Daily Loaf

For the past several days I’ve had the mother lode of colds. You know the kind. One of those sniffling,  sneezing, coughing, aching, feverish affairs where your eyes won’t stop watering and your head feels like it’s locked up inside a steel drum.  Now, I don’t know about you, but when I feel this way, all I want to do is sit on my pathetic, sick butt and let certain other people wait on me hand and foot, (like I do for them when they’re sick). Yeah, right!  Like that’s ever gonna happen!

Wouldn’t it be nice, though, to at least have some delicious, hot, homemade chicken soup to slurp up?  You bet your a$$ it would! But, that can take hours, and frankly, when I feel this crappy, I just can’t be bothered.  What if I told you that I’ve found a way for you to have a whole pot of nurturing, comforting, restorative, delicious, made-from-scratch Jewish penicillin in under an hour? Would you be interested? Well, this is your lucky day, because I am about to show you how! I promise that if you’ll keep an open mind, your sinuses will soon follow suit. Read the rest of this entry »

Way back a hundred million years ago, when my husband and I were first married, we received a copy of The Silver Palate Cookbook as a wedding gift.  It sat proudly in our orange crate bookcase alongside The Joy of Cooking and The Betty Crocker Cookbook, also wedding gifts. That bookcase made quite a statement paired with our dining room set of a card table and four metal folding chairs.  (Did I mention that we were poor as dirt back then?)  Anyway, whenever I needed some culinary inspiration, I’d reach for Sheila and Julee’s wildly popular and creative Silver Palate to get me started. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a confession to make. I don’t like chicken breast. I especially dislike the boneless, skinless kind. Scandalous, I know, but despite its popularity in our culinary culture, I’ve just never taken to it. I know chicken breast is a healthier, low-fat option, but I don’t really care. It is ubiquitous and boring and blah! Oh sure, I’ve choked it down many times at numerous weddings, dinner parties and banquets, but usually only in order to be polite, or because I was very, very hungry. Even then, it had to disguised by some kind of tasty sauce or hidden in a bowl of pasta. There is only one way that I can honestly say that I actually enjoy eating chicken breast, and that is in a fruity, nutty, mayonnaise-laden chicken salad. Read the rest of this entry »

Wear yellow from head to toe and cluck like a chicken for a free 1/4 chicken value meal at Pollo Tropical today, September 15. Why? Just because.

I have to give kudos to this chicken chain for their constant and unrelenting free-food promotions. Finally, they’re rewarding the small percentage of people who look good in yellow and practice barnyard imitations.

Press release after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

Among people who are concerned about where their food comes from, and how that affects the daily lives of everyone in the world, there are some fundamental issues that are a given: the ills of factory-farming animals; the insidious prevalence of corn-based products in almost everything we eat; the consolidation of our food supply under just a few corporate entities; what happens when organic goes corporate; the looming specter of Monsanto; and the causes of the West’s diabetes epidemic. Everyone’s already up on all that, right?

Then again, considering the growing market-share of fast food dollar menus, maybe not. That’s where the newish movie Food, Inc. comes in handy with its glossy and shallow take on the usual suspects in America’s maimed relationship with food. Think of it as the Greatest Hits of our disfunctional food supply, complete with legends Michael Pollan (Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) back to reprise their roles as the last decade’s most influential food figures. Read the rest of this entry »

Chicken pot pies are not exclusive to cold weather or winter mealtimes. They are homey pockets of comfort fit for any weeknight dinner, and even elegant entertaining. When I’m having dinner guests, I look to a main course that serves more than one purpose so that I’m not in the kitchen all night while my friends drink all of the wine. This recipe comes together in one pot, and as long as you have the mise en place ready it’s a pleasantly quick preparation. Each serving offers the meat, vegetables, sauce and starch that would otherwise mean cooking 3 to 4 separate dishes.

You’ll likely be surprised at the abundance of flavor in the filling, which comes from taking care to caramelize the veggies in the first step, and using freshly ground black pepper. If you prefer a lighter crust then feel free to use standard pastry for the top, but rest assured that the flaky richness and volume of the puff is what gives the dish its awesome presentation.

If you’re cooking for two, you can freeze the extra filling and use it on another occasion. It also makes a delicious base for chicken and dumplings, or a simple chicken soup when some white wine and additional stock are poured on in.

Here’s the recipe: Read the rest of this entry »

When thinking of recipes to make to post on the site, I rack my brain looking at food magazines, and foodie sites and blogs for inspiration. But I’ve come to find, through trial and error, that my best looking and tasting dishes are almost always done as a spur of the moment thing.

I especially love a challenge, like trying to make a meal with what I’ve got in the refrigerator or pantry- sometimes working with plain and boring items, and sometimes very interesting ones. Which leads me to how I made this meal.

Picture the scene: I’m over at my boyfriend’s house trying to make dinner last week and he hadn’t stocked up on groceries in awhile (typical). I go through the pantry and refrigerator, scavenging and turning on my creative juices to come up with something for a well-balanced meal. I’ve got these basics- frozen chicken breasts (thank goodness he buys a ton when they’re on sale), rice, asparagus (luckily, still pretty fresh) an onion, and a green bell pepper. Protein, starch, a green vegetable, and garnish- perfect. Lucky for him, he’s dating a foodie with culinary degree and a flair for thinking on her toes when it comes to meal time. So I grabbed a packet of Sazon Tropical seasoning and a bottle of Mojo marinade I’d stashed over there for times like these (also easy to find at your local grocery store and great pantry staples) and a bottle of white wine, got out the tools and got to cooking. Read the rest of this entry »

Every ethnic cuisine has their form of a one pot, rice-based dish that usually includes some form of meat and/or seafood with vegetables. One of my favorite versions of this is Spanish paella. Paella is traditionally made in a large pan called a “paellera” (go figure) with short- or medium-grain rice given its characteristic yellow color from saffron threads, as well as its distinct flavor. Paella varies from region to region in Spain, with the coastal areas including mostly seafood in theirs, such as mussels, clams and shrimp. Other versions feature Spanish dry chorizo and even snails. While traditional versions of paella are absolutely wonderful (definitely a must-try ethnic dish), I am hardly a traditionalist.

First of all, I didn’t feel like slaving over a hot stove to make my paella and I hadn’t used my fabulous rice cooker in ages, so I busted that bad boy out and got to work. I know I’ve already raved about all of the amazing things a rice cooker can do in a short amount of time, but I feel I must again and pay homage to my dear friend and kitchen appliance. Did I also mention it can cook rice perfectly? Read the rest of this entry »

When my husband was building our house 10 years ago, we lived here and there during construction. So needless to say I didn’t have a kitchen to cook in. We ate out 2-3 times a day (crazy, I know). I got extremely familiar with the menus from just about every restaurant known to man.

This dinner is my take on Monterey Chicken from Chili’s. And to be honest it tastes better, because its not some mass produced this and that delivered from Sysco, mindlessly cooked and slapped on a plate.

Recipe after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the past, whenever you’ve seen “Naturally Raised” stamped on a shrink-wrapped pack of chicken breasts, it’s meant zilch. Thankfully, the USDA is here to protect American consumers with new guidelines for using that content-less term. Kinda.

Ethicurean sums it up: Read the rest of this entry »

Well one thing is for sure, Chick-Fil-A isn’t being shy about promoting their Chicken Biscuit for Breakfast.

On New Year’s Day they gave away coupons for a free chicken biscuit with a purchase to every guest in the restaurant, all day. If you got a coupon they are good through the end of March.

If you didn’t get a coupon and you still want free chicken for breakfast it looks like you’ll have the opportunity again. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally finished off all the turkey leftovers? Great, time to start cooking again! Here are this week’s best bets:

Whole Foods – Grapefruit — from Indian River — are almost half-off at $.79/pound, so buy a bunch and whip up some snapper with herb salad and grapefruit from the Culinary Sherpas? (full ad)

Publix Greenwise Market – Florida-grown tomatoes — plum or vine-ripened — are a mere $.99/pound, perfect for any of these five recipes from Bon Appetit, courtesy of Fox 13. (full ad)

Sweetbay, Fresh Market and Publix after the break… Read the rest of this entry »