Herbs de Provence

My rosemary plant has outgrown its bed, hopping the wooden border and invading my lavender.  Since the new growth really isn't causing any trouble, I'm allowing it to roam freely.

(sage flower)

I cannot make a strong enough argument to own and maintain an herb garden.  Whether indoors or out, having fresh herbs will not only make your meals fabulous, but will inspire you to create new meals.

I made a nice herb-inspired meal from basil and rosemary.  I had to buy the basil, as my plants aren't quite ready yet as the season is still early.  If you don't own an herb garden, don't let that stop you from trying these recipes.  Your local grocer should always carry basil and rosemary.  Don't use dried.  It's not even close and your culinary outcome will be less than wow.

The salad I served with the roasted chicken breasts came from Patricia Wells' "The Provence Cookbook".  The chicken recipe I made up with what I had in the kitchen.  One piece of chicken fed two of us, with loads of chicken left over.  I pulled it from the bone and will have enough to make chicken salad for at least two people.  But first, the salad!  Mine is a slight adaptation...enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lemon
4 tomatoes
1/3 cup capers, drained
4 slices of whole grain French bread, toasted and cut into cubes
1 bunch of basil, chiffonade-style
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. good red wine vinegar
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste

Note - the lemon needs to be sliced with a mandoline, that way they are paper thin and easy to indulge in.  If you do not have one, use a super sharp knife, being very careful.

Slice lemons over a bowl or dish.  Core tomatoes and cut lengthwise.  Place on top of lemons.  Add bread, layering.  Add capers and basil, then drizzle with olive oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper.  Toss well.  Let sit for at least 10 minutes.  Note - I used a flax and bran baguette from my local market and had the clerk slice it for me.  I'll use that kind of baguette again if possible as it held up really well and tasted very nice.

Roasted Split Chicken Breasts with Rosemary and Garlic Oil
Serves 4 healthy portions

Ingredients:

3 Split chicken breasts, skin on
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 sprig rosemary, chopped fine
Salt and fresh black pepper

Preheat oven to 375.  Pour olive oil into microwave safe cup and add garlic.  Heat for 30 seconds.  Place chicken into a roasting pan.  Strain oil, discarding garlic pieces.  Pour oil over chicken, then sprinkle on the rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Roast for 60-75 minutes or until juices run clear and skin is crispy.

Yes, it's really that easy!   The chicken was moist and tender.  Tres magnifique! 

We also had a lovely little dessert that would make a great snack or even breakfast.  This was so simple, maybe get the kiddos to join in and prepare the sweet stuff!

Lemon Greek Yogurt with Blackberries, Walnuts, and Honey

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1-6 oz. container zero fat lemon Greek yogurt (like Chobani)

1 half pint blackberries, washed and dried

2 tbsp. walnuts, 1 tbsp. per portion

2 tbsp. honey, 1 tbsp. per portion

Place a dollop of yogurt in the bottom of two parfait or dessert cups.  Layer a few blackberries over, then finish off yogurt into each cup.  Add remaining berries.  Sprinkle 1 tbsp. each walnuts then honey onto each. 

Serve immediately.

These are heart-healthy meals that also won't break your bank.  Take the time to enjoy foods close to their natural form.  Make your meals simple yet flavorful.  Use what you have and explore!  Cooking should be an  adventure, so jump in and have fun!  Bon Appetit!!

Cool It!

It's cold outside.  For now, anyhow.  When you live below the Mason-Dixon line, you never can tell on a day-to-day basis if you're going to have winter or early spring.  My daffodils have come up, there's buds on the trees, and I keep a pair of sandals next to my boots.  I whine every now and then about how cold my hardwood floors get with my crawl space underneath adding to the chill, but then I wonder how hard it was to heat places like the Biltmore...

We are supposed to get an icy storm tomorrow afternoon, but I refuse to allow the freezing precipitation to drown out my inner sunshine.  This post's recipes are Internet winners. Dinner tonight was Bal Arneson's No-Butter Chicken, from The Cooking Channel.  I love Indian cuisine, but at times it can be a little rich.  It isn't only the spices that can be overwhelming at times, but the heavy creams and in the case of Butter Chicken, the butter.  

I'm not on board with rich dairy foods and they've declared war on me to even things up.  Paula Deen would be so disappointed in this southern girl...

I like that Bal Arneson used 0% fat plain yogurt (I use the Fage brand) instead of butter.  It was a lovely combo of onion, garlic, fresh ginger, and spices.  Add chicken, yogurt, and a splash of water and you get a spicy dish that won't clog your arteries.  It can light up your tongue with heat if you over-do it on the red pepper flakes...

Enter the Eton Mess Parfait to the resuce.  

This pretty in pink treat is normally made with heavy whipping cream, lightly sweetened.  Sounds dreamy.  Layers of fresh berries, fluffy meringues, toasted almonds...delicious.  So what's a girl to do when she would prefer to avoid more junk in her trunk?

She turns to the power of Greek yogurt.  My big culinary duel is with substituting real food for "lite" or "fat-free" substances that when you read their ingredients list, there's no food to be found.  So please take note that I used the same plain 0% plain Greek yogurt as in my dinner, but I added vanilla bean crush (a thick extract with vanilla seeds), a few tablespoons of powdered sugar, and crushed fresh berries.  Use what you want here, whether it be whipping cream, creme fraiche, vanilla ice cream, or vanilla yogurt.  Cook's choice rules!

Eton Mess Parfaits
adapted from recipe by Young Sun via The Cooking Channel

2 large egg whites, room temperature

1/3 cup superfine sugar

2 pints fresh strawberries

1 cup fresh raspberries

extra sugar for macerating

lemon wedges

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1 cup 0% fat plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla bean crush

3 tbsp. powdered sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 225.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  (Um, yes.  I did notice I used waxed paper instead of parchment.  After I cooked them.  I really need to get some sleep...)

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat egg whites on medium for about three minutes or until firm.  Add the 1/3 cup of superfine sugar, little bits at a time, for five minutes until the whites are glossy and stiff peaks are present.

Place in 1/3 cupfuls onto cookie sheet, using spoon to flatten out.  Please do not use you fingers, as the oil in your skin will not allow the meringues to set.  Cook for 3 hours at 225, then turn oven off and leave for another 3 hours.  No peeking!!!

Prepare berries, macerating each with a dusting of superfine sugar and a squeeze of a lemon wedge.

Allow to sit, then take a small portion of the berries to put in the yogurt mixture, about 1 cup, draining the juice from them.  In the bowl of the standing mixer, place one cup of yogurt and vanilla.  Whip at medium high speed for 2 minutes, adding sugar, one tbsp at a time, then beating for another 2 minutes.  Fold in the 1 cup of macerated and drained berries.  You can either leave them chunky or beat them in for 1-2 minutes.  

Layer the berries, cooled meringues, toasted almonds, and berry yogurt into 14 oz. glasses.  

There are far classier ways to make an Eton Mess, and I'm sure I am in some way doing the dish a disservice.  However, we felt it was tasty and refreshing like true springtime. No, I'm not crazy at the amount of sugar involved in the entire affair, but that is why these are treats and not part of our daily menu.  

Take a little time this winter and cook something new.  Bake some bread, try a new type of cuisine, check out a cookbook from your local library.  Branch out, have fun and Bon Appetit!