Skillet Rosemary Chicken

Thanks to pinterest inspiration, I tried a new recipe. The picture looked amazing, but it tasted even better than I had imagined. The challenge Sean and I had with this recipe was using boneless, skinless chicken and trying not to dry it out. The end result flavors were nothing short of perfection.

Ingredients

3/4 pound small red-skinned potatoes, halved, or quartered if large

Kosher salt

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 tbs leaves

1 clove garlic, smashed

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed halves reserved)

2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450. Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes; drain and set aside.

Pile the rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board, then mince and mash into a paste using a large knife. Transfer the paste to a bowl. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and the olive oil. Add the chicken and turn to coat.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken; add the mushrooms and potatoes to the skillet and drizzle with the juice of the remaining lemon.

Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halves to the skillet; transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

Per serving: Calories 413; Fat 23 g (Saturated 5 g); Cholesterol 87 mg; Sodium 1,055 mg; Carbohydrate 19 g; Fiber 2 g; Protein 32 g

Curry Chicken Stuffed Peppers

I recently added a new recipe to my list of favorite: Curry Chicken stuffed Peppers. This healthier take on the traditional beef stuffed peppers is really tasty. The original recipe can be found here, but below is Sean and my take with slight modifications (no raisins, no almonds, red instead of green peppers, and a little extra curry).

Ingredients

6 med. "orange" peppers (about 2 lbs.)
Vegetable cooking spray
1 c. peeled and chopped cooking apple
1 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated skim milk
2 c. chopped cooked chicken, cooked without salt
1 1/2 c. cooked jasmine rice
1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/8 tsp. coconut extract
3 tsp. curry powder

Cut off tops of peppers and remove seeds. Wash peppers and set aside.

Coat a skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add apple, celery, and onion; saute until crisp-tender. Dissolve cornstarch in milk; add to vegetable mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in chicken, rice, salt, white pepper, coconut extract, and curry. Spoon 3/4 c. mixture into each pepper; top with almonds.


Place each pepper into casserrole dish; bake at 400 degrees for 30-60 minutes.

welcome, 2012!

As is my nature, I am running a little behind. I have so much to share with regards to October festivities, what Thanksgiving means to me, Christmastime cheer, and new years resolutions! I have been better with punctuality this year in general, but when I sink back into old habits, I have to rationalize by saying it's just in my nature. Even my birth date was delayed! I could've been a New Year's Eve baby, but when contemplating 1982 vs 1983, I went with being fashionably late in 1983 and wasn't the first baby that day either. It's just who I am. Nonetheless, I still feel special. :)

Last year's resolutions were again a success. While I didn't accomplish or succeed at all of them, I kept them in mind throughout the year and enjoyed 2011.

I took more photographs thanks to my camera phone. I finished a few books: The Housekeeper and the Professor, The Time Traveler's Wife. I did not get to take a mother-daughter trip this year, but I did get to spend time with my parents in Townsend, for breakfasts, perusing used bookstores, and taking walks in the neighborhood. I did not learn to play the piano yet, but I have gotten really great at playing the invisible piano on my steering wheel as I drive. I took a trip somewhere new to Seattle and Portland with Sean, and I would love to go back. I've tried new recipes and enjoyed them: blueberry pancakes from scratch, broccoli quinoa with chicken, gouda stuffed chicken breasts with potatoes au gratin, homemade pizzas, etc. We've had celebrations at our house this year with bonfires and bridal showers. We've had girls' nights and craft nights and nights to watch The Bachelor. I finished one piece of artwork from my long list of pending projects (and I use the word finish lightly because I'd like to go back and tweak it still). I was more organized. I purged belongings and made trips throughout the year to the Goodwill dropoff. I recycled more. I did not donate blood or find a service organization. I stayed healthy on the whole and excersized more with yoga. I slept better. I did blog more than the previous year, with the end of 2011 being the exception. I did seem to put myself out there more and met new people. I have been studying more and have kept a more positive outlook on life. I feel it affected me most in that I felt more observant of the little things around me and the people who needed help. I felt more outward than inward and that was probably the greatest success of the year.

Here’s my modified carryover list from last year's New Year’s “resolutions”:

1. Take more photographs.
2. Read more often. Currently on the list: Rules of Civility, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, World War Z, The Language of Flowers, The Help, The Time Traveler's Wife
3. Plan a special mother-daughter event. Would still love to do a trip to Chicago...
4. Take my dad out to breakfast each month.
5  Take a trip somewhere new. This year I’m thinking of possibly going to Savannah or Charlston with the roommates.

6.  Support Jackie Chapman on her journey.

7.  Help organize social events: maybe a book trade party, dinner party, girls' night/craft night

8.  Try a new recipe each week. I have three new cookbooks to choose from: Home Made, Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen, and Apples for Jam.
9.  Finish art projects: a wedding portrait for Charles and Jen, a portrait for Angela of she and her dad, a painting for Sean and one for his parents' house, clay nativity set, oval sihouette paintings, wedding day painting of my mom, etc.

10.  Stay consistent with excersize (yoga) and consider a running program or strength training class.

11.  Blog/write/think/pray

12.  Try to stay positive (be less critical, stressed, or overwhelmed).

13.  Eliminate debt by year end 2012. With my planning, I think I can accomplish this by September!

This list feels a little more inward-focused than last, but I guess I'm feeling a little desperate to accomplish as much as I can in the last year of my 20s and enjoy as much as I can. I'm reminded much too often that life is short, NOT that I'm too old, and I don't want to miss an opportunity.

journey to: the pacific northwest

There's just something about looking forward to a trip that brings excitement unlike any other. Well, this last trip came and went so quickly. Sean and I had only mentioned going at some point at first, then really started to consider it, then planned it, and made it a reality. Before it becomes a distant memory, I'd like now to share the experience.

We had a late flight out to Portland and made it through security with no issues besides long lines and jumping through hoops for the TSA. This was our first trip together long distance (we've only had a driving trip to Atlanta with friends and trip to Indy with the Hannon family)…and also the first trip that I did not check a bag since the restrictions on traveling with liquids. At the end of it all, I just looked at Sean and proudly proclaimed, “Expert traveler,” as it was my goal to impress him on our first trip by being on time, getting through the line, and packing everything I needed. Unfortunately, as we sat at our gate, we remembered the things we forgot. Me: leggings, contact solution, brown wedges, Maxaalt, Brita water bottle. Sean: sunglasses.  

When we arrived in Portland, we hopped in a cab toward downtown to the hotel we were staying at: Ace Hotel. The hotel was impressive…epitomized what I would consider classic Portland style.  I promptly fell asleep.

The goal the next morning was to get up early and fill our day with as much as possible, but due to exhaustion, we settled for a late breakfast by stopping next door at Stumptown Coffee and walking over to Voodoo donuts. The iced latte and seasonal Danish at Stumptown was so good. Once we got through the line at Voodoo, we weren’t really in the mood for donuts. I opted for ordinary ones: a cinnamon cake donut and a chocolate glazed one, and saved both for later. (Note: Delicious. Go there if you get a chance).

  

We met up with Jackie and Shelby there and walked through the Saturday Market. It was full of people, things for sale, food, fresh flowers, artwork, etc. With all the walking, we started getting hungry so next on the list was the Grilled Cheese Grill in Southeast Portland/Buckman neighborhood. We ordered our grilled cheese there and polished it off with some frozen yogurt and a walk through one of the Powell’s City of Books bookstores in Hawthorne. Later that night, we went the Rogue Distillery and to the Portland Timbers soccer game, and I had the opportunity to see what soccer fans are really like: fun...and a little extreme. Sean and I walked over to Brix after the game to get some pizza. It was pretty tasty (though I still prefer Nashville’s City House.)

 On Sunday, we started with breakfast at Kenny and Zuke’s, which was adjacent to our hotel. I had the fresh fruit berry crepes and I still dream of them every now and then. I don’t think I’ve had anything so tasty before and the fruit was so fresh! Sean had the corned beef hash and said it was at the top of his list out of all the places he’s had corned beef before. Impressive!


We walked around Powell’s City of Books and stopped for a treat at World Cup inside the bookstore. We left Pearl District, went shopping for a while and stopped at Rogue for mini beer tasters. Then we headed towards the waterfront with high hopes of hailing a cab to get on the other side of the bridge for lunch, but neither Sean nor I could seem to catch one or get through to call one. Despite these efforts, we ended up deciding just to walk back to the hotel and caught a ride with Jackie, Shelby, and Russ to eat at Bamboo Sushi. For not being completely sold on sushi, everything I had there was really good and the sushi chefs were enthralling just to watch!

Leaving Portland was a little sad. I enjoyed everything so much. The one thing that made it better was that there was still more fun ahead. We took a tiny plane to Seattle the next afternoon. While being tossed around by winds, we had great views of all the surrounding mountains and the Seattle skies, and then landed shortly thereafter in misty weather (the only time it rained in Seattle). Either from all the traveling (cabbie, tiny plane, train) or the change in pressure, I was not feeling all that great when we first got there. I rested in my hotel room for a bit before we ventured out to look at the city. The timing worked out better because the raining stopped. We walked to dinner and after strolled down toward the waterfront near Pike’s Place Market.

The next morning we walked back down to Pike's Place Market, got donuts there, grabbed coffee and a sandwich. Since the weather was perfect,  we decided to check out the Space Needle. The views were amazing. We mapped out where we'd like to go next from there, and afterward, we walked to the Seattle Waterfront. We ate at Six Seven right on the water. The lobster mac and cheese was heavenly; Sean ordered the fish and chips. What better place than Seattle, right? Full and satisfied, we trekked back to our hotel. Later we met up with Laura and Kati at her apartment and went out to Ballard to see that area of town. 

Wednesday was another full day. We walked down to The North Face store, grabbed some coffee at Cherry Street Coffee, and walked around the Pike’s Place Market some more. That afternoon, I met up with Laura and Maebel to drive out to Fremont. The area was very pretty, and the people were so friendly. A man even stopped to tell Laura, “Cute dog! You’re cute too!” We walked through the neighborhood for a little while there. Sean and Kati met up with us shortly after and we hung out there for a while.  

We ended the trip with views of the sunset on Seattle from Alki Beach. We walked the trail there and stopped to take pictures along the way to dinner. The “beach” was just a little bit of rocky shoreline, but we did take a minute to dip our feet in the water. (Note: Cold!)