Venison Chili- Revised.

Proclaimed the state dish by the Texas legislature in 1977, it is one of the most famous local preparations and the topic of many heated conversations over ingredients and whether beans or tomatoes should be included. Recipes for chili date back to the mid-1800s, when a "bowl of red" was basic fare. Today, it can be a passion. Also called chili con carne, this is a variation of the thick soup traditionally made with highly seasoned ground beef and chiles. I have been told that the original chili recipe did not include beans, so simply omit them is you are not a bean-lover like me.

I like to experiment with a different type of bean every time I make chili. For this recipe, I have used both cannellini (white kidney) and black beans, each offering a different texture and flavor. Experiment to find your favorite.

I was fortunate to receive ground venison from a friend. I've never tasted better chili. Venison adds an incredible depth of flavor.

Like beef, venison is rich in protein, iron, and many B vitamins. However, venison tends to be lower in fat, especially saturated fat. Many of the vitamins and minerals found in venison are those we commonly lack in our American diets.

For example, a 4oz. serving of cooked venison provides 11% of the recommended daily value of potassium, essential for regulating blood pressure and maintaining proper fluid balance in our body. All this an more according to the World's Healthiest Foods.

And now, without further adieu...

2 notes: You can easily substitute ground beef. The chili tastes better the second day, making it an ideal "make-ahead" dish.

Ingredients

- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 bell pepper, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lb ground venison
- 2 jalapeno chiles, minced or to taste: Remove ribs and seeds to decrease heat. Only use 1 if you prefer mild.
- 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. chile powder, or to taste
- 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper- I use 1/4 tsp because we actually want to taste our food. 1/4tsp=mild, 1/2 medium-hot, 3/4 tsp for "RED HOT" as this recipe is called.
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cumin. I toast cumin whole, in a frying pan, then grind in a mortal and pestle. The aroma and flavor can not be beat!
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 15 1/2oz can beans: recommendations: red kidney, cannellini, black beans. Last time I made this I used black
beans and it was my favorite so far
- 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- 3/1/2 cups beef stock- I use homemade and believe it adds depth of flavor, I'm sure store-bought is fine
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Technique

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Add the venison and cook through, breaking up the ground meat. Drain any liquid.

Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally. Adjust the seasonings.

Please salt as you go, building the flavor all along the way. If you flavor while you are sweating the onion and pepper, you don't need all the salt to be added at the end. Adjust the seasoning accordingly. Let your tongue be the judge of how much salt you need.

If you've not cooked venison before, do not be alarmed by its deep red, almost purple appearance.

We have 2 favorite chili sides/preparations: homemade fry bread, and a variety of toppings: onion, bell pepper, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocados- if you really want to treat yourself, put your chili, and toppings, on a pile of fritos or right into the frito bag (cut sideways) and you make another Texas favorite- FRITO PIE!

ENJOY!

MIA

I find myself sighing each night that I see my photos and recipes piling up- We've spent the last several weeks house-hunting and have been so blessed to find the perfect house for our family! With all the work I have ahead preparing to move in one month, I'm sad to say there will be little time for blogging. I have had requests to redo my venison chili recipe, and I will happily do so....until then enjoy all of your cooking adventures in the kitchen! I want to hear all about them....

New Format and re-written chili recipe coming soon!.....

Sorry about the LOOOONG paragraph

Please excuse the format of my last blog post- I don't know what happened. I thought that I had it in a format that did not induce mental strain. I will try to correct it. And I'm still learning how to post this stuff- perhaps that deserves a blog of itself entitled, "How to run a blog." Problem is, 5 year olds know how to do this and I don't!

RED-HOT VENISON CHILI.....my way

Proclaimed the state dish by the Texas legislature in 1977, it is one of the most famous local preparations and the topic of many heated conversations over ingredients and whether beans or tomatoes should be included. Recipes for chili date back to the mid-1800s, when a "bowl of red" was basic fare. Today, it can be a passion. Also called chili con carne, this is a variation of the thick soup traditionally made with highly seasoned ground beef and chiles. I have been told that the original chili recipe did not include beans, so simply omit them if you are not a bean-lover like me. I like to experiment with a different type of bean each time I make chili. For this recipe, I have used both cannellini (white kidney) and black- both offer different flavor and texture. Experiment to find your own favorite. I was fortunate to have actual venison, from a friend of mine, for this recipe, but I'm sure beef would be fine. Venison adds incredible depth of flavor. Like beef, venison is rich in protein, iron and many B vitamins. However, venison meat tends to be more lean and lower in fat, especially saturated fat. Many of the vitamins and minerals found in venison are those that we commonly lack in our American diets. For example, a 4 oz serving of cooked venison provides 11% of the recommended daily value of potassium, essential for regulating blood pressure and maintaining proper fluid balance in your body. All this and more according to the World's Healthiest Foods..... And now, without further adieu, Chili Ingredients: Serves @ 8 INGREDIENTS - 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil - 1 large onion, finely chopped - 1 bell pepper, finely chopped - 6 garlic cloves, minced - 2 lb ground venison - 2 jalapeno chiles, minced (Remove ribs and seeds to decrease heat, only use one if you prefer more mild). - 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. chile powder (amount can also be decreased per taste) - 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper- I used 1/4 tsp because we actually want to taste our food, I'd say 1/4 for mild-med, 1/2 for hot and 3/4 tsp for "RED-HOT" as the recipe is called - 2 1/2 tsp ground cumin (I toast mine whole in a frying pan first, then crush them with mortal and pestle), the flavor difference is incredible! - 1 Tbsp dried oregano - 1 15 1/2 oz can red kidney beans, drained Note: Black beans are very tasty - 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes - 1 6-oz can tomato paste - 3 1/2 cups beef stock-homemade, or store-bought is fine - 1 1/2 tsp salt Technique: Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Add the venison and cook through, breaking up the ground meat. Drain any liquid. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered for at least 2 hours. Stir occasionally. Adjust seasoning. Please salt as you go, building the flavor all along the way. If you flavor while you're sweating the onion and pepper, you don't need all the salt added at the end- adjust accordingly. Let your tongue be the judge of how much salt you need. If you've not cooked with ground venison, don't be alarmed by it's deep red, almost purple, appearance. This chili will also taste even better the next day- so make it ahead if you have the time. Sides: Many options here. Our 2 favorites are homemade fry bread and a variety of toppings: onion, bell pepper, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, maybe some avocado. If you REALLY want to treat yourself, put your chili along with the toppings on top of a pile of fritos- or right into the bag of opened fritos- and there you will have another Texas favorite- Frito Pie! Enjoy!

Rigatoni with Steak

Monday night's dinner has been my favorite all week. And interesting enough, the only one I didn't take a picture of. However, I want to tell you about this dinner for many reasons.

1) It's delicious. I'm on a Giada di Laurentiis kick right now because after meeting her, I was determined to try some of her recipes. Well, this is outstanding.

2) Two words: steak and pasta- who does not LOVE that combo? You can serve this to ANYONE and they will love it.

3) The sauce can be made a day ahead- which I discovered the next day as I was eating the leftovers for lunch. I actually thought the entire meal tasted better the next day. ANY meal that can be made a day ahead is a success in my book.

4) Pricy steaks made to go the distance. We used 2 thin rib-eyes but you can use 1 inch thick if you like. There are times we want to serve steak when we have guests. But good steak is expensive. Here's a great way to be generous enough with the steak but still budget-friendly.

5) I use one of my favorite things in the whole world: CHIANTI! 3/4 cup for the sauce, and the rest is to be enjoyed while you eat!

This meal tastes like a ragu. Pat thought I worked on it all day. From beginning to end, it took me about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Ingredients

- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 2 12 oz. rib-eye steaks (I used thinner ones....size is important when it comes to cooking time)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 onions, thinly sliced ( I used only 1 and thought it was fine)
- 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (julienne, ya'll)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 cup dry red wine ( I use Chianti)
- 2 cups homemade or storebought marinara sauce (Giada's homemade Marinara recipe is a good one, I always have some in my freezer)
- 1 cup low sodium beef broth (I had some in my freezer, but if you buy more than one cup, the rest will freeze well. Pour into large muffin tins and place in freezer. Once frozen, transfer to freezer bag to add into soups, stews or making this again!)
- 12 oz dried rigatoni ( I used handmade fresh rigatoni stuffed with ricotta which I purchased for the occasion-dried works well too)

Technique:

Heat the oil in a large, heavy frying pan over high heat. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Cook the steaks until they are seared and brown but still rare in the center, about 3 min. per side. (I cooked my thin rib-eyes for 1 min. per side. That's all they needed- nice sear over high heat for a med-rare center. You should hear sizzling and there should be smoke- othewise you're not doing it right. HIGH HEAT- loud hissing! Windows opening. And don't touch them on the pan...and don't let any guy come along and poke at them either. Just let them sit there and get happy until they are ready to be flipped. REMEMBER that protein raises 5 degrees off the heat. It will cook more as it rests on the plate. ) Transfer the steaks to a plate and set aside to cool completely (this step can be done earlier in the day.) Add the onions and carrots to the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano, and saute for 1 minute. Add the wine and simmer for 1 minutes. Add marinara sauce and broth. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat to allow the flavors to blend, about 10 minutes. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, trim off any fat from steaks, then cut the steaks into bite-zie pieces and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add rigatoni and cook according to package instructions. I like to cook pasta 1-2 min. less than recommended so that it will finish cooking in the sauce. Stir pasta while boiling to prevent sticking. Drain pasta.

Toss rigatoni, reserved steak pieces, and any accumulated juices from the steaks, with the sauce to coat. Transfer pasta to bowls and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and serve with some crusty bread to soak up that heavenly juice!. I served the dinner with a side salad of greens with some pan sauteed zucchini/summer squash, with a splash of white wine vinegar to deglaze the pan before pouring the veggies onto the salad to wilt the greens a bit.

This meal is well worth the effort.

Happy Birthday Rory!

Monday we celebrated Rory's 4th birthday. As he likes to tell people, "I went to bed 3 and when I woke up.....I was 4!"

Traditionally in my family, you got to pick your birthday dinner. There were a lot of birthdays celebrated in my home, but I always remember stories of my older brother, Jim, and how he loved train cakes as a young boy. Following that tradition, I make train cakes for my boys.

I also asked Rory what he would like for breakfast. He chose scones (I was going to make them anyway- he's a mind-reader, and there was a picture of them on the table when I asked...)

So I give you Rory's birthday menu:

For breakfast, classic cream scones with currants.

Dinner: Rigatoni with Steak c/o Giada di Laurentiis with a little help from yours truly.

Classic Cream Scones

Yields 8 large scones.

These plump, moist scones are rich and subtly sweet. You can have a batch of them ready in the oven in 10 minutes. I have yet to discover or develop a better recipe for scones. While being moist enough, these have the dry crumbly texture you would expect from a scone. This in NOT a muffin or a piece of cake- it's a SCONE! Try this- you will love it.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 1 Tbs. baking powder

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 1/2 cup dried currants (optional) AND dried blueberries are an EXCELLENT substitute

- 6 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

- 3/4 cup heavy cream

- 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

- 1 large egg, lightly beaten wt 1 Tbs milk for glazing (omit milk if you want a darker brown)

- granulated sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Here we go: Technique

Position an oven rack in the lower third of your oven and heat to 400. Line heavy baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the currants, tossing until evenly distributed and coated with flour. Cut in the butter with pastry blender or with 2 knives, or you can even pulse briefly in a food processor. The butter will be pea-size when done. NOTE: At this point, I put the FP bowl back in the fridge to get cold again. WHY? When you touch the butter, the heat from your hands starts to melt it. The secret to delicious scones, flaky biscuits and pie crusts, puff pastry...is COLD BUTTER. Cold butter creates pockets of steam in the cooking process which helps your achieve your flaky buttery deliciousness with certain baked goods. When I want to prep these scones the night before, I assemble the ingredients and let them chill overnight.

In a small bowl, stir the cream and egg yolks just to blend. Add this all at once to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork to begin combining the wet and dry ingredients and then use your hands to gently knead the mixture together until all the dry ingredients are absorbed into the dough. Gather into a moist shaggy ball. DO NOT OVERKNEAD. Trust me here. Bring the dough together a few large fistfulls at a time and then merge them all together but don't make pizza dough out of this because you're going to melt that butter with your sweaty hands! Gather it together as best you can and don't sweat the little crumbs. The dough is sticky but benefits from minimal handling.

Set the rough ball in the center of the prepared baking sheet and pat it gently into a round, about 1 inch thick, 7 inches in diameter. The dough should behave well for you, it just might not look as pretty as you think it should. Do not judge a dough ball by it's appearance! Don't be tempted to make the round any flatter.

With a sharp knife or pastry scraper, cut the round into 8 wedges. Separate the wedges. Brush the scones with the egg-milk glaze. I omitted the milk which accounts for the dark exterior- that's how I like them. Don't use all that glaze btw.....add the rest to your eggs later. Sprinkle the scones with some sugar if you like.

Bake until the scones are deep golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a wedge comes out clean, 18-22 min. Start checking at 18 min. Mine take about 21 min. Yes, I am precise when it comes to these things. The scone is sacred in this Irish family.

Let the scones cool on a rack for about 15 min. before serving. These are great with fresh butter or lemon curd- I've tried both (not together) and like them- it just depends on what mood I'm in.

This recipe doubles beautifully.

And here is one of the reasons I LOVE the Whole Foods Market near my home. They are so kid-friendly. This is their new and improved kid's market area. My kids love to run over and pick out what they are going to munch on while I shop (as quickly) as possible. Bringing 3 little ones grocery shopping is no picnic, but the staff at Whole Foods is so friendly and we now know most of them by name.

Your way is my way.........at Whole Foods Market!

Dog gonnit!

Ok, So this blogging thing is harder than I thought. A very dear friend of mine has offered to help me navigate my blog. I need a major tutorial. For example, how do I edit a post that I saved? I just tried to add on to the weekend post, and actually provide the chicken dinner recipe that I talked about, but couldn't do it. Perhaps I should change the focus of this blog to be about "how to put together a blog." But until I figure that out myself, please be patient and bear with me. Those of you who know me are probably laughing and not suprised...you just wait.

Without further ado, here is what I've been cooking this week so far:

CHICKEN WITH TOMATOES, OLIVES, AND CILANTRO:

Serves 4- OR what I did was use 2 chicken breasts for dinner than save 2 for other meals t/out the week. I did not have olives on hand, so I used capers- they worked out great.
Prep Time: about 30 min. Total Cooking Time: about 30 min.
Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/2- 2 pounds)
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup pitted green olives, halved ( I used 1/2 cup capers- my kids love them)
1 T fresh lime juice, lemon works fine too
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-low. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper, and cook until lightly browned and just cooked through, turning once: about 15 min. (I did it 8 min on each side and had to turn the heat up to medium for the last 2 min.) Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil. NOTE: Protein raises 5 degrees in temp after being taken off the heat. So if you peak to check on the doneness of your chicken and it's still barely pink inside, don't worry. The steam from the foil tent and that resting time WILL finish cooking your chicken. It also helps to let your meat get room temp for at least an hour before cooking. These tips are important so that you have succulent, tender meat- yum ( not dry chewy chicken- yuck_

2. Raise heat to medium and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until softened (5-7 min). Add tomatoes and olives. Cook until tomatoes soften and release their juice (1-2 min). Remove from heat, and stir in lime juice and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken topped with tomato mixture.

We 5 ate 2 breasts that night. I then saved one for Pat's lunch and another one I used in Wednesday night's dinner. I'm going to mention that right now......I sliced the last chicken breast and put it over some pasta which I mixed with a cilantro pesto. I had leftover cilantro from Sunday and a jalapeno pepper in my fridge. Now, I don't like to go grocery shopping until my fridge is bare. So I'm looking at these too ingredients and thinking, "what am I going to do with this darn jalapeno?" PESTO!!

Out comes the food processor.
In goes:
- about 2 cups cilantro
- one jalapeno, rib and seeds removed, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole. You can add more for more heat
- lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
- @ 1/3 cup shredded parmesian cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor and start to process. While the mixture of delicsousness is spinning around, take the little top off your FP and add in @ 1/4 olive oil. Watch the texture as it goes and when it looks like pesto sauce, you're done! None of this is from an actual recipe, but the technique is similar to making pesto. Let your imagination run wild!

SO there you go, 2 dinners from basically one night of prep. We don't eat a lot of meat. I rarely look at one meal without thinking how I'm going to use one or more of it's components later in the week. I love to cook but I also have to figure out how to keep prep time to a minimum. People ask me if I cook dinner every night. Well, the technical answer is yes, but rarely do I have to make dinner from scratch without adding in some component of last night's meal.

Excuse the picture of the chicken dinner- you see what happened was I took off a chicken breast before taking the photo than quickly had to get the platter "blog photo ready" It looked beautiful before I messed it up.

Coming soon.....Rory's birthday feast!

This will be my first full week as a blogger. I had a tutorial last night on how to add photos as well as how to photograph food so that it does not look like canned dog chow.....the chicken with vinegar tastes better than it looks....

I have featured photos that showcase ideas for chicken leftovers. James is enjoying the quesadillas I mentioned last week. I was also able to put some of the chicken into a salad with tomatoes and sliced roasted almonds. 4 boneless chicken thighs (less than 1 pound total) made into 3 meals!

This weekend was very busy with double header baseball and Divine Mercy Sunday celebration. Saturday night's dinner was another one of my specialties. Recipe to follow briefly. The kids were EXHAUSTED from 2 baseball games back to back in the heat and no naps! BUT they tasted skittles for the first time and that helped a lot. Rory rolled himself up like a burrito in the picnic blanket and took a quick nap under a tree. James went over to another field and watch the girls' softball game for awhile- we all got through. Being that we were all tired, I reverted to a well known "oldie but goodie."

CEREAL!

Ingredients:

- 1-2 boxes of cereal; one if you're a purist, 2 if you like to have a "mixture"

- milk, preferably 2% or whole

- optional add-ins: fruit

Technique:

- Pour the cereal into the bowl. Then proceed to add milk to reach about 1/2 way to the cereal. Insert spoon. Serve quickly for light flaky cereals with lots of ingredients. Note: If you are serving a dense cereal, like mini-wheats, we recommend that you let the cereal sit in the milk for about 30sec-1 min. to enhance texture.

- Be sure to drink the leftover milk from the bowl after you have finished as it will have a delicious sugary "kid-food" flavor that CANNOT be replicated.

Sunday was another busy day. We are currently house-hunting which is consuming our weekends. With only an hour to fix dinner, I reverted to what I know.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A CHICKEN BLOG. I HAPPENED TO HAVE SOME CHICKEN THAT I'D BOUGHT FOR LATER THIS WEEK BUT I WAS DESPERATE!!!!!

I will give the chicken a break after this weekend, I promise. As a side dish, I prepared one our favorite carrot dishes: Chicken Galzed with Marsala. I also had some lentils that I'd prepared earlier in the day. I would not pair lentils with this chicken recipe or the carrots, but for some odd reason I was craving lentils. They are typically considered a winter food. Perhaps, since we didn't really have a winter, my body was suffering from comfort foods. I will give the recipes here, but again, please note- the lentils do not pair well with the cilantro in the chicken dish. If you love lentils, you will love the lentil dish. Enjoy!

Photo gliches

I'm having difficulty with transferring some photos. The photos from last night's dinner did not show up- excuse me while I work through figuring out blogging/photos etc. For those of you that know me well and for those who do not, this blog is a HUGE step for me.....a lot for my psyche to handle. So much new technology at one time....stepping into the new millenium.....a few years late.

I am a naive blogger to think that I'm going to be posting every night, but I thought what the heck. Tonight's dinner was one of my specialties: LEFTOVERS!

I used last night's chicken in quesadillas with a mix of shredded cheeses. One of my favorite cheeses to put into a quesadilla is feta. It's tangy and is a great substitute for many fresh Mexican cheeses which I'm less likely to have on hand. I hate throwing food away, so whenever I purchase something, I try to have 2-3 uses in mind minimum.

Sides: sour cream, slice oranges and bean salad

Bean Salad: I got this idea from my sister-in-law, Jenny- she's served a similar salad at many a summer picnic and she's always got great ideas for salads that have beans in them- the kids LOVE this salad and I love that it's so good for them. I added the avocado because the spirit moved me! And we're all addicted to them now. The Mexican haas avocados are my favorite.

- 14.5 oz cannellini beans, rinsed and drained.

- 3 scallions, white and green parts; thinly sliced

- 1/2-1 pint (per your liking) halved cherry tomatoes- I had sweet yellow tomatoes on hand; red cherry or grape are fine

- avocado- halved, pit removed, med. dice while fruit is still in the skin then scooped out on top of salad

- Squeeze of 2/3 lemon

- salt and pepper to taste

- drizzle of olive oil

Gently mix together- this is a great salad for the summer too. This is the time of year that I start to pull my no-cook meals. We're already in the 80's here and I will NOT be turning my oven on after 1pm until November! Crossing our fingers to get a grill this summer- hey I'd love some recommendations!

Have a great weekend and I'll catch up with you on Monday!

Chicken Braised with Tomatoes and Red Wine Vinegar

Trying to add my photo of the chicken braised with tomatoes and vinegar- how do I do this? I need a tutorial- haha, well, I'll try one more time- but I might not have the picture until tomorrow. I need someone to teach me about this whole blog thingy.

Tonight is as good a place to start as any

Well, Happy Easter Thursday. I hope you all are having a blessed Easter week. I wish I'd taken a picture of an asparagus dish that I made on Easter- I'll have to make it again and send a picture along. Let me just take a minute to talk to you about asparagus- ahhh, the "King of the Vegetables." Hands down, my favorite vegetable- I cannot walk past a bunch at the store without inviting one to come home with me. Spring is busting around here and the asparagus stalks are hearty and gorgeous- I don't know how long this season lasts down here, but I'm enjoying it while I can. Stay tuned for more asparagus recipes.

If I wait for the "perfect" time to start posting, this blog will never take off. So, let's just start with tonights dinner. After being away for a few days and a horrible trip to Whole Foods with 3 kids 4 and under, I decided to resort to my fresh food, my freezer, and my pantry. Here's what we came up with. From beginning to end, with prep included, dinner was on the table in 30 minutes.

Chicken braised with red wine vinegar and tomatoes: I only had 1 pound of chx thighs in the freezer- this recipe would be easily doubled, tripled, made ahead......for those of you that cringe at the thought of cooking with vinegar- do yourselves a favor and try this, it's suprisingly sweet and we should have a chat all about cooking with vinegar (mental note.....) This comfortably served my family of 5 with a few bites of leftovers for me to put on top of my lunch salad tomorrow or in a side bowl of pasta/rice.

INGREDIENTS

- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 1 pound)- sliced into 4 pieces

- 2 T flour, salt and pepper (1/2 tsp. salt and count to 40 with your pepper grinder)

- 2 T olive oil

- 1/2 small onion, halved and thinly sliced. I happened to have yellow, but white or red would've also worked- not sweet because the vinegar sweetens the dish enough

- 1 large clove garlic, minced

- can diced tomatoes- "technically" a 14 1/2 oz can is probably too much for this amount of chicken but I was NOT about to split a can of diced tomatoes in to 2- 7oz portions- what do you do with 7oz diced tomatoes? In the interest of curiosity, I put in the whole can but reserve the other half for your eggs the next day if you'd like....

- 1 bay leaf (dried)

- 3T red wine vinegar

- 1/4 cup (homemade) chx stock- make your chx stock ahead or purchase low-sodium stock and freeze it in a muffin tin before popping the blocks out and freezing them in 1/4-1/2 portions so you have a small amount in a pinch without wasting the rest

- freshly chopped parsley or any other herb- I like to walk out to the garden and see what inspires me. Tonight nothing inspired me, so I went herb-less.

Technique:

First of all, while I think of it, I want to emphasize the importance of seasoning as you go. Taste your food as you go. Adding salt as you add ingredients to your pan is key when trying to build flavor. If you wait until the end to add your salt, your dinner will just taste salty. The depth of flavor that develops when you add salt as you go cannot be recovered by "catching up" with the salt at the end. Don't be afraid......salt is your friend. You'll quickly know how to add salt to your meals without ever having to take that little measuring spoon out of the drawer.

Put the flour, salt and pepper into a plastick sip-top bag. Close and shake to combine. Add your cut chicken into the bag, close tight and shake vigorously to coat with flour.

Heat 1-2 T olive oil in a 12-inch (cast-iron is pref.) skillet. over medium-hight heat until shimmering hot. Add your chicken (brown @ 1lb at a time if you're doubling recipe) in a single layer and cook, flipping when golden brown underneath, about 2-3 min. per side. Trasfer the chicken to a bowl. At this point add another tablespoon of olive oil and brown the rest of the chicken, as before, if you're doubling this recipe.

Add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, 1-2 min. (side note: currently I cook on an electric stove top (bane) so my onions will get done maybe a bit quicker than you gas people out there.....ahhhh....gas stoves...) Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (nope, I'm not going to tell you how long that takes- don't walk away, let your nose tell you) Stir int he tomatoes, and bay leaf and raise the heat to hight, cooking until tomatoes begin to break down. ( I used the whole 14.5 can for 1lb chx and in my opinion, it was a few tomatoes too many, though still good. Let me know if you'd like a suggestion on how to use that other 7 oz, I've got a bunch) Add vinegar and boil vigorously until almost evaporated, 30 seconds. Return the chicken and any accumulated juice to pan, along with chicken broth, 1/4 tsp slat and 1/4 tsp pepper and stir well to combine (I only add the measurements of the salt and pepper here for those of you who have not been seasoning as you've been adding ingredients. If you have NOT been sprinky-dinky-ing some salt and pepper with each ingredient that you add to the pan, then add it NOW before it's too late!)

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through- it took 8 min. for me! At this point you can stir in your fresh herbs of choice, total of 2T, and cook for one minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed. Serve with crusty bread to soak up that sop! (that's what my kids call anything juices you can dip bread into.)

Now, you may be exhausted from all the side comments. But you have to realize that after reading this recipe and technique, trust yourself into making this meal without referring back to the recipe. Read it over and picture yourself making this- think of the meal as a series of steps rather than a "recipe" and you can use this technique interchangably with other proteins and veggies.

My sides were: 1. Crusty bread ($1.19/loaf-nothing fancy)- thick-slice to sop up chicken juice

2. Thick asparagus which I washed, patted dried, than drizzled EVOO, s + p, then roasted in a 425 degree oven for 8 min (while my chicken was cooking- 2 birds!)

3. Feta, watermelon, yellow cherry tomato salad: a handful of each, chopped and lightly mixed- don't overhandle or the feta and watermelon will weep their liquids. No vinaigrette just some chopped fresh mint from my garden. I did not make the salad large- just made to order because I can't imagine all those water-y ingredients being very happy together in a leftover tuppeware container.

Now, these are items that I had in my fridge- I buy what I see is in season and looks fresh. I always have 3-5 cheeses on hand to play with. I try to base my menu on what seasonal and fresh ingredients I've purchased vs. being addicted to following recipes 7 nights a week.

The chicken dish recipe came from an adaptation I've made to one found in the most recent Fine Cooking magazine- a magazine that I cannot recommend highly enough. Now, I realize I've talked quite a bit here tonight- this is my first official blog post and I'll be experimenting every step of the way. If my side comments deter your from reading further, PLEASE let me know- you won't offend me. Are the comments helpful and enjoyable or do you want just the recipe and then that's it. I could go on and on.....talking about cuts of chicken and cooking time or the benefits of cooking with vinegar- but I'll get to those topics here and there.

Upcoming post: The most delicious scones I've ever made (so far- I haven't found a recipe to beat this one yet) and it's recipe coming your way. I know the winter is behind us, but I bake what I crave and this week, it's scones and biscotti....recipes coming soon.

I mentioned in the beginning that I have a deep affection for asparagus- can't pass it without putting some in my grocery cart. What about you? Do you have an ingredient that you love no matter how much you consume? What's your "asparagus?"

Monday night: