Open Faced Chicken Parm Sandwich

I've made this quite a few times and have never blogged it. Not too sure why but naturally on the night I decide to, I don't have the recommended Mozzarella cheese. Meh... I cooked it anyway.

The most crucial ingredient to this tasty dish is, quite honestly, the bread. Not to discount the intricacies of the cheese you use or the marinara sauce, but the bread makes a real difference with each meal. This time around I chose a Rosemary and Olive Oil Round loaf and I'll be on hunt for that guy again.

Ingredients:

• 2 precooked chicken breasts. I poach mine rather than grill.
• Marinara sauce
• 2 cups of raw spinach
• Artisan bread
• Shredded cheese (cheddar works better than mozzarella for my tastes)
• Grated Parmesan

I start by cutting the bread in half. Take one of the halves and slice it lengthwise. Hollow out each of these halves by scraping out all the bread that can easily be removed. This will serve as the bed for your chicken.

Coat each bed in a layer marinara sauce and rest a chicken breast on top. It took me a few times before I figured out that you don't want your piece of chicken to be amazingly thick. I now cut the breasts in half lengthwise and rest them side by side. Trust me, it makes for more enjoyable eating. For my sandwiches I put some sliced red onion on at this point but I leave that off of Holly's.

Cover each breast with a cup of raw spinach and coat with more marinara sauce. The object here is to put enough on top to prevent the spinach from roasting in the broiler. Sprinkle with as much shredded cheese as you wish and top off with the grated Parmesan.

Broil for 4-5 minutes and server. You won't be disappointed. Remember, the bread is the key. It can infuse a flavor you might otherwise miss out on.

And yes... those are cans of Tecate Light in the upper right. Sometimes a man just feels like slumming it. And before you insult my choice consider that I didn't buy Natty Light.

Red Curry with Pork

Made this before and you can find the recipe under my August 2010 post Kaeng Muu Phrik Thai Orn. I still haven't gotten my hands on any green peppercorns but that doesn't stop me from charging ahead. I decided not to substitute any amount of whole black peppercorns this time.

Remember me commenting before that I like to put some TV on while I cook? This time it was the first two episodes of The Apprentice rather than a Bourdain. I'm also a slave to The Apprentice as it not only entertains me but gives me great ideas for planning lessons at school. So with The Apprentice playing, a Fat Tire in my glass and my apron on, I hit the kitchen.

One thing I changed this time was the type of eggplant. My local guy didn't have any Thai eggplant (much to my dismay) so I used regular purple eggplant cut into cubes. I wasn't sure how it would taste so I also tossed in about 1/4 cup of chopped green onions. The onions were a great addition.

The photo leaves something to be desired as the plastic container doesn't make you ooh and aww but suffice to say, it was very tasty. I'm looking forward to a few days of this being my lunch.

One other thing I'm proud of is the fact that I cooked this dish AND the Black Bean and Tomato Soup simultaneously... both to perfection. My skills are improving.

Black Bean and Tomato Soup

I made this soup last week and never really got to have any as Holly loved it so much she claimed it for her lunches. Round two ensured that I got some for lunch today and oh man... she's right.

Ingredients:

• 3 Large Tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 Large red onion, cut into large slices
• 3 whole, peeled, garlic cloves
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 can black beans
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

Preheat the oven to 375F

In a large bowl mix together the tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves, oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 pepper. Get everything nice and coated. I actually added a bit more salt at this point just because I like salt. Put it all on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 40 minutes, stirring the mixture at about 20 mins in. You want the tomato to be collapsing in on itself and the edges of the onion to be browning.

Toss the mixture into a large saucepan, add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

If you have an immersion blender, start immersioning (yes, I made that up). If you're like me then you'll want to put small batches into your normal blender and set to puree. I break mine up into 4 batches.

Pour straight from the blender to the bowls, garnishing each with your favorite hot sauce and some fresh cilantro and Italian parsley leaves. Win!

Rich's Famous Roaster

I defy you to not devour this chicken like a lion at an open buffet of zebra meat.

The urge came over me about 10 minutes before leaving work to roast a chicken. No real reason. It turns out that Rich Hovey has his own recipe that Cherie swears by. A quick stop at the market on the way home (thanks for the ride cherm) and I had everything I needed.

I call this "Rich's Famous Roaster" because (most of) the marinade and the stuffing are his idea.

Preheat the oven to 375F and get your roasting pan ready.

After cleaning the chicken I rubbed it with a mixture of the following:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tsp sea salt
• 3 minced garlic cloves (I loves me the garlic)
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 stripped sprig of fresh rosemary

As my hand gently massaged the marinade into the happily awaiting carcass and rested ever so gently into the roasting pan, I diverted my attention to an episode of No Reservations (Street Food from season 7). I'm a true fan of Anthony Bourdain and love to Netflix up an episode when I cook. Back to the prep, however.

Once the chicken was properly sexed up I tossed a full sprig under the chicken and got out the cutting board. I crammed... yes Moe... "crammed," a full sliced apple and pear into the beast as a stuffing and began to salivate just anticipating the eventual onslaught of flavor.

The last thing I did was quarter 4 gold potatoes and smash 2 shallots (not sliced), scattering them around chicken. Garnish with a crushed garlic clove (skin on) in each corner and toss that baby in the preheated oven.

Pork with Coriander Leaves and Chilli

Time to cook dinner and looking over what rested in the fridge, I decided to make a shrimp recipe but with the pork I had defrosted. I'm stoked on this recipe. Anthony Bourdain has many things to say about food, most of which I agree with him on. His love for pork and for meats cooked on a stick transcend to my own and with that said, I loved this dish before I even began preparing it.

Check out those beauties just waiting to be broiled. The marinade is simple to make.

In a flat and shallow bowl combine the following:

• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (next time I'll use 1/2 tsp)
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp light soy
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper

Cut up the pork into skewer sized bit, soak in the marinade for about 5 minutes and then jam it on the stick. I put about 4 or 5 pieces on each skewer.

Preheat your grill or broiler (I used broiler) and cook, turning about halfway through. At these small sizes it only took about 12 minutes for the pork to cook thoroughly.

As these were cooking I made one of my favorite and fast stir fry recipes, Stir-Fried Broccoli with Oyster Sauce, the recipe for which is quite simple:

• Blanch about 12oz of broccoli for 2 to 3 mins
• Drain thoroughly
• Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a wok and fry 2 cloves of minced garlic until light brown.
• Toss in the broccoli and
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp lite soy
• Stir fry for about 2 mins over high heat.

Dinner is done. The whole process took about 20 mins.

Sunday, Cooking Sunday

Due to the events of last weekend, no cooking got done around here. Although I had an amazing time performing at Dana Point and a wonderful time at Disneyland with my nephew, I missed the home-cooked lunches once it was time to get back to work. Rich could tell things were nad when I brought a cheese sandwich for lunch on Friday.

So today it was back to a couple of basics and my first attempt at something new. I was behind on my episodes of Master Chef so I not only had the finale to watch but a bit more. That put me in the mood to keep the recipes coming.

10am rousted me from the couch and I made up a batch of ratatouille. Nothing new was added to the recipe this time around with the exception of shallots which I tossed in last time for flavor. If you haven't cooked with shallots you're missing out.

After the ratatouille was my first attempt at tomato and black bean soup. This came out wonderfully. You start by roasting tomatoes, onion quarters and garlic cloves for about 40 mins at 375 (I also added 2 shallots to the blend) and then transferring them to a 4-qt pot. Add 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth, chili powder, ground coriander and salt and simmer it all for about 15 mins. Once it was done I blended it in the blender and and added some of that great garlic pepper sauce that Trent bought me from Gilroy. This is supposed to Holly's lunch food for a couple of days but I'm fairly certain a serving will find it's way into my lunch bag as it tasted amazing.

Lastly, I made up some of my increasingly awesome green curry with chicken. I added 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 1/2 diced onion this time around and I'm pleased with the decision. Holly tried the coconut milk before hand and decided that it was "gross" so that means more curry for me.

What are you guys cooking?

Shrimp Won Ton Soup

I'll begin by saying this is waaaay better than any won ton soup I've ever had at a restaurant. The most difficult part of the whole procedure, also the most fun, was the making of the won tons.

I chopped up about a 1/2 pound of small shrimp, mixed it together with garlic and white pepper and started stuffing the won tons. At that point the phone rang so I decided to wash dishes while chatting. While washing my chopping knife I managed to slice my finger. Rather than get mad I remember saying, "Well, I guess I know my new knives are sharp."

After some quick triage it was back work. As you can see from the photo, it came out looking pro. I added in some slivered green onions, bamboo sprouts, spinach and a lot of flavor. One serving was definitely enough to satisfy.

Kaeng Karii Kai, Master Chef and my old friend Stella

Third time making my "Yellow Curry with Chicken" and it just gets better each go around. The first two times followed the recipe right out of the book with the only deviation being seeded bird's eye chilies to replace the green peppercorns that I can't find anywhere around here (Internet here I come). The book I primarily use is The Food of Thailand: A Journey for Food Lovers, Whitecap Publishing.

After cracking open a Stella and queuing up the latest Master Chef, I got right to work. One thing I enjoy about cooking Thai is the prep work that goes into it. Slicing meat, measuring liquids and chopping veggies can be very therapeutic as you watch it all come together bowl after bowl. The anticipation of what it's all about to become gives me great satisfaction. Once it's all cut and placed in small bowls, I fire up the wok and make some magic.

Yellow curry isn't the most colorful of the varieties as the turmeric color of the mixture tends to, well, yellow everything. Who cares about color... it's damned good. I'll include the process below but the ingredients are simple: chicken thigh, yellow curry paste, coconut milk and bamboo shoots would be the primary ingredients if I made it right from the book but I added Thai eggplant because I love it and the decision was the right one. Not too spicy but full of a flavor that lingers, is a dish that I will continue to make.

Recipe (italics are my additional notes or ingredients):

Put 1/4 cup of coconut cream in a wok on medium heat and cook until the oil separates and forms a layer on top. The book calls for 5 mins but it only takes about 1 min on my stove.

Add 2 tbsp (I go for 3) of yellow curry paste and stir well, cooking until fragrant. Add 1 tbsp Fish sauce, 2 tbsp palm sugar (the more you add the sweeter it'll be) and 1/4 tsp of turmeric. Cook until the mixture is darkened.

Throw in 1# of thin sliced chicken thigh (the thigh is much better than breast when it comes to this recipe). Mix the chicken around well to ensure that every last bit is coated in the sauce. Now cook for about 5 minutes or until your chicken is thoroughly cooked. Throughout this 5 minutes add in a full can of coconut milk about 1 tbsp at a time. Just keep adding until the can is empty.

Here is where I deviated a little. Once all the coconut milk was added I tossed in about 1# of Thai eggplant, cut in quarters, to allow it to soften while the chicken cooked.

I also chose to add 4 bird's eye chilies, seeded during the "chicken" phase.

Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the curry is simmering, add 3oz of finely sliced bamboo shoots, 12 Thai basil leaves and 6 to 10 kaffir leaves. Simmer for 5 more minutes and you're all set.

Serve alone or over 1/4 cup of jasmine rice.

Savory Peach Chicken

Both simple and fun to make, I have to say that it came out with a lot of flavor. Holly picked this from our cook book So Easy (p 143) with the intention of making it. Since her work schedule sucks, I took it upon myself to whip this up.

While prepping the dish I put on an episode of No Reservations to get me in a foody mood. There is nothing quite like Anthony Bourdain's narrations on exotic foods to get my corpuscles loosened and my hands ready to chop and cook. Tonight's episode was London/Edinburgh. Given the focus of the show it made me crave haggis.

Back to the dinner. Whole chicken breasts, lots of peach quarters and a quick mix of oriental flavorings combined to make what actually turned out to be a very savory dish. I made the command decision to add spring onions right at the end because lets face it, spring onions make everything better. Seriously. Served over a bed of brown rice, I was eating this dish at break neck speed. The warm peaches coated in the brown sugar sauce were very welcome on this warm San Luis night.

I'm enjoying doing a lot more cooking than heating. We've spent years buying a lot of frozen this and frozen that but veggies from the freezer aisle cannot substitute for the fresh, organic broccoli that accompanied tonight's meal. The downside to making this change of course is timeliness. Twice now my coriander has wilted beyond flavor in the fridge because I didn't get to it in time and that's irritating. I'm thinking trips to the market need to be more frequent and Thursday night at Farmers needs to be reserved for items that I'll be cooking by Sunday night.

Until next time!