The Tiny Skillet

I do like finding more ways to use chicken, it seems to be a big part of out weekly meals. It also works so well for leftovers and lunches. If I fix beef it is usually steaks, weather it is skirt steak prepared on the stove top in a hot cast iron skillet or grill pan...quick but messy...or a nice rib eye or porterhouse on the grill...which I am the one that mans the grill! So I hope you won't get tired of chicken recipes. We usually eat many vegetarian dishes too, but not intentionally we just like it. I am lucky that my family is pretty much receptive to anything that I make or "try out" on them.

This one is not that unusual, so I hope you all like it!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion or shallot chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz asparagus cut into 2" pieces
1 teaspoon Turkish oregano*
1 teaspoons basil, more if using fresh
2 tablespoons parsley
2 tablespoons white wine
1/4 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz angel hair pasta

Directions:
Boil water for pasta in a pasta pot, fitted with a strainer. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cut the chicken into strips or pieces and in a zip-lock plastic bag place the chicken with the flour seasoned with salt and pepper, shake it to coat the chicken. Brown chicken strips until no longer pink -- about 3 minutes each side. (If you have already cooked chicke you can shred it or dice it and add it to the dish that way). Add sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, and asparagus to skillet. Saute for 2 minutes. In the meantime, add the fresh pasta to boiling water, cook until al dente, about 5 minutes.

Now add the wine, oregano, basil and parsley to the skillet. Saute 1 minute then stir in the cream. You can use some pasta water if you would like more liquid in the sauce. Strain the pasta and transfer to a large pasta bowl. Add the chicken saute to the pasta and toss. Season with oregano, salt and pepper before serving

*edited to add some links to Turkish Oregano


I added it all to the pan together, cooked it until the sauce was the right thickness to my liking.

The asparagus was added just because that is what I had. You can add artichoke hearts, and kalamata olives and even feta cheese if you prefer. I added already cooked chicken this time.

It might of been prettier if I place the pasta in a bowl and laid the chicken and sauce over the top, but this is fine for family. A nice, tasty, pretty quick meal!


You know I have to sneak a beach picture in here:


When the sea birds hang out at the beach at sunset they usually all face the same way...aaah one oddball :)

Martha Mondays was perfect this week, after making all those comfort meals it was nice to lighten things up a bit. Pru from Perfecting Pru chose Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Lemon, Arugula, and Pistachios. I didn't check it out until today and it was pretty easy to assemble. I have not really used arugula that much until this past year, and I want to tell you I really enjoy the flavor of it. It has a little bitter, peppery bit that is not off putting. The lemon in this compliments it well.

I didn't change it much at all, except I didn't use a Meyers lemon because I have a lemon tree full of lemons now. I had a flashlight and went out to our tree and asked my husband to pick the one I had pointed out to him...just the right one. As a matter of fact you just might be seeing more lemon recipes from me coming up real soon. My lemon tree is a Bearss lemon and is what I call a lemonade lemon....real lemony...so I used a half of lemon instead of a whole one and it was just the right amount. It works well in taking the bitterness of the arugula and smoothing it out a bit.



Ingredients
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
Sea salt or coarse salt
1 small shallot, cut into eighths
1 Meyer lemon (about 5 ounces), cut into eighths and seeded
3 tablespoons lemon or regular extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
2 cups packed baby arugula
Freshly ground pepper
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven until fragrant, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; let cool completely.
2.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, pulse pistachios and shallot in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl. Without cleaning processor bowl, finely chop lemon. Add to pistachios and shallot; stir to combine. Stir in 2 tablespoons oil.
3.Add pasta to boiling water; cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water. Toss pasta with pistachio mixture until coated. Add reserved cooking water; stir until sauce coats pasta. Stir in arugula, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining tablespoon oil; season with pepper. Divide among 4 serving plates
Easy to make if you have a food processor, I think you will really enjoy it like we did. Maranda even made a remark on how much she liked it. Good choice Pru!


I did put a bit of Parmesan cheese on top of mine but it really didn't need it. I tucked away a little for my lunch tomorrow. I am sure I will be making this again.

My parents are down visiting for the month, and we were over at their place yesterday...so we got to see the sunset from a little different angle...oops a little late. We didn't get to see if there was a green flash or not. Oh well next time!

Here is another first for me believe it or not. I have never really made a homemade mac and cheese before this past winter break. When Maranda was little she didn't like homemade mac & cheese so I didn't attempt making it. Then I made it once from a recipe my daughter's friend's mother had made. I didn't care much for it, it didn't have the butter and flour rue to start off with so it tasted pretty much like just cheese and pasta. So I put it off again not making it for awhile.

I don't know what got into me, but I decided to try making it again, and Maranda was going to help me. It was a big hit and she said how easy it was to make. We've had it twice now and she won't eat it premade or from a box again....the same thing happened when I made stove top popcorn (no more microwave popcorn in this house).

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
ingredients:
8 oz elbow macaroni
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup heavy cream, warmed
1 cup milk, warmed
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup grated Gouda cheese
1 cup grated Colby Jack
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 teaspoon hot sauce or chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon dried mustard
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Sea Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
Asiago cheese, grated

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
While the noodles are cooking, heat butter over medium-low heat. Add shallots and cook until soft and translucent about 5 minutes.



Add flour and stir constantly for a minute or two. Turn heat to medium; gradually whisk in milk and cream, cook over medium heat, stirring or whisking constantly until thickened. Reduce heat and add in cream cheese, cheddar, Gouda and Colby jack. Once the cheese has melted, add the hot sauce, mustard, nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

Add the drained noodles to the cheese sauce, and gently fold into the cheese sauce.


Stir and evenly distribute the mac and cheese into prepared (buttered) baking dish, or dishes.


Grate fresh asiago or pecorino over top.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden.


Now for the hard part... Let stand before serving....


...it will only take about 5 minutes...I know you can do it!


Like I mentioned above I've made it twice already. Once I used these small ceramic bowls that I got for Christmas from Lock and Lock. They are perfect to bake and serve it in. Then for leftovers...if there is any leftovers, you can snap the lid on, store in the fridge and bring it for lunch the next day!

and the other time I used my lasagna dish. This is nice because it's non-stick so I don't have to butter it to prepare it for baking.


So you can use a casserole dish, smaller individual dishes or even ramekins. Top with different cheese find one you like. You can even add red pepper flakes, smoked paprika or chipotle chili powder. If you have to you can add bread crumbs to the top, but we like it without.



Now to share one of a few things that we've been up to in January. Staring with the
Thunder By The Bay Motorcycle Festival, an event that took place in Sarasota, Florida on 06-Jan-2012. 2012

Wade was talked into showing his 1981 Kawasaki, but he missed having it entered in the vintage class by one year! Funny though he could an antique licence tag on it.


It was a beautiful day and you could see motorcycles lined up all through the downtown streets. People walking everywhere and dressed up in their biker best. A great place to people watch. I didn't get any pictures of the food booths this year

Meanwhile back at the ranch...err...house my Ti plants are in bloom...

and one of my cactus, I believe it's a prickly pear. Maybe you know what it is...let me know!

A co worker from Albany New York was looking for some ring shaped pasta since she moved to Florida. I guess they used to get it up there all the time and make a tuna salad dish from it. Well I found some at an Italian deli that I like to go to and told her about it. She said it was close to what she would get, but a little larger. So I ended up using it myself.

The ingredients are all subject to taste and I rarely measure when making things like this, but I'll try to give some measurements.
1 can of solid white Albacore tuna
8 oz anelletti (ring shaped pasta)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped olives (or capers) I used black olives
1 shallot chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
a few chopped chives, I had some garlic chives too
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
fresh parsley or cilantro chopped

Cook pasta per package directions, and set aside to cool. Prepare ingredients that needs to be chopped and place in a mixing bowl. Open and drain the tuna, then add to the bowl along with all the other ingredients and mix until combined. You can adjust the amount of mayo and yogurt to the way you like it. If you have any fresh herbs here is a great way to use them.

It looks better in person, but it makes a good lunch any time of year.


Add some grape tomatoes or dice up some from you garden...if you are one of those you are lucky enough to get them from the garden. It is nice to serve on a bed of lettuce too. Sometimes I like to add a little curry powder just to change things up.

In a medium bowl add the miso, tahini, water, lemon juice...stir to mix it all together and loosen up the miso and tahini paste. Stir in the garlic, capers and set aside. In large bowl or in a pan mix together the cooked orzo, vegetables, cilantro, oil, crab, and shrimp. Salt and pepper to taste, I thought it needed a little something so I added a little garlic powder, and a little soy sauce, but this is optional of course anything is optional.


I have some photos to brighten up my post since my food pics were so bad. Before summer ends we had to again visit the nation's number one beach!

...we do visit it often anyway since it's just minutes from our house, this was at 10:00 AM everyone is already in the water...



...a bright sunny day with clear skies... not like today...

...and filling up fast, even though our peak season is in the winter...good thing it's a large beach!

If you live in the US don't forget to print your coupon for some free Activia Selects! There is still time, just click below.

It was my turn to pick what we all were going to make for Martha Mondays. This is always a dilemma for me, because I want to choose something different, yet something that people will like, something with some different or new ingredients, yet in season and ingredients that everyone will be able to find, something not too expensive, yet festive....you know what I'm getting at.