Entrees

I’ve seen various things labeled as ‘Salmon Roasts’ whilst wandering through my local Grocery Ranch™ locations and they look damn tasty, but not so tasty that I’m willing to spend fourteen bucks a pound. I figured that i could make something close to it that was cheaper, tastier and more attractive. One out of three isn’t bad for a first attempt ‘cos at least I know what I need to do differently next time.  This is how I made it last night.  I’ll mention the things I would do differently at the end.

Stuffed Tilapia

Ingredients:
4 Tilapia filets
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups spinach, stems removed and roughly chopped
1 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp assorted herbs (I used oregano, thyme and tarragon)
3-4 Tbs Panko
olive oil for sauteing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 and spray a baking pan with cooking spray.

Heat oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic and saute until just getting golden.  Toss in the spinach.  It looks like a buttload right now but in about 40 seconds its gonna shrink down to nothing.  Once any moisture from the spinach is cooked off, add the parmesan, cheese and panko.  toss around until it’s all well mixed.

Match your fish fillets for size.  Place one fillet from each pair flat side up on the baking pan and top with half the spinach mixture. Cover with the other fillet and toss in the oven about 8 minutes.  Use a wide spatula to transfer to plates to minimize the chance that the fillets will break up before eating.

Notes and things I’d change:
Yeah, I know that the eponymous “they” say to bake your fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, but I think that this 1) results in dry and nearly inedible fish that 2) is directly responsible for why so many people don’t want to eat fish unless it’s coated in gluey batter and Fry-O-Later’ed by slacker teens at the local Captain Silver’s or served up in a diced and re-formed square abomination at McHardeeCastles.  Now, on to the things I’d change…

I originally wanted to make these as pinwheels. Tilapia fillets are way too short and thick in places to roll up.  Sole or Flounder would be better for that.  The two small Tilapia fillets did make for a perfect, if slightly largish serving each though.

If stacking the fillets, I’d hold back 1/3 of the stuffing and use it to top the fillets. I’d keep the Panko out also and sprinkle it on top of the fish before baking.

If you use a more flavorful fish use a more flavorful dry cheese like Feta, Bleu or Gorgonzola

China:  Carmella by Lenox

Many moons ago when blogs were still young, I frequented the blog of a nice guy from Pennsylvania, btezra. His blog has gone the way of the dinosaurs (so don't bother clicking) but this recipe, which he originally posted there and graciously permitted me to copy, has survived. I've done a couple of things differently but only in the prep. The ingredients are the same.


This lasagne is whatchacall a special occasion dish. It's labour intensive and makes for lots of dirty dishes. I make this maybe once or twice a year but trust me, once you've tried it, you'll find it's worth the trouble. If you're especially industrious, double the recipe and freeze the second pan for a quick heat-and-eat meal when you're busy. It will take a good 3 months worth of freezing with no problem. And seriously? This is damned good. Really good. Really, really good. It's also very rich and very filling. Be prepared to need a nap after dinner. You can, of course, substitute all that low-fat ricotta, milk, etc., but why would you want to? I mean, it's not like you'd eat this everyday.

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter + 2 TBSP
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C flour
2 C milk
2 C chicken broth
2 C (8 oz bag) shredded mozzarella - divided
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1/2 C onion, diced
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning, to taste
1 packet G. Washington Golden
1 tsp Nature's Seasons
1 C cottage cheese
1 C ricotta
1 egg
2 boneless chicken breast
1 pkg fresh or frozen spinach **Important - see footnote
9 lasagne noodles


Directions:

Cook lasagne noodles, dry and lay on waxed paper until ready to use. Slice chicken breast (easier if partially frozen) from the short side about 1/4" thick. Cutting from the short side creates little medallions. In a non-stick frying pan, melt 2 TBSP butter. Add sliced chicken and cook through, letting it brown a little. Remove to a plate and set aside. To the same pan, add your washed and dryed spinach. Slap a cover on it, let it cook for 2 minutes then turn off the heat leaving the lid on.

In a 3 or 4 qt saucepan, melt the butter. Add garlic and onion and cook until translucent. Whisk in flour and all the seasonings. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in milk and broth and bring to a boil. If the sauce is too thick, add more broth. Remove from heat, sauce will thicken as it sits so you might have to add a bit more broth. It should be thick and spreadable.

Combine cottage cheese, ricotta, 1 C mozzarella and egg. Mix well.
Spread about 1/3 of the sauce in 13 x 9 pan, top with noodles. Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over noodles. Repeat sauce/noodle/cheese mixture. Top with chicken, then spinach. Add last layer of noodles and then remaining sauce. Cook covered @ 350° for 1 hour. Uncover and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

**After the spinach has wilted in the pan and cooled, put it in a triple layer of papertowels and squeeze out all of the excess moisture. You do not want the spinach to be wet. If you use frozen spinach, thawed it out first then squeeze out the excess moisture. Even though the original recipe calls for 1 bag, I always use two. I like the extra spinach.

So I saw this in one of Giada’s cookbooks and immediately thought, “Ewww.  Gross,” when I read what the word ‘tonnato’ meant. Roast turkey breast with Tuna sauce?  As one of my friends said after reading the ingredients “Sounds like cat vomit.” Gut it’s Giada and I’d probably eat dog food if she recommended it. Turns out that it’s damn tasty though.  The sauce gives bland-assed turkey a much needed flavor boost and would probably just as tasty on the lean, bland pork we’re forced by the health police to buy.  Be sure to have plenty of bread or rolls around to help soak it up.

Turkey Tonnato

Ingredients
* 2 lb turkey breast, skinless and boneless
* 1 Tbs oregano
* 1 Tbs thyme
* 1 Tbs basil
* 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 cup chicken stock
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tuna Sauce:
* 6 oz canned white meat tuna, packed in olive oil – do not drain
* 1 tsp anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet, drained
* 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
* 1 Tbs capers
* 1/3 cup mayonnaise
* Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven 375.

Season the turkey with salt, pepper and herbs. Coat with olive oil, place in a baking pan and pour the chicken broth around the turkey. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2-inch slices, on an angle. Allow to sit in baking pan with juices as you make sauce.

Toss the tuna, anchovy, lemon juice, mayo and capers in the food processor. Puree until creamy, about 1 minute. Pour the tuna mixture into a bowl.

Place the slices of turkey on a platter with some of the pan juices and pour the tuna sauce on top. Garnish with chopped parsley.

China: Lenox Tosca. crazy ornate, eh? 

So now that arctic temperatures have arrived it’s definitely chili weather.  This is based on a recipe that I found in a back issue of Eating Well or Cooking Light or something like that.  It’s rich, but not too spicy.  Also, if you reduce the liquid a bit more, it’d be awesome as a baked potato topping.  I also made coleslaw to go along with it.

Beef and red bean chili

Ingredients
2 cups dry red beans (1 pound)
10 cloves garlic; 3 left whole, 7 minced
4 dried ancho chiles
2 dried chipotle chiles
3 Tbs oil
2 lb stew beef cut into 1/2” chunks*
salt & pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
3 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs crushed red pepper
1 Tbs brown sugar
5 cups corn (or 1 lb frozen)

Directions:
Throw dry beans in a medium pot. Add the three whole garlic cloves and 6 cups water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for about an hour.

Soak the Ancho and Chipotle chiles in 4 cups water for about 20 minutes, or until softened.  Weight down the chiles with a bread plate or saucer if necessary.  Pour off the soaking water and reserve.  You should have about 2 cups. Stem and seed the chiles and toss in the blender or food processor along with 1/2 cup of the soaking water.  Puree until smooth, adding up to 1/2 cup more chili water if needed.

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven. Season the beef with salt and pepper and brown in shifts, transferring to a plate as needed.

Add onion and garlic.  Cook over medium heat until onion gets translucent.

Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pot.  Add the remaining chili soaking liquid plus 2 cups water, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes, 1 Tbs salt and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender. 

Meanwhile, drain the beans.  Put back in their pot.  Add 6 more cups of water and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer until beans are tender--about 1 1/2 hours. 

When beans and meat are both done, drain the beans and discard the cloves of garlic. Stir the beans and corn into the chili and simmer until corn is warmed through. 

Serve over rice.

*Having worked in the Meat Department at the Grocery Ranch™ I’m leery of generic meat products like stew meat, cubed steaks and ground beef because I’ve seen what goes into it.  Some of it is made with beef that you’d be happy to eat otherwise, but most of the time it’s made with the leathery, gristle-riddled trimmings that, to be honest, I wouldn’t feed to my dog.  I recommend picking up a nice chuck roast or if you want to cut out fat, a London Broil.  That being said, this could probably be made with chicken, turkey or even extra-firm tofu and still be damn tasty.

Presentation details: Chili bowl-Maddoxware for Cunard Steamship Line, Coleslaw bowl-Ming by Lenox, B.C. comic glass-a premium from some no-doubt defunct gas station

This was originally a recipe for the grill but, well, it’s too damn cold out to grill so I adapted it for the oven. It actually turned out to be more sweet than spicy, but it was still pretty good. Next time I may add some cayenne pepper or chili powder.  Maybe some horseradish too.

Chili Sauce Chicken
Ingredients:
1 bottle chili sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth (plus a little more)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 tsp pepper
4 1/2 tsp basil
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
12 cloves minced garlic
8-10 skinless chicken thighs
1/2 Tbs unsalted butter
dash balsamic vinegar

Directions
Place the first seven ingredients in a large zip-lok bag and moosh around to mix. Remove 1/3 cup of the marinade to use for basting and add the chicken.  Put in the fridge and let marinate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken in a baking dish.  Pour a little of hte marinade from the bag onto each thigh and add enough chicken broth to just cover the un-chickened areas of the pan and bake 40-50 minutes, basting with reserved marinade once.

When chicken is done, put the chicken in a platter and keep warm.  Pour juices in the baking pan into a saucepan along with a shot or two of balsamic vinegar and simmer until reduced and kind of thickened.  Add butter and whisk till melted.  Serve chicken over rice and top with a few spoonfuls of sauce.

Having experienced the piss-poor driving habits of the Bubbastan-area natives after last week’s tiny snowfall, I opted to stay home after getting off of work at 6:00 am.  The only pizza delivery place in town is both overpriced and unparalleled in it’s its general suckitude and nastiness of taste so I foraged around the kitchen.  This is what I came up with.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a fan of citrus unless it’s with seafood, but this turned out pretty okay. The soy and ginger gives it a bit of an oriental flavor that you can emphasize further if you want, and you could use grapefruit juice if you prefer a sauce that is a bit less sweet.

Kinda Oriental Chicken

Ingredients
4-5 skinless chicken thighs*
1 1/2 cups orange juice
4 Tbs soy sauce
2 clove minced garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
4-5 Tbs soy sauce

Directions

Score the chicken pieces with a knife and place in a gallon-sized zip-top storage or freezer bag.

Add remaining ingredients to a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine. Add to the chicken in the bag and squeeze to remove all possible air before sealing. Throw the bag-o-bird parts into the fridge and allow to soak for 30-40 minutes up to all day, turning and squishing occasionally to make sure the liquid has circulated.

About 2 hours before you want to eat, pull out the chicken and allow to come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350.  place the chicken parts in a rectangular baking dish and pour the marinade over them.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until done (bone-in pieces will cook a bit faster than boneless).

Place the chicken on a warmed plate and cover to keep warm.  Transfer the liquid in the baking dish to a saucepan.  Simmer over medium heat until reduced to the consistency you like and spoon the sauce over the chicken.  Serve with steamed or sauteed veggies. Noodles with butter and a bit of cheese would work too

* I prefer dark meat.  It’s got a lot more flavor and is boatloads more forgiving of overcooking as opposed to chicken breasts, which turn into chicken jerky if you don’t get ‘em out of the oven or frying pan exactly on time.

Recipe Twofer

My regular days off are Tuesday and Wednesday and are pretty much the only days I’m motivated to cook unless there’s a good reason.  Of course in my mind, ‘good reason’ can encompass anything from ‘holiday goodies to be neighborly,’ to ‘what can I do with these leftover bits,’ to ‘found a new recipe that looks intriguing,’ to ‘I just picked up this package of something in an ethnic grocery so what now?’ This week covered regular cooking plus a smattering of holiday goodies for the office holiday party.  That one will be for Friday.  Today I’m covering the dinner I made on Wednesday; marinated porkchops with pan gravy and a hash brown casserole.  As always, pour yourself a glass of vino, pop in some tunes and follow along.

For the porkchops:

Ingredients
(Makes enough for 4 chops)

4 porkchops, 1/2-1 inch thick.*

Marinade
1 1/4 cup olive oil
5-6 Tbs Balsamic vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
2 Tbs chopped cilantro
1-3 dashes lime or lemon juice

Gravy

2 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs finely chopped onion
2 Tbs flour
1/2 cup liquid from rested chops plus chicken broth to make up the difference

Directions

Earlier in the day:  Toss the oil, vinegar, garlic, spices and juice into a bowl and whisk to combine.  Place the chops into a big freezer bag and pour the marinade in.  Squeeze out as much air as possible, seal and toss in the fridge for a minimum of 1/2 hour, though it won’t hurt anything if you did this in the morning and left them marinate all day.  About the same time you start baking the potatoes, pull the chops out of the fridge to allow them to come to room temperature (45 minutes to an hour before you want to cook them).

Wipe as much of the marinade off the chops as you can.  Place all four in a large skillet or split them up into two smaller skillets. I use the cold skillet method.  It seems to result in incredibly moist chops without the need for brining.

Once the chops are done, Turn off the burner. Remove the chops to a warmed plate and cover loosely for about 5 minutes.  If needed, turn heat to medium and simmer away remaining liquid, being careful not to burn or scorch.  Add butter and onion and saute for two minutes or so, scraping up any browned bits. Add Flour.  Whisk together and cook for another minute or so. Add juices and chicken broth and reduce to whatever consistency you like your gravy. 

Hash Brown Casserole

Pure comfort food here.  I kind of tried to make it a bit healthier as well as give it a bit of a kick in the pants taste-wise in order to combat the richness of it all.  I thend to like things a bit on the spicy side, so

Ingredients

2 lb hash brown potatoes (frozen works just fine here)
1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat-free if possible)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz fat-free cheddar cheese
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup onion, chopped
3/4 tsp ground cayenne or…
several shakes hot pepper sauce (I like Marie Sharp’s if you can find it)
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Dump the hash browns in a big-ass bowl.  Big enough to mix the spuds with the other ingredients.  Think really, really big.

Throw the remaining ingredients in a smaller bowl.  Whisk and/or stir together.  Take a little taste and see if you like the way it tastes and adjust accordingly.

Combine with the hash browns and mix as well as you can. Mine was kind of a gloppy, uneven mess, but it turned out pretty damn tasty anyway, so don’t worry if it’s not perfectly mixed.  Put the whole mess into a rectangular baking dish (no greasing necessary) and bake for about an hour (an hour and a half is okay if you’re using frozen browns).

Let rest 5 or so minutes before serving.

Suggested additions/modifications:  chopped bell peppers (whatever color you have handy), diced ham, Nacho cheese sauce as a substitute for the cream of chicken soup

*Donna and I both prefer bone in meat.  It’s almost always more flavorful and juicy; but hey… when boneless pork loin is on sale for $1.08 a pound, you don’t pass that shit up.

Here’s a quick and easy dish to help use up the leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  It’s tasty and definitely qualifies for comfort food status. 

Ingredients:

1/3 C butter + 2TBSP
1/3 C flour
1 stalk celery
1/2 a small onion
1 packet G. Washington Golden
1-1/2 C turkey broth (You did boil your turkey carcass for broth and stock, right?) or 1 can chicken broth
1/2 C half & half
4 oz fresh mushrooms
2 handfuls frozen broccoli florets
1-1/2 C cooked turkey
1/4 meat leftover pan drippings
salt & pepper or Nature’s Seasons, parsely
1/2 to 3/4 of a bag cooked wide egg noodles

Melt 2 TBSP butter in a frying pan.  Add sliced fresh mushrooms and cook until brown and all liquid has been given off.  Melt 1/3 C butter in 3 or 4 quart pot.  Cook celery and onion until tender.  Add flour, G Washington and Nature’s Seasons all at once.  Stir well.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Slowly add about 1/2 the broth while whisking briskly.  Add the half & half and simmer for 5 minutes or so.  Add more broth as necessary to make a creamy sauce.  Add meat, mushrooms and broccoli to sauce.  Add noodles until you like the consistency of pasta to sauce.  Re-season to taste.  Add parsley.

I always save the pan drippings from the turkey that I don’t use for gravy.  It will form a kind of jelly consistency.  This stuff is full of yum.  Seriously.  It adds so much flavour.  Save this and add it by tablespoonfuls to this sauce and other turkey or even chicken based dishes.  Good stuff.

Oh and the pan I cooked this in?  My new best friend.  I do not kid.  I love this pan.  You can check it out on the sidebar in the Amazon ad.  You want one.  Really.

Okay.  I wasn’t sure about this one, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients
5-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can cranberry jelly
1 pack onion soup mix
8 oz bottle italian dressing

Preheat the oven to 350. and pour yourself a glass of wine.

Place chicken in a rectangular baking dish.

De-can the cranberry jelly into a bowl and marvel at its ability to tower over the bowl while quivering as if it’s going to collapse. Once you’ve become un-hypnotized, mash the jelly and spread over the chicken.  Sprinkle the onion soup mix on top of the cranberry jelly and top with the Italian dressing. Toss in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes.

Despite my misgivings, this turned out to be damn tasty and it made my kitchen smell like autumn. I think that the next time I try this, I may substitute a balsamic vinagrette for the Italian dressing and chopped fresh onions and herbs for the onion soup mix. 

Ingredients: 
About 2/3 of a box of spaghetti (I use linguine)
5 slices bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1-1/2 C cream
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch long, thin slices
1/2 lb mushrooms (or 10 oz package)
4 tbsp butter, divided
1/2 C grated parmesan
Pepper (I use Nature’s Seasons)
1 packet G. Washington Golden
4 Egg yolks, lightly beaten

Directions:
To more easily dice bacon, freeze it hard, at least 8 hours or overnight.  It’s much easier to dice.  Same with the chicken breast...it’s easier to slice when it’s partially frozen. 

Pecorino romano can be substituted for parmesano reggiano.  Buy the good stuff, I beg of you.  It costs more but there are some things you don’t skimp on.  This is one of them . Don’t use that crap in a can!!  Also, parmesan is a salty cheese.  You don’t need to add salt to this dish.

Boil spaghetti to your liking then drain.  Run hot water over to rinse off some of the starch.  Drain well.

Sauté mushrooms in 2 tbsp butter until golden brown and all moisture is cooked off.  Set aside.
In a another large saucepan, sauté the bacon bits and onion until golden.  If there’s a lot of bacon fat, drain off some drippings but be sure to keep at least a tbsp or so.  Add 2 tbsp butter and the chicken.  Season with pepper and G. Washington.  Sauté until chicken is fully cooked.  Add cream and heat until just simmering.  Stir in the the cheese.

Lightly beat the egg yolks.  Slowly add some of the hot cream to the eggs, stirring well.  Turn heat to low to stop the simmer.  Add egg-cream mixture back into the pan and stir well and continuously for a few minutes.  Mixture will thicken as it cooks.  DO NOT BOIL OR YOU MIGHT SCRAMBLE THE EGGS.

Add mushrooms to pan and heat through.  Turn off the heat.

Using a slotted spoon, remove some of the chicken to a plate.  Spoon some of the cream mixture over the spaghetti until it is thoroughly coated.  Plate the spaghetti and top with chicken and the rest of the sauce.

Makes about 4 servings.

I like chicken thighs because they usually wind up much more tender and have a lot more flavor than breasts but if that’s your thing, more power to you.  I’ll admit that they’re fattier, but if you unfold the thigh and trim away the main glob, there’s surprisingly little fat left.

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
1 cup chunky salsa
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 2-3 inch hunk of ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 cup chopped peanuts for garnish
1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish

Unfold the chicken and trim away the main glob of fat.  Fold back up and arrange chicken in the crockpot.  Combine the next 4 ingredients and whisk until well mixed.  pour over chicken, cover and cook on high for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or low for 6 to seven hours.

Serve over rice.

This is a really simple Alfredo sauce punched up with sliced mushrooms and diced, browned pepperoni.  For only having seven ingredients it’s really tasty.

Fettucine with pepperoni

Ingredients
1 lb fettucine
1/4 lb pepperoni, sliced or not
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained well
2 Tbs unsalted butter
3/4 cup half & half
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 Tbs parsley

Directions
Cook fettucine.

Dice pepperoni and cook over medium heat until browned.  Remove from pan, drain and set aside.  Pour off rendered fat.  Melt butter in saucepan and add mushrooms and sautee for about 5 minutes or more.  Stir in half & half and parmesan and heat through.  Return pepperoni to the sauce.  When heated up, add sauce to noodles and toss to coat.

Serves four

This is a fast and surprisingly tasty dish that could easily transition from side dish to main course.  With so few ingredients though, make sure you spring for high quality.

Mediterranean Lentils

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lentils
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
5 Tbs Tomato paste

Directions
Place lentils and 2 1/2 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Cover and simmer until lentils are tender and most of the water has been absorbed-about 20 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste and half the feta cheese. At this time you’ll be able to really tell how much water is left in the pan.  If you misjudged like I did and the mixture is too dry, you’ll probably have to add about a half cup or so of water to successfully distribute the tomato paste and feta.  Also stir in some pepper and if desired, salt and keep on the heat for another minute or two to make sure that everything’s good and warm. 

To serve, spoon the lentils and cooking liquid into bowls and garnish with remaining feta cheese.

Serves 4

This is pretty much a blank slate that you can take in any direction you want.  Swap some roughly chopped Parmagiano or Romano for the feta and add fresh or dried oregano, thyme and basil and you’ve given it a nice italian flavor. Some cumin and a cup of good salsa and you’re good for Mexican. 

1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3-1/2 to 4 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces
8 TBSP butter, divided
1/4 C lemon juice
1/4 C orange-flavored liqueur
1/4 C honey
2 TBSP orange zest
1 TBSP soy sauce

Whole cooked baby carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, salt and pepper in large plastic bag. Add chicken pieces a few at a time, to bag; shake to coat completely with flour mixture. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in large baking pan. Roll chicken in butter to coat all sides; arrange skin side down in a single layer in pan. Bake 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in lemon juice, liqueur, honey, orange zest and soy sauce.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture.  Remove chicken from oven; turn pieces over. Pour remaining honey mixture over chicken. Continue baking, basting occasionally, 30 minutes or until chicken is glazed and tender. Toss reserved honey mixture with cooked carrots; serve with chicken.

Makes 4 servings - two piece of chicken per person.

After eating some surprisingly tasty vegetarian meals of late, I’ve been trying to cook vegetarian from time to time. 

Black beans and rice

Ingredients
1 cup Basmati rice
1 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp oregano
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
4 radishes, cut in largish chunks
1/4 cup cilantro

Directions
Cook rice according to package directions.  While rice is cooking heat the oil over med high heat in a large pan.  Add the onions, bell pepper, garlic 1/4 tsp black pepper and cook until the veggies are softened.  Stir in the ground cumin and cook for another minute or so more.

Add the beans, oregano and 1 cup water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes before stirring in the vinegar. Mash some of the beans with a fork to thicken the cooking liquid. Serve over rice and top with radishes and cilantro.

Serves 4 as an entree, 6 as a side dish

Note:  This was tasty, but a little bland. The next time I cook this, I’ll up the amounts of garlic and cumin and add a bit of cayenne or habanero pepper sauce--or at least sprinkle some on when it’s in the bowl.  I also use dried reconstituted beans which cuts down on the salt content dramatically.  Without the rice, it also works as a kind of burrito

A good cook is not necessarily a good woman with an even temper. Some allowance should be made for artistic temperament.
~X. Marcel Boulestin

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