Secret Recipe Club: Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia

Tags

baking, baking tips, bread, comfort food, food, recipe, secret recipe club

It’s that time of month again — Secret Recipe Club time! These posts are always fun for me to write. I love going on other blogs, browsing around, and picking out new and fun recipes that I had never thought of making before.

This month I was assigned to My Judy the Foodie. Shari’s blog is so sweet. It’s devoted to her mother, Judy, who died of cancer. She makes a lot of her mom’s old recipes, and talks about her mom so much in her blog. I was tearing up when I read her “About Judy” page. Wherever Judy is, she’s smiling about her daughter’s blog.

I originally wanted to make one of Judy’s recipes for SRC this month, but then I saw homemade focaccia that Shari made at a cooking class.

Homemade bread and I have an interesting love affair. When I feel the sudden need to indulge in an afternoon or evening of rising bread, kneading bread, rolling out bread, and baking bread, I have no choice but to give in. Baking is a type of therapy to me, especially the slow, gentle task of homemade bread.

So this week I was thankful to find this recipe for focaccia. Thank you, Shari!

Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia (From My Judy the Foodie)
Makes 1 pan
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
•  2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp of chopped, fresh rosemary (or 1 tbsp dried)
• 2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (1 pkg)
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Mix together flour, salt, and rosemary in the large bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Measure the water in a separate bowl (I did this directly in the Pyrex cup). Whisk in the yeast and 3 tbsp of the olive oil. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir the yeast mixture into the flour mixture until all of the flour is moist. Then with the dough hook attachment to your mixer, mix the dough for 1 minute on medium-high speed until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set aside until it doubles in side, about 1 hour.
3. Spread 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil onto an 11 x 17 inch jelly roll pan. Drop the dough onto the pan and pat and press the dough to fill the pan. Poke holes in the dough with your fingers about one inch apart. Pour the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil onto the bread and sprinkle with salt.
4. Let the dough rise again until it doubles in size, about another hour. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
5. When the dough is done rising, bake for 25 minutes. Cut into squares and serve!

My Two Cents: The smell of rosemary, olive oil, yeast, salt, and flour baking in the oven…oh my. They should prescribe this as medicine. (Keep this in mind future children and grandchildren when I am old and sick in the hospital and all I can eat is Jello. Just have someone come to my room and bake some bread for me. I’ll be all set in the realm of happiness.)

So if you’re not familiar with bread baking, or if you’re scared of it, don’t be. It’s pretty simple. The only thing that can really go wrong is that you either kill your yeast, or your yeast doesn’t activate — leaving you with a ball of dough that didn’t double in size, and therefore bread that doesn’t rise.

So here’s what you need to do for foolproof bread:

• Make sure your yeast isn’t expired. Expired yeast = dead yeast.
• The water temperature has to be just right. It can’t be too cold (yeast won’t activate). It can’t be too hot (yeast will die). You want the water temperature to be 105-110 degrees F. If you have a kitchen thermometer, use that. If you don’t, you can easily judge by the finger test — the water should be very warm to the touch. Not scalding. Not lukewarm. The perfect medium in between.
• If you are worried about your yeast, you can do a yeast test. Pour a little yeast into the water and wait a minute or two. Little bubbles should start to appear (nothing like baking soda and vinegar, but if it sits there and doesn’t create a few bubbles, throw it out and try again).

And then, my dear friends, after a few hours, you will have a pile of beautiful, beautiful bread.

For more recipes from this month’s secret recipe club, click the link below!

Mexican Chicken Bake

Tags

casserole, chicken, cooking, easy, food, mexican, poultry, recipe

I’ll be honest with you.

I have not had much desire to cook lately. I cooked twice last week. One meal was a one pot chicken curry meal (delicious by the way if you haven’t made that one yet). The other was your standard pizza (made with homemade pizza dough that I froze a few weeks ago.) I’m getting pretty resourceful this month and out of sheer busy-ness, I’ve been basically using up my pantry and freezer staples.

So was pretty jolly when I found this meal. It’s super pantry staple friendly. If you stock your cabinets with beans and salsa, and your freezer with chicken and frozen veggies, you can make this meal any gosh darn diddily day you want.

(By the way, how did people live without the internet? I have an entire bookcase full of cookbooks, yet often when I need a recipe, I type in the ingredients I have into Google and “bam”, we have a winner. Searching indexes? Flipping through pages? Not ever in the mood.)

Speaking of which, how do I index all of my cookbooks online?

That’s actually exactly what I need.

Anyway, back to the recipe.

I was very happy when I made this recipe.

• Um, getting married in less than two months = utter happiness
• Chris is home before 10:30 every night now!
• The sun is out until 8 pm every day!
• And more!

And I think my happiness made it taste better.

But even if you had just an OK day, trust me, this will still taste good.

Mexican Chicken Bake (Adapted from Kraft)
Serves 5-6
>> Click here for printable recipe 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning (homemade or packaged)
• 2 tbsp Italian dressing (I used Olive Oil Vinaigrette)
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 (16 oz) jar of your favorite salsa
• 3/4 cup mozzarella, cheddar, or Monterrey jack cheese (or combo of all 3)
• 5-6 servings of cooked brown rice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Add taco seasoning to the chicken in a medium bowl; toss to evenly coat.
3. Heat the dressing in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until it’s browned. Spoon into a casserole dish (I used 9 x 13, which was a little too large, but got the job done), and cover with layers of beans, corn, peas, onions, and salsa.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with the cheese and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Spoon over rice to serve.

My Two Cents: This had some zip, some tang, a whip, and a zang. Make it with chicken breasts to be even healthier. (I had chicken thighs in my freezer because they were on sale last week — thighs also have a richer, moister taste to them.) And the layers can be a free-for-all, really. Add some peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, etc. to make it even more Mexican. Use what you have on hand. Get creative. Be joyous.

And also, try to walk 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles), drink lots of water, and go  outside during your lunch break. You will feel so much happier! (not to mention — healthier!)

No Sugar Added Banana Bread

Tags

baking, banana, banana bread, Breakfast, food, quick bread, recipe, treat

I like having fruit in my apartment, and bananas are the most affordable. But I have a tendency to put a banana in my lunch bag for work, then come home with a sad bruised banana that never got eaten.

So I cut up the rotting and bruised bananas and freeze them.

Usually I turn them into a healthy dessert (chocolate banana ice cream). But the other week I wanted to make it into banana bread for several reasons:

a.) the smell of a quick bread baking is one of the most heavenly smells in this world. Be it banana, pumpkin, apple, zucchini, you name it, it smells damn delicious.

b.) I had some Greek yogurt to use up, and love throwing that in quick breads.

c.) I wanted to eat this in the morning instead of my lame tasteless granola bars.

But I wanted this banana bread to be even more healthy. And that means no sugar. And most certainly none of that stevia/splenda/truvia nonsense. But does such a recipe exist? More importantly, would it taste good?

Thankfully, YES! Sugarless banana bread does exist AND taste good. Why? My theory is that bananas have a big bundle of sugar in them in the first place, so adding sugar to banana bread isn’t necessary. Also, the Greek yogurt gives it that distinctive sweet tang.

And so a healthy, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs banana bread was born from my oven.

No Sugar Added Banana Bread (From Tasty Kitchen)
Makes 1 loaf
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 bananas, mashed
• ¾ cups plain Greek yogurt
• ⅓ cups vegetable or canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Stir together all of the ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon.
3. Pour into a greased 8.5 inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
4. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

My two cents: I ate this for breakfast and a few snacks throughout the week. When the bread is cool, slice into individual portions for an easy grab and go breakfast. You can also freeze the individual slices or the whole loaf.

Enjoy!

Could not ask for more

Tags

acadia, bar harbor, birthday, personal, trip

Could not ask for a better view…

…a better birthday weekend

…or a better future husband!

The Bar Harbor/Acadia birthday trip was so spectacular Thanks to Chris for everything!

Food will be back soon…promise.

Taking a little breather…

Tags

bar harbor, break, maine, mini vacation, personal

…to go see the ocean

It’s crunch time. And I’m starting to feel it.

I told myself when I first got engaged that I wouldn’t stress about the wedding. It would be totally care-free, simple as can be — worries would be my last thing! And I have done a pretty good job with it, but I’m starting to feel the trickles of stress coming in…

…what color cupcake wrappers should I have? Will the color bleed? Should I have colored frosting?…will my dress fit right…am I getting too skinny?…at the same time I can’t indulge too much. Is this guestbook I’m thinking really a good idea…? Did I give enough info in the invitation? Will the tuxes look right with the dresses?…I hope the flowers won’t wilt too quickly day-of…and how the heck should I do my hair?

See?

It’s creeping.

So I’m going away for the weekend. And food is quite literally on the back burner right now.

Chris and I need a little “us” time this weekend. So we’re heading up to our favorite state, Maine — to one of our favorite places, Bar Harbor — to breathe in the fresh ocean air, sip some wine, enjoy some lobster, and most of all (and most importantly), enjoy each other.

I’ll be back in a few days — refreshed and ready for the summer!

Chicken Mango Chutney Stir Fry

Tags

chicken, cooking, easy, food, quick meals, recipe, stir-fry

How many times have you opened the fridge, sighed, grumbled, growled, and said, “There’s noooooothing to make for dinner.”

I do it a lot, especially when at the grocery store I decide that I don’t need certain things because I’m already spending money on other things — then I’m left with odds and ends in my cabinets that don’t seem to mesh. (Yeah, I’ll admit, for a food blogger, I sure am not the best planner.)

So this past week I opened up my cupboard and saw a jar of mango chutney from Trader Joe’s.

It has been sitting there for months, hidden in the back. I had to brush off some dust.

And I figured, hey. I might as well use this. But with what?

Then I remembered that chicken is super splendid with any fruity combo. I made this blueberry ginger chutney once last year to go with some chicken, and it was finger lickin’ good.

So I had my answer! I had some rice. I had some chicken. I had some chutney. Dinner was on its way.

Chicken Mango Chutney Stir Fry
Serves 4
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 (9 – 10 oz) jar mango chutney (I used Trader Joe’s)
• 1 cup basmati or brown rice

Directions:

1. Cook the rice according to the package directions — either on the stove or in your rice cooker.
2.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, add the chicken. Cook until the chicken is lightly browned and no longer pink in the middle.
3. Stir the chutney into the chicken and warm through for 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately over the rice.

My Two Cents: The moral of this story is to always have a jar of some sort of chutney in your cupboard. Pour it over some cooked cubed chicken. Serve over rice. Cook up some of your favorite green veggies on the side, or serve with a salad.

You have a meal.

And it always takes under 30 minutes to make.