As a Matter of Food

One night last week, I came up with this dish while going through our refrigerator.  I was too lazy to go grocery shopping and there was food in the refrigerator.  All I had to do was make sense of it.  I found chicken tenders, cilantro, scallions, and a box of penne pasta in the pantry.  With some olive oil, a little butter, soy sauce, black pepper, crushed red peppers, and some garlic and it evolved into this recipe.  We’re up in the mountains and my husband requested it again.  I just kicked it up a few notches by adding a few extra ingredients and took it to a whole new level.

Recipe:

1 box of penne pasta (you can use any pasta)

1 lb of chicken breasts/tenders/skinless boneless thighs

5 cloves of garlic

1/2 an onion sliced or chopped

2 cups of sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned)

2 Tbs of olive oil

2 Tbs of butter

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of black pepper

1 tsp of crushed red peppers (can adjust to taste)

2 Tbs of soy sauce

1/2 cup of light cream

a splash of a good white wine (optional)

Directions:

1.  Before you start prepping the chicken.  Start to boil water for your pasta!

2.  Slice chicken into small slices  (1/2 inch x 1 inch) place in bowl

3.  Slice or chop half an onion

4.  Mince garlic cloves

5.  Add garlic, soy sauce, salt, pepper, crushed red peppers to chicken

6.  Put oil in a big pan, medium to high heat

7.  Sautee Onions until the onions are soft, then  add mushrooms, if you’re using fresh toss them until slightly soft then add your optional splash of wine; canned mushrooms are already soft so there’s no need to wait

8.  Add chicken and cook thoroughly then add cream

9.  Add cooked pasta into pan and toss until pasta is covered in sauce

10.  Garnish with slice scallions and chopped cilantro (optional)

Serves 6 to 8

I want to point out that it’s always a good idea to try your dish before you serve it and that it suits your taste buds.  Although I follow recipes, I don’t follow them to a tee.  Everyone’s palette is different.  The first time I made this dish, I didn’t add the mushrooms, wine, and cream.  Boy it sure made a difference, and the cream didn’t make it too heavy.  You can omit these ingredients and the dish would still turn out great.

I own a ton of cookbooks, but usually cook from memory or create new dishes on the fly.  I had to really pay attention to take a stab at putting this recipe together.  Please feel free to test it and give me feedback.

Planning my Christmas dinner menu has been harder than I anticipated. Now I’m down to planning just the big Christmas Eve dinner. My family, being of Asian decent and having lived in Europe, we make a bigger deal about Christmas Eve than Christmas morning. We would eat and go to midnight mass and then come home and open presents. Luckily, my husband’s family and he follow the Christmas Day tradition. So it’ll work out just wonderfully! We’ll spend Christmas Eve at our house, have my parents and siblings come over. We’ll head out to midnight mass and then come home and open presents. Christmas Day we’ll head up to the mountains to spend time with his family. Sounds pretty simple, but it isn’t. Some of you probably can relate to how I feel. Unless we have access to and can afford a personal shopper, a maid, a chauffeur, and a chef, things just get away from us. My ambitions of throwing a get-together for our friends and then Christmas Eve dinner for my family was great, but now looking at our work schedule and some of the things we have to do (not food related at all), it just doesn’t seem realistic anymore.

If I find time to have a small gathering with friends, I’ll go with hors d’oeuvres only and drinks. I have a few drink recipes up my sleeve as well. I can always whip up a pretty mean Long Island Iced Tea that’s really yummy and of course my wide array of martinis. (I learned these from my days of working my part-time job at Tabouleh Mediterranean Restaurant in Gaithersburg, MD) I think that would be fun!

I am planning on something really scrumptious for a main course for my Christmas Eve dinner. I’m going to prepare a Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding. Here’s a recipe:

Roast Beef
Serves 8

1 Prime Rib of Beef Joint (6 lbs / 2.7 k)

2 Tsp Dry English Mustard

3 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1 1/4 Cups Red Wine

1 1/4 Cups Beef Stock

2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce (Optional)

Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F / 230 degrees C.
2. Season the meat to taste with salt and pepper. Rub in the mustard and 1 tablespoon of the flour.
3. Place te meat in a roasting pan large enough to hold it comfortably and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F / 190 degrees C and cook for 15 minutes per 1 lb / 450 g, plus 15 minutes (1 3/4 hours for this joint) for rare beef or 20 minutes per 1 lb / 450 g, plus 20 minutes (2 hours 20 minutes) for medium beef. Baste the meat from time to time to keep it moist, and if the pan becomes too dry, add a little stock or red wine.
4. Remove the meat from the oven and place on a warmed serving plate, cover with foil, and let stand in a warm for 10-15 minutes.
5. To make the gravy, pour off most of the fat from the pan (reserve it for cooking the Yorkshire pudding), leaving behind the meat juices and the sediment. Place the pan on the stove over medium heat and scrape all the sediment from the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle in the remaining flour and quickly mix it into the juices with a small whisk. When you have a smooth paste, gradually add the wine and most of the stock, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to heat a gentle simmer and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the remaining stock, if needed, and a little Worcestershire sauce, if you like.
6. When ready to serve, carve the meat into slices and serve on warmed plates. Pour the gravy into a warmed pitcher and take direct to the table. Serve wit Yorkshire pudding.

Yorkshire Pudding
Serves 4

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F / 220 degrees C.
2. Make a batter with 3 1/2 oz / 100 g plain flour, a pinch of salt, 1 beaten egg and 10 fl / 300 ml milk and water mixed. Allow to stand for half an hour.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp roast beef dripping or olive oil in an 8-inch square roasting tin in the top of the oven.
4. Remove the tin from the oven, pour in the batter and bake for 25-30 minutes until it is puffed up and golden brown.

***Recipe taken from ‘Steaks, Chops, Roasts, & Ribs’ by Parragon Publishing

As the days grow shorter and it gets darker sooner, with the cold moving in, I crave for food that warms and comforts me. On a weekday though, I’m not so motivated to slave over a hot stove to put together a meal which takes a lot of time. I discovered this dish through my husband who ordered this, at a little quaint restaurant on the side of the road, some years back. We were on our way up to the mountains. I never had an Open Faced Turkey Sandwich before. It hit the spot! Later on, when we were trying to decide what to have for dinner and it was cold outside, once again, he’d say “Damn, it’d be nice to have an Open-Face Turkey Sandwich. Oh and some mashed potatoes with some gravy and stuffing!” Of course I had never made it before, but I figured how hard could it be? You know what? It wasn’t!

Here’s a really quick and short way to do it!

1 lb of turkey chops / boneless turkey breasts / turkey loin (turkey slices should be about 1/2 inch thick)

A pinch of salt to taste

A pinch of black pepper to taste

2 jars of fat free turkey gravy

Cooking spray

1. Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat on high.
2. Brown turkey on both sides.
3. Lower heat and add gravy.
4. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until turkey is cooked.

Serve with mashed potatoes and stuffing of your choice.

I use boxed mashed potatoes and stuffing. Follow the instructions on the box!

Enjoy!

Are you planning a holiday get-together this Christmas? Maybe two or three? One for your family and then two or more to get all your friends together. I plan to have one to get my family together. Then I have to pick a date for my friends. So here are already 2 opportunities for me to create some great meals to please the crowd.

My head is buzzing with ideas. There are the Christmas decorations, lights, and the tree. Then the biggest buzz is the one that involves planning my menu(s). I served up an incredible meal for Thanksgiving. It took a lot of prep time and my back is still aching until this day. Hehehhe… BUT if there’s anything I’d like to always outdo myself in it is cooking and creating pastries.

Here are some ideas for a main course I’ve thought of:

• Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding served with Pan Gravy
• Roast Lamb
• A Rack of Lamb
• A Turducken
• A Chicken Dish

As you can see, I’m still in the early stages of planning, but there’s much to do so I’ll have to narrow it down and decide. Not only do I have to pick the main course, but also the sides which will have to complement the main course and each other. Then there is dessert! I will take the most time selecting the dessert(s) I’ll be making this year. I am absolutely thrilled and plan to make it the least stressful for myself and the most enjoyable for myself and all my guests.

Last, I suggest you decide on how many people you will entertain and feed. Whether you want a sit-down dinner or go buffet-style, make sure you plan well ahead. This time of year is stressful enough, don’t make it so you will end up ripping out your hair as I have in the past.

If you like venison and have access to it, this dish may become a hit!

I have to say I enjoy a good hearty bowl of chili with a nice kick once in a while. One of my favorites is the Texas Chili from Hard Times Cafe. Boy is it scrumptious! Now, I don’t think it’s particularly good for one’s waistline of cardiac health, but still, once in a blue moon I’d roll into a Hard Times Cafe and order either the Texas Chili Frito Pie or the Texas Chili Mac. One year I got so obsessed with that particular Texas Chili I became determined to make it at home. Luckily when I spoke to my waitress who served us on one of those visits, she told me that they packaged the spice mix and sold it! I felt as if I hit the jackpot that day.

So ever since then I’ve gone out to buy the package and gone home and made it. In order to cut down on our fat intake, I use ground venison instead of ground beef. You can also try it with ground turkey, it’s still delicious. The spices you can get either at Hard Times Cafe or I’ve found it at my local Shoppers Food Warehouse.

Venison Texas Chili Mac

2 lbs ground venison (beef or turkey)

One 2-ounce bag of spice mix

One can beef broth or beer

One can of beans (optional)

1. Cook meat in skillet until tender.
2. Add 1/4 cup spice mix as meat is cooking. Stir well.
3. Transfer to chili pot and add beef broth or beer.
4. Mix in remaining spice mix according to taste and simmer covered for at least 30 minutes.
5. As liquid evaporates add water as needed to completely cover meat.
6. Drain each serving with slotted ladle or spoon.
7. For enhanced flavor, refrigerate over night and reheat in double boiler before serving.

Chili Mac:

In a bowl or on an oval platter layer spaghetti, chili, grated cheese, chopped onions, chopped chives, bacon bits, or whatever it is you want to dress it with. Sprinkle with white vinegar (optional). For extra heat mix chopped raw jalapeño peppers with the onions.

***I got this recipe off of the Hard Times Chili Texas Spice Mix box. I modified it a bit with how I dress the chili before I eat it.

Frito Pie:

In a bowl or on an oval platter follow the instructions for the Chili Mac above but use Fritos (original flavor) instead. This will yield a tasty favorite for game day or any other day, with a nice crunch!

I find this to be the quickest and gratifying chili. I have made different chili over the years from scratch. But when I don’t have the time, this is a precise and yummy way to satisfy my craving for a delicious chili, with a kick.