Jones Soda - photo submission

I've submitteed a photo to Jones Soda to see if I can get it on one of their bottle labels. take a look, vote for it if you like, and tell me what you think!

You can see and vote on it by going directly to it:
Boogie on the Jones Soda Gallery .





You can also find it indirectly by going to http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/index.php
then searching for 623253

Thanks & Wish us luck!
Lorence

Simple Paprika Roasted Chicken Breast

Tonight's dinner was a simple and quick dish that we make fairly frequently and we call it Paprika Chicken. The chicken, served with a simple fresh veggie, make for an easy night in the kitchen with easy cleanup as well. This recipe doesnt' really have any fixed amounts for the ingredients -you can make 1 breast or 8 using just your judgement as to how much seasoning to use. The only thing to measure (sort of) will be the chicken broth.
It is important to use the right size pan, though. I use an 8x8 pan for 1 or 2 breasts with 1/3 to 3/4 cup of broth, 9x13 for 3 to 6 with 1 to 2 cups of broth. Use a bigger pan and more broth as the number of breasts increases.

Simple Paprika Roasted Chicken Breast
Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless, trimmed of fat
Garlic powder
Salt
White pepper
Paprika
Chicken broth

Directions:
Turn the oven up to 425º F.
Line an appropriate sized pan with aluminum foil.
Spray the pan generoulsy with vegetable or Olive oil spray.
On a seperate plate, turn the trimmed chicken over (skin side down) to season the bottom.
Sprinkle the bottom of each chicken breast with some garlic powder, a bit of salt (be careful about the amount of salt if the borth is salted also), some white pepper (not too much!), and a generous amout of paprika.
Place the chicken in the pan seasoned side down (skin side up) and repeat the seasonings, omiting the salt if desired.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil in the microwave.
Pour the broth slowly into the pan (pour it gently over the chicken).
Place the pan with the chicken in the preheated oven.
cook in the oven for 15 minutes or so. Baste the chicken every 5 minutes. The chicken is done when the internal temperature of the reaches 165º F.
At this point, even though the chicken is done, but I like to place it under the broiler for a minute or so, basting a couple of more times.
Transfer the checken to a serving plate along with a fresh simply cooked veggie, like steamed broccoli or green beans. Top the chicken with some of the pan juices.

The temperature link above and this one provide information on the proper and SAFE temperatures that meats should be cooked when using an essential kitchen tool, the instant read internal thermometer. If you don't have one, they're cheap! Get one!

Enjoy,
Lorence

Red White and Bean Salad

This is an old recipe that I had completely forgotten about. Our former next door neighbor (who now lives around the corner) reminded us about it tonight when we saw her walking her beatiful big furry dog, Charlie (I think he's a shepherd-collie mix - face and fur like a collie, body and legs like a german shepherd). We made it for a party at her house years ago (10 years ago, I think) and since then, she makes it for all of her parties, especially during the summer barbeque season. It is simple, healthy and very easy to make.

Red White and Bean Salad

3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 med.\ium cucumber, peeled, seeded & chopped
1 16-oz can great northern beans, rinsed
1 15-oz can light red kidney beans, rinsed
2 Tablespoon dried parsley
2 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Combine and chill!

Enjoy,
Lorence

Chicken & Shrimp

We eat alot of shrimp and chicken, so I'm always looking for new ways to fix them.
This recipe combines the two in a nice simple and pretty quick dish that can be made in one pot (less mess - always a plus!). I like to serve it with basmati rice, lightly seasoned with rice chicken broth and either some cumin or a few cruch garlic cloves (ok, so it's two pots, but still not too much mess). It's also pretty good with this simmered white beans recipe.

Chicken & Shrimp
Ingredients:
1 pound shrimp (26-30 size)
1 10-ounce package large mushrooms
1 shallot
1 pound boneless chicken breasts
all-purpose flour
salt
olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons capers

Directions:
1. Shell the shrimp. Devein them if you like.
2. Slice mushrooms; mince shallot.
3. cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes.
4. Pound each cube to 1/8-inch thickness. (or a bit less than 0.5 cm)
5. On waxed paper, combine 2 tablespoons flour and ¾ teaspoon salt. Dip chicken pieces into flour mixture to coat.
6. In nonstick 12-inch skillet over
medium-high heat, in 1 tablespoon
hot olive oil, .cook mushrooms until golden. With slotted spoon, remove mushrooms to large bowl. :
7. In same skillet over medium-high heat, in 2 teaspoons additional hot olive oil, cook shrimp and shallot until shrimp turn opaque throughout. Remove to bowl with mushrooms.
8. In same skillet over medium-high heat, in 1 tablespoon hot olive oil, cook chicken cutlets, half at a time, 2 to 3 minutes until chicken loses its pink color throughout; remove to same bowl.
9. In same skillet over medium-high heat, into 1 tablespoon hot olive oil, stir in 1 tablespoons of flour and cook, stirring constantly until mixture begins to brown slightly, about 30 seconds.
10. Gradually stir in the wine, ½ teaspoon of salt, and 1 ¼ cups water.
11. Over high heat, boil the sauce unti it thickens slightly.
12. Return the contents of the bowl (chicken, shrimp, etc) to the skillet. Stir in the capers and heat through.

Enjoy,
Lorence

The blobs are coming! The blobs are coming! And they're really yummy.

Blobs. BLOBS. Bloooooobs....

Not the most attactive sounding food, but don't dismiss these blobs. They are FANTASTIC! I can only think of one thing better than these blobs, and, well, this is a family place, so I'm not going to mention it...
A coworker, Aimee McKinney, made these for a party last christmas,and my taste in sweets hasn't been the same since. These blobs are made chocolate, butterscotch, peanuts and powdered sugar with a simple instruction set, so you have NO EXCUSE for not trying them. But beware, they're almst as good as ...

Aimee’s Peanut Clusters (aka Blobs)
Ingredients:
1 small bag of Nestlé’s chocolate chips
1 small bag of Nestlé’s butterscotch chips
1 can of lightly salted peanuts
1 tsp. of powered sugar

Directions:
Empty chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and powered sugar into a large bowl. Melt in microwave, careful not to burn - Put it in for about a minute, stir and repeat if necessary. Stir in peanuts. Drop by rounded spoonful onto wax paper. Let sit at room temperature for about 24 hours or until hardened.

Enjoy,
Lorence

More Steak - the cheap cuts

In my last post, I talked about grilling a mariniated round tip steak - not the greatest cut of meat, but with the right pre-treatment (in this case, a good marinade), even a cheap cut can be good. And with the prices we're seeing these days, cheap steak that is good is a very good thing. Another method of preparing an inexpensicve cut of beef is pan searing. I've used the recipe below several times since seeing it on an episode of America's Test Kitchen called "Dinner on a Dime". The recipe is called "Pan-Seared Inexpensive Steak" and can be found here, on their web site. Warning, though, you will be asked to register... It's free and definately worth the minimal effort and time.

Pan-Seared Inexpensive Steak
Serves 4
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 boneless shell sirloin steaks (top butt) or whole flap meat steaks, each about 1 pound and 1 1/4 inches thick
Table salt and ground black pepper

1. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Meanwhile, season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper. Place steaks in skillet; cook, without moving steaks, until well browned, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, flip steaks; reduce heat to medium. Cook until well browned on second side and internal temperature registers 125 degrees on instant-read thermometer for medium-rare (about 5 minutes) or 130 degrees for medium (about 6 minutes).

2. Transfer steaks to large plate and tent loosely with foil; let rest until internal temperature registers 130 degrees for medium-rare or 135 degrees for medium, 12 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare pan sauce, if making.

3. Using sharp knife, slice steak about 1/4 inch thick against grain on bias, arrange on platter or on individual plates, and spoon sauce (if using) over steak; serve immediately.

There is also a Buttermilk Ranch Mashed Potatoes and a nice Mustard-Cream Pan Sauce on their site. Both go very well with this steak:
Mustard-Cream Pan Sauce
Makes 3/4 cup
1 medium shallot , minced (about 3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
Table salt and ground black pepper

After transferring steaks to large plate, pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from now-empty skillet. Return skillet to low heat and add shallot; cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine and increase heat to medium-high; simmer rapidly, scraping up browned bits on pan bottom, until liquid is reduced to glaze, about 30 seconds; add broth and simmer until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes. Add cream and any meat juices; cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in mustard; season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over sliced steak.

Enjoy,
Lorence

Surf and Turf tonight

Steamed crab legs and grill marinated steak (with a side of steamed fresh green beans) - that was tonights supper and it was damn good. I found a really good price on wild caught Canadian snow crab legs today at Kroger ($4 a pound!), and I had already planned on the grilled steak, so it worked out perfectly. The steak was a pretty cheap cut, thin sliced top round tip steak, but I marinated it for about a half hour in Lawry's Italian Garlic Steak mariniade and threw it on my little gas grill for a few minutes on each side. The meat came out tasty and tender, the marinade making a definate impression and was well liked by the whole family. But the crab legs stole the show. We each had a nice sized cluster, and I've never seen my (almost) 6 year old tear into food the way he went after those crab legs! I was sure to keep my hands away from his plate for fear of losing a finger to his shell cracker!
Speaking of cheap cuts of meat, there's an interesting guide to cuts of meat and their tenderness at Barbecue'n on the Internet, along with a LOT of other stuff I haven't had time to read yet...

Enjoy,
Lorence