Chicken Piccata with Angel Hair Pasta, Asparagus, Green Beans, and Peas

I finally made it!!!
Four Attempts later...

Rachael Ray Recipe #5

Chicken Piccata with Angel Hair Pasta, Asparagus, Green Beans, and Peas

First: The Crew

*The recipe calls for blanching the asparagus and green beans, but as beans aren't in season, I'll be using a steam bag, and as I prefer steaming my asparagus, I'll be doing it a different way* 

Add water to the bottom of a large skillet (enough to cover the bottom) and a tablespoon of butter. Lay asparagus in a single layer in the skillet and cover, let it steam on medium heat until tender

Put a pot of salted water on to boil (for the pasta) and cook to al-dente (just a little bite in the middle)

Season the chicken with Salt & Pepper

Dredge in flour mixed with poultry seasoning. (I didn't have poultry seasoning, so I added sage, rosemary, and thyme to the flour)

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in skillet over medium heat

Saute chicken until lightly golden on both sides

Add remaining butter to skillet and let it melt

Saute Garlic and shallot (which are difficult to find, so I just used some onion)

Slice one lemon and add it to the skillet along with the juice of another.

Add the wine and reduce.

Then add stock and Parsley

Simmer to thicken

Spoon some over the chicken, then wrap it in foil

Add peas to remaining sauce

Add sauce, green beans, asparagus, and the juice of the remaining lemon to the pasta.

Toss to combine

Serve the chicken with the pasta alongside

and There You Have It.

Review:

I don't think I got the sauce quite right, so I didn't spoon it over, but the chicken had a good flavor.

TheHubby gave it a thumbs up.

I think it was just anti-climactic, for me, since I have been trying for a week to cook this.

But I didn't give TheHubby a chance to defer this to another day, when I got home from work, he was out on the motorcycle, so I just started cooking, and was about halfway done.

So he set up shop in the corner of our kitchen to watch/talk

(please forgive the mess)

Printable version can be found here

Original version can be found here

Smokey Glazed Maple Salmon

 Oh fish,

thou heartless creature,

my eternal enemy,

how you have reared your side-eyed, squish-mouthed head again. 

I hoped we would never encounter one another again in my kitchen,

but alas, we meet again.

If you can't tell by the above prose, I don't LOVE cooking fish...and here is why.  Imagine a time, not so very long ago, when TheHubby and I were first dating. (about 13 months ago, so really not so long ago)  I thought I would impress him with my mad cooking abilities by making lemon-pepper, pan seared Tilapia. (It was a great thought)  However...

A report had just come out saying that the fish that comes from China is tainted with lead, mercury, and bacteria, due to their farming techniques. And, to top it all off, it had been making people sick.  MyThenBeau's father was just telling him this the day before

So, unknowingly, I scamper to the store, to buy some fresh fish, which is probably from China, to make my new beau a delicious (if poisonous) dinner.

Like a good boyfriend, he ate it with a smile on his face.

Later

He did end up throwing up, and I felt/feel bad

The thing was: He never told me!  I found out when his dad made a comment about it, the first time I went to meet him!  And I turned to him and said:  WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THAT REPORT?!?!?!  YOU JUST SAT THERE AND ATE IT!!!

He shrugged as guys are wont to do and said: I didn't want you to be upset.

That was the first of many food-related lies that he would come to tell.  Ok, not lies, really, fibs or omissions rather, but we have come to an understanding, and all is great now! :-D

But back to the point.   TheHubby is Catholic, and it is Lent.  I am not, so I am not used to no-meat on Friday (except for fish).

So here we are. 

Needless to say, I learned my lesson, and spent nearly 30 minutes in the frozen fish aisle at the grocery, looking for fish not from China, and let me tell you something, the Chinese must have a monopoly on the fish market!  I FINALLY found fish from Equador and Chile, and I conferred with TheHubby, and he said both of those should be fine. <<Phew>>

I am feeling a bit confident about this recipe, as TheHubby LOVES salmon.  And, who DOESN'T love maple syrup?!  (That was a rhetorical question, as I'm sure SOMEONE doesn't love it.) (Weirdo) (j/k, if that's you)

I now present:

Smokey Glazed Maple Salmon

The crew

First prepare the rice, according to the package (easy enough)

When it's done the recipe says to fluff it and mix in the watercress leaves

OK: MOMENT OF HONESTY

I am not going to add watercress.  I'm sure that it would add a good flavor, but I feel as if I am eating grass.

Turn the broiler on

Once the rice has been cooking for about 5 minutes, add some olive oil to the pan add the carrots, season with salt and pepper (the salt helps make the carrots tender) and saute until tender

Meanwhile

In a small pot, bring the liquid smoke, syrup and vinegar to a boil and reduce over high heat.

STIRRING CONSTANTLY FOR 2 MINUTES!

Remove from heat.

Season the salmon with salt, pepper, and Old Bay Seasoning.

Heat olive oil in a large, oven safe, non-stick, skillet and cook salmon top down for 3-4 minutes.

Flip, and pour the maple syrup glaze over the top of the fish

Place it in the oven under the broiler for 3 minutes to caramelize the glaze.

Add the peas to the carrots (while the fish is under the broiler)

Add the butter and chives to the veggies, and when the butter has melted, turn off the heat.

And There You Have It!

My new Ode to Fish:

Fish, I Think You're Fine

You Don't Intimidate Me

Very Much, That is.

Short Sweet and To The Point.

For Printable Recipe Click Here

Orginal recipe can be found here

Breadcrumb Stuffed Chicken

Hi,  I'm Kate...and I'm a Pintrest Addict

at which point, you're supposed to respond: Hi Kate. :-)  

My friend Katie got me hooked on Pintrest, the turd.

But, what better way to find new and exciting recipes than by spending hours online in a potentially time wasting way? 

If you haven't tried it out, and are super crafty, love DIY stuff, want new ideas for decoration, or just want new ideas for dinner, then you definately need to give it a gander. 

I have been on pintrest for about 2 weeks now, and found this recipe right at the beginning, but we have had few nights at home where I want to cook, with the move, and family visiting, it just hasn't been conducive.  So I have been anxiously (And I do mean anxiously) awaiting the appropriate time to use this recipe (and I mean REALLY anxious!  I even went to the store after working 12 hours!)

So yesterday Matt asked me what we wanted to do for dinner, so I emailed him the link to the recipe that I was going to try, and he got super excited!

I am very lucky to have a wonderful husband on which to try out all of my new recipes, and I'm also lucky that I chose this recipe to start out with!

Preheat the oven to 400

Take note of where your oven racks are before you preheat,

if they are too high, you risk a nasty burn (True Story)

Combine a small handful of baby spinach, a handful of grape tomatoes, and 1 Tablespoon of basil

(This is what the recipe calls for, and what I used the first time, but next time,

I would add more basil [I love basil} and maybe some onion)

1 Cup of Lowfat Ricotta Cheese

(This was the first time I've worked with ricotta,

but it definately won't be the last!)

One Clove of garlic, minced

(I use the preminced garlic in a jar, it lasts longer and I hate chopping garlic,

I have a hard time getting it chopped finely enough)

(Just remember to refridgerate after opening. :-))

A dash of oregano

(I definately could have used more, I was a little chincy with it)

2 Tablespoon of cheese

(I meant to grab Italian Blend, but grabbed Pizza instead in my post-work exhaustion)

I put all of the whole ingredients in our Ninja food processor, but if you don't have a food processor no worries!

Just chop the spinach and basil, and dice the tomato, and add all of the above ingredients to the ricotta and mix well

Season with salt/pepper to taste

It should look something like this. :-D

It smells pretty tasty already!

Rinse two chicken breasts, and trim off any fat

Cut a slit length-wise in the chicken breast, almost all the way through

Stuff the ricotta mixture into the slit, and season chicken with salt/pepper 

(this will all fit, but it will be snug)

(It can be messy)

Then Close the slit with toothpicks

(Do this!!! It makes a huge difference)

(Which I learned, as I didn't read all of the directions)

Heat some olive oil up in a skillet

(Preferably an oven safe one, you'll see why later)

Pour some bread crumbs in a plate

(I used italian blend, but next time i would add some

 rosemary, thyme and pepper, and maybe some onion or garlic)

Coat the chiken completely with breadcrumbs and place in skillet.  Brown on all sides (about 3-4 minutes)

(This is where I hit some trouble [mainly because I didn't read the directions all the way, and didn't close it with toothpicks]) 

(I told Matt:  It smells amazing, but I don't think it will end up looking very pretty)

If you used an oven safe skillet, just put the skillet into the pre-heated oven and bake until chicken is cooked (about 30 minutes)

(This time will, of course depend on how much chicken, but 165 is where you want it to be)

(I am a temperature nazi when it comes to chicken)

It will look something like this!

(It turned out prettier than I expected. :-) )

All in All I think it was a resounding success! Matt chowed down on his,  And I ate enough salad before that I was able to save some for leftovers for lunch at work today!!  WHOO!!!

All of my co-workers are jealous.

You can find a printable copy of the recipe here

Original recipe found on fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com