It was a good weekend. One with just the right amount of fun and relaxation. It involved cooking, an evening of shopping for kitchen tools, some hanging out with friends, and lots of time with Husband.
It included Dutch Blitz, a new friend, a new recipe, and playing with new kitchen toys.
And it definitely had dessert. Really yummy homemade Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pudding. Made by a friend who surprised me with his cooking talents.
And it involved not doing the dishes because others volunteered.
Last modified on 2013-01-29 02:05:41 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
Chicken Cordon Bleu avec Moutarde
Recipe Type: Main, Chicken, Meat, Poultry
Cuisine: French
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Chicken Cordon Bleu with a twist – mustard!
Ingredients
6 chicken breasts
6 slices of prosciutto
12 slices of gruyère cheese
2 T dijon mustard
salt
pepper
paprika
flour
1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 to 1 C water
lemon juice
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Slice chicken almost all the way through, lengthwise, creating a flap. Stuff with 2 pieces of gruyère and 1 piece of prosciutto. Close flap and spread the top with dijon, a sprinkle of salt, pepper, paprika, and flour.
Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Pour in water. Place chicken in pan, mustard side up.
Bake for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan and bake 15-20 minutes more (or until chicken reaches 175F).
Tuesdays and Wednesdays tend to be the busiest of my weekdays. I’m usually pretty tired at the end of the day. I try to plan our menu accordingly, but this week I had something on the menu that wasn’t super quick or easy. So when it was 6pm and I was just barely finished working, I decided to make a quicker version of what I’d originally planned.
I had about a zillion heads of cabbage.
I’m not kidding. There’s even some in the freezer.
I also had two chicken thighs that were kinda defrosted. Thanks to Bari Olive Oil Company, I always have good quality olive oil. I also like to have things like dijon mustard, garlic, onion, and balsamic vinegar on hand. That pretty much makes up our dinner. Oh, and there’s butter. Mmm, butter.
I was going to say that this is not the healthiest meal ever… But, as I look at the ingredients, I might stop myself.
Because it’s homemade, so I know what’s in it. I recognize all the ingredients. And, it’s not deep fried, which is another plus. There’s definitely a place in my life for deep fried (deep fried Oreos at the fair!). Just not every day.
I know how some people feel about things like butter and oil. (Did you ever see that SNL Weekend Update segment where Kristen Wiig does an impersonation of Paula Dean? I think it’s funny.) People are concerned about calorie and fat consumption. I get it. But, I enjoy both as a part of a healthy, balanced approach to eating. I’d rather have the real thing and be mindful about what I’m eating than have something that’s mostly filler and empty calories.
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, or know me personally, you’re probably aware that this is my approach to eating. It doesn’t have to be yours. If it’s not, we can definitely still be friends. And, rest assured, I will still eat ice cream and In-n-Out on occasion. I will also eat lots of amazing, seasonal fruits and vegetables, organic meats, cheeses, oils, nuts… food. Good food.
Now that’s how I like to eat.
Oh, and to my friend, Kari, I wish you could come over for dinner too. Since you live far away, here’s the recipe. 🙂
Last modified on 2013-01-26 00:19:26 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Crispy Dijon Chicken Thighs
Recipe Type: Main, Stove Top, Meat, Chicken
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
2 chicken thighs
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 T dijon mustard, divided
1-2 T flour
salt
pepper
Instructions
Spread 1/4 T dijon over one side of each chicken thigh. Season it with salt and pepper. Sprinkle it with flour.
Heat skillet. Add olive oil. When hot, shake excess flour from chicken and place in pan, mustard side down.
Top each thigh with remaining mustard, salt, pepper, flour, and 1 T butter. Place lid on pan and cook over low heat for 8-10 minutes. Flip and cook 8-10 minutes more, or until chicken reaches 180F.
Last modified on 2013-02-20 21:02:02 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
Hot Napa Slaw
Recipe Type: Side, Salad, Hot, Vegetables
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
1/2 large napa cabbage, chopped
1/2 T dijon mustard
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot (about 1 C), chopped
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 t salt
pepper
1/4 C water
1 T olive oil
2 T butter
Instructions
Heat pan. Add butter and oil and let it brown (be careful that it doesn’t burn). Add shallot and salt, cook 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
Turn heat to low and add cabbage, vinegar, pepper, dijon, and water. Stir. Cook covered, for 10-20 minutes, or until cabbage is tender, stirring occasionally.
I love soup. I love winter and cold weather. Since it’s been pretty chilly here (although not yesterday… it was 80F… where I grew up, it was 70 degrees colder. I’m sorry.), I’ve been making lots of soups. This makes me happy. Last week some friends were over for dinner. I made a Roasted Vegetable Soup. They really liked it and asked for the recipe. So I thought that since we’re getting lots of the veggies that go in this type of soup in our Abundant Harvest Organics box, I’d make it for the show.
It’s full of yummy goodness. Squash, rutabaga, carrots, and sweet potatoes contain vitamin A, niacin, folic acid, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
You might need to eat less of this soup than you’d think to feel full.
It tastes great with croutons on top. Crunchy almonds, and/or crispy bacon are also a good option.
1 watermelon radish (or 1/4 Korean daikon radish), quartered
1 rutabaga (or 1 large turnip), peeled, if desired, cut in 6 pieces
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1-2 t salt
pinch pepper
pinch cayenne
pinch nutmeg
pinch ginger
1 C milk
5 C water (or vegetable stock)
1 t maple syrup
2 t lemon juice (or balsamic vinegar)
croutons, for topping
parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Drizzle garlic with olive oil and wrap in foil. Toss remaining veggies with olive oil. Place on two baking sheets and roast (flipping once partway through, if desired), for 60-75 minutes (radish, garlic, yams, onion, and rutabaga may take the lesser amount of time). Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Scrape squash pulp from skin, squeeze garlic from skin.
Heat soup pot. Add butter and brown (watch it so it doesn’t burn). Add veggies to browned butter, along with olive oil, and seasonings. Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add water and bring to a boil. Turn heat off, add milk, maple syrup, and lemon juice. Blend with hand blender (or in a regular blender – be sure to remove the plug from the lid and cover with a clean towel) until smooth. Add more water if it’s too thick. Taste, adjust seasoning if desired. Return to heat and cook a few minutes more, but don’t boil.
Serve topped with croutons (cubed bread, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, baked at 350F for 10-15 minutes).
Five years ago I didn’t know what a Rutabaga was. I’d never tried Mustard Greens, Collard Greens, Kale, or Swiss Chard. Fennel, Endive, Beets, and Arugula were foreign to me. I wasn’t picky, I just didn’t know about these foods and had no real reason to try them.
And then we signed up for a weekly delivery of fresh produce, through Abundant Harvest Organics. A whole new world of food was opened up to us. We got to know all of these ingredients real quick.
The main way I learned to cook with them was by adding them, substituting with them, in new and old dishes. At this point in my culinary journey, I was discovering just how much I loved to cook, so it was relatively easy to play with our food.
About a year ago, I invested in a book called The Flavor Bible. It has been a tremendous help in knowing what foods and flavors will go well together. I think I have a pretty good sense, in general, but it’s great to have a resource that I can turn to. It’s also given me some ideas for flavor combinations that have led to new recipes. My Red Cabbage and Apple Tarts and Wowza Steak Salad happened because I was researching cabbage, I think, and all these ideas came to me when I saw the list of complementary flavors. It’s fun!
This past year things like Black Spanish Radishes, Korean Daikon Radishes, Komatsuna (Japanese Mustard Spinach), Sinqua (Chinese Okra), and Yellow Watermelons have surprised me. I was tentative, at first, with some (Sinqua!), and pleasantly surprised with many of them (singua in Ratatouille!).
If you’re new (or a vetran!) to this lifestyle, please ask for help if you don’t know what to do with your rutabagas! I have an “Ask Rachel” section on here, or you can email me (demacuisine@racheloberg.com), or visit me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. I love to come up with meal ideas, so I hope you will take me up on this!
If you’re really stuck, I offer a menu planning service. I’ll plan a weekly or monthly dinner menu for you, with links to recipes or without (there’s a small price difference). It’s available to you. All you have to do is ask! (I can even plan it around the AHO box, if you’re a subscriber! Or, if you subscribe to another type of CSA, I can work with that list too.)
Since we get a weekly AHO box, that’s what I plan our menus around. Last week, in the post with episode 51, I shared a list of ideas for things to cook with the contents of the AHO box. It’s a different approach from the menus I was doing last year. But, I’m planning to continue to do it this way and hope you find it useful and helpful!
Today, amidst the busyness, I’m taking time to reflect on this day one year ago. My Oma died that day. And while life has gone on, we continue to survive, remember, cherish; I was right, it isn’t the same.
We visited my family over Christmas. It was wonderful. But, there was a huge hole where Oma and Opa should have been. My dad reminisced about how they, especially as they became older, their hearing less sharp, would just sit, with quiet smiles on their faces, watching their family. Content. So happy to be with us.
Photos of them decorate our home. I have one, in my kitchen, of Oma and Opa when they were much younger. It’s one of my favorites. Maybe second only to the one I took the last time we saw my Opa, when we visited to say goodbye. They were married for 61 years, and the look on their faces shows me that it was the kind of love that movies are made about. No, not the romantic comedies. The real, tough, make it through anything kind. The real life love stories.
Amidst the sorrow, there was joy. My parents became Oma and Opa to my precious niece. It’s so fun to see them love on their granddaughter. And, I can’t help but wonder what my own grandparents were like with us, in our early years. Did they act as silly? Would they make just about any face for a smile? Did they hold us tight and rock us to sleep. I know the answer to this. It has to be yes. A thousand times, yes.
It was a good weekend. One with just the right amount of fun and relaxation. It involved cooking, an evening of shopping for kitchen tools, some hanging out with friends, and lots of time with Husband.
