Chicken Pizza

Not much of an original title, but it is what it is. A chicken pizza. Well, actually the rest of the leftover roasted chicken and some of the spaghetti red sauce I had saved up from Christmas that was in the freezer. Just bought a can of Pillsbury pizza dough and some shredded mozzarella and I was good to go. This is another way of using up what left of the leftovers stocked up in my fridge, in which I'm happy to say has now dwiddled down to almost all of it being eaten up. W00T! I can move on to eating other things now. It was delicious and cheesy and chicken goodness.

Who knew leftovers could be so good the second time around?

serves 2-4

Chicken Pizza

2 c shredded roasted or cooked chicken
2 c spaghetti or tomato sauce
1/2 sweet onion - sliced
1-2 c shredded mozzarella
1 can Pillsbury pizza dough

Preheat your oven 400˚F

Lay out the pizza dough on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spread the sauce over the crust leaving 1-inch around the edge for the crust. Next layer the cheese, then sweet onion, chicken.

Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes until the crust as risen and browned.


Serve warm.

Potato Corn Chowdahhh

We're in rainy days here in LA. Woohoo!! That means soup days. Double woohoo!! You know I love my soups. To be honest I do love rainy days, too. Some people complain here in LA and they react all crazy about it as if they've never seen falling water before, but I love it. At least now I hope they can also stop complaining about the "water shortage." Anyway, I was craving clam chowder, but I didn't have clams. Darn. I did however have potatoes, carrots, corn and stock. So I still was able to a chowder. A nice hearty chowdahhh. It was equally good. Not too thick and not too thin. Each bite with veggies goodness. It was just the right balance. Really simple to make especially on those lazy days. Or perfect for those rainy days.

Serve 2-4

Potato Corn Chowdahhh

1 12 oz can corn kernels
2 medium russet potatoes - peeled and cubed
1 large carrot
2 12 oz can stock chicken or vegetable.
4 strips bacon
1/2 small onion chopped
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 5 oz can evaporate milk
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tsp water

Cook the bacon in a pot until they are crisp. Remove from the pot and drain on a paper towel. Saute the onion in the pot until they are tender. Add the carrots, potatoes and corn. Lightly saute them for about a minute. Add the stock. Season with some salt and pepper. Then add the cornstarch to slightly thicken. Bring the soup to a slight boil on medium heat.  Add the evaporated milk and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Serve with some sourdough bread or crackers.

Yam Fries

It's time to yam it up? Get it.  Yam it up. har har har. *crickets* Sorry, that was my bad attempt at being funny. Yams or should I say sweet potato. There's a couple different varieties out there. Mostly a lot of people are familiar with the orange variety. But there's also the white and purple variety. For these I used the white variety. They're oven fried and seasoned with herbs. They're great alone or serve them with a sandwich or burger. The possibilities are endless.

Yam Fries

3 medium yam or sweet potatoes
salt
1 Tbsp dry Basil
1 Tbsp dry thyme
1 Tbsp dry rosemary
1 1/2 Tbsp Extra Vigrin Olive oil
salt


Preheat your oven to 400˚F

Wash, peel and cut the yams into 1/4-inch strips. Place them in a bowl and toss together with the olive oil and dry herbs.

Lay them out on a lightly greased baking sheet and baked for 30-minutes. Give them a quick toss halfway through to give them an even browning.

When they are done season with a little salt before serving. 

Production Eats - No. 14

This week I worked on Lie to Me again. It's basically a continuation from the week before. This time we shot at the Fox Studios lot, so I ventured into the nearby commissary rather than the cafe I had gone to the last time I was there. There were a few good choices like a beef stew that looked tempting and a chicken quesdadilla. But I decided to venture into the sandwich department.

Caprese sandwich. Or as they put it on the little menu board for the "sandwich special of the day": Mozarella, tomato, basil on foccacia. Served with a side of steak fries. Or their slaw or bag of chips. As you can see, I went for the steak fries that I dipped in some ranch dressing and ketchup. Look at the huge chunks of fresh mozzarella. Just the way I like them.

10 Fun Food Facts of the Day

It's that time again. It's fun food facts time!!!!! I love doing these. It's been a while since I've posted a set, so here we go. Enjoy!!


one - 
The world record for eating cheesecake is 11 pounds eaten in nine minutes – by Sonya Thomas, who weighs 105 pounds.


two - 
The smaller the size of a berry, the sweeter its taste


three -
Popcorn has been around for 6,000 years.


four - 
The “special sauce” in a Big Mac is actually thousand island dressing.


five - 
If you could eat only one vegetable for the rest of your life, eat spinach; it’s one of the highest ranking vegetables as far as overall antioxidant capacity, yet so versatile in recipes.


six - 
Whenever a recipe for cake or muffins calls for oil, applesauce can be substituted.

seven - 

The first breakfast cereal ever produced was Shredded Wheat

eight - 

The average person eats almost 1500 pounds of food a year

 

nine -
Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented in 1889, was the first ready-mix food to be sold commercially.


ten -
The first Oreo was sold in 1912.



Resources: 
http://www.brighthub.com/health/diet-nutrition/articles/31918.aspx
http://www.nms.on.ca/Elementary/fun_food_facts.htm
http://www.bitoffun.com/fun_facts_food.htm

Chicken Monte Cristo

Or it could also be called chicken stuffed french toast. Generally you'd associate the monte cristo sandwich with ham and turkey and cheese. I decided to switch it up and use a chicken sandwich instead. That and because I still have some leftover roast chicken. The sandwich is fairly easy to put together. Then comes the "french toast" batter.

Here's a little tidbit about the monte cristo sandwich thank to wikipedia: "The Monte Cristo is a variation of the French croque-monsieur. In the 1930s–1960s, American cookbooks had recipes for this sandwich under such names as French Sandwich, Toasted Ham Sandwich, and French Toasted Cheese Sandwich."

Since there are many variations in making this sandwich I though they not make my own version. There may already be one like this out there, but I have seen one yet. Since I already had ol' Georgie out. I thought why not use him to grill up these aweseomly delicious sandwiches. You can also use a skillet to cook these babies up.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

Chicken Monte Cristo

4 slices sourdough bread
1 cooked chicken breast (or leftover chicken)
1 small tomato - sliced
1 small ripe avocado - sliced
dijon mustard
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk

Combine well the egg and milk in a shallow dish. Set aside.

Assemble the sandwich: Spread some dijon mustard on all four slices of bread. On two slices layer the chicken, tomato and avocado. Place the other two slices on top of them.

Heat a skillet.  

Dip each sandwich on both sides in the egg batter. Carefully place them on the skillet. Let it cook for about 3-5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Serve with a side of maple syrup or jam.

Miso Ginger Grilled Eggplant

Eggplants. What else can I say about them except that I love to eat them. I had had two in the fridge. I'm still trying to get out of my post-holiday cooking slump. I want to cook something, but I can't think of anything to cook. Why -oh-why? I seriously had ho idea what I wanted to make with these delicious plump eggplants. So I just went the grilled route. Pulled out ol' Georgie for the heck of it. I paired it with a miso ginger glaze. Oh, So good and delicious. Nice and gingery just how I like it. Yum!!  Look at those awesome grill marks. I had these with a couple of popovers.

Serves 2-3

Miso Ginger Glazed Grilled Eggplant

2 medium eggplants

Miso Ginger Glaze
2 Tbsp white miso
1/2 Tbsp grated ginger
1/3 c water
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp rice wine vinegar

Prepare your grill.

Combine all the ingredients of the glaze. Be sure all the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

Slice the eggplants lengthwise about 1/2-inch thick. When the grill is ready. Place the eggplants down. Baste the top side. Flip after 3-5 minutes. (depending on heat) You'd want some good grill marks. Baste the other side and grill for another 2 minutes.

Rem0ove from the grill. Serve warm.