Italian Style Chicken Sautee and Polenta

Still experiencing cold and foggy weather in San Francisco so the need for comfort foods continues. Wanted to do something a bit different with boneless chicken thighs since I seem to be continually oven-baking them. So tonight decided to saute boneless thighs in a tomato sauce. As sides, I made polenta and steamed zucchini.

Set up all your ingredients;

• thinly sliced onion (approx 1/3 cup)
• 2 minced cloves of garlic (vary per your preference)
• package of boneless chicken thighs (clean and cut to more manageable sized pieces) [approx 6 or little over a pound]
• can of tomatoes (DO NOT DRAIN and if they are whole cut them up)
• 2 tablespoon red wine
• salt, pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Took out my cast iron pot, and heated approx 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. When it was slightly smoking, tossed in onion and garlic. Let those cook for about three min, until they just started to brown, then pushed to the side and gradually added pieces of boneless chicken thighs to brown.

You want to do this slowly to keep the heat high enough to brown, so added a few pieces, brown on one side, turn over, move the onions/garlic to cover and add more chicken. Do this until all the chicken has been added and turned over. Now add the red wine, salt, pepper and oregano; scrap the brown bits off the pan a bit and then add the tomatoes. Let this all simmer for approximately 25 min.



Polenta - a cornmeal mush really - becomes a rich, creamy side dish with a bit of butter and cheese added. I set up the zucchini (approximately three) in a steamer and then start on the polenta. In a heavy pan boil 3 1/4 cups of water. As it starts boiling, add 1 tablespoon of salt and turn the burner to medium low heat so that the water is just simmering. Add one cup of coarse-grained cornmeal in a fine stream - so that you can really almost see eat grain hitting the water - stirring with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring while adding all the polenta and then for the next 10 minutes. (Remember in the last five minutes turn on the burner under the zucchini.) The polenta is done when it tears away from the sides of the pot as you stir. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.



This made four servings so increase as needed.

Comfort Food Meal

Oven baked chicken thighs, acorn squash and risotto - a soul warming dinner that can be accomplished in under forty minutes. The risotto is done in a pressure cooker which makes this easy and quick; a perfect solution for a weeknight.

Set the over to 400 degrees, cut the acorn squash in half, spoon out the seeds and place cut side down in 1/4 inch of water. Bake for 35 minutes.

While this is baking you can set up the chicken thighs. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with olive or canola oil. Whisk 1-2 egg(s) with a bit of water, rinse the thighs and soak in the egg wash. For four chicken thighs, use 3/4 cup of bread crumbs, 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon of tarragon. Remove the thighs one at a time and coat with the bread crumb mixture. Place in the oven when the squash has approximately 15 min remaining - turning once.

Heat two tablespoons of butter in a pressure cooker and saute half an onion that has been minced. Cook for approximately five minutes without letting the onion brown. Add one cup of arborio rice and saute until lightly browned. Add 2 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of frozen peas. Cover and let the pressure build, cook for 7 min. turn off the heat and let the pressure off. Once the pressure cooker can be opened, add and stir in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the risotto is cooking, the squash should be ready. Remove the water, cut each half to again and brush with a glaze; 1 teaspoon of melted butter with 1 tablespoon of cherry sauce (or marmalade). Place under a broiler for five minutes until nicely browned.

Mole Poblano

Every year in the Fall many of my friends and family get together to make Mole Poblano – a recipe of Luis’ mother. If you are not familiar with mole, it is a pungent sauce used in Mexico for meats and fish; this version contains chocolate and several varieties of red chiles – plus a whole lot more. There are numerous varieties of mole using different chiles, different nuts and tweaking all kinds of ingredients. This version is wonderful with roast poultry, chicken enchiladas, and pork. It also adds complexity to chiles or sauces for tamales. The version we make isn't spicy and the flavor of chiles and other ingredients is wonderfully balanced.

The process is time consuming; with all the ingredients in hand it can take you six hours to make this. However, it makes the perfect gift and keeps well so you can have a supply through the year. The portions of the ingredients are based on estimates while my mother-in-law was cooking. She is flexible with the ingredients changing portions as dictated by availability of certain ones. For example, chiles below are for heat and color - if you want more heat add more guajillos, negros and mulato chiles.

The following dried chiles (any of the below can be replaced by its powder form although I don't have a conversion for that);
3 chile negros
10 chiles california
10 chiles anchos
5 chiles mulatos
7 chile pasillas
5 chile guajillos
The following nuts, seeds and other dried ingredients:
1 cup almonds
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 cup peanuts
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
2 cups sesame seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1 cinnamon stick
salt, pepper and sugar (for taste)
Fresh ingredients;
3 red tomatoes, roasted on the comal, peeled and cored
10 cloves of garlic
1 onion
1 plantain
Things you would probably have taking up space in your fridge/cabinets;
4 pieces of stale french/sourdough bread
2 stale corn tortillas
4 sweet biscuit cookies
Things you will need;
1 tablet of mexican chocolate
bottle or more of vegetable oil
endless supply of chicken broth (boullion helps add salt as well but is optional)
one roast chicken

With all the ingredients on hand you are now ready to start the process. Using rubber gloves (surgical type are best) de-stem and de-seed all the chiles. If you have two people working together you can have person start frying the nuts, chiles, etc. and the other peel garlic and prep the other vegetables. All the ingredients must be fried in the oil except the tomatoes and the chocolate. There is no order to what you fry when but for ease of clean up fry the sesame seeds last. [Frying the sesame seeds should be on a very low setting because they can sizzle and pop everywhere.]

After frying everything, the ingredients will then be pureed in a Cuisinart. The endless supply of broth will help here to keep the ingredients moist enough to form a smooth paste as you grind it down. The frying and grinding take the most time but eventually you will have this thick paste - the consistency of cookie dough. You then put the paste in a large pot, melt the chocolate in some chicken broth and add this with enough extra broth to brng it to the consistency of a thick soup. You will cook this mixture for an hour - adding more broth as needed. You will see towards the end the flavors fuse together and the mole will take on a darker hue.

After all that work, make sure you savor what you made - warm the roast chicken and slather it with some mole.

I purchase canning jars and fill with the mole and freeze once they are cooled down. This makes it easiest to give as gifts. Another good way to store is to pour into ziplok freezer bags, seal and lie flat so they freeze into little pallets.

I will share other ways to use mole seperately.

Polenta to Keep You Warm in the Cold Summer Nights

I have been craving warm and creamy polenta since San Francisco weather has been colder and foggier than is even typical in July and August. So believe it or not, summertime in San Francisco is the time for comfort foods.

I decide to repeat a recipe from just a few weeks ago marinated chicken. I cook this part of dinner first since the meat cooks quickly and marinates after you broil it. The polenta will be quick but will require constant stirring. It will give the chicken plenty of time to marinate nicely.

I decide to round out the meal with steamed zucchini which will cook very quickly once the water boils. For now, I merely cut bit-sized pieces of zucchini and set up in the steamer. I won't turn it on until I have about five minutes left on the polenta.

Polenta is fairly neutral - a cornmeal mush really - but with a bit of butter and cheese added becomes a rich, creamy side dish. In a large, heavy kettle boil 6 1/2 cups of water. As it starts boiling, add 1 tablespoon of salt and turn the burner to medium low heat so that the water is just simmering. Add two cups of coarse-grained cornmeal in a fine stream - so that you can really almost see eat grain hitting the water - stirring with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring while adding all the polenta and then for the next 20 minutes. (Remember in the last five minutes turn on the burner under the zucchini.) The polenta is done when it tears away from the sides of the pot as you stir. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

The marinated chicken is a bit sweet; the polenta is creamy and cheesy; and the zucchini is completely neutral. Together they complement each other nicely and satisfy the craving for comfort food - bonus dinner took less than forty minutes. There will be quite a bit of polenta leftover, put it into a bread pan and refrigerate. In this shape you can easily slice and fry the polenta which is what we will cover next.

Marinate After You Cook?

I cook chicken a whole lot but really it is so versatile it is hard to get sick of. I had defrosted some breast tenders and decided to look for a new way to cook them in How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.

I found a recipe that you can grill or broil chicken cutlets but the thing that caught my eye is that you marinate the chicken after cooking so I decided to try it.

I set the broiler to Hi then rinse and pat dry my chicken tenders (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds or equivalent of two breasts). I rub the tenders with 1 tablespoon of vegetable or peanut oil and the cut side of a 1 clove of garlic then season them with salt and pepper. I place them on a cookie sheet and place on the top rack of the broiler and grill for 2-3 minutes per side. (If you have thicker pieces I would broil for 3-4 min per side. I hate dry chicken so I prefer to cook it for less time as I know it will continue to cook in the post-marinade.)

While the chicken is broiling I assemble the marinade. In a saucepan, I place the following ingredients: 1/2 cup of rice vinegar; 1 tablespoon honey; 1 tablespoon of water; 2 tablespoons of soy sauce; 1 tablespoon peeled and minced ginger (I was out and substituted just a mere teaspoon of dry); and 1 tablespoon of prepared horseradish. I simmer the ingredients over medium-low heat for about two minutes. When the chicken is cooked, I place it on a serving platter and cover it with the marinade. Then I let this sit there while I prepare the rest of the meal. You can serve right away if you prefer.

My side dishes will be boiled sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. I prefer to keep things simple with the vegetables to not add extra calories or prep time. I simply peel and cut three medium-sized sweet potatoes, cover with water and boil until a fork can easily pierce a chunk or two. I then toss with a bit of butter and salt and pepper but this is optional. For the broccoli, I simply place about two cups of cut up broccoli into a steamer and steam until just soft. I strongly dislike mushy broccoli so I really keep an eye on it and drain the water immediately to stop it from cooking.

While the vegetables are cooking, I periodically move the chicken around in the marinade to coat it evenly. When the vegetables are cooked I simply serve them with the chicken at room temperature.

Broiled Pesto Chicken

This is a quick and very tasty way to cook boneless chicken breasts in the broiler. I typically keep a stash of frozen pesto in my freezer and the brand I use is Armanino as it reminds me of homemade pesto.

This whole meal won't take more than 20 minutes or so. First turn the broiler to high and line a cookie sheet with tinfoil. Next place your chicken breasts in a plastic bad and give them a few whacks with a meat tenderizer. This will flatten the breasts out and allow for more even cooking. Place the breasts on the cookie sheet, apply pesto to the tops of each and place in the broiler. (When you flip the breasts you will add more pesto to the other side.)

You can make any type of side to go with this; mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, pasta salad. In the picture, I chose to use a pasta grain blend that I find locally. It has quinoa, couscous, orzo pasta and lentils that cook up in about 10 minutes.

After I put on the pasta grain blend to boil and set the timer for 10 minutes, I check the breasts to see how they are coming along. It has been about 5 minutes so I take the sheet out of the oven, turn over the breasts and coat the other side with pesto. I then pop the cookie sheet back in the oven and let cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. [Depending on the temperate of your broiler you may need a bit less or even more time. It is important to not overcook the breasts to avoid having them dry and stringy.]

When the breasts are done and the side it cooked have everyone serve themselves. We decided to forgo the vegetables this evening but you can make a salad as a side to this for your greens.

Chicken Enchiladas and Fried Plantains

It has been a lazy week in terms of cooking. I have taken a break from food blogging for two reasons; I have been experiencing Food Blahs and I have been practicing my photography. Food Blahs are a periodic episode where food really doesn't interest me and cooking happens out of necessity more than pleasure. This is one reason I freeze extra leftovers - perfect backup for when you don't want to cook. As for the photography, I received constructive criticism from several sources about my images. To address that, I have been playing around with a fancy camera I own but never really use. It won't happen right away but hopefully you will start noticing an improvement to the images I post of the meals.

As for the Food Blahs, three very black plantains wake my palate again and chase them away. As I test the plantains for ripeness and find them to be perfect, I start thinking about what I can make to go with them. When you buy plantains you want them to be almost black and soft that way when you fry them they will have a nice, sweet flavor which complements spicy food very nicely. Under ripe plantains are practically inedible (think cardboard diskettes) so don't force this part of the recipe if you cannot find them.

Enchiladas can be a good quick meal because it is easy enough to poach chicken breasts (even if they are frozen). Better yet you can purchase a roasted chicken and shred some of it for enchiladas - which is the scenario I am using today. I have a whole roasted chicken and I shred the meat from a thigh and a breast into bite-sized morsels and set aside.

I read a nifty tip to soften the tortillas in my latest issue of Cook's Illustrated. You coat them with cooking spray and heat them in the oven. Since this is something I want to do right before I am ready to assemble, I merely turn the oven to 325 so that it will be warm enough when it comes time to pop them in. I will go into more detail about the process of warming a few steps later.

Meanwhile I decide to use a tomato-based sauce for the enchiladas. I roast three, medium-sized tomatoes on my comal until the skins start to blister. I keep moving the tomatoes around the comal until they are as evenly browned as I can manage and soft enough to remove the skins. I carefully cut away the core (where the vine stem attaches), place the tomatoes in my blender and puree them. I add this sauce to about half a cup of mole poblano and 1/4 cup of chicken stock. [If I was out of mole poblano I would use dried chiles like the California/Anaheim and cloves of garlic. I would soak about 4 dried chiles - after I have destemmed and deseeded them - in a bit of warm chicken broth. I would roast 2-3 cloves of garlic on the comal with the tomatoes. Then I would put everything in the blender; roasted tomatoes, garlic, chiles and chicken broth and puree it all together.] Reserve 1/4 -1/2 cup for garnishing.

Since I have shredded the chicken and set up the sauce, it is time to warm the tortillas for assembly. I spray 15 corn tortillas on both sides with cooking spray (I am using Canola spray), and lay them out in a single layer on two cookie sheets. I put the sheets in my pre-heated oven and let them warm for about 3 minutes. As they are warming, I take a 9x13 inch baking dish, oil it and coat the bottom of the baking dish with a bit of sauce.

When the tortillas are warm, I remove the sheets from the pan and carefully remove a tortilla, place it on top of the sauce from the baking dish, add a bit of chicken, wrap the tortilla around it and place the enchilada with the seam underneath. Repeat this process until all the enchiladas are rolled and placed in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas in the baking dish and cover everything with shredded cheese; 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella or monterey jack cheese. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes.

While the enchiladas are heating up, I cook the plantains. I remove the peel from each plantain by making a shallow slice through the skin down the length of each. Then I pull back the peel, remove the tips of each and slice a bit at an angle. Next, I heat about 1/3 cup of canola oil (or any neutral flavored oil) in a large skillet and gently fry the plantains in batches. You want them to be nicely browned on both sides. As each batch is ready to be removed from the oil, I carefully scoop them out with a slotted spatula, drain the oil a bit, and place on a paper towel, covered plate. When they are all cooked I set them aside someplace warm (although I don't mind if they get to room temperature).

Finally, I set up all the fixings. I love topping these with a crisp, shredded iceberg lettuce but I don't typically buy it unless I am making these for a big party. As an alternate, I slice up three scallions (want mostly just the green tops but I decide not to waste any and use them all); 1/3 cup of cilantro leaves (you could chop if you feel up for it); and slice 1/2 an avocado. I place all these fixings (as well as the reserved enchilada sauce in a small pitcher) on the table so everyone can garnish their own enchiladas. When the enchiladas are done, I serve one to three per person and add some plantains to the side.

New Twist on Oven Baked Chicken

I really had a problem figuring out what to make for dinner and changed the menu as I encountered obstacles. I had originally decided to make pizza but changed the plan when I realized there were some cooked pinto beans that had to be used. So I decided to use the beans to make bean tacos and make pizza another night. Typically Luis uses canned, refried beans so it was new for me to try this with freshly made beans.

The beans that have to be used are whole and in a lot of broth. I will have to mash them and re-cook them with a bit of oil - aka refried beans. Using a potato masher, I mash the beans in the container while I heated a bit of oil in a medium-sized skillet over a medium-high burner. However, as I am mashing the beans I realize that they are way too soupy for bean tacos. I probably should have drained some of the fluid prior to mashing. So again I decide to change the menu and just serve refried beans.

Now I have to change my original plan for the chicken. With bean tacos I would have used a simmered sauce recipe for chicken. However, changing my plan has given me less time to really achieve the right flavor for a simmer sauce. Plus I realize that I am too hungry now to take the time. I want dinner to be made quickly and decide to do oven-baked chicken but I am going to make it more spicy. I preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prep a cookie sheet with a sheet of aluminum foil sprayed with olive oil.

I open a package of boneless chicken thighs (about six thighs) and rinse them in lukewarm water. I decide not to dip the thighs in eggs or milk (mostly due to laziness) so I set them aside while I prep the breadcrumbs. I use a bit over a cup of breadcrumbs, mix with 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon of chili powder, 2 teaspoons of thyme, and a bit of salt and pepper. I roll the thighs around the breadcrumb mix, put each one on the cookie sheet and pop she sheet into the oven. (Usually the oven is still pre-heating when I pop the chicken in.)

As the beans are re-frying, they are thickening up but they are still not thick enough to make into bean tacos so I feel justified in changing this meal the way I did. I turn them off for now since the chicken is still cooking and I need to make a bit of sauce for the chicken.

I heat the comal over a high burner and roast two fresh tomatoes and two garlic cloves. When the skin of the tomatoes starts to blister, I take them off the comal, remove the skins and place in the blender with the roasted garlic. I puree the tomatoes and garlic then heat a bit of oil in a medium-sized saucepan and pour the puree into it. I add 1 teaspoon of oregano and a bit of salt and pepper for flavor. I let this cook until the sauce gets a bit darker.

I check the chicken and turn over the thighs. The side of the thighs that was on the cookie sheet is nicely browned and crisp so it is the perfect time to turn them over. I set up each plate with a quarter of an avocado, thinly sliced and wait for the chicken to finish cooking (total cooking time is 25 to 30 minutes).

Dinner at a Friend's House

A night out is always a treat and it is wonderful to share a meal at a friend's house. We had an impromptu dinner party midweek. Danielle invited Luis and I over for dinner and suddenly found herself hosting Luis' godfather, Jose Luis - unexpectedly in from Mexico - and Luis' mother, Trini. She was a great sport about the whole thing and it was a wonderful meal and evening.

Danielle found a recipe for Chicken Tenders with Cilantro Pesto online recently and decided to make this for our group. It was a very tasty meal and very easy to make. First she set up the marinade; 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of canola oil and 1 teaspoon of chili powder was placed in a large bowl and whisked briefly. She reserved 2 tablespoons of the marinade and placed it in the bowl of her food processor (for the pesto). She added the chicken tenders to the remaining marinade and tossed it a bit to coat each piece. She set this aside to marinate (should give it 20 minutes to 1 hour).

While the chicken is marinating, Danielle started making the pesto. She toasted 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds in a small dry skillet over low heat and stirred them constantly until they were golden and fragrant (about 2 minutes). As she was keeping an eye on the sesame seeds she placed the other ingredients in the food processor with her reserved marinade; 1 bunch of cilantro (stems removed by twisting about mid-bunch) and 2 shallots roughly chopped. When the sesame seeds were toasted she added them to the food processor and processed the mixture until it was fairly smooth. (The recipe calls for scallions but the shallots add that hint of garlic which I think it more important for a pesto.)

To round out the meal, Danielle served the Quick Vegetable Soup (another recipe I got from her), some steamed quinoa and steamed asparagus. Everything was delicious and Jose Luis - Luis' godfather had a lot of fun as did all of us.

Sopa de Tortilla

My favorite Mexican cookbook is Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless. My mother gave Luis and I a copy for Christmas in 1998 and it has become a staple cookbook for me ever since. His cooking shows are really fun to watch as well. In February 2007, I had the opportunity to host a work function in Chicago and jumped at the chance to book his restaurant Topolobampo. For the event we chose the Chef's Tasting menu and one of the items served was the Sopa de Tortilla; I have been craving it ever since. I just want to book a trip back to Chicago so I can eat there again. (Also most amazing margarita I have ever had...yum.)

Since this is a very brothy soup, it is recommended to have a really good broth. Fortunately, my mother insisted I save the bones from the last time I stripped a Costco roast chicken. Her winning argument was that they would make a wonderful broth and she was very right. I took the bones of one chicken carcass and put it in a pot with half an onion, with the root end still attached and 2-3 celery stalks, roughly chopped. I filled the pot with water until it covered everything, loosely covered the pot and let simmer for two hours.

Next I took about eight corn tortillas that I had in the fridge and sliced them first in half and then into thin strips. It is best if you use stale/older tortillas for this as they crisp better when you fry them. Heat 1/3 cup of vegetable oil in a skillet. Set up a cookie sheet with paper towels to have for the cooked tortilla strips. (You don't want to be doing this after the strips are ready to come out because you risk burning them.) I test to make sure the oil is the right temperature by throwing in a small corner of one of the strips - if the oil bubbles vigorously around it then it is the perfect temperature. I then throw in the cut up strips and move them around the pan to keep them separated. I keep an eye on them and continuously move them around until they start turning a deep golden brown. Then I immediately remove them with a slotted spoon and let them cool on the paper towels.

Take 1-2 dried chile pasillas and remove the stems and seeds. Then tear into smaller pieces and soak in a bit of broth. (In this case I actually only had a bag of dried Catarina chiles. the description says they are pungent and have tones of wild berry and tobacco. They are red and will add a complexity of flavor so they fit my bill.) Next, I take out my comal and set it on a high burner. When the comal is hot, I place one medium-small tomato on it and roast it on every side. (Alternately, you can drop it into boiling water for a few minutes.) When the skin is blistered, you will remove it from the comal (or water) and cut the tomato into quarters. Finally remove the seeds and core and throw the tomato into the blender. Next slice one medium onion and rough chop two cloves of garlic. Heat one tablespoon of oil or lard over medium high heat and cook the onion and garlic until both are deep golden brown. Add the cooked onion and garlic and softened chiles with the liquid to the blender with the tomato and process until smooth.

Now after two hours your broth should be pretty flavorful (since the bones were from a roasted chicken you could have probably gotten away with just an hour of boiling). Turn the burner off and using a slotted spoon gently remove the bones, onion and celery. You could also pour this through a strainer into another pan but I try to minimize dirty dishes. Now heat another tablespoon of oil or lard in your skillet and carefully pour the tomato mixture in the pan and constantly stir until the mixture is thicker and darker - about 5 minutes. Add the this mixture to the broth, partially cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Now set up your bowls with a bit of the crisp tortillas and some cubed or grated cheese (for 6 servings you will need about 2 cups of queso fresco or some sort of soft cheese; Muenster or Monterey Jack.) Right before you are ready to eat, you will ladle some broth directly over these ingredients and serve immediately.

It isn't the simplest soup to make but it sure is memorable. Luis returned from his bicycle ride the following day - he said he had spent much of his return trip just thinking how good a bowl of the soup would be when he got home. Unfortunately it wasn't on the brunch menu!

Chicken Burgers and Vegetable Saute

Chicken Chili Lime Burgers - yet another Trader Joe's instant meal - are needed today because I didn't defrost anything else. They are frozen and easily separated so I remove two from the box. I set them aside so that they will be ready to cook when everything is set up.

I decide to cook up a vegetable saute as the side dish to accompany the burgers. I have an orange pepper (washed, de-stemmed, seeded and sliced); 5-6 crimini mushrooms (washed and sliced); and 3 yellow summer squash (washed and cut to bite-sized pieces). I heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and thinly slice half an onion. When the oil is hot - almost smoking - I add the onion and saute until just translucent. Then I add each vegetable and cook slightly before adding the next; onion, pepper, mushrooms and summer squash. When the vegetables get a bit brown but not mushy, I add 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce, cover, and let cook for no more than 5 minutes. I typically don't want them too juicy - just covered with a bit of sauce. As the squash cooks it will release some additional fluid but if you still feel it needs more, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.

The burgers will be the last thing that I cook so I set up the plates with the fixings. I place a bit of fresh baby spinach on each plate with some sliced avocado (here I served 1/4 avocado per person but it is really up to you how much you want). I am all out of tomatoes but if I had them they would also be included on the plate. I am going to cook the burgers on the stovetop on a cast iron skillet. They do not take more than 5 minutes to cook - a bit over two minutes per side. As the chicken burgers are cooking, I put the whole wheat seeded buns in the toaster to get warm.

The burgers are quite filling and the addition of the vegetable saute makes them a not-so-guilty meal. Nice cold beer to set it all off and it is perfect.

Dinner Crepes

Crepes are an ideal meal to make in stages; you can start the batter in the morning then cook the crepes when you are ready to make dinner. Alternately, you can cook and freeze crepes for later use; they defrost quickly in room temperate. I have a tendency to make crepes when I have other things going on - in this case I am also making our bi-weekly batch of cat food - so they seem to be very tedious. I have decided that I am overwhelming myself by trying to multitask rather than focusing on the crepes.

Anyway, these crepes were delicious and it was such a large batch that the effort will save me from one night of meal planning. If you are making these for a dinner party, it really is ideal because you can make ahead of time and simply warm up in the oven when the time is right. Alternately, you could even freeze half the batch and stick away for some night when you want a quick meal, home-cooked meal.

Crepe batter is best when it is given the good part of the day to sit; the flour has more time to absorb the liquid. In the morning, I decide that crepes will be good for dinner and make the batter right after breakfast. I take my blender and measure 1 cup of milk, 1/3 cup of water into it then I add two large eggs, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Once all the ingredients are in the blender, I put the lid on the jar, put it on the base and blend until smooth for about 5 seconds. I put the blender jar directly in the refrigerator and leave it there until I am ready to cook later tonight. (At the very least the batter should sit for an hour; two is preferable. It can last for up to 24 hours.)

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MAKING CREPES

Ideally, you do need a crepe pan since you can more easily judge the size and thinness of the crepe with it. I try to avoid buying kitchen gear that serves only one purpose but in this case I find it necessary. Although to make myself feel better I sometimes use it to make pancakes too. I find making the crepes themselves to be the fun part and they bring back memories of my high school French class when we made them for a fundraiser. My teacher brought in her electric crepe maker and showed us how to make them.

To set yourself up, have a plate handy in which to place the crepes once cooked. You want to have your pan on a burner set to medium-high heat. You will need a paper towel lightly coated with butter (you can use any type of oil but butter is preferable to achieve the right browning); you will brush this lightly over the surface of the pan so that the metal is shiny but you don't want any sizzling butter or oil. Pick the pan up off of the burner and pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter for a (6 or 7 inch pan; 1/4 cup for a 9 or 10 inch pan) on the pan while tilting and rotating to spread the batter to the edges of the pan- coating the pan's surface.

Cook until almost dry on top and lightly browned on the edges; about a minute. Loosen the edges of the crepe from the pan with a metal spatula and then flip the crepe over and cook for another 15 seconds or so. Turn the crepe onto the clean plate and continue the process until all the batter is used; continue stacking the crepes.

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CREPE FILLING

I used a filling from this cookbook called Crepes; Sweet and Savory Recipes for the Home Cook. The filling is chicken, sweet corn and red pepper - I have almost all the ingredients except fresh ginger, fresh corn on the cob and Monterey jack cheese but I decided to try it out. I have frozen, sweet corn and a four cheese blend of shredded cheese from my lasagna last week; close enough.

I start by poaching 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts in about an inch of water with half of an onion and some salt. I simmer this over low heat for about 10-15 minutes. I then remove the chicken and let cool so that I can dice it a bit later. I also place 1 1/2 to 2 cups of frozen corn in enough water to cover it, bring it to a boil and then drain.

Simultaneously, as the chicken and corn are cooking I start assembling the rest of the filling. I dice half of a red pepper (about 1/2 cup) and one green onion (an alternate ingredient is to use a shallot). In a small skillet, I add a scant 1 tablespoon of olive oil, heat it over medium heat and saute the pepper and green onion for about 2-3 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, I mix 1 large egg, 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon of dried sage. I will add the diced chicken, corn, peppers and green onions to this mixture and blend it all. Finally, I will add salt and pepper to taste. (I tend to under salt when I cook because I prefer salty foods and don't want to go overboard.)

I preheat my oven to 350 degrees and prep a 10 x 13 baking dish by spraying it with a bit of olive oil spray. Then I assemble the crepes; I put in one to two heaping tablespoons of filling for each crepe and fold it like an envelope to completely enclose the filling. I arrange them in the baking dish as I go, spray the whole thing with a bit more olive oil spray, sprinkle the whole pan with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until heated through. I simply served these crepes with no side dish - a bit of salad would be a nice accompaniment.

Lasagna - It isn't as hard as you think

The beauty of lasagna is that you cannot mess it up - it doesn't matter how you layer it or if each layer is fully coated. It doesn't need to look pretty or neat it just has to taste great. The most important thing is to have enough sauce and I personally prefer to make it with fresh pasta but no-boil lasagna noodles are a good alternative.

Fresh pasta can be purchased but you rely on the source not running out which sadly has occurred for me. So most of the time I just make my own pasta rather than wasting my time hunting it up. Fresh pasta is surprising easy to make and the biggest benefit is that your cooking time reduces to only 10 minutes! No-boil pasta is much more convenient but you have to cook the lasagna for about 45 minutes. Typically it takes me a bit over an hour to put a lasagna together (including making fresh pasta and marinara sauce). Therefore using no-boil lasagna noodles and canned pasta sauce should take you about 90 minutes to get the meal to the table.

My favorite lasagna uses a package of chicken silician sausage (about a pound), half a bag of fresh spinach, half a container of crimini mushrooms (about 4 oz), half a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, 15 ounces of ricotta cheese, approximately 30 ounces of marinara pasta sauce and 1/4 cup parmesan/reggiano grated cheese. You can vary this recipe to make it vegetarian; if you hate vegetables keep it purely meat; and if you hate everything but cheese than you can simply remove everything but the cheese. (Another nice vegetarian option is to use basil leaves and a marinara sauce - simple but very flavorful. An alternative to using sausage is to simply use a meat sauce rather than a marinara.)

(Note if you are using no-boil noodles and already prepared pasta sauce skip the next two paragraphs.)

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If I am making my own marinara sauce, I set that up to cook first since it has to simmer for 45 minutes. I use two 15 oz cans of chopped tomatoes and briefly puree in a blender. I pour this into a pan with deep sides and add a stick of butter (1/4 pound) - you could probably substitute olive oil for this; 1/2 medium onion peeled and halved keeping the root end intact; and a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. I set is on a back burner with the flame very low and set the timer for 45 minutes.

If I am making my own pasta, I next make my dough using my food processor. Using a regular blade, I put 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour in the bowl and crack three whole eggs on top of the flour. I then place the lid on there and pulse until the mixture is very grainy - similar to couscous. Briefly, with the lid on and a few quick pulses to the processor, I drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil just to give it a bit more "sticking" power. Remove the pasta from the processor bowl and carefully shape it a ball. It is like bringing hundreds of little pieces of clay together but you want it to be a solid piece. Slightly flatten the ball of pasta and cover with barely damp paper or cloth towels - you don't want the pasta to dry out but you also don't want to get the outer layer sticky.

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I cut away the casings surrounding the chicken silician sausage so that I have a pile of raw seasoned meat. Under a small skillet, I set the burner to medium or just a bit warmer and add the sausage meat. I slowly brown this while I prep my other ingredients. I place the 15 oz of ricotta cheese into a medium-sized bowl and crack one egg over it, add 1/4 cup parmegan/reggiano grated cheese and a dash of hot sauce (alternatively I sometimes add a pinch of nutmeg). I whisk all these ingredients together and set aside.

Next I wash my mushrooms and slice thinly slice them. I typically don't cook my mushrooms but you can add them to the cooking sausage. When the sausage is mostly brown, I turn off the burner and set it aside with my other ingredients. Next I turn my oven onto 375 degrees to bake the lasagna when it is finally set up. I then take a 13 x 9 inch baking dish and carefully spray it with olive oil to prevent sticking.

ASSEMBLY

I coat the bottom of the pan with a scant ladle of pasta sauce, add a layer of lasagna noodles (if I am using the pasta I made I roll out about three strips for each layer - details below); on top of the pasta I spread half my sausage and mushroom mix, cover with grated mozzarella cheese, and add another ladle of pasta sauce; I add another layer of lasagna noodles and on top of that I spread half of my ricotta mixture, cover with some fresh spinach and add another ladle of pasta sauce. I continue to alternate these layers until I run out of pasta. On top of my last layer of pasta, I will pour the remainder of my marinara sauce and sprinkle the whole thing with grated mozzarella cheese. Typically, I have a total of 8-10 layers - four or five of those being pasta.

My oven is pre-heated now. If using fresh pasta, just pop your creation in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until the top layer of cheese is melted and browning. If using no-boil pasta, add a cup of water along the sides of your pan, tightly cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for about 45 minutes. Check at 35 minutes and remove the foil for the last few moments to brown the cheese at the top.

My preference it to serve this for dinner parties because there isn't too much left over. If I am cooking it for just the two of us I tend to freeze half of it for another night. Even freezing half of it leaves enough for lunches for the next two days. If serving it for a dinner party you can either prep beforehand or have your guests help you with the assembly. It is always more fun to cook together and it leaves you more time to set up appetizers so they can nibble while working.

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Rolling out fresh pasta dough isn't an exact science and takes practice but it is worth the effort. I have found this site that has the step-by-step process for rolling with an Imperia Pasta Machine, which is the type I have; http://www.fantes.com/imperia.html.

My mother swears by her electric attachment for her Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I believe she has the Pasta Excellence attachment set.

Tamale Making on Mother's Day

For years, my mother-in-law and I have been making tamales around Christmas time; just the two of us would spend a whole day making hundreds of them. Friends always expressed interest in learning how to make them but the timing of doing them in the midst of the holidays was always bad. Last year I decided to see if Mother's Day might be a better time and it was so successful that we decided to make it an annual event.

A few weeks in advance I send out an Evite so that I can get a sense of how many people will be able to attend and then estimate how much of the ingredients need to be purchased. Gathering all the ingredients is a big project but living in San Francisco makes life a bit easier. La Palma Mexicatessen is a great source for masa (the primary ingredient) and the corn husks that we use to wrap our tamales. You can purchase masa that has been pre-mixed with lard, broth and baking powder but we prefer to mix these ingredients in ourselves. In the past we have purchased the pre-mixed masa and still spent a lot of time working the masa with our hands to get it aerated enough. The secret to light and fluffy tamales is aerating the dough until a small lump floats in a glass of water.

I spent over a week gathering ingredients; first for the green mole which will be used to flavor the meat fillings and gradually gathering other items that will be needed. I would prefer to stick to one type of meat - pork - but over the years there have been requests for other fillings and even for sweet tamales. La Palma sells a sweet tamale dough; it is fully mixed with all the ingredients as well as raisins and flecks of cinnamon. Unfortunately, I have been spoiled by strawberry and pineapple tamales we found during our travels in Mexico and don't find this sweet mix to be up to par at all. Trinidad, my mother-in-law, has tried jam and even dried fruit or candy but I still have dreams about perfectly flavored, light and fluffy strawberry tamales.

This year I have made it my mission to achieve that sweet tamale as well as make seven other fillings: red and green chicken; red and green pork (carnitas); beef; picadillo; grilled corn and cheese; and rajas (poblano chili and cheese). It will be quite a feat but I have 20 estimated helpers and I am going to cheat - I purchase three roasted chickens from Costco and six packages of Pork Carnitas from Trader Joe's - this saves significant time on cooking meat fillings. I purchase 70 pounds of masa quebrada simple (that is rough ground hominy and unmixed), 4 pounds of lard (you can substitute solid vegetable shortening), 2 cups of baking powder, six bags of pre-washed corn husks, a flat of strawberries, two pineapples, and 4 pounds of ground beef.

My reference for ingredient measurements is Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless. His recipe for tamales using 1 pound (approximately 2 cups) of masa, 1/2 cup lard, 2/3 cup broth, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt (depending how salty the broth is). This recipe estimates it will make 16 medium-sized tamales; therefore 70 pounds of masa should yield over 1,100 tamales and each helper will leave with over 50 tamales each. This is exactly why this is a full, day; fully staffed function.

Before the event, I set most of the corn husks in a large pan full of hot water and weigh the lid down to keep the husks fully submerged. (Unfortunately, I will have to do this in two or even three batches because I don't have a large enough pan to accommodate all the corn husks). I cook the picadillo and make sure all my ingredients are handy and ready.

When everyone arrives, I give them a moment to grab a bagel, some coffee and even champagne before I set them up kneading masa. We separate the 70 pounds of masa dough into four, 20 quart bowls and add the requisite amounts of shortening/lard and baking powder. Kneading the masa is the longest part of this process so the bulk of the work will be there.

My first helper, Danielle gets to work cutting up some pineapple and strawberries. The fruit tamales require the addition of a cup of fruit puree per pound of masa rather than broth. I plan to set aside about 10 pounds of the masa (five pounds per flavor) and for the moment I am going to add sugar and shortening to this 10 pounds then separate it again to add the respective purees.

When I have enough people working on the masa, I set the next batch of helpers to shredding the meat. Since both the chickens and pork carnitas are pre-cooked the meat just needs to be shredded and seasoned to be ready as a filling for tamales. When all the meat is shredded, I separate it into batches and season some of the pork and chicken with green mole and the rest I season with a bit of mole poblano and a can of spicy tomato sauce (El Pato Sauce). Additionally, I add a lot of salt - you want the flavoring to be pretty intense (spicy, flavorful and/or salty) to offset the blandness of the masa dough.

Rajas are a "vegetarian" tamale (fully vegetarian if you use solid vegetable shortening and vegetable broth). It is made by placing thin strips of slightly grilled, poblano chilis and queso fresco on the bed of masa. The cheese melts when the tamales get steamed and it is a really delicious filling - especially if you are a fan of chili rellenos (poblanos stuffed with cheese; battered; fried and covered with light tomato sauce), which is one of my favorite dishes. Another vegetarian tamale we created last year was to use a bag of frozen, roasted corn - a Trader Joe's item - and mixing it with shredded cheese; approximately two cups.

I spend the whole day funneling ingredients to the workers and checking the masa for float worthy status, plus setting up the tamales to cook. I have a large, 30 quart pan which I placed a steamer at the bottom with about 2 inches of water. I then take some of the wet corn husks and made a bed in which to place the tamales. I place enough tamales in the pan so that they can stand up so that the open part of the husk is pointing toward the lid of the pan. At around 6:00 pm (we started at 11:00 am) the first batch of tamales is fully cooked.

The tamales that are taken home will be uncooked and I tell everyone to freeze them when they get home. By freezing the tamales uncooked, you get a much fresher tasting tamal. You can remove tamales right from the freezer and steam for about 90 minutes. (If they are unfrozen or fresh they only take about 60 minutes.) It is easy to tell if a tamal is fully cooked because the masa goes from a soft mush to a spongy dough. You can just open the corn husk to confirm doneness.

Everyone worked tirelessly to knead the masa and fill tamales. Luis kept the workers hydrated by refreshing champagne, beers, sodas, agua frescas, etc. He also took the vacuum out numerous times to clean up masa from the floor. His justification is he wanted us all to impress any random arrival with our ability to keep the floor clean during such a massive project.

So next year, I will purchase masa fina, mixta (finely ground, masa mixed with everything) and just knead it to aerate it better. We spent too long kneading the masa again and it wasn't salty enough. Unfortunately, I totally forgot that the puree replaced the broth in the sweet tamales so my quest for the perfect sweet tamal is as yet unfulfilled.

Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Chicken and Pasta

I discovered a recipe last year for oven-roasted cauliflower so now I keep my eyes open for a good price on the vegetable every time I am at the produce store. It was reasonably priced the other day ($1 per head) so I picked up two. Since cooking time is over 30 minutes, I start prepping this first. I first turn the oven onto bake at 475 degrees. The cauliflower will be cut into wedges so that it roasts more evenly so carefully remove the leaves and cut stem flush with bottom. You can cut into 8-12 wedges so that the core and florets remain intact (as much as possible at least because you will still have some that fall about). I take out a cookie sheet (with sides; mine are about 1/2 deep) and lightly spray it with olive oil cooking spray. I then carefully toss the cauliflower in two tablespoons of olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Once coated I place the cauliflower on the prepared cookie sheet in a single layer; cover the whole thing with aluminum foil; and place in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. (Total cooking time will be around 30; after the first 10 minutes you will remove the foil and cook for another 8-12 minutes on one side; flip the cauliflower over; and then cook for another 8-12 minutes.)

Next I whisk one egg with a scant 3 tablespoons of milk (you can substitute water as well I just prefer milk for a bit more coating of the chicken). Then I take the chicken breast tenders (one package gives me about 10-12 tenders, which is equivalent to slicing one to two whole breasts into tenders) that I defrosted and rinse them before placing them in this egg mixture. I then put approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs in a flat dish, add 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1-2 teaspoons of salt and pepper and a heaping teaspoon of dried tarragon (you can substitute any dried herb you want here; basil, oregano, thyme, sage, or even just nothing). I then take each breast tender individually out of the egg mixture and coat it with breadcrumbs and set aside on a sheet. The longer you let the breadcrumbs dry on the chicken, the crispier it will cook up; if you transfer the chicken from the breadcrumbs right to the hot oil most of your crumbs end up stuck to the bottom of your skillet.

I have since removed the aluminum foil from the cauliflower (which allowed the vegetable to steam a bit) so it is roasting now on one side for 8-12 minutes. Now I set a large pan of water on the stove to boil for pasta. I am repeating my ricotta sauce recipe with the addition of some tomato sauce (and deletion of peas) for variety. In bowl large enough to add the pasta later combine 1/2 cup ricotta cheese, 1/2 tablespoon butter(optional but per the recipe it adds richness to the sauce), 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of pasta sauce, salt and pepper to taste. When the 1/2 pound of pasta is almost cooked, add a scant ladle of water to this sauce and whisk it all together. Then toss the pasta in the sauce before serving.

I wait to start cooking the chicken until the cauliflower has been flipped and roasting for the last 8-12 minutes. I then heat approximately 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet on medium to medium high. When the butter starts bubbling, I add about half of my prepared chicken tenders. As the chicken starts to cook and you see a bit of white around the edges it is time to flip over. If you have your pan hot enough it shouldn't take more than 3-4 minutes on each side to fully cook the breast tenders. As I am cooking the second batch of chicken tenders, I finish the pasta sauce with the addition of the ladle of hot water, drain the pasta and toss it in the ricotta mixture. I flip the chicken tenders over and remove the cauliflower from the oven. Then I turn of the burner under the skillet cooking the tenders and serve pasta and cauliflower and a few of the tenders of the first batch. Voila! Dinner is served.

Notes: Unfortunately, I am not too excited about the addition of tomato sauce to the ricotta cheese sauce. It tastes good but isn't so photogenic and you notice that I ended up just putting some on top of the pasta versus tossing the pasta with the sauce. I think the pasta is better off being tossed with the sauce as it coats it more evenly. In addition, I will stick to doing this sauce with the peas and fresh tomato salad on the side that was much more satisfactory both visually and in taste. The fresh tomatoes add a nicer contrast to the overall palate.

Green Mole - Pronounced Moe-Lay

This week involves prepping for Mother's Day Brunch and Tamale Making party. I typically make pork or chicken for the tamale filling and flavor the meat with this green mole or mole poblano (rich sauce flavored with several types of chilis, chocolate and spices). Green mole is the easier mole to make; it takes about 90 minutes to two hours and much of that time is unattended cooking. Mole poblano is a whole other story since it is at minimum a six hours process and that is only if you have all the ingredients on hand.

Since green mole is less time consuming and what I consider to be a fresher sauce, I tend to make it closer to the time of using it. However, if you make a big batch and don't plan to use it right away it freezes well and can last awhile stored that way. Green mole is a good sauce to use for chicken, pork or fish. I also tend to make it with vegetable broth so that my vegetarian friends can just eat it with rice. It would probably go very well with tofu even.

In a large pan filled with water, add 8 medium (approx 12 ounces) fresh, green tomatillos that have been husked and washed; one medium tomato; 1 poblano chili ; and 3 jalapeno chilis. Do not cut any of the vegetables; you will de-stem and de-seed the chilis later and the tomatillos and tomato will be left whole. Turn on the burner and cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. (You can used canned tomatillos - use 1 1/2 13-ounce cans- and if you do you will not need to simmer them with chilis.)

Next place a medium-sized skillet on burner, put the heat to medium and when the pan is hot add one cup of hulled, un-toasted pumpkin seeds. The seeds should start popping and you need to stir constantly to prevent them from burning. When they have all popped and nicely toasted (approximately 4-5 min) remove from the heat and place in a pie plate or cool cookie sheet. This will stop the seeds from cooking and start the cooling process.

Now clean five large romaine lettuce leaves and half a bunch of cilantro. You want to make sure to remove any grit from both of these items. Shake out excess water but don't worry about completely drying. Tear the lettuce into rough smaller pieces for easier processing in the blender. Next, rough chop half a medium onion and three cloves of garlic. Set aside near the toasted pumpkin seeds.

By this time, the tomatillos and chilis should be cooked. You will drain them and let cool slightly. When you can, remove the poblano and jalapenos from the pan and cut away the stem, slice the chilis in half and scoop out the seeds using a small teaspoon. Then roughly chop the chilis and set aside. (When working with chilis it is always a good idea to wear thin latex gloves. If you don't, even after washing your hands, the oils can linger and you discover - after gently rubbing you eye sometime later - that they had quite a kick. Rinsing your eye with cool water will help but it might take awhile for the burning sensation to go away.)

Now that all the ingredients are prepped, you will use a blender to pulverize everything together into a smooth puree. You will have to add the ingredients to the blender in small batches and pour each batch into a large pan (I typically use the same pan I used to simmer the tomatillos and chilis). Since most of the ingredients are dry add enough broth to each batch (1/4 to 1/2 cup per batch is usually enough) to help with the pureeing. You will need at least 4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth. After pureeing all the ingredients, add any leftover broth to the pureed ingredients in the pan.

You will turn the burner onto low and let the mole simmer for approximately 30 minutes. It will change from a fresh, avocado green color to a more grayish, green color similar to the color of overcooked/canned peas.

Oven-baked Chicken & Ricotta Sauce Pasta

My preferred method of cooking chicken thighs is to oven-bake them. It is one of those methods that is not time consuming and fairly easy to clean up. Typically my biggest challenge is to remember to remove the thighs from the freezer early enough for them to defrost.

Your primary ingredients for this dinner are boneless, chicken thighs (you can use thighs with bones but the cooking time will be longer); breadcrumbs; and grated parmesan cheese. I typically have a stash of unseasoned breadcrumbs because I make them from the scraps of bread I always seem to have lying around. Periodically I purchase breadcrumbs and prefer unseasoned because it allows you flexibility in your recipe.

Turn the oven up to 400 degrees and set up a cookie sheet (with a rim) with a bit of aluminum foil and spray it with olive oil spray. You could do without the aluminum foil but the clean up is more difficult and it ruins your cookie sheet faster. I rinse the thighs and set in a bowl with one or two eggs scrambled with water - enough to coat all the thighs in the bowl. In a pie plate, I put a bit more than a cup of breadcrumbs (for one package of thighs; approximately six pieces); 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese; and seasonings (typically salt, pepper and tarragon but it is really your choice. Oregano, thyme or even sage are all good options). I mix this well so that the thighs will be evenly coated with the breadcrumbs and seasonings.

One at a time, I remove the thighs from the egg mixture, let the liquid drain a bit from the meat, add to the breadcrumb mixture and gently coat each piece. Once the thigh is evenly coated, I arrange it on the prepared cookie sheet. It will take 20 to 30 minutes for the chicken to cook so I have time to figure out what I will make to go with the chicken. Sometimes I just use a package of macaroni and cheese, pesto pasta or oven-baked rice. I am in the mood for something different so I look at my ingredient options.

One of my favorite cookbooks is How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman (he has a blog on NY Times site http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/). I find this book essential for cooking when I have completely lost interest in my own standard meals. I have some ricotta cheese so I look in the index to see if there is a recipe that I can use that calls for this ingredient and will also go with the chicken thighs. Sure enough there is a pasta sauce recipe that calls for ricotta and peas (page 144 How to Cook Everything) - which I also have. The sauce requires a penne, ziti or rigatone paste (tube shape) and I happen to have half a pound of ziti. Since the sauce recipe calls for a pound of pasta, I will just cut it in half.

I start water boiling for the pasta, take a quick peek at the chicken thighs (they haven't even started warming up really) and start gathering my pasta sauce ingredients.

Set aside

• 1/2 cup of frozen peas

In bowl large enough to add the pasta later, combine;

• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon butter (optional but per the recipe it adds richness to the sauce)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

When the water starts boiling, I add the pasta and check on the chicken thighs. They have started sizzling a bit so I turn them over which means they are more than half-way done. The side originally laying on the tin foil should have gotten a bit brown and crispy. Pasta typically takes about 10 minutes to cook, especially one of these tube shapes. When it is about half done, I thrown in the peas with the pasta so that they can all cook together. (The recipe called to have the peas cooked in salted water. Since I am using frozen peas I would rather not use another pan and know that they will defrost while the pasta is finishing cooking.)

When it appears that the pasta is done (we prefer our pasta al dente so it is up to you), I turn off the heat and take a ladle of the pasta water and add it to the bowl with the ricotta cheese mixture. I whisk the ingredients for a few moments to get them nicely blended; it seems a bit thick so I add just a bit more pasta water (barely quarter of a ladle) and re-blend. When satisfied with the consistency, I drain the pasta and peas and add them to the bowl with the ricotta mixture and toss it all together.

My final touch to the plate is a quick, fresh tomato salad. I cut one medium tomato in chunks and toss with a bit of basil infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with some salt and pepper. Voila! All together it took about an hour but well worth having dinner and leftovers for lunch.