Fabulous Chicken Marsala

ingredients

For the pan-fried chicken:

1-1/2 lb. chicken breasts

salt & pepper

1/2 c. flour

vegetable oil

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, coat with flour, and pan-fry in a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. (If chicken breasts are thick, slice in half or pound out before frying.) Allow cooked chicken to drain on paper towels. Reserve drippings for sauce.

For the marsala sauce:

3-4 strips of bacon, chopped

8 oz. white button mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T. tomato paste

1-1/4 c. Marsala wine

1/2 c. chicken stock

4 t. lemon juice***

4 T. butter

salt & pepper

instructions

To drippings leftover from chicken breasts, add your chopped bacon. Fry until crispy and remove--drain on paper towels. Toss in sliced mushrooms. Saute until soft and golden over medium heat. Drain off any excess oil, especially if there is a lot (I prefer blotting with paper towels). Add in garlic, continue sauteing until golden. Add tomato paste to sauteed mushrooms, and stir to dissolve paste and coat all of the mushrooms. Allow the tomato paste to brown a little bit (~1-2 minutes), then deglaze the pan with marsala wine. Over medium-high heat, allow the sauce to come to a simmer and begin reducing. Add in chicken broth. Continue simmering and reducing. After a couple of minutes, once sauce has reduced and is no longer a thin liquid, cut heat to low and stir in lemon juice and butter. Add crisped bacon. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Return chicken breasts to pan. Turn to coat with sauce. Best served with egg noodles.

***The original recipe called for lemon juice. Although I did add it, it seemed pointless. I think the tomato paste provided enough acidity, and the lemon flavor was also masked by the wine, for the most part. If you don't have lemon juice on hand, then I would consider skipping it altogether.

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PORK CHOPS WITH WINE & MUSHROOM SAUCE

ingredients

6 thick cut pork chops

salt and pepper, to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 shallot, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup white wine

1 cup half and half

½ cup chicken stock

1 tbsp chopped chives, to garnish

instructions

Heat the oil in large skillet.

Salt and pepper the pork chops then fry the pork chops over medium heat until cooked through.

Transfer the pork chops to a plate and cover while you prepare the sauce.

Add sliced mushrooms to the pan and cooked until browned.

Add the shallots and garlic in with the mushrooms and cook about a minute.

Add the wine to the pan and stir the mushrooms around.

Stir in the half and half and cook until the sauce is thickened up a bit. Then add the stock. Season as necessary.

Add pork chops back to the pan to warm back up and serve with chives sprinkled on top.

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PEANUT BUTTER OAT FUDGE BARS

ingredients

½ cup green lentils, rinsed

1 cup water

¼ cup peanut butter

¼ cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1¼ cup flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1½ cups oats

For the fudge

½ cup sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp. butter

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper.

Combine the lentils and water in a small sauce pan. Boil for 15 minutes.

In a food processor pulse the softened lentils until smooth. Adding a few tsp of water if needed.

Add the peanut butter, butter and sugar until fully combined.

Pulse in the egg and vanilla.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Run the processor on low until a dough is formed.

For the fudge

Heat the milk, butter and chocolate chips until smooth.

Gather ⅔ of the dough and press into the pan. Pour the fudge evenly over the dough.

Drop the rest of the dough by tablespoons over the fudge.

Bake for 25 minutes. Cool before slicing.

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Nutella Cheesecake

ingredients

10 oz (280 g) graham crackers (digestive biscuits)

5 tablespoons soft unsalted butter

1 13-oz jar Nutella (at room temperature)

¾ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

1 lb (450 g) cream cheese (at room temperature)

½ cup confectioners’ sugar (sifted)0 oz (280 g) graham crackers (digestive biscuits)

5 tablespoons soft unsalted butter

1 13-oz jar Nutella (at room temperature)

¾ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

1 lb (450 g) cream cheese (at room temperature)

½ cup confectioners’ sugar (sifted)

instructions

Break the graham crackers (digestives) into the bowl of a processor, add the butter and 15 ml or 1 tablespoon of Nutella, and blitz until it starts to clump. Add 25g/3 tablespoons of the hazelnuts and continue to pulse until you have a damp, sandy mixture.

Tip into a 23 cm/9-inch round springform and press into the base either using your hands or the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge to chill.

Beat the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth and then add the remaining Nutella to the cream cheese mixture, and continue beating until combined.

Take the springform out of the fridge and carefully smooth the Nutella mixture over the base. Scatter the remaining chopped hazelnuts on top to cover and place the tin in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight. Serve straight from the fridge for best results.

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Chicken Tikka Masala – God Save the Curry

I probably get more requests for Indian food than any other ethnic cuisine, so I was very excited to be posting this chicken tikka masala; until I found out it’s actually a British recipe. It was the same feeling I had when I found out that pizza wasn’t invented in New York. 

So technically, I still owe you an authentic Indian recipe, but in the meantime I think this will do nicely. While this is a stripped-down version, where we’ve cut out several time-consuming steps, it was still incredibly delicious, and very Indian curry-like. 

As I mention in the video, this is usually done with heavy cream, but I like to use coconut milk instead. It’s probably a little better for you, but above and beyond that, the subtle sweetness it provides works beautifully with the spices in the dish.

By the way, you can substitute chicken breast here, but since we’re not doing the traditional yogurt marinade first, I believe thighs work much better in this version. Usually chicken breasts are marinated in yogurt first, and then cooked in a tandoor oven, before being added to the sauce. It is a great way to do it, but even without that step, I thought this was excellent. So, I hope you give this American version of a British version of an Indian curry a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions of Chicken Tikka Masala:

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoons ground turmeric

2 teaspoons garam masala

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 or 3 tablespoons clarified butter

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup tomato paste

4 garlic cloves, finely grated

1 rounded tbsp finely grated peeled ginger

1 cup crushed tomatoes or tomato puree

1 can (13.5-oz) coconut milk, or about 1 2/3 cups heavy cream

1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth, or as needed (use to adjust sauce consistency to you liking)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro

salt to taste

4 cups steamed rice

Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps – Not Exactly P.F. Chang’s, But Close Enough for the Internet

I don’t do a lot of copycat recipes; mostly because I don’t eat at the restaurants people are requesting the recipes from. I mean, unless they're going to throw in a couple bottles of wine, I’m not going to Olive Garden to figure out how they do their breadsticks. These chicken lettuce wraps however, are a delicious exception.

When I go back to visit my mom, we usually make it to P.F. Chang’s at least once, and always start the meal with their very popular chicken lettuce wraps. Off the record, they do a good job with most of the dishes I’ve had, but the wraps are clearly my favorite.

There’s an addictive quality to the contrasting combination of flavors and textures, and since this recipe has been requested many times, I decided I’d give it a go. Fair warning, I did almost no serious corporate espionage to find out what’s actually in these, but regardless, I loved how this came out, and it seems close enough.

One key here is to use a very large, non-stick pan, so the braising liquid/glaze sticks to the bits of food, rather than the bottom of the pan. Other than that, the technique is pretty simple, and not a lot can go wrong…unless you try to use chicken breast. Even if you think you don’t like them, use thighs, because in this you will. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 8 large or 16 smaller lettuce wraps:

Chicken mixture:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped

1/2 cup yellow onion, minced

1/3 cup green onion

1 can (8-oz ) water chestnuts, drained, minced

1 cup diced shiitake mushrooms

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

For the glaze:

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 tsp mustard powder

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp red chili flakes, or to taste

4 garlic cloves, minced

about 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, basil leaves, and green onions to finish

iceberg lettuce leaves as needed