Calling For Pasta!!

Hi,
The next time you are attending a party and need to make a contribution to the menu, may I suggest pasta.  Pasta is a perfect choice.  Its great especially if you are on a budget and looking to feed a big crowd.  Pasta shapes are so different these days that pasta can actually be an added conversation piece.   "Are those alphabet noodles, what cute little bowties, spiral noodles just like when I was a kid.." The conversation is endless!   A customer where I work requested a pasta salad with goat cheese and vegetables and  I created this dish with the following ingredients:

INGREDIENTS:
PENNE PASTA
SPRING ONIONS
SUNDRIED TOMATOES AND FRESH TOMATOES
PEPPERS (YOUR CHOICE OF COLORS YELLOW AND RED LOOK NICE)
FRESH BABY SPINACH
GOAT CHEESE
LEMON JUICE
OLIVE OIL
GARLIC
SALT AND PEPPER

Rain Rain Go Away!

Hello all that follow my words daily!  Today is rainy and grey.  It has not been a great day for creativity to flow from my head to my fingers.  I did not want to go into work without saying something so here you go.  Lately I have been reading that eating beans are great for your health and even to lose weight.  I have been working on getting my life and health together for some time and have decided to add a few more beans to the pot.

Working At Night!

I am sure I never told everyone that I actually work in the middle of the night in a gourmet to go and catering shop.  I work in the middle of the night so I can be at home with my little girl who unfortunately is to young to attend public school.    Myself along with 3 1/2 other people are responsible for getting out a lot of meals that serve most of Annapolis,MD and areas outside of Annapolis.  I am actually the supervisor of my mom, two friends and the half person just happens to be my sister (she does not work daily).  Working at night is hard because of lack of sleep but it is also a blast.  The rest of the employees in the bakery and catering departments are not there and we have the run of the place. WooHoo!!! You would be surprised how much fun we have and how much food our little group of ladies can put out.

Two Dishes From One!!

Hello again,
You ever have so much of something that you couldn't possibly eat it all or create a big enough dish of one recipe with it?   Well with the same chicken that was given to me because someone else cut to much of it and marinated it, I created another dish.  Using the same chicken from the previous recipe you can make this dish also.

INGREDIENTS:
MARINATED CHICKEN FROM PREVIOUS RECIPE
FRESH PEPPERS (YOUR CHOICE OF COLORS)
CARROTS
ONIONS (RED OR YELLOW)
JALAPENOS
GINGER AND GARLIC
CILANTRO

When ever I create a dish for work or for my family I try to multitask so everything is finished at the same time.  With this dish if you are cooking it from scratch and not like me with the chicken already cut and marinated for me, I would suggest marinating your chicken first and foremost.  The longer it is marinated the more flavor you will have in the chicken breast.  While the chicken is marinating start cutting your vegetables.  The peppers should be cut into large strips as well as the onions.  The carrots should be peeled and cut on an angle because it looks nice and it will cook faster.

Extra Chicken What To Do With It??

Hello, I am back and I have a recipe that I created using some extra chicken that was marinated by someone at my job but they marinated way to much of it.  I created two dishes from this chicken.  The following list is the ingredients I used to create this dish and following my list is my step by step instructions on how I created it.
 INGREDIENTS:
BONELESS CHICKEN BREAST
LIME JUICE (FRESH OR BOTTLE)
SOY SAUCE
RICE VINEGAR
OIL (OLIVE OR CANOLA)
JALAPENOS
DIJON MUSTARD
YELLOW AND GREEN ONION
GINGER (FRESH IS PREFERRED)
PASTA (SPIRAL OR YOUR FAVORITE )
TOMATOES (FRESH ANY TYPE)
BLACK OLIVES (SLICED IS PERFECT)
PARSLEY (FRESH OR DRY OR OMIT)
SALT AND PEPPER (S&P) 

 

First the chicken it self was marinated in: lime juice, soy sauce, fresh ginger, fresh jalapenos if you have them, canola oil, onion, s&p (salt and pepper).  All ingredients are put into a food processor until the onions are chopped completely.  Add this to fresh chicken breast which are cut into strips or how ever you would like to eat it.  After your chicken has been marinated for sometime put the chicken on a baking sheet or pan and cook it for about 10-15 minutes depending on how large your pieces are.  A good rule of thumb for checking if your chicken breast is done is using a thermometer chicken is done at its thickest part when it reaches 165 degrees or higher.  If you do not have a thermometer you can check for firmness of the chicken if it is not firm it is not done.  While your chicken is cooking you can prepare your other ingredients.

Getting Started

Well today is the first day I am posting to my blog. I had the idea come to me a few weeks ago to put what I love to do into a blog. Almost everyday I go into work and have to create something from the seat of my pants. Everyone that I work with tells me all the time, "Write it down", "What if someone orders it?", "Do you remember how you made it?". Like usual I don't listen I think I'll remember it, no one will order it, etc. And on rare occasions I too can be wrong, someone orders it and I have to recreate it and usually it ends up into a whole new recipe. Here you will find some of my ideas and creations. The only thing is I am one of those cooks who cooks "The Way Mom Makes It", a pinch of this a pinch of that, etc.