Category Archives: Recipes

Baked Chicken Florentine Pasta and Variations

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Baked Chicken Florentine Pasta and Variations

A local restaurant used to make this great Chicken Florentine Pasta with a yummy garlic cream sauce that I loved.  Last time I ordered it to go it was dry and not very yummy at all.  SO, I decided to try to make it myself.  Then I got carried away, threw in several other ingredients and ended up with something a bit over the top.  Below is the dish I actually made, along with some suggested, simpler variations . . . Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 3/4 pound (12 oz.) dry pasta (I used Penne Rigate, but anything substantial will do)
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 Tbls. oil
  • 1 tsp Penzey’s Florida Seasoned Pepper (this is a combo of pepper, lemon and orange peel, garlic and onion, but feel free to use any salt free seasoning that works well on chicken)
  • 3-5 oz. baby spinach, cleaned
  • 1 tsp. Italian Herb Seasoning (or a combination of oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme and cracked rosemary)
  • 1 oz sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated in 1/2 cup of boiling water (or approx. 1/3 cup of the oil soaked variety), drained & julienned (optional)
  • 6 oz. jar marinated artichoke heart quarters, drained (I cut each one in half, but feel free to use as is) (optional)
  • 4 oz. goat cheese (optional)
  • 4 Tbls. butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • 4 Tbls. flour
  • 3 cups milk and/or half&half
  • 1/2 – 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3-4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

There are three basic components to this dish: pasta, a chicken and vegetable sauté, garlic cream sauce, each prepared separately and then baked together in a 3-quart casserole.  You can make the parts one at a time and set aside or all at once, depending on your stovetop-juggling skills.

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Grease a 3-quart casserole.

Heat 3-4 quarts of water to boiling.  Salt or not as you prefer.  Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box/bag and according to your preferred tenderness.  Drain, set aside.

While the pasta is cooking and you prepare the other ingredients, marinate the chicken in the 2 Tbls. oil and the Florida Seasoned Pepper.

If your sun-dried tomatoes need rehydrating, make sure you have done that.

Prepare your garlic cream sauce: Melt the 4 Tbls. butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the minced garlic and cook gently for about a minute.  Do NOT let it brown or burn!  Gradually add the flour to make a roux.  Once all the flour is added, cook for 1-2 minutes to cook the flour.  Now gradually add the milk or half&half, whisking or stirring frequently.  You want a medium-thick cream sauce.  Once the sauce will coat the back of a spoon (or is the thickness you desire), turn off the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese.

Prepare the chicken and vegetable sauté: Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and its oil/spice marinade.  Cook until the chicken has lost it pinkness.  Stir in the Italian Herb Seasoning and the sun-dried tomatoes.  Stir in the artichoke hearts.  Toss in the spinach; cover and cook until the spinach wilts.

Assemble: Combine the pasta and the chicken/vegetable mixture.  Place half into the prepared casserole dish.  Sprinkle on half of the goat cheese.  Add the remaining pasta mixture and the remaining goat cheese.  Stir gently to combine.  Pour the garlic cream sauce over the entire contents of the casserole dish.  Once again, stir GENTLY to combine.  Finally, sprinkle the grated mozzarella over the top.

Cover and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly.  You might want to remove the cover for the last 15 minutes to brown the top.

Notes & Variations

  • Technically, Chicken Florentine is just chicken and spinach in a cream sauce served over rice or pasta.  Thus, the other vegetables in the sauté are “optional”.  Same with the goat cheese.  I loved how they all combined in the dish I made, but feel free to simplify as your wallet and palate dictate!
  • I love baked pasta dishes because the time in the oven gives me time to relax, talk to guests, make a salad and/or do some dishes.  If you prefer, I’m fairly certain you could combine everything as described above and just serve as is without baking.  You might want to make the cream sauce a bit thicker (it thickens up a bit in the oven).
  • For those of you cutting calories, if you add a bit a water to the sauté and stir the goat cheese into the warm sauté after everything else is cooked, you should have enough of a “sauce” to serve over the pasta without making the cream sauce at all.

Enjoy!

Copyright © 2010, Lucinda DeWitt

Quinoa and Green Bean Salad

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Saw this recipe sitting at the chiropractor’s office the other day.  Coincidentally, a few hours earlier I had picked up some fresh purple string beans at the Farmers Market.  I love quinoa, so this seemed perfect.  In case you are wondering, purple string beans turn green when cooked.

Quinoa and Green Bean Salad

from Whole Living July/August 2010

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup for the dressing
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup quinoa
1-3/4 cups water
1 lb. green beans, trimmed (cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces)
1 cup flat parsley leaves
3 Tbsp. red-wine vinegar

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic, 1/4 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper. Cook, stirring until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in quinoa and cook for 1 minute. Add water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered until water is absorbed, about 16 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes; fluff with fork. Cool completely, about 25 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 Tbsp. of salt and beans, cook until bright green, about 4 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.

Combine quinoa, green beans and parsley. Dress with 1/4 cup olive oil, vinegar, 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper.

Notes
I didn’t have any flat parsley, so I made the recipe without it.  It tasted great anyway.
I forgot to take pictures of this dish, but will add them the next time I make it.

Red Curry with Pork and Thai Eggplant

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A couple of weeks ago I picked up some Thai Eggplants (see pics below) at the local Farmers Market.  Despite a 90+° heat wave, I wanted to cook them up, so searched for possible recipes.

I combined two similar recipes:

Jungle Curry with Pork and Thai Eggplant Recipe at Epicurious.com

and

Country-Style Curry  (Gaeng Bah) from Real Thai by Nancie McDerrmott

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Thai apple eggplants (see cooks’ note, below)
  • 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup Thai red curry paste
  • 1-1/2 lb pork tenderloin, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick (I used pork sirloin steaks cut in thin strips)
  • 1/3 cup julienne strips peeled fresh or frozen grachai (lesser galangal or wild ginger; thawed if frozen) or drained bottled grachai, rinsed, or ginger (I used ginger)
  • 3 oz Chinese long beans or green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 8 canned baby corn, rinsed, drained, and halved lengthwise
  • 1-1/2 cups Thai chicken stock (I used regular chicken stock)
  • 3 tablespoons nam pla (Asian fish sauce; preferably Thai)
  • 5 (4-inch-long) fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves (sometimes called bai makroot); the Kaffir lime leaves I have are much smaller than this, less than 2″ long, so I used about 15 of them
  • 1 fresh chee fah chile or 2 red jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced crosswise and seeds discarded
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup loosely packed bai grapao (holy basil leaves); (I used Thai Basil)

Directions

Trim eggplants and cut into 1-inch wedges (do this just before heating oil to avoid discoloration).

In a large saucepan or wok over medium-low heat, warm the oil until hot but not smoking, about 30 seconds. Add curry paste (to taste) and cook gently, stirring constantly, until very fragrant and a shade darker, 2 to 3 minutes. Add pork and stir-fry over high heat until no longer pink on outside, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggplant, grachai/ginger, beans, baby corn, and stock and simmer, stirring, until eggplant is crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add fish sauce, lime leaves, chile, and salt and bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in half of basil.

Serve over rice (preferably sticky rice) topped with remaining basil.

Notes

I must confess, I did NOT make my own Red Curry Paste (I used Mae Ploy brand) or Chicken Stock (had some in a box).  Next time I would add a bunch of cilantro to the stock and/or make my own, but I doubt I’ll ever be obsessive enough to make my own curry paste when United Noodle is so close to where I live :)

In case you are wondering, Thai Eggplants (aka “apple eggplants”) are the size of small apples and/or crabapples and are green or green & white.  They actually look a bit like tomatillos to me.  Anyway, below is a picture.  The ruler next to them is my 6″ bench scraper.

Red Curry with Pork and Thai Eggplant

Red Curry with Pork and Thai Eggplant served over sticky rice
with Japanese Eggplant and Bok Choi in Yellow Bean Sauce

Bacon, Swiss Cheese, and Artichoke Heart Quiche

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Bacon, Swiss Cheese, and Artichoke Heart Quiche

Made this quiche a few weeks ago.  It was SPECTACULAR, PERFECT!!

Started with a pie crust recipe I hadn’t tried before (Pate Brisee from the old Silver Palate Cookbook). Also pre-baked the crust for 10 minutes before adding fillings.  Don’t know why I’ve always skipped that step (laziness probably).  Made all the difference in the world.  The crust was perfect, no soggy bottom.

Ingredients

  • 1 pie crust (store bought, your favorite, or use Pie Crust/Pate Brisee recipe here)
  • 8-16 oz. bacon, fried until crisp (I like to cook mine in a cast iron frying pan in a 375°F oven.  Takes longer, 30 minutes or more, but never burns and you only need to turn it once.)
  • 1 cup shredded swiss cheese
  • 1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped into small pieces
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 cups heavy cream (or cream/half&half/milk combination)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • paprika to dust

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.  If you have a pizza stone, preheat that too.

Prebake the pie crust for 10 minutes in a 400° oven.  (see Pie Crust/Pate Brisee recipe for details on how to do prevent the crust from puffing up)  Allow to cool slightly before adding filling.

Turn oven down to 350°F.

Place pie pan on foil-lined cookie sheet.  The foil is to catch spills and to fold up over the crust if it starts getting too brown.

Sprinkle half of the cheese over the partially cooled pie crust.  Add bacon and artichoke hearts, distributing evenly.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Whisk together the eggs and cream.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Pour over filling ingredients.  The pie plate should be full, but leave some room for everything to expand (and so that you don’t slop it all over as you transfer it into the oven).

Bake at 350°F for 50-65 minutes.  Check custard by inserting a knife into the center to see if it comes out clean.  If the crust gets too brown before the custard is done, fold the foil up over the edge.

Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

Note: Quiche recipes range from 3-6 eggs and from 1-1/2 to 2 cups of cream.  Much depends on the size of your pie plate.  Mine is large (10″ pyrex).  If yours is smaller, adjust the egg/cream mixture accordingly.

Copyright © 2010, Lucinda DeWitt

Caesar Salad

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I LOVE Caesar Salad.  But authentic Caesar Dressing includes raw or coddled eggs, so I never tried to make it.  I often buy Newman’s Own Creamy Caesar Dressing, but really prefer to make dressings from scratch.  This “Caesar-style” dressing really fits the bill.  Nice taste and texture. And egg-free!

Caesar-style Salad Dressing

adapted from a recipe from Ley Clifton in the Penzey’s Spices catalog, Spring 2010, p. 37

1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbls. Dijon-style mustard
1 Tbls. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbls. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder (optional)
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 Tbls. Penzey’s Italian Herb Mix (or your own blend of oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme and rosemary)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the fresher, the better)

In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients.  Blend well, taste, and add more spices as desired.  Toss with bite-size pieces of romaine lettuce.  Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese, if desired.

(For more details and notes, consult the separate recipe page.)