Chicken Piccata - My kids loved it

Thought I would share the Barefoot Contesa's recipe!

4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts (I purchased the cutlets so they were thin)
salt
pepper
1 cup flour
2 large eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs - unflavored
olive oil
3 T unsalted butter
1/3 c lemon juice
1/2 c white wine

Preheat oven to 275 - line a cookie sheet with tin foil and sprayed with Pam

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Mix flour, 1 t salt and pepper in a pie plate.  In a second pie plate, beat the eggs with 1 T water.  On a third plate, pour out the breadcrumbs.

Dip each piece of chicken in flour, then egg then bread crumbs.

Heat 2 T olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat.  Add 2 chicken breasts.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Turn over and cook for 2 more minutes.  Put chicken on cookie sheet.  Continue with the next two chicken breasts.

Place chicken in oven for 5-10 minutes.

Wipe out saute pan, and on medium heat melt 1 T of butter and add lemon juice and white wine and salt and pepper.

Boil over high heat for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 2 T of butter and stir to combine.

Service one chicken breast on each plate and spoon on sauce.

I served with cous cous and asparagus.

The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem

Last night I attended a Hadassah event in Newton, MA that featured the author of the Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, Sarit Yishai-Levi.  I read the book earlier in the year, and found the book fascinating.  One of the reasons is that I had not read a book that took place over three generations in Israel (and pre-Israel), and I found it intriguing.  The other reason is that when I think of Israeli women I don't think of Beauty Queens.  Nonetheless, it was a fabulous book that hooked me in from the first few pages.

Before Sarit spoke about the book, she gave us some personal history.  Born in 1947 in Israel, her family is has been in Jerusalem for 8 generations.  She is of Sephardic decent, and gave us insight that Sephardic and Ashkenazai Jewish families did NOT intermarry!  She served in the Israel army and moved to Tel Aviv.  She became a journalist and reported for Montir, HaOlam and Hadashot.  One of the most fascinating facts was that she was the first Israeli reporter to interview Yasser Arafat, and she was a female reporter!

She described the research that went behind the novel.  She researched ads about what life was like in Israel and pre-Israel by reading newspapers, and interviewing her father.  It shows in the book.  She described a furniture ad that she saw in an old newspaper, and I instantly recalled Luna's parents heavy furniture!

She described the photo of the Israeli version of the book, and showed us how different it was from the American version.  She fought for this book to be released near Rosh Hashana because in Israel book sales explode during that time since nothing is open on Yom Kippur and Israeli's either read or go to synagogue on Yom Kipuur!

She is writing her second novel and the Beauty Queen of Jerusalem will be made into an Israeli film!  If you get the chance to hear Sarit speak, please attend.  She is a wonderful speaker and engages the audience, and even better if you have a few Hebrew speaking audience members.

You can purchase the book at Barnes and Nobles or Amazon.

Broccoli, Red Pepper and Tofu Stir Fry with Balsamic Vinegar

A hit!  I made one batch with tofu and one batch with chicken!

Ingredients

• 14 ounces extra firm tofu , water-packed, drained (I used a pound of thin chicken breasts cut into cubes for the chicken based version)
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey or 1 tablespoon agave syrup
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil , for broccoli
• ½ lb broccoli floret
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil , for red pepper
• 1 red pepper , thinly sliced (I use red bell pepper)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil , for tofu
• 4 scallions , sliced, for garnish 

Directions

1.  Cut the tofu across the width into 6 slabs. Cut each slab in half to make 12 squares. Blot the tofu to remove some of the moisture and set aside.

2.  Whisk together the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and ginger in a small bowl and set aside.

3.  Saute the broccoli in 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat until bright green and starting to brown in places, about 5 minutes. Remove broccoli from the pan.

4.  Saute the red pepper in 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat until it starts to brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the red pepper from the pan.

5.  Saute the tofu in the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat until browned, 2 minutes per side or until crispy.

6.  Add the vinegar mixture to the tofu and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

7.  Return the broccoli and peppers to the pan and gently toss to coat with the sauce.

8.  Garnish with the scallions and serve with brown rice or another whole grain.

Shiitake Pot Pie with Polenta

Ingredients

1 T Oil

1 lb Shiitake mushrooms,  stems removed and sliced

1 t dried thyme

3/4 c Hot water

1 c peas

3 c Water

2 lb New potatoes; cubed

¼ t salt

1 1/2 tb flour

1/8 ts Ground cayenne

4 cloves of garlic - crushed

3/4 c yellow cornmeal

1 medium onion diced

1/2 oz Dried porcini

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Preparation

Soak porcinis in hot water for at least an hour. Remove mushrooms from water and, depending on their quality, either discard or reserve for another use. Strain soaking water through cheesecloth, fine sieve or coffee filter. Set aside. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil roasting pan large enough to hold potatoes in one layer. Roast potatoes, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking and to brown evenly, until tender, about 35 minutes. While potatoes are roasting, heat 1/2 teaspoon of oil in nonstick skillet. Add onions and garlic; saute until the onions are soft. Add fresh mushrooms, thyme and cayenne; cook until mushrooms soften and shrink to about half their original size, about 15 minutes. In separate skillet, heat remaining oil. Make a roux by adding flour and stirring until flour begins to brown. Add porcini water and mushroom mixture to the roux; cook until liquid reduces by about a third, about 5 minutes. Remove potatoes from oven; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Combine mushroom mixture, potatoes and peas in 9x9 inch lightly oiled baking pan. Set aside. For crust, bring water and salt to rolling boil. Add polenta slowly, stirring constantly. Turn heat down to medium; stir constantly until mixture thickens and begins to pull away from sides of the pot, about 10 minutes. Spread polenta over potato and mushroom mixture; bake about 15 minutes. Remove from oven; let sit 15 minutes before cutting. Makes 4-6 servings of about 1 cup each. 5 grams of fat per serving. | 

Apple Crisp

1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
8 T butter

6-8 apples - peeled and diced
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 T lemon juice

In one medium size bowl combine the flour, brown sugar and butter.

Heat oven to 350.

In second large bowl combine apples, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice.  Pour into greased 9 inch deep dish pie pan.  Cover with flour and brown sugar mixture.

Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Good Bye Mini Van

Over the course of the last six months we decided it was time to replace the family mini van, which is my car.  I love the mini van.  I am a mini van mom.  When we bought the mini van, it meant that I had finally reached "parenthood" and had kids to drive around.  Granted Mark was only 2 1/2 and Naomi wasn't around yet, but I had a family and kids.

In May, the beloved (beloved to me at least) mini van needed some expensive repairs ($2k) and was going to need more in the future.  After talking to a few people, we decided instead of throwing money into a 12 year old (nearly 13 year old) vehicle, we would buy a new one.

We decided we didn't need another mini van.  Mark is going to college in four years, and Naomi shortly there after, and in 12 years my kids would be out of college, and I would still have a mini van.  So we test drove a Highlander and a Pilot and a Pathfinder, all of which were great, and large.  As was the price tag.  It became clear to me that I did not NEED a 7 passenger car for the next 12 years.  So, we started to look at other cars, and tonight we pick up my new Toyota RAV4 - 5 passenger SUV.

Still the kids were not sad to see the mini van retired.  I am very sad.  So the kids and I developed a short Mini Van Memory List, so we can remember the beloved family mini van that has served us for nearly 12 years.

Not in any order.

Mark as a toddler puking in the mini van as it was snowing, and we stopped in CT in breakdown lane of I91 and I84.  Mark remembers being nearly naked and puking on the side of the road, in the snow.

Mark flapping with excitement when we picked up the new van.

Our trip to Maine during my maternity leave with Naomi.  My mom, Mark, Naomi and I drove to Maine (to a train museum) and Mark was hysterical that I didn't have a GPS, but I proved to him that I could read a map, and we got there and back with no problem, except for little Miss Naomi who had a full diaper of poop that stunk up the car so badly that I had to pull over and change her on a side street.

In the summer of 2015 getting rear ended twice by the same guy.

One kid during carpool season leaving a slice of pizza under my third row (don't ask, but luckily it was January and it froze).

Another mom hitting my car in front of the elementary school.

Going apple picking with the kids daycare, and me and one of the teachers forcing the kids to sing loudly so they would NOT fall asleep on the drive home.

Overnight camp drop off and pick up.

Ikea purchases.

Girl Scout cookie pick up

Naomi puking in the car on the way to Mark's third grade Kabbalat Sidur.

The Blue Zone

The mini van getting hit in the blue zone

Family trips to Long Island, NYC, Baseball Hall of Fame, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Hershey, Philadelphia, Storyland, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine and other places.

Getting stuck in Long Island post Christmas Traffic in a Target parking lot

Lots of first day of school drop offs

Lots of "I need to use the bathrooms"

Driving Naomi from daycare to the dentist after she fell and her teeth went into her gum.

Kids music.

Concerts!

Getting a flat tire and pulling into the Direct Tire parking lot.

Lots of memories, and the kids smiled to read how many memories we thought of in ten minutes.

Amazing Brownies

I made brownies over the weekend, and I did not bring one to work on Monday.  All I wanted in the afternoon was one of those amazing brownies.  VERY FUDGY brownies.  I can't remember the cookbook's name, but it is from the Culinary Institute of America.

Today I brought a brownie for myself for an afternoon snack.

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
1 1/3 c sugar
2 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
1/4 c cake flour

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly spray a 9 inch (or 8 inch) square pan with cooking spray.

Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler.  In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt on high for 4-5 minutes.  Scraping every once in a while.  Should be thick and light.

While stirring, pour some of the egg into the melted chocolate.  Then pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and blend on medium.  Mix in flour on low til just blended.  Pour into pan and spread.  Bake for 30-40 minutes.  It will be done when a toothpick is inserted into the center of the brownies and comes out with a few crumbs.

Cool on a wire rack before cutting.

It says makes nine brownies, but I got 16!