Throwdown: Chicken Marsala Stew

David, left, and me during our Marsala Chicken Stew cook-off.

By Paul Briand

My son David and I had a kitchen throwdown last weekend.

Family was in town for my granddaughter Rylin’s christening, and I wanted to serve something that would appeal to the crowd we anticipated for dinner on Saturday night.

A little bit of research into my recipe collection led me to this Chicken Marsala Stew with Spring Vegetables, which I featured here on Eats@Home back in April 2010.

I needed to double the recipe, which, as listed feeds four. So I bought double the ingredients, and invited my son, who is quite accomplished in the kitchen (per his Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts), to cook one pot of the stew while I cooked the other..

The rules of the throwdown were pretty simple: We had to follow the recipe except for one ingredient that he or I could throw into the pot.

He chose Old Bay Seasoning.

I chose red pepper flakes.

David won.

There are some strong flavors in this stew, which I originally picked up from an Associated Press story. Unlike a normal stew, doesn’t really take that long to cook.

The Marsala wine needs to come through, as does the balsamic vinegar.

My use of red pepper flakes was meant to add a bit of a back bite to the dish, but not overpower the Marsala and vinegar. It didn’t quite work out that way, and it’s probably because I don’t think I used enough flake. The back bite was barely discernible.

The Old Bay, on the other hand, complemented the Marsala and vinegar.

The seasoning is best known as an important ingredient for crab cakes, but it can be used to help flavor all kinds of recipes from fish to chicken to potatoes. I use Old Bay sometimes when I make my own Sweet Potato Fries.

Both pots of stew were cleaned out, but David’s version was clearly the crowd favorite. As it was with me, too.

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts

By Paul Briand

The challenge of cooking Brussels sprouts is to prepare them in such a way that they don’t taste like Brussels sprouts.

I have not been a big fan of these miniature cabbage look-alikes, despite their abundance of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fiber. I just don’t think they taste very good, given the old school tendency of boil-and-serve.

So my son David had me try his recipe, which endeavors to transform the taste of the sprouts with the sour/sweet interplay of balsamic vinegar and honey. It was, indeed, a transformative experience.

David eyeballs a lot of his proportions, so we tried to approximate measures here as best we could. This recipe serves two.

Ingredients
10 ounces of Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees;
2.Prepare a baking dish with a coating of olive oil;
3. Trim the nubs of the sprouts and cut each sprout in half lengthwise;
4. Arrange sprouts cut side down in baking dish;
5. Splash vinegar over the sprouts, making sure each sprout gets a splash;
6. Drizzle honey over each of the sprouts;
7. Add salt and pepper to taste;
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until the bottoms have browned and the tops have caramelized.

Click here for recipe card.

Chicken and Peppers in Vinegar Sauce

By Paul Briand

It's back to the reality of home cooking after a week in Florida eating some exquisite seafood. Grouper. Red snapper. Mahi-mahi. Swordfish. It was a delightful smorgasbord of fresh fish.

But coming home means coming back to eating at home and I found this week's recipe from Bobby Flay -- one of my favorites -- in a recent issue of Parade Magazine.

Some notes on this dish: I substituted the skinless chicken thighs in the original recipe with skinless chicken breasts. I halve the breasts before cooking them. Also, as with almost all the recipes I use, I didn't use the salt that was called for.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups low sodium chicken stock or broth
1/4 cup chopped fresh parlsey

Directions
1. Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over high heat until it simmers;
2. Pat the chicken dry, season with pepper, and cook in the heated oil, turning, until golden brown on both sides. Set chicken aside;
3. Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about five minutes;
4. Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute;
5. Add the vinegar and cook until reduced by half;
6. Add honey and broth, season with pepper and cook for five minutes;
7. Return the chicken and accumulated juices to the pot, reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot and cook until the chicken is tender, about 15 minutes;
8. Remove the chicken to a platter and cook sauce until slightly reduced, about five minutes;
9. Stir in parsley, pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts

By Paul Briand

I'm testing some recipes in a new diet book entitled "Flat Belly Diet! for Men."

I haven't given myself over to this diet just yet. I've been reading the book, assessing whether I can adapt my life to this diet or whether the diet takes over my life in my attempt to lose a few pounds around the middle.

The former I can live with, the latter not so much.

What intrigues me about the diet, when I was thumbing through it at the bookstore, was the quality of the recommended. "This stuff I can eat," I said to myself.

So I'm in the process of trying some of the recipes and commenting on them here. The diet in general makes a big deal about what it calls MUFAs -- monounsaturated fatty acids.

This diet likes MUFAs, which are found in olive oil, nuts, avocado, olives and pesto to name a few. One of the diet rules is to eat a MUFA at every meal. So each of the recipes includes a MUFA.

This chicken breast recipe was easy to prepare and was accompanied by a balsamic drizzle. Frankly, it was really tasty. Diet or no, I'd recommend it for everyone.

Ingredients
1 large egg
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped (this is the MUFA)
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray;
2. Whisk the egg with the water in one shallow bowl;
3. Combine the almonds, bread crumbs and salt in another shallow bowl;
4. Dip each chicken breast first into the egg wash, then the nut mixture;
5. Place on baking sheet;
6. Bake, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes;
7. As the chicken is cooking, combine the orange juice, vinegar and honey in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil over medium to high heat for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is reduced by half;
8. Serve over chicken.