Chicken Vesuvio

So I tried this recipe last night that I saw Giada de Laurentiis do on one of her cooking shows awhile back ago. It turned out quite well and inspired me to try it again next time with a few adjustments. And don't worry about having leftovers because it is even better the second time around.

Prep Time:15 min

Cook Time:1 hr 0 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 chicken thighs with skin and bones
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, halved
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 8 ounces frozen artichoke hearts or 1 cup frozen lima beans, thawed
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat the oil in large ovenproof pot over high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Working in 2 batches if necessary, cook the chicken in the pot until golden brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl. Carefully add the potatoes to the same pot and cook until they are golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the broth, oregano, and thyme. Return the chicken to the pot. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Cover and bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Arrange the potatoes around chicken. Add the artichoke hearts to the sauce in the pot. Cover and simmer over high heat until the artichokes are tender, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Turn heat to low. Stir in the butter. Pour the sauce over chicken and potatoes, and serve.

Notes
I used a bit too much olive oil when searing the chicken thighs golden brown, so use much less next time. I didn't use the artichoke hearts or lima beans, instead I just did potatoes and onions. However I am thinking other veggies such as carrots and tomatoes would make this a great dish. Instead of using chicken broth I am think I can use tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. For the white whine I just used a Riesling that I had in the fridge, but any white wine would work. When serving you can either have the sauce on the side for people to apply on the quantity they want just in case the wine taste is too strong.

Garlic Butter Tilapia

I love this recipe. Tried it out a few weeks ago and couldn't stop licking my lips after I was done eating!

Tilapia is a great choice for a low carb diet or any healthy diet.
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
dash pepper
dash salt
pinch dried dillweed or parsley
dash paprika
4 tilapia fillets
Preparation:

In saucepan, combine butter, garlic, pepper, salt, dillweed, and paprika. Heat over low heat until butter is melted and starts simmering. Remove from heat. Brush a little of the butter mixture in the bottom of a shallow baking dish (line baking dish with foil, if desired) then place tilapia fillets on the buttered area. Brush top of each tilapia fillet with the seasoned butter mixture. Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes, until tilapia flakes easily with a fork.
Serves 2.

Notes:
-Added hot pepper flakes to it for a spicy kick.
-Instead of just brushing the sauce on the filets and then cooking I poured the entire sauce over the filets and baked (Do this if you aren't really worried about calories, use brushing method if you are)
-takes about 10-12 minutes per inch of fish to cook in the oven.

Greek Ribs

6 servings
1 hour 30 minutes (20 minutes prep)

- 3lbs pork back ribs
- 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon rind
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup grated onions
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons liquid honey
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Cut pork into individual ribs, trimming off fat
2. In small bowl, whisk together lemond rind and juice, onion, oregano, oil, honey, garlic powder, salt and pepper; pour int large ziplock bag.
3. Add pork back ribs, turning to coat; seal bag tightly
4. Refrigerate, turning bag occasionally, for at least 8 hours or for up to 24 hours.
5. Arrange ribs on rack in large foil-lined roasting pan; pour marinade all over ribs.
6. Roast in 400F oven for 10 mins.
7. Reduce oven temp to 375F; roast, turning once and basting occasionally with marinade, for 1 hour or until meat is tender enough to almost fall off the bone.


My personal tips:
-Instead roasting for 1 hour at 375F, do it for a bit longer...half an hour more and for the last 4 minutes turn it on broil and broil both sides so they can turn a golden brown.
- Serve with extra slices of lemon so guests can add more to the ribs if they wish
- You can also serve this with some tzatziki sauce for dipping (its fantastic!). I bought mine pre-made at the supermarket. You can also be dilligent and make it yourself, I chose to be lazy.

Cornbread Muffins

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ready in: 25 minutes
Yields: 12 servings






Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Lightly grease or line 12 muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl mix together cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and surgar.
3. In a seperate bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs and vegetable oil; beat well.
4. Pour buttermilk mixture into flour mixture; stir until blended. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Notes:
-First time I tried this recipe, it seemed like I used too much cornmeal, perhaps use less this time around
-Goes great with the Fried Chicken recipe
-Follow the ENTIRE recipe and INCLUDE the sourcream

Home Style Fried Chicken

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 15 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 4 hours
Cook Time 25 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

2 Cups buttermilk
1/4 cup seasoned salt, divided
3 tablespoons onion powder, divided
3 tablespoons garlic powder, divided
2 1/2 pounds chicken (various parts)
5 to 6 cups peanut or canola oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flower

Method:
In a large baking dish (or big freezer ziplock bag), combine buttermilk and half of each of the seasoned salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Add chicken pieces to marinade and turn to coat (seal bag and shake). Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. If using baking dish then flip chicken every hour. If using bag, flip bag over every hour.

Heat the peanut/canola oil to 360 degrees F in a large cast iron skillet (a pinch of flour should sizzle when dropped in the oil, or lots of bubbles should form on chopstick when dipped in the oil).

Season the flour with the remaining seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Remove the chicken from the marinade piece by piece and coat in the flour. Then add to hot oil to fry. Fry until internal temperature of the chicken is 160 degrees F. Make sure that your oil does not get too hot, otherwise the colour of the chicken will turn dark before the chicken is actually done. Transfer chicken to paper towels to drain. Taste the chicken to make sure the seasonings are right. Serve.


Notes:
-Try adding a few tablespoons of cayenne pepper/thyme/paprika to the flour mixture to liven things up.
-Make sure the chicken is a dark brown (everywhere) before taking it out of the pan
-Serving it a bit cooled down makes it very yummy
-Great for picnic eats
-Probably good to get a thermometer for the oil and chicken
-Fill the Skillet only about 1/2 way up with oil.
-Canola oil is a great subsitute for the expensive peanut oil