Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Chicken and Pancetta

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Chicken and Pancetta is another recipe based on one in Woman’s World magazine (November 21, 2011). I began reading WW a few months ago and mostly like it for the foods and the crossword puzzles. Crossword puzzles are supposed to be good for your brain as you get older. My aging brain can use all the help it can get!

I am truly a fan of Brussels Sprouts! They are one of my favorite veggies. And any vegetable that is roasted tastes 50% better than something boiled, steamed or microwaved.

I added chicken to the original recipe, just because I happened to have a small piece of it to be used up. It was a good decision.

WW created the recipe to serve 8. I halved it since it’s just me at the table. After several days of Brussels Sprouts, I had eaten it all and was thoroughly satisfied.





ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH CHICKEN AND PANCETTA
(Serves 4)

Ingredients...
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts only
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts
4 ounces chicken tenders
2 ounces pancetta, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 cup sweetened, dried cranberries



Directions...
(I like to prep my ingredients before preheating the oven. Your best bet is to read through the recipe and estimate how long prepping will take compared to how long it will take your oven to preheat.

1. Preheat oven to 425-degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cut each leek in half, lengthwise, then cut each half into 1-inch wide pieces. Wash leeks in a bowl of water, changing the water several times. Drain thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel.

3. Cut the hard end off each Brussels sprout and remove 1-2 outer leaves.

4. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. The pancetta is often sold in diced form; if not, this is the time to dice it.

5. In medium skillet, melt butter over low heat, then transfer to a large bowl.

6. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT CRANBERRIES to butter in bowl. Stir to thoroughly coat all ingredients.

7. Spread in single layer in an ungreased jellyroll pan.


8. Roast 20 minutes, then stir. Roast approximately 5 minutes more, or until sprouts are browned and pancetta is cooked through.

9. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cranberries and spoon into serving bowl.

To me this was a complete meal. If you are a family of 3 or four, you might want to add more chicken.



Absolutely delicious!


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Cooking with kids

Damian, 8, and Devon, 4 -- my grandsons -- came over last night while Mom and Dad were grocery shopping. I couldn't resist the opportunity to cook with them and take photos for Step by Step in the Kitchen.

My plans included cooking only two items. That's enough. Two kids in the kitchen and one item each should keep things simple.





Devon and I made Homemade Rich Chocolate Pudding. You can find the recipe on Bam's Kitchen, a food blog I recently discovered and to which I now subscribe. It's a fairly simple recipe to work on with a 4-year old as long as there is an adult to help keep the cocoa canister upright, remind the child to whisk/stir slowly, and to step in when things get hot!





Once all the pudding ingredients were on the counter, I set Damian to work making pancakes with Heart Smart Bisquick, skim milk, an egg and some leftover corn. As Devon and I mixed the ingredients for the pudding, I pulled out the Crisco and a piece of wax paper and explained to Damian that the pan would be hot enough to grease when he could sprinkle a few drops of water in it and see them sizzle. He used a lot of water, starting as soon as the burner was turned on!








Damian was quite independent in his pancake adventure so Devon and I made pudding. Bam’s directions are pretty simple. However, it’s like juggling when you’re watching two kids at work. The pudding’s first three minutes in the microwave (yeah, it’s that simple) went well, then we stirred and heated an additional minute at a time to thicken the pudding. After a couple of additional minutes, the pudding was getting hot -- though not thick enough yet -- so I did the stirring and Devon set the timer.

I never suspected a thing...



Meantime the pancakes were piling up...


Damian did a darn fine job!

Yum, corn pancakes with real maple syrup. Devon hasn’t quite mastered the art of pouring slowly and carefully. The syrup for my pancakes was the overflow from his plate! He did have fun finding the corn kernels, picking them out and eating them separate from his pancakes.

After supper, Damian dished up the pudding. Devon was busy playing.



Homemade pudding is so much better than boxed, store-bought stuff. By the way, Bam said this could be made with skim milk but is much better with whole. I happened to have skim and just under a cup of Half’n’half, so I combined them for an awesome result.

You can see Devon sampling his masterpiece at the beginning of this blog entry.

Damian testing the pudding...



Then he and I experimented, while Devon continued to play. I explained about crepes, thinned the batter a bit, and made my version of a crepe which he filled with chocolate pudding. A fine joint effort to end the evening.



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MUSHROOM GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

I absolutely love food blogs and am subscribed to about a dozen. Tis the season for cookies and other desserts, with a few “healthy” foods in between, for most of them. I have to admit to the same addiction to sweets for this Christmas season.

Today I’m going to back up a week or so to when I made the most delicious Mushroom Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I first saw this sandwich on Closet Cooking - a blog by Kevin in Canada. Be sure to take a look at what he has to offer. These men sure can cook and not just meat and potatoes!

You should see me when I try out someone else’s recipe. Unless I’m absotively sure I’ll be making the recipe numerous times (such as those that include chocolate), I run back and forth to my computer to find out what the next ingredient is and what to do with it.

Meantime, I have a notebook with me in the kitchen and I make notes on what I do different and what I discover about the original recipes.

According to my notebook, I made this sandwich twice. Kevin, if you can be decadent, I can be even more decadent. I’ll tell you and our readers about it in a minute. Meantime, here’s the original recipe and some photos of my version which is not as gooey, melty looking as Kevin’s.




Kevin’s Mushroom Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients...

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
1/4 cup white wine or broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon truffle oil (optional)
1 cup fontina or gruyere, shredded
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
4 slices bread
2 tablespoon butter


Directions...
Melt the butter and heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic and thyme and saute until fragrant, about a minutes.
Add the cremini mushrooms and saute until the start to caramelized and turn golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
Add the wine, deglaze the pan and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat and let cool a bit.
Mix the cheese into the mushrooms.
Butter one side of each slice of bread and place 2 in the pan buttered side down.
Top each with 1/4 of the mushroom mixture and finally the remaining slices of bread with the buttered side up.
Grill until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden brown, about 2-4 minutes per side.

Okay, so that’s Kevin’s version and here are my notes about my first endeavor:

*The gruyere was expensive, so I purchased the fontina. Good choice, a yummy cheese. The parmigiano reggiano was very expensive, so I ended up choosing a mix of parmigiano reggiano and pecorino romano.

*I made one sandwich the first time using a bit less than half the cheese. That’s a lot of cheese! My bread slices were big, so my version doesn’t overflow as much as Kevin’s did.

Here’s my first sandwich...


The next night, I made another sandwich. Be still, my heart. I added a bit of crushed red pepper flakes, just a small amount on the end of a teaspoon. I like a bite of heat, not an overwhelming mouthful. I also added a heaping tablespoon of cream cheese. That’s full fat cream cheese, not lite or fat free!


You’ll notice that the cheese did not melt as much as it did in the first sandwich. Probably because I took it out of the pan sooner than before so it wouldn’t get as brown.

So there you have it. If you’re not totally overloaded on coma-inducing, sugary treats and cholesterol-laden entrees, give Kevin’s Mushroom Grilled Cheese Sandwich a taste. Thanks, Kevin, for letting me use your idea!


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Christmas Candy Cane Cookies

Candy Cane Cookies have been a long-time tradition in my house. They started the year my son was born, thirty-nine years ago! When he grew up, I continued to make them and shipped them to him. Seems like I’ve sent them every Christmas, but I can’t swear to that.

This December my baby boy is celebrating his 21st year in the United States Air Force. Congratulations, Senior Master Sgt. His candy canes are packed in little tea tins and ready to pop in the mail tomorrow along with a few other goodies.



I know there are all sorts of recipes out there for these cookies, but I give full credit to Betty Crocker. Thanks Betty...

Ingredients...

1 cup plus 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon each vanilla and peppermint flavoring
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
red food coloring
peppermint candy


Directions...

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut parchment paper to fit cookie sheets. Best to use parchment so you don’t have to scrub the cookie sheets after baking each batch.
3. In large bowl, cream 1 cup (save the 2 T. for later) sugar and the softened butter.
4. Mix in milk, egg and flavorings.
5. Whisk together in medium bowl: flour, baking powder and salt. Add to liquid ingredients and mix well.
6. Divide dough in half and color one with the red food coloring.

7. Form long rolls with each color. I usually make up the cookie dough a week or two ahead of time, roll it up, wrap it in plastic and foil, and freeze it until I’m read to bake and mail.


8. Cut each roll into 16 pieces. Roll each piece separately to desired size; twist two colors together, place on cookie sheet and curve one end. Leave plenty of space around each cookie.

9. Bake 8 minutes, remove pan from oven. Sprinkle each cookies with a mixture made of 3 tablespoons of crushed peppermint candy canes and 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake 2 more minutes. Remove from oven and cool. At this point you’ll understand why I recommended using parchment paper. Not all the sugar and crushed candy stays on the cookies.


I forgot to count, but this recipe made 40 or 50 cookies.

Since I forgot to pick up some peppermint flavoring, I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

Experiment with the sizes and the way you shape your candy canes. Every year I seem to do them a bit differently. This year I took a piece of each dough, rolled them together, twisted them, and rolled them a bit more. Whatever works for you is okay.




Just to let you know what’s coming up, sometime, if I every catch up with my cooking... mushroom grilled cheese sandwiches, cranberry chocolate cheesecake, roasted butternut squash, and spinach brownies. That’s right, Spinach Brownies! A great appetizer for Christmas or New Year’s parties and not a drop of chocolate.

Merry Christmas!


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BAKE SALE SUCCESS

No ingredients, no directions today. Just some photos to induce drooling, like the Soft Orange Marmalade Cookies pictured above.





I spent the morning and part of the afternoon at a Senior Center Christmas Craft and Bake Sale. I actually didn’t bake anything. Sold some crafts I made instead.



Banana Bread


All those baked goodies looked so-o yummy that I couldn’t resist taking pictures and decided to send them your way. Maybe inspire you to look for some of the recipes needed to create these lovelies.



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread



Bite-sized frosted cookies



Frosted Cinnamon Buns



Apple Cake


The first part of the sale was slow, but eventually took off. All the Bake Sale items were sold, with people lining up trying to be the first to get the huge raspberry and blueberry pies which went for only $6!



Apple Pie, made with fresh apples not a canned filling



Black Raspberry, also made with the real fruit and not a can of filling


Now don't you wish you had been there? Look around. With Christmas fast approaching, there has to be a bake sale, and a craft sale, somewhere in sight.


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CHOCOLATE POMEGRANATE "EVERYTHING" COOKIES

I’m a big fan of the Hidden Ponies blog by sisters Anna and Chelsea. Their recent recipe for Chocolate Pomegranate Oatmeal Cookies caught my eye and I went straight to the Supermarket to buy a pomegranate so I could try this recipe!


You’ll find the original recipe here. I made a few adjustments. Why? Just because I can.

*No quick cooking oats in the house, so I used old-fashioned rolled oats (from Bob’s Red Mill)

*I used coconut oil in place of butter. A suggestion I found online was to use 3/4 cup coconut oil in place of 1 cup of butter. Because of the rolled oats, I decided a bit more moisture might be useful so I used the same amount of coconut oil as was required for the butter.

*I happened to have about 4 ounces of Scharffen Berger Bittersweet Chocolate leftover from another recipe. Just the amount I needed.

*Pomegranate seeds have a slight crunch when you bite into them. I decided to add to the crunch by including some toasted chopped walnuts.

*Lastly, as long as there is coconut oil, there might as well be coconut.




I’ve only had pomegranate once before and found it fairly easy to open and take out the seeds. I found a YouTube video which gives an easy example of How to cut open a pomegranate. Save leftover pomegranates as toppers for ice cream or cereal!


Ingredients...

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chunks (about 4 ounces)
1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 pomegranate)
1/2 cup sweetened coconut (take from bag, measure and chop into smaller pieces)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts





Directions...

I like to gather, measure and prepare all my ingredients before preheating the oven or mixing anything. That includes seeding the pomegranate, toasting the walnuts and chopping up the chocolate. Next time I may look for bags of pre-chunked chocolate.

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees Fahrenheit. Cut pieces of parchment paper to fit your baking sheet(s).
2. Cream butter and sugar until smooth and light colored.
3. Mix in egg and vanilla extract.
4. Whisk together in separate bowl: flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing just until incorporated.
6. Stir in chocolate, pomegranate arils, sweetened coconut and walnuts. At this point, I found it easier to stick my hands in the mix!
7. Drop tablespoons of dough onto the lined baking sheet--about 12 to a sheet.
8. Bake 12-13 minutes until golden brown.
9. Let cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.





I used a heaping tablespoon for each cookie. Depending on what size you use, you can get as many as three to four dozen cookies. Experiment with the size ~ from bite size to huge!

By the way, if you use the brand chocolate I did and otherwise follow the recipe, you have a dairy-free cookie!


Again, a great big, yummy thank you to Anna and Chelsea for their recipe. Be sure to check out Hidden Ponies for ideas on how to make lots more delicious goodies.





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LAZY SUNDAY FOODS

It is a lazy Sunday, because I spent three days with the grandkids and used up a lot of energy. While I was there the 4-year old and I made gingerbread which we served with Ready Whip. Yum! I also mixed leftover (from Thanksgiving) turkey with rice, cream of mushroom soup, water and Half'n'Half for one meal. The eight-year old had three helpings.

Back to today - Sunday. Because it is a lazy day, I didn't take the usual quota of photos and I'm going to give condensed versions of my usual ingredients and directions.

While the stew was cooking in the crock pot (I'll get back to that), I quickly made up Peanut Butter Blossoms from the Hershey's site. My daughter made them for Thanksgiving and when we sampled these today, she said her Dad had told her the base was sugar cookies. No-o! Peanut butter is a must! I used Jif. One other change was that I used bittersweet Hershey's kisses.



I averted a near tragedy when I realized I'd added baking powder to the flour and salt. Hadn't whisked them together yet, so I scooped out what seemed to be the bp and added the correct ingredient, baking soda.

The stew, a Busy Day Stew from Woman's World magazine was so-o simple...

Coat 1-1/2 pounds of stew meat with flour and brown in a large fry pan in 2 tablespoons oil. The original recipe continues in the same pan/pot, but I transferred the meat to the crock pot, then added one (1 ounce) envelope of Liptons Onion Soup Mix, a can of diced tomatoes (with their juice) and about 1-1/2 cups of baby carrots. These cooked on a low setting all day, and just before serving, I added 1-1/2 cups frozen peas. (Next day correction: mix the soup mix with 1 cup of water!)

Although the recipe didn't call for them, I was tempted to add potatoes and might in the future. I happened to have cooked rice in the freezer and served the stew over the rice.



The dishes are washed (no machine -- I am THE dishwasher) and I'm settled in for the night. What you see pictured here is the remains of the stew, good for several more meals after feeding myself, my daughter and my grandsons. Yes, even after three days with them, I invited them over for supper.