Yogurt Marinated Chicken

I bought some greek yogurt to have on hand and while that's great, I don't want it to go bad either.  I decided to use it to marinate some chicken breasts all day.  I thought to serve this marinated chicken in a pita with some spiced lentils and tomatoes.  It was pretty good, but I would amp up the spices in the marinade next time.

Spiced Yogurt- Marinated Chicken

Adapted from Men's Health

Marinade

Whisk 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt with the juice of 1 lime, a splash of red-wine vinegar, 1 tsp dried dill and 1 tsp each of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and turmeric (all ground). Season with salt and pepper.  Place two chicken breasts in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, let it marinate all day in the fridge or probably overnight would be ok too.

Cook It

Bake in a 350F oven until done and juicy, about 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the breasts

Serve It

Slice the breasts and serve on pita with lettuce, tomatoes (I didn't add them but it would be good!), feta and yogurt sauce. Enjoy!

Yogurt Sauce

1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt, juice from 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp sriracha sauce, 2 tbsp of feta, salt and pepper.

Abs Diet Buffalo Meatball Sandwich

Another go-to meal in this house are the simple and delicious meatball sandwiches part of the Abs Diet cookbook.  These meatballs are made from ground buffalo and are very simple to make and come together very quickly.  I served these meatballs with homemade crusty bread and it was delicious.  Give buffalo a try!

Abs Diet Buffalo Meatball Sandwiches
from Abs Diet
1 pound lean ground buffalo
2 egg whites
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 french baguette or crusty bread
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 jar (14 ounces) spaghetti sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt-free all-purpose seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 thin slices mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2.

Mix the buffalo, egg whites, wheat germ, onion, Parmesan, and garlic. Shape into 12 meatballs and place in a baking dish that's been lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (turning once) or until cooked through.

3.

While the meatballs are cooking, slice the baguette in half lengthwise and remove some of the interior bread to trim the carbs and make room for the meatballs. With 5 minutes left to bake the meatballs, place the bread in the oven to lightly toast. After you do that, brush the meatballs with the oil and season with the all-purpose seasoning and pepper.

4.

Warm the spaghetti sauce in a pan over medium heat. Spoon the meatballs into the sauce to coat and then line them up in the bottom bread half. Top with the mozzarella.

5.

Return the baguette to the oven for about 2 minutes or until the cheese melts. Allow to cool for a minute and cut into slices

Mini Meatball Sandwich!

Buns- For Meatball Sandwiches, or Saucy Sandwiches

In my quest to avoid store- bought bread, I needed to find a bread recipe that was quick to make and perfect for saucy sandwiches.  I wanted a crusty baguette-type bread, but that took forever to make.  After a google search I found a recipe that would have bread ready in less than an hour.  Perfect!  This bread came out pretty good, with a good hearty crust. I made them with a mixture of bread flour whole wheat flour and all purpose flour and I made them into buns instead of loaves.  Overall this was successful and I would make them again!

Quick French Bread

adapted from Keep Home Simple

2 1/2 Cups Warm Water

2 tbsp Yeast

2 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Salt

3 tbsp Oil

5 1/2 -6 Cups Flour (2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup of bread flour, 1 1/2 cups AP flour)

Add yeast and then sprinkle the sugar over the 2 1/2 cups of water.  Let it sit for about five minutes until you see the yeast get all bubbly on top.

Stir in the salt, oil, and flour.

Then:  Knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth.  Cover your bowl with a warm wet towel and let the dough sit for about 15 minutes.

**Tip - put a bowl of water in your microwave and turn your microwave on for two minutes.  Then take the bowl of water out and set your bowl of bread dough in the warm microwave for the 15 minutes.  This moist, warm environment makes the bread rise a lot faster.

I formed the dough into 4 buns, but I really should have done about 6 or 8 because they were way too big! Allow the loaves to sit for a few minutes while you preheat your oven to 375. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.  My buns stuck to the pan, so sprinkle the pan with cornmeal or make sure the buns have enough flour. Maybe grease the pan too. Other than the sticking, they were pretty good! Check out my recipe for meatballs to go with them!

 Cross Section

Chocolate Banana Coconut Flour Muffins

I had a few overripe bananas and I had bought coconut flour for some reason and I bought a muffin pan recently, so I decided that I needed to make all of those ingredients come together somehow.  I found a recipe for Chocolate Banana Coconut Flour Muffins on pinterest and it was just what I was looking for!

These muffins are delicious. They are sweet enough, but not too sweet, rich, chocolatey and even healthy! These are the perfect little snack and a perfect way to get a chocolate fix without going overboard.  Well played.

Chocolate Banana Coconut Flour Muffins

with no adaptations from Be Delicious

3 ripe bananas (mashed)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons coconut flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
Approximately 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with liners. Combine all ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) in a mixing bowl. Mix until well combined. Fill liners with batter about 2/3 of the way full. Top with chocolate chips. Bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Cool.  Enjoy!

I made 12 muffins and did not use liners.  This picture shows only 4 because the others were already eaten by the time I remembered to take a picture.

Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies

I had a dream, a few weeks ago, that one day cheesecake and cookies could come together in the same recipe.  I tried one idea which was to make cheesecake filling and my chocolate chip recipe to make bars.  It was ok, but not good enough.

I had another go at it, this time creating sandwiches instead.  I used my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe and created a filling of cream cheese and sugar.  It turned out fine, but still wasn't the cookie in my dreams. I did not use the right amount of flour and so this created a flatter cookie, which actually  made for a better sandwich.  Here it is!

Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 stick of butter softened
1 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 325F
Cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the egg, maple syrup and vanilla and beat to incorporate.  Add the dry ingredients, mix well and stir in the chocolate chips.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet about 3 inches apart and bake for 15 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack, or taste one after a few minutes to make sure it's still good.

Cream Cheese Filling
1/2 brick cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp corn starch

Mix all the ingredients together.

Assembly
Spread a layer of cream cheese filling in between two cookies and eat!

Mini Oreo Cheesecake

My "mini" oreo cheesecake came after a day of experimenting with cream cheese, cookies, and oreos.  This is really simple, because I made it up (of course). It was pretty good, but maybe too many oreos.  I'd make it again!

Oreo Cheesecake

Crust

Oreos

Butter

Crumble enough oreos to make a crust for whatever you bake the cheesecake in.  I used a baking dish that's probably 10x2 (maybe smaller).  Melt enough butter and pour to the crumbled oreos so that it comes together.  Dump that mixture into your greased dish and make sure the entire bottom is covered. Crust is done.

Cheesecake

1/2 brick softened cream cheese

1 egg

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix everything together in a bowl until combined.  Pour the mixture over the oreo crust.  Next stick whole oreos into the cream cheese mixture.  Place the cheesecake into the oven and bake until the cheesecake no longer jiggles. For my small cake this was about 40 minutes.  The top will get a little brown, but you want it to be cooked, so make sure it doesn't jiggle.  To make a bigger cheesecake, just increase the ingredients! Couldn't be easier.

Hamburger Buns- Round 2

Another one of the buns recipes I tried is one I found at King Arthur Flour's website.  I thought it would be a reliable recipe because it had a lot of great reviews.  Well, they were good, but very heavy and dense. This was basically bread in bun form; not what I'm looking for.

Here's the recipe and here are the photos!  

Beautiful Burger Buns

From King Arthur Flour

• 3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large egg
• 3 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• *For best results (a smooth, slightly soft dough), use the smaller amount of water in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate); and something in between the rest of the time.
• topping
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

1) Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough.

2) Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk

3) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball; flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until noticeably puffy.

4) Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter.

5) Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust.

6) Cool the buns on a rack.

Yield: 8 large buns.

They were easy to make, but just did not give me the results I was looking for. I don't think I'd try this recipe again, because it takes so much longer than my new favorite recipe. 

Glamour shots!

Hamburger Buns- Perfection at Long Last

After trying my hand at hamburger buns a few times using a few different recipes, I think I know which recipe is the winner and it's this super easy and quick recipe from Taste of Home.  The buns, when made with a few modifications, produce a bun that is fluffy and full of flavor.  Once you have a homemade bun you realize that store bought ones really have zero flavor!  You might think that they do, but they really don't.  Once you realize how easy it is to make buns at home, you may never go back! 

Hamburger Buns
modified from Taste of Home

Ingredients
2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup bread flour*

2 1/2- 3 cups All Purpose Flour (or whole wheat if you so desire)

DirectionsIn a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes.  Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 6 pieces (about 5 oz each); shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets and flatten the ball so they look like discs
Cover and let rest for **30 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

*I went with a mix of bread flour and AP flour to get more gluten development.  I'm still learning why I'd want more gluten development, but I read that somewhere it's important and so, I decided to mix the flours.
**The original recipe is to allow to rest for 10 minutes.  There are many comments in the review section that advise rising for 30 minutes and it makes a world of difference.  A 30 minute rest produced a fluffier, softer and airy roll like those of store bought.  The 10 minute "rest" produced a bun that was very dense. It made for a good breakfast sandwich the next day, but does not make for a good bun for burgers, sloppy joes, etc.

These buns rested for only 10 minutes.  They split on top (not sure why), but were dense and took about twice as long to bake.

These bottom two photos are the buns that rested for 30 minutes (I think I had the oven at 450 instead of 425 and that's why they're so brown). They did not split and I think you can tell that they look softer and more airy than the 10 minute rest.

This photo looks like a flower!

These buns are the most beautiful yet!

Lamb Burgers

Ground lamb is very similar to taste as ground beef but just a little different, but you can use it for any ground beef recipe.  Lamb Burgers are very tasty and I think tend to be a little juicer than ground beef.  I was inspired by an Emeril Lagasse recipe for my take on lamb burgers, served on homemade buns of course.  The lamb was tender and juicy with nice flavor from the spices and the buns I made were ok, but a little bready; check out my other link for the buns!  The Feta spread is cheesy and thick with a little kick to help cut the cheesiness. I served the burgers with sweet potato cajun fries as a side dish.

Lamb Burgers with Feta Spread
adapted from Emeril at Food Network

2 1/4 pounds ground lamb
1 tbsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, plus 1/8 teaspoon

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

4 ounces goat cheese , softened

2 tbsp plain greek yogurt

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 tsp olive oil

6 hamburger buns

Thinly sliced tomatoes, for garnish, optional

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine the lamb, garlic, salt, cumin, allspice, 1/4 teaspoon of the cayenne, and the cinnamon and mix gently but thoroughly to combine. Using your hands, shape the mixture into 6 wide patties about 1/2-inch thick and transfer to a large plate or a platter. *Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

*I didn't refrigerate the patties and they turned out just fine.

Feta dip: Combine the remaining 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, feta cheese, cream cheese, greek yogurt, 1 teaspoon of the olive oil, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl and stir to blend well. *Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight to allow flavors to blend.

*I didn't refrigerate for the specified amount of time and it came out fine.

When ready to cook the burgers, preheat a grill to medium-high. When the grill is hot, add the burgers and cook for about 4 minutes on each side for medium. Transfer the burgers to a platter and cover loosely with foil. Place the buns, cut sides down, and in batches if necessary, in the hot skillets and cook until warmed through and slightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Serve the buns with the cooked burgers and spoon some of the feta spread over each burger. Garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, if desired, and serve immediately.

Looking good with sweet potato fries!

Homemade Indian: Round 2

Indian Round 2 includes boneless, skinless chicken thighs marinated in buttermilk and spices all day, Chana Masala, Cauliflower Rice and Naan.  It was a lot better than my first round of Indian. The marinade made the chicken very moist and tender, the chana masala was perfectly spicy, the cauliflower rice is always good and I rolled the naan a bit thinner so it wasn't so doughy.

In sum, if a recipe doesn't work out the first time, regroup and do it again! Take note of what you learned and apply it and best of all, ask others for their thoughts and opinions.  

Spiced Buttermilk- Marinated Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1/2 cup buttermilk, or enough to cover all the thighs,

2 tablespoons of garam masala OR *Ras El Hanout

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp cardamom,

Salt and Pepper

Put the buttermilk in a bowl and mix with the spices so everything is well combined.  Place the chicken in the bowl and cover with the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least 8 hours.

After the marinade time is over and you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 450F, put the chicken in a baking dish and discard the marinade (If you cook buttermilk it separates and is really ugly). Bake for 40 minutes, turning the thighs once halfway through cooking.  Set to the side to cool and chop into bite sized pieces.  

*Ras El Hanout is a Morrocan spice blend, which to me, tastes very similar to indian spices, so I found that it works very well in my spin on Indian Food.  I've been unable to find Garam Masala in the local stores where I live, but was able to find the Ras El Hanout, go figure.  Try both and see which you like better!

Chana Masala

adapted from Kurry Leaves

1 tbsp oil
1 jalapeno

1/2 onion very finely chopped
2 cloves of minced garlic

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric

3/4 tsp Ras El Hanout

1 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 14.5oz can drained and rinsed chickpeas
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water

Put the oil in a pot or pan over medium-low heat and saute the jalapeno and onion until soft (about 10 minutes).  Add the garlic and all of the spices and allow to cook for about 1 minute.  Add the chickpeas and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and water and bring to a boil and allow to cook together for about 10 minutes.  Simmer on low until you're ready to eat.

I included links to the cauliflower rice and naan in my opening paragraph.