Once again I didn't know what I wanted to cook for dinner. Backup dinner was going to baked Milanese chicken, which I will post eventually. However, Barefoot Contessa was on the tube and she was making lemon chicken breasts today. Well, that sold me. Not only was it simple and quick, it was also light. We're still trying to eat healthy here in our house. 

In the picture, it's just lemon chicken pasta, no mushrooms. We had leftovers so the next day for dinner, I added some sauteed mushrooms with the pasta. 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine -->  used 1/3 cup chicken broth (no white wine)
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons) --> cut rinds from 2 lemon wedges (no zester)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice --> juice of one fat lemon wedge from other people's recommendations
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 1 lemon --> 1/2 lemon 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. I didn’t coat the chicken with olive oil because the liquid was able to cover most of the chicken. I think it’s because my baking dish was on the small side. The chicken turned out good and wasn’t dry. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices (I forgot to sprinkle salt and pepper, but the chicken still turned out flavorful).

We ate the lemon chicken as a pasta dish with mushrooms. First, I made the pasta and then sautéed the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms were done, I added cooked pasta to the mushrooms. Then I mixed in some liquid from the lemon chicken so that the pasta won’t be too dry. Also, I would add either fresh basil or parsley to the pasta dish. It'll add color and more flavor to the dish. The lack of green makes the presentation blah. You can also eat this with rice and a side of veggies of some sort.

I have been craving lobster rolls ever since summer began. Don't know why I crave it because I've never ever tasted it in my life. After searching online for a recipe for shrimp rolls, I decided to just wing it and make do with whatever ingredients I had at home. 

The sandwich needs more color. I wanted to initially make it with some buttered lettuce, but I never had the chance to make it out to the grocery store. Also, Jimmy said the tomatoes were overwhelming so I would cut back on those or dice it into the shrimp mix. Next time I make it, I'll try it with some roasted red peppers and buttered lettuce.

Shrimp Rolls

serves 3 (2 adults and a child)

    

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• cayenne pepper
• celery salt or minced celery
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 lb shrimp
• 2 tablespoon butter 
• 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
• wedge of lemon
• slices of tomatoes
• sub rolls or hot dogs or any bread you would like

 

1. In a small pot, melt 1 tablespoon of  butter and add some lemon juice. In a separte pan, sauté shrimp and add garlic. Cook until shrimp is pink colored.
2. Add cooked shrimp with the buttered lemon into the mixture. Set aside. I let the cooked shrimp cool down a bit before adding it to the mixture.
3. Mix mayo, Dijon mustard, celery salt, and cayenne pepper. Adjust the seasoning to your liking, adding more cayenne pepper for more spiciness.   
4. Melt another tablespoon of butter and spread onto rolls. Then toast the rolls on a griddle pan. 
5. Once toasted, add the sliced tomatoes if you like and spread the shrimp mixture onto the rolls. 
6. Now you’re ready to eat it. Enjoy! 

Another note: measurements of ingredients aren't exact, adjusting as needed. 

It's been awhile since my last posting. I've been too tired and haven't really had the urge to cook. However, I managed to do some baking for the Nesbitt's July 4th get together. I know it's been 3 weeks. There was a recipe for cherry hand pies in this month's Bon Appetit. Not too much of a cherry pie person, I decided to make apple pies instead for their get together. These were easy and quick to make. Next time I'll make these into squares as oppose to rectangles, less guilty popping them into my  mouth! 

Everyone in my family knows that pasta is my go to dish when I don't know what to cook for dinner. They also think that it's always a creamy pasta dish, but not always. I had tomatoes sitting in my fridge so decided to cook a pasta dish. Since we're trying to eat a little healthier, I was able to find a recipe that was tomato based with no heavy cream. It was a tear out from a food magazine from a while back. I also added sauteed mushrooms before tossing in the roasted tomatoes. I mixed everything and topped it off with some chopped basil for color. Also, it doesn't matter if you use McCormick's gourmet seasoning collection or not (I only had was McCormick's gourmet Italian seasoning). It still turned out delicious.

I first saw this cake at Ruggles Cafe, but I didn't get a chance to have a piece of it. I felt to guilty ordering and taking it home later to eat. So, I knew that I needed to make it, especially since this weekend was Jimmy's mom's birthday (more of an excuse to make it). This cake has been on my bake list for weeks, but I've been too tired/busy to make it (I blame it on baby #3 and Jacob's extracurricular activities).  The boys also helped me baked the cake too!! I had Jacob read out the ingredients for me, which he did very well, missing only a few ingredients. I was trying to sneak in some reading with him. I used this recipe since it resembled the most like that of Ruggles's strawberry coconut cake. The cake was good, but was kind of dense. The cream cheese frosting though was delicious!! I could not stop eating it.