Monday | April 30th | 2012

this week’s meal plan

posted in recipes & cooking

I admit it, I’ve let my meal plan slide a bit over the past few weeks. To make myself feel better, I’ve decided I’ve just been VERY EUROPEAN, heading to the grocery store every day. Yeah.

Time to get back to it – simply because it makes life so.much.easier. Truly.

• Monday – Shake and Coconut Bake Pork Chops. This is a new recipe. And it sounds so good I can’t resist trying it. I’ll serve them with brown butter green beans.

• Tuesday – Grilled Salmon. I have a frozen salmon filet – I’m just going to grill it with a mustard maple glaze. Serving with crispy parmesan asparagus.

• Wednesday – Pecan Crusted Chicken Wraps. Another new one, but we’re on a pecan crust kick. Aidan has a baseball game at 6, so this is something that’s relatively light.

• Thursday – Puerto Rican Pulled Pork (Pernil). I’ve made this before, and it’s delicious. I haven’t used my slow cooker in awhile, so here we go! I’ll serve with roasted brussels sprouts.

• Friday – Another game at 6, so we’ll probably eat out after.

Feels good to be back in the habit!

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Sunday | April 29th | 2012

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

posted in photography | fine art

Not to frighten anyone <BOO!>, but Mother’s Day is right around the corner. As in TWO WEEKS. If you need any ideas, here are some from my shop:

First up, a matted 5×7 print. You can gift this to mom as-is, or pop the whole thing into a standard 8×10 frame.

$23, here: Matted 5×7 print.

You could also go with a gift set of 9 floral 4×4 prints:

Pick up a collage frame and you have this:

$45, available here.

Does mom have an iPhone? How about a case?

Clear, hard snap cases featuring any image in my shop. $28, available here.

!!! NOTE: iPhone cases take about a week to get to me, and another 3 days to get to you – so if you’d like one for Mother’s Day, I suggest ordering in the next day or so.

And, as always, a simple 8×10 print is always perfect. My prints are packaged in a cello wrapper and bow, so you can gift them to mom as-is, or place them into a standard 8×10 frame. Here are a few pretty selections for mom:

$28 each, available here.

And, for those of you who read all the fine print – My etsy shop hit 199 sales last night. The shopper who made the 100th purchase received a print of their choice as a gift. Just sayin’… <fingers behind back, whistling…>

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jenney - Swoon!! Sending this link to my hubby. ;)

   
Wednesday | April 25th | 2012

Recipe: Chicken Marsala

posted in recipes & cooking

Marsala wine sauce didn’t enter my life until my 20s. I was dating Vic and we often went to one of Schenectady’s (many) Italian restaurants. I’m guessing it was Cornell’s, and my life was forever changed. You mean Italian didn’t have to be RED SAUCE FROM A JAR?!!?

I’ve since grown into someone who loves to cook (obviously), and one pantry staple that can turn whatever you have in the fridge into a culinary delight is a simple bottle of Marsala.

If you’re thinking “Oh, cool – I saw Marsala in the condiments aisle.” NO. NO NO NOOOOOO. Go to the wine store – or, if you’re lucky and have wine in the grocery, go to the wine AISLE and buy a real bottle. Please.

All you have to do is saute some chicken, pork or vegetables, then deglaze the pan with a few glugs of Marsala. Deglaze simply means dump in some wine, stir up all the good browned parts, then let it cook down a bit. If you’re feeling particularly decadent, you can splash in some cream or 1/2 and 1/2 (as I always do, duh!).

Meat, vegetables, wine and cream. That’s it. Delicious.

Here’s my recipe for the Chicken Marsala you see here. One of my all-time favorites.:)

Chicken Marsala

  • 3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2 pieces each (also great with pork tenderloin medallions!)
  • 1 Large onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 Large package of cremini (baby bella) mushrooms – or whatever mushrooms you like
  • 1 clove of garlic, smashed
  • Flour – I like to use a sifted pan-searing flour so it’s not too heavy
  • Olive Oil
  • 1/2 to 3/4c Marsala Wine
  • Heavy Cream or 1/2 and 1/2 (optional)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Parsley for garnish

Place chicken inside a ziploc bag and use a mallet to pound the pieces thin and even. Add flour + some salt and pepper to the bag and toss to coat.

Heat olive oil in a saute pan – if you have cast iron, it’s GREAT for this. Add chicken, brown evenly on both sides, then remove from pan and set aside.

Add another swirl of oil along with the onions, mushrooms and garlic, then cook until soft and caramelized – the browner the better (depends on your patience!).

Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Add a splash (maybe 1/4c?) of cream or 1/2 and 1/2 if you’d like.

Arrange chicken pieces back into the pan – pushing them down into the sauce. Let it simmer until the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened. Sprinkle with parsley.

Serve as-is or over pasta with some freshly-grated parmesan. We’re trying to limit our carbs, so I served this with a side of roasted cauliflower. Yum.

 

 

 

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Kathy - Yum!! I love chicken marsala and I only started to make it this year. I’ll have to try the “real” marsala wine. Beautiful images – I just love a food images.

Karen - Hi lisa,

Which do you think would taste better veal or chicken?
I may make tomorrow night, looks great!

   

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