A Little Push Goes a Long Way

You know how one little ingredient can inspire a whole meal?



That is what happened this weekend with my apartment. Zach brought me beautiful white roses on Friday before we went to get yummy Greek food and see The Social Network. The movie was followed by curling up on the couch with "puppy" to watch the latest episode of "The Jersey Shore" (so good!). It was just my ideal version of a quiet Friday night...except for one thing...



I love love love having fresh flowers in the house. However, I almost NEVER buy them because I refuse to have beautiful flowers in the middle of a messy apartment. I guess this is me admitting that I don't always keep the tidiest place. I try. I really do. But with work and cooking and the dog shedding it is really overwhelming to keep up. It feels like once I do one thing, there is another tedious task that pops up in it's place...like the apartment is never clean all at once. So Friday night as I sat on the living room couch, I kept looking over to the flowers on the table and feeling like the crisp, clean, white flowers just seemed out of place.

These things usually work out for the best eh? The flowers inspired me to spiff up the entire apartment around them. And by "spiff up" I mean clean for about 6 hours total (between Saturday and Sunday). It is such a drag when you plan to clean so I kind of preferred the pressure the flowers suddenly put on me.

I thought now is a better time than ever to show you some pics of the place. I have been waiting for a good time to take good pictures now that I am pretty satisfied (with a couple exceptions) with how it is all set up. I took some pictures right after the move with the intention of doing "before" and "after" shots. So at the risk of including way too many "before" and "after" shots on this blog, here we are:

LIVING ROOM AND DINING ROOM BEFORE:


LIVING ROOM AND DINING ROOM AFTER:



BATHROOM BEFORE:


BATHROOM AFTER:


Bedroom before and after pics were part of a previous post.

Not only was an entire apartment cleaning inspired by some simple flowers, but this recipe was inspired by my need to use a single ingredient: apples, of course. I hope you have not forgotten that I went apple picking a little over a week ago, and I have spent the better part of my mealtime eating apples or some variation of apple dishes.



I decided on some sort of apple and chicken recipe. After a quick search on the internet, I came across a delicious-looking recipe for "Apple and Brie Stuffed Chicken Breast". This may have everything to do with the fact that her new husband's name is Zach, but the blogger's style reminded me of my own. You can check out her blog, "Newlywed in New Orleans" or specifically the post for this recipe here.



Apple and Brie Stuffed Chicken

(ever so very slightly adapted recipe from Newlywed in New Orleans - makes 4 servings)

EVOO for pan
1/2 C chopped sweet onion
1 tart apple, cored, chopped in about 1/2 inch cubes (I used Macintosh because that is what I had!...the recipe calls for Ganny Smith)
1/2 tsp rosemary (original recipe calls for thyme...I didn't have any, but the rosemary worked well! I imagine sage might be nice too.)
3/4 C apple cider
4 oz Brie, without rind, cut in small chunks
4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Add onion, and cook until tender (about 5 minutes)
Add apple, thyme, salt, pepper and cider and cook until apples are tender (another 5 minutes
Turn to low heat and add the brie, mixing until blended (I added the brie separate from the apple mixture because I made the apple mixture ahead in the morning. I actually cut the brie into strips to add to the middle of each chicken breast with the apple mixture.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut a large pocket into each chicken breast, and put a quarter of the stuffing into each breast. (I like to weave a long turkey pin through the open side of the chicken to keep it tightly sealed)
Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken
Place large skillet over med-high heat, and brown the meat on either side (about 1 minute on each side.
Bake at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes (more or less depending on the size) or until the juices run clear.

I served this up with mashed potatoes made from the leftovers of my Syracuse Salt Potatoes. Very satisfying!

NOTE: The leftover chicken breasts would be an amazing protein addition to a nice, nutty Waldorf salad. I don't know...something like this perhaps:

The Brunch Club, August Edition

I am a huge fan of combined words. I know most people are not, but I cannot help it; they make me laugh. Brunch is a word that combines the words “breakfast” and “lunch”, and this posting is first of hopefully many “Special Brunch Edition” posts. Some of our friends have decided to get together for monthly Sunday potluck-style brunches. Everyone will bring a dish or beverage, and a different person will host each week. I will feature the recipe for whatever dish I make each month, and I welcome any of my fellow brunchers to post your recipes here as well. Here is the breakdown of characters and what they brought for this event…in combined word fashion, of course:

NATALUE: Natalie and Sue are the sisters. It was their idea to start this whole thing, so you can thank them for all following “Special Brunch Editions” whether you like’em or not. Natalie brought turkey bacon and tomatoes. She grows her own tomatoes as well as eggplant, peppers, and probably some other things. Sue tried growing basil once, but unfortunately it died.





ANDICE: Andy and Candice are Canadians. Of course, they are laid-back-super-nice-always-pleasant-to-have-around kind of people. This time they brought fruits salad with yogurt and honey (picture not available), but sometimes they like to stick secret ingredients like avocado in their vegan chocolate cupcakes so we always have to watch out for these two.

BREANNA: Brian and LeAnna’s combined names make an actual name, and I think that is really special. BreAnna brought brownies to brunch. That is a tongue twister, and something makes me think they did this on purpose.



SUBE: Sue (of Natalue) and Brian just got married in July. This makes Natalie and Brian family and sometimes arch enemies. Bratalue (Three names. Too much? I apologize) gets together once a week for “family dinner” which I think is very sweet. Sue is a vegetarian. Brian likes raw meat.



ROBILY: Emily has deep red hair. It used to be super curly like mine, but now it is straight…probably because there is never room for two curly headed girls in one brunch group. Rob works for NASA and occasionally leaves just a little too early from games of Loaded Questions. Robily did not bring anything to brunch, probably because they were not there.

LINDZACHARY: That’s us. We hosted this week. “We” made baked brie and little quiches. I left my not-that-great camera somewhere else this weekend and had to take all the pictures on Zach’s camera phone. I think they turned out pretty well considering. Unfortunately, it took him “a long time, like 20 minutes” to email me all the pictures individually. I think my baked brie made up for it.



Featured Brunch Recipe: Mini Crustless Quiche

(recipe adapted from Bread and Honey)

4 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 grated carrot
1 grated zucchini
3 small mushrooms, finely chopped
1 small shallot, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
handful of chopped fresh parsley
1 C ground chorizo sausage, cooked (you can just leave this out completely for a vegetarian recipe. I made 6 quiches with the chorizo and 6 without. Bacon or breakfast sausage might also taste nice.)
large handful of grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon flour
salt & pepper
*You can use any vegetables or cheese you like (broccoli, sun dried tomato, goat cheese, spinach, etc)



Preheat oven to 350ºf.
Quickly saute grated carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, shallot, and garlic until tender.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, fresh parsley, grated cheddar, flour, and pinches of salt and pepper.
Generously grease a 12-muffin tin with butter. In the bottom of each cup, spoon in a small amount of sautéed vegetables. On top of that, spoon some of the cooked chorizo (or whatever meat you are using. Fill in by pouring the egg mixture to almost the top in each cup.
Bake for 20 minutes or until firm and puffy. Allow to cool a little before attempting to remove.

Little Plates

Tapas are delightful little plates of appetizers and are generally enjoyed by sharing several with everyone at the table, sometimes to make an entire meal. The word "tapa" means "cover", or "lid" in Spanish. The origin of of tapas is unclear to say the least, but here are a couple of the most popular theories:

*King Alfonso X of Castile liked to order his wine with a small plate or a piece of ham on top to keep flies and sand out. Eventually taverns began putting little bits of food on these small plates.

*King Alfonso X insisted that all Castilian taverns serve small plates of food with each glass of wine to ensure that patrons would not get drunk too easily.

*Tavern owners realized that serving small portions or salty meats with the sweet sherry wines made the patrons thirsty, boosting sales more than enough to make up for the cost of the meat.



While it may (or may not) be fun to speculate what the origin of tapas is, one thing is for sure as far as I am concerned: it is fun to eat them. There are traditional dishes that are made into tapas like torilla de pata, fried calamari, olives, cheeses, serrano ham, croquettes, and patas bravas, but any food can be enjoyed in the tapas-style of eating (there is always wine involved). I made a modest assortment of tapas for a Sunday night dinner this week so these are the recipes I am sharing below:

SHRIMP WRAPPED IN BACON WRAPPED IN ALL THE LOVE IN MY HEART

5 oz thinly sliced bacon (or jamon)
24 large uncooked, headless prawns, peeled
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 lemons, quartered

Cut the bacon (or jamon, if using it) into pieces which will wrap generously round the prawns. Place the wrapped prawns down flat on a board and skewer them through the fattest part and the tail, making sure the bacon is firmly fixed. Season generously and drizzle with the oil.

On a high heat, griddle, grill or barbecue place the prawn and bacon skewers
for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the bacon crisps up. Alternatively , roast in a hot oven (425ºF) on an oiled baking tray for 8-10 minutes. Squeeze over the juice of the lemon wedges and serve immediately.



YOU BETTER BRIE READY FOR THIS

4 servings

1/2 package frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 (8 ounce) package brie cheese, round
1/8 C toasted walnuts, chopped (or whatever nut you want)
1/4 C fruit preserves

Preheat oven to 425.

Lightly grease cookie sheet.
Roll puff pastry out slightly.
Place cheese wheel on top (leave rind on).
Place preserves on top of cheese.
Place walnuts on top of preserves.
Bundle Puff Pastry up and around the cheese.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Let cool for five minutes.

Serve with your favorite crackers, pita chips, or whatever sounds good to you! You can also be creative with the preserves. You can switch it up if you don’t want it to be a sweet dish and use a tomato, pesto or olive mixture with pine nuts instead.



CAPRESE SALAD

For 4-5 servings

2 large tomatoes
6 oz buffalo mozzarella cheese (it should come in a package about the size/shape of a baseball)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 4oz bag of mixed greens
chopped fresh basil to taste
salt and black pepper to taste

Slice tomatoes in thick-ish slices (about 1/2 inch)
Slice cheese about the same thickness as tomato slices
Place tomato slices flat on top of a light bed of mixed greens and place a slice of cheese on top of each tomato slice
Drizzle or brush the olive oil on top followed by the balsamic vinegar.
Sprinkle the fresh basil, salt and pepper to taste over top.



CATALAN BREAD

This is so easy you do not really need a recipe. It is just a staple in Spanish cuisine. You just need to cut a baguette longways down the middle, rub it down with a clove of fresh garlic, and toast it slightly. Cut a ripe, juicy tomato down the middle and squeeze it over/smear it onto the bread, rubbing it in well. Drizzle some olive oil (to taste) over the bread, followed by some sea salt (to taste). This bread goes well with Iberico ham, olives, or manchego cheese. It can also add an amazing twist to a traditional grilled manchego cheese sandwich.



Don't forget to set out some small bowls with sliced manchego cheese and whole Spanish green olives along with these little plates and a nice full-bodied red wine.