Chicken Marsala with Morels and Wild Rice

26 Apr 2012 2 Comments

by georgiecakes in Contest, Gourmet, Italian Dishes, Main Dish Tags: , , , , , ,

I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something very different than my usual sweet posts.

I’ve entered a contest at Marx Foods. It’s The 4th Annual Blogger Morel Recipe Challenge. You can vote for my recipe there.

It all started when the talented Marnley at Cooking with Books posted the challenge on Facebook.  I remember voting for fellow bloggers in their past events.

The wild edibles didn’t take long to persuade me to join in on the fun. As nervous as I was, I had faith that I could create something wonderful.

They are morels after all, they’re delicious any way you cook them.

In thinking of the many ways I could prepare these luscious morels, I kept returning to one of my favorite mushrooms dishes, Chicken Marsala.  I wanted to make the dish lighter and fresher, the flavors of the morel and Marsala would do all the talking themselves. Unlike some traditional recipes that call for a heavy breading then deep frying, I went with a creamy light sauce, fresh chicken and the fragrant morels.  Here’s what I came up with and I hope you enjoy them too.

Here’s what you’ll need…

2 chicken breast filets (pounded thin)

2 ounces dried morel mushrooms

2 garlic gloves (pressed)

1 medium shallot (chopped fine)

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup dry Marsala wine

1 cup water

1 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup wild rice

1/4 cup brown rice

Reconstituting the morel mushrooms:

Using a heat safe bowl, place the dried morel mushrooms inside. Add 1 cup of warm chicken stock and 1 cup of Marsala wine, covering the morel mushrooms completely. Allow to sit for 1 1/2 hour. Strain the mushrooms and place in a bowl, setting aside for later use.  Reserve the stock and wine mixture for making rice and sauce.

For the Rice:

On medium high heat, in a saucepan, add 1 cup of the reserve stock and wine mixture, 1 cup of water and a tablespoon of butter, bring to a boil.  Add the rice, both the 3/4 cup brown and 1/4 cup wild, cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

Saute the morel mushrooms:

Cut the mushrooms into small julienne strips. In a saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of butter, shallot and garlic, sauteing for 2 minutes.  Add the morel mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes. Remove the morel mushrooms from the pan and place on a plate, set aside.

For the Chicken:

Using the same pan on medium heat, add the chicken breast and cook for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, remove from pan and set aside. Return pan with drippings to heat, add remaining cup of morel and wine stock and deglaze the pan .  Add the heavy cream and simmer on medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Add chicken and the morels mushrooms, simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and plate by adding a 1/4 cup of wild rice in the center, layering chicken with morel mushrooms and sauce. Serve immediately.

* Disclaimer: The kind folks at Marx Foods provided me with a free sample of this product to enter their recipe challenge.  All the opinions here are my own. I think Marx Foods is super delicious!

Pear & Ginger Infused Cheesecake

27 Feb 2012 8 Comments

by georgiecakes in #baketogether, Dessert, Gourmet, Italian Dishes, Sweet Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

This months #Baketogether, hosted by the talented and lovely Abby Dodge is cheesecake. A challenge for me… for two reason… I’ve never made a cheesecake and I’ve never been a huge fan of traditional cheesecake.

Pear & Ginger Cheesecake

It’s exactly why #baketogether is so great… you get to put your own spin on the recipe. It took some experimenting until I got the recipe down, but I think you’re going to really enjoy my twist on this cheesecake.

Pear & Ginger Infused Cheesecake

I decided to make a no bake cheesecake – all the way down to the crust. Infused with light flavors of pears, crystalized ginger, pistachios and marscapone cheese… the stars in this fresh and delightful sweet.

Pears, Ginger & Pistachios

This recipe is for a small cheesecake, serves 4

Here’s what you ‘ll need:

3 forelle pears

1/4 cup crystalized ginger

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup water

9 graham crackers

1/4 cup pistachios

3 teaspoons maple syrup

3 tablespoon salted butter, melted

1/2 cup ricotta, (I used sheep milk ricotta it’s thicker like a paste)

3/4 cup marscapone cheese

2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon orange extract

Sheep Ricotta & Marscapone

For the pears:

Slice off the bottom of each pear just enough so it will stand upright. Peel the entire pear leaving the stem and skin at the top. Place in baking dish, drizzle honey atop of pears, grate 1/2 of the crystallized ginger, (reserve two pieces for filling), drizzle two tablespoons of butter and add water. Simmer for 20 to 30 minute or until cooked through. Set aside and allow to cool until ready to use. Once your pears have cooled slice very thin reserving some slices for decorating the top of the cake.

For the crust:

In a food processor place gram crackers, pistachios and the remaining crystallized ginger,(reserve two pieces for filling) and pulse into fine crumbs. Place the crumbs in a mixing bowl adding 1 tablespoon of the melted butter and the maple syrup, mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a serving bowl, place the crust crumbs inside, pressing with plastic wrap all along the bottom and sides forming your crust. Place the serving bowl with crust in the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour. You may prepare the crust a day ahead.

For the filling:

I used a sheep ricotta that did not require draining and was more of a paste consistency – similar to a impastata.  If you can find a ricotta impastata that would be best. If not, drain your ricotta in a sieve or with a cheese cloth to remove excess moisture, allow to drain overnight

In a food processor, place marscapone cheese, ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, lemon zest, two pieces of ginger, orange extract and pulse until all the ingredients are combine. Transfer to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for two minutes. Place filling in a pipping bag and set aside until ready to use.

To assemble cake:

Remove crust from the refrigerator. Taking the filling and pipping into the bottom center, begin working your way up and around the sides and filling the center. Decorate the top with reserved pear slices.

You can serves this right away or refrigerate and serve the next day. My take on a cheesecake, I think I can get used to this and look forward to trying more recipes. Enjoy!

Brown Butter Risotto with Lobster

29 Nov 2011 7 Comments

by georgiecakes in Gourmet, Italian Dishes, Main Dish Tags: , ,

Tonight I think I won this guys heart over…

Honeymoon Man

With this Brown Butter Risotto with Lobster.

Brown Butter Risotto with Lobster

Here’s what you’ll need: Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Brown Butter Risotto with Lobster

4 1/2 cups chicken stock
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1 pound cooked frozen lobster tails, thawed and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
salt and pepper to taste

Risotto

In a medium saucepan add the chicken stock, bring to a boil. Keep warm on stove top on low heat.

In a large saute pan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter on medium heat, cooking until butter begins to foam and brown.   Add the garlic and onion, cooking until translucent.  Add rice, mixing well with brown butter sauce coating all the rice. Add 1/2 cup of stock and stir until completely absorbed, repeat this process until all the stock is gone and absorbed into the rice.  Cook for 20 minutes or until rice  is tender to taste.  Remove from heat, cover and let rest for five minutes.

In a medium saute pan melt 3 tablespoons of butter on low heat, add the lobster meat, mixing and coating with butter.  Let simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, remove from heat.

To serve, take a small serving bowl or measuring cup, fill to the top with rice, flip the bowl onto the center of a plate and release.  Place the lobster meat on top of the risotto and serve.

Buon appetito!

Balsamic Herb Glazed Chicken

26 Sep 2011 23 Comments

by georgiecakes in Food, Gourmet, Healthy, Italian Dishes, Main Dish Tags: , , ,

Today’s post is for a special club I’ve joined – The Secrete Recipe Club.  Wondering what the secret is… well I’ll tell ya… it’s  a group of  food bloggers who get to test, taste and share each others recipes, the only thing is…  shush – it’s a secret, that is until the reveal date.

My special food blogger for this month is Mindy at The World in My Kitchen. She’s a very talented and creative chef! I chose her Balsamic Rosemary Chicken recipe because it looked incredible and sounded so good my mouth was watering. I did however make a few changes by adding a Tuscan seasoning that includes rosemary, garlic and a melange of other earthy spices.

Balsamic Herb Glazed Chicken

Here’s what you’ll need to make this incredible Balsamic Herb Glazed Chicken.

6 chicken breast cutlets

1 cup balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons Tuscan seasoning

2 tablespoons olive oil

Balsamic Herb Glaze

In a small saucepan add balsamic vinegar, Tuscan seasoning, bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until balsamic has reduced to a glaze. Remove from heat, mix in the olive oil and allow to cool.  Transfer to bowl or serving dish.

Balsamic Herb Glazed Chicken & Salad

Heat a pan over medium high heat, coat with olive oil. Add chicken breasts and cook chicken 8 to 10 minutes on each side.  I’m using a grilling pan,  searing each side.  Remove from pan and let stand for 5 minutes.  Plate chicken onto your serving platter.  Drizzle a generous amount of balsamic glaze on your chicken.  Serve as lunch or dinner  alongside a salad or  atop of a panini. Enjoy!

Click the link below to check out more great recipes from this month’s Secret Recipe Club!


Ode to Basil

08 Sep 2011 3 Comments

by georgiecakes in Gourmet, Greek Dishes, Italian Dishes, Serendipitous Adventures Tags: , , , ,

Sweet Sweet Basil, how I could eat you atop of anything.

Slathered, layered, blended and smashed, especially stepped on with a mortar and pestle.

Drunken within a mélange of olive oil, herbs and nuts. Draped alongside cheese. Encrusted within a pizza.

Pounded into garlic. Swimming in a bowl of pasta. Most of all…  in a magnificent ensemble of pesto.

This is my ode to Basil, I will eat you atop of everything!

Ode To Basil

Inspired by this month’s cover story on Saveur Magazine and a favorite Brooklyn haunt Press 195.  I’ve brought together a selection of this month’s Saveur recipes and smashed them directly into Press 195′s maple pesto recipe to create one incredible motha-load of a pesto.

I’m actually licking a spoonful of the stuff right now.  Really! Slurp!

Nutty Maple Pesto Sauce

Nutty Maple Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves (stems removed)

1/2 cup arugula leaves

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup pine nuts (raw and unsalted)

1/4 cup pistachios (roasted and unsalted)

1/2 cup walnuts (unsalted)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano

6 garlic gloves

5 tablespoons pure maple syrup

salt & pepper to taste

Process basil, arugula, olive oil, pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts, parmigiano, zest and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped; stir in the maple syrup and season with salt and pepper.

I graciously spread the sweet, nutty – heady sauce over every inch of these tomato and mozzarella panini’s that I’ve toasted into a gooey hot mess of goodness.  I suggest you do the same.

Tomato Mozzarella Pesto Panini

Tomato Mozzarella Pesto Panini

1 loaf chiabatta bread

1 large tomato

1 – 8 ounce ball mozzarella

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons nutty maple pesto

Slice bread lengthwise, drizzle top slice with olive oil, slather bottom slice with pesto, use as much as your heart desires!  Cover with tomato and mozzarella alternating each layer.

Place in oven and toast/bake for 8 to 10 minutes until melted.  Serve immediately with a side dish of pesto for extra dipping pleasure.

Gooey Maple Pesto Hot Mess

The real reason I love this incredible herb is because it reminds me of my sweet “baba” – my father.

He would sit on the front porch, drinking his thick molasses Greek coffee with his top right shirt pocket full of flowery sweet basil; every so often he would lean down to smell it’s aroma and smile.

I can only imagine the wonderful memories that would be inspired at that moment, the same way he’s inspired me.

Baba & Georgie

The poem “Ode to Basil” and this post is dedicated to my baba, who went to sleep forever 10 years ago this week, and who taught me to be a better person because of who he was.  This is my “Ode to Baba!”

A Saucy Evening With The Ramones

09 Mar 2011 1 Comment

by georgiecakes in Around Town, Gourmet, Italian Dishes, Serendipitous Adventures, What I think... Tags: , , , , , ,

A recent trip to Daddy’s Junky Music turned out to be more than just a visit to my husband’s toy store.  Jeff’s the musician in the family and has a deep appreciation for all things vintage, especially musical instruments; this often has us searching music stores for the next big score.

Vintage Toy Closet

To my surprise I discovered something to my likeness, “food” and not just any food, Marky Ramone’s “Brooklyn’s Own Pasta Sauce”.  Who would have thought, Daddy’s Junky Music was now venturing into the culinary arts.

Marky Ramone Pasta Sauce

I was expecting to keep myself entertained, playing with the usual synthesizers, guitars and drums, while Jeff searched for the next shiny thing.  Instead I reviewed the product selection sitting atop of the counter with nostalgic enthusiasm and quickly purchased the Marinara Pasta Sauce.  This needed some additional research, the kind where you break and dip your bread, while your pasta takes you for a saucy swim.

Pasta A Cooking

To accompany the pasta we made a quick stop at Bread & Chocolate, our local bakery for fresh baked Chiabatta bread.  At home the pans started clanking.  Water boiling, sauce cooking – check, bread sliced, table set – soon the tasting will begin.

During the entire dinner Jeff and I hardly spoke, other than those few descriptive words we mumbled between bites… that went something like this…

Georgie: Wow… hm-mm… this is good.

Jeff:  Yeah, surprising really tasty!

Georgie: Seriously for store bought sauce in a bottle, this is really good.

Jeff: Did we get just one bottle, we should get more.

Marky Ramone’s Marinara Pasta Sauce passed the test!  Rich and flavorful you can taste all the ingredients.  Unexpected freshness of tomatoes, basil and assorted spices jumped out to greet your palate.

“From the kitchen of Marky Ramone, A recipe so flavorful, It Beats the Rest – Now put it to the test!” Pick up a case – $88 – 1 Case (12 Jars) – Shipping Included –10% Benefits Autism Speaks

I found myself flashing back to my college days in the early 90’s, hanging out at the Agora Ballroom in Hallandale Beach, Florida,  watching The Ramone’s play live.  The stage was set aglow in a light blue hue and music was echoing throughout the auditorium.  We danced and flicked our lighter’s to the bands cult classics like, “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”, “Gabba Gabba Hey” and “I Wanna Be Sedated”. It was a great night.

The Ramones in Concert

Above the stage you could see the VIP glass room, which seemed to be floating in mid air. The guests were mingling amongst one another and enjoying themselves.  A few moments later entered Joey and CJ and all I could think of was… I  have to get in there, but how could I sneak in?  I summoned up all the nerve I had, approaching the body guard and said, “I’m a friend of the bands”.  Next thing I knew we were heading up to the VIP room, apparently cleared for access.

Ramones Autograph

Woah – that’s right, baby… we had VIP access.  We joined the small elite group of privileged punk rockers.  Schmoozing with Joey & CJ, we ate Domino’s’ pizza, ironic I know and I got this awesome autographed Domino’s Pizza menu as a keepsake from this remarkable night!

As for my musical attempts, well, let’s just say they usually involve a fantasy filled with everyone’s hair blowing back from my awesomeness, for real!

Chicken Parmesan Grinder

13 Jan 2011 5 Comments

by georgiecakes in Gourmet, Italian Dishes, Main Dish Tags: , , , , ,

I can honestly say that for most of my life I was never a big fan of Chicken Parmesan or any foods that required a deep fry and smothered in a red sauce, only to be piled high atop a heaping pile of spaghetti.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a saucy kind of girl; I just prefer a creamy white cheesy or béchamel sauce.

That is… until I married my handsome Italian husband Jeff, who lent a hand in defining the hopeful Italian chef in me to create a more flavorful palate and include more recipes like these.

All kinds of wonderful

All kinds of wonderful by "landauphotographers.com"

The challenge was perfecting Jeff’s favorite recipes, like Pizza, Chicken Marsala, Brushetta, Chicken Cacciatore, and Chicken Parmesan to be healthier and without compromising the flavors in these tasty dishes.

Tonight’s menu: Chicken Parmesan Grinder

Chicken Parmesan Grinder

Here’s what you need… a skillet, prep time 35 minutes, cook time 2o minutes, Serves 4

4 Chicken Fillets

1 Pint cherry tomatoes

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 Tablespoons olive oil

½ Cup chicken stock

1Teaspoon coarse salt

1 Teaspoon pepper

4 Cloves of garlic

1 Shallot

1 Leek

1 Bunch fresh basil leaves

1 Bunch fresh oregano sprigs

2 Tablespoons of Italian or Tuscan spice blend

8 Ounces of Mozzarella cheese

1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese

4 Chiabatta rolls

1/2 Cup fresh spinach leaves

Turn stove top to medium heat.  In the skillet add olive oil, minced garlic Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, tomato paste, cherry tomatoes, chopped shallot, chopped leek, fresh basil and oregano and saute until golden brown.

Add the chicken and cover, saute until chicken has browned on both sides.  Add chicken stock, re-cover and simmer, allowing the tomatoes to get juicy and plump – so they burst and to keep the chicken moist.

Rotate by turning chicken half way through cooking time, about 10 minutes.  Once chicken is cooked add mozzarella and parmesan cheese and cover.

Turn off the heat, add mozzarella and parmesan cheese, cover letting the cheese melt for a few minutes. Prepare bread by slicing in half and open face.  Layer fresh spinach leaves, chicken with mozzarella and serve immediately!

“Per la salute!”

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 393 other followers

%d bloggers like this: