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Yours faithfully, Becky

Herb and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast

I came upon the recipe that inspired this in my latest “Cooking Light” magazine issue. Indeed it may not be quite the “lightest” dinner ever.  Chicken – good, herbs – good, goat cheese – eh…But you know what?  Goat cheese is certainly better than stuffing it with cheddar or fontina (which I have done and loved), so if you want a stuffed chicken breast, this probably is still on the “light” side.  And hey, speaking of “light side”, I did have a light side dish.  What’s healthier than steamed asparagus?

I started this dish by digging out my seldom used and under appreciated Cuisinart mini-prep.  It has become the ugly step-child of the kitchen ever since its big brother entered the picture.  Nonetheless, it works extremely well for small applications like this.  Here, I have combined a few fresh basil leaves, some thyme, black pepper, and about 2 oz plain goat cheese.

Blitz it up with a tiny bit of olive oil to make it slightly more pliable.

Herbed Goat Cheese

Then move on to prepping the chicken.  I used boneless skinless chicken breasts which I then butterflied and pounded out.

Pounded Chicken

A small cast-iron skillet is the perfect meat-pounder if you don’t own a “real” meat pounder.  Its flat, heavy, and has a large surface area.  Just don’t forget the plastic wrap!

Cast-Iron Meat Pounder

Once the chicken is evenly flattened, spread the goat cheese mixture on in an even, thin layer.  Cover only 1/2 or 1/3 of the chicken so that you can fold it over to cover the cheese.

Folded over Chicken

Try to make sure that not too much cheese is going to melt out, although so melting is inevitable.  Luckily, the cheese doesn’t burn if it melts out, just gets oozy.

And after all that fussiness, I needed a super simple side-dish!  Have I ever mentioned how much I love my Farberware Steamer Pot?  I do, I love it.

Steamed Asparagus

And that’s all folks.  It turned out to be too much food, the chicken was very filling!

Perfect Springtime Dinner

Prep Ranking: #2 – Weeknight Fare
Tastiness Grade: 6/10 – the flavor was delicious, however, the chicken was a bit tough by the time it was cooked.

Simple recipe after the break.

Herb Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts* (enough for 2-4, depending on appetite!)

2 large or 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 oz plain goat cheese
5-6 large basil leaves (or several smaller ones)
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1-2 tsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
salt
olive oil for sauteing (about 1 Tbsp)

In a small food processor, combine the basil, thyme*, goat cheese and 1-2 tsp olive oil.  Blend into a smooth paste-like mixture.  Set aside. (Alternatively, if you don’t have a food processor, chop the herbs finely, then just stir them into the cheese and olive oil until it is smooth.)

To prepare the chicken breasts, trim them to remove any excess fat.  Butterfly them – cut parallel to the cutting board, but do not cut into 2 pieces.  Once they are butterflied, cover with a sheet of plastic-wrap.  Pound until they are ~1/2 thick and evenly thick all the way through.

Spread the herb and goat cheese mixture over one half or one third of the chicken breast, in a way so you can fold over the other half to enclose the cheese.

Put the folded chicken breasts into a non-stick saute pan with olive oil pre-heated over medium heat.  Cook until browned on each side and cooked through.  You may want to use a lid to cover the pan to heat the chicken through before the outside burns.

*Whatever herbs you like can be added or substituted.  Fresh oregano, rosemary, parsely, or even cilantro would be great as well.

Mulched Tomatoes

I also uprooted the zucchini corpses and planted some broccoli.  It looks much prettier!

beautiful broccoli

And while I was at it, I planted the eggplant and butternut squash.  The squash is still very little, I hope it fares well outside.

Eggplant

Baby Butternut

We are just pleased as punch with how the mulch has transformed the garden.  I am glad we took advantage of the few hours of sunlight to work outside.  It has been so rainy here with more to come.  Its what Spring is all about!

I read a comment on another blog’s comment thread that prompted me to think about blogging my mistakes as well as my successes.  This could mean a less-than-tasty pasta dish, an undercooked roasted chicken (which I am an expert at making, by the way) or any number of ways to mess up perfectly well-meaning baked goods.  But, I realized it can also mean those disasters which set of fire alarms, ruin cookware, and cause you to have to replace the vent filter over your cook-top.

To sum it up, over-boiling Balsamic vinegar will cause you to (a) set off fire alarms, (b) ruin cookware, and (c) cause you to have to replace the vent filter over your cook-top.  It will also leave a stench in your home, the likes of which you will not soon forget.

It was the 4th of July last year, and we had recently moved into our new (and first) home.  We were absolutely so excited to entertain since we finally had a nice home and furniture consisting of more than a futon and an old crate.  We invited my brother and sister-in-law over for some roasted vegetables and good steaks.  I had big plans to make a fancy topping for the steaks by reducing some Balsamic Vinegar.  So I poured a bunch of vinegar in a sauce pan…and then the door-bell rang.  I got lost in the fun of showing my family around our lovely home and completely forgot about the ticking time-bomb on the stove until the stinking smoke came billowing up the stairs.

Oh shit.

What I found on the stove defied logic.  The seemingly innocent vinegar had turned into a solid, porous structure, very closely resembling pumice rock, except much blacker, stinkier and more menacing.

Pumice...or is it???

After I got over the initial shock of it, I ran the pan outside and dumped the vinegar stone onto our back patio.  There it remained for weeks, slowly being whittled down by the Summer rains.

I will say that on the up side, this gave my husband ammunition for making fun of me for months.  Lets be honest, he will probably be bringing this one up at our 50th Anniversary.  My brother also viewed the episode as Christmas-in-July as far as getting to poke fun at my stupidity.

This episode qualifies as my most costly kitchen disaster, because not only did I waste food (which I hate) but as I mentioned before, we actually had to replace the entire filter that is installed in the microwave vent hood over the cook-top.  I was told this ran upwards of $30 and had to be special ordered.  The pan was salvaged, but I am weary of using it to this day, because sometimes when I wash it, I still get a brownish film off of it.  Burnt vinegar, the gift that keeps on giving.

I would love to hear that I’m not alone in my catastrophic idiocy in the kitchen.  Any funny stories?

The Garden

The day has come.  Some plants are finally IN THE GROUND.  Such excitement around the homestead.  Now here, I must be completely honest.  The seedling project has not worked out well.  It makes me so sad that my time and energy has gone down in flames, but I’m not gonna sugar-coat it.  The seedlings did not fare well when taken out of their cushy garage dwelling.

I made an honest effort to put my zucchini plants (the ones whose stems hadn’t yet snapped, which was only 2, well, 2.5) but after a couple of Spring-time Kansas storms, those stems had also snapped.  Clearly I’m doing something wrong.  Oh boy this picture is sad.  Tips???  Please???

A Zucchini Corpse

And as I mentioned before, the seedlings were not doing well in the natural sunlight.  The tomatoes were brown and wilted and I just didn’t see them coming back to life.  So we did the next best thing.  We went to our favorite local, family owned farm (that just happened to beautifully do our wedding flower arrangments) Pendleton’s, and stocked up on vegetable plants.  I was fearing the worst as far as the money we’d be spending.  We had scouted out plant prices at the local big-box hardware store and were looking at spending $3-7 per plant.  And for as many plants as I wanted, this would have run the price up pretty fast.  But Pendleton’s really came through for us.  We got beautiful tomato and pepper (many varieties of each) plants for $0.99/plant.  That’s right, less money than I’d spend at the grocery store for 1 stupid bell pepper for a whole, big, beautiful plant!!

Tomato plant (Patio variety)

So although I made every effort to save money by growing my own plants from seedlings, in the end, we found another cost-saving measure.  Find a local nursery/farm/gardener and get some high quality plants for a more than reasonable price.

Tomatillos

We also visited another local nursery, Sunrise Garden Center, and purchased Okra, Eggplant, Cucumbers,Tomatillos and Banana Peppers, as well as some tomato stakes and bone/blood meal.

Okra

And I got the official word from Grandma, my family’s expert gardener (and MAN did that woman have a beautiful garden) – BLOOD MEAL = BUNNY REPELLENT.

Tomatoes, Mountain Fresh Variety

And last but not least, we planted three deck planters for the herbs.  Basil, Rosemary, Cilantro, Parsely, Peppermint and Thyme.

Herb Planters

The Rosemary and Basil Forrest

And then the rains came.  And they kept coming, with a vengance.  But my plants remained standing.  They are marvelous creatures!

The Morning Dew

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

As I mentioned in my previous post, my husband just got his wisdom teeth out.  He’s doing fine, sipping down Instant Breakfasts like a champ, however, he’s still off solid foods for at least one more day.  So he told me to go ahead and make a meal that I love that he doesn’t.  I immediately decided on my Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower Pasta.  I made this one up about a year ago after the raging success of the Summer Squash Spaghetti.  However, the reviews of my new recipe brought me back down to earth and reminded me that I couldn’t just pass any old veggie/pasta dish by my husband and expect him to love it.  I did NOT have carte blanche with noodles and vegetables.

However, I thought the dish was delicious.  Before trying this, I had never experienced the wonders of roasting broccoli and cauliflower.  It is amazing the transformation these vegetables undergo when roasted.  They get slightly brown and caramelized, sweet, nutty, so delicious!

Want to see that transformation close up? Here you go.

Now I know what you’re thinking.  THEY’RE BURNED!!! You MESSED UP!!  But I promise you, dear readers, they are not burned.  They don’t taste burned, they taste delicious!  This is what you want – would I lie to you?  Never.

Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

I pair the roasted vegetables with a vinagrette made with lemon juice and zest, thyme, rosemary, and olive oil.  The lemony brightness goes beautifully with the nutty roasted vegetables.

Zesty!

This is one of the few dishes where I actually prefer whole wheat pasta.  I know I should eat it all the time.  High protein, high fiber, blah blah blah.  But I just don’t like the flavor or texture of it with traditional red or white sauces.  But with this dish, it works perfectly.

So if you’re up for another vegetarian pasta dish, give this one a whirl, especially if you have never tried roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Dinner for One

Prep Ranking: #2 – Weeknight Fare
Tastiness Grade: 8.5/10

Get the recipe after the break:

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower Pasta with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette (3-4 servings)

1 small head broccoli, cut into medium-sized florets
1 small head cauliflower (or half a larger head), cut into medium sized florets
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper

3-4 Tbsp Olive Oil
Juice and zest from 1 lemon
2 tsp fresh Thyme leaves
2 tsp fresh Rosemary, chopped finely
1 clove Garlic, grated or finely minced
1/2 tsp Salt
several grinds Black Pepper

1/2 lb whole wheat Penne (or more for more servings), cooked to preferred doneness
grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 400F.  Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to coat the vegetables with the oil, salt and pepper.  Spread out on a large baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened and have taken on a bit of brownness on the edges.

Once roasted, transfer the vegetables to a large cutting board and chop through so the vegetable pieces are smaller.  I don’t prefer to chop them finely before they are roasted because they would take up more oil and burn quickly.

While the vegetables are roasting, assemble the ingredients for the vinaigrette.  Whisk thoroughly to combine.

Once the pasta and vegetables are done, in a large mixing bowl, combine the pasta and vinaigrette, then stir in the chopped roasted vegetables.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

J-E-L-L-O

Remember when I was complaining back when my mouth was hurting that all the good food are crunchy? Toast, chips, cereal, crackers…Well, now I’m having a hankering for the softer side. Its all about wanting what you shouldn’t have.  So trite, yet so true.  Let me explain.

My husband got his wisdom teeth extracted today, so I’ve been preparing soft and slurpable foods for him.  And of course now I want nothing more than to eat all of his soft foods.  Jello, pudding, ice cream…even those instant-breakfast shakes.  Its nothing but processed sugar, but now that I’m surrounded by it, it all looks so good!

A few days ago I was at the store shopping for the slurp-ables and I called the Hubby to ask what flavor of  pudding and Jello he preferred.  He said “I like brown pudding and red Jello.”  Its the cute things that make life so enjoyable!

Former Bunny Entrance

OK, so clearly the marigolds are a laughable solution to our scourge of bunnies.  So we’re on to plan B (and C, and D).  I purchased a boat-load of Liquid Fence and I hope to give an honest consumer review after I use it.  However, I’ve been told that bunnies are persistent little buggers, so in addition to the liquid fence, we’ve put up a literal fence.  A cage fence.  My handy husband bought some small-opening caging from the hardware store and used it to block the holes in the fence that the bunnies were using as a back-door entry straight into our garden.  He also caged the bottom third or so of our metal fence gates.  All in all, our back yard is pretty much physically blocked off to tiny woodland creatures that would make a meal of my vegetable plants.

Ordinary Gate?

I really like how subtle the caging is.  I thought it would be much more obvious, but its not noticeable until you get pretty close.

Bunny-Proof Gate

I hope the bunnies don’t go running head-long into the cages!

Oh THERE it is!

As you can see, we used the ever-useful zip-ties to affix the cage to the fence.  Shockingly, this solution was my idea.  I go for simple crafts, not-involving power tools.

But we still plan to employ the liquid fence as well as blood meal just in case they do find a way in, which I have full faith that they will.  For those of you wondering about the blood meal, the handy husband found, during his research the morning of the bunny uprising, that blood meal is an effective bunny repellent (in its dry form).  It is also a good source of nitrogen when it breaks down in the soil.  So even if it doesn’t work to repel the bunnies, and seriously, I hope the liquid and cage fences do their job, it will act as a fertilizer anyway.

No Bunnies Admitted

In other gardening news, the seedlings have been moved to the deck to become accustomed to being outside.  Its odd but I think they’re getting sunburned.  All of the leaves that had developed solely under the plant lights in the garage have turned brown, yet the new leaves developing outside are healthy and green.  We’re thinking it has something to do with the UV exposure outside that was lacking in the garage.  Anyone have experience/thoughts on this?  Clearly I have some more research to do!

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

It seems to be primarily the “seed-leaves” that are affected, and I know they’ll fall off anyway.  I’m hoping its not a big deal.

Despite how difficult and time-consuming all of this is this year, it has been very rewarding.  And I love thinking of how much easier it will be next year!

Summer Squash Spaghetti

I know its not quite summer yet, but I feel like I need to start getting warmed up for the months of non-stop zucchini production by getting reacquainted with making my old summer standby- Summer Squash Spaghetti.  I made this up while I was living in Tucson out of laziness and the desire to add more vegetables to my diet.

When I moved back to be in Kansas with my husband, I didn’t figure that he’d go for a dish like this.  One time for dinner, I was at a total loss for what to make and he told me to just make something I would have made for myself in Tucson.  So I made us up a pan of the squash spaghetti and guess what…he actually liked it…a lot!  I know, I know, I was just as shocked as you are.  I thought I’d have to trick him into eating this many vegetables in one sitting by covering them in melted cheese and sprinkles, but to my utter delight, this has become a meal he frequently requests!

Just tonight as I was making dinner, he came by and said that he had been looking forward to this specific meal since we haven’t had it in a long time.  See?  It warmed my heart to hear such praise for a vegetarian dish, heavy on the vegetables.

This recipe is super simple, its all about the ingredients.

The Veggies

The Pasta

Add in some olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan cheese, and that’s literally all there is, folks.

Cooking Veggies

Saute the vegetables in a good helping of olive oil – its the only “sauce” there is, so you can’t skimp too much – and add a generous pinch of salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.  I like to saute them over fairly high heat so the squash and onions get slightly browned and carmelized.  The garlic is grated in a little later so it won’t burn.  You can finely mince the garlic, but I find the micro-plane the perfect tool for grating it down.

Adding the Garlic

Cooked Veggies

Once the veggies are done, simply pile them atop some cooked spaghetti and top with grated Parmesan.  You can of course use whatever pasta your little heart desires.  I’ve tried it with whole wheat Penne and thought it was good, but the Mister isn’t so hot on the whole wheat pasta.

Veggie Pasta for Two

Prep Ranking: #1 – Make on the Fly (it takes about 15 minutes start to finish)
Tastiness Grade: 8/10

Simple recipe after the jump.

Summer Squash Spaghetti (enought for 2 large servings…just add more pasta and veggies for more servings)

1 Zucchini, cut into half moons, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
1/2 Yellow Squash, cut into half moons, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
1/2 Medium Onion, sliced
2 small or 1 large clove Garlic, grated or finely minced
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
salt and pepper
Enough Spaghetti for 2 servings
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan

Add the olive oil to a large saute pan.  Add the onions, zucchini and yellow squash.  Saute for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat.  Add a generous pinch of salt and several grinds of black pepper.  The pepper is an important seasoning in this dish, so add enough to really taste it.  After about 5 minutes, grate in the garlic and continue to saute over medium heat for another 3-4 minutes.  The veggies are done when they are softened and slightly browned.

A tip to achieve browning is to let the veggies sit without fussing with them too much.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta to desired doneness.

Put the cooked veggies on top of the pasta and mix together to coat the pasta with the oil.  Top with the grated Parmesan cheese.

Pulled Pork

I pulled out the slow cooker once again.  I think its the best way to make a meal with a big ‘wow-factor’ with the least effort.  I’ve fallen hard for my slow cooker.  Since I’ve discovered the wonders of slow cooking, my new favorite food is probably any meat that has cooked for 8 hours and has the ability to melt on your tongue.   It is truly amazing how a cheap cut of meat can turn into the most mouth watering treat when you let it cook for 8 hours at low heat with a bit of seasoning.

I started the pork last night, letting it sit coated in the dry spice rub overnight.  I know its not exactly in the tradition of K.C. bbq (which is more sauce-based), but I really like the flavor of meats cooked with dry rub.  I found a recipe for a spice rub mix, originally published in Cook’s Illustrated.  I of course made my own alterations to it.  Here’s what I ended up with.

BBQ Dry Rub Mix, enough for a 3-4lb pork shoulder

1 Tbsp Chili Powder (medium hot)
2 Tbsp Sweet Paprika
1/2 Tbsp ground Corriander
1/2 Tbsp ground Cumin
1/2 Tbsp ground White Pepper
1/2 Tbsp dried Oregano
1 tsp ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Allspice
2 tsp Granulated Garlic
1 Tbsp Salt
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp White Sugar

Combine everything in a gallon sized ziploc.  Once the spices are mixed, add the pork roast to the bag and either using your hands or smooshing it around in the bag, thoroughly coat the pork with the rub.  Let it sit in your fridge overnight.  Yes, you must plan ahead for this one.  But oh, is it worth it!

Spice Rub

There's a roast in there, I swear

The next morning, transfer the roast to a 5-6qt slow cooker.  I cut mine into a couple of big hunks, but this probably wasn’t necessary.  Add 1/4 cup water to get the juices going and cook on low for about 8 hours.  When time’s close to being up, give it a poke with a fork.  If it disintegrates under slight pressure from a fork – its done!  The pork should be absolutely falling apart.

Cooked Pork

Transfer it to a bowl or a plate and commense shredding.  Remove any big hunks of fat (duh).  I added back about 1/2 cup of the juice from the crock pot.  It added moisture and a lot of flavor to the meat.

Shredded Pork

The shredded pork is wonderful eaten on its own or simply on hamburger buns, which is how we enjoyed it tonight.  I also made potato salad for the side (straight from Betty Crocker, tried and true).

Potato Salad

And for full disclosure, I also made a chocolate cake tonight.  The decadence of it all.  It was a very belated birthday cake for my husband.  He requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  With all of the other food I was preparing today, I asked him if it’d be OK for me to use a box mix.  He said – of course.  I then asked if I could use store bought frosting.  Once again – fine.  So I went to the store to buy the box mix and frosting.  However, when I picked up the frosting and checked out the (scary) nutrition label, I noticed that it actually still had trans-fats. A lot of trans-fat.  Can you believe that?  I just couldn’t bring myself to make a cake for my husband that was chalk-full of trans-fats.  So I bought the box mix and made chocolate buttercream frosting from scratch.  Delicious.

For the Pulled Pork:
Prep Ranking: #3 – Slow Cook, Minimal Effort
Tastiness Grade: 10/10 – I could eat this all day long