Seared Chicken and Caramelized Fennel

I love when I get the opportunity to explore new vegetables. The fennel was an interesting experience, as I'm pretty sure I've never encountered it before. However, caramelizing it makes it slightly sweet, which is perfect for my ever-craving sweet tooth. This would have been a relatively fast dinner to make had I been a bit more coordinated, but all in all, it only took about 45 minutes to make. And I was very tempted to go back for seconds.

Since this is the second recipe I've tried with sherry vinegar, and I've liked them both, I think that's a staple I'm going to have to add to my pantry. We'll see next time I get around to shopping :)

Seared Chicken and Caramelized Fennel
Originally found at Blue Apron

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup jasmine rice
1 1/4 cup water, divided
3 ounces cherry tomatoes
1 bunch thyme
1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
Olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Pat chicken dry and dredge in flour. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, and cook 4-5 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer chicken to plate. Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp oil in a small pot over high, then add rice. Stir to coat the rice with oil, and allow to sit 30 sec to 1 minute, until slightly toasted. Add 1 cup water and heat to boiling, then reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer until rice absorbs all the water. Fluff with fork.

Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise, then place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle half the thyme, with stems intact, amongst the tomatoes. Drizzle with oil, and roast in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, Until tomatoes soft. Remove from oven and discard thyme sprigs.

In the pan used to cook the chicken, heat an additional portion of oil, then add fennel and onion. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium high heat until vegetables browned and softened. Add more oil as necessary to keep from burning. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, cooking 30 seconds until fragrant. Add vinegar, an additional portion of oil, and 1/4 cup water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken back to pan (along with any juices from plate), and half the remaining thyme (leaves only). Cook for 1-2 minutes, until well combined. Add additional water to sauce as necessary.

Divide rice between two plates, top with chicken and fennel. Garnish with roasted tomatoes and remaining thyme leaves.

My Notes:
Lovely sweet and tangy. And a nice portion of vegetables to go with my meat and starch. If I ever get around to finding fennel in the store, this is a dish I would love to make again.

Gnocchi in Mushroom Browned Butter Sauce

I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms. Something about the texture, I think. So when I saw this was my only real choice for my Blue Apron delivery, I was a little disappointed. But, I'm open to trying new things every so often, so I gave it a shot. I fooled myself by chopping up the mushrooms much smaller than the recipe called for, so the texture really wasn't an issue. The bits of mushroom just stuck to the gnocchi and did a great job of flavoring the sauce.

And the browned butter! You have no idea how many times I've unsuccessfully attempted to make a browned butter sauce. It always ends up either burning or being this mess of butter that I then don't know what to do with. It all came together well in this recipe, and it's definitely something I'll try again if I can get my hands on some Maitake mushrooms.

Gnocchi in Mushroom Browned Butter Sauce
Originally found at Blue Apron

10 Ounces Fresh Gnocchi
3½ Ounces Maitake Mushrooms
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Shallot
1 Ear Of Corn
1 Bunch Thyme
⅓ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
Olive oil

Cut the corn kernels off the cob, strip the thyme leaves from the stems and discard the stems, and finely mince the shallot and mushrooms. Set a medium pot of salted water to boil. Heat 2 tsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, until browned and softened. Reduce heat to medium and add butter to pan. Stir to melt and allow the butter to foam. Continue cooking 2-3 minutes, stirring and swirling the pan occasionally to prevent the butter from burning. When butter becomes brown and slightly nutty in fragrance, add shallot, corn, and all but a pinch of thyme. Meanwhile, add gnocchi to boiling water and cook until gnocchi begins to float, 3-4 minutes. Remove from water and set aside, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Cook corn mixture 3-4 minutes, until softened, then add gnocchi and 1/4 cup cooking water. Stir to coat the gnocchi and allow sauce to thicken slightly.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese just before serving and garnish with any remaining thyme.

My Notes:
This was so delicious, I ate the whole dish. Two servings. But it was worth it. The corn adds a delightful sweetness to the savory taste of the butter and mushroom, and the whole sauce just coats the gnocchi so well. I'm glad I've finally found a sauce to serve with my gnocchi that is not pesto or tomato based. Woot woot!

Summer Pepper Shakshuka

My first time being introduced to Shakshuka was actually in school. I expressed my interest in Judaism to some friends, and one of them became fascinated by the cuisine and insisted on making Shakshuka for me and one of my Jewish friends. I was a bit skeptical when I first saw it, but my hesitance was quickly overcome, and I fell in love with the dish. So, when I saw it as an option for my Blue Apron delivery, I jumped on it.

This is a fantastic vegetarian (not vegan) dish that features a tomato and pepper (as in bell) sauce and poached eggs. Poached eggs have actually become something of a treat for me, as one of my friends now is obsessed with brunch and insists on trying a wide variety of Eggs Benedict.

And, of course, in my delight over this dish, I apparently missed the opportunity to take a picture of it. Next time...

Summer Pepper Shakshuka
Originally found at Blue Apron

3 Eggs
2 Red Bell Peppers
2-4 Sweet Peppers (the smaller, colored peppers)
1 large Tomato
1 Red Onion
½ Pound Fingerling Potatoes
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 tsp chili powder (mild)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Olive oil
1 1/4 cups water
1 Large Bunch Parsley
½ Cup Crumbled Feta Cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Dice the peppers, tomato, onion, and potatoes. Remove parsley leaves from stems and roughly chop. In a medium skillet (preferably oven-safe), heat 2 tsp olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the potatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes, until browned and tender. Transfer to a bowl. Add bell peppers and onion to the pan, using more oil if necessary. Cook until softened, then add tomato paste and spices. Cook until fragrant. Add tomato, sweet peppers, cooked potatoes, 2/3 of parsley leaves, and water. Stir until thickened and saucy.

If not using an oven safe skillet, transfer sauce to an oven-safe dish. Create three wells in the sauce, and crack an egg into each well. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cheese over the sauce and eggs. Bake 6-8 minutes, until egg whites are set. Remove from oven and allow to sit 2 minutes. Garnish with remaining parsley.

My Notes:
Blue Apron sends you enough food for two people, and their vegetarian dishes are often very well portioned. So, I actually ended up making this two ways. I made the sauce and put everything into the oven as the recipe calls for. Seemed to take a really long time to cook, but my yolk ended up being a little more done than I would like, so I evidently left it in too long. The second time, I heated up the leftover sauce in a pot on the stove to boiling, then cracked the egg in and covered. Probably took a good 10 minutes before the egg started to cook, but that might've been because I didn't let the sauce heat all the way through before cracking the egg. None-the-less, both were good, and this dish made me remember how much I love shakshuka.

Play with the spices some too. I've seen several recipes with garlic powder included, and some with some other spices, including dried thyme. You can really make the dish with whatever spices you have available, though.

And, of course, the removal of the feta cheese makes this dish pareve, so adjust to suit your needs.

Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken

So, I decided to try Blue Apron, simply because I am currently on a string of nights and didn't want to try to plan my meals. I got three meals in my first shipment, this being one of them. It's in the same theme as many other dishes I've made the past couple weeks. Apparently, the dish gets its name because the original recipe requested a cup each of soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Obviously, those portions have been adjusted significantly in this dish, but it's nice all the same.

Apologies for the horrendous photo. I promise these photos look much better on the screen of my device than they do on the computer screen... :/

Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken
Adapted from Blue Apron
Serves 2

2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 pound choy sum
1/4 cup water
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, sliced thinly
1 inch piece ginger, grated
1 bunch Thai basil, stems removed and sliced
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 cup brown rice, cooked

Cut off and discard the ends of the choy sum stems and half lengthwise. Heat 2 tsp oil on medium-high heat until hot. Add choy sum and water. Cook 5-7 minutes until the leaves are wilted and the stems are tender. Set aside.

Heat 2 tsp oil in skillet on medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and allow to brown on one side. Flip, then add the garlic, ginger, and the white portion of green onions to pan. Add more oil if necessary to lightly coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute, until garlic is fragrant and soft. Add vinegar and soy sauce. He to boiling, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in half of the basil. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with choy sum and rice. Garnish with remaining Thai basil and green onion.

My Notes:
The original recipe asked for only 3 cloves of garlic, but they sent me a whole bulb, so I got a little excited about chopping it all up. Very garlicy in the end, but I quite enjoyed it. I was a little suspicious of the choy sum, just because most greens I've wilted have been rather bland tasting, but it was quite a nice accompaniment to the saltiness of the chicken. All in all, it is a recipe I will definitely try again, and it's nice to have it in portions that are small enough that I don't feel terribly guilty for wasting so much food when just cooking for me.

And yes, I realize I haven't posted a recipe in over a year... I do actually have a couple in the queue that I never got quite around to getting photos for, so I'll back-date those posts some. Also, apologies for the photo, it isn't all that great, but it looks so much better on my iPhone than it does on the computer screen. One of these days I'll get around to updating my phone and getting a slightly better camera in the process.

Sloppy Joes

I'm usually not a fan of sloppy joes, or beef in general, but I was browsing through one of my cookbooks and found a recipe that seemed interesting. So I thought I'd give it a shot. It also happens to be another one that you can freeze without much issue.

Sloppy Joes
Modified from Southern Living 2007 Annual Recipes

1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb turkey sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 cup water
Hamburger buns

Brown beef and sausage with onion and bell pepper. Drain well. Add next 6 ingredients, cover and bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To freeze leftovers, cool and place in freezer bag. Lay flat in freezer. Thaw overnight or defrost in microwave and heat through before serving.

My Notes:
I was skeptical, but this recipe is awesome. The sweetness from the sugar mixed with tartness from the vinegar makes the sauce addicting. My sisters weren't too excited about it initially, but I think I won them over. My older sister likes it more with chips than on a hamburger bun, though I think this might be my mom's influence on her. Overall, definitely a recipe I'll make again.