BFF's Thoughts

~welcome to our contributing blogger! hopefully BFF will find time to share more yummies with us. you know, when she's not being superwoman at work, or super mommy to the worlds cutest 14 month old.. or super BFF to a kinda needy, kinda crazy me
~~Gourmet Vixen


So, I'm excited. The women around me are all about cooking right now and I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Sure, I would like to eat better. But more importantly, I would like to be less ashamed of my cooking skills. For Christmas this year two different friends gave me cookbooks for a gift. Does this mean they see the amazing potential for me as a cook and want to support me in my quest? Or, is it the more obvious answer: You need help, girl. Either way you look at it, I have two new cookbooks! I've actually made 8 new dishes already. Well, let me clarify. My husband and I made 8 new dishes. I can't take all the credit even though we both know I deserve it.

So my favorite was the Pasta with Pesto, Shrimp and Sweet 100s (which I guess are like fancy cherry tomatoes, so I just got cherry tomatoes). This is from Bride and Groom "First and Forever" Cookbook. I know, it's a cheesy title but the recipes are pretty straightforward and super yummy.

First, you make the pesto sauce

1/2 Cup Pine Nuts
4 cups lightly packed basil leaves (READ this carefully b/c I did not get enough basil-4 cups!)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 kosher salt
1/4 ground pepper
1/2 extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cupe grated parmesan

Bake the pine nuts for 8 to 10 minutes. (We forgot pine nuts and used almonds instead)
Combine basil, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in food processor for about 15 seconds. With motor running, add olive oil. Scrape off sides and add cheese and pulse until it's a thick past. Use immediately or transfer to container, drizzle with thin layer of olive oil, cover tightly and refrigerate. This pesto will keep for two weeks. Also, every thing except the cheese can be frozen for 2 months! A great thing to have on hand.

For the Pasta
8 ounces Angel Hair Pasta (We used fettucine because my husband is anti-angel hair)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined (obviously deveined, right?)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup pesto
1 cup halved sweet 100s or other cherry tomatoes
Grated Parmesan for serving

Pretty much all you do is cook the pasta on it's own. Cook the shrimp for one minute, turn over and add garlic. Continue cooking shrimp until it is opaque in the center, about one to three mnutes more. Add one cup water and pesto until incorporated. Add pasta and tomatoes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Yummy yummy.

Chicken a la Tasty Cheese

My sister in law has a favorite cheese that she gets whenever she goes to Australia called Tasty Cheese. To her absolute joy, they now carry a very very close version of it at Costco called Boxing Cheddar. It's technically an aged sharp cheddar cheese, the best description of the taste I can come up with is an aged cheddar with a twist of good, crunchy parmesan.  Anyway, joking with her today I said maybe I would invent a Tasty Cheese chicken dish for dinner. Not having any other brilliant gourmet morsels planned, I decided to actually give it a try.

I started by marinating the chicken breasts in red wine, olive oil, a splosh of dijon, and some Bavarian Seasoning from Penzeys and baking them. Then I added some left over Rioja Wine Vinaigrette from the ahi recipe I made Tuesday. (Bobby Flay's Bolo's Seared Tuna which was wonderful!!) and topped it with the shredded Tasty Cheese then tossed it back in the oven to melt.
It turned out pretty darned tasty!!

One little tweak I need to make next time: I put too much of the vinaigrette on the chicken before adding the cheese, so it basically just slid off the chicken.

The Dinner Party

For our impromptu "dinner party" (ie, casual hanging out, but calling it a dinner party meant the boys had to cook/eat at a table) Saturday night at BFF's, I volunteered to make some yummy bread to go with the pasta.  After a little surfing I came across a great bread website Cooking Bread with all kinds of yummy recipes.
So Saturday morning, off I trotted to Vons to pick up the stuff to make some Sage Wheat (my choice) and some Basil Garlic (MJ's choice).
Lesson's learned: 2 types of bread is a little ambitious for a lazy Saturday. And - just because the only other bread recipe you've ever made takes several hours to rise, doesn't mean they all do.
The Basil Garlic rose really fast, and made a gargantuan loaf. I wasn't crazy about this one, but BFF, her hubby, and MJ loved it.
The Sage Wheat is a nice, chewy, dense moist bread that I really liked. Couldn't really detect the sage flavor in it though.

BFF's Pasta with Citrus Cream Sauce from Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals was outstanding.

Pasta with Citrus Cream Sauce

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons Cognac or dry sherry
Zest of 1 lemon (colored part of peel only)
Zest of 1 large navel orange (colored part of peel only)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped (about 3 sprigs)
12 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn
1/2 pound linguini, or 3/4 pound fresh linguini, cooked al dente
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

In a skillet over medium-low heat, warm cream. Add Cognac or dry sherry, zest of lemon and orange, salt. Simmer, 7 to 10 minutes. Add mint and basil.

Toss hot, drained pasta with sauce and grated cheese. Transfer to serving dish or dinner plates.

Basil Garlic Bread

• 1 cup fresh basil (hard packed)
• 6 garlic cloves (peeled)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 cup flour (all-purpose)

Method

Chop basil leaves and garlic finely, or place in a food processor and chop finely. Do not turn into a liquid. Add olive oil slowly. Set aside. In another bowl add lukewarm water and sugar, sprinkle yeast on top of water. Set aside to activate the yeast; about 5 minutes. Add yeast to basil mixture and mix. Add flour 1 cup at a time till dough is smooth. Place dough on a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes. Place dough into a greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Let rise till dough doubles in size. Punch down dough. Form dough into a loaf and place in a greased pan. Cover let dough double in size. Place loaf in a 350 F oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Sage Wheat Bread
2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1 teaspoon dried sage, crushed
1 3/4 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 egg, slightly beaten

Method

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of white flour, yeast and sage. Set aside.In a saucepan, heat milk, brown sugar, butter and salt till warm (120°F to 130°F) the butter should be almost melted. Add lukewarm milk mixture to dry mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in whole wheat flour, cornmeal, and one cup white flour. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough for 6 to 8 minutes. Add just enough remaining white flour to create a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the whole surface. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place till dough is double in size. Punch dough down. Place onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest 10 minutes. Lightly grease a large baking sheet; sprinkle with additional cornmeal. Shape each half into a ball. Place on prepared baking sheet. Flatten each of the dough balls to 5 inches in diameter. Mix beaten egg and 1 tablespoon water; brush about half of mixture on loaves. Cover once again with a damp cloth; let rise till nearly doubled. Place into a 375°F oven. Brush loaves with remaining egg mixture. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden. If bread is getting to dark cover with foil for last 15 minutes of baking to prevent over browning. Place on wire rack to cool.

Olive Tapenade Tart

Tonight's new recipe. I'll post it later.  Pretty good, but really rich. I need to find a way to get more crust to topping ratio. Unfortunately the camera phone makes the color look a little ick. It was much prettier in person! I swear!

Pan Seared Chicken with Mustard Sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (2lbs total weight)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy (double) cream
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper


Cook the chicken:
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and lightly pound with a meat mallet to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Season with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until opaque throughout, about 8-10 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.


Make the sauce:
Stir mustard seeds into the pan drippings and cook over med-high heat, stirring, for about 15 seconds. Add the wine and broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium, cook, stirring, until slightly reduced, 1-2 minutes. Stir in cream and mustard and cook for 1 minute to blend flavors. Return chicken and any juices from the plate to the pan and simmer over medium heat, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Slice the chicken and serve drizzled with sauce.


*From Williams Sonoma The Weeknight Cook


I didn't have mustard seeds, so I skipped that step. And the cream I had on hand was left over heavy whipping cream from the holidays. The chicken cooked beautifully in my new All-Clad stainless steel pan.  A non stick pan probably wouldn't give you the pan scrapings that made the sauce so easy and flavorful.

Oh My, Oh My, Oh BLOGGING??

I would never in a million zillion years have thought of myself as a "blogger", but at the suggestions of some very wonderful ladies - here I am. Really, the idea is just to use this blog as way to share new recipes with those of you who care, but I do have a small (tiny...miniscule...itty bitty...) tendency to get a little um... immersed in new projects. So - who knows what may end up on here. Stay tuned.