what is it about a hot fireman...?

...that makes you want to get dressed and cook up something tasty?

New Year, New Recipe #2:  Mushroom Cream Sauce with Garlic Chicken Cutlets
8 chicken cutlets (or 4 skinless, boneless breasts pounded out and cut in half)
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Flour
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound baby belle mushrooms, cut in half
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of dry white wine  (or chicken broth if you don't have a bottle open)
1 1/2 cups cream
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped dill (depending on your taste)

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, going heavy with the garlic powder.  Let sit for a few minutes.  Then LIGHTLY coat in flour.  (I pour flour on a plate and quickly "dip" both sides of chicken cutlets in the flour, shaking off excess.)  Over medium heat, cover your pan with a couple swirls (about 2 tablespoons) of olive oil.  Saute the onion and mushrooms until the onions are soft and the mushrooms are golden about 10-15 minutes, stirring now and then.  Add the garlic and cook two more minutes.  Empty the mushroom mixture on to a plate.  Return pan to stove and add more olive oil.  When hot, saute chicken 2-3 minutes per side until chicken in golden brown and cooked through.  (You may need to cook chicken in batches depending on the size of your pan.  I did!)  Remove chicken to another plate.  Add white wine, scraping up the brown bits of goodness and simmer for one minute.  Stir in mushroom mixture, cream, and dill.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Pour over chicken cutlets.

Tyler, my husband's oldest and closest friend since babyhood, came for dinner and a sleepover (on our couch-- all 6 foot 6 of him) last week.  I love cooking for men who will eat whatever I put in front of them (as opposed to cooking for Finicky #1 and Finicky #2 AKA the six year old and the three year old.)  Since Torrie and I are determined to turn all those amazing recipes we collect into actual food this year, Tyler's visit seemed the perfect opportunity to make this ridiculously rich sauce I spotted on pinterest a while ago.  I adapted the recipe a bit for our household and created a chicken dish.  For the boys (men =) and girlies* I served the chicken and sauce over a bed of spaghetti with a side of broccoli.  I kept my plate low-carb. (Ya know--because cream is sooooooooo much better for you than a pile of pasta!)  I don't cook with cream much for the obvious reasons, but this sauce is SO WORTH IT.  I think it would be amazing over pretty much anything.  (Roasted asparagus comes to mind.)  I may or may not have poured all of the leftover sauce over some scrambled eggs the next morning.  Only my cardiologist knows for sure.

Be sure to visit ...a place to share to see the scrumptiousness Torrie created this week, a slow cooked chicken and mushroom pot pie.  (Apparently, we are channeling each other in both attitude and food choice. =)

(*Finicky version: I cut up the chicken, spaghetti, and broccoli into bite-size pieces, pouring strained sauce over the entire thing.  My littles want nothing to do with mushrooms.  They must be crazy.)

the accidental crouton.

I was making a salad for dinner because I had a crisper drawer full of romaine, yellow peppers, cucumbers, carrot, fresh mint, red onion and a refrigerator full of not much else.  Sparky is usually down for a salad as dinner as long as there is some sort of meat in it.  Well, I had no meat.  I didn't even have any cheese.  I did have a can of garbanzo beans and three stale onion bagels in a mostly bare pantry.  Hmmmm, I thought, I wonder if I can make a good crouton out of those.  And guess what?  I could and did.  They were actually the best croutons I've ever made, and next to the croutons at The Quiet Woman, they are the best croutons I've ever eaten.  (Great on a salad, but delightful as a snack with a large glass of cab while watching forbidden dvr'd television after littles have gone to bed.)

The Accidental Crouton
Onion bagel(s) (I had Sara Lee Deluxe.)
Extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut onion bagel into large bite size pieces.  On a rimmed cookie sheet, douse the bagel chunks liberally with olive oil and toss.  Make sure each piece of bagel gets coated in olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and toss again.  Spread out into single layer on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 450 for 10 to 15 minutes until croutons are golden and crisp on the outside but still soft in the middle.

beans, beans, the musical fruit.

The only reason I'm even posting this quasi recipe* is that these beans were RAVED over by two lovely ladies at two separate dinner parties that we hosted in the last couple of weeks. (Yes, I serve beans at dinner parties.  I'm fancy like that.)  Both friends asked for the recipe.  One I saw at the park a few days later, promptly told me she'd been dreaming about "my beans."  The other texted to tell me that she couldn't stop thinking about "my beans."  Well, if "my beans" are that damn good, I guess I should share.  Fair warning, these beans are a slow process, which can be good or bad, depending on your outlook.  Like a lot  in life, yes?

Super Easy White Beans, Scrumptious Style
1 bag of small dried white beans (any kind will do, I used great northern white beans.)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, small chop
3 cloves garlic, minced (I use more.)
1 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons cumin
4 cups vegetable broth  (You can also use chicken.)
For garnish: lemon juice, salt and pepper, olive oil

Rinse and soak beans overnight in 6 cups of water.  Cover the bottom of a large soup pot with olive oil and heat over medium.  When oil is hot, add onion and stir, cooking for one minute.  Reduce heat to low and saute the heck out of the onions until they are super soft (not brown) and begin to "melt" into the olive oil, about 15 minutes. You'll need to stir them occasionally.  Add minced garlic and saute one more minute.  Stir in salt and cumin.  Add beans and vegetable broth.  Mix well and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and walk away.  Come back every now and then to stir.  You'll know by looking at them and tasting them when they are done.  Most of the broth will be absorbed and the beans will be quite soft, mushy even.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve with lemon wedges or just squeeze a lemon or two over the beans before serving.  To me, the lemon juice is a make it or break it item, but I have a weird obsessed love affair with lemons and should really plant a tree.  A swirl of really good olive oil over the top is also delish.

More on when they are done:
I've left the house, the stove on low, lid on the pot for hours on end, and these beans, well, they are just fine.  You can't really mess them up.  If you want them to cook faster, take the lid off the pot.  I usually do this for the last 10 minutes, especially if it seems like the beans haven't absorbed what I deem as enough of the liquid.

Variations on a theme:
You can add any spice and/or herbs you want.  We have rosemary growing all over our yard, so when I'm in the mood I add that and omit the cumin.  I bet a bay leaf or two would be good.  Or basil.  Spice it up with red pepper.  Let me know what you do!

 {so many scrumptious things start this way}

 {cumin, how i love thee.}

{i do feel a little sorry for beans.  among other things, they aren't very photogenic.}

*All my recipes are quasi, unless I steal them from someone else.  I'm not a good measurer or timer as this "recipe" can attest to!  Sorry.  I'm trying to get better at paying attention to those things as I trip over the fat 10 year old lab under foot, carry around the "hold you momma" two year old, listen to the genius 6 year old read and mentally plan my outfits for my weekend away with Sparky.  xo