PIZZA WITH BROCCOLINI AND SUN DRIED TOMATOES

Hi everyone.  Short week for the blog.  But now I am in the swing of things and the recipes are swirling.  For those of you who are not eating meat during Lent, I have a great Friday night recipe today.  I for one never seem to know what to make.  So I turn to my meatless Pasta dishes or Pizza's.  This recipe is great for a Sunday lunch, a light dinner with a salad or whenever you want a tasty, good for you Pizza.  I make this often for myself, it is so good.

PIZZA WITH BROCCOLINI AND SUN DRIED TOMATOES

1 ball of Pizza Dough (white or wheat).  You can get this at Trader Joe's or just at your local pizza parlour.  Just ask them for a ball of dough.
Sun dried Tomatoes packed in olive oil
Feta cheese
1 pkg of Broccolini (in the packages vegetable section, usually where the mushrooms are placed)  Trader Joe's are the least expensive.  $2.49 per pkg
5 or 6 large Mushrooms
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Set oven to 450 degrees.
Cut 1/4" off of the ends of the Broccolini.  Then cut them into 1" pieces, place in a shallow dish with about 1/4 cup water, cover and microwave on high for about 5 minutes.  In a large skillet, put about 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil.  Slice the mushrooms thin and cook in the oil until tender.  Drain the Broccolini and add to the mushrooms.  Add salt and pepper and saute for a couple of minutes.  Remove from heat.  Roll out the dough to make a thin crust.  Drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 10 minutes or until almost done.  Remove from oven and top with Broccolini, Mushrooms, diced Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Crumbled Feta Cheese.  Put back into the oven until hot and cheese has melted.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle with some Parmesan Cheese and a little Red Pepper.  Yummy!  Serve with a side salad.
Great Lunch or light dinner.

Thanks for stopping in today, have a great weekend
Ciao
Grayce

CHICKEN WITH LEMONS AND OLIVES

Yea!  My computer is fixed.  I feel like I have not put up a recipe for weeks.  It is amazing how much you can miss not having a computer for 3 or 4 days.  For the first couple of days I kept coming upstairs to use my computer, then remembered it was not there.  But, guess what?  Life goes on and nothing happened.  I'm still here.  The only bad thing was my e-mail had over 400 in it.  Mostly junk.  Wish I could remedy that horrible situation.

Anyway, today I give you a chicken recipe.  When we lived in Irvine we used to go this awesome restaurant that served Middle Eastern food.  It was the kind where you eat with your hands and has 7 courses.  They served a chicken dish that was so amazing.  Once after having dinner there, I decided to try and replicate that chicken dish.  It turned out quite well.  So here it is for you today.  They used a whole chicken and I'm sure it was done in the oven.  I made it that way too.  But then I decided you could probably do it stove top also, and in less time.  It was a hit.  So here is the stove top version for you today.

CHICKEN WITH LEMONS AND OLIVES

4 to 6 Chicken breasts (1/2) and thighs skin on
Beldi olives.  These are the green olives that have similar texture and taste to the regular canned black olives.  You can get them canned or in the fresh olive section.
2 lemons (cut one onto thin slices)
Olive oil
White wine
Couscous

Put a little olive oil in a deep chicken fryer and let it get hot.  Salt and pepper the chicken on both sides.  Brown the chicken well on both sides.  Let the skin get nice and crisp.  Remove from the pan and set aside.  Add the juice of one lemon, and 1/2 cup white wine to the pan, cook over low heat till it begins to reduce a little.  Add the chicken back into the pan with the lemon slices and the olives.  Cover and cook over low heat until the chicken is very tender and moist and the lemon slices are very tender.  In the meantime cook the Couscous.  When the chicken is done, spread the couscous out on a large platter and put the chicken, lemons and olives on top.  Pour juice over all.

I hope you try this soon.  Just another way to spruce up chicken!

Thanks for stopping in today
Ciao
Grayce

NEW RECIPE TOMORROW

Thank you to all my readers and followers for being so patient.  My computer is fixed and there will be a new recipe tomorrow

ZITI WITH MOZZARELLA, TOMATOES, OLIVES AND BASIL

Hi everyone.  Well the really beautiful California weather is about to start, and just in time for the weekend.  By this afternoon it will be in the high 70's and 80 on the weekend.  Time to get up off of the couch and get out and about this weekend.  Enjoy the wonderful, sunny days ahead.  THIS is why we live in California.

Today I have another way to make a quick, delicious Pasta dish.  I am always thinking of ways to do something different with different kinds of Pasta.  All of them are wonderful.  There is no such thing as a bad dish of Pasta.

ZITA WITH MOZZARELLA, TOMATOES, OLIVES AND BASIL

1 lb pkg Barilla Ziti
2 containers of Fresh, small Mozzarella balls (in the cheese section) packed in water. Drained
Cherry tomatoes (1 container)
Kalamata olives without pits
Fresh Basil
Parmesan cheese
Olive Oil

Spray a large casserole dish  Or put a little Olive Oil in and spread all over.  Chiffonade about 8 leaves of fresh Basil.  Cut the Cherry Tomatoes in half, cut 1/2 cup of Olives in half.  Cook the Ziti until it is almost al dente.  Drain and put into a large bowl.  Mix the Ziti, the Basil, the Olives, the Tomatoes and the Cheese. Add 1/4 cup of Olive Oil, salt and pepper. Toss all together.  Pour into the casserole.  Top with 1/2 cup of Parmesan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes until the Mozzarella has melted.  Yummy.  Serve with a crisp green salad and don't forget a glass of Wine.

Thanks for stopping in today
Ciao
Grayce

STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS

Good morning!  Looks like another sunny day.  And the expected high for the weekend is 80 degrees.  I sure hope so.  I am really over the cold, rainy weather.  Not our typical weather at all. Today I have a little different take on chicken breasts for you.  I am not a huge fan of chicken, but there are certain ways to fix it that are really tempting and tasty.  This is one that I came up with that should make even the pickiest eaters happy.

STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS

2 whole chicken breasts skin on, cut in half
1  cup Ricotta cheese
1/4 Parmesan
Fresh Rosemary
2 Lemons
7 or 8 mushrooms
olive oil

Slice the mushrooms and saute them in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Salt and pepper them and then drain the oil.  Let them cool for a few minutes.  In a bowl, mix the Parmesan, Ricotta, and 1 tablespoon fresh chopped Rosemary, and the zest from 1 Lemon.  Add the cooled mushrooms, mix and divide into fourths.  Stuff under the skin of the Chicken Breasts.  Drizzle the top of the Chicken Breasts with a little Olive Oil and sprinkle with salt.  Thinly slice another Lemon and place two slices on top of each breast.  Place on shallow pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until breasts are no longer pink.  Let set for 6 or 7 minutes before serving.  Top each Breast with a sprig of fresh Rosemary.

These are really yummy.  The mushrooms, rosemary and lemon with the cheese, wonderful!
Try it soon.

Thanks for stopping in today
Ciao
Grayce

GORGONZOLA/PEAR BURGERS

Good morning everyone.  Ever get tired of just plain old Burgers?  Even though there is nothing quite like a wonderful Cheeseburger with all the fixings, sometimes I like to just jazz them a little with something different.  Today I have a recipe that I put together last summer while in one of my "not the same old thing again" moods.  I found out that everyone loved the new combination.  Now I make it quite often.  Especially when pears are in abundance at the market.  So here is a new fresh take on the everyday burger.

GORGONZOLA/PEAR BURGER

1 pound ground beef
Gorgonzola Cheese (1 piece or 2 small pkgs)
1 pkg of Arugla
2 or 3 Pears
Mayo
1 pint Strawberries

Make 6 patties with the ground beef.  Top three of them with  1 tbls of gorgonzola.  Place 1 patty on top of each to make 3 burgers.  Salt and pepper each side.  Grill on your grill outside or on your stovetop grill. to your desired doneness.  In the meantime, mix about 1/2 cup of Mayo with 1/4 cup of Gorgonzola.  Spread on both side of the burger buns.  When burgers are done place on one half of the bun and top with 5 or 6 pieces of Arugula, and 5 or 6 thin slices of Pear.  Top with other half of bun.
Make a salad of Arugula, Pears, sliced Strawberries and your favorite dressing to accompany the burger.

Now that's a Burger.  Talk about a taste treat!  I hope you will try it soon.  they are really awesome.

Thanks for stopping in today
ciao
Grayce

BUCATINI WITH WALNUTS

Sorry I missed you all yesterday, but I was in North Hollywood at my daughters for Super Bowl and did not get home until yesterday afternoon.  What a great game!  And Linda and Jody and I were so happy that the Saints won.  And of course we had a lot of great food.  Coconut Shrimp, Bacon wrapped Scallops with Brown sugar, Linda's awesome Chinese Chicken Salad etc, etc.  A good time was had by all.

Today I have a recipe that I had while in Italy.  I really do not have a "recipe" but it is a dish I ordered one night and I think that I can duplicate it for you.  I made it when we got back home and it tasted pretty much the same.  It is really good and different.  I think you will enjoy it once you try it for yourself.

BUCATINI WITH WALNUTS

1 lb of Bucatini pasta
about 1 3/4 cups of Romano cheese grated
1 cup Walnuts
4 tablespoons butter
fresh Basil
1 tabls Olive Oil

Put the water on for the pasta.  In a saute pan, toast the walnuts for a few minutes to bring out all the flavor.  Let them cool and rough cut into quarters or similar size.  Put the cheese into a large pasta bowl.  When the pasta is almost done, melt the butter, add a tablespoon of olive oil and mix. Reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water.  Drain the pasta.  Quickly add the pasta to the Cheese in the bowl and toss, add the butter and olive oil and about 1/4 cup of the pasta liquid.  Add the walnuts and toss all together.  Grind black pepper over all and toss.  Sprinkle with freshly chopped Basil.

Like I said it is a pretty simple recipe.  I don't know if this is exactly how they made it but it tastes about the same.  Try for a change for your family.

Thanks for stopping in today.
Ciao
Grayce