Peach Upside Down Cake

Since we apparenlty love cornbread-related desserts, Z and I this week made a Cornmeal and Peach Upside Down Cake from Martha Steward (recipe here). We thought it was very delicious, although with a stick and a half of butter, it was certainly not healthy! I followed the recipe exactly (baking is not normally my strength, so I don't like to take too many chances!), but I will make some minor changes next time. Specifically, the recipe calls for too much butter to be melted in the cast iron skillet to form the top-crust/cook the peaches, at least for the size skillet we have. If you make it yourself, I'd suggest starting with about half the butter, and melting it, and, based on how thickly it coats the bottom of the pan, you can add more until it seems like an appropriate amount for your skillet.

Grilled asparagus and onion pizza / chicken marsala pizza

I have to start by apologizing to my loyal reader for not posting in quite some time. Before Z was here (permanently), I was very busy, and now that she is, I've just been lazy about blogging (or have been using previously-blogged recipes).

My most recent new recipe was taken from the May issue of Cooking Light, and is a grilled pizza. Because I followed the recipe pretty much exactly as published, I'll simply direct you here for the recipe from Cooking Light. Instead of using store bought dough, I made my own (recipe here) using my wonderful stand mixer. When making dough, I have to say that the stand mixer makes a huge difference - it is willing to knead it a lot longer than I am, and as such, I get the gluten to set up much better than when I knead by hand.


With the leftover dough, I made a chicken marsala pizza, inspired by a similar one my friend Mike made. The pizza-making was similar to this one, except that the topping/sauce was different. I thinly sliced one chicken breast and tossed it with flour and spices (oregano, salt, pepper) and then browned it in olive oil. I added in half an onion and several mushrooms (both sliced) and 1 clove of minced garlic and sauted for a while, before adding in 1/2 cup (plus) of marsala wine along with more spices (oregano, basil, pepper). I simmered until it reduced a bit, and added 1 tbsp of butter. I added a little beef broth if it boiled down too much, as I was waiting for Z to get home before I put the pizza together.

Portabella Parmesan

Here is a recipe for Portabella Parmesan we've enjoyed a few times. I don't exactly remember where we found it (food network, probably, so perhaps Giada?), but it has consistently been an easy and tasty dish.

before the oven (with good lighting) ...

Ready to serve

The top view

Portabella Parmesan Ingredients:
Portabella caps (1 per person)
Olive oil (1 tsp / mushroom)
Salt & Pepper
Pasta sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Butter (1 tsp / mushroom)
Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel
• Brush mushrooms on both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
• Grill mushrooms, 3-5 minutes per side
• In a shallow baking dish, coat with pasta sauce
• Place mushrooms, vent side up (i.e., upside-down) in baking dish
• Add sauce to mushroom caps (enough to coat with a thin layer)
• Sprinkle mozzarella cheese to cover mushrooms, add butter, and sprinkle Parmesan cheese
• Bake at 400° for ~15-minutes (until cheese is browned)
• Serve with pasta
  

Honey-Jalapeno Chicken

Yes, yes, I've been a bad blogger lately. Only one post in all of January and, I'll be honest, February isn't looking much better. However, I do have some cooking to report at least.

My latest cooking attempts was a recipe that Sam suggested (which can be found here). This is an Asian-inspired chicken and pasta dish that came out wonderfully. It had a good balance of sweet and spicy and was very simple to make.



Honey-Jalapeno Chicken

Ingredients:
12 ounces soba noodles (could not find them, and forgot to go to Asian grocery store, so I used whole wheat spaghetti)
1 jalapeno, seeds removed
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded or sliced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped scallions, green part only
2 tablespoons pickled ginger, minced

Directions

• Cook soba noodles according to package directions and drain
• Blend jalapenos, honey, cilantro, salt and pepper and puree. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water to the mixture until desired consistency is achieved
• Heat olive oil in a skillet
• Add the shredded chicken and sauce and cook until heated through
• In a medium bowl, toss cooked soba noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions, and pickled ginger, then transfer to serving bowl
• Pour heated chicken and sauce over noodles

Pecan Rice Pilaf

Several posts ago, I made a rice pilaf that was generally good, but was somewhat lacking in flavor. Because of this, I've been hoping for an opportunity to try the recipe again with some modifications. When I was invited to a potluck recently, and heard that most of the dishes were "main course" options, I jumped at the opportunity. Because a friend recently gave me a bag of fresh pecan's from her tree, I decided to incorporate those as well.

I liked the method that I used previously (adapted from Good Eats), so I used the same approach. As you can see below, I added the pecans after the dish was done cooking. However, I wanted the flavor of the pecans to be more prominent than that, so I tried something new. I steeped some ground pecans in the broth for about an hour before I started cooking with the hope that the broth would take on the flavor.

Delicious!

Because the potluck was relatively small, I had plenty of leftovers. One time, I tossed in some dried cranberries after reheating the pilaf in the microwave, and though the flavor worked well with the dish.



Pecan Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 c carrot, minced
1/2 c mushrooms, minced
garlic powder, kosher salt, and pepper, to taste, plus a dash of nutmeg
2 cups long grain rice
3 1/3 c chicken broth (I only used 3 c, and that did not seem to be enough)
1 bay leaf
1/2 c pecans, roasted and minced, plus 1/4 c finely ground

Directions:

• Mix broth with ground pecans and let sit on counter for 1 hour
  
• Preheat oven to 350°
• In a heavy, wide, lidded pan, melt butter over medium-low heat
• Add garlic, onion, carrot, mushrooms, and salt, sweat until aromatic, stirring constantly
• Add olive oil
  
• Add rice and stir to coat and rice begins to smell nutty
• Add chicken broth, pepper, and nutmeg, and bay leaf & bring to boil
• Cover pan with moistened dish towel (or tea towel). Place lid on pan and fold towel corners over lid
• Bake for 15 minutes
• Rest at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes without removing the cover.
• Remove lid from rice and turn out onto a platter
• Fluff with a large fork and add roasted pecans (I roasted the pecans for ~ 10-minutes while the pilaf was cooking in the oven)
  

Bacon-Braised Brussels Sprouts

Since Z is not currently here, I have been trying fewer main course meals lately, and more side dishes. Also, since there are some foods she doesn't like, I've been making dishes I wouldn't be able to make with her in town. In particular, earlier this month I made a bacon-braised Brussels sprout recipe. This was a Tyler Florence recipe I found here, and it was pretty easy.


First, for those of you who are not familiar with Brussels sprouts, they are like miniature cabbages that grow on a club. I was shocked that the local grocery store sold them by the club, so I succumbed to temptation, and bought this beauty here.


It was a bit more work than buying the pre-cleaned, bagged Brussels sprouts, but I got it anyway for nostalgia's sake (we always had these in our garden when I was growing up).

This is what the pan looked like when done

Served with a citrus herb marinated chicken breast

Bacon-Braised Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:
1 club of Brussels sprouts
1/4 lb bacon
1 garlic clove, additional garlic powder (I only had one clove!)
dried thyme (I didn't have fresh)
1-1/2 cup chicken broth (I added gradually, 2 cups seemed like too much)
Salt & pepper
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1-cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2-sprigs rosemary
Olive oil

Directions:

• In a large, oven safe pan and over medium-high heat, cook bacon for 2 to 3 minutes
• Add the garlic clove, thyme and Brussels sprouts and cook until slightly caramelized, ~4-5 minutes
• Add chicken broth and reduce heat to a simmer
• Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes
• Remove lid and add a splash of vinegar and reduce until syrupy, 2 to 3 minutes
• In a bowl, toss bread crumbs with rosemary, thyme leaves and garlic powder, then drizzle with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper
• Sprinkle bread crumb mixture and Parmesan over Brussels sprouts and bake in a 350°oven until golden and crispy.

Arizona

For Thanksgiving, we visited Z's parents in Arizona. With the trip, came good times, good pictures, and good food.

Here, for example, would be an example of good times.

I know the white balance is off, but Z's mom is clearly cracking up over something (and the sky looks pretty cool too)

We took some pictures of an Arizona sunset, which came out fairly well. Keep in mind, these are my first sunset pictures. All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with them, but will happily take advice on how to make them better.

I think this one is my favorite.

While we were there, we came across some products of a local jam and sauce maker. I've been looking for a jalapeño jelly for Z for a while (ever since she had jalapeño jelly with brie at a wine bar in Lubbock), so when I saw that this vendor carried some, I pulled her over to try it out. She liked it, so I got some. I also grabbed a bottle of a raspberry chipotle sauce.


I used it as a pork marinade. In all honesty, I was disappointed, but that could be because I didn't have time to actually marinate the meat, and instead just put it on right before baking. The sauce was really good to dip the meat into, so it will definitely get another chance in my kitchen.