut into bite sized pieces
3 tablespoons pesto (page 426)

Directions:

Marinate cut-up chicken breasts with garlic, soy sauce, pepper and lemon juice for several hours.

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Remove chicken from marinade and cook for several minutes over high heat. Add marinade and cook, tossing, for 10 seconds or more. turn off heat and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add salt and potatoes. When water returns to a boil, add pasta. Stir, cook about 4 minutes, then add broccoli and cook until pasta is done al dente. Drain. Reserve some of the water - 1/2 to 3/4 cup - and mix with the pesto until it has a thin saucelike consistency. Add to pasta and vegetables in a large serving bowl. Add chicken and juices and toss.

Pesto - page 426

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup walnut meats
4 cups tightly packed fresh basil
3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend. Put in a jar, add 1/2 inch oil on top of pesto , and refrigerate. It will last all winter.


My changes were simple. I did NOT use this recipe for pesto. I included it here because it is a part of the recipe and I want you to have the option. I have my own recipe for Pesto but I didnt follow that either because I didnt have a lot of basil. So I basically just added the basil I did have (less than a cup), 1/4 cup parsley, 1 clove garlic, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 1/4 cup romano cheese, 1/2 tsp salt and extra virgin olive oil. I used my normal recipe as a guide and used less since I didnt have a lot of basil. It worked and it was delicious. So dont be afraid to make this if you dont have pesto or dont have all the ingredients for pesto.

When I cooked the broccoli it broke down a lot, almost to the consistency of the broccoli in a broccoli soup, so to me this was almost like a broccoli pesto. I loved that and I think thats the way its supposed to be but then again there was no picture so I dont know for sure. Either way, I liked this dish the way it came out and I would definitely make it again.

Recently I had an argument with my friend about white meat and red meat. According to her, white meat is not that much tasty compared to red meat, so she always prefers red meat, especially when she is preparing items like tandoori chicken, and we are still discussing about this :) I have been eating white meat chicken for the past 2 years and seriously I don’t find that much difference in the taste. White meat can also be equally tasty when cooked in the proper way. White meat chicken is usually from the breast and the fat percentage of this is very less compared to red meat, so this is ideal for people cutting down on the fat intake or for those on the lookout for heart-healthy foods. I usually check the label when I buy meat. The fat content of most of these products like white meat chicken or turkey will be around 0-1%, a little bit on the healthier side. In this recipe, I did not use oil for marinating the chicken. The only oil used here is to spray the baking dish. This is an almost fat-free chicken recipe if the yogurt is replaced with fat-free yogurt.

INGREDIENTS:
1. Chicken, I have used 3 white meat breast slices here.
2. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
3. Garam masala or curry powder, 1 tablespoon.
4. Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.
5. Coriander powder, 1 teaspoon.
6. Paprika, 1 teaspoon (I have used Spanish paprika powder here, this gives a nice color and some sweetness) this can be substituted with a pinch of food color.
7. Thick yogurt, ½ cup.
8. Salt as per taste.
9. Dried mint leaves, 1/2 teaspoon, (optional).

PREPARATION:
Wash the chicken well. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken into a thick paste in a bowl. Apply the paste over the chicken coating each slice thickly. Let it marinade for over an hour inside the refrigerator. Grease a baking dish with any nonstick cooking spray and arrange the chicken slices on the dish leaving sufficient space between each slice. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked. Serve hot with lemon wedges and garnished with cilantro.

8 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 little bottle of Perrier or 1-1 1/2 cups of any sparkling (mineral) water
1 tbsp chopped dill
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika / red chili powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped thinly in rounds
any kind of fresh pepper, chopped (I used small sweet yellow Italian peppers)
mushroom, chopped - as much as you want
juice of one lemon or lime
1 tbsp flour
2 tsp peppercorns
salt

The main ingredients for this recipe are chicken and onion. You are free to add fresh peppers, mushroom, corn, carrots, etc. I try it with different ingredients every time, but fresh peppers and mushroom are the best.

-Marinate the chicken in a bowl for 20-30 minutes with sparkling water, 1 tbsp olive oil, dill, garlic, paprika, and ground black pepper.
-In a deep skillet, heat the oil and add onions. Stir for a couple of minutes and add peppers and mushroom. Drain the chicken and add in the skillet with peppercorns when mushroom looks cooked.
-In a small bowl, mix well 1 tbsp flour with juice of one lemon. Add this in when the chicken is cooked. If it gets pretty sticky with flour, you can add a little bit of hot water. Stir for 2-3 minutes and your sparkling chicken is ready.

Thursday evening it turned cold, as the weather forecast said it would. In preparation, we spent the last few days prior running around the garden making sure everything was stashed and that we had harvested everything that we could, or at least wanted too. In the process, I rediscovered our patch of kohlrabi that got planted sometime mid-summer then kind of forgotten.

I was impressed at how well they stood up to that. They are generally considered a summer to early fall vegetable, but if the leaves are trimmed off they will actually store quite well. You wont find them in a regular grocery store at this time of year, but they may turn up at a farmers market. Since mine were from the garden, they still had their leaves, but any you find now are more likely to have been trimmed for storage. In that case, replace the missing leaves with a bit of kale or cabbage. These later season kohlrabis will likely need a bit more trimming than fresh ones in the summer.

This is a variation on a traditional Hungarian recipe. I find the slight sweetness of the kohklrabi goes very well with chicken. You can omit the parsley root (or replace it with a small parsnip) if you cant find it, but it does add a subtle and interesting flavour.

6 servings 
45 minutes - 30 minutes prep time

 
Prepare the Vegetables:
6 to 8 (2 pounds, without leaves) medium-small kohlrabis
2 cups chopped kohlrabi leaves or kale or cabbage

1 medium carrot
1 or 2 parsley roots
2 large leeks
1 or 2 stalks of celery
3 or 4 cloves of garlic

If the kohlrabis have leaves, cut them off and discard any tough or damaged ones. Chop the remaining ones fairly finely; there should be about 2 cups but it could be a bit more. If the kohlrabis arrive without leaves, use some good green cabbage or kale to replace them.

Peel any skin which is tough and fibrous from the kohlrabis - if it is tender and green it can be left on. Cut the kohlrabis into halves or quarters, and slice them about 1/4" thick. 

Peel the carrot and parsley roots, and dice them finely. Trim the leeks, and chop them. Rinse well and drain. Wash and trim the celery, and chop it. Peel and mince the garlic.

Start the Stew:
4 cups chicken stock
4 (1 kilo; 2 pounds) medium skinless boneless chicken pieces

Put the chicken stock in a large pot. Add the prepared kohlrabi stems (leave the leaves until later) and the carrots and parsley root. Cut the chicken into largish bite-sized pieces and put them on top. Bring up to a simmer and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Finish the Stew:
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
1 teaspoon rubbed thyme or savory
1 teaspoon dillweed
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
the juice of 1/2 lemon

 Mix the flour, salt, and seasonings in a small bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the leeks and celery Cook gently for about 5 minutes, until softened and reduced. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, stirring regularly. Add the flour and seasonings and cook fo another 5 or so minutes, scraping up the flour to keep it from sticking to the pan but allowing it to cook thoroughly.

Ladle in enough chicken stock from the stew, stirring asidiously, until the flour has formed a smooth paste. You will likely need at least 2 cups of the chicken stock to be added to the skillet. Once this is done, add the contents of the skillet to the large pot and mix in well. Add the chopped kohlrabi leaves or cabbage. Simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes; total cooking time should be 20 to 25 minutes. The chicken should be cooked and the kohlrabi tender, and the kohlrabi leaves or cabbage doen to your liking.

Squeeze in the lemon juice just before serving.





Last year at this time I made Roast Lamb Shoulder with Cranberry-Nut Buckwheat Dressing.

I made this Foccacia with Olives on Sunday.  It comes from a lovely bread book  by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno, that Ive had for a while.

Carrabbas Chicken Gratella
Copycat Recipe

Serves 6

1/2 cup fresh basil leaf
1/4 cup garlic clove
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
3 lbs chicken breasts

Place the basil, garlic, mint, salt, pepper, and oregano in a mortar and pulverize until mixture turns into a paste.  Place the paste in a glass jar and add the olive oil, lemon juice, and vinegar. Refrigerate. Before using, bring to room temperature and shake well. The sauce will hold in the refrigerator for two weeks. Lightly coat the chicken breasts with herb garlic sauce on both sides, season with salt and pepper to taste and place on hot grill. Cook until done.  Coat with the herb garlic sauce mixture when serving.