Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Posted on March 24, 2012 by
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Because Chef John claimed that this particular dish is the most popular dish in the entire internet and!.. because I am living in a civilized world, I am proud to say that finally, I was able whirl up a delicious Chicken Parmesan Casserole. Hurrah!

So without much ado, here’s the ingredients of this astounding and delicious recipe courtesy of Chef John (again). Because I’m a huge virtual fan and I love Chef John. Lol.

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • hot red pepper flakes
  • dried thyme
  • 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce (tomato sauce)
  • 1/4 cup chopped basil
  • 8 oz mozzarella, shredded, divided
  • 3 oz Parmesan Cheese, grated fine, about 3/4 cup, divided
  • 1 (5-oz) package garlic croutons

1. Season your chicken breast with generous amount of salt and pepper on both sides. Sprinkle with a bit of dried thyme just to have a different edgy taste on it.

2. Heat your olive oil in a pan on high heat and sear your chicken breasts for about 3 minutes each side to brown it  a bit and to deepen the flavor.

3. Meanwhile, prepare your baking dish. You can use 9×14 or any baking dish size you have. Drizzle some oil and add your minced garlic and pepper flakes. Spread it all over your baking dish.

4. Transfer and arranged your seared chicken breasts on your baking dish. Spoon over your tomato sauce, covering the entire top of the breasts.

5. Sprinkle with fresh basil on top. Next is half of your parmesan and half of your mozarella. Then cover everything with garlic croutons.

6. Finally, top your croutons with the rest of your cheeses.

Ready for the oven

7. Put it inside the preheated 350F oven for about 45 minutes-1 hour. It will all depends on the thickness of the chicken breasts. The best way to know if it’s done is to have a cooking thermometer. You can check the thickest part of the breasts and if it reaches 155-160F then it’s done. But if you don’t have a thermometer, then you can always buy a much thinner chicken breasts or you can cut it thinner yourself. Then you can probably have it cooked in 30 minutes or less.

8. Once it’s done, let it sit for a couple of minutes, transfer a piece to a serving plate, garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

As usual, I love mine a bit “burnt” because I’m weird like that. Hope you’ll give this a try guys. It’s unbelievably delicious and so easy to make. Happy weekend guys! Enjoy!

 

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Posted in Chicken | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

How To Make Chicken Croquettes or Rice Balls

Posted on March 22, 2012 by
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Was too quiet lately because I ran down the whole 2 season of The Walking Dead haha! But I have so much things to blog about. Pictures are piling up and I really don’t know where/what to start. And then I thought about this Chicken croquettes or rice balls (some people in Sicily called this Arancini) I made the other day.

Ok, am a confessed Chef John fanatic and as usual, this recipe came from his blog site. It was so easy (and enjoyable) to do because it involves “the hands”. I love everything with “hands” on it. You know, mashing, squeezing, kneading… those were the things I love to do in the kitchen. Haha. I don’t know, I’m not really fond of using ladles and stuff. If only I could mix hot things with my hands. hahaha… uncanny but true.

Anyways, here’s the ingredients for this incredible incredible incredible (yes 3x) Rice croquettes. It’s good to serve as appetizer or prepare it for small snack or children’s party. Easy to make and super fun and yummy to eat.

  •  about a kilo of Chicken giblets (gizzards and hearts)
  • 2 cups rice cooked in 4 cups of salted water (I used the regular long grain white rice)
  • 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cups bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tbsp. chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper
  • plain breadcrumbs for coating
  • cooking oil
  • lemon wedges

  1. Chef John pressure cooked his giblets for 18 minutes with a cup of water and some salt. But, I AM AFRAID OF PRESSURE COOKER. Oh yes! I still can’t get the hang of it. I seldom use it (with Fany’s help) and I’m STILL not ready to use it (alone). So what I did, I boiled the giblets for several minutes or maybe hours until they’re soft enough. It takes more than 18 minutes but I prefer it that way. It’s better than 18 agonizing minutes of waiting, not for my giblets to soften up but for the pressure cooker to explode. Haha! I know I’m stupid but yeah… I don’t like pressure cookers.
  2. While boiling my giblets, I cooked my rice.
  3. Coarsely chop the giblets using a food processor or you can chop it manually with a knife leaving it a bit chunky and not totally finely chopped.
  4. Mix your chopped giblets with your warm rice (note: not hot, not cold).
  5. Mix in the rest of the ingredients (except for the breadcrumbs for coating, cooking oil and lemon wedges)
  6. Mix thoroughly with your clean hands, mashing it and make sure that the rice is mixed well with the rest of the ingredients.
  7. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.
  8. After an hour, your mixture will firm up nicely and much easier to form. Take a bit and form it into a football shape or croquette. You can also make it round or whatever you like. 
  9. Heat oil in a frying pan in medium high heat.
  10. Coat your croquettes with regular bread crumbs and fry it until golden brown. I didn’t deep fry it. It’s more like browning all the sides and not frying it deep.
  11. Serve with lemon wedges or any dips like mayo, ketchup or aioli.

take a bite!

Unbelievably delicious. So easy to make. Doesn’t have much ingredients. The giblets gave an exceptional flavor and texture. It’s a perfect finger food for the whole family.

Enjoy!

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Posted in Appetizer, Chicken, Italian Cuisine, Rice | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Jerusalem Food Trip

Posted on March 18, 2012 by
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Me and the gang went to Jerusalem yesterday to go to church. Ok, that was the original plan but it’s Saturday and I don’t think there’s a schedule for Catholic mass on Saturdays. The church was open for tourists and visitors who wants to take pictures but the main chapel was not open for those who wants to hear mass.

It was quarter past eleven when we decided to have an early lunch because we still have to go to the wailing wall. And again, we went to Friends Restaurant inside the Old City to eat Shawarma and Kebab. I noticed that it’s a bit pricey now compared to the last time we came here and ate the same. But still, it was good as ever and we ended up unbuttoning our pants because we were so full.

 

 

 

They served us with different kinds of Salads and Pickled Vegetables. I’m always enchanted with their salads. Some of them are spicy but you just can’t stop eating.

 

Of course, hindi mawawala ang Hummus and Pita bread :)

 

Shawarma FTW!

 

 

Lamb Kebab and Chicken Pullet

 

French Fries

It was a very delicious but heavy lunch. We weren’t able to finish everything so to doggy bags it went and we took it home. We paid about $85 US dollars for everything. Quite reasonable price for 4 persons considering we were at the center of a tourist spot.

We also found several food stalls along the narrow pathways of the Old City. We found this incredibly good sweetened almonds near the Holy Sepulcher Church sold buy a handsome young boy who was game for picture taking as long as you buy his almonds. haha.

And of course, the famous fresh bagels all over the place.

and a coffee and tea stand at the entrance of Jaffa Gate with this boiled beans which I didn’t dare to eat because I am very much sure that it will not be good for my sensitive tummy.

So that sums up our Jerusalem Food Trip yesterday. I am now starting to dream about the kebab and the chicken pullet again. Have a blessed Sunday everyone.

 

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Posted in Restaurants/Coffee Shops | Tagged , | 22 Comments

Cafe Barnash

Posted on March 13, 2012 by
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sorry my finger made a lame show.

Cafe Barnash is just about 50 steps away from our house. It’s in Bograshov Street near Dizengoff Center. It’s actually a Coffee Shop which serves early breakfast goodies to late night dishes. It’s not the first time that we ate here but I was not really impressed with their food. It was okay but forgettable.

But I was surprised last Thursday when I found a list of different dishes on their menu. I wonder if they changed their cook or they really overhauled the whole thing in the kitchen. As to my excitement, I had a hard time choosing what to eat so I settled for a piece of Schnitzel (I went to dine out and I ate Schnitzel, very clever).

Carpaccio

We ordered beef carpaccio. Carpaccio is a dish of raw meat (but sometimes tuna or salmon) thinly sliced and pounded to make it as thin as paper. It is usually serve as an appetizer. It was dressed with a sauce which I couldn’t figure out if it’s balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar with oyster sauce. It was sumptuous and I love how the Parmesan on top counter the rough texture of the thin meat. I was even surprised that it’s only 12 shekels ($2). The small bottle of mineral water is 12 shekels too. Whew!

I was not so enchanted with their bread. It was soft and scattered. But it was good enough to eat with Carpaccio.

Fany took this Grilled Chicken Pullet with mashed potato. She told me it’s very good. It appeared dry to me though. We asked the waiter if which part of the chicken this pullet came from. She told us it’s not a usual chicken. It’s a 9 week old chicken and it’s more juicy and softer than the usual chicken from the supermarket. Hmnn.. Okay.

And I, with all these hullabaloos with Cafe Barnash’s new line of dishes, ordered Schnitzel with fries. Schnitzel is a breaded Chicken breast, also pounded to be extra thin, coated with fine bread crumbs and fried. I guess it was only pan fried (without much oil). It’s kinda dry but healthy though. This is similar to Thin Sliced Chicken Nuggets I did the last time.

Fany enjoyed our spring lunch at Cafe Barnash. I did too because of Carpaccio. The Verdict? Well it was OK.. nothing special. Maybe because Cafe Barnash is a Coffee Shop and not a fancy restaurant. But I will definitely come back to try their other dishes.

Cafe Barnash
address: Bugrashov 87 , Tel Aviv
opening hours: Sunday – Wednesday 08:00 – 24:00
Thursday – Friday 08:00 – 02:00
Saturday 10:00 – 24:00
phone: 03-6203747
food type: Coffee Shop
service language: [English], [Hebrew]

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Posted in Restaurants/Coffee Shops | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Pasta with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Posted on March 12, 2012 by
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We decided to make every Friday a no-meat day here at home. Every Friday, we will try our best to be “vegetarians” as much as we can. This is to detoxify our body from too much meat. It’s something that we just wanted to achieve despite of us being suckers for steaks and anything meaty. Aside from Creamy Potato Soup I made, I also mulled on the idea of making a light pasta sauce with mushrooms.

So with the help of my recipe book, I concocted a nice Pasta with Creamy Mushroom Sauce with nothing but fresh button mushrooms and some cherry tomatoes. This easy vegetarian sauce is ideal for busy people with very little time to spare but crave for something hearty and homey to eat.

Ingredients:

  • 450 g. dried spaghetti
  • 4 tbsp. butter
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 medium onion; finely chopped.
  • 450 g. button mushrooms, sliced
  • salt and pepper
  • 150 ml. double cream
  • 2 tbsp. port or dry white wine
  • 10 cherry tomatoes; halved (or you can use 115 g. sun-dried tomatoes, chopped)
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • Parmesan Cheese

  1. Cook spaghetti according to package instructions.
  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and cook for about 3 minutes until transparent.
  3. Add the mushrooms and cherry tomatoes and cook over a low heat for 2 minutes or until tender. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Gradually stir in the cream and wine and a pinch of nutmeg. Simmer over a very low heat for 5-8 minutes.
  5. Drain spaghetti and return to the pan. Pour over the mushroom sauce and toss well.
  6. Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with generous amount of Parmesan Cheese and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve.
  7. Perfect with plain toasted white bread.

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Posted in Italian Cuisine, Pasta and Sauces | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Creamy Potato Soup

Posted on March 10, 2012 by
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Aside from Epicurious, there’s another iPad cooking app that I really love and it’s called Big Oven. Like Epicurious, there are thousands of easy to follow recipes in Big Oven which you can save to favorites, document and even share online. Aside from my cookbooks, I’m kinda addicted to these two apps and most of the time, I caught myself browsing through it for several hours.

Yesterday, Fany requested for potato soup. I was not really enthusiastic about it because I thought about how much calories you can actually take from potatoes. I looked for recipes online but found nothing good so I scanned the Big Oven and found this simple and easy to make recipe of Creamy Potato Soup. As some of you guys know by reading my post on my other blog, it was not a good day for me yesterday. But still, I managed to make this soup incredibly good despite of my angst and pissed off mood. (Thank you to the wonderful recipe from big oven).

So here’s the ingredients:

  • 1 onion; diced
  • 1 carrot; peeled and diced
  • 1 stalk celery; peeled and diced
  • 6 potato (about 1 kilo i guess); peeled and cubed
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 3 tbsp. butter
  • 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp. dried basil
  • 1/2 tsp. Sage
  • 1 tsp. fresh Dill
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup cream
  • parsley and croutons to garnish

you can omit the herbs but not the Dill if possible because it gives a very distinct yummy smell and taste to the soup.

  1. Melt the butter in a large pot and saute onion, carrot and celery for 5 to 8 minutes until everything is tender.
  2. Add the broth and potatoes then bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until all the potatoes are fork tender.
  3. Throw in all the herbs and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Remove from heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
  5. Puree half of it using a blender or a hand blender.
  6. Transfer it back to the pot and simmer in very low heat.
  7. Stir in cream and remove from heat.
  8. Serve garnished with garlic croutons and parsley.

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Posted in Potatoes, Soups, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 17 Comments

Asian Chicken with Cabbage Salad

Posted on March 8, 2012 by
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Ok, I love Erwan’s blog very much that I follow every post and every updates to the point of actually redoing and cooking 3 of his recipes. Aside from being happy because I successfully redone this recipe, I am also happy with Picasa’s new lay-out options. For a photoshop noob like me, this new feature in Picasa is something like a breath of relief. I always wanted to make my photos vintage or lomo (because it’s the trend now yeah?!) but I really don’t know how to make it in Photoshop. And now, Picasa came up with these full features with about 20 or more different options to edit your picture. If you are familiar with iPhone/iPad apps Instagram and Camera+, Picasa now has the same options to give your pictures an edgy hype and style. I tried to edit some of my lame pictures and here it is. Is it nice? or?

Anyways, back to the recipe, this is more like Erwan’s Asian Chicken and Cabbage Salad minus the berry purple basil Mojito he made. As usual, I made a little pluck with the ingredients and presentation. Since I cannot find any kimchi here, I came up with the idea of eating this with a piece of toasted Russian bread.

So here’s my recipe. You can follow what Erwan did, it’s up to you. You can check his blog thefatkidinside and you can view there the actual video plus that awesome Mojito he did (if only I am allowed to drink alcohol).

Ingredients:

  • 2 large chicken breasts; cubed
  • 1 cup Shiitake mushrooms: chopped (you can use any mushroom you like)
  • about two handfuls of cabbage; shredded thinly
  • a tbsp. of white onion; thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. Teriyaki sauce
  • a tsp.  red wine vinegar
  • some drops of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp. of brown sugar
  • middle slice of black Russian bread (or any bread will do)
  • 1 clove garlic; minced
  • granulated garlic
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
  • sesame seeds

  1. Marinate your chicken for about an hour with all the sauces, brown sugar, salt and pepper and red wine vinegar. (Don’t put much salt because the sauces are already salty)
  2. Combine cabbage and onion. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss and mix well.
  3. Saute’ garlic in a large pan until brown. Add chicken with the sauce and saute until chicken is tender and sauce is caramelized.
  4. While doing that, prepare your bread by brushing some olive oil on one side and sprinkle with granulated garlic. Toast for about a minute or two.
  5. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep it warm.
  6. In the same pan, saute your mushroom, season with salt and pepper until tender. Add oil if necessary.
  7. Put back the chicken into the pan and let it sit until your toast is ready. Or whichever comes first.
  8. Place your toast on a serving plate. Top with your cabbage salad. Place your chicken and mushroom over it and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve.

So that’s it guys. It’s very easy and yummy. You can always eat this with rice or mashed potato or just the cabbage and the chicken. Erwan ate this with kimchi and some cucumbers. That’s too fancy for me. But I guess it’s more appealing and delicious. Of course, you are always allowed to tweak the ingredients. Cooking is all about common sense and intuitions. Go Experiment! If you have questions then the comment section is open for you. Have a good day! :)

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Posted in Asian Cuisine, Chicken, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Spanish Chicken with Garlic (pollo al ajillo)

Posted on March 5, 2012 by
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Another delish recipe from the cookbook I bought. I was looking for a very simple recipe to make with my chicken and found this very easy to follow recipe. I never thought it will be so delicious since the only thing that spiced it up are garlic and some dry white wine. However, it turned out incredibly good. This is one of the recipes I recommend to those who are new to cooking. So if you want to impress your husband or a special guest at home, then cook like a pro by making this mouth-watering dish and serve it with rice, potato or french bread.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tbsp. plain flour
  • cayenne pepper or hot paprika 
  • 4 chicken quarters or other joints; patted dry 
  • about 4 tbsp. olive oil
  • 20 large garlic cloves, halved
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 450 ml. chicken stock
  • 4 tbsp. dry white wine or sherry wine
  • fresh parsley; chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • dried oregano (this I added up. I just thought it’s better with oregano)

  1. Put about 3 tablespoon of flour in a plastic and season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Add the chicken piece by piece and shake until everything is lightly coated with flour, shaking off the excess.
  2. Heat 3 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic cloves and fry for two minutes, stirring, to flavour the oil. Remove the garlic and set aside.
  3. Add the chicken to the pan, skin-side down, and fry for 5 minutes, or until golden. Turn and fry for another 5 minutes more, adding 1-2 tablespoon of oil if necessary to avoid sticking.
  4. Return the garlic into the pan. Add the bay leaves, stock and wine and bring to boil. Then cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until chicken is tender and the garlic cloves are soft. To make sure that the chicken is already done, try poking it with a fork and make sure that there’s no blood sipping out anymore.
  5. Sprinkle with dried oregano.
  6. Transfer the chicken into a serving plate, cover to keep warm.
  7. Bring the cooking liquid to boil with the garlic and boil until reduced to about 250 ml. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
  8. Spoon the sauce over the chicken pieces and scatter the garlic cloves around.
  9. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

Cook’s tip:

The cooked cloves of garlic are delicious mashed into a puree on the side of the plate to smear on the chicken pieces.

 

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Posted in Chicken, Spanish Cuisine | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Posted on March 3, 2012 by
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(imported from iamsuperjulie.com)

Just when I thought winter is finally over, strong wind and 8C morning temperature surprised us a few days ago. It was pretty cold and only a warm hearty soup can counter it. Fany was enchanted with the  vegetable soup  I made and she requested for another one. But this time, I tried Creamy Broccoli Soup. I was thinking about Gordon Ramsay’s recipe with goat cheese and nuts but it’s too fancy for me. I want to stick to home cooking so you guys can at least follow and make it at home. I found few simple recipes and I came up with my own. It turned out really good though it was a bit sticky. But like any soup, you can always adjust with your water and it’s still fine.

Ingredients:

  • about 6 cups of broccoli stalks and florets
  • 2 tbsp. chicken powder
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 cup all purpose cream
  • 25 g. butter
  • 2 cloves garlic; minced
  • 1 medium onion; cubed
  • 1 tbsp. Dill; chopped
  • 2 tbsp. Parsley; chopped
  • salt and pepper

 

  1. Saute’ onion and garlic in butter for about 3 minutes.
  2. Add water and chicken powder and bring to boil.
  3. Add broccoli and boil for roughly 3-5 minutes.
  4. salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Add half of your parsley and set aside the other half for garnish.
  6. Turn off heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes.
  7. Puree your soup using a blender.
  8. Transfer it back to your pot over low heat.
  9. Add the cream and Dill and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
  10. You can add water if you want it a bit runny.
  11. Garnish with fresh parsley or croutons. Serve hot.

 

It’s easy to prepare and everyone can do this at home. Hope you’ll try it. Enjoy! :)

 

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Posted in Soups, Vegetables | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Thin Sliced Chicken Nuggets

Posted on March 2, 2012 by
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Schnitzel or Breaded Chicken Breasts is quite known here in Israel. In fact, it’s like the National Food of the country since everyone loves it as much as we Filipinos love adobo. I already posted the recipe of this famous breaded chicken breasts here and today, I just did a little tweak just to make it a bit fancy. I just added a good amount of sesame seeds to the panko bread crumbs, mixed it and coat the chicken with it before frying. I also pounded the chicken a little more thinner than usual and sliced it in 2inch square shape to make it look like a chicken nugget (but very thin).

The recipe is the same as what I wrote here. You just need to add the sesame seeds into the Panko bread crumbs. The children will absolutely love this. Mine was kinda darker/browner because I love it a bit over-fried. I love the crispiness and the texture if it’s kinda burnt.

You can try this at home and I am pretty sure, your family or friends will love it.. I usually make a ketchup-mayo dip with this and it’s perfect. Enjoy! :)

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Posted in Chicken | Tagged , , | 1 Comment