Week ???: Strawberry Chicken Salad

The rest of life got in the way for a bit...c'est la vie. So I quit counting the week numbers. It is what it is.

So I came back to this project, aiming for lighter, healthier than what I've done so far. This was a good option!

Tomato-Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
2 large Roma tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 minced shallots
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine the tomatoes, garlic, shallots, vinegar, and mustard in a blender and puree until smooth (hey look - it calls for a blender this time instead of a food processor!).with the motor running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream to make and emulsion. Add the salt and pepper and taste for seasoning. The vinaigrette can be covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Salad ingredients
6 ounces baby spinach
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 small red onion, julienned
4 grilled chicken breasts, cooled and thinly sliced (or meat from 1 roasted chicken pulled into bit-size pieces)
1 cup thinly sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup candied walnuts

Place the spinach in a large bowl and toss with 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the spinach among 4 chilled plates. Arrange the onion, chicken, and strawberries on top of the spinach. Sprinkle with the feta and walnuts. Drizzle a little of the vinaigrette over the chicken and serve at once.

How to make the candied walnuts
Preheat the over to 350. Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray. Place a perforated steaming basket in a large saucepan over 1 inch of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Place 1 pound walnut halves in the basket and steam for 1 minute to heat up. Combine 1/4 cup honey and 3 tablespoons brown sugar in a bowl. Add the walnuts and toss well. Spread the nuts on 1 of the prepared baking sheets and bake, stirring once or twice, for 10 minutes, until caramelized. Immediately remove from the oven and pour onto the other prepared baking sheet. Allow to cool completely. The nuts may be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

My notes:
I started by making the candied walnuts so they'd have time to cool before I needed them. And I don't have a steamer thing, so I boiled water, then held a collander over it to steam the walnuts. Seemed to work out just fine!
Then I made the vinaigrette. This makes over 2 cups of dressing, which is WAY more than enough for this. But it is really good dressing. I chilled it in the fridge while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.
Another easy one that the kids liked. Woo-hoo!

Week 11: Frango Chocolate Cheesecake

While this was easy to make, it took most of a day to do. That's because of the time you need to let the layers cool before moving on to the next layer. But when all is said and done, this one is really good. The recipe says it serves 8. This is really rich, so I ended up with 12 servings that were just right. This is a long one, so I'll do the layers at a time.

Crust
1 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 20 cookies)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sugar
Combine the cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar in a food processor and process until well blended. Transfer to an ungreased 8-inch-round, 2-inch-deep springform pan and press evenly and firmly into the bottom of the pan.
Pretty easy, except I couldn't find just the chocolate cookies anywhere. So I ended up buying Oreos and scraping the middle stuff off the cookie. The girls loved helping with that! It was a little scary how easily that 'stuff' came apart from the cookie! And, as noted before, I don't own a food processor, so I used the blender. Same results...all's well.

Filling
15 Frango mint chocolates (about 5.5 ounces), coarsely chopped
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a pot of water until it is steaming but not simmering. Place the chocolates in a stainless steel bowl and place over, but not touching, the hot water. Heat, dtirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes, until melted and smooth. Remove the chocolate from the heat and allow to cool until tepid.

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and blend well. Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides fo the bowl and the beaters. Add the chocolate, cream, and vanilla and beat until well mixed. Pour into the crust.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until the sides of the cake rise and the top jiggles slightly when shaken. (The cake will appear underbaked, but will firm upon chilling.) Run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to release the cake from the sides. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and allow to cool completely in the pan.
Did it again...reading the recipe now, found a spot where I goofed. I did not chop the chocolate mints. I used a double boiler and simply melted them in that. No big deal there. I did this part, then mixed the cream cheese, and the chocolate was cooled to just the right temperature by the time I was ready for it.

Topping
1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
3 Frango mint chocolates, finely chopped
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
Heat a pot of water until it is steaming but not simmering. Combine the gelatin and water in a stanless steel bowl until the gelatin is softened. Place the bowl over, but not touching, the hot water and stir for about 2 to 3 minutes, until melted. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and allow to cool until tepid. Whisk the sour cream into the chocolate mixture until blended. Evenly spread the topping on top of the cheesecake and refrigerat for 4 hours, until completely chilled.
No changes or errors that I know of to this layer!

Glaze
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
whipped cream, for garnish
Frango Mint Little O's candies, for garnish
Mint sprigs, for garnish
Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and stir until melted. Add the butter and whisk until melted. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, until set. The cake can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

To serve, slice the cake and garnish each slice with a dollop of whipped cream, a few Little O's candies, and a mint sprig.
For the semisweet chocolate, I just used chocolate chips and didn't bother chopping. I also didn't have everything for the garnish..whipped cream, yes, but not the other items. I made this as our dessert for Easter dinner. I said no chocolate bunny this year, chocolate cheesecake instead. Best choice I've made in awhile!

Week 10: Lamb Stew a la Marshall Field's

Plan about 3.5 hours to make this, but it is incredibly easy and very tasty. Another dish with company over...and the company has survived to tell the tale! However, no photos this week. While I was getting the meat ready, a child of mine decided that was the perfect time to clean the fish tank...and spilled some of the yucky fish tank water all over the counter. Fortunately none of it got on the meat...but it prompted a mommy-meltdown, which is best remedied with wine. And Amen this recipe calls for wine so I had an open bottle and kept cooking!

Ingredients
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 pounds cubed lamb meat for stewing
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 cups beef broth, plus more if needed.
1/2 cup dry red wine (three cheers for this ingredient!)
6 carrots, sliced into coins
2 cups pearl onions, or 8 small onions, peeled and halved
2 cups frozen peas

In a shallow bowl, stir together the salt, pepper, and flour. Add the lamb cubes and toss well. Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the lamb cubes in batches and cook, turning, for 10 to 12 minutes, until browned on all sides. Add the garlic, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, broth, and wine. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours, until the meat is very tender, adding more broth if needed.

Add the carrots and onions, season with a littel salt and pepper, if needed, and continue cooking, covered for another 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the peas and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve in individual crocks.

My notes:

1. The lamb meat I got from the butcher was not in cubes, but rather in squares about 1-inch square, and only 1/4-inch thick. Coating all of that with the flour took some time (aside from the fish tank incident). I had 3 1-lb packages, so I'd coat a pound, then brown it while I coated the next pound. It sort of worked, but I ended up needing more oil for the browning.
2. I used more like one and a half bay leaves. It seemed like a more appropriate amount.
3. I used a syrah for the wine...drank the rest between me and the company. maybe THAT's why it tasted good?!
4. The broth...one small can was just the right amount. It measured to be more like 1 3/4 cups, but I ended up needing it.
5. Pearl onions...found them in the freezer section. I let them thaw during the two hours the meat was cooking.
6. I used 7 carrots instead of 6 just because it seemed like a lot of meat.

This would be an easy one to modify the vegetables, etc. But cooked as is, it was superb!

Week 9: Sour Cream-Cranberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon salt (not kosher salt)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 scant cups fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-cup, fluted, nonstick Bundt pan with nonstick spray.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix well. Stir in the flour, wheat germ, salt and baking powder and mix until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the cranberries.

In a separate bowl, combine the pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon and toss to mix well.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle on teh nut mixture. Cover with the remaining batter. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until firm and golden brown on top. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate to unmold.

My notes:
I chose this with the intention of taking it to a Sunday noon potluck. It didn't make it with me, and it wasn't worthy of any pictures. That aside, the taste was wonderful!

• I only had salted butter, so I used that and simply cut out the salt the recipe calls for.
• I know it's not cranberry season so I used dried cranberries instead. I found a source that said you can use 3/4 dried cranberries to 1 cup fresh cranberries. It is best to let the dried cranberries soak in warm water for 1/2 hour before using them, so that's what I did.

Really, I followed the recipe. The problem came when I turned it upside down. It didn't come out in this lovely Bundt pan shape. It fell out in about 3 huge pieces, and 15 smaller pieces. Your guess is as good as mine as to why - maybe I didn't spray enough non-stick spray, maybe the dried cranberries really weren't an acceptable substitute, anything. But it didn't matter. The girls loved this, especially warm from the oven. So I'd make it again, but maybe I'll wait until cranberry season to see if that was the problem.

Week 8: Chicken Breasts with Tomato-Basil Sauce

This is another quick and easy recipe. The girls liked the flavor, but didn't like the chunks of tomato in the sauce. Someday they'll expand their horizons!

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt and freshly ground balck pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup chicken broth

16 grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

Preparation

Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour and shake off any excess.

Combine the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place the chicken in the pan and cook, turning once, for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add the shallot and garlic to the hot pan. Saute for 1 minute, then add the vinegar to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until reduced by half. Remove the pan from the heat. Stirring constantly, add the basil, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the butter is incorporated into the sauce.

Place a chicken breast on each plate and pour the sauce over. Serve at once.

I made one substitute to this...I couldn't find a shallot at the grocery store (user error on my part...I didn't know what it was until I got home and looked it up). So I used 1/8 of a red onion minced instead. It took me about 20 minutes to prepare this and serve it with a salad and mashed potatoes, as recommended by the chef in the cookbook.

Week 7: Canadian Cheese Soup

It's March and somehow I'm only in week 7 with this. Oh well! Some of these have had more than one recipe with it, so I'll consider it all good.

I'm not sure why we chose soup to do this week. Maybe it was the Canada vs. USA hockey game at the Olympics that made this one stand out. And sometimes, soup is just the right thing for dinner. Plus, this looked easy. I was ready for an easier recipe this time. I forgot to take pictures. But it is just soup...nothing fancy to see about it :)

Ingredients
4 tablespoons unslated butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
3 cups chicken broth
2 pounds aged sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add the butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook, sitrring for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle the flour and paprika over the vegetables and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer, whisking occasionally, for 10 minutes, until thickened. Decrease the heat to low and whisk in the cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until the cheese is completely melted and incorporated. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve hot.

This was good and easy. The one mistake I made was going a little cheap on the cheese, I think. The end result was a little chunky. Had I been willing to spend the $30 for the really good sharp cheddar cheese, I think this would have been avoided. But we bought cheaper bricks and my daughter had a good time shredding while I did the rest of the work.

Week 6: Roasted Pork with Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I had no clue what I was getting into with this one, but it turns out to be one of my favorites so far...ranks up there with the meatloaf! But you have to make all of this together. The flavors are wonderful! I even had company over to help eat this (had to...look at the size of the roast!) and got the same rating. Actually, the company's note on this is that it is good fall flavors, almost an alternative Thanksgiving meal. Served with a malbec wine, we were happy campers with this one!

Pork Preparation
1 gallon water
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup ground black pepper
1 (8-rib) pork loin rack, bones frenched
1/4 cup garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

In a very large bowl or cooler, combine the water, sugar, salt, and pepper and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Completely submerge the pork in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 36 hours.
I used a cooler I have that fit the pork loin perfectly. And since it is February, I just left in the garage. I prepped this Friday night, and cooked it Saturday night.

Preheat the over to 275 degrees F. Combine the garlic, rosemary, parsley, and olive oil in a food processor and blend to a paste. Remove the pork from the brine and gently pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and rub the garlic-herb past all over the pork. Place the pork, bone side up, on a rack fitted over a roasting pan. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees F. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and roast an additional 20 minutes, until the pork reaches 145 degrees F. Remove from teh oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving into individual chops.
I don't own a food processor, so the best I could do was use my blender to make the 'paste'. So mine was a chunky paste, but it still covered the pork and worked out okay. I also don't have a roasting pan big enough for this, so the butcher told me to take a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan and put the cooling rack in there, and put the pork loin on that, bone side down. It worked for me :)

Apple-Cranberry Chutney
1/2 red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 cup apple cinder vinegar
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 cinnamon sticks
2 Braeburn applies, peeled and diced
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup thinly sliced dried apricots

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil then decrease the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occassionally for 30 minutes, until thick. Remove the cinnamon sticks. Serve the chutney warm or allow to cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
This was a little work, but was well worth it. The taste with this and a little of the pork in the same bite...nummy!

Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan of well-salted water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for about 20 minutes, until tender. Drain the sweet potatoes and return to the pan. Add the butter, syrup, salt, and pepper and mash ith a potatoe masher or heavy wire whisk until smooth. Taste adn adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days.
The easiest part of the meal and very, very tasty! I'll admit...I've never purchased sweet potatoes in my life, so I had no idea how to pick or what to pick. I finally asked the little old lady who seemed to know what she was picking. She directed me to use yams instead of the sweet potatoes. She said they have better color and better flavor. So I used 3 yams with this recipe. No leftovers of this part!

Place a pork chop on each plate and serve with the chutney and sweet potatoes.