To Do

Many nights, for various reasons, I can't for the life of me make my brain put together a coherent train of thought and action that would lead to me and my husband eating dinner together. I will sit around and google different combination of ingredients that I have when really I know of only about 20 dishes that I can reliably make taste good.

I thought it might save some time to collect these recipes (as well as the main ingredients needed) in one place so that I can reference this list when I find myself similarly zombified.

Sausage and Potato Bake - need sausage, potatoes, onions and peppers
Salmon and Rice - need salmon and rice...lulz
Curry - need curry, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and maybe meat or tofu
Chicken Marsala - need chicken, mushrooms, onion and red wine
Pasta - easy or difficult versions though I probably should save this for very lazyx
Chicken and Dumplings - cornish game hen, bisquick, milk, carrot, celery, onion
Shrimp with Peanut Sauce - shrimp, peanutbutter, onions, peppers
Ratatouille - tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers, onions, zuccini
Mushroom Risotto - mushrooms, rice, shallots/onions, white wine
Tacos - black beans, tofu/veggie meat, tomatoes, spinach
Seared Scallops - scallops :)
chili - black beans, veggie meat, tomatoes, green onions

kitchen wish list:
stainless steel mixing bowls
stainless steel dry measuring cups
large cuisine art food processor
hello kitty waffle iron
creuset checkered black and white pot holders
new stemware
large mesh strainer
melon baller

real silverware

to make:
peanutella
apple tart
duck fat nigella meatloaf
banana chocolate chip cookies

Chicken Marsala

I recently lost all of my recipes (as well as lots of other stuff) when my laptop hard drive crashed and had to be replaced. I was so relieved when I was able to find this one again on smittenkitchen.com -- this is one of my favorite cooking sites. I think it makes more sense to keep them here on the blog instead of letting the txt files pile up and risk losing them again.

This recipe has a really delicious mushroom sauce. The bite of the red wine and the meaty, earthiness of the mushrooms.

Ingredients:
3 boneless chicken breasts halved(about 2 1/2 pounds with or without skin works)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 sweet onion, sliced thin (I used my mandoline for onions and mushrooms)
3/4 pound mushrooms (tonight it was portobello)
1/2 cup Marsala (I just use any red I have on hand)
1 cup chicken broth (I used vegetable broth bc I was out of chicken)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves (this is important)

1. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.

2. In a large heavy skillet heat oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown chicken in 2 batches, transferring with tongs to a large plate as browned.



3. Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and sauté onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated.

4. Add Marsala and cook mixture, stirring, until Marsala is almost evaporated.





5. Add broth and chicken with any juices that have accumulated on plate and simmer, turning chicken once, until cooked through, about 15 minutes.



6. Transfer chicken with tongs to a platter.

7. Simmer mushroom sauce until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup.



8. Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and salt and pepper to taste, stirring until butter is just incorporated.

9. Spoon mushroom sauce around chicken and sprinkle with parsley.

Graham Cracker Cake

It was my dad's birthday last week and I wanted to try to make this recipe from the "Slovak American Cookbook." My sister made it last year but the dog ate it off the counter.

My grandmother said that her mother used to make this cake for my dad when he was younger, using half chocolate cake and half of this recipe. She also said that my great-grandmother didn't know how to write in English and she had someone else write "Happy Birthday" with a toothpick and she would trace over it in icing. Charming!

This recipe is enough for two 9 inch cakes. I also made a box chocolate cake so I ended up with two layer cakes.

Graham Cracker Cake
Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
3 egg yolks
2 1/4 c. sifted graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. cake flour
3 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
3 egg whites

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Add yolks one at a time and beat thoroughly after each addition.

2. Roll graham crackers into crumbs. I used a rolling pin and ziploc bags. This takes a while to get a something that you can actually put into the sifter. I wouldn't skip this step because it seems important.

3. Sift flour once, measure and re-sift with graham crackers, salt, and baking powder.

4. Add a small amount of flour mixture to butter/sugar, alternating with some milk.

5. Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into cake mixture.

6. Pour batter into two greased, 9 inch cake pans. Bake at 350 for 30 mins.

Frost with buttercream frosting when cool (after 2 hours).

It didn't come out quite as fluffy or moist as I would have liked. I wasn't in my own kitchen and I was on a time crunch so I will blame those things. Also, I should have sifted the grahams twice and really given them a good crushing. I will also probably try this with shortening instead of butter next time.

It's my dad's favorite so it's worth it to try to get it right.