Maple-Nut Chicken

I have really gotten into maple syrup in the last couple years, and I'm not talking about putting it on pancakes or waffles.  I've been using it a lot in baking (it's the binder/sweetener in my Nutty Granola) but I haven't really used it much when I cook.  And it certainly never occurred to me to use it in a savory dish.

Maple syrup as savory?  Maple syrup for dinner??

Oh yes, you can.

Maple-Nut Chicken
Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts [if you have gigantor ones, cut them in half; I used 5oz breasts]
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp EVOO
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

1.  Preheat EVOO a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Pat chicken dry and liberally (I'm serious.  Don't be shy now) season with salt and pepper.  Brown chicken on both sides until golden.  Remove to a plate and keep warm.

Love that golden color

2.  Drain all but 1 tbsp of fat from the pan.  Return to heat and add the vinegar, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add the chicken stock and syrup and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer a minute to thicken slightly.

Not ingredients I'd normally pair together

3.  Return chicken to the pan and add the nuts.  Spoon a little sauce over each piece, slightly cover the pan, and simmer for about 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

A little sweet, a little nutty, a LOT good!

I have to admit I was a little skeptical about the combination of maple syrup and vinegar, but I like both so I was willing to give it a try.  You actually cannot even taste the vinegar in this sauce!  As the sauce reduces and thickens, the syrup gets sweeter, richer, and coats the chicken in it's lovely golden brown stickiness.  The nuts, whether you use walnuts or pecans, add another depth of flavor to the dish, as well as give this fabulous crunch. 

Basil Pesto

Would you believe that I didn't really know what pesto was until my post-college years?  Yeah, pretty crazy.

The recipe that changed everything

Rob and I hadn't been married that long, and I was just beginning to get into my crazed I-need-to-try-a-new-recipe-practically-everyday kick.  So there was this baked pasta dish that just looked amazing and oh-so-simple.  Yet the key ingredient was this foreign concoction called Pesto.  I scoured the grocery store looking for it, and when I eventually found it, was horrified to see a half inch worth of oil at the top of the jar.  Did this mean that Pesto was an oily ingredient??  Ack!  You may recall that excessive amounts of oil and I do not get along.

Beautiful leafy basil

I went ahead and bought the oily jar as it was the only one I could find and I really wanted to make that recipe.  The dish was meh...ok, but I was too scared to eat very much of it because of all that oil in the pesto.  I decided that maybe Pesto wasn't all it was cracked up to be because with that much oil in it, I certainly wouldn't be eating very much of it.

Until I found this recipe.  Oh my dear graciousness.  THIS is what Pesto is all about!

Basil Pesto
Recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger

1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 garlic clove
3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup EVOO
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1.  In a small dry skillet, toast the walnuts until fragrant.  Add to a food processor along with the garlic.  Pulse until finely chopped.

Make sure these are finely chopped BEFORE adding the rest. Trust me.

2.  Add the basil, Parmesan, and lemon juice.  Process until very finely minced.  With the machine running, slowly pour the oil in a steady stream through the feed tube and process until well blended.  Season with salt and pepper.

I could drink this with a straw.  Is that weird?  Oh well!

You can use it immediately, store it in a container to work with later, or do what I do.  I fill an ice cube tray with it and freeze it.  Each cube is roughly 1 tablespoon and I use it all winter long in a variety of dishes.

One recipe fills about half a tray

This pesto is AH-MAY-ZING!!  Not too oily, it has a super bright flavor with the basil and lemon juice, but mellows out as you eat it with this rich, nutty background from the walnuts.  Finally, I can have all the benefits, all the wonderful flavor, of Pesto without making my stomach obscenely angry with me. 

Cherry Brown Betty

It's cherry season!!!

Omg they're like Nature's rubies

Did you know that cherries are really only in season for about a month out of the year?  Now is the time to TAKE ADVANTAGE.  But how?  That's usually my problem.  I'm a happy camper just having a bowl full of rinsed cherries sitting on the counter for me to nosh on throughout the day.  I've never cooked or baked with fresh cherries because, well, honestly it's because of the pits.

I'd love to cook more with fresh cherries, but who wants to spend their day cutting pits out of cherries??  Um, not me.  But, before I rush out and get a lovely cherry pitting gadget, I'll go ahead and take the time to do this with an ordinary paring knife.  Plus, I have very badly wanted to try making a Cherry Brown Betty for several months and now was the time I was going to do it!

Y. U. M.

The recipe I found that inspired me, when I went to look at it again I was flabbergasted at the amount of butter and sugar involved.  Cherries are sweet already...do I really need to add That Much brown sugar on top of that natural sweetness??

Actually, no.  I happen to also have a recipe for an apple brown betty that uses FAR less sugar and butter.  So I decided to get creative and combine the two.

Cherry Brown Betty
Recipe inspired by Joy the Baker and So Easy

2 to 2 1/2 cups pitted cherries
4 slices whole wheat bread
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup walnuts

1.  In a food processor, combine the wheat bread, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Pulse until well-combined and the bread slices become bread crumbs.  Add the melted butter and vanilla, pulsing until the mixture looks like wet sand.

Or give the bread a head start before adding the sugar & cinnamon

2.  In a shallow baking dish or pie plate, layer the bread mixture and cherries a few times.  I think I did three layers of each.  Top with walnuts (and, if you like the extra sweet, just a slight scattering of more brown sugar).

Probably could have chowed down on this without baking

3.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Fact: I ate this for breakfast topped with yogurt.  Nope, not ashamed about that one bit!

Old School Brownies with Walnuts

I had a realization yesterday: Fat Tuesday is upon us.  What???  Already??  How can it already be Fat Tuesday??  Now, I'm not a big Mardi Gras person but I do like to have fun with Fat Tuesday and bringing all kinds of goodies into work.  It just makes the day extra fun, extra special, and gives everyone something to look forward to.  Gotta love Fat Tuesday

So now what do I do?  For some reason "DESSERT" kept popping into my head but I hadn't planned on making any crazy special desserts this week.  Brownies would be good but I didn't have any mixes at home.  ..........wait a minute.  What's in a mix?  Flour, leavening agent, salt, sugar, cocoa powder.  What have I got in the pantry at home because I just happen to love to bake oh-so-much?  Flour, various leavening agents, salt, sugar, cocoa powder.  YESSSS!!  It sounds crazy but I could totally make brownies from scratch!  Yes, I know.  I sound crazy.  I suppose I could have stopped by the store quick and grabbed a box of my trusty Betty Crocker but, come on, where's the fun in that?  And this is Fat Tuesday we're talking about here.  I wanted something special.  I dug through my recipes quick and came up with this little gem that I'd tucked away almost exactly a year ago.

The contents of my double boiler: butter, cocoa, coffee

Brace yourself.  These. Are. GOOD.  And the only way they are possibly good for you is that they make you happy.  Happy is good, right?  Be happy.  Make these.

Old School Fudge Brownies with Walnuts

Recipe from Joy the Baker

 

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup butter

2 Tablespoons strong coffee or water

1 2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate bar 

NOTE: When it comes to nuts or chocolate chips in my baked goods, I don't measure.  ;)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan. 

2.  Combine butter and cocoa powder in a small bowl, and place over a pot of simmering water. Make sure that the simmering water down not touch the bottom of the bowl (you only need an inch or so of water; just enough to boil and get some good steam going). Add the coffee or water and stir to melt the ingredients. 

This is what happens when butter, cocoa, and steam meet.  It's ok to drool.

3.  In a medium sized bowl whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Add the vanilla extract. When the butter and chocolate have melted and come together, slowly stir the chocolate mixture into the sugar mixture.

Sugar, meet eggs. Eggs, meet sugar.

4.  Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Fold in the nuts, saving a small handful for the top of the brownies if you like. 

Brownies are better with nuts.  Yes, I'm in That Camp.

5.  Pour the batter in the pan, sprinkle with chocolate chips or chocolate chunks and remaining nuts. Bake for 18-25 minutes. 

There are no words for this one.  Just drool.

6.  Remove from pan and cut into bars.

These fulfilled every rich, decadent, sinful wish I was looking for in a Fat Tuesday recipe.  Would I make these every time I wanted brownies?  No.  But they are WORTH IT for that special occasion where you just want to step it up a notch.  Or two.  Mine came out extra fudgy-like so that they were pretty a cross between a brownie and a piece of fudge.  Totally amazing.

Granola Bars

Playgroup Granola Bar

I received an interesting request based off my granola post last week.  Loose granola is great, but do I have any granola bars recipes?  Hmmm, to be honest I'd never really thought about making my own granola bars and I'm really not sure why.  I love granola bars!  They have all the goodness I love about granola but in this handy little To-Go package.  I realize that I don't very often buy granola bars because of the price, plus I don't love all the sugar that's typically in most of the bars I can afford.  What's a girl to do?

Time to research some recipes!!

I found two that looked intriguing so over the weekend I made them both, hoping to whittle it down to one that I could share with y'all.  Um...ran into a little "snag" though....we ended up liking both recipes!  The first I found on AllRecipes.com and is SUPER easy to put together and PERFECT for any little budding Food Network Stars you have running around your house.

Playgroup Granola Bars are wonderful if you need some snacks on-hand but are short on time.  There's no chopping involved; just toss everything into the bowl and mix up with your hands.  How easy is that??  And because it bakes in a 9x13 pan, you'll have quite a few bars to stack up in your pantry.  I also really like this recipe for it's flexibility.  I feel like I can play around with adding other ingredients (nuts, chocolate chips...) or making swaps (craisins for raisins?) without significantly affecting the finished bar.  One change I will definitely play with is cutting back on the sweetness.  These bars are great but almost taste like an oatmeal raisin cookie to me.  So I may dabble with cutting back the amount of brown sugar in my own variations.  Definitely try this one out though and see what you think of it!

The other bar I tried is absolutely one I'll make again, and possibly double the recipe!  It's a Walnut-Cherry bar and sooooo yummy!!  I could be biased though because walnuts are my favorite nut and who doesn't love cherries?  There is some chopping and toasting involved with this one so it's a smidge less kid-friendly than the previous recipe.  It also doesn't make as many bars so if quantity is your goal I recommend doubling this.  On the bright side, this one has way less sugar but does not sacrifice on that yummy sweet taste, thanks to the cherries.

Walnut-Cherry Bars
Recipe adapted from So Easy


1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1 large egg white
3/4 cup chopped dried tart cherries
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
Cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, and salt.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the honey, applesauce, oil, egg, and egg white until well combined.  Stir in the oat mixture until well combined.  Add the dried cherries and walnuts.

3. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.  Spread the mixture in the prepared pan and back until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.  Cool and cut into bars (recommended: 12 bars).

 

Walnut & Dried Cherry Bar

I always know I did something good in the kitchen if 1) my son INHALES the result, and 2) my husband asks me to make it again (actually, he usually says something like "you can make these again").  So guess what I'll be stocking in my pantry from now on. ;)

Nuts about Granola!

I love granola...especially with raisins and nuts.  Granola is crunchy.  Granola is filling.  Granola can be a fancy dessert (think fresh fruit yogurt parfait).  Granola can be a simple Tuesday morning breakfast (think bowl and milk).  Granola can also be expensive.  Sometimes I'd walk through the cereal aisle, checking out what might be on sale, and if I saw any box of granola for under $3 I'd do a MAJOR happy dance.  Really?  $3?  Wow, pathetic.  Oh and then there's the organic aisle.  Can't forget the granolas in the organic aisle...I discovered this one that had almonds and dark chocolate in it that is to DIE for!  And I almost died over the price too.  Why does all of the tasty good-for-you stuff have to be so damn expensive???  Argh!

Yeah, I'm freaking out over a breakfast cereal.  Sorry about that.  I get a little excited about this sometimes.  I did warn you about that right?  Right. 

So granola was at one time relegated to a luxury item in our house, something only purchased when on extreme sale.  And then I was looking through one of my favorite cookbooks and stumbled across Nutty Granola.

Not only is this recipe easy, quick, and healthy, but it's DELICIOUS and CHEEEEAAAAP!

3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
[Did you notice the lack of a fat ingredient, like butter or oil?  Yeah, I did]

1. Preheat oven to 300.

2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and toss to combine.

3. Spread mixture on a lightly greased baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once.

4. Let cool and store in an airtight container.  If you're lucky this will last a week.  If you're in my house and have a granola-crazy son in addition to your own granola-crazy self, I give it about 3 days.