I served this with the spicy mango chutney and it was a big it at the house. Marc is always appreciative of my cooking but doesn’t always comment on it. He gave this recipe a Marine Corps “Out-effing-standing” . I think that is as high in the USMC rating system as anything can get that isn’t directly related to Chesty Puller, or a bulldog.

The chicken comes out very flavorful and tender. The flavors are exotic enough to be impressive but, and here is the best thing of all, you can have it totally finished in 45 minutes. Serve it with brown rice and melon wedges for a complete, simple, and yet exotic meal.

Moroccan Chicken with Spicy Mango Chutney

This is based on a recipe in the Culinary Institute of American Cookbook.

Moroccan Chicken

• 8 chicken breast halves, boneless
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 can cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 1 bunch cilantro chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut for garnish

1. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and about 1 tsp of the curry powder.
2. Cut lemon in half and squeeze the juice from half the lemon over the chicken. Slice the rest of the lemon and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a skillet. Brown chicken on both sides until golden brown, about two minutes per side.
4. Add onion, garlic,chicken broth, sliced lemon, and curry. Cover and cook about 15 minutes or until chicken is tender.
5. Stir in garbanzos.
6. Lay chicken on the plate, spoon juice and garbanzos over it. Add a spoon of the mango chutney, sprinkle with cilantro and coconut, and serve.

Serves 8

images:marye audet

Here it is.  Presto Pasta 108.  You won’t believe the visual feast you are about to experience.  We have gotten some of the most amazing dishes ever.  If you are hungry now? No worries, you will be by the bottom of the page.  Ready?

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Lemongrass is not something I use much.  I love Asian food but I have not really played around with the ingredients a whole lot- I guess I am rather in a rut with European and classic styles, with a little Tex-Mex thrown in. It is a comfortable place for me…not much thought goes into the flavor combinations and I am familiar with the techniques.  My family likes it.  What more can you ask?

Umm….variety?  Challenge? Stepping out of the box with flavors?

The last time I shopped I saw lemongrass at the little natural grocer I use and I decided I would get some and do something with it.  It is very inexpensive and it just smells so good!

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This is my pasta entry for  Presto Pasta Nights…which I remembered this week.  This week’s host is Pam of Sidewalk Shoes.

This week I made a penne with leeks, bacon and smoked gouda, inspired by a recipe in the March issue of Bon Appetit.

I really liked the smokey flavor of the cheese combined with the bacon and leeks.  I used a whole wheat penne which seemed to me to handle the depth of the flavors better than normal pasta would have.  The sauce was smooth and rich and I really liked the way this pulled together.

Penne with Smoked Gouda, Leeks, and Bacon

• 4 leeks, bulbs and lighter green parts sliced and chopped
• 1/2 lb applewood smoked bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1 lb smoked gouda, grated
• 1/4 c flour
• 2 c milk
• 1 1/2 c half and half
• 1 tbs dijon
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 lb whole wheat penne

1. Cook bacon until crisp.  Remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside on paper towel
2. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the baking grease
3. Add leeks to pan, cover and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.  Stir a few times and don’t let them brown
4. Remove leeks with slotted spoon and set aside
5. Add flour, stirring constantly for 2 minutes
6. Add the milk, stirring until smooth.
7. Add the cheese, mustard, and hot sauce
8. Stir until the cheese melts
9. Add a little of the cheese sauce to the beaten eggs to temper; whisk into the sauce
10. Set aside
11. Cook pasta until tender; drain and add to large casserole
12. Stir in the leeks and bacon
13. Add the cheese sauce and stir well
14. Bake for 30 minutes ate 400F

Serves 6-8

images:Marye Audet

I wish I could call this Calvados Chicken Normandy but I can’t.  I didn’t have any Calvados but I did have a nice bottle of Crown Royal that a customer gave to Marc a couple of years ago.  What can I say? We don’t drink very much.

I wanted to make a cider reduction for this chicken and I thought that the whiskey would give it a nice mellow depth.  I was not disappointed at all, and the Hot Pepper Jelly was a brilliant touch if I do say so myself.

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We love corned beef but it can be pretty expensive.  Consider that brisket sells for an average of $1.49  a pound here, and can often be found for 99 cents a pound, and corned beef sells for upwards of 4.99 a pound, making your own corned beef just makes sense.

Just before Christmas brisket went on sale for 99 cents a pound.  I picked up a 12 pound brisket planning on using it for 3 meals.  Two corned beef and one BBQ sandwich meal.  I just started the corned beef today and it will be five days before it is ready but I thought I would share the process so far.

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When we had the restaurant one of the sauces that we used as a signature sauce was Fischer and Wieser’s Roasted Raspberry Chipotle.  Our signature dish was a grilled chicken breast served with this sauce and I can tell you, quit honestly, it was incredible.

I had not seen the sauce available in a retail market, although I knew you could buy it online, so when I saw that Tom Thumbs/Safeway had started carrying it I was ecstatic.  And I bought a bottle immediately.

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Today is the first day of real autumn in the Dallas area.  Rainy, cool…it feels almost Christmassy…I know, I know….you up north are wondering oif I lost my mind…Christmassy? Yeah.

We don’t have white Christmases…we have WET Christmases..so when it gets cool and rainy I start whistling Jingle Bells…go figure. Read more

I am getting this in under the wire.  In fact, I am counting on the fact that Cathy is on Pacific time and I am on Central.

It isn’t that I forgot. It really isn’t.  It is just that I sometimes put things off until the very last minute. Like this. Read more

There are some recipes that have been around a long, long time..and you try them and think…

Why?

But strata is one of those ancient recipes that began because some busy homemaker had some leftover ham, some cheese, a few eggs, and not much time. It has stayed around because, well, it is just good, simple food. And it is quick.

Did I mention versatile? Read more