Brainy Farm Skillet Chicken and Dumplings...

 

When I think about comfort food, I think about life on the farm. I think of coming home to good home cooked food.This farm living dish can be done in one single skillet in no time at all. You need only to have a few chicken pieces: legs, thighs, or breasts with bone in and skin on. Take from your pantry: olive oil, one onion, chicken stock, flour, buttermilk and seasonings.

Begin by browning one chopped onion in olive oil in your covered skillet on med heat. Once the onion is browned on the edges, add your chicken pieces. Season using: rosemary, mint and oregano along with a dash of red pepper flakes and a dash of garlic powder. Cook the chicken on med heat until all sides have browned nicely.

Next, add 1 cup of chicken stock. Cover and let simmer for 25 min. on med/low heat. Near the end of this timed simmer, prepare your dumplings. Mix about 1 cup of buttermilk with 1/2 cup of water along with 1 and 1/4 cup of flour (use gluten free if you are on such a diet), 1/4 tsp of baking soda, 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Its good to eye ball the consistency of the dumpling dough, it should be sticky but not thick, you may want to add either more flour or liquid.

Just before you drop in your dumplings, add more chicken stock to the chicken in the skillet. The dumplings will need plenty of liquid to cook. Turn up the heat to med high, drop in your dumplings, cover and let them grow up into clouds of yummy.

After 15 min, test the dumplings to make sure that they are completely cooked through, they should appear light and fluffy not gooey. If the are cooked through, then ladle all that goodness onto a large serving plate.

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Brainy Ginger Pork ... Its all in the taste buds!

When you cook without a recipe, taste buds are your guide. And, that's when you get to be really brainy as a home chef. If someone in the family wants Asian food for dinner, you can say - "no problem... let me see what I can do".

Asian cuisine is simple, fresh, frugal and most of all - spicy. You don't need to use exotic spices. I find that garlic and ginger along with red pepper flakes can be all you need. For this dish, you will need to have/buy: butterfly pork loin chops. Yep, that is all. The rest of the ingredients you should have on hand: garden fresh green pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic cloves or powder, fresh ginger or powered, and one orange or orange juice will do.

To begin: pound down the chops with a meat hammer and then marinate in a glass dish for 15 min in orange juice (just to cover) 1/2 tsp of fresh ginger, 1 clove of fresh chopped garlic, 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes and a pinch of sea salt. After that time, get a skillet hot with coconut oil and a bit of olive oil (just to cover the bottom). Lay in the chops, toss on top sliced green pepper. Treat this as flash cooking or a stir fry but without too much stirring.

Serve with seared or blackened apricots and garden greens!

Fresh Caught Tilapia is Always Brainy Good...

 

For this dish you will need: Tilapia Fillets, as many per dinner guest, salt and lemon pepper along with dried thyme, dried oregano, and ground paprika (optional); and of course, fresh creamy butter… about 4 tablespoons, melted.

And, if you like fresh garlic, then by all means mince one clove of garlic or buy garlic paste. Don’t forget the lemon juice and zest is nice to garnish along with chopped parsley. Prepare fish for cooking by seasoning with the above.

You can either pan fry in olive oil or bake in the oven until the tilapia is white and firm. If you choose to oven bake, I like to singe the top of the fish fillets using the broiler for no more than a couple of minutes. 

Serve with white or wild rice.

 

~ Tutti a Tavola!

It's a Brainy Good Gumbo Day...

 

 

Did you know that gumbo is not original to Louisiana? Most food historians agree that this popular South Louisiana dish has its first origin in West Africa. Consider the word “gumbo” which comes from the West African word “ki ngombo” for “okra”.

For this Brainy Gumbo you will need: Sweet Italian sausage and either bone in or out skin on or not chicken thighs... as many per guest each. You will need, beef stock, red pepper, purple onion, green beans or okra, diced tomatoes and spices: cayenne pepper and black pepper, dry mustard, paprika, sage, cumin, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley. 

To begin, it is recommended to use a braiser or covered roasting pan. Saute chopped purple onion and red pepper in olive oil. Then lay in your sausages and chicken (skin side down if you opted for skin on).  Brown all of this in your braiser or covered roaster on the stove.

Preheat your oven to 375f. 

 Pour over the sausage and chicken about 1 cup of beef stock or more depending on how soupy you like it; I prefer it more thick. Then add your green beans or okra, diced tomatoes (1cup), and spices (add to taste). Cover and let bubble for about 5 min. on high heat. Once oven is ready, pop in the over covered and let it finish there for 45 min. 

 

Prepare white rice prior to serving. 

 

*Fully cooked jumbo shrimp can be added to each serving. 

To forget to put out the Louisiana hot sauce...

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Brainy Beefy Mongolian Beef with Wild Rice and more...

 

For this dish, you will need:beef stew meat or inexpensive steak cut (1lb), garlic, onion, green or red pepper, ginger and garlic paste, one young zucchini or green beans, sun dried tomatoes, wild rice and homemade Mongolian Beef sauce which is like teriyaki only with a small amount of natural ground peanut butter (softened with sesame oil) in the mix.  

Homemade Mongolian Beef sauce can be a basic recipe is: 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup of beef broth or stock, along with tablespoon cornstarch mixed in, 1 tbs of ginger paste and 2 tbs of peanut butter, 4-5 tablespoons honey or brown sugar, and red pepper flakes to taste. To that mixture, you can add garlic paste to taste. For an extra zing, you can use a dash or two of either Rice or Marsala wine.

To begin, cube the beef, chop the onion, zucchini or green beans, sun dried tomatoes and green/red pepper; for a quick stir fry in olive oil or coconut oil. Once this stir fry is singed on the edges, remove from heat and place in a warm oven while you prepare the wild rice.  

When the rice (s) is/are tender, drain and ladle onto a serving plate, top with beef and vegetables from the oven and pour over any additional sauce left over in the skillet.

~ Tutti a Tavola!