Recipe Wednesday – Stewed Chicken with Andouille

My favorite is cold weather cooking – you can turn on the oven, the stove and warm up the kitchen with spicy aroma.

This recipe is taken from the Food Network site.

Ingredients

6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 3/4 pounds), trimmed
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 link andouille sausage (about 3 ounces), chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 10-ounce package frozen whole baby okra, thawed
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Cut each chicken thigh into quarters (or 1 1/2-inch pieces, if large). Pat dry and season with 1 teaspoon salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook undisturbed until browned, about 4 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is golden brown all over, about 5 more minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the chicken and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Stir in the broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the okra and cook, covered, until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through, 5 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and cilantro.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/stewed-chicken-with-andouille-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Recipe Wednesday – Chicken Kiev

On occasion, this geek gal likes to try her hand at new recipes in the kitchen. I’m not a great cook, but I know what tastes good and how to alter a recipe.

Unfortunately, I also like to pick complicated recipes that try my patience. (Don’t ask why, it’s just the way I’m built – I like a challenge.)

¼ cup butter, softened
1 tbs. chopped fresh chives or parsley
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic OR 2 tbs. chopped garlic from the jar
6 boneless, skinned chicken breast halves
12 toothpicks
3 cups cornflakes, crushed to 1 ½ cups
2 tbs. fresh chopped parsley
½ tsp paprika
¼ buttermilk or milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix softened butter, chives and garlic. Shape the mixture into a rectangle, like a stick of butter, then freeze for about 30 min. You will be slicing this later.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 pan. WITH BUTTER

Pound the chicken breast halves until they are as flat as possible – ½ – ¼” thick. I salt and pepper the meat, but that’s up to you.

Get your butter mixture. Slice it into six pieces. Place one piece on the center of chicken breast half. Fold the long ends of the chicken breast over the butter, then the short sides. Secure with toothpick.

Mix cornflakes, parsley and paprika. Dip chicken into buttermilk then coat evenly in the mixtures. Place the chicken in the pan, seam sides down.
Bake for about 35 min, uncovered. Remove toothpicks.

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Music Monday – Top 5 Songs – The Police

There were five Police studio albums released between 1978 and 1983. I know this because I owned them all. For Music Monday, let’s take a trip down memory lane and name my favorite track from each of these studio albums.

Outlando D’Amour was the first album released by The Police. They “broke out” with the hit “Roxanne”. I don’t need to go into the whole story now, everyone knows what the song is about. However, while I did like Roxanne, my oh-so-favorite track from this album is “So Lonely”.

Reggatta de Blanc

Released in 1979, the hot “hit” from this album was Message in a Bottle. While I do love Message in all its iterations (the acoustic version is especially stirring), here’s my go to from this album:

Zenyatta Mondatta

The song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” hit the U.S. charts with a bang and spent three years there. I guess….people liked it? 😉 The songs did have staying power. My personal favorite, because I know you’re waiting for it is…Shadows in the Rain. Who can resist a song that begins “Woke up in my clothes again this morning/Don’t know exactly where I am…”

Ghost in the Machine

Their fourth studio album. My pick: Secret Journey

Synchronicity

The final studio album before Sting broke out on his own, although after listening to some of the early “demos” on YouTube, it seems that The Police was mostly Sting and two guys. Regardless of who wrote what when and where, my pick from this album is Tea in the Sahara.

There you go, there it is…my five favorite Police songs!

Peace, Love, Unity

Dahlia

Movie Quotes of the Seventies – My Picks

You all know that I go on kicks, and right now is the movie quote kick. So, in order not to leave you out of my musings, here’s some seventies movie quotes that are near and dear to me. Of course, feel free to use them, share them, tweet them or simply read them and laugh, then go find the movie they’re from, cuz some of those movies were pretty good.

Either way, enjoy!

The Godfather – The best thing about this line is not only was it practical, it was also improvised. Why go through all the trouble of buy cannoli, then leave it in the car with a dead man?

Superman – Christopher Reeve, the one, the only Superman. And when he catches Lois Lane? She’s not all calm, cool and collected…who would be? This man is ….flying!!!

Anyone who has been following me the past couple of years, knows that the Dirty Harry movies are some of my favorite movies to watch. Clint Eastwood ain’t too hard on the eyes either. This is quite a long quote, but I know it by heart.

I was introduced to Animal House by my husband, late in life, but I must say…it’s a pretty funny movie. Add that to a young Kevin Bacon getting paddled and you’ve got a hit.

And finally, if you have not seen Network, you are missing out on a gem of a film. It’s not a fun film, it’ll make you think, but it’s interesting to see a movie made so long ago that actually speaks to the nature of television today.

I hope you enjoyed this little stroll down memory lane!

Dahlia

5 Things I Love about Winter

Winter is the time of year where it gets dark early, which means cocktail hour starts so much earlier than in the summer. The children are in school, the weather is blustery turning to cold and there’s a lot of baking to be done. The brisk wind wakes you up when you go outside, making you that much more grateful to hurry back into the house or to a warm car.

At least that’s the way it is here in New Jersey, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The leaves did their final drop in the last week or so, and gray skies have presided for the last three days. I have no complaints about this, because I love winter. How much do I love winter? Why, let me count the ways.

1. My Leopard Snuggie – Depending on my mood, I wear it as a dragging, regal robe and my children call me the leopard queen. I love it. It’s warm, it’s fleecy and it’s an excellent emergency blanket for a child who needs a snuggle.

2. Hot Coffee – I love coffee anytime, anywhere and will only drink it hot, no matter what the temperature outside. But you’ve gotta admit, there’ something special about that first cup of coffee when I’ve dropped off the little ones and hurried into a warm house from the freezing temperatures outside. The house is totally quiet. After the gurgle of the Keurig, it’s just me and that Black Silk, with a little creamer to lighten the load. Bonus points for those donuts from the 7-eleven.

3. Slippers – I’ve got slippers, heavy socks, fur lined leopard sequined slippers, you name it, I’ve got it. Again, it’s about the warmth and the snuggles.

4. Baking – I am not a cook. Dinner is a task. But baking? Why I love baking! Cookies, biscuits, cakes, loaves…it is on during the winter season. Plus, the heat doesn’t kick on as much and the house smells soooooo durn good. In addition, I get to play June Cleaver with the kids and feed them hot chocolate with homemade sugar cookies!

I'm the one on the right. — I’m the one on the right.

5. Comforters – There’s nothing better after a long day of cooking, kids, dog and writing than to snuggle up with the hubs under our heavy comforter. Sure, it’s as old as our marriage, has some holes and is a little ragged around the edges, but it is warm and reminds me of how much I love winter. Plus, with the nights being so long, I don’t feel like an old person getting into bed at 8:30.

So, dear readers, what are some of your favorite things about winter?