"Planned-Overs": Chicken Salad Sandwiches and Homemade Honey Wheat Bread

Last night, I watched a Barefoot Contessa episode that I had recorded. Ina made chicken salad, using her "secret ingredient" of tarragon. Yes!!! I had a little too much cooked chicken for the Chicken & Mushroom with Balsamic Cream Sauce dinner I had made, the night before.

Ina served her sandwich on a beautiful whole wheat bread. That got me to thinking-- lately, I've been disappointed in the tasteless (and expensive) commercial bread I've been buying. I decided it was time to start baking bread again. Every time I bake bread, I wonder why I wait so long!

I am not a master baker of bread, by any means. I read blogs with the most beautiful Artisan bread photos-- and I vow that I will practice this art, when I have more time. In the meantime, I've learned a few simple tricks that have yielded pretty decent bread. I will admit, though, that I no longer use a bread machine. Mine broke, and that's when I realized how easy it is to use my Kitchen Aid Stand mixer. Unlike some true bread baking experts, I don't particularly want to knead my dough by hand!

Anyway, let's start with the bread. I used a recipe that has never failed me over several years:

Honey Wheat Bread (you will see the entire recipe at the bottom of this post, via "Key Ingredient").

Besides my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, and the dough hook, I use a "Dough Doubler". Let me save you some money-- you can buy these at King Arthur Flour's website, like I did. Or, you can find out that most restaurant supply stores sells these buckets. They're what restaurants and caterers use to prep, store and tote ingredients in. That way, I no longer have to dig out a big bowl and bother with using plastic wrap. I recently read that a shower cap works great. I'm getting ahead of myself, again--

I preheat my oven to 250F for a couple minutes, then turn it off. This makes a nice draft-free place for me to let my dough rise.

I use Bread Machine rapid rise yeast, by the way. There are all kinds of yeasts, but I'll stick to the basics (and that's about all that I know anyway).

To begin, I added sugar and the yeast to warm water and set that aside. Next, I added the evaporated milk, water and whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur flour, by the way). I let the KA mix it, and let it rest for 15 minutes...and, as usual, I cleaned up the mess and got the oven warmed.

Next, I added the unbleached white flour and let the KA mixer do all the kneading for about 5 minutes.

I like to use a light layer of olive oil, and then I placed the dough and turned it to coat. That's when my husband said he was going to hit the jacuzzi, and I decided to join him.

45 minutes later, I was ready to "punch" the dough. I've read enough bread bakers advice, that I should not take that literally! I am gentle about that.

My kitchen is not much larger than a postage stamp, so this is what works well for me:
I place a wet dish cloth on top of my cutting board, to keep things from slipping around. Then I place one of my nifty plastic cutting mats on top, sprinkle some flour and that's where I fold the dough and work out the bubbles (and say a little prayer). I love my bench scraper (or whatever you might call it) for so many things. Here, I like to cut the dough in half.

Here's where I wish I had saved those shower caps from hotel rooms! I used plastic wrap and put these back into the oven for the second rise-- 30 minutes.

I removed them before preheating the oven (obviously) and filled a small pan with water and set it on the very bottom rack. I read that this helps to make "steam". True or not, I find that my bread turns out moister, so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

There is nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread, is there? Well, maybe cinnamon rolls, but home baked bread is so good!

Now let me introduce you to a gadget that I have owned for years. These aren't sold any longer, as far as I know. I've seen people on eBay, bidding furiously for these-- mine is not for sale:

How cool is that?! Want to see it again?


The slicing guides are in different colors, so that I match the electric knife in perfect alignment! That's how these slices look so perfect:

I am happy to report that this bread is a winner!

Right about now, the men in the house are hungry. I'd better get busy with the chicken salad:

Simple-- cooked chicken, celery, salt &pepper, fresh tarragon and -- if you know Ina Garten-- "Good" Mayonnaise. Ina, please get a clue-- nobody wants to use bad mayonnaise! I can't find Hellman's Mayo where I live. So, it's Trader Joe's.

I really wanted to add scallions to this, but the men said "no"! Secretly, I would love to add dried cranberries-- maybe tomorrow, for my lunch.

Right about now, I can feel the men anxiously waiting for lunch. I got to working fast... a little more mayo, some lettuce.... here! Lunch is ready:

I actually didn't eat one of these. I'm not a HUGE fan of mayonnaise. The boys loved it.

Me? Somebody has to eat the "heel" of the bread. I guess I'm a heel (ark, ark, ark):


This is delicious bread! I hope that you try it.

An Ode to Canned Cream of Mushroom Soup- Chicken and Mushrooms with Balsamic Cream Sauce

I can remember-- "back in the day" (before I became aware of not buying processed foods) when I used to stockpile Cream of Mushroom soup. If I needed to make a fast dinner, that was my "go to" (or even cream of chicken soup). A few years ago, Rachael Ray made this dinner and I was forever committed to never buying a can of cream soup again! This recipe has become a favorite "repeat" dinner. I especially love balsamic vinegar and I do love heavy cream. Fortunately, there isn't a LOT of heavy cream in this recipe, so I don't feel super guilty when I eat this.

I've made a few adaptations to this recipe-- instead of orzo, I prefer to make brown rice (cooked in chicken stock) or wild rice. While I love thyme, I very fond of fresh tarragon. Fortunately, I have a LOT of French tarragon growing in my herb garden.

If you are receiving my blog feeds via Feed Burner, just click on the SEE THIS RECIPE ON KEY INGREDIENT. The recipe is printed at the bottom of this post. So, here's how easy this is:

I like to use cremini mushrooms (Rachael Ray uses a combo of shitake, cremini and button mushrooms...you decide). I use shallots, fresh garlic, butter, flour, Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, chicken stock and heavy cream-- of course, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper...and boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

While my brown rice was cooking, I browned the chicken (after patting it bone dry and seasoning with S&P):

I cooked the chicken for about 6 minutes on each side...


Plated it, and covered with foil to keep it warm.

In the same skillet, I browned the mushrooms, then the shallots, garlic and fresh tarragon and a little more salt and pepper. The fragrance of the fresh tarragon, to me, is divine.

Then I added the flour, and cooked it for a couple of minutes...



Then the chicken stock and heavy cream gets added... it thickens up in a few minutes.
I had some beautiful summer squash that I cut up and cooked in a little olive oil and butter-- just a little butter! I love Herbs de Provence, so that's what I seasoned them with. I let those saute' while I finished cutting the chicken, on the bias.

To finish the meal, I returned the chicken (and the juice, for more flavor) back into the sauce.

I'd bet that this dish tastes delicious with orzo or even buttered noodles. Tonight, we enjoyed this with brown rice.

For a delicious recipe for Golden Cream of Mushroom soup, click here:

Coffee and doughnut muffins-- and a new gadget

NOTE: This photo is from Fine Cooking. Looks good, huh? My version turned out a lot different! Read on...

For me, I am cursed with a very active part of my brain-- the one that is connected to my taste buds. I find that my thoughts become so focused on a particular flavor or craving, that I develop a mission to get busy in the kitchen. Last night, I was determined to bake a New York Crumb Cake recipe that I've saved, at least a year ago. This morning, I was feeling a little groggy. I couldn't bond with the thought of rolling crumbs, by hand (this is the technique of the recipe that intrigued me). I was still determined to bake something for breakfast as a treat to myself and my family.

Then, I remembered that I had baked doughnut muffins months ago (Fine Cooking). I read my notes, and I realized that I have never given my "Muffin Crown Pans" a maiden voyage! Never heard of a Muffin Crown Pan? I confess-- when I eat a muffin , or a cupcake, I pull the bottom off and eat that first. Then, I enjoy the top. This pan, in theory, bakes only the top. I bought this pan, last July, at the King Arthur Flour website (note: KAF calls this a Muffin Top Pan).

I also made a few modifications to the recipe-- first, I cut the recipe ingredients in half. The last thing I need are 24 muffins in my kitchen! I increased the buttermilk and added a little bit of vanilla to the batter. The Fine Cooking recipe said to blend the dry and milk ingredients, by hand. I used my stand mixer (since I had to cream the butter and sugar together), but I used the lowest speed, and only in spurts. I'll take any shortcut that I can!



The tricky part, was trying to guess how much dough to fill each muffin well. Next, I wondered how long to bake these (in a traditional muffin tin, the recipe said 25-30 minutes).

I used an ice cream scoop, and I got a total of 10 muffins.

Note to self-- maybe you need to use about 1/4 less of an ice cream scoop. I thought that the muffins rose a little too high. I baked the muffins for 15 minutes.




I allowed the muffins to cool for about 3 minutes before they easily came out of the pan. I was disappointed that the bottom of the muffins were too brown, and bordering "burned".
One more note to self: place the rack a little higher and consider decreasing the baking time to about 13 minutes.


The male vultures (husband and son) had to be chased away so that a) they wouldn't block my light to photograph and b) I had to brush melted, unsalted butter on top.

Last, I used my shaker to sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the muffins. (The original recipe said to brush melted butter and to roll them in cinnamon sugar... I didn't care for that. It looked "gloppy"). I also thought that these could be glazed, while hot-- not quite Krispy Kreme, but a nice alternative.

Overall, the muffins are good. Do they taste like doughnuts? I think that's a stretch. I would say that these resemble Snickerdoodles. They're great with a cup of coffee.

I'm going to start using this pan, more often. Come to think of it, I originally bought this pan to make Whoopie Pies! I've never made them, but I've got a recipe I've been anxious to try.
Stay tuned...

Girl's night home alone-- My fast food is Parsley Pesto Pasta with Peas

Do not adjust your monitor. You are not seeing double (from yesterday). The only encore ingredient is leftover campanelle pasta from last night's Spring Pasta. I'm home alone, and I am cooking for just me. Ha! That means I can eat whatever I want. My husband's idea of cooking for himself is to pour a bowl of Frosted Flakes-- better yet, a bowl of chips and a cold beer. Me? I need something fast, easy and flavorful. What could I make with that pasta, I thought...

So, then I got to thinking-- how hard could it be to make my own pesto sauce? I've seen it done, many times. All you need is fresh basil, olive oil, garlic and pine nuts (or walnuts). I had everything I needed--except for fresh basil. My husband says he "hates" pesto. I could never get a sensible answer as to why, but I accepted that and I've never made any kind of pesto recipe for him. So tonight was the night for me to see what pesto pasta is all about--

Then I thought... hmmmm, my Italian parsley bush is growing like crazy. I was thinking of making a chimichurri sauce soon....but could I make a parsley pesto sauce?


I gathered up my ingredients and headed to my garden.

I added all of my ingredients, except for the olive oil. I drizzled the olive oil, while pureeing everything in my 30 year old Cuisinart (what a faithful kitchen tool this has been for me).


That didn't take long! I tasted it. Hmmm, a little "bitter"... kind of like eating a lawn.
Oh yeah! Marjoram! I remember seeing a recipe for Parsley and Marjoram pesto. So, I cut some fresh marjoram:


I added the marjoram leaves to the pesto, and tasted it. Success! (I could sure taste the garlic...whoo!)
In a pan, I added the pasta (that I had gently reheated), some thawed peas, about 2 Tbsp of pesto and some fresh lemon zest-- and then a pinch of red pepper flakes.


This is my idea of fast food! Simple, fresh, flavorful-- much better than a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

Only one problem-- I think I should have cut back on the garlic cloves. Hopefully my husband will taste this dish, so that his garlic will cancel out mine. I love garlic. I just hope that my husband does, tonight. Or, I'll be facing away from him in bed.

I'm going to freeze the rest of the pesto in an ice tray, and then store it in a zip-loc bag. I can think of other possibilities to use this pesto in other recipes. I'll bet anything that my husband doesn't even realize why his food will taste so good...unless he reads this blog. He usually doesn't, though-- so it's our little secret.

I'm sold. Pesto is easy to make, and I can see a lot of possibilities. While I love basil, this was a fun way to use my herbs that are thriving in this mild pre-spring California weather.

Spring Pasta - Campanelle Pasta with Asparagus, Peas and Pancetta

One of my morning daily blog visits is at "Stacey Snacks". Stacey made a beautiful spring farfalle pasta, with asparagus, peas, prosciutto and sage. I realized that I had leftover asparagus from my flat-iron steak dinner, and plenty of shallots. I decided that I would make pasta for dinner. I didn't have farfalle pasta, but I found a box of campanelle pasta (I'm a pasta collector, I admit).

I decided to make a similar version of Stacey's recipe, but I used a few extra ingredients. I have a huge jar of julienned sun-dried tomatoes, in oil, that was an impulse buy at Costco. I could feed all of Sicily on what's in the jar, so I wanted to make another dent in it. I also had an almost empty bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (I buy it at Trader Joe's for cooking purposes). My sage plant is just starting to come back with larger leaves, so I opted to cut some fresh Italian parsley instead.

I didn't measure, so I'll try and give you a general idea:

I didn't photograph all of my ingredients, because I was going by impulse at the time:

One of my favorite deli staples is pre-cut pancetta, from Trader Joe's. It's perfect for busy weeknight cooking. I thawed some frozen peas, chopped some fresh asparagus, garlic, shallots. Not pictured is fresh Italian parsley, about 1/4 cup of julienned, cut sun-dried tomatoes and a block of parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

While the pasta was cooking in salted water, I heated a little olive oil, and started to cook the pancetta:


Then I added the shallots for a minute, or two:



The garlic was added at the end, just until fragrant so that it wouldn't burn and become bitter.

Then I added the white wine (about 1/2 cup) and reduced that for a couple of minutes; then I added the sun-dried tomatoes and some chicken stock (about 1/2 cup). I let that reduce for a few minutes. In the meantime...


When the pasta was 2 minutes from being al dente, I tossed in the asparagus into the pot and then I drained the pasta and asparagus:


I added about 1/2 cup of heavy cream to the sauce:

...and let it reduce for a few minutes more.


Last, I added the pasta & cooked asparagus, peas and fresh Italian parsley, and I use a micro plane to grate fresh cheese.

Once again, dinner was ready in 30 minutes!

Oh, this was so good-- especially with the last of a bottle of Chardonnay we had purchased on my birthday trip to Napa, California. My son wasn't home, so the hubby and I enjoyed our pretty pasta dinner-- we had seconds. It was a spontaneous romantic dinner-- and so delicious.

Flat Iron Steak with Potato and Corn Mash, Pioneer Woman Style

I am so glad that I discovered Flat-Iron steak. Never had it? It's worth a try, because I consider that to be my low-budget Filet Mignon. After my sugar high from the Texas Chocolate Sheet cake that I baked, I had a sudden urge for grilled steak, potatoes, veggies and a green salad.

"The Pioneer Woman Cook's" published a new recipe for Potato and Corn Mash. What perfect timing! I had 1/2 of a red pepper I needed to use, some leftover chopped chives, and plenty of onions. All I needed were potatoes, so I decided to buy Yukon Gold's-- my personal favorite.

I raced off to my local butcher and bought two pretty steaks for $8.99 a pound:


These steaks are on a clear, plastic cutting mat, by the way...and not directly on my counter! I'm really careful about handling raw meat, and I was my hands a lot!

Tonight, I just seasoned them with Montreal Steak Seasoning.

I boiled the Yukon Gold's until fork tender-- about 20 minutes, drained them and set them back on the stove at a low heat...to evaporate any extra water. I don't like watery, soupy taters.

In the meantime, I chopped the red bell pepper, onion and grated some fresh garlic and sauteed that in a little olive oil:


As luck would have it, I had about two tablespoons of leftover reduced fat cream cheese, 2 Tablespoons of butter, about 1/4 cup of heavy cream and some whole milk. I added half of my corn (I happened to have a can of it waaaaaay back in my pantry) and mashed that with the potatoes, butter, cream cheese and (I would guess) a 1/2 cup, total, of heavy cream and milk. The potatoes were a little chunky, and I liked the texture a lot-- especially with the corn.

These sure looked like confetti, once I added fresh chopped chives. I was getting REALLY hungry!

I didn't get a good shot of the steaks, grilling in my cast iron pan. Pardon the unfocused shot, because my natural light was fading fast:

If I'm not using my outdoor Weber (and I much prefer that), I use my cast iron griddle and get it screaming hot! I cook these for about 3 minutes, on each side. I use a thermometer and cook it till 145F. I let the steaks "rest", under foil for a few minutes.


Perfect! Medium, just the way I like it!


The potato and corn mash was really good. I liked that I mashed these, by hand, and they were kind of chunky. This is definitely a side dish that I will make again and again.


The asparagus tips were locally grown, fresh picked for $1.49 a pound. What a deal! We love them, roasted, with olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I set the oven at 450F and they were good to go in 10 minutes. A little squeeze of fresh lemon juice was perfect.

Heaven. I love flat-iron steak. My butcher always sells tender steaks. I hope that you can find this cut of meat. I fed my son (husband wasn't in the mood for steak) and myself for the 1/3 the price of ordering this in a restaurant. With this economy, that was an extra bonus.

Oh. I did have a fresh butter leaf salad with a simple vinaigrette. For dessert, my husband ate three pieces of the chocolate sheet cake I had baked earlier.

As for me? I followed through on my promise-- the rest of the cake was split between my husband's workplace and mine. It's all gone!

Seriously... I need to get back to a lot more fresh veggies and cut back on the dessert. I'm sure going to try! Then again, once I check out what's new in Food Blogosphere, I might not be able to resist.