Rosemary/Orange Chicken with Pasta

 

Marinade

1 c orange juice

4 T extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 T orange zest

3 nice slices of fresh ginger

Mix up the marinade in a plastic or glass bowl. Add 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. Make sure all chicken is nicely coated in the marinade. Cover and let sit for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 400. Heat a grilling pan if you have one (otherwise just use a big skillet) over medium-high until it's hot. Brush pan with vegetable oil. Lay 4 stems of rosemary on the pan and immediately cover each with a chicken breast. Don't move the chicken around! Let it sear for a minute or two. Lay a stem of rosemary on top of each breast then flip (so the new rosemary is under the chicken). Sear that side for a minute or two. You want to develop a nice brown exterior (with grill marks if you're using a grilling pan). Next, put the whole pan into the preheated oven and cook another 10 minutes or until done. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before you cut into it. Remove any pieces of ginger or rosemary clinging to the outside. Place chicken on cutting board and slice.

Pasta

1 bunch or broccoli, stems removed and tops cut into bite sized florets
3/4 c matchstick carrots
8 oz wheat pasta (I used bow-tie)

Boil pasta while preparing sauce. During the last 3 minutes of cooking, add broccoli and carrot. Then drain thoroughly.

Pasta Sauce

1 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c minced shallot
1 c white wine
1 T red pepper flakes
1 c orange juice
1/2 c chicken broth
1 c evaporated milk
3 cloves garlic

Heat oil. Add shallots and garlic. Saute over medium to medium-low heat for 6 minutes or until cooked but not browned. Add wine. Increase heat to medium or just till it bubbles gently. Cook until reduced by half (about 10 minutes). Add orange juice and broth. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add milk. Cook another 10 or 15 minutes or until sauce is desired consistency. Add a little bit of orange zest.

Toss with pasta from above.

Put a nice pile of the pasta mixture in the center of the plate and top with the sliced chicken breast. A little touch of parmesan might be good on this, but I didn't have any. The dish could be garnished with a little twisty slice of orange. I served this with oven roasted baby carrots and a mini-loaf of whole grain wheat bread. Delicious!

Cut Out Cookies

 

Obviously, I used valentine's cookie cutters, but these would be great Chrismas cookies too.

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 c. flour (all purpose flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time incorporating each. Add vanilla.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Mix thoroughly (I use a whisk to do this).

Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet.

When nicely mixed, flop the mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap. Flatten it down into a disc, wrap it up and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. You can leave it overnight if you like.

When it's time to bake the cookies, remove the dough from the fridge. If it's too hard to roll out let it sit for a half hour or so. Cut the disc in half.

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare your cookie sheets by covering the bottom with parchment paper.

Lightly sprinkle a surface with flour, then roll out the first half of the dough. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out the cookies and place them on the sheets. These don't really expand very much so 1/2 inch or so apart will be fine.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes depending on how large your cookies are. They should get slightly browned around the edge, but still be nice and pale in the middle.

Cool on a rack. Ice after they've cooled.

You can make the icing by mixing 2 or 3 Tblsp. of very hot water with 1 cup of sifted confectioner's sugar. Or, you can buy white icing pre-made. Either way, use food coloring to make the colors you like.

Chicken Fried Rice

 

2 c. cooked rice (cold)

2 c. shredded chicken (I used one of those pre-cooked rotisserie chickens)

2 large carrots, coarsely chopped

1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

4 green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 eggs, beaten 

Black pepper

Vegetable oil, for frying

Butter, for cooking the eggs

Tamari sauce (or soy sauce)

Cook onion and carrot in about a tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium low heat till they tender up. Add garlic and green onions for the last minute or so of cooking. 

While this cooks, put a little butter in a small pan and cook the scrambled eggs. Do not overcook them. Set them aside for now.

In a large frying pan, heat 2 T vegetable oil over med-hi heat. Do not let the oil smoke - once it shimmers, toss in the cold rice. Stir fry for a few minutes, till it starts to crisp up and pop a little. 

Throw in chicken and vegetable mixture. Stir. Turn down heat to just below medium. Cook till all ingredients are warmed and nicely mingled.

Add soy sauce (or tamari) to taste.

Remove from heat, add eggs. Stir and serve. 

Tapenade

 

1 c Kalamata olives, pitted

1 T capers, rinsed

2 anchovies, rinsed

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 extra virgin olive oil

1 c Kalamata olives, chopped

1 T fresh parsley

juice of 1/2 lemon

black pepper

Put 1 cup whole olives, capers, anchovies, garlic and olive oil in food processor. Pulse about 10 times till coarse chopped.

Transfer mixture to a bowl.

Add the cup of chopped olives, parsley, lemon, and pepper to taste.

I served this with crostini (french bread that I sliced, then brushed with olive oil and toasted in the oven at 450), goat cheese, and a little pile of roasted chicken.