Balsamic Chicken and Pears

For my last recipe for February I chose this one, and my timing turned out to be perfect as Bosc Pears are now in season. We both really enjoyed this meal and it was easy to make.

Balsamic Chicken and Pears

2 tsp vegetable oil (yes, teaspoons not tablespoons)
4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 pound)
2 Bosc pears, not peeled, each one cored and cut into 8 slices
1 cup chicken broth
3 tblsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup dried cherries or raisins (I used raisins)

1) In nonstick 12" skillet, heat 1 tsp oil over med-high heat until very hot. Add chicken and cook until chicken is golden brown and loses its pink color throughout, 4-5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate and keep warm.

2) In same skillet, heat remaining 1 tsp oil. Add pears and cook until tender and golden brown.

3) In cup, blend broth, vinegar, cornstarch and sugar. Stir into skillet with pears, add cherries or raisins. Heat to boiling, stirring; boil 1 minute. Return chicken to skillet and heat through.

Makes 4 main dish servings.

Shepherd's Pie

For the third recipe for this month I chose Shepherd's Pie. I had a pound of ground lamb in my freezer and was not sure what to do with it until I found this recipe. It is a good "comfort food" meal. However we both agreed it needs garlic.

SHEPHERD'S PIE

2 lbs all purpose potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup milk
3 tblsps butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tblsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 lb ground lamb
2 tblsp tomato paste
2 tblsp flour
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 cup frozen peas

Preheat oven to 425. In a 4 qt saucepan combine potatoes and enough water to cover. Heat to boiling. Boil until potatoes are tender; drain and return to pot. With potato masher, mash potatoes with milk and 2 tblsp butter. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a nonstick 10-inch skillet, melt remaining butter over medium heat. Add onions and carrots; cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add ground lamb and cook over med-high heat; stirring to break up meat, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Skim off all grease and discard. Add tomato paste and cook stirring for 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute longer. Stir in wine and cook until wine has evaporated. Add broth and thyme, remaining 1/2 tsp salt and remaining 1/8 tsp pepper; stirring until browned bits are loosened from bottom. Heat to boiling, stir in peas.

Transfer lamb to 9-inch deep dish pie pan. Spoon mashed potatoes over top and spread to cover evenly. Sprinkle with 1 tblsp Parmesan cheese. Place on foil lined cookie sheet and back until slightly browned about 20 minutes.






Makes 4 main course servings.

Of course the night I made this I really looked at the recipe next to it,,, Eggplant and Lamb Casserole (Moussaka). If I ever fnd more ground lamb on sale I will have to come back to this book.

Are You Tired Of,,,,,,,,,,,

I have to admit sometimes watching those commercials where they show people getting buried by all their unorganized plastic containers in their kitchen cabinets, or trying to find something in their purse or trying to cook and drain pasta is outright funny.

They take every day ordinary tasks and make them look like only an expert can do them.

So that brings me to this little blog entry. I was looking for a certain gadget in our kitchen and realized the drawers were an absolute mess. Since I am a very "a place for everything, and everything in its place" kind of girl I immediately realized something drastic had to be done.



So I went to a few stores in town trying to find those little plastic trays to fit in the drawers. What I found were purple ones at Big-Lots. Hey, at least they had some. So after switching the new purple ones for all the whites ones I was using in other parts of the house I was able to straighten out and organize these two drawers.

And you too can have kitchen drawers as organized as this for only $5.75 and put an end to that annoying clutter.

Overnight Sticky Buns

For this month's second recipe I wanted to make something really special for the crew at the office. For some reason the first batch of dough did not rise,,,,at all. I have no idea why, probably has something to do with living at 4,800 feet. The second batch was better but did not rise as much as I thought it should have. They still tasted good. Also I did not add the currants. Somewhere I have this thought that cinnamon rolls have raisins or currents in them but sticky buns should be plain thus allowing one to savor the taste of the topping with the cinnamon filled rolls.

Overnight Sticky Buns

Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp PLUS 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 tblsp butter, softened
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp salt
about 4 cups flour

Filling:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup dried currants
1 tblsp cinnamon
4 tblsp butter, melted

Topping:
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tblsp butter
2 tblsp light corn syrup
2 tblsp honey
1 1/4 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1) Prepare dough; in cup, combine warm water, yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2) In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, blend yeast mixture with milk, butter, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, egg yolks, salt and 3 cups flour until blended. With wooden spoon stir in 3/4 cup flour.

3) Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Working in enough of remaining 1/4 cup flour to keep dough from sticking.

4) Shape dough into ball; place in greased large bowl turning dough to grease top. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (80-50 degrees) until doubled, about an hour.

5) Meanwhile prepare filling: in a small bowl mix together brown sugar, currants and cinnamon; set aside. Reserve melted butter.

6) Prepare topping; in a 1 qt. saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and honey; heat over low heat until brown sugar and butter have melted. Grease 9x13 pan; pour brown sugar mixture into pan and sprinkle evenly with pecans.

7) Punch down dough. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; cover and let rest 15 minutes. Roll dough into 18x12 inch rectangle. Brush dough with reserved melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon mixture. Starting at long side, roll dough up jelly roll fashion; place seam side down. Cut crosswise into 20 slices.

8) Place slices, cut side down, on topping mixture in pan making 4 rows of 5 slices each. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 15 hours.

9) Preheat oven to 375. Bake rolls until golden. about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, immediately place tray over pan and invert; remove pan and let rolls cool slightly.

Balsamic-Glazed Pork Chops

So the other night I pulled some pork chops out the the freezer. I looked in 4 cookbooks before I found this recipe. One of the four was The French Chef by Julia Child but I was not ready to plunge into French cooking after work one night.

Anyway, the pork chops I had were not boneless but still worked fine. I used onion because I always have those in the house. The only thing I would have changed was to make more of the balsamic glaze. It was really good but I did not think there was enough for the 3 pork chops that I cooked.

Balsamic-Glazed Pork Chops

8 boneless pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick, trimmed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tblsp olive oil
3 tblsp finely chopped shallot or onion
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Pat pork dry with paper towels. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper. In non-stick
12" skillet heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Cook pork 4 minutes on one side; turn and cook 3 more minutes. Transfer pork to platter and keep warm.

Increase heat to high. Stir shallot or onion into pan juices; cook 1 minute. Stir in vinegar and brown sugar and cook 1 minute longer. Pour sauce over pork.

Makes 4 main-dish servings.