About Carrie Zinnecker

Posts by Carrie Zinnecker:

Cornmeal Crusted Baked Green Chile and Jalapeno Jack Cheese Stuffed Chicken

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Sometimes I see recipes on Pinterest that look amazing, and I pin them, but with no real intention of ever actually making them.  But this one I found, pinned and made in the same day.  It was pretty wonderful and easily adapts to what you have, what you like and what you need.  The original recipe, found here at Lady Behind the Curtain, makes 6 servings.  I made 3 servings, enough for a couple for dinner and leftovers for me for lunch the next 2 days.  You can easily make this meal to serve 1 or a dozen.  And whoever you serve will be pleased.

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I hate taking pictures of food in my kitchen when it’s already dark out.  I’ve probably lamented about this before, but it really is discouraging.  Natural light is a photographer’s best friend, especially when food is involved.  I’m not a photographer, by the way.  I’d imagine a real photographer would’ve made this look less…strange…and much more appetizing.  But please believe me when I tell you that this is a really tasty and satisfying meal, despite my not so amazing photograph.

Pounded chicken breasts are wrapped around jalapeno jack cheese, green chile and cilantro, dredged in seasoned corn meal and baked, topped with more cheese, then drizzled (or drenched if that’s more your style) in enchilada sauce, and if you’re feeling fancy, sprinkled with some crumbled queso fresco and chopped cilantro.  The chicken turns out moist, the green chile and cheese in the center is really delicious and the corn meal crust is crunchy and delicious.  I used this taco seasoning recipe from Alton Brown.  It will likely become the only taco seasoning I use from now on.  Not because I dislike packaged seasoning and all the unknowns it carries, but because it is just really good.  More flavor from spices and less from the salt when you make it yourself I think.  I highly recommend giving it a try.  You likely have all the ingredients in your pantry.  Here is the link.

If you’ve already gone over to the original recipe and looked at the ingredients you might notice that I’m using more cheese, but making half the amount of food.  It’s not a mistake.  I like cheese and using half an ounce of cheese in one chicken breast made me sad.  I want to cut into the chicken and have melting cheese ooze out.  That is not going to happen with such a small amount of cheese.  Although a smaller amount of cheese is definitely the healthier way to go!  Go ahead and be smart and portion conscious if you want to be, but you might regret it just a little.  I made the original amount of cornmeal crust because I am of the mind that it’s better to have more than you need than not enough.  I did have some left over, but the chicken breasts I had were large and I’m glad I didn’t cut the amount in half, I wouldn’t have had enough.

To change this to suit your taste use a different type of cheese, whatever you like or have, white cheddar, colby jack, etc. You could also use a different type of enchilada sauce, green, mild, hot, etc.  And again, this is easily adapted to suit the number of people you need to serve.  Eat up and enjoy!

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Cornmeal Crusted Chicken with Green Chiles and Jalapeno Jack Cheese

Ingredients

  • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 3 ounces of jalapeno jack cheese, cut into 1 ounce slices + 1-2 extra ounces shredded cheese for topping
  • 2 whole green chiles, sliced in half lengthwise (I used whole canned green chiles and froze what I did not use in a zip top bag.)
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (again, this one is amazing!)
  • 1/3 cup cornmeal
  • 1 egg
  • red enchilada sauce (store bought or homemade)
  • crumbled queso fresco (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. Whisk egg in a wide shallow bowl, set aside.
  3. Whisk cornmeal and taco seasoning together in a wide shallow bowl, set aside.
  4. Pound each chicken breast to 1/8 inch thickness (pound between layers of plastic wrap or wax paper) and lay each out on your work surface.
  5. Lay one slice of green chile in the center of each chicken breast.  (You’ll have a slice leftover if you’re making 3, so either add it to one of the breasts, or cut it into 3 pieces and add one to each breast.)
  6. Place a slice of cheese on top of the chile, followed by a sprinkle of cilantro.
  7. Roll up the chicken.  Dip into the egg to coat, then into the cornmeal to coat.  Place into the baking dish, seam side down.
  8. Repeat with all of the chicken breasts, then bake for 25-30 minutes.  During the last 5 minutes of cooking, sprinkle with the extra shredded cheese.
  9. Warm the enchilada sauce in a small saucepan.  Drizzle sauce over the chicken after is comes out of the oven and sprinkle with more cilantro and queso fresco if desired.

 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

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If I were a good blogger who thought more than a day in advance I would’ve posted this weeks ago so you’d have time to plan and make these when you carved your pumpkin.  I’m not a good blogger, I’m a foggy headed mommy.  So here’s a post about pumpkin seeds that no one is going to use…

You’ve likely already thrown your seeds or roasted them if you’ve already carved your pumpkin.  But if you’re carving your pumpkin today or tomorrow, then you’re in luck and you’ll have pumpkin seeds to roast!  Or you could go buy another pumpkin, scoop out the goo, carve another jack o lantern and roast some seeds.  And if you live in Houston you might need to replace the pumpkin that’s rotting on your porch anyway thanks to 80 degree temps and high humidity in OCTOBER.  Why do I live here?

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These pumpkin seeds are very simple and straightforward.  Wash and dry your seeds (preferably overnight), toss in melted butter and spices, and roast in the oven.  Nothing fancy.  I’ve seen so many variations, from buttermilk ranch to salted caramel.  People are so creative!  I thought about trying something out of the ordinary, but ultimately decided to stick with something simple and something nostalgic.  I remember roasting seeds as a kid, and this is what we’d do, although maybe with just salt a pepper or seasoning salt.  I made my own little mix of spices for these seeds.  You could easily adapt this with the spices you like.  Happy carving, happy snacking and Happy Halloween!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients

  • 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, washed and dried
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. In a bowl toss pumpkin seeds with butter and spices to evenly coat.
  3. Pour the seeds out onto a rimmed baking sheet (lined wish parchment for easier clean up).
  4. Roast for 15-20 minutes, shaking the pan every 5 minutes to make sure the seeds are evenly roasted.  The seeds are done when they just begin to brown, but I like mine a little darker so I often go a minute or 2 more.
  5. Cool and store in a sealed container up to a week.

Carrot and Coconut Scones

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During my first sit down with this cookbook from Baked I saw this recipe and knew I had to try it.  Two (plus) years later and I’ve finally gotten around to it!  I am glad I did.  While these little gems were baking my house smelled incredible and I was instantly in a better mood.  Baking does that to me a lot of the time, but there was something about the sweet carrot, toasting oats and coconut that was more magical than usual.  We all have a special thing that makes a bad day better, and baking (and the promise of something delicious) is mine.

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I put off making these most recently because of the ingredient “carrot puree” and the extra step of making it.  Turns out it’s one of the easier parts of the recipe and should not deter you.  It will make a mess of your microwave, so next time I might try it on the stove top.  Also, don’t worry about it being super duper smooth.  Mine was a little chunky and it worked out fine.  I used baby carrots, about a handful, and had no issues.  I pureed them in my mini food processor, and think a stick blender might be a better choice.  Looking into getting one of those…

As with all scones, you don’t want to overwork the dough.  And if you don’t overwork the dough, the dough will be delicate, so be careful when transferring it to the baking pan.  Use a wide rigid spatula to move them so they don’t fall apart.

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Scones are best the day they’re made.  Day 2 or 3 is still ok, especially after a nice warm up in the microwave or quick toast in the oven and with a nice smear of softened butter.  Day 4, you’re about to cross the line into hard as a rock and inedible.  I kept mine in a sealed container in the fridge after the first day and we ate them in a few days with the exception of one scone who was sadly tossed out.  You could easily freeze these and warm them up one at a time or warm the entire batch for company.  If you do freeze them, glaze them just before serving.  Enjoy!

Carrot and Coconut Scones

Courtesy of Baked Explorations

Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

Carrot Puree

  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into chunks (or a handful, 6-8, baby carrots)
  • 1/4 cup orange juice

Scones

  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup carrot puree
  • 1 egg white, beaten (for egg wash)

Citrus Glaze

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Carrot Puree

  1. Place the carrot and the orange juice in a medium microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave for 5 minutes on high.  Check that carrot is fork tender.  If it’s not, microwave for 30 second intervals until it is.
  2. Blend the carrot and orange juice until smooth and set aside.

Scones

  1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Whisk together flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, salt and coconut in a large bowl.
  3. Add the butter and use your fingertips to work it into the flour until the butter is pea sized and the mixture is coarse, not worked too much.
  4. In another bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk, vanilla and carrot puree.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until the dough just comes together.  Turn it once in the bowl and knead gently once or twice to bring it together.  Be careful not to overwork the dough!
  5. Lightly sprinkle a clean surface with flour and turn the dough out of the bowl.  Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour if it looks sticky.  Flatten the dough into a disk about 1 3/4 inches high.
  6. Cut the disk like a pizza into 8 slices and transfer the scones to the parchment lined baking sheet.
  7. Whisk egg white with  1 tablespoon of water and brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.
  8. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotate baking sheet after 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops are slightly browned.
  9. Cool scones completely on a wire rack.

Glaze

  1. Sift powdered sugar (to get rid of any lumps) into a bowl, then whisk in the juices until smooth.
  2. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones and allow it to set before serving.

Apple Pie Bars

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When it becomes seasonally appropriate I immediately start cooking and baking comfort foods.  I cannot wait until it’s cool enough to cook a pot roast!  This one.  It’s beyond terrific.  But it’s 85 in Houston today, so even though we are technically in the season of fall, it doesn’t feel like it here and the thought of having the oven on makes me uncomfortable.  I know I shouldn’t complain because it’s not totally abnormal, this is what you get in Texas (certain parts of Texas at least…I miss you, Amarillo).  But soon enough we’ll have highs in the 50s and I’ll be able to wear jeans without sweating and I’ll be able to make these for a party where everyone is in boots and scarves and sipping hot chocolate and frolicking in the leaves.

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These bars are simply perfect with their buttery shortbread crust, sweet apple filling and crunchy oat topping.  The ingredient list is basic and they aren’t at all difficult.  Served with some sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream this is my idea of the perfect dessert.  If you have an apple pie craving but don’t have the time to make one, these are a perfect substitute.  I’ve used “perfect” three times so far.  And they truly are wonderful.  I want one right now.

I tried them a second time with cherry filling and made a half batch.  Half of them fell apart on their way from pan to plate, so I need to do some tinkering with baking time and some amounts.  But they were delicious and everyone who tried them sang their praises.  With the crust and topping you could use any kind of fruit filling, but the apple is nice for this time of year.  Please share if you try out anything spectacular!  Enjoy.

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Apple Pie Bars

From More from Magnolia

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened slightly
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 cups flour

Topping

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats + 3 tablespoons
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, softened slightly

Filling

  • 1 can (21 ounces) apple pie filling

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Make the crust: Combine the butter, flour and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until crumbly and well combined.  (You can do this with a pastry blender as well.)  Pat the dough into the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan so that it is even and firmly packed.  Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven, and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Make the topping: In the same bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and salt.  Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until mixture is crumbly and well combined, use your hands if necessary.  Set aside while the crust cools.
  4. Place the apples on top of the cooled crust, spacing them evenly and leaving about 1/4 inch edge around.  Spread any remaining sauce from the can evenly over the apples.  Gently spread the crumb topping evenly over the apples, then sprinkle with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oats.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Apple Cinnamon Baked Donuts

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I gave in and bought a donut pan.  It was 30% off at Sur la Table.  How was I supposed to resist?  It’s just this simple one from Wilton and will only set you back $10.

I’ve made fried cake donuts a couple of times, but frying makes such a mess.  The worst part, in my opinion, is dealing with the oil afterward. Baking donuts eliminates the mess AND makes you feel a little bit better about eating the donut.  I must admit something, though.  And it should come as no surprise.  They’re not as good as fried.  Frying gives such a lovely crunch to the exterior that you just cannot duplicate in the oven.  They are still good, just not as good.

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Originally I tried the recipe printed on the wrapping of the pan for basic baked donuts.  They looked lovely, especially after a good coating of powdered or cinnamon sugar.  But they weren’t fantastic.  They were dry, crumbly and close to tasteless.  So I went on the search for a moister cake donut recipe and found this one for sour cream blueberry donuts.  I adapted it a little and turned it into an apple cinnamon sour cream donut.  The kids and I have been reheating and enjoying these for breakfast, but they really are best the day they’re made.  They are super moist and the grated apple provides just a little texture.

This recipe makes about 10 donuts.  Be careful not to overfill your pan because you will have half donut, half muffin top type things.  I tried both brown sugar and white sugar with the recipe below.  Not a huge difference, but I did prefer the white sugar.  I also tried more sour cream and less applesauce, and liked the variation with more applesauce thinking it added more apple-ness to the final product. Definitely do use a plastic bag to pipe the batter into the pan.  You’ll have a mess on your hands otherwise.  Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Baked Donuts

Adapted from Baked Blueberry Donuts

Makes 10 donuts

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup sour cream (regular or low fat)
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 small apple, peeled and shredded with a large grater, then pressed between paper towels to reduce moisture

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 6 cavity donut pan with nonstick spray.
  2. Whisk together the flour, soda, powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.
  3. Whisk the sour cream, applesauce, sugar, egg and vanilla in another bowl.
  4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.  Fold in the apple gently.
  5. Transfer batter to a large zip top bag and cut off a small corner.  Fill the each donut cavity just over half way.
  6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until donut springs back when pressed with your finger.
  7. Cool for 2 minutes in the pan, then move to a rack to cool completely.
  8. Grease pan again and bake the rest of the donuts.
  9. Finish with a simple powdered sugar glaze, toss in powdered sugar or dip into melted butter and then toss in cinnamon sugar.

Vanilla Birthday Cake with Vanilla Frosting

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This vanilla cake was one of the many sweet treats we had at Betsy’s 1st birthday party, but the only one I made from scratch.  I am a sucker for cake mixes a lot of the time. They’re easy, reliable, and pretty tasty.  But there’s something about a scratch cake that is just special.  And if there’s a time to have a special cake, it’s at a birthday party!

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This vanilla cake is from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.  I picked the cookbook up after a trip to visit my sister in New York where I went on a cupcake tasting tour (guided by yours truly with only one participant…myself).  I tried Magnolia Bakery, Cupcake Cafe and Billy’s Bakery.  I think there was one other?  I don’t remember.  I’ve had 2 kids since then.  But Magnolia is one of the best and the shop is darling and wonderful.  It’s definitely a fun place to visit…unless you end up fighting someone for a cupcake after waiting in line for hours.  The first time I went there was hardly a soul in the place and so it was a very pleasant experience for me.  Another time I was going to go with my sister and as we approached the store and saw the line we turned around and returned empty handed.  Workdays are probably a good bet, but I’m not making any promises since I don’t have enough experience.  I do think it’s safe to say that weekends will always be crazy.

To make this cake a little special I dyed the layers in shades of purple.  It didn’t turn out as “ombre” as I would’ve liked.  The colors are too close to the same shade, so if you decide to try the ombre cake make sure that the batters are very different from each other.

The vanilla buttercream is from the same cookbook and is tremendously delicious.  I love frosting.  This one comes out beautifully white, especially if you use this vanilla.  This clear vanilla has a nostalgic flavor for me and is different than pure natural vanilla.  In most cases I prefer natural vanilla, and often I use this vanilla paste because I love the vanilla bean flecks.  But with a classic vanilla birthday cake I think the clear vanilla is the way to go.  Use what you have, but do give the clear vanilla a try if you see it somewhere!

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This is definitely a cake I’ll come back to and recommend others try when they want to bake a cake from scratch.  It’s really not terribly difficult or time consuming and it’s a nice change from a box cake.  Eat up and enjoy!

Vanilla Birthday Cake

From Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with a parchment circle, grease parchment and flour the pans.  Set aside.
  3. Combine the flours in a small bowl and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, cream the butter until light, then gradually pour in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each.  Scrape the bottom of the bowl and beat again to combine.
  6. Alternate adding the flour and milk in 5 parts, beginning and ending with the flour, beating until just combined in between additions.  Fold the batter a few times with a large spatula to make sure it is mixed well.
  7. Now you can either dye your layers or divide the batter between the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  8. Remove from the oven and let cool on racks for 15 minutes.  Run a butter knife around the edges and remove the cakes from the pans.  Peel off the parchment and let cool completely.

To Dye the Cake Layers

Supplies:

  • 4 small bowls
  • 4 small spatulas or spoons
  • purple (or any color) gel color
  • toothpicks
  1. Take about 1/2 cup of batter and put it into a small bowl.
  2. Dye the cup of batter by scooping some gel color out of the pot and mixing it in very well.  You want this to be dark, a little darker shade than you want your darkest layer.  Adjust by adding more batter or more color.
  3. Divide the rest of the batter evenly into three small bowls.
  4. Take your dyed batter and add one spoonful to the first bowl, 3 spoonfuls to the second bowl and 5 spoonfuls to the third bowl.  Divide any remaining colored batter among the bowls to achieve shades that are very distinct.  Fold gently until the color is evenly distributed.  Be careful to not overmix.
  5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake as above.

*If you’re analyzing these instructions you’ll realize that after adding the colored batter your bowls of batter won’t be divided equally anymore.  You’ll have more batter in the darkest layer.  So just go with it and accept that they won’t be exactly the same OR you can divide the batter a little unevenly to begin with and then even it out with the colored batter.  That method would involve too much brain power for me.  The reason I did not add the color directly to the batter is that you have to do more mixing to get a solid and even color, and overmixed cake batter can lead to a heavier cake texture.  This less precise method led to better overall color in my cakes and the cake was still light.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 8 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons clear vanilla
  • pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Beat the butter until creamy.
  2. Beat in 4 cups of the powdered sugar, the milk, salt and vanilla until very smooth and creamy.
  3. Add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time, beating well, until it reaches the desired consistency.

Coconut Oil Zucchini Bread

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Me and coconut oil became fast friends once we finally got around to meeting each other.  I’ve only used it in baked goods so far, but have plans to deepen my relationship with coconut oil by using it in my morning smoothie and as a substitute for vegetable or canola oil in stir fry.  And as you probably know by now, there are like a million other uses for this trendy cooking oil.

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This zucchini bread was a hit, which was a total relief.  When I poured (scooped) the batter into the pans I was worried about it.  Coconut oil just has a different consistency and doesn’t create the same textured batter as vegetable oil does.  It’s thicker and doesn’t fill the pans on its own, it needs some help into the corners.  This being my first time using coconut oil in a quick bread, I wasn’t confident that it would come out well.  If you have the same concern, no need to worry!  The loaf does end up being on the short side, but the texture is nice and while it is dense it isn’t heavy.  The zucchini isn’t overwhelmed by the coconut, which is rather mild.  If you really like and want a more distinct coconut flavor, then add some flaked sweetened or unsweetened coconut to the batter.  Some crushed pineapple might not be a bad idea either…

I have an undying love for pecans, so that is what I used, but you can use walnuts or leave the nuts out altogether.  If you really want to go tropical, use macadamia nuts.  Yum.

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White whole wheat flour isn’t always a great substitute for all purpose, but it worked well here.  White whole wheat flour does have more texture than all purpose, so when I tried it in a pound cake a while back it wasn’t great.  I’d imagine it would work in banana bread, though.  White whole wheat flour apparently has the same health benefits of whole wheat flour, but without the stuff that gives whole wheat flour its strong flavor and darker color.  I don’t know the proper terms for all of that or the reason behind it all, but I do know that when I can sneak good stuff into my baked goods without it changing the texture or flavor too much, I am on board.  It’s all about lessening the guilt, am I right?  I have the same mentality with the coconut oil.  How can a slice of bread made with coconut oil, white whole wheat flour, and zucchini be BAD for me?  It can’t.  What sugar?  It all cancels out…  So I’ll go ahead and eat another slice smothered in butter.  Eat up and enjoy!

Coconut Oil Zucchini Bread

Adapted from Mom’s Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup coconut oil, softened if needed
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 cups shredded zucchini, drained on paper towels for 10-15 minutes
  • 1 cup toasted pecans, cooled to room temp

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Grease and sugar two loaf pans.
  3. Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium sized bowl.
  4. Combine coconut oil and sugar and whisk well.  Add in eggs, one at a time until thoroughly combined.  Whisk in vanilla.
  5. Fold flour into the coconut oil mixture until just combined, then fold in zucchini and pecans.
  6. Divide batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.  Check bread at 45 by inserting a toothpick into the center.  If it comes out clean, then your bread is done.  If it’s gooey, bake for another 10, then check again.  Mine baked for close to an hour.

Grilled Caprese Chicken with Balsamic Glaze

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How can something so simple be so good?  You probably have every almost every ingredient for this in your kitchen right this very moment.  Add to that the minimal amount of time it takes to get this on the table, pair with a green salad and some crusty bread and you have the perfect meal.  Make it for a casual family weeknight or for weekend company.  It’s easy to make 2 servings or 10.  This is one of those recipes to go to when your mind isn’t working well enough to think too hard about dinner (this happens to me a lot) or when you’re having last minute guests and don’t have much time to shop for or prepare dinner.  The drizzle of glaze isn’t just great for flavor but it’s also beautiful and adds a touch of fancy to an otherwise very simple dish.   I’m real excited that this chicken found its way into my life.

capresechicken

Since there are only a few ingredients, make sure they’re all fresh and of good quality.  Get the best looking tomatoes you can find.  Romas are a good choice and usually a good size.  They are what I used.  If the heirlooms at the store look good, splurge on them.  You only need 1 or 2 (to serve 2-4 people) so go for it!  Get fresh mozzarella, the kind packed in water, and make sure to slice it generously.  Now the basil.  If you have some in your garden then just grab your shears and head out the back door.  If not, get the fresh kind at the store.  Don’t use dried basil.  It will just not be the same.

This really could not be simpler.  Grill the chicken (or cook it in a pan on the stove), and in the last couple minutes place the cheese on top so it has time to melt.  If you do this in the oven you might turn the broiler on for a minute or so to melt the cheese.  Top with a slice of tomato, sprinkle with the chopped basil and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

The glaze is probably the most time consuming and complicated part about this.  It’s not hard, it just requires time and some patience.  But it’s worth it.  The recipe below makes more than you will probably need, but you can save it, keep it in the fridge, and use it for other dishes.  Drizzle on top of a caprese salad (just what you’re using in this dish minus the chicken) or as a finishing sauce for grilled pork tenderloin or other meats.

Below are the ingredients that will serve at least 4 using 4 chicken breasts sliced in half horizontally to make 8 total pieces, 2 per person.  But some of your lighter eaters may just eat one piece.  If you end up with leftovers I HIGHLY recommend reheating and serving some of the chicken on warm crusty bread with some arugula or other green to make a chicken caprese sandwich.  Enjoy!

Grilled Caprese Chicken with Balsamic Glaze

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced horizontally into 2 pieces
  • 1-2 medium to large tomatoes, or 3 to 4 small (you want to try to almost cover the chicken with the tomato slices
  • 8 slices of fresh mozzarella (again, you want the mozzarella slice to almost cover the chicken breast)
  • kosher salt and pepper
  • fresh basil leaves, 8-10 (leave them whole or chiffonade)
  • 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Directions

Balsamic Glaze

  1. Pour balsamic vinegar into a small, heavy saucepan.  Bring the vinegar to a low boil over medium high heat.  Adjust heat as needed to keep it at a low boil.  Stir occasionally until vinegar begins to thicken and coat the back of a spoon, 15-20 minutes.  
  2. Stir in brown sugar and mustard and cook an additional 5 minutes, remove from the heat and let cool slightly before serving.  This will thicken a bit as it cools.

Chicken

  1. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
  2. Grill the chicken, 4 minutes on the first side, then flip the breasts over and let cook for another minute or 2.  Place one piece of mozzarella on each chicken breast and let cook for another 3-4 minutes until chicken is done and mozzarella is melted.
  3. Transfer chicken breasts to a serving platter and immediately place basil leaves on top of the cheese followed by the tomatoes.  Drizzle lightly with balsamic glaze and serve additional glaze on the side.

 

 

 

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

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When berries of any kind are in abundance and being sold for cheap I grab them up.  Last week I bought 2 pounds of blueberries for something like $2.  I’ll eat them by the handful, put them in my yogurt, and in salads.  Betsy likes them, too.  When half the container was gone I decided to do something a little more exciting with them and made this cake that I’d had bookmarked in my Fine Cooking magazine for the past 2 weeks.  Thanks to Sarah who helped me get it done after overestimating my ability to tackle 5 things at once.

Blueberry-Breakfast-Cake-2

This was super simple and beautiful.  You could easily serve this at a brunch for guests as a lovely alternative to blueberry muffins.  It’s delicious for breakfast, but also a nice evening dessert served with a little ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.  To keep the berries from sinking to the bottom, toss them in a little flour after rinsing and patting them dry.  Enjoy!

Blueberry-Breakfast-Cake

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

From Fine Cooking, Issue 124

Ingredients

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and patted dry
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Grease a 9 inch springform pan with shortening or butter.
  3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  In a small bowl whisk cooled butter, milk, eggs and vanilla.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined, do not overmix.
  5. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with a spoonful of flour, then fold the blueberries gently into the batter.
  6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
  7. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is browned and a toothpick insterted into the center comes out clean.
  8. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on the rack.  Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Penne with Asparagus, Chicken, Goat Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes and Wilted Greens

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Inspiration for this came from a couple of pastas I’ve made before.  This one (originally from Smitten Kitchen) and this one from Fine Cooking.  I actually didn’t realize how similar they were until I started writing this recipe after I made this for dinner.  I thought about not posting it since they were so much alike.  But then I figured that it’s worth sharing because it shows how great this method is.  Adding a log of goat cheese to warm pasta, along with a little pasta water, makes for a super simple, creamy and delicious sauce and a great jumping off point for whatever else you feel like adding in.

goatcheesepastawithasparagu

If you read the ingredient list below you’ll notice some amounts for a few things aren’t too specific.  The reason for that is that I didn’t do a great job of writing down what I was doing as I made this!  If you’re a recipe follower and prefer a precise measurement, I encourage you to use this recipe to broaden your horizons and have a little faith in yourself and find your inner Martha, or Julia, or whoever.

If you don’t like sundried tomatoes, use less or leave them out, same with the greens.  Don’t have quite 2 cups of leftover chicken?  Not a problem.  I used to hate when recipes said “salt and pepper to taste”.  I’d get worried about not adding enough or adding too much.  So taste as you go, starting with a little and adding more if you feel like it needs it.  Same with the lemon juice.  It really ends up being a fun process when you get comfortable doing it.

Ricotta would be an OK cheese to substitute, if you don’t love the tang of goat cheese.  I guess you could use blue, but I’m sure that would be overwhelming for even a blue cheese lover like myself.  I don’t think feta would melt properly, but let me know if you try it and it does!

Use different types of pasta, flavored goat cheese, whatever veggies you want, add chicken or sausage or leave out the meat for a satisfying vegetarian meal.  There are lots of great options to make this pasta your own!  Eat up and enjoy.

Penne with Asparagus, Chicken, Goat Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes and Wilted Greens

Ingredients

  • 1 pound penne pasta
  • 1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off and cut in halves or thirds on the bias
  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken works well)
  • 1 4-5 ounce log plain goat cheese
  • 10-15 sundried tomato halves, packed in oil, julienned
  • a couple generous handfuls of greens (spinach, arugula, baby kale)
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup of reserved pasta water (you may not use it all)

Directions

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions to al dente, adding in asparagus during the last 2 minutes of cooking.
  2. Set aside a cup of the pasta water, then drain pasta and asparagus and transfer to a large bowl.  Add in the goat cheese and begin to mix, add a little pasta water to create a sauce and help melt the cheese.
  3. Add in the greens, chicken and sundried tomatoes.  Toss to coat then season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.  If the pasta seems dry, add more pasta water.
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