Dinner with the Colindreses

Chicken Parmesan

recipe adapted from Tyler Florence/Food Network:

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted (I substituted with 1 Tbs capers)
  
• 1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
• Pinch sugar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 11/2 pounds)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoonwater
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 (8-ounce) ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, water drained
• Freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 pound spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente

DIRECTIONS

Coat a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil gets hazy, add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves; cook and stir for 5 minutes until fragrant and soft. Add the olives and some hand-torn basil. Carefully add the tomatoes (nothing splashes like tomatoes), cook and stir until the liquid is cooked down and the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes; season with sugar, salt and pepper. Lower the heat, cover, and keep warm.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Get the ingredients together for the chicken so you have a little assembly line. Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/2-inch thick. Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, combine the eggs and water, beat until frothy. Put the bread crumbs on a plate, season with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high flame in a large oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.

Ladle the tomato-olive sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil.* Bake the Chicken Parmesan for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with spaghetti.

* I omitted the sauce from this step, just adding sliced mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top of the cooked chicken, baking until bubbly, then placing the chicken atop a bed of spaghetti and topping it with sauce.

Tamales with Tracy

Vegetarian tamales

Two Asian girls take on tamales...and vegetarian to boot.

Vegetarian masa dough from fabulousfoods.com

INGREDIENTS
2 3 cups masa harina mixed with 2 cups warm water
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

PREPARATION

Makes enough for about 24 medium tamales.

If you’re using masa harina, pour it into a bowl and add the 2 cups warm water. Work the mixture into a dough with your hands, then set it aside to rest for about 15 minutes.

Add the palm oil or vegetable shortening to the work bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a regular hand mixer in a large bowl) and beat it together with the salt and baking powder until light and fluffy.

If you’re using a standing mixer, switch to the paddle attachment. While beating, add the reconstituted or fresh masa by handfuls into the work bowl. Add the stock and beat until combined. Taste the mixture and add salt if necessary.

Continue beating until the masa is light and fluffy, about 15 or 20 minutes. The masa is ready when a grape sized ball of dough floats in a glass of cold water. If the dough sinks, continue beating 5 minutes longer, then test it again.

Filling: pretty much anything you want + cheese.