The Joy of Waffles!

One of my fabulous Christmas presents was The Joy of Cooking! So this morning I made Belgian Waffles (page 647). I was worried they wouldn't turn out right because it didn't rise much at all during the hour and 15 minutes I let it rest. I think next time I will make it the night before and let it rise in the fridge.  They turned out quite delicious!  We topped the waffles with strawberries and real whip cream!  What a great way to start the day!

Cheesy Penne Bake

I am finally mostly recovered from the bug that hit me last week.  I haven't been cooking, taking pictures, or blogging.  Today is the first day since probably Monday that I didn't have a nap.

I found a new addiction - My Kitchen Addiction. Tonight, we had her Cheesy Penne Bake.  It was really quite good - even Kathryn said she liked it! When a My Kitchen Addiction recipe calls for a large baking dish, she means it.  I ended up using another 8 ounces of colby jack.  Next time, I will double the mozzerella if not triple it since I also won't be using the ricotta.  We aren't really fans of ricotta cheese around here.

Cheesy Penne Bake (Printer Friendly Version)
+ 14.5 ounce box of multi-grain penne
+ 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
+ 1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
+ 1 yellow onion, diced
+ 2 cloves garlic, minced
+ 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
+ 14 ounce can tomato sauce
+ 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
+ 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
+ Kosher salt
+ 8 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
+ 8 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
+ 2 ounces parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated

Prepare the pasta according to the package directions.  Drain and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the sausage and brown in the oil.  Once the sausage is cooked, add the onion and garlic.  Saute with the browned sausage until the onion is soft (about 4-5 minutes).  Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce to the pan.  Season with the basil, thyme, and some salt (to taste).  Stir to combine all of the ingredients, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat.

Prepare a large baking dish with cooking spray. Coat the bottom of the dish with one cup of the meat sauce.  Add one third of the pasta and top with one third of the remaining sauce.  Spoon half of the ricotta cheese over the pasta and sauce.  Sprinkle with one third of the mozzarella and parmigiano-reggiano cheese.  Repeat the layers of pasta, sauce, and cheeses. Top the cheese layer with the remaining pasta and sauce.  Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmigiano-reggiano cheese on the top of the pasta and sauce.

Bake the casserole for 30 minutes until all of the cheese is bubbly and has melted. The top should be golden.

The Roast Chicken

So after a week of thinking/planning/talking about this roast chicken, I finally made the roast chicken with much help from Mom. I completely forgot about the biscuits until it was too late and ended up doing canned biscuits. We also ended up using a Reynolds bag instead of the Joy of Cooking recipe. It turned out nicely. Here is a picture of the bird before it went in the bag.

I actually did all of the dinner dishes after dinner! 

Everything turned out nicely! And our friend Connie joined Mom, Kathryn & I for dinner.  Mom made a delicious apple pear crisp for dessert.  She ended up baking it in the toaster oven because we ran out of room in regular oven. I don't have any lovely food pictures because I forgot to take them.  Sorry guys.

Here is Mom's Apple Crisp Recipe.  She used 2 pears and 4 apples for the Apple Pear Crisp.

APPLE CRISP

6-8 apples 1/2 c. butter or margarine 1 c. sugar   3/4 c. flour 1 tsp. cinnamon

Peel, core and slice apples and place in a greased baking dish Mix butter, sugar, flour and cinnamon with a pastry blender till well blended. Spread on top of apples Bake 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes Serve warm with ice cream.

Dinner

So I signed up to be on a foodie blog roll.  I don't know if I've been reviewed yet.  If so, I hope they don't hold today's post against me.  This weekend, I decided I would make a roast chicken this week, a whole chicken.  When I bought my chicken, I wasn't really paying attention.  I thought it was a 1 pound chicken.  It seemed awfully big for a pound.  But it said 0.85.  Perfect, it is just Kate and I (sometimes Mom eats with us) so a pound would be fine. 

Berl came over tonight for dinner.  So I was going to make the roast chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli.  At 20 minutes per pound plus fifteen minutes, we could be eating by 7:15 at the latest.

Turns out, it is actually 4.5 pounds and it was $0.85/pound.  Thankfully, I figured this out before I had it out of the package.  At 20 minutes per pound plus fifteen, it would have been much, much later than 7:15 before we ate.

So tonight, we had spaghetti & meatballs with broccoli and garlic bread.  None of it was homemade.  None.  But everyone enjoyed it and Berl helped with the dishes after dinner and everything is put away.  We did have some of that very delicious Apple Cider Pudding Cake with Edy's Double Vanilla Ice Cream after dinner.  The cake was homemade and still quite delicious.  It was more cakey than puddingy tonight.  Still great warmed up with a scoop of ice cream!

After dinner, I studied the Joy of Cooking section on Roasting Poultry (421) and Roast Chicken (424).  I feel almost ready for Saturday.  We will also be having Cheesy Biscuits Saturday (638).  I really do love this Joy of Cooking and might actually fork out the $30.00 for one of my own!

We're having roast chicken on Saturday night before Kate's play. 

Dinner

Tonight Berl & Donald came over for dinner.  I made Rachael Ray's Chicken Kiev, Cheesy Orzo, and creamed corn (I didn't read the label clearly, I thought it was regular corn which I am not a fan of but Donald prefers it to broccoli).  We also had Jello Instant Oreo Dessert which I made this morning.  After dinner, we played Sorry.  Donald beat us despite our group effort to keep him from winning.

I didn't use fresh herbs for the Kiev, I just used some italian seasoning mix from the cupboard and fresh garlic.  Next time, I think I will lightly brown or seal the chicken in the oil and then bake it.  I ended up needing to add a cup of water to the orzo in the end and let it go for another 5 minutes and was happy with it. I also used the thin sliced chicken breasts instead of slicing open regular ones.  I am undecided as to whether I'll do that again.  I probably will has it is lesson hassle, all I had to do is pound them down to 1/4 inch.  Each piece was only 4 ounces.  I guess that is fine, Donald had 2.  (If he moves in, feeding a 16 year old boy will be much different than feeding a 10 year old girl.)

Everyone liked the Chicken Kiev (recipe & link below) and only Berl & I liked the Cheesy Orzo (recipe & link below).

I completely forgot to take pictures of the finished product. So I just have 2 cooking pictures and then pictures of the recipes with my notes on them.  I like to make a note on the page of when I made that recipe last and who liked it.  The cheesy orzo says, 10/04/2009, Amy & Berl liked it, Kathryn & Donald do not like it. (Kathryn & Donald's dislike will not stop me from making it again. . . ) Although, in the future, I will probably half it as it does make quite a bit.

So today, I took a couple of pictures (see today's below) and made a dinner for my family.  Making progress on a couple of my goals!

Chicken Kiev

• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast (6-8 ounces each) or 4 chicken cutlets (6 ounces each)
  
• 10 blades fresh chives, chopped to about 2 tablespoons
• A palmful fresh parsley, finely chopped to about 2 tablespoons
• A palmful fresh dill, finely chopped, about 2 tablespoons
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 6 tablespoons chilled butter
• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• A wedge lemon
• Salt and pepper
• Plain, round toothpicks (for securing chicken)
  

Preparation

In a large, deep skillet, heat 1 1/2 inches vegetable oil over medium-high heat. The oil needs to be 360°F for frying. If you do not have a frying thermometer, add a cube of white bread to the hot oil. If the bread browns in a count to 40, the oil is ready.

Cover work surface with waxed paper. Arrange breasts on paper. Butterfly small chicken breasts: cut into flesh and across, but not through the breast, and open them up. The cutlets may just be removed from package and arranged on waxed paper. Cover breast meat with a second sheet of waxed paper. Pound out cutlets to 1/4-inch thick with a small heavy skillet or a rubber mallet. Be careful not to tear meat. Roll up waxed paper and breasts and set aside.

Combine chopped herbs on cutting board with chopped garlic. Cut six tablespoons cold butter into four pieces (1 1/2 tablespoons each) and coat each piece liberally with the herb garlic mixture.

In three disposable pie tins, add flour, eggs beaten with a splash of cold water and bread crumbs (one ingredient in each tin).

Uncover chicken and squeeze a wedge of lemon over breasts. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place an herb-covered piece of butter on each piece of chicken. Wrap and roll cutlets tightly up and over the butter cubes. Secure stuffed chicken with toothpicks. Roll stuffed breasts in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs.

Fry the Chicken Kiev bundles 7-8 minutes on each side until deep golden brown all over.

Cheesy Orzo

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cans (14 ounces) chicken or vegetable broth or stock
• 2 cups orzo pasta (enriched rice may be substituted)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano or Romano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat a 8 inch pot with a tight fitting cover over moderate heat. Add oil, onion and garlic and saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Add broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir in orzo and return broth to a boil. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until liquid is absorbed and pasta tender. Remove lid and stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. You favorite fresh herbs may also be stirred into the orzo or rice to strengthen the flavor even more.

Dinner tomorrow night

Berl & Donald are coming over tomorrow night for dinner (assuming Berl doesn't get called into work).  Tomorrow afternoon I will be at a pet blessing for the humane society (pictures will be posted!) and Mom will be volunteering at the home tour for Advent House.

I am trying to figure out what I am going to cook.  I am going through Joy of Cooking, one of Sandra Lee's cookbooks (if I can find it), and the interwebnet.  I am going for something homey, something K & D will both eat, something not complicated, but something that takes some effort & care.  So far all I've found is a Chicken & Broccoli Braid.  But I don't think it is what I am looking for.

I found what I was looking for in my Rachael Ray's 30-Minutes Meals 2.  Cheesy Orzo page 63 & Chicken Kiev page 176.  We will also have green beans and maybe even an Oreo Dessert.


This will be the first time I've cooked for Donald.  I've cooked for Berl a few times - not too many. So I'd like this to turn out nicely.  I have made Chicken Kiev before and I *think* I've made Cheezy Orzo.  The green beans and Oreo Dessert are no brainers.  The green beans are probably in my freezer and the Oreo Dessert is one of those instant imitation cheesecake style desserts.

This dinner by the way will help me with goal number 42. Cook fifteen different meals for my family & friends.  As you may have figured out, I don't cook that often.  I make various excuses for not cooking but what it seems to boil down to is I am either not prepared, didn't plan ahead for that night or I am uninspired by cooking meals for just Kathryn and I.

There will definitely be pictures of this meal.  I think I will go ahead and cook this meal even if he gets called into work. It will be good practice and a good dinner.