Tag Archive: Food


Lemon Chicken in White Wine Butter Sauce

Filed under: Chicken, Garlic, Ginger, Lemon, Oregano, Sauce, Sea Salt, Seasoning — 1 Comment
February 26, 2013

I hadn’t actually intended to make this post yet, as Sunday was only my trial run on this dish. I didn’t take progress pictures or anything, but it was so delicious I was specifically asked by a few people to post it so they could try it…. so here goes. 🙂

After preheating the oven to 400 *F, I started out with two boneless, skinless chicken breast. After I cut away any fat, I used a small parring knife to make small cuts into the underside of the breasts and then placed the breast into a glass baking dish. I then poured a little white wine (you can use cooking wine or any bitter dry white wine you prefer) and some lemon juice over the breast until the liquid came about half way up the depth of the chicken. Be sure to move the two pieces around to make sure each side is coated in the liquid mixture. The slits on the bottom side of the chicken is to allow the wine and lemon juice to be obsorbed into the chicken better. Coat the top of the chicken breast with melted unsalted butter. I use a silicone brush for this. Season the chicken to your taste and liking. I use lemon pepper for added lemon taste, garlic salt, sea salt, multicolored peppercorn, and a creole seasoning for spice. If I were not making a sauce for this dish, at this point I would also put a slice of lemon on the fleshist part of each breast. Put the chicken in the oven on the center rack for approximately 30 minutes.

On the stove heat olive oil over medium heat in a sautee pan. I use parmesean and garlic olive oil for added flavor. Sautee quartered artichoke hearts and capers in the oil until they are soft. I like to use marinated artichoke hearts. Capers have recently become a new obcession of mine so they may be featured in quite a few up coming posts. Add in some minced lemon grass, garlic, and a small pinch of ginger, do this to your taste. Sautee the mixure for a few more minutes in the oil, before adding four tablespoons of unsalted butter. Once the butter is melted add a dash of white wine and lemon juice. Season to taste, some suggested seasonings are garlic salt, sea salt, onion powder, lemon pepper, peppercorn, rosemary, mustard powder, and/or herb de providence. Taste sauce regularly and adjust juices and seasonings as needed to reach your desired level of acidity.

Once chicken is throughly cooked, remove from oven and top with white wine butter sauce, artichoke hearts, and capers. For an added garnish, you can sprinkle a pinch of fresh parmesean cheese on top. A sweet or crisp white wine would pair nicely with this dish.

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Do It Your Self

Filed under: Cucumber, Do It Your Self, Dressing, Drinks, Food, Garlic, Ginger, Italian, Oregano, Sea Salt, Seasoning, Wasabi — Leave a comment
September 24, 2012

There are probaby some products that you buy that are more luxury items than anything else. And if you are like me you proabably think to yourself…

“I really don’t need this….but it just tastes so good” or ” it just works so well”

Well some of those products you can do with out….. Because you can make them yourself!

I’m really big on flavored water. I never really could stand the taste of water by itself. I have tried everything! I recently started using Mio and that works pretty well for me…. Then I discovered Cucumber Water. This stuff is delicious! But oh so expensive….

There is a wonderful invention called the flavor inducer pitcher. This handy little device has a removable cylandar in the center that you fill up with fruit or veggies. Holes through out the cylandar allow the flavor to seep into the water.
The water gets just a little more than a hint of flavor, that is cool and refreshing. Not only does it save you money, but you can also be very certain that there are no additives or sugar substitutes.
I bought my pitcher for $20 at Bed Bath and Beyond, but they are available at several retailers and websites.

The 24 oz. bottle just to the right of the pitcher also comes in quite handy. It is BPA approved, is double walled to keep my water cold, and opens two different ways for easy refill.

If you like your water carbonated, I would also recommend buying a soda stream. Mine has been very useful in carbonating flavored water for me.

I recommend using filtered water. Also if you are interested in flavored teas, this pitcher is very helpful. I have found that it makes a wonderful peach tea.

I love to cook with flavor infused oils like these.
If you have ever seen them in the grocery store,
you know how expensive they can be. In fact
you may have not purchased them for that very
reason!

Making such flavored oils really isn’t that hard.
I suggest buying an oil bottle or dispensor that
has a small opening. Many of them do! Then
just fill the bottom of the bottle up with the
desired spices and pour oil in on top. I would
allow up to a week for flavors to set in well before
using. Here I minced several cloves of garlic and
added rosemary and rubbed sage. Paramsean and
Italian seasonings are also great for flavoring oil.
You can see what flavors your interested in by viewing
them in the store, then recreating them at home.

Dressings and marinades like this can be
expensive and fattening. Plus, you might
buy a bottle, and then never use it all before
it expires.

When you make your own, you not only control
what goes it, but also how much you make! It’s
really very simple to make your own dressings and
marinades, and you probably have just about all the
ingredients already anyway. Most of them require a
vinegar, an oil, a base like mustard or yogurt, and/or
spices. I bought this dressing maker bottle for $3 at
Target. It comes with several healthy recipes on the
bottle itself, not to mention the nurmerous ones posted
all over the internet!

These are just a few great ideas of how you can save money and be a little healthier by doing it your self!
I would love some recommendations from my readers!
What do you make yourself to keep from buying it in a store?

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Burgers, and Slammers, and Fries Oh My!

Filed under: Burgers, Food, Garlic, Irish, Potatoes, Quick and Easy, Sauce, Seasoning — Leave a comment
July 11, 2012

 

Five star dining is great, but sometimes you just want a nice, juicy burger. Am I right?

ideally you’d be throwing these bad boys on a charcoal flame grill on a nice sunny afternoon. Unfortunately, we don’t always have that luxury. Don’t lose hope though, because a good quality grill press or grill pan can get the job done just as well but with out the mosquitos and sun burn. 🙂

Here I made both full-sized burgers and slammers to accommodate the little ones. I premade the patties the night before and coated them in a mixture of Hidden Valley ranch dip mix and steak dry rub. Even though they were cooked in the kitchen this really helped give them that fresh from the grill flavor. “Liquid Smoke” can help with this effect as well.

As a side I made steak fries. Now there are several ways to make french fries and everyone has their favorite. Mine might be a little fancier than most. I like to cut up my potatoes in thick slices and fry them just enough to get a slightly crispy edge. Then I lay them over a baking pan and lightly coat them with extra virgin olive oil and season with garlic, sea salt, rosemary, and a little Cajun seasoning. Then I bake them until they turn a nice golden brown. Find your own happy place when it comes to things that have no set path, even if it means throwing some frozen fries in the oven because you are short on time.

I’m Irish, and if you don’t know, I love to add an Irish flare to food when ever I can. French fries, or “chips” is always a perfect opportunity for a little flare. Here I have made a malt vinegar dipping sauce. It’s really simple and easy to make. Just a little malt vinegar, fresh garlic, sea salt, ground sage, and just a pinch of ground mustard. Always seasoned to taste. And don’t just limit this to the fries because it can really give that burger an extra kick too! 🙂

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Independence Day Ribs

Filed under: Beer, Food, Oven Bag, Ribs, Seasoning — Leave a comment
July 7, 2012

*Sorry this has taken so long. I have had some technical issues.*

Finally! The full post for my Independence Day Ribs!

 

Beer makes an excellent marinade! First I seasoned the ribs with sea salt and garlic then submerged them in Abita Restoration Ale. I let them soak in the ale over night, approximately 12 hours.

Some other good suggestions for marinating with beer are pretty much any Abita, Kirin, Shiner Bock, and Killians.

 

 

 

 

First thing in the morning, I removed the ribs from the bowl of Abita Ale. I placed the ribs, single layer in a Reynolds Oven Roasting Bag and coated them in a dry rub.

This should be done to taste. Use your favorite dry rub or one that will go with your chosen sauce the best.

 

 

After cooking in the oven on low heat for an hour and a half, the ribs came out fall a part tender. I had to use a spoon and tongs just to turn them over to coat in sauce. I carefully moved the ribs from the oven bag to the baking pan and coated them in my own mixture of sauce. I made a blend of a few sauces, combined with a little seasoning.

This is where you can have a little creative fun. Play around with sauces and flavors. Try something new!

Paired with baked beans, garlic mash potatoes, and cold beverage, these melt in your mouth ribs were definitely the hero of this meal!

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