Chicken Parmesan

"Monthly Featured Chef : Giada de Laurentiis", the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). Once a week, each month, we get the chance to revisit one of IHCC's past featured chefs and cook from their recipes, besides our potluck week. 

I've made Chicken Parmesan and it was delicious. The chicken cutlets is rubbed with some herbed oil which is made up of mixing some olive oil, dried rosemary, dried thymes and dried parsley. Brown the chicken cutlets in a large skillet and then marinara sauce is poured over, sprinkled with Parmesan and dots of butter. Bake until cheese melts and chicken is cooked through. That means, if you are using homemade marinara sauce, then you got to prepare the sauce in advance. And I would suggest that you made your own, using Giada's recipe, which is very tasty.

The marinara sauce is pretty easy to make. The only thing is to make sure you chopped up all the veggies (onions, celery and carrots) real fine, as I think mine is a little coarse. I was thinking of pureeing half of the sauce and mix them all together so that it will be a little chunky and saucy, but was really lazy and put that out of my mind as soon as I thought about it! I wish I had though! 

This photo may not look very appetizing, but this dish is delicious. Here I have used a big baking dish to bake the chicken cutlets. After I have browned the chicken, I've placed the pieces in the baking dish, add the marinara sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan over the cutlets. I baked mine about 20 minutes. I only took a few photos, as I have two very hungry teenagers waiting for their dinner!

I served the Chicken Parmesan with one of our favourite rice, Baked Butter Rice (a Tessa Kiros recipe), which I have made a few times already. And Cucumber, Onion and Mint Salad (a Jacques Pepin recipe). We love this Chicken Parmesan, and the rice and the salad, satisfied tummies!  

  

Chicken Parmesan

(source : giadaweekly.com)
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 chicken cutlets (about 3 ounces each)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup marinara sauce (homemade or a good quality jarred sauce)
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
8 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces


DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 500°F. In a small bowl, stir the oil, thyme, rosemary, and parsley together to blend. Brush both sides of the cutlets with the herb oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Heat a large, heavy ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add the cutlets and cook just until browned, about 1 minute per side. Remove from the heat. Spoon the marinara sauce over and around the cutlets. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of mozzarella over each cutlet, then sprinkle each with 2 teaspoons of Parmesan. Dot the tops with the butter pieces, and bake until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Marinara Sauce
(source : foodnetwork.com, Giada de Laurentiis)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves

In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

(even though the sauce is at a simmer, it gets thicken and will be a little dry during simmering, so I've added some water a number of times, about  half cup at a time, until the sauce is ready).

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), for this week's theme

"Monthly Featured Chef : Giada de Laurentiis"

Savoury Biscotti : Bake-Along #72

I was searching for savoury biscotti recipes from the web, and to my surprise, found only a few recipes when I searched online. There are not many savoury biscotti recipes, and decided to try one from Giada de Laurentiis, which had some pretty good reviews. This is my second bake for our Bake-Along #72, Christmas Theme : Biscotti, which I'm baking together with Lena, Zoe and anyone who wishes to bake along with us.

A simple recipe, which uses Herbes de Provence and goat cheese which I've replaced with cream cheese as goat cheese is not easily available in my area. The dough was really easy to work with, a little sticky, but with lightly wet hands as advised by Giada, shaping the dough is a breeze.

As usual, after the logs are baked, let it cool a little, then slice to pieces, place the slices on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crisp.

The baked biscotti cooling off on the rack. I've baked them a little longer for crispier bite.

These are very good! The Herbes de Provence is really fragrant. But the next time, I would reduce the sugar slightly. Even though the recipe uses only 3 tablespoons, I can taste the  sweetness from the sugar, which rather surprised me, as I was expecting a salty biscotti.

We had the Savoury Biscotti with some canned mushroom soup.

Dip the biscotti in the hot soup, or if you prefer....

.... simply break them into chunks and soak them in the hot soup. Either way, yummy!

Think of all the different herbs that can be used, the next time I would love to try with dried oregano or dried parsley or even dried rosemay, and reduce the sugar for a savoury taste. Would be lovely with any hot soups (tomato soup would be good!) or stews! Perfect to dip into any leftover Christmas stews or soups!

Savoury Biscotti
(source from : foodnetwork.com , Giada de Laurentiss)
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons herbes de Provence
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (I used a pinch of salt, as the butter was salted)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature (I replaced with cream cheese)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten, at room temperature

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, herbes de Provence, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and goat cheese together until smooth. Beat in the sugar and eggs. In batches, add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. With damp hands, form the dough into a 13-inch-long, 3-1/2-inch-wide loaf. Bake until light golden, about 30 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.

Transfer the loaf to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut the log on the diagonal into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a wire rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes.

********************************

Do stop by Lena of Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking "Theme : Mille Feuille (Napoleon)". Please do join us, bake any Mille Feuille recipe, also known as Napoleon, and link your post to our linky which will start on 8th till 17h January. Everyone is welcome to join us! Only current post please.

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, PLEASE FOLLOW THE BAKE OR THEME provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.

3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

************************
 I'm linking this post to :
Cook & Celebrate Christmas 2014 hosted by Bake For Happy Kids, Eat Your Heart Out and Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

To join our blog hop, click on the link to get the codes :
get the InLinkz code

An InLinkz Link-up

Chicken Stew

"August Potluck", our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). Everyone loves a potluck, we get to choose tons of recipes from our previous featured chefs at IHCC. So for this month's potluck, I've cooked a Chicken Stew dish, recipe from Giada de Laurentiis.

There are a few changes I've made, just little changes. Firstly, I have used half a chicken (minus the wings), instead of two chicken breasts with ribs. I do not have anymore homemade chicken stock, so have used water with 2 teaspoons chicken stock powder. Replaced the canned kidney beans with potatoes, as we love potatoes in stews. I omitted the basil leaves as well, even though I love basil leaves, but I'm not sure about using all 1/2 cup of it in Chicken Stew. I'm happy with just the bay leaf and the dried thyme leaves as listed in the recipe. One other thing is, I've replaced the tomato paste with 3 tablespoons tomato ketchup, since I do not have any tomato paste at hand.

No wonder there are so many good reviews about this dish at foodnetwork. This is one delicious stew!

We ate this for our dinner on Sunday, with store-bought crusty bread. Such a simple meal, yet so satisfying

My notes : The bay leaf and the dried thyme leaves gave a wonderful aroma to the stew, and I'm glad that I did not include the basil leaves. The next time, I would probably use the kidney beans as stated in the recipe, but will include the potatoes as well, like I did here, as potatoes are so delicious in stews, they soaked up the surrounding flavours really well. The veggies are tender-soft without being mushy. I cut the cooked chicken meat into bite-sized chunky pieces, discarding the bones, and the meat is tender and so tasty from the simmering with the herbs and veggies. I can see this stew appearing in my kitchen anytime in the near future! Delicious! 

Chicken Stew
(adapted from foodnetwork.com)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces
1 carrot, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, chopped
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces (my addition)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (14-1/2ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1-1/2 pounds total)
1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained (rinsed if not organic)
serving suggestion : crusty bread

Heat the oil in a heavy 5-1/2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot and onion. Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.

Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer.  (Add the chopped potatoes). Reduce the heat, to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered (I put the lid on) until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Add the kidney beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew  consistency, about 10 minutes.

Discard the skin and bones from the chicken breasts. Shred or cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the stew into serving bowls and serve with the bread.

I'm linking this post to :

I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), for August Potluck.

Souper Sundays @ Kahakai Kitchen

Chicken Burgers with Garlic-Rosemary Mayonnaise

This chicken burger is delicious. Why shouldn't it be? Because this recipe is from the famous, Giada De Laurentiis, taken from www.foodnetwork.com. Rosemary, garlic and mayonnaise work out great together, both in the burger as well as on the buns. The addition of this mixture in the burger makes it really moist, tender and absolutely delicious! Even though the recipes calls for the burger to be grilled, I fry it in very little oil in a non-stick pan. Drain on paper towel, then toast the burger buns a minute or two in the pan, and it's ready to be enjoyed.

This is so simple and so easy that it takes only minutes to prepare, and really delicious! My kids are already asking me to make this again!

This is the first Giada's recipe that I tried. Check out the great reviews from foodnetwork on this burger recipe.  Now I'm really looking forward to her other recipes.  No idea what to prepare for your weekend lunch? Try this!

Chicken Burgers with Garlic-Rosemary Mayonnaise
(source from : www.foodnetwork.com courtesy Giada De Laurentiis)
Prep. Time : 20 min
Cook Time : 15 min
Serves : 4 servings (I got 5 good-sized burgers)

Ingredients :
Mayonnaise :
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 clove garlic, minced

Burgers :
1 pound ground chicken
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 sandwich rolls or burger buns
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup arugula, divided

Directions :
For the mayonnaise: In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, garlic and rosemary. Set aside.

For the burgers : Preheat a gas or charcoal grill or place a grill pan over medium-high heat. In a large bowl, add the ground chicken, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 of the mayonnaise mixture. Using clean hands, gently combine the ingredients and form the chicken mixture into 4 patties. Place the burgers on the grill and cook for about 7 minutes on each side. Transfer to paper towels and let rest for a few minutes.

Brush the cut side of each roll with the olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the mayonnaise mixture. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes until slightly golden.

To assemble the burgers : Spread a dollop of the remaining mayonnaise mixture on the tops and bottoms of the toasted buns. Place the chicken burgers on the bottom halves of the buns. Top each with 1/4 cup of arugula and finish with the top half of the buns.