Sticky Lemon Chicken

By Paul Briand

I went trawling this week for some recipes on the BBC Good Food web site, where I’ve had some good luck in the past.

This time I netted this Sticky Lemon Chicken.

The flavor of this dish was disproportionate to the effort. In other words, you get a lot of flavor from this dish without a lot of ingredients and/or cooking time.

Ingredients
4 chicken breast fillets with skin, about 5 ounces each
1 large lemon
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or a generous sprinkling of dried
1½ tablespoons honey

Directions
1. Preheat oven broiler to high and lightly oil a shallow heatproof dish;
2. Put the chicken in the dish, skin side down, and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 5 minutes. While the chicken is grilling, cut four thin slices from
the lemon;
3. Turn the chicken fillets over and put a slice of lemon on top of each one;
4. Sprinkle over the thyme and a little more seasoning, then drizzle with the honey;
5. Squeeze over the juice from the remaining lemon;
6. Return to the grill for 10 minutes more, until the chicken is golden and cooked all the way through.

You can serve the chicken and the sticky juices with rice or potatoes.

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Roasted Jalapenos and Bacon Mac ‘n Cheese

By Paul Briand

I rarely click on banner ads on web sites. But I clicked on one for a recipe from the folks at Cabot Cheese.

I couldn’t resist the combination of jalapenos and bacon with ooey-gooey macaroni and cheese.

Don’t be afraid of the jalapenos. The roasting and trimming process described in the recipe actually reduces the heat from the pepper.

(Full disclosure: I split the recipe in half so that half was made with the jalapenos and half made without for the sake of my wife Jane’s tender pallet.)

Since this is a Cabot Cheese recipe, its products are recommended, but feel free to substitute with your favorites as needed.

I found this recipe to be both time and pots and pans intensive, but well worth the effort.

Ingredients
2 fresh jalapeno peppers
4 ounces applewood-smoked bacon, diced
3/4 cup panko (Japanese-style) breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Cabot Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups whole milk, heated to just below simmer
12 ounces Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar or Cabot 3 Year Cheddar, grated (about 3 cups)
Salt to taste
8 ounces dry garganelli or penne pasta

Directions
1. Roast jalapenos directly over stovetop gas burner or under preheated broiler, turning with tongs, until skins are blistered all over;
2. Transfer peppers to small plastic bag and let stand. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard stems, skin and seeds. Chop flesh into fine dice and set aside;
3. Cook bacon in skillet until lightly browned; after dicing, transfer with slotted spoon to small bowl. Add breadcrumbs, along with small amount of bacon fat to moisten, combining well;
4. In medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add flour and whisk to combine. Let cook, stirring, for 2 minutes;
5. Gradually whisk in milk. Continue cooking, stirring often, until sauce is simmering and thickened. Let sauce bubble gently until quite thick, about 10 minutes longer, stirring often so it doesn't scorch on bottom;
6. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar; when cheese is melted, season sauce with salt as needed;
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente; drain and return to pot. Add cheese sauce and reserved jalapenos and stir together;
8. Transfer pasta to 2-quart baking dish or six individual ramekins. Top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until browned on top and bubbling throughout.

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Green Tea Asian Chicken

My wife Jane didn’t like the sounds of this recipe: Green tea with chicken? She likes each separately well enough, but was wary of the combination.

But I made it anyway, and, like Mikey in the old Life cereal commercial, she likes it.

The recipe originates from Relish, the food magazine that’s inserted into some newspapers. The recipe online is here.

The green tea serves as the liquid base for a marinade. It’s the spices -- the coriander, ginger and garlic -- that give the dish its taste, in combination not too dissimilar from teriyaki, in fact.

I served it on a bed of cooked baby spinach with a side of brown rice.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup hot brewed green tea
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Fresh cilantro and mint, chopped (optional)
Arugula or spinach (optional)

Directions
1. Stir sugar into tea while hot and let cool;
2. Combine tea with coriander, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic and 2 tablespoons canola oil;
3. Place chicken in a large zip-top plastic bag and pour in half of marinade. Seal and let chill 1 to 6 hours;
4. Heat remaining marinade over medium high heat  about 4 minutes, or until reduced by one-third;
5. Remove thighs from marinade; discard marinade in bag. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet;
6. Add chicken to pan without crowding and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes on each side;
7. Serve with sauce and fresh herbs over greens.

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Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

By Paul Briand

My wife Jane put this recipe together -- not for her and me, but for her daughter Kelsey and son-in-law Jeremy who had our granddaughter Rylin a few weeks ago.

Kelsey and Jeremy are still very much in new-baby mode, trying to get Rylin on a schedule of eating, sleeping, being awake. In the meantime, the new mom and dad’s meals are a bit catch-as-catch-can.

So the other day Jane spent the day cooking and this Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas was one of the dishes, adapted from a recipe that was part of a Campbell’s soup ad in Relish magazine. Here it is online.

It received very high marks from Kelsey and Jeremy.

Ingredients
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup picante sauce or salsa
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas (6-inch), warmed
1 small tomato, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 green onion, sliced (about 2 tablespoons)

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder in a medium bowl;
2. Stir 1 cup soup mixture, chicken and cheese in a large bowl;
3. Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas;
4. Roll up the tortillas and place seam-side down in an 11 x 7 x 2-inch baking dish;
5. Pour the remaining soup mixture over the filled tortillas and cover the baking dish;
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until the enchiladas are hot and bubbling;
7. Top with the tomato and onion and serve.

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Ricotta Cheese Crab Tortillas

By Paul Briand

My wife Jane alerted me to this recipe. As news editor for the Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass., she had edited the copy for a story on healthy recipes that included this one for Ricotta Cheese Crab Tortillas.

We love crab, and I was intrigued by the combination of the crabmeat with the ricotta. It isn’t a hot dish, since a cool to room temperature filling is used in a pan toasted tortilla. I mentioned to Jane that you could almost cut up the tortillas into appetizer sized portions and serve this as an hors d’oeuver.

Since I bought a pound of lump crab and since this recipe called for half a pound, that left a half a pound of crab for me to make crab cakes the next night for dinner -- definitely, a win-win in my book.

Ingredients
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon of each; salt and pepper
1/2 pound fresh crabmeat, drained and flaked
4 (8-inch) whole-wheat flour tortillas
Vegetable cooking spray
Salsa on the side

Directions
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl and mix well;
2. Fold in crabmeat, set aside;
3. Place 1 tortilla in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat coated with cooking spray;
4. Spread some of the crab mixture over half of tortilla in skillet, leaving a 1/4-inch margin on sides;
5. Cook about 3 minutes or until underside of tortilla is golden brown.
6. Fold in half. Transfer to a serving platter, serve with salsa.
7. Repeat with remaining ingredients;
8. Serves four.

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Beef & Noodle Casserole

By Paul Briand

The shout out for this recipe goes to my stepdaughter Eileen who gave me a cookbook to me for Christmas.

The cookbook is a collection of recipes from people associated with the Dominion School for Autism in Richmond, Va., where Eileen recently worked as an aide.

This recipe, according to the text, comes from Dorothy Lucy in memory of Aunt Ruby.

Layered a bit like a lasagna, this casserole intrigued me with its combination of cream of mushroom soup and tomato sauce. My adaptation includes baking instead of microwaving, and I used low-salt soup and tomato sauce. In addition, I sauteed my vegetables.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 cups tomato sauce
Green bell pepper chopped
Medium onion chopped
1 teaspoon ketchup
1 teaspoon steak sauce
18 ounce bag of egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
One bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions
1. In an large oiled skillet over medium high heat, sautee the pepper and onion until they start to become translucent;
2. Add the ground beef, break up and cook through, drain off fat;
3. Add tomato sauce, ketchup and steak sauce, stir through and keep warm on simmer;
4. Cook egg noodles according to package instructions;
5. Drain noodles, return to pot and mix the soup into the cooked noodles;
6. In a greased large casserole dish, add a layer of the noodles, then add a layer of the beef mixture, then another layer of noodles and the rest of the beef mixture;
7. Spring with the cheese;
8. Place the casserole into a oven pre-heated to 350 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starts to brown and the mixture starts to bubble.

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Late Night Pizza

By Zachary Penrod

The pizza pictured here is not my "best" pie, but rather my "fastest" pie.

It stemmed from a unanimous, but unforeseen need for pizza. This need arose after a fabulous night of celebrating Sara's birthday with friends, but unfortunately late night pizza is far less available in the suburbs. When the birthday girl wants pizza the birthday girl gets pizza...and so I sprang into action whipping up a quick pie in under 30 minutes.

This recipe for the dough is super quick because there is no yeast, and therefore no need to proof or rise the dough.  

The one in the picture was topped with a spicy pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, pepperoni, and then some fresh mozzarella.  It wasn't my prettiest or most circular pie, but it definitely the fastest from start to finish.

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 t baking powder
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup corn meal
1 egg
Herbes de Provence
(Toppings of choice)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. If you are using a pizza stone (experienced pizza makers only), it should be in your oven to heat at the same time;
2. Mix all ingredients, except the corn meal and egg, in a bowl and stir vigorously until the dough pulls from the sides;
3. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes;
4.  Sprinkle the cornmeal liberally on your working surface and work the dough into a 13-inch  circle. You can use a roller or your knuckles, but this dough turns out better if it’s worked instead of stretched;
5. If you are an experienced pizza maker, place the pizza on your pizza paddle, cutting board, or the back of a cookie tray (you’ll need to slide from here to your pizza stone!).  If you’re a pizza novice you can make and cook the pizza on the flat side of a cookie tray to avoid the expert pizza sliding maneuver;
6. Beat the egg and brush it onto the outer inch of the pizza crust;
7. Sprinkle your herbes de provence on the egg covered crust.  You can also sprinkle some sea salt and cracked black pepper on the crust if you like.
8. Finish the pizza with your favorite combination of sauce, cheese and toppings;
9.  Experienced pizza makers can then transfer the pie onto the pizza stone with one swift sliding motion.  The novice crowd can simply place the pizza in the oven on the upside down cookie tray;
10. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the pizza looks and smells done.

Click here for recipe card.