One-Skillet Meals

I often make meals where the main portion and the sides are cooked together, not just out of laziness or because I'm tired, rather the meat flavors infuse into the side, in this case a brown rice mixture. The recipe for Chicken with Brown Rice from Everyday Food seems rather plain, but the taste is not. With the addition of roasted red peppers (from a can), the flavor is a bit different than just with sautéed vegetables. Also, you get the benefits of whole grain because of the brown rice, so this meal is good all-around. The only exception is that you probably would want to make a vegetable side.

It's easy to double the rice portion, and you can use less chicken pieces as well, and the prep for this recipe doesn't take long at all. Once you put it all together, you have an hour to do something else while it cooks.

Looking through all my on-hand ingredients, I didn't have any roasted red peppers so I julienned green bell peppers and added a little pear white balsamic vinegar to the skillet I browned the chicken in to save the fond. I was going to stir in a tablespoon or so of capers after cooking, though I forgot. Doing so would have added a great flavor, which means I'll have to make this again. Another substitution was using canned diced tomatoes in place of the fresh plum tomatoes, and I used the tomato water as part of the overall water that was called for in the recipe. (Using diced tomatoes with green chili tastes good.)

Recipe after the jump

Because I wanted an accompaniment, I made Whole Wheat Onion Focaccia from my The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook ~ The Original Classics cookbook. Featuring puréed caramelized onions in the dough as well as parsley pesto (my idea) and whole caramelized onions on top, these were flavored nicely (I'm going to say it was, although I only had half the amount of onions) and the dough was soft, with an added crunch of cornmeal on the bottom. This really isn't a traditional focaccia dough so much as a 'whole-wheat and white flour dough discs with onions puree and focaccia toppings', but for a fairly quick recipe that tastes different than bread rolls, this is a good recipe to make. There's no fat in the dough, so these won't last a very long time.

My only complaint is that I ended up using about 1 cup more of water than the recipe stated, though perhaps that was due to not having enough onion puree.

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Chicken with Brown Rice
From Everyday Food, November 2005

Serves 4

Notes from the recipe: To save some time later, cover the brown rice with water in the morning, and let it soak all day; this will reduce the cooking time by about twenty minutes.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 1 whole cut-up chicken (2½ to 2 pounds), skins removed, breasts halved crosswise (save wings for another use)


• Coarse salt and ground pepper


• 1 medium onion, chopped


• 4 garlic cloves, smashed


• 1 cup long-grain brown rice (Me: I used jasmine brown rice)


• 4 plum tomatoes, diced


• 1 jar (12 ounces) roasted red peppers, drained and sliced into ½-inch strips


• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen green peas, thawed (Me: I didn't thaw the peas and it still worked)


• Lemon wedges, for serving (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large straight-sided skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, turning, until golden on all sides, about 10 minutes; transfer to a plate.


2. Add onion, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to skillet (Me: I added 1/2 teaspoon of tarragon for a double recipe of rice). Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, 3 to 5 minutes.


3. Stir in rice, tomatoes, peppers, and 1¼ cup water; nestle chicken pieces in rice mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover, and simmer over medium-low heat until rice is tender, 55 to 60 minutes. If any liquid remains in skillet, remove lid and simmer until evaporated.


4. Sprinkle peas over contents of skillet; cover, and remove from heat. Set aside until peas are heated through, about 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Oatmeal with Caramelized Apples and Cashews

My brother was making oatmeal a while ago, and instead of the traditional toppings he made a caramelized apple topping that wasn't too heavy, sweet, or overly spiced.

Slice, or dice, half of a large apple (it's not necessary to peel) and toss it with about 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar, a few shakes of cinnamon or other spice, and a squeeze of lemon.

Heat half a tablespoon of butter or butter spread into a skillet on medium heat until started to foam/bubble, then add apple mixture, making sure to evenly spread the apples out. I added coarsely chopped cashews because since I like the taste of stir-fried cashews, it would be good here, too.

Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until tender when poked with a knife, but not falling apart, about 5-7 minutes (he didn't really time it, and neither do I, so that's a guesstimite). Keep the mixture bubbling.

Serve over oatmeal with some milk and a sprinkling of wheat bran. Happy breakfast!

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Print this recipe

Oatmeal with Caramelized Apples and Cashews
Recipe by Lil Bro and Christina Provo

Serves 1

Ingredients -

1/2 large apple, chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8th teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup cashews, whole or coarsely chopped
1/2 tablespoon butter
Bowl of oatmeal

Directions -

1. Toss together chopped apple with brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Heat a skillet over medium heat for 1-2 minutes; when hot, add the butter. When butter melts and foam subsides, pour in the apple mixture and cashews in an even layer.


2. Cook the apples until soft but not mushy, about 5-7 minutes. You should be able to easily pierce apples with a fork or knife. Serve hot over oatmeal.

Yippie Kai Yay

Foodbuzz has a Tastemaker program where you can opt in to receive samples and review them, this sampling being for Cowgirl Chocolates. I got the package the day before my birthday, but I couldn't remember who sent it or why, and since it said 'Cowgirl Chocolates' on the mailing label I looked it up. Then I was reading emails and saw the Foodbuzz email and slapped myself upside the forehead and said, "OH, yeah!"

What makes Cowgirl Chocolates unique is their sweet & spicy approach to gourmet chocolates, featuring cayenne and habanero pepper. The ingredient list shows just how good the flavorings they use are, some being hazelnut butter, different fruit oils, and natural flavorings. Nothing sketchy on there.

Spicy

• Red ~ Raspberry Dark Chocolate: By far, one of my favorites. The raspberry flavor was really deep and it wasn't just a hint of flavor. At the end of the bite, a kick of heat hit the back of your throat. Of all the spicy truffles, this one had the most heat.


• Gold ~ Double Dark Chocolate: A nice, smooth dark chocolate with a bit of heat. The truffle filling was really smooth and melted well, just like all of the fillings, and a tiny heat sensation was at the end.


• Dark Blue ~ Hazelnut Milk Chocolate: You cannot go wrong with a hazelnut truffle, and mixed with a good milk chocolate you are always in for a treat. There was a bit of spiciness, but we didn't taste much.


• Copper ~ Cappuccino: This was my most favorite because I love all things coffee. The coffee flavor wasn't overwhelming and the spiciness, second highest of the lot, was a nice compliment.







• Brown Pillow ~ Habanero Dark Chocolate: A nice, smooth dark chocolate with a bit of heat. I couldn't detect any flavor undertones, but that didn't matter because the chocolate itself was good.


• Clear ~ Habanero Caramel: Slightly buttery, sticky, and the most spicy of them all, this was a really good caramel with nice flavoring, but not overly sweet.


Mild:

• Aqua ~ Double Dark Chocolate: Basically like the Double Dark Chocolate truffle, but without any spiciness at all. Again, a smooth filling and a good dark chocolate flavor.


• Silver ~ Milk Chocolate: Like above, but milk chocolate.







• Orange ~ Ivory Orange: A small shell of white chocolate enveloping what tasted like an orange creamsicle filling. This was another favorite of ours because it wasn't a regular orange flavor as we were thinking.


• Fuschia Red ~ Raspberry Lemon: This was my mom's favorite because she hadn't seen a flavor like this in a truffle before. The filling wasn't ganache like, but rather just a fruit-like filling. A nice, light raspberry flavor with undertones of lemon.

Overall, we thought the chocolates were very good, but the individual chili flavors weren't detectable, it was just the kick of heat that came at the end when you thought that it was over. My other thought was that the ratio of filling-to-shell could have been more, like the Lindt truffles. And really, I thought that Lindt truffles were just as good as these were, although I did enjoy eating them.

Would I buy them on my own? Maybe. Their offerings for truffle flavors and different candy alone would warrant a second-go, and would also make a lovely gift because the chocolates come with reusable boxes, such as their 'keepsake boxes'. Cowgirl Chocolates don't just pay attention to the truffles, but also the packaging and presentations, which goes a long way in my book.

Thanks again to Foodbuzz for giving us the opportunity to sample Cowgirl Chocolates!