Dinner Tonight - Shredded Chicken w/Tomato Sauce & Spaghetti

We are going away for the weekend, so I didn't want to go to the grocery store and have a ton of leftovers.  I scrounged in the kitchen and came up with this dinner.  I had frozen chicken thighs & frozen pieces of Pancetta. I almost always have frozen chicken in the freezer.  I buy whole chickens and cut them up and freeze them and since I like thighs so much I will buy extra packages of bone-in,skin-on thighs and freeze those.  Buying whole chickens saves money and I can make stock with the bones:o)

 Chicken Simmering...

I adapted a recipe that my hubby's family makes.  His grandmother came up with a dish called Chicken Polenta. In that recipe a whole cut up chicken is used and the twist is that Pickling Spice is used instead of Italian Seasonings then it's served over Polenta.  His grandparents are from Northern Italy and Polenta is a big deal up there!  Both his grandmother and grandfather came from two small villages near Lago di Garda (Lake Garda), it's east of Lake Como.  My husband actually proposed to me on the banks of Lago di Garda, isn't he romantic :o)  He even got down on one knee!

I prefer the Italian seasoning instead of the Pickling Spices, but I do make both depending on my mood.  Tonight I just used thighs and used Italian Seasoning.  I like using thighs because they stay moist no matter how long you cook it.  I also prefer the bone-in, skin-on for added flavor.  I sauteed the Pancetta in Grape Seed Oil until crisp.  I like Grape Seed Oil because it has a moderately high smoke point and has a very clean flavor.  I then took out the Pancetta and browned the thighs and set that aside when done.   Next,  I drained some of the oil (the oil was infused now with the pancetta and chicken...yum!) and sauteed onions & garlic with seasonings then deglazed the pan with white wine and added whole canned tomatoes that I had squished and added the chicken back then cooked for about 35 mins covered. If I had had mushrooms, I would have added those!

Shredded Chicken added...

After the chicken was cooked through, I took the meat off the bone and shredded it.  I know most people don't like cooked chicken skin, but I love it!  I just cut it into small pieces and mix it up with the rest of the chicken. While I was shredding the chicken  I cooked the sauce down a bit then added the chicken back to it.  

The finished product :o)

It's finished off with Parmesan Cheese and fresh Basil.  And I'm a little weird, I like to eat it with jalapeno peppers ;o)

Oct 2009 - Mushroom & Shrimp Risotto, Arancini, Spaghetti w/Shredded Beef & Tomato Sauce, Soup & Chopped Salad

Mushroom & Shrimp Risotto

I used stock I made with Roasted Shrimp Heads.  The shrimp is just simply sauteed. The mushrooms are Bunapi (White Beech Mushrooms).

I topped it with Parmigiano Reggiano shaved with a rasp, I know some people don't think Parmesan goes with seafood...oh well;o)

Bunapi Mushrooms

This is one of my favorite mushrooms.  They have a very mild taste that you can use in most anything.  It's a specialty breed that Hokuto Company came up with, it's a type of Shimeji mushroom.  You can find it at many Asian markets like Marukai.  The reason I bought it the first time was because I thought they were so pretty and white...lol

Arancini

I love Arancini  (Italian Fried Rice Balls)!  It's the perfect use for leftover Risotto...if you have any left over;o)  It's made just like Tonkatsu with the panko breading.  I stuffed the middle with Mozzarella.  

I love using leftovers to make a second or third meal out of it.  It's kind of a game for me.  It's much more fun than just serving the exact thing over again :o)

 Spaghetti w/Shredded Beef & Tomato Sauce

A friend of mine told me he makes something very similar to this and I had to try it since it sounded so good!  It seems that I can never follow a recipe exactly how it is written.  I usually look at at least 3 and then mix and match and then put in my own touch;o) 

 I used the same ingredients as Osso Buco, but used a Beef Rump Roast and braised it for a couple of hours. I topped it with Gemolata (parsley, garlice & lemon zest) just like Osso Buco...it added great flavor!

For the garlic bread, I mix softened unsalted butter (Plugra is the easiest to find), chopped garlic, parsley, Parm cheese, S & P.  I slather the butter mixture on the bread then top it off with a little more Parm then stick it in the toaster oven.  I don't have a microwave, so my toaster oven is my best friend...lol

Like a Minestrone Soup...

I made this soup with the leftover Shredded Beef using up the beef & tomato sauce.  I also added:  diced tomatoes, spinach, flageolet & pinto beans, celery, onion, garlic, zucchini, corn, it's basically my 'Frig Soup ;o) I topped it with the left over gremolata & Parm Cheese.

Italian Chopped Salad

I served this with the soup, it wasn't as good as some restaurant versions, but it was pretty good!  I think I'd rather just eat it at a restaurant, it takes a lot of time to chop everything up...lol  Ingredients were:  Red Leaf Lettuce, Tomato, Salami, Provolone, Celery, Parmesan, Treviso (a racicchio that's shaped like a Belgian Endive), Red Onion, Hearts of Palm (my fav!), & Garbanzo Beans...I think that's it..   Again, not very traditional;o)  I made a simple Vinaigrette Dressing to go with it.

Oct 2009 - Roast Chicken, Stroganoff, & Green Chile Burger

Simple Roast Chicken

Hubby helps sometimes with my food photos and this is one of the first ones we did, so it's not perfect!  I'm too lazy to truss the legs of the chicken, I figure it doesn't make that much of a difference in cooking and taste :o)  I like to roast chicken and then save the bones to make stock later, it gives it such a nice rich taste!

The veggies were:  Zucchini, Celery, Carrots & Mushrooms.  I'd never used mushrooms before, but they turned out pretty well!  I love that you can roast just about any type of veggie that you like.

 Beef Stroganoff

I don't remember the cut of beef I used for this Stroganoff.   I usually use Chuck for all my braised dishes, but  it could be one of the Omaha Steaks that my hubby gets for Xmas every year from one of his vendors :o)  So, it could be Sirloin.  Sorry that I'm not too helpful :o(

I love everything on rice...

He loves everything on noodles...

I served this with Corn Off The Cob and Zucchini.  When I was looking at Straganoff recipes, I found that some people put Tomato Paste or Brown Sugar in it.  It didn't sound that good to me, has anybody ever tried it that way?  I basically just use onion, garlic, butter,  flour, home made beef stock, beef, mushrooms and sour cream.  I add peas to it sometimes too.

Posting food on Facebook really helped me get out of my food rut at the time.  It made me be a little bit more creative and therefore, didn't make the same dish for about 2 months!    That's pretty good since I cook at least 5 times a week!

Green Chile Cheese Burgers

I like to grind my own meat for certain dishes.  I love my meat grinder that Hubby got for me one Xmas!!  For the burgers, I ground Chuck with a little bit of Pork Shoulder then saved the pork scraps to make stock later....I can be frugal;o)

The Green Chiles were Pasilla, Anaheim & Jalapenos which I roasted, peeled, chopped then sauteed with onions, garlic & seasonings.

I couldn't quite duplicate the delicious Green Chile Burgers that we had in Santa Fe, but these were pretty good.  Actually, the leftovers tasted great!  Sometimes eating a meal after all the time cooking doesn't taste as good as it should ;o)

I should have made it a little bit more rare...

The fries were just ok.  I can't make the perfect crispy fries yet.  I double fry them too.  Sometimes they turn out well if I freeze it after the first fry...