Irish Soda Bread

 Another great bread from Baking with Julia and a perfect one for St. Patrick's Day, Irish Soda Bread! Who knew it would be so easy? Honestly, this takes about 8 minutes to put together and 50 minutes to bake and about 5 minutes to eat! OK, I'm kidding it didn't take 5 minutes to eat but it's so tasty that I'm sure it can be done. The buttermilk adds a great amount of sweetness. 

I decided to bake it plain (you can add dried fruit or even make it savory with herbs) and it was simply delicious! I love a nice easy and delicious bread! I'll be making this again!

Thanks to Cathy of My Culinary Mission  & Carla of Chocolate Moosey for hosting this week! You can find this week's recipe by visiting their blogs!

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

This past Sunday was the Super Bowl. Did you watch? Was your team playing? I'm not a huge football fan but I do live in Philadelphia were the city goes crazy for the Eagles. If they were to make it to the Super Bowl, I'd totally hop on the band wagon and cheer them on. Alas, the Giants and Patriots were the champions so we stayed home which was a perfect excuse to make buffalo chicken nachos that I've been seeing pop up all over Pinterest (follow me if you're on)! The combination of buffalo chicken & nachos is complete heaven to me. This tasty treat was oh so easy and oh so yummy.  It's perfect for a party (or no party at all)! 

Buffalo Chicken Nachos (adapted from foodnetwork.com) 

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups wing sauce

1/2 cup water

4 cups shredded cooked chicken

Tortilla chips

3 cups cheddar cheese

blue cheese & chopped celery

Bring wing sauce and water to a simmer.  Add chicken, strain the chicken and reserve the wing sauce. Spread tortilla chips over cookie sheet, top with chicken and cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted. Top with blue cheese, chopped celery and reserved wing sauce.

White Loaves

I had a short hiatus from my blog but I'm happy to report, I'm back! The end of 2011 was hectic to say the least. I can't believe this is my first post of 2012. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and your New Year is off to a great start. Even though I've been absent on the blog, I haven't been completely absent in the kitchen. I enjoy blogging but for whatever reason it's always put on the back burner. I decided for 2012 to join an online baking group. This group has been around for a while, I know because I've drooled over the computer every Tuesday for the last couple of years. Tuesday's with Dorie is an online baking group which tackles recipes from one cookbook. The group recently finished From Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (hence the name of the group). Now they're tackling Baking with Julia and I'm happy to be a member. I'm really excited and think this is going to be a fun journey. I know I'm going to learn a ton along the way.

So let's get this started...we made white loaves for our first week. This was my first time making white loaves (without using a bread maker that is).  This was a pretty simple recipe the hardest part was 1. waiting for the dough to rise & 2. kneading the dough by hand after my KitchenAid mixer got a bit overheated (anyone else have that trouble?). I'm not going to lie...it was a pretty good workout and I'm happy to report my KitchenAid is just fine. Thank goodness! 

The bread was so very tasty! It was good warm with some butter. It was good the next morning as toast. AND it was a great bread to use for grilled cheese. What did everyone else do with their bread? 

The organizers of Tuesday's with Dorie, Jules & Laurie, selected this week's recipe. I think it was a great pick for our first post. I'm excited to continue the journey! 

If you're interested in the recipe, hop on over to Jules blog.

Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken

Yes, roasting a whole chicken sound intimidating but it really isn't. 

 

I promise. I'm still such a novice in the kitchen and I find roasting a whole chicken to be very simple yet so rewarding. I've roasted a whole chicken several times and I'm always happy with the results. There are so many ways you can roast a chicken and so much you can do with the end result.

I always fall back on the very simple lemon rosemary recipe from the one and only, Martha. I find that it has great flavor. The sliced up lemon really helps keep the chicken nice and moist and I've always loved the flavor of rosemary. 

Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken: Martha Stewart

• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 2 lemons, washed and quartered
• 1 whole chicken, (3 1/2 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stuff rosemary and 1 cut lemon into chicken cavity. Tuck wings under and tie chicken legs together with kitchen twine. Set chicken on a rack in a roasting or baking pan.
2. Rub chicken all over with oil, and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the thigh (avoiding bone), 45 to 50 minutes. Serve with fresh lemon quarters.

Panko Crusted Chicken Bites

A few weeks ago this little guy, Nico, was over while his mama was getting some stuff done at their house. Isn't he so cute?? His mama thinks he's especially cute when he's up in the middle of the night. While listening to Nadya and him sing some wonderful tunes this great chicken meal was made! Pretty soon he'll be able to eat stuff off this blog! Can't wait for that! He's already a huge fan of his rice cereal. 


I can go on and on about this cutie but I'll get moving to the recipe...

I always keep panko on hand. I actually favor panko compared to breadcrumbs and usually substitute panko when breadcrumbs are called for in a recipe. I find they taste and work better. This meal wasn't planned but I had all the ingredients in the house and had it on my 'to make' list for quite some time. It ended up being really tasty. Another home run from Martha!  I think the next time I make it, I'll make them buffalo style!These are great for a crowd too.

 

Panko Crusted Chicken Bites: Martha Stewart

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds), cut into 1-inch cubes

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and fit with a wire rack. Spray with cooking spray; set aside.
2. Place flour in a large bowl and season very generously with salt and pepper. Whisk eggs in another large bowl with 2 tablespoons water until well combined. Place the breadcrumbs in a third large bowl, and drizzle with olive oil; toss to coat. Stir in cheese and cayenne and mix well.
3. Place chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and toss to coat. Working in 3 batches, shake off any excess flour from chicken pieces and transfer to egg mixture; stir to combine. Transfer coated chicken pieces with a slotted spoon to the breadcrumb mixture and toss until completely coated. Place the breaded chicken pieces on a rack-lined baking sheet, spacing them evenly apart. Repeat process until all the chicken is breaded. Bake until golden brown and chicken is cooked through, 18 to 20 minutes