Easy Chicken Parmesan with Ziti & Broccoli

This is so deliciously quick and easy, especially if you have the ingredients on hand!
Bread some chicken tenders (2-3 per person). S & P the tenders then dip in a whisked egg, then in a mix of bread crumbs and grated parmesan (use slightly more cheese than crumbs). Put back on the plate until the broiler is ready.
Preheat broiler with pan inside that is suitable for the broiler (I used an iron skillet).
Cook chicken 2-3 minutes each side.
The cheese really sticks so I used a metal spatula to rip it off the pan surface. Nonstick foil to line the pan would be handy in this case.
Next time I will just use my covered sauce pan or a nonstick skillet to cook the chicken instead of the broiler pan.
Pour a yummy pasta sauce to coat the bottom of your baking dish. Arrange chicken on top, spoon more sauce over the chicken then top with shredded mozzarella. Bake at 450° for 17 minutes (give or take a few).

Cook ziti in a pot of salted, boiling water for 10 minutes. Add Broccoli and cook 4 minutes more. Remove broccoli and drain. When pasta is edible (not too al dente), drain and return to pot. Pour a splash of olive oil in, return the broccoli and sprinkle with some parmesan. Add some pepper.

Best Potato Pancakes!

One happy afternoon with a couple of crazy toddlers and a good mom buddy at Border's bookstore, I wandered off solo to the cookbook section. It thus inspired a browse of the local Boston Public Library bpl.org website (request books with your library card)! I totally love getting books on loan for free. Books that I may not absolutely adore and can then return. In an overnight drop box. Am not about to pay $32.50 for maybe a couple of recipes. Not in this age of the internet. After all, I have at least two rows of cookbooks on one of our bookshelves and perhaps just a couple of recipes are used out of each of them...
I digress- These- finally- are a potato pancake worth making from scratch! Thank you from Tyler Florence and his recipe from "Eat This Book".
The key is to squeeze out all the water you can and fry them in plenty of vegetable oil (we ran out towards the end, with only 1/2 cup to start with).
We used chopped green onions instead of chives. Makes me think, you could add herbs instead, if desired (fresh chopped rosemary, thyme...). The addition just looks nice since it's green and adds subtle flavor enhancement.

Grate potatoes and onions. Avoid slicing your thumb and making it bloody like I did.
This is the laborious, annoying part.
Maybe I will try the grate attachment on the food processor next time.

We have cheesecloth on hand. The package seems to last us forever. Well, maybe not so much now that we have this recipe! Divide your gratings into two piles to squeeze out all the possible juice you can (into the sink). The plump to the left is already squeezed and released.
Season your loosened up shavings with s (no need for kosher) & p and green onions/herbs. Toss it up.
Whisk 2 egg whites. Save the yolks for something good like hollandaise for eggs benedict.
Carefully mix in the egg whites by hand once you have 1/4" of vegetable oil heated on medium/medium high for frying.
Add 2TB globs (a 1/8 cup measure is handy for this) and splat it down nice and flat with your measure or a "dirty" spatula. Allow to cook for two minutes on each side.
Rely on appearance not time when determining to flip. First cakes took 3 minutes each side.
The edges will start to become brown and then you'll know it's time to flip.
Put cooked cakes on paper towels to absorb grease and sprinkle salt to season more.
You can keep them warm before serving in a 200° oven.
We had them (not pictured) topped with sour cream. with a big omelette split in half and pan seared tomato slices. YUMMY!
The remaining pancakes were frozen for future weekday, quick breakfasts. Reheat at 375° for 7 minutes each side.

Jerk BBQ Oven Chicken Wings with Ranch Sauce

We were trying to get psyched up to go out for lunch in Boston. Rainy weather, toddler in need of a nap and the thought of trying out a new recipe quickly changed that thought (not to mention saving a chunk of change). The end result was worth it, especially since we got to enjoy it while a little person was napping!

Salt & pepper 2 pounds of wings (1 lb per person), then pour on the sauce and toss to coat. Disposable gloves are handy for this operation.

Cook in a preheated 350° oven for 50 minutes,
turning after 30 and basting with a brush and more sauce.
We used Reynolds nonstick foil wrapped over the pizza stone.

This is a decent sauce we like to use.

This was one of the few ranch dressings which did not contain monosodium glutamate.
The flavor was enhanced and made more tangy with the addition of horse radish.

Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken & Veggies

We usually buy the marinated lemon pepper chicken at Shaw's. Dang, tonight they were all out! Time to improvise- and how easy it was.
It tasted so fresh with a zing of lemon!

Soak 4 skewers in water while prepping.
Prepare half a box of rice pilaf.
Cut up the veggies into nice sizes for skewering.

How simple is this? Zest, then juice 1 lemon. Add an equal amount of olive oil. Whisk.

Toss veggies in a covered bowl with a dash of olive oil (and some of the lemony oil), salt & pepper. Skewer on two sticks. Cook in a preheated (on broil) iron grill pan for 8 minutes (turn 1/2 way through). While they cook, get the chicken ready.

For two people, cut up 1 medium size chicken breast (9 pieces). Dredge in lemon oil mix, skewer, then have helper salt & pepper both sides.

Cook in broiler pan 3 minutes, use a metal spatula to carefully loosen from the pan and flip, cook another 3 minutes (6 minutes total).

A tester favorite: rice pilaf.

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins and Caraway

I've been searching high and low for this recipe when my friend Sarah reminded me it was on Andrew's baby blog!
I haven't made it since then: 2 years ago!
It's really a great bread, easy to make and especially appropriate for this time of year.
Today I sparingly used a Kitchenaid stand mixer but in the past have also just used a large bowl and spatula to stir it up. Just follow the recipe, adding ingredients one-by-one.

Tried out these "baking" raisins and I am now a fan! Super juicy and delicious~
Bonus: they are pre-measured. 1 pouch= 1 cup.

Funny, I learned today that 1 large egg= 1/4 cup. (Recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups milk + 2 large eggs)

Using disposable foil pans make these easy to give away to friends!

Our old oven requires a thermometer during certain precise pleasures like baking. It's a good idea to second-guess your oven's temperature, especially if it's ancient, like ours. It tends to run 25 degrees lower than selected.

Taster approved!

It's a recipe that was so good when I tried it, I asked for it from my former employer, Bill Joyce, at B.L. Makepeace.
It's his family recipe. Bill's wife traditionally makes the bread for the employees on St. Patrick's day.

The recipe can be cut in half to make one loaf.

Barm Brack

makes two loaves
serve with butter

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
Mix together the dry ingredients:

4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Then add to mixture:

3 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 cup raisins
1 cup currants
Stir to blend.

Beat together:

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

Add to the dry mixture. (Do not overmix.)

Lastly, add 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) melted, unsalted butter, just until combined.

Pour mixture into greased, floured bread pans.
Or, line the bottom and sides with 1 piece parchment. This (my preferred method) allows you to just lift the loaf out when done. No greasing necessary.

Sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake on the middle rack, 45-55 min.
Check at 45 min. Remove when loaves start to get browned. It took my loaves more like 60 min.
I checked every 5 min. after 45.


The Barm Brack is a delicious fruit loaf eaten all year round in Ireland, but especially popular at Halloween when, by tradition, a ring is hidden in the loaf and the one who finds it will be the next to marry.

The “official Irish” Barm Brack has no carraway seed, but has 1/2 cup of mixed candied citrus peel, a pinch of nutmeg and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork and Mustard Green Gratin

This is a great dish, recipe from my foodie Idol, Alton Brown. His show, "Field of Greens" featured the recipe for Mustard Green Gratin.
We all know that deep green leafy veggies are good for us. Perhaps this recipe will inspire you! Plenty of calcium and vitamins, it is so good that picky kids may even like it since it's good like mac n cheese (as long as they can overcome the color green and some texture).
First, buy a pound of greens. I looked at some at my regular market but thought they smelled gross. I skipped them and went to the next market where they were much better. Point in case, never buy something you would not like to eat, especially something key that you are seeking out. Granted, you should wash it well- Alton suggests using your cleaned-out sink with 5" of water. The greens I got were free of grit so I felt comfortable just de-ribbing them (anything thicker than 1/4") and soaking 1/2 batch at a time in a bowl of water then draining.

Measure out a heaping cupful of crackers then put them in a baggie and use the measure to crush them.


Alex insisted on adding 3 sliced scallions to the recipe. In the end, I could hardly notice them since they are mild; surely it was a nice addition.
Greens cooking away!
Use tongs to remove to the ricotta mixture. Try to keep excess liquid out (the greens release a lot!)
The leftover, discarded juice probably amounted to 3/4 cup. I resisted the temptation to drink some!
Mixing the greens and ricotta mixture.
Poured into the dish (8.5x10.5). Be flexible in your decision with what size dish to use. This part always annoys me, when a recipe such as this one suggests what size to use. Just go with what you are comfortable with.
Pork pulling with two antique forks. I soon took over with some "modern" forks.
The slow cooker pork secret! We also added red pepper flakes and generous portions of Tabasco and Frank's Hot Sauce.
The pork shoulder we used was just under 3lb. It had plenty of fat. We cut the excess fat and skin off. There was a large center bone in it. We didn't have all day so it was cooked on high for 4 hours. It still seemed tough on removal yet it needed to be shredded and fat removed from shredded parts. This is so important, removing fat by hand. Feeling it is the most effective way of removal. Once the shreds were removed, they went back into the suace while we cooked up the gratin.

Mustard Green Gratin

Yum Yum Yum! We also bought a very colorful store-made Cole Slaw which we topped our sandwiches with.