Chicken Piccata

I came across this recipe for Chicken Piccata in a magazine some time ago and have made it regularly for many years.  I’m not sure what happened to the magazine clip but the ingredients are simple and preparation easy enough to remember after making it just once.

This method of preparing meat originated in Italy using thinly sliced veal dredged in flour, sautéed and served in a sauce.  

Memories of my mother making Veal Piccata in a wine sauce for us came to mind as I was putting this post together.  Although I don’t remember it ever being referred to as Piccata, it was absolutely delicious no matter what she may have called it!

Chicken can be such a versatile meat and recipes abound for each and every part of this bird.  The recipe for Chicken Breast with Mozzarella and Ham previously posted begins with the same method of preparation as for Piccata but the recipes part ways after the meat is sautéed.

Both are great make ahead recipes.  Once the chicken breasts have been thinly sliced, floured and sautéed the remaining steps can be completed just before serving in just a few minutes. 

While the Ham and Mozzarella Chicken Breasts spend the last few minutes basking in the warmth of the oven, the Piccata is busy in the skillet lavishing in its own sauce! 


Chicken Piccata
You can make as many or few chicken breasts as needed. The measurements I have posted are approximate for three medium size chicken breasts, each breast being sliced into three portions.

3 medium size chicken breasts
about 1 cup flour seasoned to taste with salt and pepper
½ lemon
about ½ cup clear chicken stock
a few tablespoons vegetable oil and a good pat of butter to sautee chicken breasts

1. Combine chicken stock and juice of the half lemon and set aside.
2. Slice chicken breasts and place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, pound until thin.
3. Prepare flour, salt and pepper and dredge each piece of chicken shaking off any extra flour.
4. Heat oil and butter until hot and brown both sides of chicken breasts (don’t worry about chicken being fully cooked as it will continue cooking in the sauce later.
5. Remove chicken onto a plate and drain off any excess oil and butter from the skillet if necessary making sure to save all those brown bits at the bottom.  These will add flavor and help thicken the sauce.
6. Return chicken to the skillet in a single layer and if serving immediately heat the chicken then  add the stock and lemon juice combination.  Let simmer until liquid begins to thicken turning  the chicken slices over once.
7. Remove chicken from skillet onto serving plate and pour sauce over top.
8. If serving later, complete all of the steps up to adding the stock and lemon and set aside.  When ready to serve, heat the chicken in the skillet, add the liquid and cook until sauce thickens..

 

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• When making Homemade Chicken Soup it's a good idea to freeze a few 1/2 cup portions then defrost when needed. 
• Good quality store bought chicken stock may also be used instead.
• Remember to just brown the chicken slices not cooking them through since they will continue cooking in the sauce.
• Butter and oil makes the perfect combination.  The butter provides best flavour while the addition of oil prevents the butter from burning too quickly.
• You may want to add a little more salt and pepper before serving but the zing of the lemon juice and prepared stock usually eliminates the need for more salt, add pepper  to taste.

Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

Mayan Chocolate Sparklers are not  cookies that I've traditionally made for the holidays but the recipe caught my eye once again while going through my holiday recipe collection this year.  Although I've had the recipe for several years it's never been on my "to bake" list.

Thought I would give them a try this morning out of sheer curiosity and regretted not taking the time to make them sooner.

If you are at all fond of very deep chocolate flavour and a hint of sugar and spice you have found the right recipe. The black pepper and pinch of cayenne intensifies the rich chocolate flavour of this cookie while the crisp exterior hides the soft chewy center for a wonderfully satisfying surprise.

No preparation pictures this time since I had not  planned to post this recipe but I felt rather guilty keeping it to myself.  Very simple and straight forward this recipe makes more cookies than you might need so there will be plenty to share.

Right now I can’t think of any another cookie that would be an excellent accompaniment to a tall, cold glass of milk!


Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

Topping
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cookies
¾ cup shortening
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups dark cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon black pepper
pinch of cayenne
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping and set aside.
3. Beat shortening, butter and sugars until creamy, beat in eggs one at a time.
4. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, pepper and cayenne then gradually mixing in until well blended.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar topping and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.  Do not flatten balls.
7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, cookies should still be soft in the center.
8. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then remove and cool on wire racks.
9. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• Cookie balls can be frozen raw and stored in an air tight container until ready to bake.  Roll in topping just before baking.  Add 5 minutes baking time if baking the cookies from frozen.
• Use good quality dark cocoa for the best flavour.
• These cookies could make amazing ice cream sandwiches!

Apricot Toasted Almond Biscotti

I’ve been in Biscotti bliss for the last three days making two batches each of six different biscotti recipes. The kitchen has a light dusting of flour over the counter tops and splatters of biscotti dough  decorate the nearby walls and stove.  Time for Someone to clean up!

Most of these biscotti will soon be shared with and enjoyed by family, neighbours and friends.

There was no plan to make these Apricot Toasted Almond Biscotti since I didn’t have a recipe for them nor was I looking for one. However, a recipe for Pistachio, Apricot Biscotti caught my eye in a food magazine last week and my biscotti weakness got the better of me.

Since I’d already made a batch of Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti I decided to replace the pistachios with toasted almonds.  That was the first of the several changes made to the recipe which resulted in this absolutely delicious biscotti...another keeper!

It’s understandable that after slicing the biscotti you may decide not to serve the ends of the logs to guests or wrap them as gifts.  After making twelve batches of biscotti the considerable number of ends were placed in a glass cookie jar on the counter.

I wonder what happened to them…


Apricot Toasted Almond Biscotti

½ cup butter softened
2 eggs
½  teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup finely chopped dried apricots
½ cup toasted almonds chopped

1. Beat butter until fluffy, gradually adding sugar until well blended.
2. Add eggs one at a time until well mixed add almond extract.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture mixing until combined.
5. Stir in almonds and apricots.
6. Divide dough into two equal portions and roll each portion into a two inch diameter log and place on a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Flatten log slightly with hand.
7. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden.
8. Remove from oven and let rest for about 5 minutes.
9. With a serrated knife slice each roll diagonally into ½ to ¾ inch slices.
10. Place slices cut side down on cookie sheet and bake for 6 minutes then turn over and bake an additional 6 minutes until dry and crisp.
11. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
12. Makes 24 to 30 biscotti.

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• Make sure the apricots are finely chopped, this makes slicing the biscotti easier.
• Taking time to toast the almonds adds the most flavour to biscotti.
• Biscotti freeze well.

 

Ciabatta Bread

It seems we’ve only been enjoying Ciabatta style bread in more recent years but a little reading up on the subject revealed the modern version of this bread originated in Italy becoming popular in North America around the 1980’s.  I think I was too busy raising my kids in the 80’s to notice its debut.  

 

The word Ciabatta translates as“slipper” in the Italian language and a small stretch of the imagination will reveal the resemblance. Even though the way it’s made differs from recipe to recipe some characteristics are similar especially the distinctive flat shape.

 

Ciabatta could possibly be one of my favourite breads. The chewy texture and big airy holes makes this bread an excellent choice for paninni.  The amount of crumb is minimal, just enough to hold a good amount of filling with not too much bread to fill you up.

 

On the other hand, a rough pinch off the loaf and quick dip into a pool of oregano infused extra virgin olive oil takes this rustic loaf to new heights.

 

There are numerous recipes for Ciabatta and my search for a good recipe stopped with this one which seemed easy enough to give a try since I'd never attempted to make one before.  

 

A yeast starter needs to be prepared the day before which only takes a few minutes to make and slip into the refrigerator overnight. This extra step is well worth while as it produces a texture that I have not yet been able to achieve in any other bread that I’ve made.

 

One batch of starter is enough to make the bread twice and this worked out well  since the second batch of bread I made included a number of changes to the original recipe.

 

The fact that there is not one crumb left of the four loaves that came from the oven in the past week indicates that it was well received by all but I’m not sure that I’ve come across the recipe that has ended my search for the best Ciabatta loaf.

 

This recipe will do until further notice!

 

Ciabatta Bread

 

Starter ( Biga)

¼ teaspoon dry yeast

¼ teaspoon sugar

1 cup warm water

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1. Dissolve yeast in sugar and warm water.
2. Mix in flour by hand until no lumps remain.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.  (Making starter the day ahead is the best way to go.)
4. 1 cup of this mixture will be needed for the bread.

 

Bread

1 teaspoon instant dry yeast

3 tablespoons milk at room temperature

2/3 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons salt

cornmeal for baking tray

1. Stir yeast and milk in the bottom of a bowl of a stand up mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
2. Add yeast, water, oil, starter and mix with paddle until blended. (Dough can also be mixed by hand in a bowl using a wooden spoon.)
3. Switch to the dough hook and add flour and salt kneading on low speed for 2 minutes then increasing to next speed up, kneading for 3 minutes until dough becomes stretchy and springs back when slapped with hand .  (Dough will be too sticky to knead by hand.)
4. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic and set in a draft free, warm area to rise for about 90 minutes. Dough should have lots of big air bubbles visible when ready.
5. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and roll up into a cylinder then pull and stretch the dough into a rectangle about 20 by 8 inches.
6. Cut dough in half lengthwise and place on 2 parchment lined baking trays which have been sprinkled with cornmeal.
7. Place a greased piece of parchment paper (to prevent very soft dough from sticking) and cover with a clean dampened tea towel then allow to rise another 90 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. and place a large baking tray into the oven to heat.
9. Remove hot tray from oven, uncover loaves and slide parchment with bread onto hot tray and return to oven quickly.
10. Spray tops of loaves with a little water, close oven quickly and bake for 10  minutes.  Open oven door and spray loaves once again.  Continue to bake loaves for another 15 minutes or until a golden colour.
11. Remove loaves from oven and cool on rack.

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

To be honest had there not been a second amount of starter I may have never tried this recipe again.  Having never worked with such soft bread dough before was somewhat of a challenge.  It was just of matter of deciding what could be done differently from the original recipe that made things go a little smoother on the second try. This recipe includes any changes that were made.

Transferring the loaves onto the parchment lined baking trays will still pose a bit of a challenge but once they get there a little reshaping will make things better, always remembering that rustic is beautiful!

The original recipe instructed to place a dampened towel directly on the rising loaves. The towels will stick to the bread no matter how damp they are.  A piece of greased parchment paper over the loaves before placing the towels is a better idea.  I learned the hard way.

The time invested to produce this delicious bread brings satisfying results.

The loaves made this past week accompanied a couple of dinners, a piece was eaten as an after dinner snack and some of it made delicious paninni for two lunches. Without mentioning any names the very last piece was served to someone who came over this week and didn't care for the corn bread I had made for dinner. After eating most of the Ciabatta, the very small left over piece was quickly wrapped up and taken home!

Apple Cinnamon Biscotti

I may be developing a biscotti obsession as it seems I can never have enough variations of this twice baked, twice delicious cookie.

When a particular ingredient comes into mind I begin to wonder if anyone has ventured into the idea of adding it to biscotti dough.  I have yet to be disappointed since every ingredient I've thought of so far has already found a place in several biscotti recipes.

Curious as to an existing Apple Biscotti Recipe my adventure took me to several recipes; which really didn’t come as a surprise.  However, it required a little decision making to choose one that was well worth a try.

This recipe for Apple Cinnamon Biscotti is actually the marriage of two different biscotti recipes.  I came across a recipe for Cinnamon Biscotti while looking for the Apple Biscotti Recipe and combining the two just seemed so natural. A few minor adjustments turned out another winning biscotti recipe.

If the aroma of apple pie coming from these biscotti while baking isn't enough, the classic biscotti crunch will not disappoint!

Wonder if there’s a pear and ginger biscotti recipe out there somewhere…

Apple Cinnamon Biscotti

½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped dehydrated apple

Topping
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg, beaten

1. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Add egg and egg yolk, beating well.
3. In a separate bowl sift flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture 1 cup at a time then add finely chopped apple.
5. Blend together to make a stiff dough.
6. Cut dough in half and form 2 logs each approximately 10 to 12 inches long.
7. Place on a parchment lined or greased baking sheet.
8. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon topping.
9. Bake in a 325 degree F. oven for approximately 45 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and while still warm slice diagonally into ¾ inch slices.
11. Place slices side down on baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes.
12. Turn slices over and bake an additional 6 minutes until lightly golden and crisp.
13. Cool completely and store in an air tight container.

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• The cinnamon sugar topping is a matter of preference, I will omit it the next time I make these biscotti.
• Make sure to chop the dehydrated apple very finely.  Larger chunks tend to get caught in the knife when cutting the slices.
• Delicious!