Leftover Chicken Makes a Great Crostini

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

When the kids came back from Florida I did up a roast chicken dinner. I chose that because it’s a special dinner and I need the bones to make homemade stock. I had the bad luck of picking one of the hottest days of the year so far with about 95% humidity. The A/Cs were working overtime and not necessarily winning.

The kids enjoyed the dinner but of course we have a ton of chicken left over. I’ll freeze some for soup later in the cooler months but I was in the mood to make crostinis for my husband and me as a light meal. I made three toppings. A quick one with heirloom tomatoes, red onions, and a vinaigrette to keep things nice and bright. I also made one of our favorites, Buttery Mushrooms, that I could just eat bowls of. For the third I did up a chicken with sundries tomatoes.

Heat up a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a skillet and add a handful of chopped sun dried tomatoes. Cook low and slow for several minutes to make sure the sun dried tomatoes soften up.

Next I sliced up about a 1/4 cup of red onion. Add it to the skillet and allow the onions become translucent.

Cut up about a cup of the roasted chicken. Add that with a teaspoon or so of fresh thyme and a splash of lemon juice.

Cook until the chicken is warmed through.

For the bread we used the boule my husband makes which is absolutely fantastic. I sliced and buttered it before toasting.

Obviously this would great with a lovely bottle of wine. But I was in the mood for a dirty martini and I have to say that worked well. Olives go well with crostini. 🙂

Greek Orzo Chicken

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

Finally I have a day off! It’s been about 2 1/2 weeks straight out with the first peak of tax season so I’m in my comfy clothes relaxing and recharging my batteries. And doing a long overdue blog post!

I was hoping to do one a few days ago but our silly dog had to be taken to the vet due to an ear infection. The poor thing was shaking his head so much I thought he’d run out of brain cells and he doesn’t have a surplus! He’d look at us with one ear up and one ear deflated. Cute looking but definitely needed to get seen to. I just wish they understood we are trying to help them. He did not like his ear being examined and kept backing away. I felt so bad but the meds are working and the ear is starting to be less deflated.

One of my food memories is eating orzo with chicken and green olives. I loved that dish. But I don’t have that recipe and since my family aren’t huge fans of olives I needed to find something different. In my “The Foods of the Greek Islands” cookery book by Aglaia Kremezi there is a recipe for Baked Chicken with Orzo. I changed it up a bit and did it on the stove top instead of the oven.

Greek orzo chicken 1 2016

This dish has a lot of strong flavours in this dish with the sundried tomatoes and garlic. In a large skillet heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Cube up about 3/4-1 pound of chicken and add to the skillet to start browning the chicken. Season with sea salt and pepper. Finely chop 3-5 cloves of garlic and half a red onion and add it to the skillet.

Greek orzo chicken 2 2016

Once the onion softens add a cup of sliced sundried tomatoes and saute for a few minutes. Then add a 14oz can of diced tomatoes with the juice and 2 cups of chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Toss in a small handful of fresh oregano.

Greek orzo chicken 4 2016

Add a cup of orzo. All I could find was a wheat orzo and that worked well.

Greek orzo chicken 3 2016

Stir well and simmer covered. Keep an eye on this as this can stick to the bottom of skillet. Add more chicken stock as needed until the orzo is tender and cooked. It takes about a 1/2 hour or so.

Greek orzo chicken 5 2016

Serve with parsley and shredded cheese. I had a mixture of Italian cheeses on hand. Of course there are good Greek cheeses to choose from.

This is definitely stick to your ribs dish, perfect for chilly winter nights. This made a lot of food so we have leftovers to use throughout the week.

Gorgonzola Risotto with Filet Mignon and Sundried Tomato Sauce

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

Last week I passed the three year mark for blogging. One of the changes WordPress seems to have made is they now make it very low key. Basically it’s “So, yeah, you are another year down, don’t forget to take out the trash” tone to it. I liked how it was before where they gave you a great breakdown on how you are doing, what was a hit, what wasn’t. I’m ok with a little woot, woot!

And with three years of recipes sometimes it’s hard to come up with something new. Things have been somewhat calm this past week which would allow me more time to cook. But then instead of writer’s block, I was having a bit of cooking block. Broke that on Wednesday! I wanted a special meal with flavours that wouldn’t be subtle. We had a couple of filets in the freezer and some sundried tomatoes to use up. Off to the store to get some gorgonzola and oyster mushrooms and I had a very good idea of what I wanted to do.

Prep the ingredients beforehand for everything. To add a bit of crunch to the dish I toasted a third of a cup of pine nuts. Do it in a dry skillet. And keep an eye on it! It can take awhile to toast but can burn quickly.

Remove the pine nuts from the skillet and set aside. In a larger skillet start the risotto. This recipe is for 2-3 people. First by melting 2 tablespoons of butter. Add a finely chopped small shallot and 2 cloves of garlic.

Add 1/2 a cup of risotto and saute for a minute or so. Then add a tablespoon or so of champagne vinegar. Stir well.

This recipe needs about 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock. This current batch I made was the best so far. So much flavour! Add about a 1/2 a cup at a time and allow the risotto to absorb the liquid. At this point, in a small skillet, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter. When it is hot add the filets to the skillet. Make sure they are seasoned well with sea salt and pepper. Baste with the butter as you cook.

Finish the steak off in the oven at 350F/175C until the desired doneness. Allow it to rest while you finish the meal. In the same skillet, add a bit more butter then saute some shallots, garlic, and sundried tomatoes. Saute for a couple of minutes to soften the tomatoes then add a handful of the oyster mushrooms.

Once the risotto is almost done add a third of a cup of crumbled gorgonzola and about the same of mascarpone cheese to the risotto.

Mix well. Just before serving add the pine nuts and a small handful of basil.

Serve with the filet and top with the mushroom sundried tomato sauce.

There were a few strong flavours in this dish but it was balanced and delicious. When I mentioned it to my daughter she said I could make it for them. Anytime. I think I can swing that.

PS. So I started this post this morning but got interrupted by doctors appointments and things. The whole day went pear shaped and I only just remembered I hadn’t finished this when we were walking the dogs. My husband called it postus interruptus. 🙂 As we are getting ready for date night I’ll be further behind on reading posts but I promise to catch up!

Roasted Mushroom Sundried Tomato Sauce

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

Meatless Monday is a big trend but I really wasn’t thinking about it last week when I was figuring out what to make. Just a big coincidence that we had a bit too much meat in the preceding days and I wanted a vegetarian meal. I didn’t think it would take me a week to post about it though! And here we are back to Meatless Monday.

We’re into my favourite part of the year where the days are gorgeous and we’re in the garden. The past few days have been spent getting some of our veg into the garden. I’m behind the eight ball this year with the gardening so I’m trying to catch up bit by bit. Hard to believe in a couple of weeks we’ll be transplanting the peppers and tomatoes. We did better with the timing of starting seeds. It’s less like a jungle in the house. It’s much more under control.

This is a quick sauce with loads of flavour. Slice a few mushrooms, drizzle olive oil over them and roast at 350F/175C until they are nice and brown. Chop a handful of sundried tomatoes and a few cloves of garlic.

In a skillet heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and saute the garlic and sundried tomatoes on medium heat. Near the end add the mushrooms.

Add a bit of dry white wine and simmer to reduce a little bit to allow the flavours to develop. While this is cooking prepare the pasta of your choice. Just before serving add fresh basil.

Grate fresh aged cheese over the dish. I used a combination of asiago and parmesan cheese. Of course I added more after the photos. 🙂

My Family Spoils Me with Amazing Food

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

Spoilt I tell you, spoilt. Whenever I have a birthday or it’s a special holiday my family often creates lovely meals for me. Several weeks ago I had my birthday and I was treated to a 3 course meal. Our son was up first with a fresh salad, my husband knocked it out of the park with an amazing sundried tomato risotto, and our daughter finished it off with her flourless chocolate torte. And this is after our daughter started my day with breakfast in bed! How lucky am I?

The other day I thought I would recreate the dish my husband made. For the steak, I kept it simple. While the risotto is cooking either pan sear it in butter or grill it. All it needs for seasoning is sea salt and pepper. This recipe is for two people. Just double it for a family of four.

I finely chopped half a red onion, several cloves of garlic, and a small handful of sundried tomatoes. In a large skillet heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil and saute the onions until they begin to soften. Also prepare about 2 cups of vegetable bouillon in hot water. Add the garlic and tomato to the skillet.

After a few minutes add 1/3 cup dry white wine and 1/2 cup of risotto. Cook for a minute or so.

Add the bouillon 1/2 cup at a time. Bring to a simmer. While this is simmering grate 3/4 cup of fresh parmesan and asiago cheese. Set aside.

When the risotto is about 3/4 the way cooked add the cheese and any bouillon left. Continue to simmer until the risotto is cooked, keeping in mind it should be a bit al dente. At this time cook the asparagus for the side. I just quickly simmer them in water for a couple of minutes. They should still be firm.

I have to say this is my new favourite risotto, my husband really had a fabulous idea! I could just eat bowlfuls of this. 🙂

Pasta Salad and a Growing Family

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Our Growing Paynes

If I was told 10 years ago we would be trying to shoe horn 12 family members round the table I would have thought that person was crazy. My sister was getting ready to walk down the aisle and I was single. It was just the five of us including my aunt. 7 years ago my eldest nephew was born. Since then I’ve met my husband and my kids and my sister had two more children. Seems unbelievable how our family has grown.

This past Sunday we all got together to celebrate my eldest nephew’s birthday. My sister asked me to make a salad. I chose to make a pasta salad as parts of it could be made the day before and then quickly assembled at her place. Helpful as it is a 2 1/2 hour drive to get there. Plus it can feed a lot of people as we had our family and my brother-in-law’s family as well.

I cooked up the cheese pasta the day before and lightly coated it with olive oil because there is nothing worse than pasta sticking in great big clumps.

When I got to my sister’s I added feta cheese, chopped peppers, sundried tomatoes, and kalamata olives. I dressed it with balsamic vinaigrette. And it’s ready to serve! A very easy but tasty dish for big gatherings.

Our Growing Paynes

A journey about cooking, traveling, gardening, and crafting.

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