Chicken parm

Now THIS is kid-friendly. Everyone gobbled it up and asked for more.

From Pioneer Woman:

4 whole (up To 6) chicken breasts (I used 2 packages of chicken tenders)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 whole onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cups wine (white or red)
3 cans (14.5 oz.) crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 pound linguine or spaghetti

Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate. Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside. At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente.

Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.

Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.

Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste. Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

Israeli couscous with roasted sweet potatoes, apples, and basil

The recipe is really just that. A box of cooked Israeli couscous, mixed with two roasted (peeled and cubed) sweet potatoes, half an apple (diced), and lots of chopped fresh basil. Season with salt, pepper, and just a dusting of cinnamon and cayenne. Eat warm or cold.

Quinoa "risotto" with mushrooms

So not kid-friendly. Still delicious, though.

You can also layer this, with salad greens, into a wrap and eat it cold.

From Epicurious:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 8-ounce package sliced crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
6 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced
3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
1 cup dry white wine
Grated Parmesan cheese

Bring 2 cups salted water to boil in medium saucepan. Add quinoa, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender and water is absorbed, about 13 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until onion begins to brown, 5 minutes. Add garlic; stir 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and thyme. Sautée; until mushrooms are tender, 6 minutes. Add wine; stir until wine is reduced and liquid is syrupy, 2 minutes.

Mix quinoa into mushroom mixture; season with salt and pepper. Pass cheese separately.

Teenage boy, part 1

It's that time of year again--when my stepson comes to stay with us.

I've laid in a supply of kid-friendly foods I don't normally buy: sandwich bread, lunch meat, mild cheddar cheese, yellow mustard, ranch dressing. To keep such costs to a minimum, I didn't buy cereal, juice, chips, or grape jelly.

I made batches of vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, and tomato sauce. We've got a week of Seattle-area sightseeing planned, including (I hope) trips to Olympic National Park and Snoqualmie Falls. Let's hope having a teenage boy around the house doesn't drive the both of us to distraction.

Earl Grey-lavender panna cotta

Lavender is tricky--too much, and it tastes like soap to me. The Earl Grey in this balances it out nicely. The final product tastes floral, not soapy.

Note: I used 1 1/2 tablespoons of lavender instead of the 2 the recipe calls for.

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons dried lavender
2 tablespoons loose Earl Grey tea leaves (you can cut a tea bag open if you need to)
1 envelope of gelatin

Sprinkle the envelope of gelatin over the water in a small, shallow dish and set aside. Combine the cream, sugar and half/half in a small pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and add in the lavender and tea leaves, allowing to steep for about 3 minutes and then strain. Mix in the gelatin. Divide into 6 ramekins, cool to room temperature, cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator.

Penne with roasted sweet potatoes, prosciutto, and pesto

The other day I discovered a Costco with a restaurant supply section. Not just napkins and things, but actual professional equipment. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Not just equipment, either--this one had a restaurant supply section, where you could buy fresh seafood by the case and entire sides of beef. Naturally, I have nowhere to put a professional-grade fryer or a side of beef, but I did buy a one-pound bag of fresh basil for $8 and was deliriously happy about it.

Naturally I had to buy a bag of pinenuts, too, so I could make pesto. Which I did. Two enormous batches.

Then I peeled, cubed, and roasted two big sweet potatoes, shredded the last of the prosciutto, and tossed those with penne and some of the pesto. Roasted sweet potatoes and pesto are surprisingly delicious together. I'm going to make this again, with more sweet potatoes.

Rhubarb shrub

A shrub (in addition to being a small bush) is a Colonial-era drink involving fruit, sugar, and vinegar. Think lemonade, only not lemons. It's equal parts fruit, brown sugar, and vinegar (plain old white vinegar is fine, apple cider vinegar is nice if you have it) left to sit for a few days to let the flavors meld. It's then watered down, and either consumed over ice or used in cocktails.

I know it sounds weird to drink vinegar, but a good shrub doesn't taste like vinegar. It tastes like fruit, sugar and acid in equal amounts. (Again, just like a good lemonade.)

I've been trying to come up with a new cocktail at work involving Rhuby, and I think this rhubarb shrub I made might be the ticket.

Combine equal parts chopped fresh rhubarb and brown sugar in a jar. Shake well to combine, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours so the rhubarb will macerate. Add an equal amount of vinegar (so, if you used 1 cup rhubarb and 1 cup sugar, you'd add 1 cup vinegar), stir well, cover with a paper towel, and let sit in the refrigerator for a few days. The longer it sits, the mellower the acid/vinegar will be.

That's it. Dilute to taste, and enjoy over ice or as a cocktail base. I'll report back on my cocktail findings.