Quick Hearty Dinner

Broiled broccoli, roasted asparagus, bruschetta and spinach & feta cheese chicken sausage.

the foods I wont mind eating everyday

Homestyle Cooking: Chicken Parmesan

I'm not a hypocrite, I really do love to dine in at the restaurant but, in a "fancy" restaurant cause I know I can get quality food that I want to eat in there. Since the price tag is overly high I rather manage to cook at home. It's a learning process but I had fun. Just like exercise it takes a lot of hard work but once you're in there things will turn out very easy. Same thing of cooking it really isn't that hard a lot of practice makes perfect. So I keep trying in order my family can eat real good food. For the first time I cook chicken parmesan using Giada De Laurentiis's recipe. And I love it. Definitely I'll do more of this.

First, season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper then coat the mixture of extra virgin olive oil and herbs (fresh rosemary leaves, thymes leaves, parsley leaves). Heat a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the cutlets and cook just until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the skillet when its done and transfer them into a large ovenproof pan.

Spoon the marinara sauce over around the cutlets. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of parmesan cheese over each cutlets, then add fresh strip slices of mozzarella over each. Add  the butter pieces atop the cutlets. Bake in the oven to 500 degrees F. until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.

This is how it looks like when its cooked. I had this chicken parmesan with our mushroom risotto left over. I can't get enough of Italian food cause its sooo good.

who needs to go to a restaurant when you can cook them at home.

Mushroom Risotto

This whole weekend is all about cooking. You see, I don't get bored (not!) when I'm at home. Heehehe This time I finally cook the food that I've been wanting to try eating- the Risotto. An authentic Italian food most common ways of coking rice in Italy.  Dishes of rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. The broth may be meat-based, fish-based, or vegetable-based; many kinds include parmesan cheese, butter, and onion - according to wiki. So anyway, I found this recipe at allrecipes.com they have tons of any kind of recipes you can think of. 

 Here we go..

chicken broth (which is not in the photo), olive oil, portobello and white mushrooms, shallots, arborio rice, dry white wine, chopped chives, butter, parmesan cheese (optional), salt and ground pepper to taste.

the ingredients

in a large skillet over medium-high heat warm the 2tbsp of olive oil, stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Set aside when its done.

portobello and white mushrooms in thinly sliced

add 1tbsp olive oil to a saucepan, and stir in the shallots. Cook i minute. Add rice, stirring  to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice is golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly  until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente (about  15 to 20 minutes).

the cooking process

remove from the heat, and stir in mushrooms, butter, and chives. season with salt and pepper to taste. In the main recipe you can add parmesan but I opted it out cause my husband doesn't eat real cheese. Either way the food is good. And after all the painful cooking slowly, stirring continuously it is oh so worth it. It makes me wanting more. Love this food and so as the husband.

mushroom risotto

Bruscetta

This weekend I do nothing but cook, watch movies, napping, blogging, having a great time of my staycation with the husband and dogs. Today Sunday, we all going to my in-laws house for a change. So anyway, I made Bruscetta for my dinner the other day since I have Baguette left over from a sandwich a made for my husband. Perfect timing cause I am craving of it since it's been awhile I had it. Oh, soooo delish. :)

a thin slice of baguette + a drop of evoo + a slice of tomato + a slice of mozarella + basil + a bit of salt and pepper + a drop of evoo again, then bake a few minutes at 350 degrees in the oven  = Bruscetta

Ginger Tea and Pancakes

The dogs woke up us early this morning just around 6am they never stop making noises until we didn't get off from our bed. Around 7am I get up went downstairs where the dogs are, saw the pee on the floor, I cleaned it off  while the husband is walking the dogs out. After we fed them I went back to sleep...booooo! Its Saturday I want to stay on the bed whenever I want, that's why. :) 

And then I make our breakfast before 10pm cause my stomach is calling for food! Hot drinks is good  to start for this morning. I made fresh ginger tea. Just peel the ginger root, slice, and then boil it. I add a little bit of honey to bring sweetness. That's all.

homemade ginger tea

Pancakes for weekend breakfast is what we like to eat sometimes. Cause there are time we eat but cereal, fruits, or nothing in the morning that's when we wake up too late. This time is no exception we would love to have pancakes. I have a ready to cook wheat flour pancake in the pantry. No fancy. Just plain butter and maple syrup on it. And fresh blue berries for the sides. 

homemade pancakes with fresh blueberries

Garlic Shrimp

My husband cringed when he saw the heads (especially the eyes) of these shrimps. I felt bad eating them but I ate them anyway... not the heads of course! :)

I bought these fresh shrimps on sale at the supermarket nearby cause I wanna make the recipe of my older sister cooks that we all love to eat- shrimps boil with lemon soda, add ketchup for sauce with lots of garlic and onion. That's it. Very easy to cook. 

Grilled Salmon, Tomato Salad, Broccoli, and Pancake Potato

This is what happen when I'm in the mood to cook- four recipes are easy to make it doesn't requires a lot of time. I start seasoning the salmon with salt, pepper, paprika, dried basil and rosemary. Then drizzle with evoo and lemon juice. I garnish a slice of lemon on it before grilling in the conventional oven until it cooks for about 20minutes. While preparing the tomato salad (see below photo for the recipe) I boil the potatoes. When its cook I shred them then season with salt and pepper, I add evaporated milk and flour. Mix. Fry until it turned brown. When the salmon is done cooking I boil the broccoli in just a few minutes. I like eating them crisp-tender.

Yap, I cook them for dinner.

grilled salmon (steak slice), boiled broccoli, grape tomato salad, and potato pancake

fresh grape tomatoes, baby cucumber and basil salad drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper is love.

Appetizer: Orzo with Olives and Tomatoe Salad

Every now and then I stop by at salads bar in Whole Foods to get some of Orzo my dear husband loves. But there are times they don't have it so in order not to feel my husband bad I thought of cooking it instead. Although my version is far beyond  compare from the original (Whole Foods version) but I see to it my husband would like this. 

I cook the Orzo according on what's the label instructions. When its done, I mix the whole pitted green and black olives, slice tomatoes, chop fresh parsley, extra virgin olive oil, cooking white wine, salt and pepper all together in the bowl of cook orzo. My husband opted out the blue cheese but I have mine. With or without blue cheese this risotto came out good. It does taste good.  The husband said "no more Whole Foods!". :)

Roasted Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips and Brussels Sprouts

When I found this recipe in one of my recipe books that mom gave to me, I never hesitate to try it, besides it so easy to make, and likes the vegetables choices for this recipe. So, I give it a shot! In all fairness this food is taste so good. The sweet potato and parsnips are a good combination. Love the sweetness of them.

You will need: 1/3 cup of evoo, 3 medium carrots, cut into 1 1/2-inch thick circles, 1 1/2 brussels sprouts (halved), 4 cups red bliss potatoes, cut into 1 1/2 thick slices, 3 medium parsnips, cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices, 1 cup sweet potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices, 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, dried rosemary, dried thyme, dried basil, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper.

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place vegetables in baking sheet and add the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Toss well, evenly coating all the vegetables with the seasonings and oil. Add more oil if the vegetables seem dry. Spread the vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet. Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.

 

enjoy!

Tuscan Mushrooms

a la Giada De Laurentiis.. So, I tried this recipe yesterday (Thanksgiving) as we wanna change the traditional Thanksgiving foods for a change. Preparing this recipe was so easy while the cooking time is just 20 minutes or so. Not bad if you make many different dishes at the same time. Everybody in the house floored on this... it was really good. This is some kind an appetizer (just so you know). I got big stars of this, in fact my family requested me to cook again (next time). If you want this recipe go in foodnetwork

What's For Dinner

Ever since I found Fresh Market I am now frequent to buy some food over there. Once a week to be exact. I like their Seafood Antipasto.  It's so yummy! This serve as an appetizer really good.

And I like to buy of course my also favorite fresh chicken breast for baking at home. All I did is season with salt and ground pepper, add smash garlics, rosemary, and drizzle with EVOO.  Bake in 345 degrees for about 45minutes.