When we registered for our wedding, many of the kitchen gadget decisions were left up to me. Adam agreed that we needed a new can opener, and vegetable peeler, and new measuring cups… but some things were all me. One of these gadgets was something that had both fascinated and scared the crap out of me as long as I’ve been cooking: The mandoline. We registered for this one:
I love any and all Oxo Good Grips gadgets, so I thought that this one would be a great starter. If I loved it, then I could go get a new fancier one. We got the package with the mandoline in it a good two weeks before the wedding, which was almost 2 months ago. The mandoline sat in the drawer, wrapped in plastic, waiting for me to grow a pair and use the darn thing. And then I saw Jessica’s potato-crusted salmon the other day and it hit me: potatoes! Potatoes are relatively safe to cut on a mandoline as they create their own handle. They’re cheap, so if I screw up its not like I’m shaving black truffles. Anyway, when I saw Jessica’s recipe, I wanted to do something similar with sliced potatoes… so to the grocery store I went!
Four chicken breasts and 2 potatoes later, I came out with what I’m calling Scaled Chicken, on the account of the fact it looks like it, well, has scales:
The process was simple: season chicken breasts with garlic powder, olive oil, salt and pepper, then layer on thinly sliced rounds of potatoes, slightly overlapping them. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, then broil on high a few minutes to brown the potatoes. I ate mine with some lovely steamed broccoli with a small pat of real butter. I couldn’t help it, I’m watching Julie & Julia!
I had a lovely and relaxing day off today complete with cleaning, cooking, blogging and movie-watching. It’s back to work tomorrow, but there’s always something about a four-day week that ends in pay day that is just a great and happy thought. Also, my principal approved our staff to participate in MarathonVal’s Dress Down for Haiti...so I can wear jeans all week for $1 a day, and raise money for a very worthy cause.
So, back to my original idea… I’ve conquered the mandoline. Is there a kitchen gadget that scares you?
Technorati Tags: chicken, dinner, fun, fundraising, simple, simple recipe, vegetables
Mara @ What's For Dinner?, January 18th 2010 |
Tags: chicken, dinner, fun, fundraising, simple, simple recipe, vegetables
Posted in chicken/turkey, simple recipe
Hola Bloggies: My girl Mara is getting married this week (Mazel Tov girlie!) so it’s my turn to carry on the fine tradition of guest posts. For those of you that I haven’t met before, I go by the name Toronto Girl out West and I write a blog called To be the Whole Package (http://tobethewholepackage.blogspot.com). Like most food bloggers I just need to look at my weekly grocery haul (see above) to know just how blessed I am. But since I know that not everyone is as fortunate, I’ve decided to participate in Cans 4 Comments.
Cans 4 Comments (http://chrispluslynn.blogspot.com/2008/12/cans-for-comments-goes-cross-continent.html) is the brain child of my rockstar wedding photographers, Chris+Lynn (http://www.chrispluslynn.com). The whole idea is for bloggers to contribute cans of foods based on the number of comments they receive. After all, ’tis the season! To find a list of bloggers participating you can check my site for updates or search for #cans4comments in Twitter. As for me, I will be donating a can of food for every comment I receive from now until December 7th. If you are a blogger and want to participate please don’t feel you have to run Cans 4 Comments for two weeks – even one post will do! Or you can just head on over to my blog and comment!
From the bottom of my heart – gracias! 
)
Technorati Tags: fundraising, guest post
Mara @ What's For Dinner?, November 24th 2009 |
Tags: fundraising, guest post
Posted in guest post
For a lazy Sunday, I sure was productive!
Grocery shop? check!
Gym for workout? check!
Cook a huge pot of bolognese sauce? check!
Use said bolognese sauce to make a killer lasagna? check!
I had every intent of just using the pot of sauce I made as a pasta topping tonight and then using the leftovers later in the week to make a lasagna. BUT, once I got the word “lasagna” in my head, it was all I could think about. Then I couldn’t decide… so I asked my twitter friends what they thought I should do, and lasagna was the overwhelming choice.
It came out so beautifully, and the rich-tasting sauce added so much to a simple lasagna recipe. All that was in the filling was some low-fat ricotta cheese, one egg, and a small handful of 2% mozzarella cheese. I used my favorite whole wheat lasagna noodles from Super Target (Archer Farms brand). Why are they my favorite? Well, they’re flat. There’s no ripples on the sides, which makes for much easier assembly.
The sauce cooked all day which resulted in amazing flavor, and since I used less wine than originally called for, and 95% lean ground beef, all in all this was quite the healthy meal. There are still 5 pieces (out of 
remaining, and I’m excited to bring it for lunch tomorrow!
Please don’t forget to check out (and donate to?) the A to Z Literacy Movement. There have already been a few donations, as well as tons of commitments to collect books! Thank you so much for all your help, and remember, literally every little bit helps!
Technorati Tags: beef, cheese, fundraising, Italian, pasta, red meat, simple recipe
Mara @ What's For Dinner?, October 4th 2009 |
Tags: beef, cheese, fundraising, Italian, pasta, red meat, simple recipe
Posted in Italian, beef, simple recipe
Happy Saturday all, and welcome back to Cute Food Saturday! There’s a random conglomeration of cute today, so enjoy!
Cats in a bowl
Just plain cute
Cheese anyone?
I love the cupcake cupcakes!
Funny and a little creepy…
BBQ cupcakes
Marshmallow petit fours
Bear and flower sushi
Honeybee cake
Duck cake!
Don’t forget to check out the A to Z Literacy Movement, and help out in any way you can!
Technorati Tags: cute food, fundraising
Mara @ What's For Dinner?, October 3rd 2009 |
Tags: cute food, fundraising
Posted in Cute Food Saturday
This is not my usual food-based Friday night post… partially because I haven’t eaten yet and don’t know when I’ll be hungry, but mostly because I’m using tonight’s post to enlist your help.
I’m not a runner, nor a competitive walker, nor a cyclist, so I haven’t asked for donations for races or TnT. I am, however, a teacher, and though I teach a rather “alternative” subject (Spanish), as a teacher, my mission is the same as any other: to educate youth.
Read more…
Technorati Tags: friends, fundraising, travel
Mara @ What's For Dinner?, October 2nd 2009 |
Tags: friends, fundraising, travel
Posted in friends
