Look out Giada!

I bought some chicken thighs on sale the other day at Safeway and have been trying to figure out what to do with them. So I found a recipe from Giada's Everyday Italian called Chicken Vesuvio. (Say it like Giada now!) It's basically a really good chicken and potatoes recipe in BUTTER sauce! YUM! It was SO good!

Ingredients: (4 servings)

3 Tbsp olive oil
4 chicken thighs with skin and bones
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ lbs small red-skinned potatoes, halved
4 large garlic cloves, minced
¾ c dry white wine
¾ c chicken broth
1½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 c frozen peas, thawed
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Preparations:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Heat the oil in large ovenproof pot over high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Working in 2 batches if necessary, cook the chicken in the pot until golden brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl.
3. Carefully add the potatoes to the same pot and cook until they are golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the broth, oregano, and thyme.
4. Return the chicken to the pot. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover and bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
5. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Arrange the potatoes around chicken.
6. Add the peas to the sauce in the pot. Cover and simmer over high heat until the peas are cooked through, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Turn heat to low. Stir in the butter. Pour the sauce over chicken and potatoes, and serve.

Bobby Flay's Corn Muffins

After going to Mesa Grill in Vegas, I couldn't stop thinking about the yummy corn muffins! So I went online and found Bobby Flay's recipe! The muffins turned out SO good with that spicy Jalapeno kick! The only difference was that I had to use regular yellow cornmeal instead of blue cornmeal because they didn't have any at our little Safeway. We've still got 2 sitting in the fridge...but not for long! :)

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

2 oz (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3 Tbsp finely diced onion
1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ c milk
2 large eggs
¼ c finely diced red bell pepper
1 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
¼ c fresh or frozen corn, thawed
1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro leaves
¾ c cornmeal
½ c all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar

Preparations:

1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Grease a 6 slot muffin pan with non-stick vegetable spray.
2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, bell pepper, jalapeno, corn and cilantro. Whisk in the butter mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar. Mix into the liquid mixture.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the muffins slots and bake for 16 minutes or until set, turning the pan once for even baking.

What to do with all that crab?

Last week, Greg came home with a package of imitation crab. I have no idea why but I knew they wouldn't last much longer in the fridge. I've never really had imitation crab besides in salads but I was determined to make SOMETHING. So here's the end result...a cheesy pasta dish that was SO good!

Crab Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

• 2 c pasta
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 c milk
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 2 c shredded Cheddar cheese
• 4 oz imitation crabmeat
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Dash Worcestershire

Preparations:

1. Cook pasta and drain.
2. Heat soup, add milk, butter and 3/4 of the cheese to make sauce. Pour over pasta.
3. Add crab, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Mix gently.
4. Pour into greased casserole. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
5. Bake at 35 degrees for 30 min.
   

Chilean Sea Bass (Restaurant Quality!)

I gotta say, I REALLY out-did myself this time! This is Chilean Sea Bass in Hollandaise Sauce...made from SCRATCH!

Ingredients:

1/3 c regular (not low-fat or nonfat) mayonnaise
3 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp garlic salt
3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, diced

Additional unsalted butter
1 10-ounce sea bass fillets

Preparations:

1. Combine mayonnaise, egg yolks, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, mustard and cayenne pepper in processor. Blend yolk mixture 5 seconds. Bring butter to boil in nonreactive heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Transfer melted butter to 1-cup glass measuring cup. With machine running, carefully pour butter very gradually down feed tube and process until sauce is well-blended.

DO-AHEAD TIP: Sauce can be prepared 2 days ahead. Press plastic directly onto surface of sauce and refrigerate. (Also great with Eggs Benedict the next morning!)

2. Melt additional butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Add fish to skillet and sauté until brown and just opaque in center, about 5 minutes per side.

3. Transfer fish to plates. Rewarm sauce over low heat, whisking gently; remove from heat. Spoon sauce over fish. Serve with veggies.

Valentine's M&M Cookies

Thursday cookies again since it's Valentine's Day! I LOVE V-day colors! (pink pink and pink!) These are super easy and I cheated again with the Pillsbury Confetti Cake Mix. :)

Ingredients: (36 cookies)

• 1 pkg Pillsbury® Funfetti® Cake
• 1/3 c vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• Valentine's Day M&M's

Preparations:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press M&M's into cookies.
2. Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

Valentine's Day a Week Early

Since we're going to Vegas tomorrow, I decided to do my baking on Wednesday night instead. I LOVE Valentine's Day and figured I'd bake "love-themed" cookies 2 weeks in a row. :)

Ingredients (24 cookies):

• 1 pkg Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough
• 24 Milk Chocolate Heart-Shaped candies

Preparations:

1. Bake cookies according to package directions.
2. Press candies into center of cookie while it's still warm.

SuperBowl!

Finally a real party at our place and people showed up! And what would a football party be without chips and dips and LOTS of wing? First off is my Ultimate 7-Layer Dip.

Ingredients:

1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 c sour cream
1 c chunky salsa
1 c prepared guacamole
¼ c sliced pitted ripe olives
2 c (8 oz) shredded Mexican cheese

Preparations:

1. Spread refried beans in shallow serving dish; spread with layers of sour cream, salsa and guacamole.
2. Sprinkle with olives and cheese. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Then it was Blue Cheese and Ranch Dips with veggies and of course, CHIPS!

Blue Cheese Dip

1 ½ c crumbled blue cheese
1 c mayonnaise
¾ c sour cream
2 Tbsp milk
¾ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp black pepper

Place everything in a food processor and process until almost smooth.

Ranch Dip

Same as Blue Cheese Dip but without the blue cheese and add Ranch Packet!