OREGANO CHICKEN WITH POTATOES AND TOMATOES

(From Giuliano Bugialli)

The Boston Globe published this recipe August 17, 1983.  Mr. Bugialli is a renown chef; having written countless cookbooks, has a cooking school and a show on PBS.

Serves 4-6 - 400 degree oven

1 3 lb chicken

1 lb potatoes

1 lemon

1 lb fresh tomatoes, ripe but not overripe

salt and pepper

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbsp minced fresh oregano leaves

Clean and wash the chicken and cut into 18 pieces (I used chicken breasts and sliced them).  Peel potatoes and cut them into 1/4" slices.  Squeeze lemon and reserve the juice.  Slice tomatoes horizontally into slices less than 1/2" thick.  Remove seeds.

Lightly oil a 13"x8" heatproof pan.  Preheat  oven to 400 degrees.  Layer the potatoes on the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour lemon juice over them.  Make a layer of chicken pieces over the potatoes.  Put a tomato slice over each piece of chicken.

Finely chop the garlic.  Put the oil into a small bowl and add the garlic,red pepper flakes, oregano and salt to taste.   Pour the sauce over the chicken.  Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

REVIEW:   Not bad, but not an outstanding dish.

CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Moving along in the timeline of recipes, as this one was clipped out of some food magazine.  As described in the recipe, this old-fashioned-style cookie is crisp on the outside and fudgy within.

Makes 3 dozen  - 350 degree oven

5 oz sweet chocolate, broken into pieces

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup minus 2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup pecan halves or pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a food processor, combine chocolate and sugars in work bowl and chop using on/off turns, and process until chocolate is as fine as sugar. Add butter and blend 30 seconds.  Add egg and vanilla, and blend 1 minute, stopping as needed to scrape down sides of work bowl.  Add flour, baking soda and salt. Top with chocolate chips and pecans and mix with a couple of on/off turns.  Note: I ended up taking the mixture out of the food processor before the dry ingredients were added, and continued by hand.

Drop batter by slightly rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheet; spacing them 1 1/2" apart.  Bake for 10 minutes and cool for 3 minutes on the baking sheet.  Transfer to racks to cool. 

REVIEW:  These are very good, very chocolate-y cookies.

From Family Circle Magazine ...

BAKED ORANGE HAM WITH MUSTARD FRUITS

Serves 16 - 325 degree oven

1 10 lb. fully cooked ham

whole cloves

1 can (6 oz.) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (is that even available anymore? - used oj from the carton)

3/4 cup orange marmalade

Mustard Fruits (recipe follows)

Place ham, fat side up, on a rack in a large shallow baking dish.  Do not add water or cover the pan.

Bake in a slow oven (325 degrees) for 1 1/2 hours.  Trim off skin, if any.

Score ham; stud with whole cloves.  Mix orange juice (concentrate) and marmalade in a small bowl and brush over the ham.

Continue baking, brushing several times with remaining marmalade mixture; 30 minutes or until richly glazed. Place ham on a heated large serving platter and serve with Mustard Fruits on the side. 

Mustard Fruits: 

8 1/4 oz can sliced pineapple

30 oz can sliced peaches

30 oz can sliced pears

Drain juice from the pineapples into a 1-cup measure and add enough juice from the peaches to total 3/4 cup.  Drain rest of the peach juice and pear juice.  Combine fruit in a 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish.  Add 1/2 cup light corn syrup, 1 tbsp dry mustard, 1/2 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp ground cardamom to juice mixture. Stir to mix and pour over fruits.  Bake, uncovered, along with the ham for 30  minutes; basting fruit often with the juice.  Lift fruit out of the pan to a serving dish, and cook juice over direct heat until reduced by about half.  Stir in a slice of lemon or lime.  Spoon over fruit.

REVIEW:  Surprisingly good, although, like alot of people, the husband isn't a huge fan of warm fruit with meat.

From Family Circle Magazine ...

STRAWBERRY MERINGUE TORTE

Serves 10 - 350 degree oven

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 tsp almond extract

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds

2 tbsp sugar

Strawberry Filing:

12 cup currant jelly (I substituted strawberry jam)

3 pints strawberries, washed and fulled

1 tbsp water

Sift flour, baking powder and salt onto wax paper.  Beat shortening, 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks and almond extract until fluffy.

Stir in flour mixture alternately with milk; spread batter into two greased and floured 9" x 1 1/2" pans.

Beat egg whites until foamy.  Gradually beat in sugar until meringue is stiff.  Spread over batter.  Sprinkle with almonds and the sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cool on wire racks.

Spread strawberry filling (see below) on one layer, top with second layer. Melt jelly with water and cool. Dip strawberries in jelly and arrange on the cake.

Strawberry Filling: Crush 1 pint of the strawberries and let stand with 1/4 cup sugar for 1 hour. Add 1 tbsp cornstarch.  Cook, stirring until thick. Cool.

REVIEW:  Good enough to hang on to the recipe ...it was easy to make and looks impressive.

From The Boston Globe, December 14, 1983 ... I served this with brown rice and a veggie stir fry.

ORANGE CHICKEN

Serves 6 - 350 degree oven

4 chicken breasts

1 tbsp minced, fresh gingerroot

1 tsp minced garlic

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 cup orange juice

Place chicken, skin side up, in baking pan.  Sprinkle the ginger and garlic over the chicken.  Drizzle the soy sauce and orange juice over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until 1 hour before cooking.  Baste frequently.

Preheat oven.  Remove plastic wrap, and place baking pan in oven for 1 hour, basting every 10-15 minutes. Run it under the broiler if you wish to brown it more.

Concentrate the marinade by boiling for a few minutes, and serve as a sauce.

REVIEW:  Really not that great, and now I'm not sure what I can do about the leftovers ... perhaps a strange orange-y chicken salad (?).

Not sure from which magazine I clipped this recipe ...

OUR FAVORITE CHOCOLATE COOKIE

from Terry Spencer, Jackson, MI

Makes 5 dozen - 325 degree oven

3 pkg (6 oz each) semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp butter

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 cup flour

1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease 2 large cookie sheets; set aside.

In a 3 qt saucepan, melt chocolate chips and butter.  Remove from heat. Add milk, flour, nuts and vanilla. Stir well.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.  Bake 12-15 minutes.  Remove to wire racks to cool. 

REVIEW:  Although the shape didn't change from the teaspoonful dropped on the cookie sheet (I expected them to spread; probably not enough fat in the cookie), these are really easy to make and tasted really good. I used dark chocolate chips; probably adding to the lower fat content, but that made them super chocolate-y.

Review of last recipe  - Nectarine Poulet Saute (photo above) - This was really good; the chicken quite moist.

From this point forward, I will be changing the format of the blog.  To make it easier to follow (Although, I have very few followers, and I see this just as my personal diary, and certainly, I understand what I'm doing.), I will write up the recipe, add the photo afterward, and then review it in one entry.