Veal Cutlets w/ White Wine Sauce

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH, 2010

3.5 stars (out of 5 - just needs less salt!)

I found this super simple recipe recently, and decided to test whether it really was as easy as it seemed! It was a pretty good, super-quick recipe, but needed a bit of adjustment (see notes below).

Ingredients (makes just over 1 cup wine sauce; adjust accordingly):

Veal cutlets (1-2 per person)
Flour
3 tbsp margarine*
2 tbsp flour
Salt, to taste**
Pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tsp bouillon (veggie or beef)
1 cup milk
2 tbsp white wine

{*Note. The recipe suggests using margarine, as butter will brown too quickly.}

{**Note. The original recipe called for salt, but I found it was too salty, so add with caution. I would suggest excluding the salt until the sauce is almost fully prepared, and then adding it to your taste near the end.}

1. First, I dredged the meat in flour. This gives it a crispier coating,when it cooks, which I like; however, this step is optional.

2. I then melted 1 tbsp of margarine in frying pan over medium heat. When it was hot, I added the meat, cooking to your preference of readiness. This was my chick'n version.

3. I set the meat aside on a heated plate, and kept warm. Using the same pan, I melted the remaining 2 tbsp of margarine over medium heat.

4. I then mixed the bouillon, flour, and pepper in a bowl...

5. ...and added it to the margarine, stirring it until it was smooth. This was a bit difficult, but I tried.

6. Finally, I gradually added the milk and wine, stirring constantly until it is bubbly and thickened. Even though I used skim milk, the mixture was very thick. However, I found it incredibly difficult to get all of the lumps out. In the end, it wasn't lumpy (enough to notice), but next time I think I will use my mini blender to make it easier on my arms.

7. I then drizzled some sauce on a warmed plate, placed the meat on top of it, and drizzled more sauce over top. We served with mashed potatoes. Sorry, no final pic!

Overall, this truly was a super simple recipe. The only difficulty was with the lumpy sauce, which we eventually worked out. The version of the sauce in the book was very salty, so I will try this again without the salt. I liked the ease at which the sauce thickened (sometimes I have a problem with this). As for the flavour, it was good, but not incredible. I actually think that a bit more white wine might kick it up a notch, so perhaps I will try that as well next time (at the risk of the sauce thickness). But there will definitely be a next time!

Meat (and Veggie) Lasagna

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH, 2009

3.5 stars (out of 5, with potential for 4.5 stars out of 5)*

{*Note. I was befallen with yet another cooking disaster... this one out of my hands! SB gave the final product 3.5 stars because we ended up with only the veggie version. He said that he would probably have given the meat one 4.5 stars. You may be asking: "What happened to the meat one?"... see below!}

This was a meal I had been planning to make for a long time. We had frozen ground beef in the freezer, and some extra in the fridge from burgers we had made last week, and I thought: a lasagna would be perfect to 1) use these ingredients, and 2) have leftovers for the weekend so that we don't have to cook each night. Well, it was a good idea; unfortunately, it did not turn out to last as long as I had anticipated. BTW, this is yet another recipe from PW from her blog: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/

Ingredients:**

{**Note. These are the ingredients for a full-sized lasagna, as directed from PW. However, my pictures depict smaller versions (approx. half), as I only have a small convection oven that fits a 9" square pan.}

Meat sauce:

1.5 lbs. ground beef***
1 lb hot breakfast sausage (ground)***
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans whole tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste***
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp salt

Filling:

3 cups cottage cheese (low fat)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the stuff from the bottle)
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt

Other layers:

1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese (real mozzarella, but pre-sliced!)
1 package lasagna noodles

{***Note. For my veggie version, I added 1 package ground round. For a full veggie lasagna, I would suggest adding two packages, which should be plenty. For the sausage, mine was not really ideal as it had an outer skin. However, I was able to break it up quite well. I am not sure where to get ground up sausage without the skin. Finally, if you are going to buy tomato paste, may I recommend another brand besides Hunt's? See below...}

1. First, I cooked the ground beef and sausage, with the garlic, over medium-high heat. I ended up switching to my wok, as I was afraid that the meat would overflow! As you can see, the sausage is a bit chunky here, so I broke it up as I cooked. As a vegetarian, this was probably one of the grossest things to cook :(

2. Once it was cooked and browned, you can see how much better the sausage mixed in. So, if you are unable to find the proper sausage, I think any hot Italian sausage will ultimately work.

3. PW recommends draining 1/2 the fat. Our meat was extra lean, but I still thought this was a good idea. I left about 1/3 of it in there.

4. Leaving it over the heat, I then added the whole tomatoes, tomato paste and the herbs...

5. ... unfortunately for me, and this recipe, I found this little gem in my can of Hunt's tomato paste. I say unfortunately because I had already added most of the can to my meat. Eggshell, anyone? Ewwwww...

This is what it looked like before I chucked it out :(

6. Having had to discard my meat dish (I'm sorry, but I couldn't let SB eat that - I have no idea how that shell got in there, where it had been, or how much I had missed. Not worth the risk!), I turned now to my vegetarian version. I was very lucky to have been cooking this at the same time, therefore having a back-up to the "Eggshell Debacle", but it is missing the sausage component/flavour. Oh well. You then simmer this meat sauce for 45 minutes, uncovered. I wasn't sure if the liquid would reduce from the tomatoes, so one suggestion I have is to not add the entire can of liquid with the tomato. This is what it looked like, all ingredients in the meat sauce.

7. As this simmered, I cooked the lasagna, rinsed in cold water, and set them out on a flat. surface You want it al dente.

8. I then made the filling by adding the cottage cheese to a bowl...

9. ...beating the two eggs, and stirring them in with the cottage cheese.

10. Finally, I added the Parmesan cheese...

11. ... along with the parley flakes and salt.

12. I stirred the mixture well, and set it aside until the meat was finished simmering.

13. Once everything was ready, we were on to the layering part. First, SB made me butter the bottom, to prevent sticking. Then we layered, starting with a layer of noodles (overlapping a bit)...

14. ... followed by about 1/2 of the cottage cheese filling, evenly spread...

15. ... and half of the mozzarella cheese (note: we didn't have enough to cover the entire layer, and it was still very cheesy!).

16. We then topped the cheese with just less than half of the meat sauce, spread evenly...

17. ... and repeated the process, starting with the noodles and the rest of the cottage cheese mixture...

18. ... followed by the remainder of the cheese, and topped by the meat sauce.

19. Finally, we topped it off with a generous layer of Parmesan cheese (note, this is the shredded stuff that comes in a bottle).

20. We then cooked it at 350F for 30 minutes until bubbling (although this took a bit longer in our oven!!), and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

Overall, this was a delicious lasagna, and we ate it all by the afternoon the next day. It was very disappointing to have to throw out the meat one, but I will definitely try it again (perhaps with another tomato paste brand!). We both really enjoyed all of the flavours, and the ingredients were things that I had in my household regularly, so it wasn't a stretch. One final thing that I liked, was that it was a no stress recipe. You just kinda cook everything at your own pace.

Marinated Balsamic-Dijon Chicken (Disaster!)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH, 2009

1 star (out of 5 - SB's rating: oopsies!)
3 stars (out of 5 - LX's rating)

I decided to try this recipe because the ingredients looked good (and simple!), and I loved the idea of the 24h marinating. Yummy! However, I was incredibly disappointed with the outcome. I made a note at the bottom for suggestions to improve this, but basically the sauce turned out to be extremely strong, and the chicken extremely overcooked. One good thing about this recipe was that I learned that another advantage of being a vegetarian was that simulated meat is way less prone to overcooking. Sorry SB!

Ingredients*:

Chicken pieces (thighs or breasts)*
Onions, sliced (~1 onion per piece of chicken)
~1/2 cup balsamic vinegar**
~1/3 cup dijon mustard**
Seasoning, as you prefer (I added Herbes de Provence, Laurel leaf, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper)
1.5-2 tsp lemon juice concentrate
3/4 cup wine**

{*Note. Please read through blog before attempting this recipe! There were some problems, as you will see.... I would first start with chicken thighs, as they will withstand longer cooking times. **The marinate is good with the vinegar and mustard, although I ended up almost doubling the amounts just to be able to cover the chicken. More importantly, there needs to be another liquid besides the wine in the sauce, otherwise it is extremely acidic. On this note, the white wine was something I was forced to do, mid-cooking, as the sauce without it was more like a paste. Suggestions, please!}.

1. First, I sliced the onion (keeping the pieces quite large).

2. I then spread the chicken out in a pan for marinating.

Chick'n version for me and LX:

3. To make the marinate, I simply mixed the balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and lemon juice together...

4. ... until creamy and smooth.

5. I then added the dried herbs to the chicken, which included Herbes de Provence, Laurel leaf, and crushed red peppers (add the spices you prefer).

6. I then topped each dish (one chicken, one Chick'n) with the onions...

7. ... and poured over the marinate, mixing it to make sure everything was coated. I then placed it in the fridge, covered, for 24 hours.

Chicken:

Chick'n:

8. The next day, I baked the chicken (saving most of the marinate in the dish) in the oven at 400Funtil it was cooked and set it aside. The recipe said to bake it for 35-45 minutes (!!) but I took it out after about 20-25 minutes.

9. I added the onions to the frying pan, which the recipe assured me would create it's own liquid (so not to add water). At first it was good:

10. However, as they softened, it was clear that this was not going to suffice as a sauce:

11. I decided to add some white wine to the mixture, which looked good. I added the chicken to "simmer", like the recipe said, for 25 minutes (I cut this down to 10-15 minutes). Big mistake!

12. And served over basmati rice...

13. ...with a side of baked asparagus.

Overall, this was another lesson for me to try out recipes before attempting them for the first time with guests. This recipe smelled delicious as it was cooking, and I loved the 24 hour marinating. However, the overall flavour was SOOOOO strong. The kind that burns the back of your throat. I was so disappointed because of all the work I put into it, and because it smelled soo good. I did add the white wine to increase the liquid in the sauce, but I think it was too strong and only added to the acidity of this dish. LX really liked it, but told me that she really likes tart things (and was probably being nice!), but SB didn't eat much of it and neither did I. In addition, the chicken was cooked WAY too long. It wasn't so much a problem for the Chick'n, but for the real meat, SB told me it was pretty bad. Oopsies.

Anyways, if anyone has any suggestions about how to improve this recipe (both the sauce and how to cook the chicken), please let me know! I think there is potential here, but I am too inexperienced to think of anything else besides the wine!

Honey-Dijon Chicken

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH, 2009

4.5 stars (out of 5)

I had a bit of time this afternoon (for once!), so I decided to use it to try out a new recipe. GV from my internship tipped me off about a website (pioneerwoman.com) which has recipes and photos at every step (very similar to mine, but much much better quality!) and I thought I would try one of the recipes there. It was great! Here is the link to the recipe (with better pics: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/ranch-style-chicken/).

Ingredients (for 6 chicken breasts... I halved this for 2):

1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Chicken breasts
Bacon
Cheddar cheese, shredded

1. First, I mixed together the dijon, honey, paprika, salt and lemon juice, and whisked until smooth. I also added just a few red pepper flakes to spice things up!

2. Next, I (or actually SB) took a mallet to the chicken to ensure it was an even thickness (this prevents overcooking).

3. I then marinated the chicken in a bowl (covered in the fridge) for an hour and a half (anywhere from 1-3 hours).

4. During this time, we had some appy's: olives and some dips with a fresh baked baguette (they sell these in the frozen section of the grocery store, and I highly recommend! Stick it in the oven for 14 minutes and voila! - you have a fresh baguette!).

5. Once I was ready to start cooking again, I prepared some asparagus by washing, salting, and covering in olive oil. I placed these in the oven at 425F for 7 minutes. I did this because our (convection) oven does not cook food that is on the second rack very well. This way, I cooked these first, and then put them on the bottom rack to keep warm. If you have a normal oven, just place them in the oven for 10 minutes (with the chicken, after it has cooked for about 3-4 minutes).

6. During this time, I also cooked the bacon (approx. 2 strips per chicken breast)...

7. ... and set aside, keeping approximately 1/2-1/4 of the bacon grease set aside. We kept it in the skillet, but as suggested in the original recipe, you may want to clean your skillet to prevent a lot of smoke once you cook the chicken.

8. Once the chicken was marinated, I removed the excess marinade and seared the chicken in the pan of bacon grease for a max of 1.5 minutes per side. You want it just blackened, but not the chicken inside cooked.

Veggie version:

9. I added the chicken to the oven, now at 400F for ~10 minutes (with the asparagus).

10. At this point the chicken was done and I added 1-2 slices of bacon to each breast...

11. ...and covered with cheddar cheese.

Finished asparagus:

12. I cooked this for another 3-5 minutes until the cheese was melted and the bacon hot.

Veggie version:

13. Served with the asparagus:

Overall, this was a very delicious meal, and SB loved it. The only downside is that it seems a bit fatty with the cheese and bacon. I am thinking that this will be reserved for special occasions, but that I will use the chicken and marinade for regular dinners as it was super tasty (and served with veggies and a salad, a fairly healthy meal). One other thing... with the bacon cooking and then the seared chicken, my place smelled soo good!