Our new home and cooking regime

So, as most of those friends that even bother to check this blog know, I recently got married. My husband and I absolutely love to cook and now that we live together (yeah, yeah, we didn't live together first) we get to cook together every night. For planning and economic purposes, I have decided to give full-week menu planning a try and want to share our picks for this week. Some are tried and true recipes, some are newly found and some we're winging. Here goes.

Sunday: Petti di Pollo in Padella (panfried chicken breasts with herbs), salad and baked potato.

Monday: Fish tacos using leftovers from some panfried cod we had earlier in the week, along with homemade tortillas.

Tuesday: Hazelnut-crusted chicken with raspberry sauce, salad and rice.

Wednesday: Onion, sausage and gorgonzola pizza.

Thursday: Falafel and cucumber sauce.

Friday: Undecided as hubby will be at a bachelor party. Maybe just leftovers if it's only me :)

Saturday: Out to eat at some friends' bachelor/ette party.

Murky Mojito

I rather like mojitos, especially the ones that Melissa Chapman makes.   This recipe, however, was born in a moment of efficiency while making (surprise, surprise) Mojito Chicken.   We only had dark rum, and I had the brown sugar out anyway for the glaze, and Paul was drinking his favorite Kentucky treat (well, his second-favorite to bourbon), Ale 8.  And thus, a star was born.

6 mint leaves
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 oz. lime juice
2 oz. dark rum
ginger ale, to taste (Michiganders: do NOT use Vernors - too sweet.  If you haven't snagged a can of Ale 8 from our horde or laid aside your own stash from Kentucky, Canada Dry is acceptable.)

Chiffonade the mint leaves, then muddle in the bottom of a lowball glass with the brown sugar (I've found that the handle of our honing steel works nicely for this, but the handle of a wooden spoon would also do, if you don't have a proper muddler).

Add ice, lime juice, dark rum, and top off the glass with ginger ale.  If you prefer a more dilute drink, use a larger glass and more ginger ale.

Mojito Chicken

This is one of the recipes we've adapted from Food Network's Guy Fieri.  He's crazy, and sometimes so are his lists of ingredients.  This one, however, is pretty reasonable, even with a three-stage flavor process.  We recommend serving this with rice, and a Murky Mojito.

The Rub
2-3 chicken breasts (with bone & skin; trust us)
2 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbs dried oregano
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 Tbs freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika

The Marinade
1 cup orange juice
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs sliced garlic
1/4 cup dark rum

The Glaze
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves

Combine all the dry spices and rub chicken with spice mixture, especially under the skin. Put into a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the marinade, then add chicken to marinade and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

In medium sauce pot, place rum, chicken broth and brown sugar. Reduce by 1/3 over high heat. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch. When rum mixture is reduced, add cornstarch mixture slowly to simmering liquid and whisk until 50 percent thicker. Keep in mind that you might not need all of it. When glaze is at desired thickness, add mint leaves and transfer to small bowl.

Get your grill piping hot.  Remove chicken from marinade and shake off excess.  Place skin-side down on grill, turning periodically until cooked almost all the way, about 160 degrees.  Brush chicken with the glaze and continue grilling until chicken reaches 165 degrees.

Serve immediately with more glaze on the side.

Grilled Mustard Chicken with Green Bean Coleslaw

Paul and I are always on the lookout for quick dinners. It's becoming a bit of a problem to eat a variety of foods, make delicious, non-prepackaged meals, and still make it to our evening activities. When I saw this recipe in (big surprise) Bon Appetit, it definitely qualified. However, because it involves the grill, there's obviously some get-the-coals-hot time that needs to be built in.

Paul also already makes his own balsamic dressing, so we just used that instead of making more/buying white balsamic vinegar. It probably didn't look as pretty, but still tasted good. Additionally, the coleslaw would be much better with fresh green beans, so that is changed as well.

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 teaspoons mustard seeds, divided
9 oz fresh green beans, sliced thin
2 cups very thinly sliced green cabbage
1 small sweet onion (such as Maui or Walla Walla), very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, divided
1 large egg white
4 boneless chicken breast halves with skin

Coat grill rack heavily with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat).

Toast 1 teaspoon mustard seeds in skillet over high heat until beginning to pop, 3 to 4 minutes.  Set aside. In a large bowl, add green beans, cabbage, onion, and tarragon. Place toasted mustard seeds on top.  Whisk oil, vinegar, and 2 teaspoons Dijon in bowl. Mix into slaw; season with salt and pepper.

Whisk egg white and 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon mustard in small bowl. Sprinkle skin side of chicken with salt and pepper. Brush thickly with mustard glaze; sprinkle with some of remaining mustard seeds.

Place chicken, skin side down, on grill. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; brush with glaze and sprinkle with remaining mustard seeds. Grill 5 minutes. Turn chicken. Grill until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Top with slaw and serve.

Caramelized onion, sausage and basil pizza

Again, I can't take full (or any) credit for this recipe since it is actually one of Giada de Laurentiis' recipes, but it was delicious and easy and worth sharing :) We used way more cheese than the recipe calls for, but we're also big fans of blue cheese. If there's a Whole Foods near you, they make excellent, ready-made pizza dough if you don't feel like going to the work of making homemade pizza dough, although they sell it in 22 oz packages, so either split it and save the rest for later in the week or make two pizzas if you have lots of mouths to feed!

Ingredients

Cornmeal, for dusting
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling (I didn't think this was necessary as the sausage had enough residual fat).
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 onions (about 1 1/2 pounds), thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound spicy turkey or pork sausage, casings removed, crumbled
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 (13 to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola or blue cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Sprinkle a heavy baking sheet with cornmeal and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the sausage. Using a wooden spoon, break up the sausage and cook, stirring constantly, until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 13-inch diameter circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the onion mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted, about 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped basil. Cut the pizza into wedges and serve.