Chicken in Light Peppercorn Sauce Recipes

I made this dish for our dinner last week. Tender pan fried chicken breast cooked in brined peppercorn sauce. This sauce is much lighter than the usual peppercorns sauce served at the restaurant. I used some white wine for the sauce but you can always replace it with chicken stock. Because preserved green peppercorns quickly lose their flavor in cooking, add them at the end. This sauce is also delicious with fish, steak or duck.

Ingredients

2 pieces chicken breast – slice and pound thinly
2 tablespoons butter + 1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp of flour
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
Half cup of small diced red peppers
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 chicken stock
2 teaspoon green peppercorns in brine - rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high. Season the chicken with some salt and pepper. Lightly coat the chicken with flour and set it aside.
2. Melt 2 tbsp of butter and a tbsp of olive oil, then add in the chicken and sear until golden on both side. Remove from pan and set it aside.
3. In the same pan, add another tbsp of olive oil, add in garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add in red peppers and white wine, stir to scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add in stock, bring up to a boil and cook until the sauce reduced by half.
4. Put the chicken back into the pan, add in the green peppercorns, salt and pepper to taste. Once the chicken is well coated with the sauce and sauce thicken turn off the heat. Dish out and serve.

Note: If you like thicker and heavier sauce you can always add some fresh cream to the sauce.

A simple radish appetizer - Dairy Foods

I purchased some radishes at the St. Paul Farmer's Market on Saturday and wasn't quite sure what to do with them. Erik loves radishes and will be eat them raw/plain but I wanted to do something a bit more interesting. This simple recipe is inspired by a post I recently saw on The Kitchn (an awesome food blog I visit regularly) but I didn't have all the ingredients (who the hell has Boursin cheese on hand?) so I substituted what I had.

Radish and Cream Cheese Bites

Any kind of bread
5-6 radishes, cut up into thin slices
Cream cheese
Dill (fresh or dried)

Cut bread into 2inch by 2inch squares ( I actually used these really good multi-grain rolls I bought at the Mpls Farmer's Market on Thursday but any bread will do). Arrange bread slices on a plattter. Spread cream cheese on each piece of bread, top with 2-3 slices of radishes and sprinkle lightly with dill.

As simple as these sound, they were a huge hit. The radish and cream cheese taste great together and radishes have such a great refreshing flavor and awesome crunch. Best part is they are in season right now in MN. These would also be really great made into little tea sandwiches.

Date night with my honey at Cafe Ena - Dairy Foods

Erik and I had our first date night in a long time last Friday evening. We have a lot of great dinners at home, but there is something really special about going out. We used to do it all the time, probably too much, when we first started dating about four and a half years ago, but we'd go to places like Old Chicago and Champps, casual dinners where we'd drink beer and always order nachos as an appetizer. Did I mention I gained about 10 pounds those first six months?

Fast forward a few years and we became a bit more sophisticated and began going out to eat less and when we did, it would generally be for special occasions. Some of favorite restaurants over the years are Lucias in Uptown (both of us), Cafe Lurcat (me), Manny's (Erik), El Meson (both) and Cafe Ena (both). We've actually only been to Cafe Ena twice but it holds very special meaning because it is the restaurant we ate at the night we got engaged in September 07. We had a great meal on the patio and afterwards took a walk and Erik proposed on a sidewalk on a street in South Minneapolis. It was proposal perfection.

Our date on Friday began with drinks at Figlio in Uptown and then we had an amazing meal at Cafe Ena. Cafe Ena is an adorable, small restaurant on 46th and Grand in Minneapolis. It serves latin fusion food that is delicious and bursts with flavor. I started with split pea soup with proscuitto (this might sound weird, but I LOVE split pea soup, it has a bad reputation, but in reality is velvety and delicious) and then I had proscuitto wrapped grouper. Erik had a caesar salad and jambalaya. We shared a bottle of Riesling. I'm actually not a huge fan of sweet white wine, but anytime Erik is willing to have wine with me I let him choose and he can only handle sweet whites. I have hope he will come around.

Me, a bottle of wine deep...

Homemade Cheese Crackers Recipes

I love cheese crackers especially Cheez-It I can eat it just like that or even put it in my soup. Why bake my own cheese crackers when I can just buy a box of it? Well, I simply like the idea that I am able to bake something I like to eat and also it’s much healthier without all the preservatives. These homemade cheese crackers are the most tender, rich, buttery, cheesy crackers you have ever eaten. It involves very little fuss. Just put everything in the food processor, roll out the dough, cut it and then bake it.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (113 grm) – at room temperature
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups Flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper (less if you prefer less spicy)
1 tsp of paprika
2 tbsp of cold water (more or less)

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degree F. Line a baking sheet with some parchment paper.
2. Put all the above ingredients except water in a food processor. Pulse until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Slowly add in one tbsp of cold water or a bit more until the mixture comes together into a ball.
3. Take out the dough and lightly floured work surface, give the dough a few knead and let it rest for half an hour.
4. Roll the dough out thinly about 1/8" thick. Cut out into desired shapes
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the crackers start to get just golden on the edges
Remove the baking pan from the oven, and transfer the browned crackers to a cooling rack.

Weddings and budgets - Dairy Foods

I received an anonymous comment the other day on my wedding post below and wanted to address it. Someone inquired about the budget of my wedding. I am very open to sharing my budget, if you are interested, please email me at eatdrinkpretty@gmail.com and I'll send you my (very detailed and nerdy) excel spread sheet broken out by element (reception, flowers, attire, etc).

It's easy to get lost in a beautiful wedding magazine or image on theknot.com and dream about having a great wedding, but in reality, how much do you really have to spend? Weddings are not cheap and the more people in attendance the higher the cost. I had a fairly large wedding (210 people) but Erik and I were in our late 20's when we got married and decided on a budget we were comfortable with and could afford (kind of).

I like elements of weddings that are DIY and contain a personal touch. The most important thing is to prioritize which elements are the most important to you and your fiance and spend the budget accordingly. I didn't want to be limited in the decor area or food/booze. I wanted amazing centerpieces with crystals and tons of candles and it was important to us to serve a decent amount of hosted liquor (which ran out faster than we could have imagined), butler passed horsd d'oeurves and steak for dinner. Because we splurged a bit in those areas, I DIY'd all the paper products (invites, rehearsal dinner invites, menu cards, place cards and table numbers).

What is missing in the market is a website or magazine that is completely transparent on wedding budgets. All brides love looking at real weddings, but what if you are drooling over a wedding that is $150,000? Photos from a $20,000 photographer sure look pretty, but how attainable is that for most brides?

Anyway, email me and I'll send you my budget spreadsheet. No matter what your thoughts are on how much I spent on my wedding, I honestly believe that a beautiful wedding can be achieved on any budget.

My splurge: pretty flowers/decor. Photo credits to Sewell Photography.

Tsukune/Chicken Patties Recipes

This tasty chicken patties, also know as Tsukune in Japanese. Come in round, oval-shaped or shape into meat patties. You might find some grill and serve in skewer and some serve in a thick layer of caramelized teriyaki sauce. Made from mixing ground chicken meat witha few other ingredients. Tsukune can be fried, simmered, or grilled. Tsukune is tender and juicy, bursting with flavor with every bite.

Ingredient:

1 pound ground chicken
1 small carrot – grated finely
1 egg yolk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 ½ tsp of soy sauce
1 tsp fresh ginger juice
2 tbsp cornstarch


Sauce:

½ cup of teriyaki sauce
¼ of water
1 tsp of cornstarch

1. Put ground chicken in a bowl. Add egg yolk, salt, soy sauce, fresh ginger juice and cornstarch in the meat. Mix well.
2. Shape into meat patties. In a non-stick pan heat up some vegetable oil. Pan fried the meat patties on low medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side.
3. Remove fried tsukune from the pan and drain oil on paper towels. Remove the remaining oil from the frying pan.
4. Put in all the sauce ingredients in the pan. Bring it up to boil and once its boil put in the tsukune. Simmer until the sauce thickens and almost dry. Remove and serve with warm rice.

Wedding love - Dairy Foods

If you've been reading my blog then you know I am really into weddings. I enjoyed every single second of being engaged, being a bride and planning my wedding. It was a creative, fun process and though some couples find it difficult to agree, Erik and I got along like a dream during planning, mostly because when I would ask, "Honey, what do you think of this cake/centerpiece/dj/tux/etc?" He would nod his head and say "yes dear, looks good".

So you can imagine my excitement when the editor of Mpls St. Paul Magazines - Weddings edition contacted me and wanted to feature my wedding on their website. It's not exactly as cool as being in the magazine, but whatever. I know pretty much every bride uses the web for inspiration and I hope my wedding can serve as inspiration to other brides out there. And of course I am quoted talking about the food/booze we served! Click here to see the whole piece.

Pineapple Shortcake Recipes

The heat is already looming around here in PA so it really does feel like summer. I wanted to bake something tropical and also to get rid of a can of crushed pineapple from my pantry so I bake this great cake to start the summer. A layer of moist cake on the bottom and topped with a layer a gooey buttery pineapple and crunchy caramelized walnuts.

Ingredients for the cake

1 stick butter – 113 grm/1/2 cup
2 tbsp of sour cream
1/3 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp of milk
1 tsp of essence vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients for the pineapple topping

3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 can (14 oz) crushed pineapple – drained well
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Pre-heat over to 350 degree F. Greased an 8” x 8” square baking pan and line it with parchment paper overhang on both side (for easy removing your slices later).
2. For the cake beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add in the egg, one at a time beating thoroughly after each addition. Add in the sour cream and vanilla. Mix well
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour into the butter mixture and the milk. Mix well.
4. Spread the mixture evenly into the baking pan and bake the cake for 30 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool the cake for 15 minutes.
5. Pre-heat the grill/broiler to high. To make the pineapple topping, cream butter and brown sugar until just combined.
6. Stir in the well drained pineapple and walnuts. Mix well. Spread the topping over the cake base.
7. Grill the cake for 5-7 minutes or until the topping bubbles and caramelized. Cool the cake before cutting.

Note: Drain the pineapple really well if not it will make the cake base soggy. Prepared the topping only when the cake is done if not the pineapple topping might discharge more liquid.

Company Crush - Dairy Foods

Is it possible to have an actual crush on a company? Well, if it is, I have one on Cocoa and Fig. This is probably the third time I've posted about them, but the place is freaking awesome. I walked around the Farmers Market today in Minneapolis and stopped by their stand on 7th and Nicollet to check it out for the second time. Today they had gorgeous cupcakes so I purchased a vanilla bean cupcake and a black velvet cupcake (their version of red velvet, more made with more chocolate).

I got back to the office and cut the cupcakes into fourths (again, that damn Weight Watchers) and shared with a coworkers. I'm not lying when I say there were five of us in my office with our eyes half closed enjoying the hell out of these cupcakes. They were awesome. And only 2 for $4.

Photo credit: Cocoa and Fig

Sushi! - Dairy Foods

Besides being married to potatoes, sushi is one of my favorite foods (if you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about, click here to read this blog post and you'll get it). A couple girlfriends and I met in the 'burbs for sushi at Little Sushi on the Prairie, in Eden Prairie.

I ate a lot, not good for a gal on Weight Watchers (that's another post, another day...) but it was worth it and delicious. Started dinner off with a glass of pinot grigio, edamame and miso soup. Then moved onto a caterpillar roll and number nine roll. Check out their menu for descriptions.

My favorite sushi joint is Fuji Ya, there are two locations, one in Minneapolis and one downtown St. Paul. For those of us that are budget conscious, they have a really great happy hour.

Crappy photo credit: my blackberry

Cinnamon Twist Recipes

I am a fan of Pillsbury products especially their breadsticks. I used it for to make Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf, cheese sticks or garlic bread. For today I made Cinnamon twist out of it. These twists are great for breakfast or afternoon tea. All it takes it just 15 minutes to put it together and another 15-20 minutes to bake and you will have freshly bake twist with your morning coffee or afternoon tea.

Ingredients:

1 tube of Pillsbury breadsticks
3 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon on a plate. Mix well. Beat the egg in a small bowl.
3. Take out the breadsticks dough from the tube, unroll it and separate the dough. Take a strip of the dough, brush it with egg on both side of the dough and then roll it in the cinnamon sugar. Take both ends of the dough and twist it.
4. Place the twist on the baking sheet. Do the same to the rest of the bread dough.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: you could do any number of different flavors with the breadsticks like spreading it with nutella, fruit jam, sprinkle it with cheese - the possibilities are endless.

Blueberry Coffee Cake - Dairy Foods

Here is the fantastic Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe (from Cooking Light Cookbook), my friend Emily made this for brunch last week and it was delicious!

1/4 cup stick margarine, softened
1/2 (8 ounce) package nonfat cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen huckleberries or blueberries, unthawed
Vegetable cooking spray
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Beat margarine and cream cheese at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating well. Add egg, beat well.


Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into margarine mixture. Stir in vanilla; fold in berries. Pour batter into a 9-inch round cake pan coated with cooking spray. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon; springle over batter.


Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour; cool on a wire rack. Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Photo credit Cookinglight.com

Chicken Fajitas Recipes

I prepared this Mexican style lunch last week. These chicken strips and chunky vegetable is all cook in a hot pan. Once cooked, serve it with warm tortillas, spicy salsa, guacamole, grated cheese, and pickle green chilies.

Ingredients:

3 pieces chicken breast - cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 red pepper—cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 yellow pepper – cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of lime juice


For Serving :

Lime wedges
8 flour tortillas, warmed in the microwave
Shredded cheese
Salsa
Guacamole
Pickle green chilies

1. In a large mixing bowl combine the chili powder with the salt, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, cornstarch, water and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chicken, bell pepper and onion. Toss well and let it marinate for 15 minutes.
2. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet until shimmering. Put in the marinated ingredients and cook it over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are crisp-tender and the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice.
3. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a plate and serve with the warmed tortillas.

The guys deserve some credit - Dairy Foods

I've been meaning to post about dinner my husband and his friend Biffer (my good friend, Libby's boyfriend) made us weeks ago but never got around to it. Everytime I'd go to my blog Erik (my hubby) would glance over with hopeful eyes looking for pictures of the dinner they prepared. So here it is, honey, the wonderful dinner you and Biffer made Libby and I.

Some history, Libby and I make the guys dinner all the time, and when I say all the time, I literally mean almost every single night. So we came up with this fantastic idea that the guys should be in charge of dinner at least once a month. So March went by and nothing...then April started sneaking by and still no dinner from the guys. So I basically just told them, "hey guys, on Thursday of this week, you're making Libby and I dinner". And so they did. Finally.

To their credit (and they do deserve some), they made a great dinner. It was kind of random, but really good. They prepared:

Spinach salad with dried cranberries, almonds, mangos, starfruit with a poppyseed dressing
Steak, pepper and onion kabobs on the grill
Grilled asparagus
Roasted cheesy potatoes
Cabernet



Potatoes (any and all kinds ) are one of my absolute favorite foods inthe entire world. So Erik had that in mind when he made this. Yum. I had this weird phase where I went around asking people, "if you had to choose one food to marry, what would it be?" Duh, potatoes for me! Kristin chose cheese, Biffer chose french toast (or was it sauerkraut?) and Erik chose steak. I can't remember what Libby chose. I'm pretty sure Amy chose chocolate...and so on. It is actually quite a fun game and you will find some people are just not willing to commit.

I only got a picture prior to the kabobs going on the grill, even in it's raw form, the kabobs were very pretty, and colorful!

Thank you Erik and Biffer for this lovely meal. Hopefully you guys are planning something good for May!

Sunday Brunch - Dairy Foods

I had a fantastic brunch with Emily and Natasha on Sunday morning. We were budget-friendly, had the brunch at Emily's house and each contributed. I brought fruit, an egg bake and bloody mary's, Emily made a delicious blueberry coffee cake and French Press coffee and Natasha brought mimosas.

We took a tour of Emily's lovely garden, ate too much and as always, had a great time. Stay tuned for recipes for the egg bake and blueberry coffee cake.

This photo is funny, Natasha directed it and thought we should set it in the grass, among the dandy lions. It sure is pretty though.

Chicken Parmesan Recipes

Chicken parmesan is Italian comfort food for me. For years I’ve been making this dish. Not authentically Italian as we didn’t server with spaghetti but we will have it with salad or with bread. My version is much simpler and I serve the marinara sauce on the side. The key ingredients to this dish is the flavorful breading and the flavor of parmesan cheese is the magic ingredient that gives the dish its distinctive smell and taste. The ingredients are nothing complicated and you will find most of it in your kitchen or you can easily purchase it from a store. Do try out this dish and you will be pleasantly surprised with the delicious results.

Ingredients:

2 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup of Italian breadcrumbs
¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 egg (beaten)
1 cup of marinara sauce

1. Pound chicken breast until it’s about ½” thick throughout. Season it with salt and pepper and set it aside.
2. In a plate combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Crack an egg into a bowl and beat it slightly.
3. In a frying pan warm up a tablespoon of butter and some olive oil to pan fry the chicken. Dip the chicken breasts in egg and then in the breadcrumb mixture
4. Put your chicken breasts in a pan and pan fried in medium heat until browned on both sides. Drain the oil on paper towel.
5. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce.

Fabulous Tea - Dairy Foods

Check out this gorgeous sparkling tea (Golden Star Tea) I found in the lastest issue of Metropolitan Home. It would be a great non-alchoholic option for my pregger friends (Jill!) or for anyone who isn't a huge drinker. Garnish it with a raspberry or strawberry and you have a gorgeous faux cocktail (I hate the word mocktail, don't you?).


The tea is sold at Whole Foods but I'm not sure if it has distribution in MN yet, you can buy it online, check out their cool website, http://www.goldenstartea.com/.

The absolutely lovely Farmer's Market in Mpls - Dairy Foods

I am so lucky to work downtown Minneapolis. Every Thursday there is a wonderful Farmer's Market on Nicollet Mall with fresh flowers, fruit, veggies, pastries, herbs, etc. The veggies and fruits get more abundunt and deeper in color as the season goes by and the crowds are amazing. It is one of my favorite things to just walk up and down the street on my lunch break. I tend to buy way too much (what am I going to do with all this basil???) and spend too much time.


Today I purchased basil, arugula and a couple pastries from Cocoa and Fig (they are a new, fabulous catering and confectionery company. I learned from their Twitter feed this morning that they were going to be at the market today so I had to stop down and tell them how much I adore their blog and their beautiful wedding dessert displays. I purchased a savory ham, chive and cheddar scone and a lemon and cream cheese brioche. Did I mention I am on Weight Watchers this week? I will be pawning those pastries off on my hubby or possibly Kristin if I see her soon enough. But I did sneak a bite of the savory scone and it was delish. Their stand is located on 7th and Nicollet so be sure to check them out on Thursday at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market!!

Photo from Cocoa and Fig's blog of the brioche

Carrot Cake Cupcakes and Mom Food Recipes

My mom loves carrot cake so my sister and I decided to express our love and adoration for her through good ol'fashioned baking. The first batch was a bust, we should have taken them out of the oven a good 5-8 minutes before we did. They were a bit hard and kind of crunchy. Not fabulous at all.

Second batch was much better. Best part? They were adorable! We piped tiny orange carrots with green leaves on each cupcake. And they taste great, too. We used an Ina Garten/Barefoot Contessa recipe from Food Network (minus the raisins and walnuts).

Carrot Cake Cupcakes


2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 extra-large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
For the frosting:nocoupons
3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners' sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into 22 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for a further 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
For the frosting, cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.
When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously and serve.




We celebrated Mother's day at my parent's house and my mom ooohed and aaahed over the cupcakes and didn't believe us (or did a good job pretending) that they were homemade versus store bought. Love my momma!