What to do with 2 buck chuck....Part 1

I suppose this could be a reoccurring series. My husband and I are big fans of 2 buck chuck. While watching  Eat, Pray, Love, I got really jealous of all  the wine the characters were drinking. We're on austerity measures here, no wine for months! Then I realized that almost no one can afford massive amounts of decent wine. Enter 2 buck chuck: the equivalent of table wine here in the US, although experimentation has taught me to limit it to just the shiraz and the sauvignon blanc. I bought quite a few bottles (how could I not...) and thought I should use some for cooking. Below is a recipe I made this weekend for Pasta Primavera. This recipe is very flexible, choose any meat or vegetable options. Smoked paprika goes really well with seafood so I could definitely see shrimp here.

4 chicken breasts (savings tip: I got mine in the discount section at Albertsons. $1.50 per pound!)

smoked paprika

1 lb. pasta

4 T. olive oil, divided in two

1 large onion, any kind, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup cream

1 T. butter

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, sliced

1 cup frozen corn, defrosted

2 cups frozen broccoli, defrosted

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

sliced basil

salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Heat a large saute pan with 2 T. olive oil on medium high to high heat. Sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with some salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. You can get smoked paprika at some Costcos for cheap, or off Amazon. It is worth having in the pantry.

3. Put chicken in pan and sear each side. Usually it will be golden color. Keep a close eye at this point so they don't burn.

4. Drizzle some extra olive oil in a casserole dish, then put the chicken in it. Cover with foil and put in the oven for about 1 hour (less if chicken breasts are small).

5. Relax for 30 minutes and drink the extra wine.

6. Boil a pot of water. Sprinkle in some salt and olive oil. Put in pasta and follow package directions. Strain when done.

7. While pasta is cooking, use the same pan from the chicken. Pour in the remaining 2 T. olive oil at medium heat. Once hot, put in the chopped onions and saute about 5 min.

8. Pour in the wine and scrape all the little bits off the bottom. Lots of flavor! About 5 minutes before the chicken is done, put in the corn, broccoli, butter, cream, and sun dried tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and more paprika to taste. Bring to a simmer and simmer for a few minutes.

9. Take the chicken out of the oven, let rest 5 minutes, then slice. Put noodles and chicken in with the sauce. Add Parmesan cheese. Taste the final product before serving and add more salt or pepper. Don't add any more paprika. Personal experience has taught me it needs to be cooked. Raw paprika is not a good thing.

10. Serve with more cheese and basil sprinkled on top.

Enjoy!



An excuse for mayonnaise...

For me, the Fourth of July is all about mayonnaise. After patriotism and celebrating my personal freedom, of course. This coleslaw recipe is so easy and tastes amazing. Amazing!

Time Saver: You can buy pre-shredded cabbage but fresh is so much better and a snap to chop. Pre-shredded carrot is probably worth it. One of the few things I hate doing is trying to slice carrots into nice little pieces. They always end up super chunky.

Ingredients:
3-4 cups cabbage, sliced into strips (3 cups is standard, add more if the dressing seems too intense)
1 carrot, sliced or shredded
1/4 red onion, sliced thin
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin
2 green apples, sliced
Dressing:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. vinegar (I use white balsalmic or red wine vinegar)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the cabbage in a large bowl. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt, mix, then let sit half an hour. Some of the water comes out and you can soak it up with paper towels. I've skipped this step a few times and it hasn't been a huge issue.

2. Mix all of the dressing ingredients together, along with a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Mix everything together. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Refrigerate until ready to serve. It tastes better after a few hours in the fridge.

See, painless and delicious. You will die for the dressing.

The perfect recipe

This is my one absolutely perfect recipe. After probably hours of research, it came out just right. Almost the whole recipe came from Dangerous Kitchen: http://www.felixcabosanlucas.com/news24.htm. All of the chopping in this recipe puts me into a peaceful trance. Just relax and the time passes by, and at the end you are rewarded with an excellent soup.

Time Saver: You can use pre-made chicken broth and a rotisserie chicken (or two). If you do, I suggest adding a little fat from the rotisserie chicken (maybe boil the skin in the broth for a few minutes with some frozen corn), because life is short and fat tastes good.


Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1 cup frozen corn
4 cloves garlic, papers removed
1 onion rough chopped
4 quarts of water
8-10 dried guajillo chilies (in the mexican spices section)
boiling water
5 carrots, chopped
5 potatoes (I use gold), chopped
cilantro
Toppings: tortilla chips, cheese, avocado, cilantro, green onions, sour cream

Steps:
1. Place the chicken, garlic, onion, and corn in a large pot with 4 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and simmer about 1 hour.
2. Run a knife down each chili to open the skin. Remove the seeds and veins. Pour boiling water over the chilies, just enough to cover them. Let sit ~ 1 hour.
3. Start a pot of water boiling. Add carrots, potatoes, and onions. Boil until al dente, which means not mushy according to Felix. :-) I can't remember how long this takes, but I usually start pulling pieces out after they boil for about 10 minutes, and stab them with a fork. You want them not hard, but not falling apart either.
4. At this point the stock and chilies are usually done. Remove the chicken from the stock and strain the liquid. If you feel there is too much fat on top, strain some of it off with a spoon. Return to the big pot. Start adding pinches of salt until it tastes good. If it tastes watery, you need more salt. Add pepper to taste.
5. Shred the chicken meat.
6. Remove the chilies from the water (keep the water!), and puree with a blender or food processor. Add enough water for it to make a paste.
7. Add the chicken, chili paste, and veggies to the stock. Add a few handfuls of cilantro. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, let rest for a few minutes, and taste again to see if you need more salt and pepper.
8. Pour the soup into bowls and add toppings

Buen provecho!

Cooking for Sanity

The title of my blog "Cooking For Sanity" is a pretty flashy version of the truth. I'm not teetering on the edge of crazy, life in one hand over the void, and a spatula in the other anchoring me to solid ground. While writing this blog, I thought it might be the control that I crave. But control in cooking is an illusion (the cake that collapses into a depressed looking verison of itself, an over spinkled sprinkle of cayenne).

Maybe it's the creativity, the sense of satisfaction, or one of many other reasons that I'm sure at least dozens of food bloggers on this site have mentioned already. What I do know is that I have an overwhelming compulsion to cook. I work full time, take care of my baby and too many pets. Despite this, I cook daily, except for the occassional night off when I exhuastedly eat a bowl of cereal.

Miraculously, adding the burden of cooking to my complicated life makes me happier. I get a build up of energy in the morning, brainstorm about recipes at lunch, run to the grocery store for ideas to finesse what I've come up with, chopping, boiling, seasoning. And the final, relieving moment when I get to eat something fresh and tasty, not a restaurant dish that tricks you with a healthy headline but is sprayed with oil and salt and other things that make me feel sick for hours after. That moment is a serious high for me.

Although I get the feeling that my family and friends think I'm at least a little bit strange (but they imply it so, so gently), they have all been incredibly supportive and happily eat most of my creations. This blog is a way for me to post both recipes and photos in a place where friends and family can see them. A few have asked and I'm sure a few more don't care, but hopefully it will be fun. Even better, maybe it will help me cook a little less...riiiiight. :-)