I make this quite a bit at home as we all love it. Serve with a salad for a complete meal.
Boil water and cook pasta until al dente - or just about done. I use an entire bag of the Rizopia brand Organic Brown Rice Elbows at www.rizopia.com. Once it is done, drain and set aside.
chop up one onion and put in a pot with about 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine. Cook until translucent.
Add 1/4 cup of brown rice flour (or your favorite gluten-free flour) and mix up
Add about 1/4 cup of milk and mix until smooth, keep adding milk until the mixture is smooth - all the while over medium heat (you will use about 2 1/2 cups of milk. The milk mixture should not boil.
When the milk is hot then add about 1 cup of shredded cheddar. Mix in the cheese and keep stirring until melted. The mixture should be thickening at this point.
I add a dash of nutmeg, salt and pepper. These are optional.
Once the cheese sauce is thickened (it it doesn't thicken add a bit more cheese) then pour over top of the noodles and mix up in an oven proof casserole. I grate some cheddar on top and then bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or so. (another option is to add chopped tomatoes to the top or throughout - very yummy.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Chicken and Black Bean Casserole
Chicken and Black Bean Casserole
This recipe uses the leftover chicken and potatoes from yesterday's roasted chicken recipe.
Slice up potatoes and place them in the bottom of a casserole dish. (You may want to put a bit of oil or non-stick spray in the bottom to ease clean up.)
In a separate bowl add:
cooked chicken, chopped up into bite sized pieces (I had about 1.5 cups leftover)
one tomato chopped up into bite sized pieces
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed (important to rinse to get rid of the sodium)
1/3 cup of salsa - or more if you like salsa
3/4 cup of frozen corn (or can of corn) - optional
Mix these ingredients together and pour over the potatoes
Top with grated cheddar cheese
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until heated through.
This recipe uses the leftover chicken and potatoes from yesterday's roasted chicken recipe.
Slice up potatoes and place them in the bottom of a casserole dish. (You may want to put a bit of oil or non-stick spray in the bottom to ease clean up.)
In a separate bowl add:
cooked chicken, chopped up into bite sized pieces (I had about 1.5 cups leftover)
one tomato chopped up into bite sized pieces
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed (important to rinse to get rid of the sodium)
1/3 cup of salsa - or more if you like salsa
3/4 cup of frozen corn (or can of corn) - optional
Mix these ingredients together and pour over the potatoes
Top with grated cheddar cheese
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until heated through.
Roast Chicken and Potatoes
This is one of my favorite ways to cook chicken.
Line a roasting pan or any other oven proof dish with foil (I always do this because I hate cleaning up the crazy pan mess.)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Take about 4-6 medium potatoes and cut them up into 1 inch square pieces (this would be for a family of four and would leave leftovers). Toss them in a bit of olive oil - just enough to coat and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Place these in the pan.
Take a lemon or an orange - whatever you have - and cut slashes through the skin in several places. Place this inside the chicken cavity. If the orange or lemon does not fit, cut it in half and stuff it in. Some of the lemon will stick out.
Put the chicken on top of the potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sometimes I rub a bit of olive oil on the top of it but this time I did not.
Set the timer for 30 minutes. When it goes off take the pan out of the oven and move the potatoes around to make sure that they are cooking evenly. Also - lift the chicken up and pour out the juices from inside the chicken into the pan. This will all cook together and make the potatoes extra tasty.
Set the timer for another 30 minutes and when that timer goes repeat the last step of emptying the juice out of the chicken and then moving around the potatoes. I also at this time, squirt some lemon juice over the chicken and onto the potatoes. You can use a real lemon or use "Real Lemon" from a bottle.
Back in the oven now for about 15 minutes - depending on the size of the chicken. Start testing to see if it is done. Use a meat thermometer for best results.
According to the website recipes.howstuffworks.com:
"For whole chickens, a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, but not near bone or fat, should register 180 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit before removing from the oven." http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/how-to-cook-chicken8.htm
When it is done, take it out of the pan and sit it on a cutting board to "rest" for about 5-10 minutes. I usually make a little tent out of foil and set that over top to keep the moisture from escaping. At this time I put the potatoes back in the hot oven (which has been turned off) to keep warm and to mix with the juices from the chicken.
Carve the chicken - I like Chef Tell's way of carving chicken the best - http://www.mbctv.com/cheftell/turkey.html - in this post he is talking about a turkey but it is the same message for a whole chicken. Chef Tell was one of my favorite chefs on tv while I lived in San Francisco in the mid 1990s. I learned a lot from watching him cook.
We will often put the chicken back in the pan with the potatoes to serve. I learned this trick from watching Michael Smith - he is my current favorite. http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Main/Chicken/recipe.html?dishid=9638 - here he explains his version of roasted chicken. Fabulous.
Enjoy.
(see next post for how I will use the leftovers from this dish for something completely different...)
Line a roasting pan or any other oven proof dish with foil (I always do this because I hate cleaning up the crazy pan mess.)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Take about 4-6 medium potatoes and cut them up into 1 inch square pieces (this would be for a family of four and would leave leftovers). Toss them in a bit of olive oil - just enough to coat and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Place these in the pan.
Take a lemon or an orange - whatever you have - and cut slashes through the skin in several places. Place this inside the chicken cavity. If the orange or lemon does not fit, cut it in half and stuff it in. Some of the lemon will stick out.
Put the chicken on top of the potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sometimes I rub a bit of olive oil on the top of it but this time I did not.
Set the timer for 30 minutes. When it goes off take the pan out of the oven and move the potatoes around to make sure that they are cooking evenly. Also - lift the chicken up and pour out the juices from inside the chicken into the pan. This will all cook together and make the potatoes extra tasty.
Set the timer for another 30 minutes and when that timer goes repeat the last step of emptying the juice out of the chicken and then moving around the potatoes. I also at this time, squirt some lemon juice over the chicken and onto the potatoes. You can use a real lemon or use "Real Lemon" from a bottle.
Back in the oven now for about 15 minutes - depending on the size of the chicken. Start testing to see if it is done. Use a meat thermometer for best results.
According to the website recipes.howstuffworks.com:
"For whole chickens, a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, but not near bone or fat, should register 180 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit before removing from the oven." http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/how-to-cook-chicken8.htm
When it is done, take it out of the pan and sit it on a cutting board to "rest" for about 5-10 minutes. I usually make a little tent out of foil and set that over top to keep the moisture from escaping. At this time I put the potatoes back in the hot oven (which has been turned off) to keep warm and to mix with the juices from the chicken.
Carve the chicken - I like Chef Tell's way of carving chicken the best - http://www.mbctv.com/cheftell/turkey.html - in this post he is talking about a turkey but it is the same message for a whole chicken. Chef Tell was one of my favorite chefs on tv while I lived in San Francisco in the mid 1990s. I learned a lot from watching him cook.
We will often put the chicken back in the pan with the potatoes to serve. I learned this trick from watching Michael Smith - he is my current favorite. http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Main/Chicken/recipe.html?dishid=9638 - here he explains his version of roasted chicken. Fabulous.
Enjoy.
(see next post for how I will use the leftovers from this dish for something completely different...)
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sept 18, 2010
Pasta with lobster and asparagus
This dish is based on my friend's Anastasia's dish. She made it for us one night - delicious! She told me to buy frozen lobster in a can - and there it was at Superstore. It is a bit pricey at about $18 for a can but this fed 6 of us.
Saute until cooked, in a medium pan, with a tablespoon of olive oil:
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced into half rings
Add:
1 pound of asparagus cut into about 3 pieces per stalk
3 cloves garlic (put through a garlic press)
Once the asparagus has been in the pan for 3-4 minutes, add the thawed lobster. I cut up some of the pieces of lobster to bite size.
Add:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or use dried if you don't have fresh)
grated rind of one lemon
juice of one or two lemons
2 medium sized tomatoes cut into bite sized pieces
tablespoon of butter (optional)
Cook until everything is warm.
Toss the sauce with the spaghetti or fresh angel hair pasta and serve.
I put parmesan cheese out and it actually tasted good with the cheese (which I did not think it would given that this is seafood). Fresh ground pepper was also very good.
I served this with a soup to start - the potato/squash soup from a few days ago. I added some cream, cinnamon, cloves and allspice to the soup then served it with a yogurt sauce (yogurt, basil and red onion chopped up fine).
Dessert was "Anna's Country Spice Cake" from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts by the Moosewood Collective (page 142). http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Moosewood-Restaurant-Book-of-Desserts-Moosewood-Collective/9780517884935-item.html
I made a rum flavored whipped cream - a cap full of rum and a teaspoon of sugar to go with it. Yum!
Pasta with lobster and asparagus
This dish is based on my friend's Anastasia's dish. She made it for us one night - delicious! She told me to buy frozen lobster in a can - and there it was at Superstore. It is a bit pricey at about $18 for a can but this fed 6 of us.
Saute until cooked, in a medium pan, with a tablespoon of olive oil:
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced into half rings
Add:
1 pound of asparagus cut into about 3 pieces per stalk
3 cloves garlic (put through a garlic press)
Once the asparagus has been in the pan for 3-4 minutes, add the thawed lobster. I cut up some of the pieces of lobster to bite size.
Add:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or use dried if you don't have fresh)
grated rind of one lemon
juice of one or two lemons
2 medium sized tomatoes cut into bite sized pieces
tablespoon of butter (optional)
Cook until everything is warm.
Toss the sauce with the spaghetti or fresh angel hair pasta and serve.
I put parmesan cheese out and it actually tasted good with the cheese (which I did not think it would given that this is seafood). Fresh ground pepper was also very good.
I served this with a soup to start - the potato/squash soup from a few days ago. I added some cream, cinnamon, cloves and allspice to the soup then served it with a yogurt sauce (yogurt, basil and red onion chopped up fine).
Dessert was "Anna's Country Spice Cake" from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts by the Moosewood Collective (page 142). http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Moosewood-Restaurant-Book-of-Desserts-Moosewood-Collective/9780517884935-item.html
I made a rum flavored whipped cream - a cap full of rum and a teaspoon of sugar to go with it. Yum!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
September 12, 2010 - part 2
Squash Soup (trying to think of a better name...)
I am also preparing a soup to be eaten later in the week. This is a busy week and I will be home late almost every night.
1/2 acorn squash, peeled and chopped
1 cup of butternut squash peeled and chopped
1 onion peeled and chopped
I put all three of these into the pot with a bit of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan - on medium - I would have used a bit of water if I had not had the chicken stock leftover from cooking the butternut squash and fresh pea risotto.
Let this cook for a while until the squash is soft to put a fork through. Add some salt and pepper to the mixture.
Added two peeled, chopped coarsely, leftover baked potatoes (I had to use up four leftover massive potatoes today).
I added a teaspoon of chopped fresh parsley and sage - had them in the herb pot on the deck. If you don't have fresh then dried will do - maybe a bit less than a teaspoon each.
Add some water to cover the mixture - or chicken/vegetable stock if you like. Cook until everything is tender. At this point I let it cool and then whir it up with a Braun Handmixer. When I serve it - heat and add salt/pepper if needed. I often add plain yogurt when I serve.
Makes quite a bit - enough for dinner for four plus at least one lunch the next day. If the salad is not enough to fill everyone up I will sometimes serve with a slice of bread, toasted with cheese open-face.
Squash Soup (trying to think of a better name...)
I am also preparing a soup to be eaten later in the week. This is a busy week and I will be home late almost every night.
1/2 acorn squash, peeled and chopped
1 cup of butternut squash peeled and chopped
1 onion peeled and chopped
I put all three of these into the pot with a bit of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan - on medium - I would have used a bit of water if I had not had the chicken stock leftover from cooking the butternut squash and fresh pea risotto.
Let this cook for a while until the squash is soft to put a fork through. Add some salt and pepper to the mixture.
Added two peeled, chopped coarsely, leftover baked potatoes (I had to use up four leftover massive potatoes today).
I added a teaspoon of chopped fresh parsley and sage - had them in the herb pot on the deck. If you don't have fresh then dried will do - maybe a bit less than a teaspoon each.
Add some water to cover the mixture - or chicken/vegetable stock if you like. Cook until everything is tender. At this point I let it cool and then whir it up with a Braun Handmixer. When I serve it - heat and add salt/pepper if needed. I often add plain yogurt when I serve.
Makes quite a bit - enough for dinner for four plus at least one lunch the next day. If the salad is not enough to fill everyone up I will sometimes serve with a slice of bread, toasted with cheese open-face.
September 12, 2010
butternut squash risotto with fresh fresh peas
heat about 1 litre of chicken stock on the stove in a pot - keep this at just under a simmer
1 onion chopped
teaspoon of olive oil
heat the olive oil in a medium sized pot (on medium)
add the chopped onion and stir until translucent
stir in chopped butternut squash - 2 cups or so - cut into 1cm pieces
add 1 cup of Arborio Italian rice and stir until mixed with the other ingredients
add in 1/2 cup of white wine and stir until absorbed (in this case I added lemon juice and a bit of pink grapefruit juice)
Keep adding ladles of chicken stock into the rice mixture - letting each ladle full absorb before the next. If it is boiling in the pan then your pan is probably too hot.
When all of the stock is used and the rice tastes done (not crunchy) then you can add the fresh peas (frozen will also do fine) - about one cup. At this stage you could also add some parmesan cheese - about 1/2 cup would be fine, more if you want cheesier or less if not. Sometimes I don't put it in at all (especially for friends that can not eat dairy products).
Turn off the stove and take the pot off of the burner. Put a lid on the risotto and let it rest for a while until dinner is ready.
I am making this ahead for tomorrow night and will serve it with a green salad.
butternut squash risotto with fresh fresh peas
heat about 1 litre of chicken stock on the stove in a pot - keep this at just under a simmer
1 onion chopped
teaspoon of olive oil
heat the olive oil in a medium sized pot (on medium)
add the chopped onion and stir until translucent
stir in chopped butternut squash - 2 cups or so - cut into 1cm pieces
add 1 cup of Arborio Italian rice and stir until mixed with the other ingredients
add in 1/2 cup of white wine and stir until absorbed (in this case I added lemon juice and a bit of pink grapefruit juice)
Keep adding ladles of chicken stock into the rice mixture - letting each ladle full absorb before the next. If it is boiling in the pan then your pan is probably too hot.
When all of the stock is used and the rice tastes done (not crunchy) then you can add the fresh peas (frozen will also do fine) - about one cup. At this stage you could also add some parmesan cheese - about 1/2 cup would be fine, more if you want cheesier or less if not. Sometimes I don't put it in at all (especially for friends that can not eat dairy products).
Turn off the stove and take the pot off of the burner. Put a lid on the risotto and let it rest for a while until dinner is ready.
I am making this ahead for tomorrow night and will serve it with a green salad.
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