Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Lemonhead Superfan?

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Lemonhead Superfan?

Brickfish

Moved

I moved to my original blog Ne Ne's Life

Mac and Cheese with Sauteéd Chicken

This is just basic macaroni and cheese with left overs of a basic sauteéd chicken I made the other day. I though it was pretty good.. my one year old loved it. LOL she'll actually eats anything I make but my four year old is a different story.. I guess he doesn't like macaroni and cheese period.

It's pretty simple.. Made a box of macaroni and cheese (I used one of those Kraft macaroni and cheese) .. Once it was cooked I toss some cut up pieces of left over sauteéd chicken I made the other day.

Basic Sauteéd Chicken

I was searching online for recipes on chicken breast and I found this one. Thought it would be easy, simple and fast to make as hubby was coming home soon from work. I sometimes make dinner last minute.

It was actually pretty good.. Hubby liked it a lot. The one in red is what I changed. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup dry white wine or 1 cup chicken broth or another tasty liquid of your choice. Didn't have any of that soooo.. I just used what I had.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1 handful fresh chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1. Begin by trimming the chicken breasts if they need trimming. I use my beloved kitchen scissors and snip off any shaggy bits of fat or gristle.
   
2. Pat them dry with paper towels (to helps them brown) and sprinkle them with some kosher salt.
   
3. Heat a very large pan over medium-high heat and add the butter, which should melt and foam, and the olive oil, which should stop the butter from burning. When the fat is all very hot but not turning black (recipes say "when the foam subsides"), add the chicken breasts in one layer. Now leave them alone for 5 or so minutes while the bottom gets nice and crusty and brown.
   
4. Use tongs or a spatula to flip them over as they brown, and then cook another 4 or so minutes until the bottom is very brown and the chicken is cooked through. You may want to cut a piece open to check, but pressing a cooked breast with your fingertip will give you a feel for its doneness, which will develop over time into the skill of knowing when it's done without cutting it.
   
5. Pile the chicken on a heat-proof plate and pop it into a 200ºF heated oven while you "deglaze" the pan. Pour the wine in and scrape with a spatula to dissolve all the yummy browned bits while the wine bubbles and boils furiously in the hot pan.
   
6. When the wine has cooked down about halfway, add the broth, turn the heat to high, and cook until the sauce seems syrupy and delicious. Taste it for salt, then drizzle it over the chicken, sprinkle with parsley, and serve. Sometimes, if the chicken has browned but doesn't seem quite cooked through, I leave it in the pan while I make the sauce so that it can simmer in there a bit longer.

TIP:

• Thick breasts take too long to cook, and the middle insists on remaining bland. Use very small chicken breasts, cut each one in half to make 2 skinnier breasts, or pound them using a meat tenderizer.
• In a non-stick pan, the chicken may be disinclined to brown correctly, and the brown is where the flavor is here. Try to use a non-non-stick pan.
• Don't be afraid of heat. You want to brown the chicken very well, and you want to do this before the inside turns to quilt batting. The chicken will seem, at first, like it's sticking, but once it's properly browned it will loosen itself as if by magic.
• Slice each breast up crosswise before serving: this allows the sauce to get inside, making it more appealing to eat.

Recipe is from Disney Family

Red Velvet Donuts

Yesterday I made a few red velvet donuts. Hubby bought me a donut pan for my birthday so I wanted to try it out. I made 6 yesterday and 10 today. Recipe was from The Velveteen Baker, which was modified from Sprinkles Bakes.

My first batch wasn't all that great looking. I guess it's cause I made 1/4 of the glaze. I thought 1/2 would be too much for just 6 donuts. Nope, I was so wrong. Well anyways. The rest of the batch came out better. I added some pecans on few of them and it tasted great.



Red Velvet Donuts [Adapted From The Velveteen Baker]

For the Donut Batter:
2 c all purpose flour, sifted
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp red food coloring
1 tbsp natural cocoa powder, not dutch-processed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. butter, melted (I didn't have butter so I used canola oil instead)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray donut pan with nonstick cooking spray. In large mixing bowl, sift together all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a paste with the cocoa and red food coloring. Add buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, butter and red paste mixture and beat until just combined.

Fill each donut cup approximately 3/4 of the way full. Bake 5-8 minutes or until the top of the donuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 4–5 minutes before removing. Finish donuts with vanilla glaze. Donuts are best served fresh.

For the Vanilla Glaze:

2 tbsp hot water
2 cup confectioner’ s sugar
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pecans, to garnish (optional)

In small bowl, stir together all ingredients until sugar is completely dissolved. Use immediately to glaze donuts. You can either toss them in or dip just the tops. If the glaze starts to harden you can add more hot water.

New Book plus First Taste

Today after my son's doctor appointment I went to Barnes and Noble to see if there is anything new. Well I did find a few but just bought one of them.. Have to save money.. Can't help it LOL.. In a couple of months my whole family and I are going to the Philippines to visit my mother-in-law. She wants to see the two kids. She misses them so much :) Well anyway I bought another book called Cupcakes & Muffins by Weldon Owen. I CAN NEVER get enough of any cakes, muffins, dessert, etc cookbooks :)


I bought three more cookbooks last night from Amazon. Can't wait for them to arrive tomorrow. Excited :) I bought the following books:

Also today I can officially say I've tasted my first French Macaron Yay!!! After my son's appointment I yelped for bakeries around the area. Found two.. One didn't have any so I went to the other one called Never too Latte Cafe & Bakery They only had I guess strawberry.. It was pink with white filling in it.. LOL.. I ordered two with white chocolate mocha. Right when I took my first bite I was like OMG this is real good. Hahha.. I tried to make some months back all I can say I did something TOTALLY wrong.. The shells that I made last time is no where near the the ones I bought today. The ones I made were like.. ummm.. well they tasted candy like.. real thin.. it would break very easily to the touch. The ones I bought were thick.. chewy and you can really taste the almond. I can't believe that place I went to makes their own flour to make macarons.. Man I should I bought the rest of it LOL.. making me crave for more.. They only have maybe 10 +/- left.. I think I will try and make some again.. I bought a coffee grinder for grinding nuts LOL.. A food processor may take a lot of space in my kitchen.. And I don't really have that much space left.. I don't even have an electric stand mixer yet :( Need to save some moolah for one..

Spending too much money when I need to save for our trip.. I SO NEED a job :)

New Cookbooks

For the past month now I've been ordering new cookbooks and decorating tutorial books :) So what I bought so far :)

1. Bitchin' Kitchen Cookbook: Rock Your Kitchen-And Let the Boys Clean Up the Mess (Amazon)
2. Macaroons: 30 Recipes For Perfect Bite-Size Treats (Marshalls)
3. Cupcakes & Muffins (Marshalls)
4. New Asian Cooking (Borders)
5. The Gourmet Cookbook (Amazon)
6. Planet Cake: A Beginner's Guide to Decorating Incredible Cakes (eBay)

I still got a TON of cookbooks to get LOL. Some of the books I bought, had great deals on them. Especially like the Gourmet Cookbook... I got it on Amazon for around $5.00.. Right now it went back to $22 :)