Happy New Year: Black Lights Party!

The eats...ranch lamb sliders with onion straws and potato salad.

So Yummy! I promise to post the full recipe tomorrow.

The drinks...Bacardi Mojitos all night long!! 

I'll post that recipe too:)

My niece Briana's Black Lights party... spectacular!

The guest of honor...adorable!!

Have a Happy and safe new year everyone! Let's go out in style, see you in 2011:)

Chicken Parmigiana

So satisfying, so filling, is there anything better than ooey gooey cheesy chicken parmigiana? This is my version of the claissic Italian dish, a satisfying dinner...and now I can't move :) I started making this dish earlier this year, so it is a fairly new recipe, after making it several times I am confident that the recipe I am posting here is my best (thus far). This recipe takes about an hour to cook so be prepared, I streamlined today's recipe by using canned sauce. Did I mention I work full time and don't always have the extra time before dinner to make my own homemade sauces? Don't get me wrong, homemade sauces are great and delicious, the canned sauce buys me some time so I can actually rest (and post) before I hit the hay for the day!

I find myself always changing recipes, substituting ingredients and trying new things,trying to improve my cooking techniques, flavors and recipes. So if another version of this dish appears on my blog in the not so near future, please forgive me. Innovation, isn't it grand?

How will you re-invent this recipe?

I don't know why the serving size (below) or the word always (above) is highlighted, and I am sorry. After fifteen minutes of trying to fix it I gave up!

Serves 6 

First, finely dice half of a large onion, slice about 5-6 mushrooms (I used button white here) and dice 4 cloves of garlic.

In a medium saucepan heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add in ingredients, salt and pepper to taste and sautee until tender.

Adding these ingredients to the canned sauce really enhances its flavor and gives the parmigiana sauce more depth and deliciousness (oh my...is that a word?).

Add in your favorite can of spaghetti sauce, stir together and bring to a boil.

 (I used Huntz Organic sauce)

Add salt and pepper to taste, reduce heat and let simmer until needed.

Letting the sauce simmer longer will let the mushrooms, onions and garlic really infuse the rest the sauce with their flavor.

Meanwhile in a stockpot, bring 8 quarts of water to a boil and cook your choice of spaghetti per the package instructions. (I used linguine here)

Once your pasta is cooked drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil, freshly cracked pepper and toss. Set aside.

Set up a breading station for your chicken. In a shallow dish add 1/2 a cup of flour, in another beat 2 large eggs and finally in the third add 1/2 a cup of Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs.

Add salt and pepper to taste to the bread crumb mixture.

First, drench the chicken in flour on both sides.

For this recipe I used four boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Next, dip into egg mixture and coat chicken breast evenly.

Finally, lay the chicken in the bread crumbs and coat both sides evenly.

Coat a nonstick pan with vegetable oil and heat on medium/high. Add in breaded chicken and brown.

Brown remaining chicken pieces and set aside. Chicken will be a nice golden brown color.

Don't worry the chicken will cook longer in the oven. I also split the large chicken pieces in two with a knife for easy serving.

Remove your sauce from the stove and pour into a Pyrex baking dish.

Arrange the chicken pieces on top of the sauce.

I feel so bad for that piece in the middle, I stepped away from the stove for a minute too long!

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through completely.

Before pulling out of the oven, grate 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, add to the tops of the chicken pieces and bake until the cheese melts. Once melted remove from oven and serve.

Serve each piece of chicken with spaghetti (or linguine) with sauce from pan.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

It must be my lucky month! My niece and nephew (who have been visiting) begged Jim to make one of their favorites, cheese flautas with Mexican rice. I thought I was off the hook, but then they turned their attention to me and demanded I make dessert, more importantly they demanded I make Peanut Butter Cookies. 

This is my twist on the classic peanut butter cookie, it has sweet chocolate morsels inside but retains the traditional forked decoration on top. They are soft and deliciously golden brown.

I wonder how long they'll last!

Yields 2.5 dozen 

 First soften half a cup of butter.

Stir with a whisk on high until creamy.

In case you were wondering, the old school whisk and wooden spoon will soon be disappearing, consider this their last hurrah! I was lucky enough to receive a nice, new hand mixer for Christmas that I have yet to break in. Sigh...oh how I will miss thee...

  Add in one cup of packed brown sugar and whisk together well.

Sporting Chanel's new "Steel" polish on my paws (thank you Santa).

Stir in one large egg, a teaspoon of vanilla, a pinch of salt, one cup of creamy peanut butter, a half teaspoon of baking soda and a good sprinkling of all spice. Combine well.

During the holiday season I like to add All Spice or Pumpkin Pie Spice into all of my cookies, it gives them a delicious holiday spicy flavor.

Next, add about 3/4 a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Slowly sift in one cup of flour (mine took about 1 and a 1/4 cup to get the right consistency) and combine.

A parting shot of my handy-dandy wooden spoon.

Use a teaspoon to measure out your cookies.

Form into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.

You can also line it with parchment paper. Santa also brought me a new roll I found in my stocking on Christmas morning...I have mixed feelings about that.

Flatten with a fork in a cross design to create the traditional peanut butter cookie decoration.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 -12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. 

(Note to self: Run the self cleaning function in the oven...)

Holiday Mini-Break

 
I hope everyone had a great holiday, I sure did! As you may have noticed I didn't do much blogging, at all. For which I feel extremely guilty but very refreshed. I had the rare chance to do, nothing. My cousin decided to host Christmas Eve dinner and my mother Christmas Day. After all the doggie bags and left overs were enjoyed there really was no time left.

It had nothing at all to do with the last minute shopping and three and a half hours spent gift wrapping.

It looks like tomorrow, I return to work, and return to the kitchen. :)

I am extremely lucky to have my niece and nephew visiting me this holiday season. The photo above is from our day trip today to Cisco Grove (if you haven't been here it is amazingly beautiful!!). The pair are in their "tween" stage and we have been spending a great deal of quality time together, for which I am extremely thankful. :) My niece has even decided to host a New Years Eve party this Friday!

If you're thinking what I am thinking, yes! Another break for me :)

So as I turn to finish out the year with family and friends, I hope to cook some delicious meals for the remainder of this year into next! Stop by tomorrow to check out what I make as a segue-way meal back into the kitchen, speaking of which, any suggestions?

Vegetarian Chili

 Let me start off by saying this is one of my favorite vegetarian meals to make during the winter. It is hearty and satisfying, it's the ultimate comfort food. After the day I had today, trust me, I need to be comforted.

It is spicy with hints of smokiness that makes this chili food for the soul! It's fairly simple to make and takes about 45-50 minutes.

Serves 6

First, dice one large onion, one large red bell pepper, and two small green bell peppers (or one large).

Heat an 8 qt. stock pot coated with oil and sautee onions and peppers.

Add in 2 cloves of minced garlic and 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper. Mix well.

Then add 3 cups of vegetable stock and one tablespoon of chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobe sauce and stir together.

Add in one 15 oz. can of each bean: garbanzo, kidney and cannelini. Make sure you have drained and rinsed the beans well. Stir together  to mix.

Add in one 15 oz. can of fire roasted tomatoes and stir well to combine all ingredients together.

Turn heat to high and bring to a boil.

Turn heat to medium/low and simmer for 30-40 minutes until thick, add salt and pepper to taste. 

I like to partially cover the pot as well, hence the photo of the lid doing a balancing act. 

Remove from heat. Garish with freshly grated cheese and serve with cornbread if desired. 

This is a meal that you will definitely enjoy!

Holiday Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

Since Thanksgiving I have made these cookies on three separate occasions, they are a holiday staple in my home and are to die for! Tonight's occasion? There is a cookie swap happening at the office tomorrow, how exciting! I cannot wait to sample other co-workers cookies. 

(As you can see I have a busy work day scheduled for tomorrow) 

If you have never participated in a cookie swap you should do so, and soon! The holiday season is the best time, in my opinion, to host one of these parties and the concept is pretty simple. The host provides empty boxes (such as Chinese take out boxes available at party stores) and something warm to drink. Ask each guest to bake their favorite cookie and bring them to the party. Then at the party give everyone a take out container and have them create a cookie box, sampling cookies from all of your guests.

I can't wait to see what exciting types of cookies wind up in my sample box tomorrow!

Yield 3 and a half dozen cookies

In a small bowl combine a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of all spice, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg and 2 and a half cups of flour. Mix together with a fork and set aside.

In another bowl add one stick (1/2 cup) of melted margarine and stir.

Add in 1 and 1/3 cup sugar. Whisk until well blended and creamy.

Add in two large eggs and mix together. 

Slowly add in flour while stirring to combine well. 

I switch to a wooden spoon after about 2/3 of the flour mixture is mixed so I don't wind up with a big ole' wad of goop in my whisk.

Add in one package of white chocolate chips and half a 12 oz. package of craisins (dried cranberries) and combine. 

Take a tablespoon full of batter and work with your hands into a ball.

(Jim took this picture...I really hope my hands aren't this big in real life!)

Rub a little flour on your hands to keep the batter from sticking, it will be a little sticky. 

Arrange the balls onto a greased cookie sheet and flatten each ball with the palm of your hand.

Jim took this one too...I think I'll work the camera from now on, how does a hand even bend like that? :/

Preheat the oven to 350 and bake for approximately 10 minutes.

Set on a wire rack to cool, or as you can see above, a pizza pan will work just fine :)

A couple notes about these cookies:

When they come out of the oven they should be soft to the touch and golden brown on the bottom. They will harden as they cool. Also, these cookies do not turn a lovely golden brown letting us know they are done and to please remove them from the oven. These cookies will, for the most part, remain white in color and you must keep an eye on the clock to time them.

Besides that enjoy them, they are to me, the essence of the holiday season and exactly what a holiday cookie should be.