Blog.EmealsForYou

(from the Chicken Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)

I find the easiest way to make friends in the neighborhood is to cook something really fragrant…allow me to explain.  We did this in our home in the Chicago suburbs and then again after we moved.  A couple of houses ago we installed a microwave- range hood that faced our neighbor’s driveway.  I would cook my usual meals, usually with a lot of garlic and Jim would call to ask what I was cooking that smelled so good.  Back then Jim didn’t cook except for the occasional grilling, now it is hard to keep him out of the kitchen, but then again Brenda doesn’t really try too hard.

I first had these chicken thighs in San Francisco about 25 years ago.  We were walking around the Cannery on the Wharf and could smell these wonderful wisps of very fragrant cooking.  Being of the large nose variety I was able to pinpoint the location, a small street vendor cart in the courtyard.  They served these on crunchy sourdough bread and we instantly found a new favorite.  Years later we would call our youngest son and have him go into the garden and get some fresh thyme, add the other ingredients into a baggie and place it in the frig.  Once home I would simply light the gas grill and wait for the neighbors to react.  You see they smell as good cooking today as they did all those years ago.  Got any crunchy bread?

(from the Chicken Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)

I guess if you write a Rant about taking a small amount of time to prepare a good meal for your family you should at least post a quick chicken recipe to go with it. The Pan-roasted Chicken Breast was a last minute idea one night when my wife said “do something different”. We like garlic, I mean we really like garlic in our house, so the natural thing to do was make sure I put lots of garlic in the pan. I added a few gold raisins, who doesn’t like golden raisins, some mushrooms and there you have it… a new house favorite.

Have your butcher, excuse me, have the guy behind the meat counter, bone out the chicken breasts but leave the skin on. I actually prefer to do this myself, tossing the bones into a pot with olive oil, a piece of carrot, onion and celery, add a can of chicken broth and you have some really good chicken stock to make the dish that much better. (want to learn how to bone out the chicken? send me a comment and I will give you the easy instructions)

I serve this chicken with creamy polenta but it is just as good with quick pasta tossed with some lemon juice. Round out the meal with a mixed lettuce salad and you have a $17 restaurant meal for about a third the price.

Pan-roasted Chicken Breasts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in an oven-proof pan. Sauté chicken skin side down for 4 minutes, repeat on the other side. Add mushrooms and garlic, sauté for 1 minute. Add raisins, capers, lemon juice and broth. Place in oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven, remove chicken to a plate. Swirl butter slowly into pan juices, add salt and pepper to taste. Plate chicken and spoon on sauce.

Suggestion: Serve over creamy polenta, add some fresh tomatoes and it’s time to eat.

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Chicken Entrees/Chicken Paprikash)

Tradition, not quite the loud and strong TRADITION sung about by Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof; but tradition none the less. Most of us probably have a meal that remains in our memory from our youth. One of those meals that always brings a smile to our lips. One we hopefully have continued today, passing along the comfort to the next generation and possibly, no hopefully, the one beyond that. Tradition.

My father had a rather large, 15 inch, copper-bottomed frying pan. About twice a month he would put that “puppy” on the stove and make wonderful, comforting Chicken Paprikash and dumplings. You knew what he was cooking as soon as you opened the back door. It was always amazing how many of us could get around the kitchen table and eat the seemingly bottomless pan of wonderful chicken and sour cream gravy. The chicken was always complimented by an endless supply of dumplings; solid, toothsome dumplings; not the light and fluffy kind made with Bisquik, but belly bombs, fulfilling, satisfying.

After my father died I beat my siblings to the pan; they still don’t forgive me. We continued to make the chicken and dumplings when our kids were growing up. It soon became their favorite as well; the “birthday” dinner of choice, in fact it became the dinner of choice of our neighbors’ kids. I am now happy to inform you that our kids make chicken and dumplings all the time themselves. I am sure that when their kids are old enough to ask for their own” birthday” dinner they too will choose the Chicken Paprikash. Tradition!

The dish is good, in fact it is very good, but I am not sure whether it is the food or the tradition that makes it special. Either way I invite you to start a “Tradition” in your home.

P.S. I have included the dumpling recipe as well, just in case.

Chicken Paprikash

Place oil in large pan, brown chicken, add onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add broth to just cover chicken, sprinkle paprika on chicken. Reduce heat to simmer, cook for 20 minutes, until chicken is tender. Remove chicken to platter. Mix flour, sour cream and water in bowl, add some of the juice from the pan to temper, add to gravy to thicken. Salt to taste. Spoon over chicken and serve with dumplings.

Serve with a small side salad.

From the New Neighbors (Share-a-Meal Plans) at emealsforyou.com

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Fish Entrees/Angelhair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp)

Angelhair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp

What do you want for dinner honey? I don’t know what do you feel like? How many of us hear this all the time? So Capt. Jim, from next door, and my wife are sitting there trying to figure out what they have a taste for. How about some shrimp? Okay, with what? Can’t you just make something, we know it will be good. Make something new!

This is the genesis of the Angelhair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp recipe. A little of this and a little of that; throw it in the pan and viola! Dinner is Served. Some of my best recipes have come from this method. I think the important part here is trust your instincts. You know what you like. A little shrimp here; a lot of garlic there. Finish with some lemon zest to, as they say” make it pop” whatever the hell that means.

Bottom line is this is a really good, fast and if you buy the shrimp on sale, inexpensive meal. One that fits perfectly into the Sunday night slot or even a neighborly get-together. Final conversation with the diners, how is it? mmm. what? mmm, don’t talk with your mouth full.

Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp

Heat oil in pan; add 1/2 the zest, all the scallions, garlic, and shrimp. Reduce heat and simmer until shrimp are done,( about 3-4 minutes) add lemon juice, tomato, and milk. Simmer 3 more minutes. Cook pasta in boiling water with 2 Tb salt. Add pasta to pan, mix well, plate. Sprinkle top with parsley flakes, black pepper, remaining lemon zest and romano.

Serve with garlic bread.
* See note

If your pasta is too dry add a little of the pasta water.

From the Happy Birthday Meal Plan at emealsforyou.com

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Cooking on a Budget/entree - Shells and Sausage)

Shells and Sausage

So we are walking around Findlay Market, the nation’s oldest outdoor farmers’ market, and I see a great basil plant for $1.25. I love to have fresh herbs growing in our yard and basil is one of those that I always plant, well my wife plants them, I cook I don’t plant. Now I am thinking, “what can we have to eat using some of this basil?”. Nudging around the kitchen I find a couple of sweet Italian sausages in the freezer and start the pot of water on the stove for some pasta. About 12 minutes later we are having this wonderful lunch that was both quick and cost effective.

For those of you operating on a tight budget you have to learn to use the ingredients found in your pantry and frig and avoid that trip to the store to pick up just a few things that turns out to be $65 worth of things you didn’t know you needed. Let’s look at the total cost for this lunch:

the basil - $1.25 and now I have it for the entire summer

1Tb oil - $?

2 sweet sausages - about $.75 (6 for $2.25 on sale)

1 medium onion - $.15

2 cloves garlic - $.10

1 can dices tomatoes - $1

.5 tsp hot pepper flakes - about $1.50 but you will have lots leftover

2 Tb grated cheese - $.25

1/2 lb pasta - $.50

Total = $5.50 for a great lunch or casual dinner. Add more pasta, there will be plenty of sauce and make this even more frugal feeding 4.

(from www.emealsforyou.com Meal Plans/WOW (Watching Our Waists)?Healthy, Good and Tasty)

Pan-seared Salmon

I had to give a cooking lesson the other day. My brother-in-law (henceforth known as MBIL) asked if I would show him some easy recipes that he could cook. MBIL is a rocket scientist, he actually worked for the people who make the solid fuel boosters for the Space Shuttle. I mention this as it significantly effects how one has to approach the teaching lesson, that one would be me.

I cook basically like my grandmother cooked, a little of this and a pinch of that. On the other hand an engineer wants to know how much of this and that. As I explained how hot the pan had to be to get started, when the oil begins to smoke, he wanted to know what temperature that was. Then he stated that a study had been done on non-stick pans and they may give off toxic fumes when heated to high temps. Okay, good point I guess. BTW most studies state that the pan has to be heated above 600 degrees and most stoves can’t reach that temperature. Then he said his new high-end pans had a warning to not over-heat them. I put the salmon in the smoking pan and began to cook.

Did I mention that MBIL has a new camera? He not only wanted to learn to cook but try out his new toy as well. So when I flipped the salmon in the pan; yes I pulled the pan back, pushed it forward and then flicked my wrist and the salmon floated in the air, did a back flip and landed in the pan, he missed “the shot”. (for those keeping score again, yes that is a run-on sentence) Did I mention I was cooking in my mother-in-law’s kitchen?

MBIL asked if I could do that again, you know for the camera. As I had four 11/2 lb salmon filets to cook, sure why not. Every time I began to flip the salmon my mother-in-law would walk into the room and I had to try to avoid flipping the salmon onto her stovetop, resulting in yet another missed shot. Talk about pressure! Bottom line here is I didn’t miss the flips, he missed the photos and my mother-in-law liked the salmon. BTW this is one of his photos, the non-flip one.

This salmon took only about 8 minutes total to prepare. I have made this numerous times and always have several people ask me just what I did special to the salmon to make it taste so good. Well, it is simply as stated below, salt, pepper, olive oil and a very hot pan.

Capt. Jim’s Tomato Focaccio

It’s coming, no stopping it; March Madness or just plain madness. This recipe is just right for sharing in front of the TV while rooting for your favorite 64 teams; or that movie you have been trying to see for months. This recipe provides a ton of WOW! with just a little bit of work.  Capt. Jim, my ex-neighbor from Chicago, who now resides in southern Virginia, was pretty much only an outdoor grill person until I conned him into trying his hand at other foods. Well Jim accepted the challenge and has not looked back; baking bread every week. The only downside is that Jim now lives in Virginia and we live in Cincinnati, so I live vicariously through his emails and occasional recipes.

Why Capt. Jim you ask? Jim and his wife, Brenda, have a rather large canal boat they keep in Amsterdam. Their vacations have been spent touring the many canals around the Amsterdam area. My wife and myself had the fantastic opportunity to join them two years ago for a week and still have fond memories of the trip. The photo on the blog, Fight the winter blahs, of the Tulip Festival at Keukenhof Garden is one of many from this trip.

Capt. Jim’s Tomato Focaccia

Have water and milk at 120 degrees. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle or dough hook, add half the flour, salt, yeast, milk and water, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and half the olive oil. Mix, adding remainder of flour 1/2 cup at a time. When dough forms a ball remove from bowl, place half of remaining oil in bowl and replace dough, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in warm (80 degree) place until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
On a parchment lined baking sheet place dough in a circle, slice tomato and place evenly on top. Brush with remaining olive oil and bake for 15 minutes, lower temperature to 350 and bake for 20 minutes more or until golden. Cool for 10 minutes and serve.

This is from the Veggie Movie Night (Theme Meal Plans) meal; for more meal plans and recipes like this go to emealsforyou.com.

Chicken Cacciatore

Growing up in central New Jersey we had many ethnic restaurants to choose from. In Trenton there is a section of town known by the locals as the “Burg”; short for Chambersburg. This area featured an Italian restaurant on just almost every corner. There was one restaurant in the “Burg” named Roman Hall. We would go there with family and friends to enjoy the great comfort meals usually cooked lovingly by the grandmother of the owners. Roman Hall’s specialty was Chicken Cacciatore.

Now, many of you have had cacciatore but I am betting it was chicken smothered in a heavy tomato sauce with black olives. Roman Hall’s was cooked in a white wine sauce with onions and mushrooms and lots of garlic. Traditionally it was served with a side of “pencil points”, penne pasta with tomato sauce. This way you got the best of both worlds, you actually tasted the wonderful stewed chicken in the wine sauce and still got your tomato sauce fix with the pencil points.

I have recreated this great comfort meal for you. Add some “pencil points”, a salad and some warm Italian bread and you have a meal that you will remember for quite a while. If you don’t have a favorite tomato sauce or want to try ours sign on to www.emealsforyou.com to view our scalable recipe. Enjoy!!!

Chicken Cacciatore

Brown chicken in oil, add onions, mushrooms and garlic sauté for 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, simmer for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Note: If you prefer red sauce, add 1 LB diced tomatoes, 2 TB tomato paste and substitute red wine for the white wine.

This is from the I Need Comfort Food (Quick Meal Planner) meal; for more meal plans and recipes like this go to emealsforyou.com