Cooking. Outisde of the...magazine.

As mentioned before, I received a subscription to Cooking Light for Christmas from a Secret Santa. I love cooking related magazines. Ok, I love magazines in general, but I tend to flip through them once. I'll read the things I want to read and then...they sit in a stack. I used to take them to the gym to read, but apparently (according to my husband) that doesn't make for a good workout. Whatever. So if I'm going to read a magazine cover to cover, it better be cooking related or on an airplane. By the way, I'm a multi-tasker on the plane. If you ever have to sit next to me, don't be upset when I don't crash before take off. I like to listen to my ipod, read, flip thru the Sky Mall magazine, watch the movie (with or without sound). You name it - everything except sleep.

I'm also really bad about reading the cooking magazines and never using them. So with my Spring Cleaning mentioned in the last post, I ripped out pages from almost every stinking magazine in my house and...I'm finished! The leftovers are going to be recycled. Yay! I've also made it a goal to cook at least one thing from any new magazine I get.

So, the first thing I made is an Indian dish. I can honestly say I'd never eaten Indian food until about 6 years ago. Some really good friends of ours are Indian. In fact, only one member of the family, Rachel, was actually born in the US. So a few years ago we load up and go to the parents house for dinner. Jason had been before - and for what it's worth, Rachel's mom things Jason is fantastic. I tend to agree. But I was really nervous to go eat food that I knew nothing about. And I was raised not to be rude, so I knew I would at least try it. However, her mom was really nice and cooked some chicken nuggets for this native Texas girl! I did eat the Indian food (chicken curry) and I really liked it. Since then, I've been hooked. I don't venture far off of the map (no goat for this girl) and I don't go too spicy, but we're getting there.

This dish was pretty good...not quite as good as the "real thing" but still...it's Cooking Light.






Chicken Biryani from Cooking Light

• 2 t olive oil
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 t minced fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 t garam masala**
• 3/4 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (about 2 tomatoes)
• 1 cup uncooked basmati rice
• 1/3 cup golden raisins I left this out
• 1 14-oz can chicken broth
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• lime wedges

Heat the oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken and saute about 3 minutes. Add onion and jalapeno, saute for another 3 minutes. Add ginger, garam masala, cumin, salt and garlic, continue to saute for 30 seconds. Add tomato, rice, raisins, and broth, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is done. Stir in cilantro and sprinkle with onions. Serve with lime wedges to cut the heat and bring out flavor.

**I had a hard time finding garam masala at the grocery store. Rachel found it for me at World Market. You can also make this, but I think some of the ingredients are also hard to find.

The next dish I made were these Tex-Mex Calzones. We loved these!!! So easy and really good! In fact, I have some of the green salsa left in the fridge and I'm thinking about these for a dinner this week.

Tex-Mex Calzones from Cooking Light

• 8 oz ground turkey (I used a whole pound and we made tacos from the leftover meat)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper I subbed in 1/2 cup chopped tomato instead
• 3/4 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup fat-free salsa verde
• 1 11-oz can refrigerated pizza dough
• 3/4 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1/4 cup fat-free sour cream

Preheat oven to 425. Heat a large skillet over med-high heat. Add turkey, and cook about 3 minutes. Add onion and next 5 ingredients to pan, cook until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in salsa. Unroll the dough and divide into 4 portions. Roll dough into a 6*4" rectangle. Spoon about 1/2 cup turkey mixture onto each piece of dough, add about 3 T cheese to each. Fold over and press the dough to seal it. Place these on a baking sheet (I used my Pampered Chef stone, if you don't be sure to spray with cooking spray). Bake at 425 for about 12 minutes, or until the dough is done. Serve with sour cream.

I also followed the advice of the magazine and added a Black Bean Salad. Combine 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained, 1 cup chopped tomatoes, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 2 T fresh lime juice, 2 T chopped fresh cilantro, and 1 T olive oil, tossed well to coat.

Chicken Picatta

I've been on a bit of a spring cleaning kick. The first thing has been to get rid of stacks of magazines. The issue with this is that my subdivision doesn't recycle. I sort of feel bad throwing away 2 years worth of Southern Living magazines with a few extras tossed in. So...I've tearing out the pages with recipes I think I may actually make and putting the rest in a shopping bad. I'm hoping that I come across someone who does recycle and will take them off of my hands! Or I may pass them on to a friend in the event she finds something that I missed. Probably seafood, considering I don't eat that. :-)




My first magazine rip-out recipe came from a Rachel Ray I picked up...probably in an airport. It was actually really good, but a little bit of a pain to make. 30 Minute Meals my a$$. This is more of a nice meal that you make on a Saturday. I was also very surprised - Jason and I have never been fans of capers, but I took a chance and didn't omit them.




Parmigiano-Reggiano-Crusted Chicken Picatta from Rachel Ray

• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 4 chicken breasts, pounded 1/4" thick
• 1/2 pound thin spaghetti
• salt & pepper
• olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon, plus 1 sliced lemon
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup capers, drained and patted dry
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 T butter
• 1 5-oz pkg baby spinach

Place the flour on a plate. In a bowl, beat the eggs. Place 1 cup cheese on another plate. Dredge each chicken breast in flour, then eggs, then cheese. Cook pasta to al dente, drain and reserve about 1/2 cup water. In a large skillet, heat about 2 T of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, about 10 minutes on each side or until done. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and add the sliced lemon, garlic and capers. Cook about 2 minutes. Stir in the wine and parsley and cook until reduced. Lower the heat and bring it to a simmer. Stir in chicken broth, cook for another minute. Add the butter and lemon juice, and remaining pasta water if needed. Add the spinach, stirring to wilt. Stir in the pasta and toss to coat, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add remaining cheese and serve with chicken.

Making it up as I go

I'm not good at making things up. I think that's why I'm a baker by nature. I like precision and recipes and following directions. But every once in a while I break pattern and throw something together. This was one of those times. And because I've been sucking at this blogging thing, I have NO idea exactly how this recipe went but it was something like this.

• 1 pkg fresh spinach, washed
• 1/2 carton ricotta cheese (part skim)
• about 1/4 cup skim milk
• onion
• garlic
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• Parmesan cheese
• pasta
• grilled chicken

I sauteed the garlic and onion, adding the spinach in to wilt. Then I added the ricotta and milk until it looked creamy. That was tossed with cooked penne pasta (my favorite kind) and added Parmesan cheese.

The whole thing started because I didn't want to waste the ricotta and spinach...and it turned out pretty well!

I'm leaving...on a jet plane

Tomorrow we're going on vacation. I can't freaking wait. Maybe when I come back I'll actually post the 3 things I've been meaning to. Chicken Biryani, Tex-Mex Calzones & Parmigan Chicken Picatta. I took photos of them...doesn't that count?

Until next week, though, I'm going to be boozing it up!!! We leave tomorrow for Sonoma, then two nights in Napa and we'll head back to San Francisco.

Oh, another thing...my mom can't quite understand why we're going to a prison. Yep, we're doing the Alcatraz Tour. Here is how the conversation went:
Mom: Do you have any touristy stuff planned?
Me: Well, we're going to Alcatraz...you know, the prison.
Mom: What? Why would you want to go to a prison???
Me: Mom! It's Alcatraz. You remember the movie The Rock - with Sean Connery & Nicolas Cage??? It's a toursity thing!!
Mom: Yes, I know the movie! But why? Isn't that sad and depressing??
Me: Mom...Al Capone was there. It's a big tourist thing. Ask your husband.
Mom: It's on an island, right?
Me: Yes - and you can see the Golden Gate and all that stuff.
Mom: Ok...whatever.

By the way, I didn't even bring up the fact that we're going on the night tour. I'm sure at some point I'll be just a little freaked out. We'll see.