Moroccan Chicken with Harvest Grains à la Hipcooks

Have you ever been to a Hipcooks class? It's really fun. You should try some time. This is a recipe from Hipcooks that is super yummy and fairly easy to make! One thing you should know, they don't measure their ingredients (like Korean moms) so I just estimated how much I put in. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
6 Chicken Thighs, bone in with skin. (gasp!)
Carrots, sliced (I used one large and one medium sized)
Onion, sliced thin (I used 1.5 medium sized)
A few cloves of Garlic, sliced (I forgot this ingredient! But it was still yummy)
About a cup Pitted Prunes, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1-1.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon (They use cinnamon sticks, but it's up to you)
Salt, to taste
Flour, for dusting
4 cups Chicken stock
optional: white wine
Trader Joe's Harvest Grains

Preheat oven to 325. Trim the excess fat off the chicken then coat both sides in flour, brusing off the excess. Heat some olive oil on a pan. Brown both sides of the chicken then set aside. Note that you're not actually trying to cook the chicken, just crisping the outside. It'll cook in the oven. Set aside on a paper towel-covered plate.

Next, if you have a pan that works both on the stove and in the oven, use it! If not, then in a pan saute the onions, carrots, and garlic until almost soft. Add the cumin and cinnamon and a bit of chicken stock. At this point, you can also add some white wine and cook until the alcohol burns off. Add the pitted prunes.

Transfer the veggies and prunes and the chicken (skin side up) into a roasting pan/baking dish/pyrex/whatever you normally use in the oven. Pour in chicken stock until the chicken is almost covered. (I used 2 1/4 cup) Be sure to reserve about 1 3/4 cup chicken stock for the harvest grains.

Bake for about an hour or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
Remove from oven and serve with the harvest grains. (Directions on back of bag)

Santa Fe Chicken Pizza à la CPK

Do you like pizza? I don't. No, really, I don't. I think it's something about the mixture of the sauce and cheese and crust that just tastes weird to me. The thing is, Andrew loves pizza. So once in a while, I have to think of ways that we can both eat pizza and be happy.

Out of the few places I will eat pizza, there is one pizza that I do like and that's the Santa Fe Chicken pizza from CPK.

Ingredients:
1 Pizza Crust (I use Pillsbury Pizza Crust)
Cheese (I used mozzarella primarily, and a little bit of cheddar for color)
1/4 to 1/2 cup Rotisserie Chicken, Shredded
Lime
1 Small Onion, sliced thin
Butter/Olive Oil
Parsley
1/4 bunch of Cilantro, Stems Removed and Chopped
Guacamole and Pico de Gallo (Recipe found here, just don't add pineapples)

optional:
Sour Cream
Soy Sauce/Sugar
Corn Meal

Preheat oven according to the directions for your pizza crust. You'll need to start by caramelizing your onions. Do this by heating some butter or olive oil in a pan on medium/low heat. Add the onions and mix them around to make sure they're nicely coated in the oil/melted butter. Cook until they get translucent. Add a teensy bit of soy sauce or sugar and this will speed up the caramelizing process and add flavor. The onions should get nice and brown but not burnt. Remove from heat.

(You can make the pico de gallo and guacamole while your onions are caramelizing if you're good at multi-tasking. If not, then don't.) Meanwhile, squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lime and mix well with the chicken and about a tbsp of chopped cilantro.

Spread a handful of corn meal on a baking sheet and then roll out your pizza crust over it. Cover the pizza crust with cheese, leaving room on the sides for a crust. Next, evenly distribute the chicken, remaining cilantro, and caramelized onions. Bake the pizza according to directions on your pizza crust.

It should look something like this when it comes out.

Cut the pizza into squares and serve each slice with a bit of guacamole and pico de gallo on top.
I loved the pizza, it tasted just like it does at CPK.

However, I knew Andrew still wanted a conventional pizza. So, here was his:

In all honesty, it's so much easier to make, but again, I just don't like this kind of pizza. This was a sausage and mushroom pizza, but you can make it with just about anything. Just roll out the pizza dough, spread some tomato sauce/pasta sauce/pizza sauce on top. Add mozzarella cheese on top of that. Then top with Italian sausage, pepperoni, uncooked mushrooms, uncooked diced bell pepper, onion, whatever you want. You can also add Italian seasoning, basil, whatever... Andrew loves it. =)

Mushroom Risotto with Goat Cheese

Risotto is fairly simple to make, but it takes forever so you'll have to have some time on your hands. Like if you're trying to procrastinate and not study for your midterms or finals, this would be a perfect excuse. I forgot where I learned how to make this. I don't care. It's good.

Ingredients
1 medium-sized shallot (diced)
chopped mushrooms (cremini, button, oyster, shitaki, whatever mushrooms you like.)
2 cloves of garlic (diced)
1 1/4 cup arborio rice
butter (or olive oil)
4 - 4 1/2 cups chicken stock
chives (diced)
goat cheese (chevre)
freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
white wine

Heat the chicken stock in a small pot until boiling, then lower the heat. Meanwhile, heat up a medium-sized pot. Either melt the butter or add some olive oil to the pot. Cook the garlic and shallots until almost tender. Add the mushrooms (about a cup or so) and cook everything until tender, stirring frequently. Season with salt. Add the arborio rice and stir altogether. Next, add a splash of wine and smell the yummy goodness. Okay here comes the part that takes forever. You're going to add 1/4 cup of the hot chicken stock (about a ladle full) to the rice mixture. Stir and stir and stir until the rice soaks up the stock or your arm falls off, whatever comes first. When the stock is almost all gone, add another 1/4 cup... continue this. FOREVER.

Eventually, the risotto will get soft and you'll be nice and sweaty. That's when you turn off the stove and add the diced chives. Now you can do one of two things. (I usually do both) You can either add about a tablespoon of goat cheese to the risotto and mix it until it melts. OR, you can put a tsp on each individual plate before serving. Top with freshly ground pepper.


*note, another option is to cook the mushrooms separately and then remove from heat. This will prevent the mushrooms from getting overcooked and rubbery. Me? I don't care so I do it the easy way--with less dishes to wash. Also, make sure the goat cheese you get is slightly soft, but not the texture of cream cheese like... clay?? They usually sell them in logs.

Parmesan and Panko Crusted Pork Chops with Warm Salad of Roasted Potato, Artichoke, and Pine Nuts

I've never cooked pork chops. Ever. But surprisingly, it was so easy. They came out nice and crunchy on the outside, but still juicy on the inside. The breading was super flavorful and yummy. It tasted like the thicker, juicier, Italian cousin of tonkatsu.

Pork chops:
Bone-in Pork chops
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Panko Breadcrumbs
Italian Seasoning
Dried Parsley
Onion Powder
Dried Minced Garlic
Flour
Eggs
Butter/Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 325. You'll have three plates/saucers. One with a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper. A second bowl where you'll beat a couple of eggs together. A last one with a mixture of parmesan cheese, panko, parsley, italian seasoning, onion powder, and garlic. Dredge the pork chops in the flour mixture, followed by the eggs, and lastly the panko mixture. Heat up a pan, make sure it's super hot. Melt some butter, or heat some oil on the pan. Cook each side of the porkchop about 3-5 minutes until browned on both sides. Stick the pork chops in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly.

Potato Salad: (From Hipcooks!)
Red/fingerling potatoes (fingerling potatoes are expensive, so I used red... You can probably use yukon gold too... just not russet, unless you peel them)
Frozen artichokes
Lemon (Zest and Juice)
Garlic (cloves)
Pine nuts
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Defrost the artichokes. Wash and chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Parboil the potatoes. (Boil for about 5 minutes) If you're using fresh artichokes, you'll have to parboil those as well. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts on a pan until you start to smell them. Next, peel a lemon and cut into one inch strips. Mix the potatoes, artichokes, lemon zest, and pine nuts, with about 4-5 garlic cloves, olive oil, s&p, and some lemon juice in an oven-safe pan. Stick the pan in the oven at 325 for about 30-35 minutes or until all the veggies are nice and soft. Optional: Sprinkle some chopped fresh parsley on top, and add more lemon juice before serving.

If you time it correctly, the pork chops and potatoes will be done at the same time.

Enjoy! (Don't eat the lemon zest!)

Crunchy Shrimp with Toasted Couscous and Hazelnuts and Ginger-Orange Sauce

edit: Huh. I could've sworn the recipe asked for garlic in the sauce. No wonder my sauce tasted weird. Okay, now someone needs to try making the sauce and tell me if it tastes good.
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I found yet another recipe on Cooking Light that I enjoyed and I wanted to share it with you! Yes, all two of you that read my blog!

As usual, I made a few changes, but one of them was not on purpose! The recipe includes couscous, shrimp, and a sauce that goes on top. Well, I was feeling so out of sorts today that I completely forgot to put the sauce on top and ate it without. I still wanted to try the sauce so I put some on some of the leftover couscous and... it tastes better without sauce!

Also, I used HAZELNUTS instead of almonds. OMG... so yummy. (btw, i had no idea how ridiculously expensive hazelnuts were, $12/lb!)

Ingredients: (2 servings)
Sauce:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tbsp cilantro (chopped)
1 tbsp mayo
3/4 tablespoons fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (I used vegetable broth, bc it was all I had)
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 tsp lime juice (careful! Andrew squirted some in his eye...)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (I used cayenne)

Couscous:
1/2 cup uncooked couscous (french, not israeli)
3/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (again, I used veg.)
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp salt
chopped green onions (I used about 2 green onions)
toasted hazelnuts (chopped--I used about 10 hazelnuts) If you want to use almonds, it's 1 tbsp sliced almonds.
1/2 tbsp butter

Shrimp:
10 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 cup panko
1/2 tsp cilantro (chopped)
1/4 tsp grated ginger
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup watercress (trimmed)

Omg. I just suddenly felt super lazy. I don't want to finish this post. I'll just copy and paste from the recipe and make adjustments to it.

From Cooking Light:
Sauce:
Boil 1/2 cup orange juice; cook until reduced to 1/8 cup (about 7 minutes). Remove from heat; cool completely. Stir in 1/2 tablespoon cilantro and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper); set aside.
Couscous:
Toast couscous over medium-high heat; cook 3 minutes or until toasted, stirring constantly. Add 3/4 cups broth, 1/4 cup orange juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork; add green onions, almonds (or hazelnuts!), and butter, stirring until butter melts. Keep warm.
Shrimp:
Coat shrimp with egg white by tossing in a bowl. Combine the panko, 1/2 teaspoon cilantro, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, and black pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add shrimp to the bag, and seal and shake to coat. (What genius wouldn't seal the bag?)

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; arrange shrimp in a single layer in pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. (They should be pink when done!)
Place couscous on each plate; top each with 1/4 cup watercress and 5 shrimp. Drizzle with 3/4 tablespoons sauce. (or not. really, don't do it.)