Recipe for Greco-Roman Chicken Scaloppini

For dinner tonight I made my "world famous" Greco-Roman Chicken Scaloppini. 

Ingredients

Three medium skinless, boneless chicken breasts sliced not too thin, pounded thinly and dipped lightly in all-purse flour. 

Three cups of sliced baby Bella mushrooms. 

Four medium shallots diced. 

Three tablespoons of my own sun dried cherry tomatoes with some of their oil. 

Two cups of sweet peas. 

Four cloves of garlic. I used my own that I grew last year. It’s a popular variety called Music and it’s just delicious. 

3/4 cup vegetable stock, chicken stock will be even better. 

1/2 wine. I use Riesling made locally at the Brotherhood Winery.  

Olive oil

Butter

Salt and pepper 

About 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour  

Eventually I made pasta and topped it with the chicken Scaloppini  

Directions

Remove any excess fat from the chicken breasts, slice them, pound them thin and dip them in the flour. Please remember that we’re not making Kentucky Fried Chicken here, take it easy with the flour. 

I sliced the mushrooms, onions, sun dried tomatoes, garlic and parsley. Slice the garlic a bit wide not too thin. 

I used a non-stick pan and added about 1/4 cup of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. Once the oil and butter were nice and hot I added the chicken. Once the edges of the chicken changed color I turned them over and cooked for one more minute. I set the chicken aside, covered. 

In the same pan I added the onions, cooked them for two minutes and then added the garlic and cooked for another minute. 

Then, I added the sliced mushrooms and cooked them for about five minutes. Added a little pepper, to taste. 

I added the sun dried tomatoes along with their oil. When I dried them last year I added a nice sprinkle of salt, so don’t over salt your food when using sun dried tomatoes.

I mixed everything nicely and then added the Riesling wine followed by the vegetable stock and the sweet peas. Brought everything to a nice boil and added the chicken. I added about two tablespoons of butter and mixed everything nicely  

Ahead of time I added the stock in a pot and kept it warm there. You don’t want to add stock while cooking straight from the refrigerator. The same with the sweet peas that were frozen. I took them out of the freezer before I started and by the time I needed them they were at room temperature. 

I cooked it for another 10 minutes allowing some of the liquid to evaporate and the sauce to thicken up. Don’t forget that the chicken has a nice coating of flour that will help thickening the sauce  

The day before I made two traditional loaves of Greek flat bread called Lagána, Λαγάνα. I sliced thinly three pieces off the bread and toasted them lightly.

The pasta was perfectly cooked, the chicken was ready, the Lagána slices were ready and Alexa was playing Dr. Zhivago.

Dinner was fit for a king.

Yum!

Happy cooking!

Enrich Your Mulch Pile by Adding Used Coffee Grounds

I've written several posts about my mulch piles (ref 1, ref 2, ref 3) and you probably already know that I'm really serious about mulching.

During the latter part of 2018 and beginning of 2019, I was going to a local bagel shop. They were saving their used coffee grounds for me. I would go there on Monday to drop off a 9" x 9" aluminum pan and on Thursday I would pick it up full of used coffee grounds. I would add that to my mulch piles and then mix it in a little with the existing material. Every three weeks or so I would pull the contents of the whole mulch pile out, mix it and shovel it back in again. But the amount of used coffee grounds was too little, I wanted more coffee grounds.

Used coffee grounds contain nitrogen as well as some potassium and phosphorus, plus other micronutrients. Adding them to your mulch pile is a good thing. I do NOT add, used or not, coffee grounds directly to the soil.

One sunny spring morning, I went to a Starbucks on Route 300 in Newburgh, NY, to talk to them about their used coffee grounds. I must say, I thought they would laugh at me, but I was wrong. After talking with the manager I found out that the store is very happy to save and give their used coffee grounds to local gardeners. The manager asked me to come back after a week or so because they already have someone who they give their grounds to. Sweet!

As a backup, I drove to my favorite supermarket, Adams Fairacre Farms in Newburgh, to ask them about their used coffee grounds. I knew they had a self-serve area where they sell a variety of coffees and teas. I never paid attention to that area because I am not a coffee drinker. I spoke with the manager and she stated that she would be very happy to give me their used coffee grounds. YES!!!

Well, I got a call a day and a half later from them and they told me that they had a batch ready for me. To start with, let me apologize to all cars and street-crossing people who I almost had an accident with. I drove there like a bat out of hell, parked the car and quickly walked to the coffee area and announced myself. The person working there asked me to get a shopping cart. Well that was a good sign, but I was not sure why. THEY HAD TWO (2) FIVE-GALLON, FOOD GRADE BUCKETS FULL OF USED COFFEE GROUNDS FOR ME! The funny part was that they apologized to me because they had a third bucket, but an employee mistakenly threw it out.

The point that I am trying to make in this post is that home gardeners can go to their local:

• diner/restaurant;
• coffee shop;
• deli;
• Starbucks;
• supermarket;
• bagel shop,

and any other place where they serve coffee and talk to them about getting their used coffee grounds. They will be delighted to share them with you. If you don't take their used coffee grounds, well, they will end up in a garbage can, and that will be a terrible thing.

Keep on drinking coffee!

The Brussels Sprouts are Sprouting!

YES! Less than a week ago I set up a small station indoors and planted a few seeds and today, BAM, several Brussels Sprouts seeds have sprouted!! How 'bout them sprouts! I feel giddy with delight and I find it very hard to contain myself.

Here is an extreme close up of one of the cells.

The general location is in the upper right corner of the tray.

In the upper right corner there are three, that's right, count them, three cells that have sprouted.

Happy sprouting!

Greek Prasorizo - Leek and Rice

This was my dad's most favorite dish and my mom would make it very often for him. The recipe is very simple and easy to follow. Because leeks are grown in sandy soil, the most difficult part is washing the leeks.

The ingredients are few and can scale easily.

• One cup of rice.
• Two leeks, cut lengthwise and then cut roughly.
• One large diced onion.
• Two cups of vegetable broth.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

In this recipe I make a quick vegetable stock and use it instead of using water to make the rice. The vegetable stock adds a new dimension to this dish. Please stay away from store-bought stocks.

I made a nice YouTube video of the whole process and I think you'll enjoy it. 

This is such a wonderful dish that can be eaten as a meal or as a nice side dish.

Enjoy!

Making a Small Batch of Sauerkraut

A few days ago I made a small batch of sauerkraut. I had made a much larger batch of sauerkraut recently, but it was so good that I ate all of it. The next batch will be with red cabbage. Yum!

Sauerkraut fermentation creates conditions that promote the growth of beneficial probiotics. Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for your digestive system.

By the way, on Route 52 in Orange County, NY, there is a small strip of stores and one of them is called SourKrauts Automotive. I have to go there and mingle with them because I really think they are a bunch of angry Germans or some sort of sauerkraut aficionados who love cars. Once I visit them I will edit this post with the findings.

For this recipe, I used one medium head of white cabbage and one tablespoon of salt. I made a YouTube video of the whole process.

Happy fermenting...

Greek Lemon Chicken with Potatoes in the Oven - Κοτόπουλο του φούρνου με πατάτες και λεμόνι

Recently I posted a YouTube video demonstrating a traditional Greek/Hellenic recipe, Κοτόπουλο του φούρνου με πατάτες και λεμόνι, which translates to Baked Chicken with potatoes and lemon.

In this dish I use a "secret" ingredient that makes it smell yummy and taste delicious. Our family would visit Greece during the summer months and we would have lunch at Berry Trees, Μουριές, a darling little taverna nestled in Hania (village), Evia (region). I found a Facebook post on the page Avlonari, such a lovely place and I copied the following picture that shows the outdoor seating area of this taverna.

They have indoor and outdoor seating available, but it's just great having lunch under the canopy of a blackberry tree. There, I spoke with the mom of the owner and she told me that she smears mustard on the potatoes and chicken. The mustard gives this dish a delicate flavor and I've been using it in this recipe ever since with success.

Keep eating!

Great Vegan Lunch!

YES! A healthy and very filling lunch.

Ingredients 

• One wrap,
• some delicious hummus purchased from All Things Delicious in Pine Bush, NY,
• a spoonful of ShopRite tapenade,
• two sliced dried figs,
• a few leaves of Romaine lettuce, also known as Kos (a Hellenic/Greek island) lettuce,
• some of my delicious homemade sauerkraut,
• some extra Romaine lettuce leaves. 

UPDATE! I created a nifty video showing the making of this delicious and easy to make wrap.

YUM! Delicious, indeed!

Keep spreading the hummus!

Greek Style Green Beans in Instant Pot - Φασολάκια Λαδερά

In Greek, this dish is called Φασολάκια Λαδερά (Beans in Oil) – pronounced fah-so-lah-kia la-deh-ra. It is a very simple recipe and it seems much more like a "stew" to me.

The ingredients are:

• 1 1/4 lbs green beans with two ends cut;
• 3 1/2 large tomatoes grated;
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste;
• 6-7 large mushrooms sliced;
• 3 large potatoes cut in large pieces;
• 3 medium onions sliced;
• 1/4 cup olive oil;
• 1 tablespoon sugar.

To Serve:

• Feta cheese, feel free to exclude this to make this a vegan dish;
• Bread.

To cook this delicious dish I used my Instant Pot, my newest acquisition. I remember my mom using her pressure cooker back in the 1960s at our home in Nea Smirni, Greece (1, 2). My parents had friended a family, Mr. and Mrs. Koutelaki, that repatriated themselves from Istanbul, Asia Minor to Nea Smirni, Greece. Mrs. Koutelaki taught my mom how to use the pressure cooker. We didn't call it "pressure cooker", though, instead we called it "Düdüklü", a Turkish name, that's what Mrs' Koutelaki called it. The pressure cooker reduces the cooking time by a lot. If you are not using a pressure cooker you should cook this dish for about one hour, with the pressure cooker, though, you only need to cook it for 20 minutes. 

I created a YouTube video that shows the complete process. Here it is.

Happy cooking!

Sally's Fish Market

I am writing this post to credit Sally's Fish Market, located in Newburgh, with all the fresh fish that I use in my recipes.

Their address is:

270 South William Street

Newburgh, New York 12550

Sal himself hand selects the produce down at the Fulton Fish Market at Hunt's Point multiple times a week. The produce is then brought back where the crew is eagerly waiting to fillet the fresh catch, ensuring the freshest fish available. The counter help is knowledgeable and friendly.

Last time I visited their store, they were giving away several food-grade plastic containers and I took advantage of this very generous offer. I will use these containers for growing seeds and small plants.


I always support small businesses and Sally's Fish Market is my go-to place for fresh fish.

Keep on fishing!

Baked Greek Chicken with Potatoes - YUM!!!!

Greek Chicken with Potatoes

This recipe has been upgraded and there is a video of it included at the bottom of this post.

Tasting my Sauerkraut

Recently I made healthy, delicious and probiotic-rich sauerkraut at home and today I am giving it the BIG taste test. I remove the lid, weight, and plastic seal and got my big fork ready. It was DELICIOUS!

Since I liked the taste,  I will store it in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation process. It can stay in the refrigerator for several months.

Here is the Youtube video:

Happy fermenting!

Steamed Lobster Rolls

Every time we visit Ogunquit (beautiful place by the sea), Maine, we go to The Lobster Shack at Perkins Cove for lobster rolls. Having a lobster roll using a freshly caught lobster is just heavenly.

Because I didn't want to deal with the death of a live lobster via steam, I bought three large lobster tails from Sally's Market in Newburgh, NY. The tails were already deveined and ready for use.

Since they were frozen, I kept them in the refrigerator for two days to completely defrost them.

I used:

• three lobster tails;
• 1/2 cup finely diced celery;
• 1/2 cup finely diced shallots;
• about 1/2 cup mayonnaise;
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley.

Feel free to use salt and pepper if you would like.

Here is the complete video from my YouTube channel:

Happy cooking!

Making Sauerkraut

I love sauerkraut. I love eating it on sandwiches or as a side dish.

I've created an informative YouTube video showing all the steps to making sauerkraut.

Happy fermenting!

Chicken á la Brett Kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and he was nominated by President Donald Trump to succeed Anthony Kennedy.

Before his nomination, Professor of Psychology Christine Blasey Ford claimed that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s while the two of them were in high school. Two other women also accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh denied all three allegations.

The Senate Judiciary Committee invited both Kavanaugh and Ford to provide testimony about the allegation. During Kavanaugh's testimony Kavanaugh talked at length about his drinking habits while growing up in suburban Maryland.

Kavanaugh said:

"I drank beer with my friends, almost everyone did. Sometimes I had too many beers, sometimes others did." The he continued "I liked beer, I still like beer,"

Well, this recipe is inspired by Kavanaugh's love for beer.  Here is the youtube video.

Keep on drinking beer Brett!