Champagne Chicken

This makes a huge batch, and it is perfect for freezing in dinner-size quantities for very easy meals later on. I like it best served over rice, either brown or white. This is another recipe from one of my chef instructors at culinary school.

The mushrooms play an important part in bringing out the flavor, so don’t skimp on those. Mushrooms have a natural monosodium-glutamate-like flavor application called Umami in Japan (means delicious essence in Japanese). The role played by Umami is to tie together all the different flavors in the sauce. It contributes to the full feel in your mouth that lingers on the palate, bringing the flavors all the way from the back of your mouth to the front as you swallow. If you are curious now, just pop a Doritos in your mouth, close your eyes and think about what the flavors are doing. It should have the same effect since Doritos are loaded with monosodium glutamate. Now when you make the sauce close your eyes taste it and look for the flavors to do the same.

 

24 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Sea salt

White pepper

2 cups all-purpose flour

 

1 bottle champagne

2 quarts chicken stock

1 quart whipping cream

1 cube butter

1 medium onion or shallots small diced

1 lb. button mushrooms sliced

4 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon beef bouillon paste

3 tablespoons chicken bouillon paste

1 tablespoon dried thyme

 

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper; dredge the chicken in the flour directly before you put it in the fry pan. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium high heat. Add a drizzle of oil to the pan. To test the temperature, sprinkle a bit of flour in the pan, and if it sizzles and spats, the pan is hot enough to fry. Carefully lay the pieces of chicken in the pan so that the oil will not splash toward your face. Do not overfill the pan; if they look crowded, the pan is too full. When they are about half way cooked, flip the chicken over and finish on the other side. This is where you will want to make sure you have the right temperature, if it is too hot they will burn on the outside before they are cooked through. If it is too cool this whole process will just take too long. You can pile up the chicken on a pan once they are cooked.

To make the champagne sauce, sauté your onions or shallots, mushrooms and garlic for a few minutes. Season with thyme and some white pepper, then add your bouillon pastes and stir in to infuse the flavors. When the mushrooms are cooked, add the champagne and simmer for 10 minutes, then add the whipping cream and chicken stock. Cook for 10 minutes, and then add all the pieces of chicken to the sauce.

Gouda and Cannellini Beans

 

Cannellini Beans are medium size white beans mostly used in Italian cooking. They have a mild flavor, and smooth texture making them perfect for pairing with garlic and olive oil. In this batch of beans I added Gouda cheese, which was a great match! Gouda cheese has such a lovely flavor; it is always good if you can actually taste it in the food! It is always a good idea to eat your beans with some kind of whole grain because when they are put together they equal a complete protein, plus it is easier for your body to digest them together. I can think of a lot of things you could throw in here to make it more elaborate, but I will give you the simple, basic idea, and then you can mess around with adding other stuff if you are feeling creative!

 

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil

1 can of Cannellini Beans

4 oz. Gouda cheese (I used two pieces of Babybel Cheese), cut into pieces

 

1 c. whole grain such as Brown Rice, Kamut, Millet or Quinoa

2 c. water

Dash of salt

Cook over medium heat until tender

 

Sauté the garlic and butter for a minute then add the beans and the cheese. Heat all the way through, while stirring.

Serve beans over the cooked whole grain.

Apples and Oats…and Horses

As a Washington State native, the simple apple is, to me, more than just a delicious piece of fruit, but a nostalgic symbol of the good old days. The sweet aroma of a ripe apple is the quickest transportation to my childhood. It brings me to crisp fall days spent on beautiful San Juan Island in Northwest Washington. In the fall, my sisters and I spent a lot of time taking our horses on trail rides because we were giving them a rest from the intense training we had done for the county fair in August. Sometimes along the many island miles we covered on our horses we often would find a tree of wild apples just waiting to be discovered. It seemed so honest to be spending an afternoon with my horse and friend, feeding her apples that grew wild, on a small simple island. Such memories I cherish, and remember almost every time I bite into a juicy apple! Horses and apples just go together!

We always found many opportunities to get our hands on free apples, which were abundant in the fall! My mother was always an example to my sisters and me on how to mass produce food, especially free food. Many times we spent entire days making more things out of apples than you could imagine. But mostly, we made applesauce, and lots of it! It was a staple side dish at our dinner table. I always assumed that everyone had bowls of homemade applesauce with their dinner! Now that we have lived in Southern California for a little more than one year, I think we are beginning to run out of our applesauce stash. And now it is a treat!

I am putting up a recipe for a healthy way to enjoy apples, oats and almonds together, which are three of my favorite foods! It has no added sugar, but you can sweeten it a little if you want to. In my opinion, if you are using good ingredients it is better to be able to taste them, not mask them with sugar; another honest pleasure!

 

Healthy Apple Bake

10-12 Medium apples cored and sliced. We still debate leaving the peels or not.

½ c. butter

Pumpkin Pie Spice to taste (lots!)

Sauté the sliced apples in the butter until partially cooked. Place in a 9×13 pan.

 

4 cups Rolled Oats (not quick oats)

More Pumpkin Pie Spice

½ tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. stevia or some agave nectar or both

1 cup chopped or slivered almonds

½ cup Almond butter

                 ½ cup butter

Melt the butters together and add your sweetening and the salt. For a nice flavor, you can roast the oats on a sheet pan under the broiler – briefly – stir and roast until golden. The almonds also really like to be roasted! Pour butter mixture over the oats and chopped almonds while stirring. Don’t forget to spice it up too! Sometimes I add a little warm water to this oat mixture to soften it a bit. Evenly spread the oats over the apples in the pan. Press down a little to make it stick together.

Bake at 350 degrees until the apples are simmering in the middle. They will be tender when you poke them. This is an especially lovely treat in the morning! Bon Appetite!

Buttery Lemon Millet

I am very fortunate to have a lemon tree producing lovely, plump, almost sweet lemons right now in the back yard of where I am staying. The other night I just randomly put things together that sounded good at the moment, and came up with a few good ideas using these beautiful lemons.

Agave nectar is a sweetener that has a low glycemic index, that’s why I used it here. Millet is a small round yellow grain that lends itself well to sweet flavors, so I use it for baking and anything that goes well with sweet smooth flavors. The butter brings a smooth finish that wraps all the flavors together.

 

1 c. uncooked Millet

2 c. Water

Dash of Salt

 

Cook the millet and water over medium low heat. It will take about 30-45 minutes to cook. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t scorch on the bottom after it is done. When it is done, fluff it with a fork.

 

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

Agave nectar to taste

2-3 Tbl. butter

 

Right before you are ready to serve, combine the cooked millet with the juice, nectar and butter. Let the butter melt in. You can adjust proportions to your personal taste.

Jicama and Cucumber

This is one of my favorite recipes because, if it is made with pretty fresh ingredients, it is crunchy, flavorful, easy to make, affordable, and a cleansing food. When I make this recipe, I like to have it in the morning as an alternative to the usually breakfast options. It is easier for the body to digest raw fruits and vegetables in the earlier hours of the day. And it’s a way to get your day started with a good appetite for vegetables!

 

1 medium sized Jicama, cut into thin strips

1 whole English Cucumber, quartered and sliced

½ Red Bell Pepper, small diced

1 tsp. lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbl. chopped Parsley

 

Mix the ingredients together and store in the refrigerator; it will keep for several days.

Chocolate Cake with Pumpkin

This recipe is the “healthy” rendition of a favorite pumpkin cake recipe my mother has used for years. It has whole wheat flour instead of white, and the sugar is substituted with a small amount of unrefined cane juice (sucanat). You can adjust the sweetness to your personal preference, but don’t be afraid to try it with a small amount of sucanat; you may be surprised at how little it takes to make a great cake! 

4½ c. flour

3 tsp. baking soda

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ c. sucanat

1 c. cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli)

¾ c. oil

¼ c. water

4 eggs

4 c. pumpkin puree

1 bag Hershey’s dark chocolate chips (optional) 

Mix together the dry ingredients. Then combine the wet ingredients and add to the dry ingredients, mix just until blended. Add the chocolate chips, save some to sprinkle on the top before baking. Pour into a buttered and floured bundt cake pan or a 9×13 and sprinkle chocolate chips over. Bake for about one hour at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.

Easter Egg Brunch

Among the many recipes passed down to me from my grandmothers, this is one of the best. It is a very simple meal, but something we always look forward to when Easter comes around.  

As a girl, I grew up on a small island in Northwest Washington. Every year there was an Easter egg hunt at Jackson Beach that the Fire House put on. They brought the fire truck to the beach, and the siren blew signalling the beginning of the hunt! We scrambled along the beach scouring the driftwood, shells and rocks for the little colorful treasures. The plastic eggs were filled with candy and prizes. At the time, chocolate was certainly the most valuable and wonderful thing we would ever find at that beach! After we walked home from the chilly beach, my mother had this wonderful hot dish waiting for us. It is probably as “comfort” as food gets! And that may be why it brings back such warm memories! 

Hard-boiled eggs, however many you want to eat! (1-2 per person)

Butter

Flour

Milk

Mustard

Worcestershire sauce

Salt

White pepper

Toasted Bread, I like whole wheat 

Here’s a quick tip on making perfectly boiled eggs. Bring the eggs to room temperature (by running under warm water). Bring water to a boil (enough to cover the eggs). GENTLY lay the eggs in the water so they don’t crack. Reduce the heat so it is a little more than a simmer (medium). Set a timer for 14 minutes. Make sure the water stays hot enough. When the time is up, pour the water off and run cold water to stop the cooking.  

To make the sauce: you will cook equal parts flour and butter together. Estimate about ½ cup of each – more for a larger batch. Melt butter in sauce pan and add the flour. Cooking over a medium heat stirring constantly until it begins to barely brown. Then you will add the milk – start with about 2 cups, you can always add more to thin out later. Then whisk this together until smooth and continue cooking on medium. It will take about 10 minutes to fully thicken, so stir frequently. Then you can add a squirt of mustard, a splash of Worcestershire, a dash of pepper, and salt to taste.  

Then peel your eggs and drop them in your sauce which should be smooth and creamy, about the consistency of gravy. Serve it over toast, after the egg hunt at the beach! Bon Appetite!

Mexican Corn Soup

When I was in culinary school, I had an instructor who was absolutely genius when it came to making soup! I always use his recipes when I want to make a killer soup. Certainly the most popular has been Cream of Jalapeno Soup…but that recipe shall remain a proprietary blend, for now at least!

The recipe I am putting up today is Mexican Corn Soup. The reason I chose it is because I recently made it, and we have been really enjoying it. The recipe makes a very large batch, and that is also why I want to share it with you! Making large quantities of food is really an efficient way to cook, for obvious reasons. So don’t be intimidated by the large quantities here! Just dust off those kitchen tools that have motors, turn up the music, and make an afternoon of it! It will be so easy to use if you freeze it in individual portions.  

Mexican Corn Soup

8 oz. butter (for sautéing vegetables)

2 oz. garlic1

¾ lb. onion, small dice

6 oz. jalapenos, minced

1 ½ lb. carrots, small dice

1 ½ lb. celery, small dice

3 lb. corn kernels (canned, frozen or fresh)

1 lb. red pepper, small dice

2 Tbl. Cumin, toasted

¾ c. fresh cilantro

1 ½ tsp. cayenne pepper

Tobasco sauce, to taste

½ oz. chicken paste (boullion)

1 oz. Beef boullion

2 Tbl. Oregano, hand rubbed

6 qts. Chicken stock, heated

12 oz. blond roux (equal parts flour and butter cooked til very lightly browned) 

Start heating the stock first, and when it is almost, but not quite boiling, add the roux and stir vigorously. Stir it frequently while you are doing the other things as it thickens. The roux takes 8-10 minutes at 180 degrees to fully thicken, so be sure your stock stays hot and cooking!

As you are doing that, start to sauté your diced veggies in the butter. Start with the denser ones (carrots) and add the others in succession. The reason you don’t throw them all in at once is to keep the temp hot enough to “sauté”.

Add all your spices to the veggies, and then put in your boullions to infuse the flavor. I like to use the finest quality base I can find. My favorite brand is called Better Than Boullion. One of the reasons it is good is because the first ingredient is NOT salt. Once you have your veggies cooked, you can add the thickened chicken stock.

At this point I decided to put in chicken and black beans. I cooked and cubed 7 chicken breasts and added them. And I also added about 6 c. cooked black beans.

I think the soup is best when served with tortilla chips, sour cream and cilantro. But it is good any way you eat it! Ooo, it’s so good! Now I want to go pull some out of the freezer!

The Granola Days

Quote of the day: “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water”

I remember the days, as if they were yesterday, when my sisters and I spent the morning hours of the day working through school at the dining room table. I loved being homeschooled. We thought we were special, and we knew our Mother was our biggest fan! In truth, there was probably nothing particularly special or outstanding about us, but because our mother thought so, it made all the difference in the world! I never felt intense pressure to conform to “the group” as a homeschooler, so I have spent my formative years becoming a very unique individual whom God created, and that is the biggest gift of homeschooling.

Once I heard a very sarcastic remark to the effect that a girl was “homed”…not much schooling was involved! I’m sure that happens sometimes, and that is so sad. The student carries a big responsibility to direct and motivate them self, but it is tempting to place the whole burden on the instructor, when blaming. I hope that in the future, Americans will be able to have the privilege and the right to educate at home. I am who I am today because being educated at home provided a way for my parents to communicate to me that they believed in me, and I was someone special.

Isn’t this blog supposed to be about food? Where was I going with that? Oh yes…the days we sat at the kitchen table “laboring” over school work. I remember being a little jealous that my mom had all kinds of free time to do things she wanted, but we had to do school! She would vacuum, wash dishes, clean things, and fold laundry, but I had to work! I particularly remember days when she made homemade granola. It smelled so good, almost like freshly baked oatmeal cookies.

 

The recipe here is one that I have put together, though. It has more nuts for protein, and less honey-sugar, and oil instead of butter to be healthier! 

Suz’s Granola

Dry ingredients:

8 c. rolled oats

3 c. chopped almonds (use a machine to do this! Way too labor intensive by hand!)

3 Tbl. Cinnamon or pie spice

1 tsp. sea salt

¼ c. sesame seeds

¼ c. corn meal

Wet ingredients:

¾ c. oil

4 Tbl. butter

¼ c. honey (agave nectar is better for those sensitive to sugars)

A little stevia

2 Tbl. vanilla 

Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Melt the butter and mix with all the wet ingredients. Pour wet over dry, gradually, and mix well. Taste it to make sure you like the proportions of sweetness, nuts, etc. Spread granola on large baking sheets (probably about 2) and bake in the oven at 350. You will want to stir every 15 min or so. Sometimes I use the broiler to speed things up a bit. Total baking time is about 45-60 min. It will keep awhile, sealed in a jar. It’s nice when it’s warm!

Let me know if you try it and how you like it!

Available or Affordable?

These days most great cooks and so-called “chefs” talk about eating seasonally and absolutely fresh. What a great idea! Nothing tastes better than a carrot just pulled and rinsed, or a tomato ripened in the warm summer sun. But let’s be honest. It’s not really practical to think you can eat like that all year long, unless you are a great gardener, or unless you can afford to buy asparagus, raspberries and fennel at the health food store. (Which, as a college student, I cannot; which is why I am writing this).  I live to eat healthy food, and I am always looking for ways to be even healthier. I get really excited about eating seasonally and fresh and all that, but I also have a life!

Well, so what is seasonal in March, besides Irish beer and chocolate bunnies? And what is affordable, besides asparagus and fennel?

If I have held your interest long enough for you to read this far, I would bet that you might like to try my favorite brown rice salad. It’s a cold salad that has excellent flavor, great texture and just enough variety to make it interesting. It is worth the extra effort – and money – you will spend to obtain the ingredients you may not have. Go ahead and try it!

Brown Rice Salad

2 c. uncooked brown rice – cooked and chilled

1 c. Feta cheese

2 handfuls of fresh spinach

1 medium tomato, diced

1 handful of olives, sliced

¼ to ½ cup red onions, small dice

To taste – Italian Salad Dressing

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and serve the same day. This salad does not really get better with time, but it will keep for a day or two. So make a smaller batch if you can’t eat this much at once! The proportions are approximate, really. If you’re not good with estimating, stay close to my measurements. If you like to explore new territory…then have fun!

Please let me know how you like it!