Chicken and Mushroom Penne with Madeira Wine Sauce

I had a dish like this called "Pasta Da Vinci" from The Cheesecake Factory and thought it was delicious.  I had to find a recipe and try it for myself.  I found a couple online but it didn't sound right, so I adapted the two and made my version here. 


Ingredients:

1 box penne pasta (I used a little less than a box)
2 chicken breasts cut into bite-sized cubes
4 medium shiitaki mushrooms sliced
8 oyster mushrooms sliced
1/2 large red onion sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup Madeira wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper
grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1.  Boil pasta to al dente
2.  In pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter and saute onion and garlic until softened, then add mushrooms and saute for another few minutes (add more olive oil if it seems too dry). Salt and pepper it. Remove from pan and set aside.
3.  In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook the chicken, add salt and pepper.  When cooked and browned, remove from pan and set aside.
4.  In the same pan again, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and slowly add the wine, chicken broth, and heavy cream.  Stir around briskly for about 5 minutes when wine has cooked down some.
5.  Wisk in the flour and stir frequently until sauce thickens a little.  Add parsley and simmer for a few minutes.
6.  Add mushroom and onion mixture and chicken.  Simmer together for a few minutes. 
7.  When ready to serve, add pasta to the pan and mix together well.  Top with grated parmesan!

Spaghetti Napolitan: Japanese Style Spaghetti

I picked up a pre-made bowl of spaghetti Napolitan at a Japanese market near my apartment to try for lunch at work the next day and absolutely loved it.  It was so simple and delicious I wanted to try and make it myself. 


Ingredients:

1 package of spaghetti noodles, cooked to package directions.  I used a little less than the entire package.
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced. 
2 tbs chopped parsley
1 medium onion, thinly sliced.
1 clove garlic chopped
6 slices of ham sliced into squares, add more if you like,
or you can use sausage or hot dogs
2 tbs olive oil
3 tbs butter
4 tbs ketchup
parmesan cheese
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1.  Cook spaghetti according to package instructions.
2.  Saute garlic in olive oil and just before it turns brown, add onion and bell peppers and ham
3.  Cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes
4.  Add ketchup and 1/4 cup of the boiling pasta water
5.  Add sugar and salt and pepper to taste. 
6.  Add pastam butter, some parmesan cheese.
7.  Mix everything well and add more of anything to your taste.  I couldn't accurately measure what I used exactly.  Top with parmesan cheese.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Blondies

I was having a major peanut butter chocolate craving and have never made blondies, let alone brownies from scratch before.  I think peanut butter and chocolate is a match made in heaven!  I found a recipe for peanut butter white chocolate blondies and another recipe for blondies that had pumpkin and combined them and changed it a little and this is what I got. They are actually not THAT bad for you with the pumpkin and wheat bran and all.  You can also leave out the melted butter, but the texture will not be as melting in you mouth.


Ingredients:
 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
 1/4 cup wheat germ or wheat bran
 1/2 cup plus 2 tbs packed light brown sugar
 1 stick melted unsalted butter
 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
 1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
 2 eggs
 2 tsp vanilla extract
 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip
 1/4 cup peanut butter chips
 1/2 tsp baking powder
 1/2 tspof salt
 4 tbs honey
 If you like nuts, you can add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, pistachio (sounds good!)  etc...


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray or with melted butter.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, honey and peanut butter with hand mixer until smooth.
3.  Fold  in pumpkin and incorporate everything evenly.
4.  Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl- flour, salt, wheat germ.
5.  Fold in mix ingredients into wet ingredients and stir together well.
6.  Stir in chocolate and peanut butter chip
7. Spread the finished mixture evenly in greased baking pan and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes.  Test with a toothpick, it should come out clean.  It is also best if it is just a little undercooked, it is more moist that way.
8. Let bars cool in pan before cutting.

Emily's Chicken Salad

The best chicken salad I've ever had was when Emily made up her own recipe and served it with crackers.  It had an awesome flavor combination of aromatic sauteed onions and sweet corn and black beans.  It's probably one of the bests thing you could even do with your left over chicken.







Ingredients:

1 large onion, 1/2 finely chopped, the other half sliced
4 chicken breasts or about 8-10 chicken tenders
1 can Southwestern Style Corn (Green Giant)
Jar of mayo- use to taste
Salt
Pepper
Butter
Olive Oil


Directions:

1.  Melt about 2 tbs butter and 1 spash of olive oil in a pan to brown the onion sliced onion half and cool until semi-soft.
2.  Add another tablespoon or 2 of butter and cook chicken breast with the softened onions. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3.  Remove cooked chicken and cut into pieces or shred into medium pieces.
4. Remove cooked onion and cook the other half of the finely chopped onion in about 1 more tbs butter until it is completely transparent.
5. Add chicken back to cooked finely chopped onion and add canned Southwest corn to warm pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Add mayo to taste, as much as you would add to tuna.

Serve warm or cold with crackers or in a sandwich.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie is one of my favorite things to eat.  I would look around for a really good pie and have a hard time find it.  I've tried some of the frozen versions you can either bake or stick in the micro, but those are just not as good and are usually too salty.  I had a sample of the one from Trader Joes the other day and although it was delicious, it was over priced and not as meaty as I'd like.  So, I decided to try making it myself.  I like using puff pastry for the dough, but more traditional pot pies use regular pie crust.  Choose as you please!  I also like making smaller individual pies rather than a large one so each person can have their own pie.


Ingredients:

1 whole roasted chicken, shredded (I just mainly used the breasts)
1 package frozen puff pastry sheets
1 large shallot, chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
1 package frozen mixed vegetables (with carrots, peas, green beans, corn)
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup diced celery
2 cups milk
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chicken stock
3 tbs butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Tabasco Sauce
salt and pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
6 small aluminum pie tins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F
1.  On a baking sheet, scatter frozen vegetables and bake at 400 F for until the vegetables are roasted and golden brown.  Boil diced potatoes until almost fork tender.
2.  In dutch oven, melt 1 tbs butter and cook shallots for a few minutes until they've sweat, then add celery.  Cook few minutes until water has cooked out.
3.  Move celery and shallot mix to one side of pan and melt 2 tbs butter and add 3 tbs flour.  Stir around then mix entirely with celery and shallot.
4.  In a small pot, heat milk and chicken broth with sprigs of thyme until a slight boil.
5.  Add wine and milk mixture to dutch oven and mix well with a whisk.  If the sauce is not thick enough, add 2 more tbs flour and whisk vigorously until thickened.
6.  Stir in browned vegetables, potatoes, shredded chicken and cheese.
7.  Add tabasco sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
8.  I whisked in a bit more flour because I like my pies with a thicker sauce.
9.  Discard thyme sprigs.
10. Let mixture cool completely and scoop some in each pie tin until almost full.
11.  Top with a cut square or circle of puff pastry cut to fit the tin size.  I cut the puff pastry into 1/2 inch strips and crossed them to make a lattice.  Brush with egg wash and bake until sauce is bubbly and puff pastry is golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Finally, an Oatmeal that I like.

I never liked oatmeal as a kid.  I know I've tried it when I was younger but as my mom said, I did not like "mushy" foods as a kid.  Sometimes, it would even make me gag.  I was a good solid food eater.  I gave oatmeal a shot when I was older and still never seemed to like it.  I didn't know how it should be prepared, you know the instant packet kind.  I think I always added too much water or over or under cooked it.  Nevertheless, I bought oatmeal at least half a dozen times because I wanted to like it.  I love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and I know oats are a nice healthy breakfast.  I mean they started selling it at Jamba Juice and Starbucks as a breakfast option.  I thought it was strange, but I guess that's just me.  I finally got this box of High Fiber Maple and Brown Sugar and decided to give it another shot and I can say now that I actually like oatmeal!  Forgive me for being so excited about it, but I am happy to say I now can eat oatmeal.  I made my first packet using a combination of milk, water, and fat-free half and half to make 1/2 cup and microwaved it for 1:30.  I only used those instead of straight water or milk because I had it on hand and it sounded good to me.  It was nice and creamy.  I've also tried it adding about 2tbs of plain oat bran before microwaving it and it's better that way because it's normally a little too sweet for me.

South Indian Green Bean Curry

Mixed with rice is the best!

This dish is so simple, healthy, and surprisingly full of flavors it was instantly one of my favorite vegetarian South Indian dishes I've had.  One of my best friends' mom makes this at her home and when I had it with some chapati, I began to love vegetarian food.  I've also made this with cauliflower and potatoes and peas curry and they're all great.  I don't really find myself eating green beans or ever buying it unless it is a holiday dinner, but after having some of this, I buy it from time to time to make this dish. 

Ingredients:

1/3 to 1/2 lb fresh green beans, diced into small pieces
1/2 medium onion diced
1 medium sized tomato, roughly diced
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp Sambar powder (depending on desired spice)
salt
water

1.  Heat olive oil in a pan and fry mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and turmeric.
2.  Once the seeds start popping in the oil, add diced onions and cook for a few minutes.
3.  Add tomato and and cook a few more minutes.
4.  Add diced green beans, salt, sambar powder and mix well.  Let it cook for 3 minutes.
5.  Taste and season to desired spice and saltiness.
6.  Add about 1 tbs water and cover with a lid, reduce heat, and leave it to cook for about 5 more minutes or until green beans reach desired tenderness.
7.  Serve with rice or roti.