D4One: Sherry Mushroom Chicken

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I know you have heard me say that I don’t like mushrooms,
but it’s like Momma Chuck says “you have to try something 17 times to know for
sure if you don’t like it”, so I’m still trying them; lately with success.

On our recent trip to NYC for my birthday we went to Butter Restaurant. Inside this
wonderfully chic and intoxicating establishment I ordered homemade ravioli that
came with mushrooms, parsley and pecorino cheese. And let me tell you it was
fabulous! I ate everything on the plate, and like an Italian would I used the
table bread to scoop up the last little bits of goodness. Now I’m on a mission
to try more mushrooms, starting with this recipe.

I was browsing through some chicken and mushroom recipes and
came across this one about a million times, so my guess is that everyone knows
about it, and it’s some sort of classic somewhere, but I had never heard of it,
probably due to my past mushroom aversion. Any-who I decided that since I like Sherry Butter Sauce so much on
its own, that this one was probably a good recipe to start with and surprise,
surprise it was.

Sherry Mushroom
Chicken & Egg Noodles

1 tbs Oil

1 chicken breast, pounded thin

1 tbs organic unsalted butter

1 small shallot, chopped

1 (8 oz) package mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup sherry vinegar

¼ chicken broth

1-2 cups egg noodles, cooked according to package directions

Salt & Pepper to taste

Chopped parsley for garnish

In a large skillet heat oil over medium high heat, cook add
chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes flipping once, until all sides are golden and
chicken is cooked through. Set aside. In the same pan add shallot butter and
mushrooms. Sauté until the shallot and mushrooms become soft, roughly 2-3
minutes. Deglaze with sherry, and broth and cook until thickened add parsley,
and noodles, tossing to coat. Add chicken to warm and adjust seasoning. Serve.

French Onion Grilled Cheese/Cheesy Bread

By Jessica

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Even though spring is
blooming I’m not completely ready to give up some of my favorite fall and
winter flavors. That’s when I came up with the recipe you see here. I am well
aware that there are about a million of these recipes floating around, but this
one I totally made up as I went based on the flavors that I was trying to focus
on. If you are looking for something more sandwich-like simply combine the two
halves as soon as they come out of the oven and you will have a complete French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

I also made this for a get
together with friends a few days later which I accomplished by simply slicing
the finished bread into individual pieces for the taking. It’d so darn easy and perfect for a little
appetizer, and can even be dipped into some Dijon Vinaigrette or ranch dressing.

Open Faced French Onion
Grilled Cheese

1 tbs oil

3 large onions, sliced
thin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried Thyme

1 tsp pepper

2 Large slices of French bread

1/3 cup grated gruyere
cheese

¼ cup grated parmesan
cheese

Preheat the oven to broil.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat and then add onions and salt. Cook
the onions stirring often until they become opaque and caramelized. Stir in the
thyme and pepper and continue to cook 1-2 minutes. Set aside. In the same
skillet place the slices of bread face down. You may need to add a little oil
to the pan but no more than a few drops. Allow the bread to toast slightly
before removing from heat and placing in a baking pan face up. Layer onions
generously on top of the bread. Do the same with both cheeses making sure to
cover the entire thing. Place in the oven for 5 or so minutes, or until the
cheese becomes bubbly and browned. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Steak Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

By Jessica

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Simple, clean delicious what more could you ask for? With spring
in the air I have been looking forward to some lighter dishes and this is one
of my favorites to make in the spring and summer months. The vinaigrette is
good for sandwiches and dips as well.

I did a simple marinade of soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce,
and pepper before cooking it on a cast iron pan for roughly 4-5 minutes a
side. Then an even simpler salad of
whatever looked the freshest in the store, and of course some spinach.

Dijon Vinaigrette

1 tbsp Extra-virgin oil

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp champagne or white wine vinegar

1tsp thyme

Salt & pepper to taste

In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients. Serve.

Note: this can be made ahead and will keep in the refrigerator
for about a week.

See that Open Faced French Onion Grilled Cheese? Doesn’t it
look great? Don’t worry that’s coming soon!

New York City & Butter

By Jessica

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Recently I had a birthday, and the sweet guy that chuck is took me all
the way to New York City to eat at Butter; a fabulous restaurant where Alex Guarnaschelli
is the executive chef. The experience was amazing, the architecture in the restaurant
was beautiful, the food phenomenal. We were treated to an individual serving of
pickled hummus each, and then we ordered Seared Diver Scallops, with black
rice, mustard and bacon. For our entree’s I had homemade ravioli, with roasted
oyster mushrooms, pecorino cheese, and fresh herbs, while chuck had Duck with
turnips, cabbage and blood orange in a scrumptious sauce. I can say that I actually
enjoyed the mushrooms in my meal. I was a little nervous about ordering it and
not liking it, but homemade ravioli sounded too good, so I decided to be brave,
it was so worth it; it might have even made me a convert.

The rest of the trip was just fun, exploring and filling our bellies; we
got gyros, and kebabs from carts, along with hot dogs, pretzels, sandwiches and
of course pizza. My favorite part about the city, is the culture, and the
architecture. Oh and take a look at the food markets in Chinatown.

I apologize for not taking any food pictures, but to be honest I would
really rather just eat, and enjoy. I like to be a part of the experience, not just
see it from behind a lens, maybe next time I’ll get some good ones.

D4One: Sausage & Bean Stew

By Jessica

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This is my cleaned up take on a Spanish classic. Typically in Spain
chorizo would be used, but I chose to go with garlic and spinach chicken
sausage, you could also use Italian sausage if you wanted as well, giving you
lots of choices. It can also very easily be multiplied for a large family, and
because it is so easy my bet is that you will be making it a lot. I even had it leftover cold and it was delicious, so this is a good one to have for the summer months as well. Please give it a shot.

Sausage & Bean Stew

1 tbs olive oil

½ lb turkey sausage links

1 small onion, sliced thin

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp thyme

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

2 cups fresh baby spinach

Add half the oil to a large skillet over medium heat, and add sausage.
Cook sausage, turning occasionally until cooked through, roughly 10-15 minutes,
then set aside. Reduce heat to medium, and sauté onion, garlic and thyme until
softened, roughly 5 minutes. Add the beans and broth and cook for about 10
minutes. Add spinach and cook until it just begins to wilt. Slice sausage into
bite size pieces, and stir into stew. Remove stew from heat and serve in bowls,
warm.

D4One: Sherry Mushroom Chicken

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