Skillet Rosemary Chicken

If you are looking for a simple and elegant meal that is healthy and delicious, I have the recipe for you. This skillet dish is quick and easy but still super flavorful and impressive looking. It also includes some of my favorite things; rosemary, red skin potatoes, and mushrooms. Trust me, it's a winning combination! I think rosemary is my favorite herb, it is just so yummy! I love it with potatoes, and I love it with chicken, so this dish combines all of that into one pan for a complete meal that everyone will love.

I've made this dish several times now and have found that I really love the mushrooms so I always add extra. If you like mushrooms too, I encourage you to add a few more than the 10 ounces called for. A few extra potatoes never hurt either, if you have room in your pan that is. One word of caution, the original recipe called for the juice of two lemons which I found a bit overpowering. I love lemon, but the juice of two lemons was just too much. I suggest using just one lemon (or not juicing the two lemons too vigorously), but you can adjust to your taste however works best. I also found that adding a splash of white wine was an excellent choice, I think adding wine is always delicious!

Skillet Rosemary Chicken

Adapted from: 

Minimally Invasive

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound -1 pound small red-skinned potatoes, halved, or quartered if large
• Kosher salt
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons leaves
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Juice of 1 lemons (squeezed halves reserved)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4-6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs or 3 chicken leg quarters
• 10 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved (or more if you like mushrooms)
• splash of white wine

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450. Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes; drain and set aside.

Pile the rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board, then mince and mash into a paste using a large knife. Transfer the paste to a bowl. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and the olive oil. Add the chicken and turn to coat.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from pan; add the mushrooms and potatoes to the skillet followed by a splash of white wine. Place chicken over mushrooms and potatoes and drizzle with any marinade remaining in the bowl.

Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halves to the skillet; transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Homemade pizza has become one of my go-to dinners. All I have to do is whip up a quick batch of my favorite pizza dough, throw whatever I have on hand on top of one of the crusts and slide it into the oven, right onto my awesome pizza stone. I've found that this is a great way to use up leftovers. Almost anything you can think of can be turned into a pizza. I love the versatility and creativity a blank crusts offers, just let your imagination run wild.

The key to really good homemade pizza is a super hot oven and cooking surface. A baking stone is your best bet, it will produce pizza with the crispest, most professional tasting crust. If you don't have one, an upside down cookie sheet will do, but it won't get as hot as the stone will. Also, when it's time to heat up your oven, crank it up as high as it will possibly go, usually 500 or 550, and let your stone heat up for at least 30 minutes, or an hour if you have the time. The hotter the better for pizza. Trust me, this will take your pizza to a whole new level.

This week I made barbecue chicken wraps and had some leftover sauce and chicken so what was the first thing I thought of; barbecue chicken pizza of course! I used the leftover barbecue sauce for the base. I used a recipe from Tyler Florence for the sauce, I've made it several times and love how easy and delicious it turns out, thick and sweet. I just topped this canvas with the leftover chicken, onions, peppers and cheese. It couldn't get much easier, or much more delicious. Homemade pizza really is one of my all time favorite dinners, it's almost impossible to mess it up so there are no excuses not to try it for yourself.

Dough, ready to go

Sauce it up

Topping time

Finished with some cheese

Slide the whole thing from the 

pizza peel into the oven

In just a few minutes, you're ready to eat!

Perfect Pizza Dough
Adapted from Annie's Eats, originally from Baking Illustrated
Ingredients

• 4 cups (22 ounces) bread flour, plus more for dusting 
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 
• 1 3/4 cup water, at room temperature 
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour, yeast and salt, mixing briefly to blend. Add the water and olive oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into four equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball. If using immediately, cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes. You can also refrigerate or freeze any dough you don't want to use. Just place each piece in a greased plastic bag and put in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze for a couple of weeks/months. When you want to make pizza, thaw overnight in the fridge (if frozen). Take the dough out of the fridge about an hour before you want to make pizza and let come to room temperature before proceeding.

To bake, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 500˚ F for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to your pizza peel or shaping surface, lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Shape the dough with lightly floured hands. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil. Top as desired. Slide into the oven and bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes. (If you don't have a pizza stone, use a heavy duty cookie sheet placed upside down in the oven. You can shape the pizza directly on parchment paper and slide the whole thing, parchment paper and all, into the oven on top of the upside down cookie sheet.)

Barbecue Sauce
From: Tyler Florence
Ingredients

• 1 slice bacon 
• 1 bunch fresh thyme 
• Extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1/2 onion, chopped 
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped 
• 2 cups ketchup 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup molasses 
• 2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard 
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika if available 
• Freshly ground black pepper 

Directions
Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the thyme and cook slowly 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors.

Struffoli

At Christmas last year my mom saw an episode of Giada at Home in which Giada made struffoli for dessert. My mom thought it looked so fun and interesting and she really wanted to make it for Christmas, but we never got around to it, other things got in the way and when Christmas was over, we hadn't made the struffoli. This Christmas, I was randomly watching the food network and what should I see, the Giada Christmas episode in which she makes struffoli! I thought it looked fun and make and delicious and knew that this year we had to try it out.

According to Wikipedia, "struffoli is a Neapolitan dish made of deep fried balls of dough about the size of marbles. Struffoli are crunchy on the outside and light inside. They are mixed with honey and other sweet things." This is a winning combo in my book. Fried dough covered in sweetness, sign me up!

Making the struffoli turned out to be a lot of fun and really not that much work. Forming all the little balls of dough took a little time, but it really wasn't that bad. The dough came together quickly and the little doughnuts fried up in just a few minutes. I heated my oil while I was forming all the balls of dough, and it was just about ready when I finished with the dough. The glaze was quick and easy, and forming the wreath wasn't bad at all, but it was sure nice to have two people working on it. This is definitely a recipe to do with others. It's fun to do while talking and laughing with friends or family. 

The finished project turned out really well, but I don't think it was perfect. I omitted the hazelnuts in the recipe because I didn't have any, but I would like try it with the hazelnuts sometime. A lot of my glaze kind of pooled under the wreath once it had cooled which didn't seem quite right, but it still tasted very nice. The mini doughnuts seemed a little dry, but I may have fried them too long, I don't have a ton of experience frying. Regardless of this, I would definitely try this again. I thought it was a fun Christmas treat that is easy to pick at throughout the night. You can take just one or two little balls and pop them in your mouth. A fun finger food dessert. 

Although struffoli is traditionally served at Christmas and Easter, I think this would be fun any time of year. You could mold it into different shapes depending on the season or holiday, and you could decorate it with different colored sprinkles. Right now I'm thinking a football shaped struffoli with colors in your team's colors for the Superbowl would be a lot of fun, or how about a heart for Valentines Day? The possibilities are endless!

The dough, ready to cut up 

Form the dough into ropes and them cut the 

ropes into tiny little chunks, they 

can be smaller than you think

Getting there!

Frying them all up

Place on paper towels to drain, then throw

them in a bowl

Grease a cup and get your serving plate ready

Ready to assemble

Take the little doughnuts

And cover them with the glaze

Then start shaping it around the glass

Once cooled, remove the glass, dust with powdered sugar and cover it with sprinkles, Enjoy!

Struffoli
From The Food Network
Ingredients

• 2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting 
• 1 large lemon, zested (about 2 teaspoons) 
• 1/2 large orange, zested (about 2 teaspoons) 
• 3 tablespoons sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1 tablespoon white wine, such as pinot grigio 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• Canola oil, for frying 
• 1 cup honey 
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice 
• 1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted (I didn't use) 
• Vegetable oil cooking spray 
• Sugar sprinkles, for decoration 
• Powdered sugar, for dusting 

Directions
For the dough: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together 2 cups of flour, lemon zest, orange zest, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the eggs, wine, and vanilla. Pulse until the mixture forms into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece into 1/2 inch thick logs and cut into equal sized half inch pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a small ball about the size of a hazelnut. Lightly dredge the dough balls in flour, shaking off any excess In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 375 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer, a cube of bread will brown in about 3 minutes). In batches, fry the dough until lightly golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a paper bowl lined plate to drain. 

In a large saucepan, combine the honey, sugar, and lemon juice over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the fried dough and hazelnuts and stir until coated in the honey mixture. Allow the mixture to cool in the pan for 2 minutes.

Spray the outside of a small, straight-sided water glass with vegetable oil cooking spray and place in the center of a round platter. Using a large spoon or damp hands, arrange the struffoli and hazelnuts around the glass to form a wreath shape. Drizzle any remaining honey mixture over the struffoli. Allow to set for 2 hours (can be made 1 day in advance). Decorate with sprinkles and dust with powdered sugar, if using. Remove the glass from the center of the platter and serve.