New Blog!

Hi all!
Well, I started a new blog on WordPress, and I've transferred this blog over there. What I haven't figured out is how to merge them completely so that you all can easily transfer with me. In the meantime, visit me at juliazajdzinski.wordpress.com.

My Favorite Chicken Recipes

Hello all!
I know it's been quite a long time since I last blogged, but not much new has happened in my kitchen lately. However I had the idea to post some of my favorite chicken recipes since I have tried A LOT of them. I have scaled these down for 2 people. Here we go ...

Tangy Chicken
2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 T ketchup
2 T soy sauce
1 T sugar
2 T lemon juice
1 t pepper

Heat the oil on medium heat and saute the onion a few minutes. Add the chicken and brown lightly on both sides. Combine remaining ingredients, whisk together and pour over chicken. Bring to a boil. Cover and continue cooking on medium heat until the chicken is cooked through, a few minutes per side.

Crunchy Onion Chicken
This is a really simple chicken dish that seems to be really popular, courtesy of the French's Fried Onion package.

1 cup French's Fried Onions
1 egg, beaten
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put fried onion pieces in a plastic bag and mash until coarsely ground. Flatten chicken and season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in egg, place in bag and coat with crushed onion. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

A Couple Yummy Cookie Recipes

I tried both of these out recently and they were SO good! (Sorry no pics this time!) Both very, very easy if you want to whip something up real quick, and both a huge hit with Dave and Dan.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/crunchy-peanut-butter-cookies

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chocolate-gooey-butter-cookies-recipe/index.html

Creamy Potato Soup

This is the first recipe that I came up with on my own, and it turned out really good, if I don't say so myself. I wanted to try a potato soup but couldn't find a recipe I liked, so I tried making this using flavors that I like. It almost reminds me of a mix between soup and mashed potatoes.

1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 russett potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieced
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup heavy cream

In a large pot, heat butter and olive oil. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add potatoes, chicken stock and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are very soft. With an immersion blender (or in batches in a blender), puree the soup. (If using a blender, return to pot.) Add heavy cream and heat through.

Making Whoopie (Pies)

The season of pumpkin continues! I saw this pumpkin version of old-fashioned whoopie pies on RR's website and had to make them immediately. (Mostly due to the fact that I had to use up my leftover pumpkin puree from the bread before it went bad.) And did I mention - they are awesome! Kind of like a cross between a muffin and cake. I only made four so that I won't gain 20 pounds this week. As Rachael would say: Yumm-o!

Note the platter in the photo: this is a "friendship platter", meant to be passed around between friends along with baked goods. Someone might be receiving this from me real soon!

Pumpkin Bread

Last week I bought a bunch of cans of pumpkin puree to make difference recipes with this fall, and the first one was this pumpkin bread. Yum! I found a recipe online called Downeast Maine pumpkin bread, so naturally I had to try that one. I really liked this one because it has good pumpkin flavor, unlike others I've tried. I used my four mini loaf pans (only three are pictured because I couldn't wait to try some) and I still had batter left over. Next time I'll do two 9X5's. I'll probably freeze two of these little guys for later this fall.

With all this pumpkin, I'm can't wait to do pumpkin scones, oatmeal, muffins, and my pumpkin roll that I've done for a few years now, plus whatever else I can find. I love how the house smells after baking these things. Stay tuned!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Lava Cake

This might be the ultimate decadent dessert. I actually found this recipe in Food & Wine magazine while getting a manicure and then came home and printed it out from their website. Believe it or not, I'm usually not a fan of souffles for dessert because it's too much chocolate (if there is such a thing). But given that peanut butter and chocolate is my favorite all-time flavor combination, this was a "must try." And I have to say, it has turned out fantastic each time I've made it, which is five times now. The peanut butter filling allows it to be not too sweet, so after you've eaten the whole thing you feel ok.

http://www.foodandwine.com/molten