Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Another successful week at the Food Network Chef's Cooking Challenge. The chef for this week was Giada and I chose to make her Shimp Fra Diavolo. And a good choice indeed. The only thing I really did different was to add mushrooms to the mix and serve it over pasta, because those seemed like the logical things to do. If anyone is surprised at my decision to add mushrooms to a mushroomless dish, you clearly don't know me very well. I have an ongoing love affair with mushrooms. Oh, I also tossed in a few capers for good measure.

This may be my favourite Food Network Chef recipe yet! But, I guess I say that about every other week.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo - slightly modified from Giada De Laurentiis
1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional as needed
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons
8 oz fresh white mushrooms, quartered
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon capers
Linguine

Toss the shrimp in a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon of salt and red pepper flakes. (I bypassed the salt - knowing I was going to add capers, I didn't think I needed any extra salt).

Heat the 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp.

Saute for about a minute, toss, and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Transfer the shrimp to a large plate; set aside.

Add the onion and mushrooms to the same skillet, adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the pan, if necessary, and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes with their juices, wine, garlic, oregano, parsley and basil.

Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.

Return the shrimp, capers and any accumulated juices to the tomato mixture; toss to coat, and cook for about a minute so the flavors meld together.

Sprinkle with some grated cheese and serve over linguine with a side salad and cheesy garlic toast.

Makes 3-4 servings.

You and Me Chicken Pot Pie

This was probably my most successful week yet in the Food Network Chef's Cooking Challenge endeavor. The chef for the week is Ellie Krieger and she has a ton (I mean, a ton) of great looking recipes. It was difficult to choose just one, but I was looking for something that I could make the very next day without having to make a trip to the grocery store and so this recipe fit the bill. It is a deliciously wonderful comfort meal! It definitely being added to our list of favourites! Now, I just need a way to use up the remaining phyllo - I am taking suggestions!

I made a few minor changes - I used pre-cooked, chopped turkey from a turkey I had bought and cooked a few months ago instead of using uncooked chicken breasts and cooking them before the veggies. I used a regular onion instead of leaks. I added carrots. I swapped corn for peas. And I used shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese instead of parm, because I needed to use it up. Other than that, I did exactly as she instructed. Hm, after re-reading that, I realize it sounds like I totally changed the recipe. But I really didn't, I promise.

You and Me Chicken Pot Pie - adapted from Ellie Krieger
2 cups cooked and chopped chicken or turkey
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup frozen green beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn (I actually used more like 1 1/2-2 cups, I was at the end of the bag and didn't think there was enough to be worth leaving)
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 sheets frozen phyllo pastry, thawed
Grated mozzarella and/or cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 4 individual-sized baking dishes with cooking spray (I used french onion soup bowls and actually ended up needing 5 and could have possibly even stretched it to make 6 dishes).

Heat 2 1 T of the oil in a large skillet or electric frying pan. Add onions, celery and carrots to the pan and cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, green beans, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for 5 more minutes.

Add the milk to the pan.

Stir the flour into the chicken broth until dissolved and add to the pan.

Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Stir in the chicken, corn, parsley, and thyme.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dishes.

Put the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil into a small bowl. Unroll the phyllo dough and cut it into quarters.

Place a quarter sheet on top of each baking dish and brush with olive oil. Repeat with remaining 3 baking dishes.

Tuck the edges of the phyllo into the dish rim.

Top each pie with cheese.

Place on a baking sheet and bake until the filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Makes 4-5 servings.

Chicken in Garlic Sauce

This week at the Food Network Chef's Cooking Challenge we were commissioned to cook one of Daisy Martinez's recipes. I chose to make Chicken in Garlic Sauce.

I made two mistakes with this recipe (well, more than two really, but we'll get to that)

1. The first mistake I made with this recipe was choosing to make it.

2. The second mistake I made was looking at this recipe about 10 minutes before I started making dinner which made me wish I was making it instead. Which I should have, and could have, since I had all the ingredients. But I had to fulfill the challenge, so on with the Chicken in Garlic Sauce I went.

As you can tell, this week did not go well for me. But in keeping with the challenge, I will post the recipe and give you my thoughts anyway. But I will not add this one to the family favourites box. Sorry, Daisy, maybe next time.

Chicken in Garlic Sauce - from Daisey Martinez
3-4 chicken legs
Salt
Pepper
1/8 cup EVOO
10 cloves garlic (oops - I had already minced them when I realized they were supposed to be sliced)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2/3 cup dry sherry
2/3 cup chicken broth, homemade or canned

Wash the chicken thighs and pat them dry with paper towels. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add as many of the chicken thighs, skin side down, as will fit without touching.

Cook until the skin is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 5 minutes more.

Remove the pan from the heat and spoon off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat, leaving all the lovely brown bits behind. Return the pan to low heat, stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until the garlic starts to turn golden, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Pour in the sherry, increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil.

Let it boil a minute or 2, then return the chicken to the pan skin side up. Reduce the heat to low, pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer.

Cover the pan tightly and cook 20 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces (or rotate them top to bottom if using a smaller pan) and cook until the chicken is very tender, about 20 minutes. Serve hot. Unfortunately, after about 12 minutes on the first side, I had something that looked a little like this on my hands.

I tried reducing the heat and cooking it over a really low heat, but it just kept burning. Eventually I gave up and took the chicken out of the pan. I put it in the microwave for a few minutes to ensure that it was fully cooked. I had planned on cooking up some fettuccine to serve with the remaining garlic sauce, but since it turned to be garlic burn, I didn't bother with the pasta.

When all was said and done, and I picked the burnt pieces off, the chicken tasted okay. It wasn't dried out and the flavour was pretty nice but I felt I could have gotten just as good, or better (less burnt) results by roasting it in the oven, which would have avoided the use of the oil and would have been less time consuming for me, since I had to be constantly by the pan, flipping and checking the chicken.

I won't be making this one again - but I guess you can't win them all. I thought it was one of the worst experiences I had had, but then I was reminded of the time THIS happened and remembered that it could have been worse.

Hopefully the rest of you had better luck than I this week!

Pork Souvlaki

This weeks' Food Network Chef's Cooking Challenge chef was Cat Cora. I liked the look of a lot of her recipes but in the end chose to stick with pork souvlaki. I cut the recipe in half because I didn't want a ton of leftovers so I've posted the recipe according to what I did.

Pork Souvlaki - from Cat Cora
4 skewers (wooden or metal)
2 large boneless pork chops cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 T red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 .5 T EVOO
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Chewy pitas
Toppings: shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, red onions, feta cheese, tzaztiki sauce

1. In a bowl stir together lemon juice, red wine vinegar, oregano, thyme, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over pork. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. I let it marinate for 24 hours.

2. If using wooden skewers, let them soak in water for at least 1 hour. Place meat on skewers.

3. Lay on a hot grill and grill slowly continuing to brush on marinade, until meat is done.

4. Serve immediately in a pita, topped with toppings of your choice.

Makes 3-4 servings.

We look Greek food so we really enjoyed this served with a side of roasted potatoes and a coleslaw. I know the coleslaw doesn't really go, but I had some cabbage to get used up. The only thing we noticed was that the red wine vinegar overpowered some of the other flavours. Either I forgot to cut that amount in half or else it was just too strong. I would recommend using less.

And now that I have fresh dill and plain yogurt in the fridge leftover from making taztiki sauce, I am going to make my favourite bread - yogurt and dill bread *seriously - if you are ever looking for a way to use up fresh dill, this is the way.

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

This week's chef for the Food Network Chef's Cooking Challenge is Bobby Flay. After searching through his recipes, I settled on making Chicken and Dumpling Soup. That way I made my food network recipe and my soup. Two birds with one stone. Now, I have never actually had dumplings before, so this was one of those "I'm not too sure how this is supposed to turn out" recipes. But, as far as we can tell, it was successful. The flavours in the soup were delicious and the dumplings were moist and flavourful. The addition of nutmeg into the dumpling dough gave them a hint of spice that was perfect for a chilly fall evening. We will definitely be making this again. I changed things up a bit - just by increasing the amounts of vegetables and using pot barley rather than pearl.

Chicken and Dumpling Soup - from Bobby Flay
For soup:
2 to 3 tablespoons cooking oil (I used EVOO and much less)
1 large onion, diced
3carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
4 to 6 cups chicken broth (I needed 8-9)
1.5 cups yellow beans
1 cup pot barley
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper

For dumplings:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup unbleached white flour
3 eggs

In a small amount of EVOO sweat the onion, carrots and celery. I had to look up what it meant so "sweat" - apparently it means cook them over low heat with the lid on. I cooked them for about 10 minutes until the carrots started to soften.

Add chicken, broth, green beans, barley, celery salt, parsley and bay leaves. Simmer until the barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Since I used pot barley rather than pearl barley, I let it simmer for closer to an hour. Pot barley takes longer to cook.

When soup is nearly done, begin the dumplings. Bring the milk and butter to a boil.

Add salt and nutmeg.

Remove from heat and immediately add flour stirring until dough leaves the sides of the pan.

Incorporate the eggs, 1 at a time, forming a sticky dough.

Season the soup, to taste, with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaves.

Add spoon sized balls of dumpling dough.

Simmer until dumplings rise. Since I had never eaten dumplings before, let alone made them, I read some other dumpling recipes because I felt that this one was quite vague with the instructions. Based on other recipes, I put the dumpling dough in, covered the pot and let them simmer on medium heat for 10-12 minutes. At this point the dumplings had risen and a toothpick came out clean when inserted in the centre. I wasn't sure if they were supposed to remain so moist on the outside or brown up. I think I did it right, though. They tasted good and did not tasty doughy. The FD said they were delicious. He was mighty impressed after his negative experience with soup last week.

Makes 6-8 servings.