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Chicken Marsala

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It’s date night and I haven’t done much cooking this week, so I was in the mood to try something a bit special for dinner tonight. As I was perusing the meat department at the store looking for inspiration and gasping at the price of beef, I remembered this dish. I haven’t made it for a while and it looks like I will need to eat more chicken in the future, so I decided to give it a whirl.

The Marsala wine and beef broth combine to give the dish a rich earthly yet somewhat fruity  finish that is just the perfect compliment to the chicken.

It turned out great. Like a warm hug on a cold winters evening, accompanied by a good bottle of Red and a crisp salad you have a wonderful meal that is perfect for a week night dinner and also company worthy.

The next time you’re looking for an easy  yet sort of fancy dinner for date night or company try Chicken Marsala. It comes together in about an hour and uses simple ingredients that are pantry staples.

 

Chicken Marsala

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 2 People

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breasts
  • 1 Shallot
  • 1 cup Sliced Mushrooms
  • 1 cup Beef Broth
  • 1 cup Marsala Wine
  • 2 tbsp Flour
  • 1 tsp Dry Basil
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Pound your chicken breasts to an even 3/4 inch thickness. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 tbsp oil to your pan and turn the heat to Med High, once the pan is hot add your chicken breasts and brown well. About 5 minutes per side. While the chicken is browning dice up your shallot and slice your mushrooms. Remove the chicken breasts from the pan and set aside. Add the other tbsp of oil to the pan with the shallot and mushrooms, and a bit of salt and cook until the shallot is soft and the mushrooms have taken on a nice brown color. About 4 minutes. Turn the heat down to Med Low. In a large glass measuring cup mix together the flour, beef broth and wine and basil making sure you don't have any lumps. Add this mixture to the pan and nestle the chicken breasts back into the pan, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened up and the chicken has cooked through. You will want to stir this from time to time while it cooks so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
    Serve with a simple pasta of olive oil and garlic or risotto.

 

Pecan Pie

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We had a friend visiting from Italy in early October. It was his first trip to the US and of course I was going to cook, but the question became WHAT? There was no way I was going to fix anything Italian for this man. I wanted something truly American. I racked my brain……… There was no way I was going to fry chicken, it’s just too messy and it’s not something I really mastered anyway. There are just too many places to get good fried chicken, so I never make it at home. Then I thought about a big pot of Gumbo but decided that that was too regional. I wanted something that would represent this country as a whole when the idea struck me, Thanksgiving! 

Now this is a meal that is as traditionally American as anything else I could think of and something that they really don’t do in Europe. So I order my turkey and got ready to make my traditional Thanksgiving meal. Now as I have shared before I’m not really a baker, but we have a store in our area that makes the most wonderful Apple Pie on the planet and as I was doing the rest of the meal on my own decided that I could cheat on the dessert. So as I headed off to the store for last minute supplies on the Monday morning that we were hosting this bash and I sent my husband to pick up the pies. As I was perusing the produce department my phone rang. It was my husband, the store where we buy the pies is closed on Monday ( something we were not aware of) so there would be no Apple Pie for dessert. Great, I thought, just what I need right now. What am I going to do for dessert. I wandered through the bakery department, and nothing looked good. Shoot, I’m in trouble now.

Then it came to me. I have pecans! I’ll make Pecan Pie. It’s easy. Now, I have only made this once or twice in my life but my mom had a recipe that I scribbled down on a piece of paper and stuck in my little book of recipes years ago. I knew I needed Corn Syrup, but couldn’t remember much else, so I picked up a couple of frozen pie shells (remember I don’t bake), and the corn syrup and headed home to make pies before I started in on the rest of the meal. I open up my recipe book and found the recipe, well it was sort of a recipe, as all it was a list of the ingredients.  Wonderful! Thank good for google and people like us who post complete recipes online. I was able to figure out the required temperature and cooking time and I got those babies in the oven.

As it turned out the Pecan Pie was a hit. Our guest enjoyed it so much I sent him back to his hotel with a big piece for his breakfast the next morning and promised to send the recipe so he could make it back home. I figured as long as I’m writing the recipe down for him, I might as well share it with the rest of you.

Give it a try, it’s the easiest way to impress guests that I have found.

Pecan Pie

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 3 Eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 cup Corn Syrup
  • 1 cup Pecan Half's

Instructions
 

  • Combine the eggs, salt and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the sugar and corn syrup, mix well and pour into a ready made pie crust. Arrange the pecan half's on top in a circular pattern. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes. Pie is done when a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Risotto with Asparagus Peas & Crab

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It was Mother’s Day, and my husband was making my all time favorite, Steak Oscar! A perfectly cooked filet, with fresh asparagus, a generous mound of freshly picked crab meat all covered with a beautiful Béarnaise’ sauce. As he was walking out the door on Saturday to do his shopping he had planned to get a couple of King Crab legs, but I cautioned him that I was afraid that that would be way too much crab and that maybe a snow crab cluster would be more than enough. So, he came home with two snow crab clusters, afraid still that he wouldn’t have enough. After watching him crack and clean those crab clusters he ended up with about two cups of crab meat. Way more than we could possibly use for the Steak Oscar. I found myself with the challenge of what to do with the left-over crab. Not really much of a challenge except that there were so many options I found it hard to decide. So, because my husband had so graciously made me my favorite dinner for Mother’s Day, I let him choose dinner the next night with the left-over crab.

His choice; Risotto with Asparagus, Peas, and Crab. This is a twist on my Spring Risotto which is a family favorite when the fresh basil is abundant, and it makes a wonderfully fragrant dish. Today, however, I had to make do with some lemon basil I had dried last fall because that was the best I could do and added some lemon zest to finish it off. You see in my part of the country you don’t plant before Mother’s day as you are still subject to frost, and I had not yet put out my basil plants for the year. The result was a wonderful creamy bowl of heaven.

As I have thought about this it occurs to me that it was a good thing we had the left-over crab, or I probably wouldn’t have thought to use it in Risotto. Now that I have made this, I will do it again but next time I think I might cheat and use canned crab. Much easier than picking your own.

Risotto with Asaparagus Peas & Crab

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Arborio Rice
  • 3 cups Chicken Broth
  • ½ cup White Wine
  • 2 cloves Garlic Minced
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Basil Dried
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 cup Fresh Asparagus Cut into 1" pieces
  • ½ cup Frozen Peas
  • 1 cup Crab Meat
  • ½ cup Parmesan Cheese Grated

Instructions
 

  • In a small sauce pan bring the chicken broth to a slow simmer. While the broth is warming saute the chopped onion in a medium sized skillet in 1T of olive oil until translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add the Garlic and continue to cook for another minute or so. Add the Aborio Rice and let it get a bit toasty, 1-2 minutes, then add the white wine and basil and bring to a slow boil. When the wine has reduced add the chicken broth a cup or so at a time until the liquid has been absorbed. You don't have to stir constantly just every so often so that the liquid is evenly distributed. When you are ready to add the last 1 1/2 cups of broth add the asparagus and peas and continue to cook until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed, then add the crab and Parmesan cheese and stir to incorporate. Heat through and add salt and pepper to taste.

 

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Recipes from the Red Stove

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After three long years, a bunch of rewrites, lots of cooking for friends so I could photograph, and a major editing project, I am happy to say that my cookbook Recipes from the Red Stove is finally complete and available for purchase. Printed as a coil bound paperback for ease of use while in the kitchen.

Click Here To Order

I have always loved to cook for friends and family and love to come up with new and different recipes. One evening as we were sitting down with friends for dinner my friend said to me “Oh My! I have to have this recipe.” I grimaced and she looked at me and said, “Don’t tell me, you don’t have a recipe, you just made it, right?” I shrugged and said, “Sorry, I can tell you how I did it if you want.”

After becoming semi-retired several years ago I found myself with extra time on my hands and I was looking for a way to fill it. I decided that a cookbook would be fun. You see I inherited this wonderful Chambers Model C Stove that had been in my family for ages, and I decided to tell the story of that Red Stove. From it’s humble beginnings in one of the most rural parts of the Ozarks to my kitchen in St Louis there are wonderful stories of family, friends and traditions.  Over the years there have been many people in my family who have cooked on this stove and I have included favorite recipes from all of them and then added some of my own.

I hope you enjoy recipes from the Red Stove, I had a lot of fun putting it together and reminiscing about days gone by.

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Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sprouts and Potatoes

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How’s this for a one pan wonder on a cold winters night? What could be better than than roasted chicken thighs with sprouts and potatoes that have been tossed in all that lovely chicken fat.

The secret to this dish is the cast iron skillet, however any oven proof skillet will work. If you try this on a sheet pan the veggies are too spread out and the chicken fat spreads out and drys out while it’s cooking. The cast iron skillet is small enough that all that glorious chicken fat stays close to the veggies, so when the chicken has finished cooking you can toss those roasted veggies in it and not waste a drop.

This is the perfect quick dinner for a busy week night during the holidays.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sprouts and Potatoes

Marie Cook
Easy one pan wonder for a cold winters night.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • 1 Cast Iron or oven proof skillet 10 inch

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Bone in skin on Chicken thighs
  • 2 small Yukon gold potatoes
  • 12 small Brussel Sprouts
  • 1 tsp Herbs de Provence
  • 1/2 tbsp Olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Remove any excess skin from the chicken thighs, pat dry and season with the Herbs de Provence and salt and pepper. Place in the chicken in the cast iron skillet skin side up and put them in the oven. Cut up the potatoes in 1 inch pieces and cut the sprouts in half. Gently toss the potatoes and sprouts in 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil. After the chicken has been in the oven for 15 minutes arrange the potatoes and sprouts in the pan and return to the oven. After 15 minutes take the pan out of the oven and toss the sprouts and potatoes and return to the oven to finish cooking for 15 minutes. After the chicken has cooked for 45 minutes remove the pan from the oven, take the chicken out and place it on the plates. Then once again toss the sprouts and potatoes in the chicken fat in the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

 

 

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Jalapeno Creamed Corn

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The first time I had this was at, of all places, a high end Italian restaurant. As we were perusing the menu one of the side dishes was Jalapeno Creamed Corn, we  we were feeling adventurous and decided to give it a try. Now, I must admit that it wasn’t the best choice of a side dish for our veal Saltimbocca, but it was good enough to try to replicate at home with a more appropriate main dish.

So, I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer and decide that tonight was as good as any for an adventure.  I seasoned up my tenderloin with my favorite spice rub, Pappy’s. This stuff is wonderful and I  use it on pork, chicken and beef when grilling. If you cant’ find it at your grocery store you can buy it on Amazon.

With the pork ready to go, it ‘s time to start on the corn. Now you can use fresh corn if you have it and I’m sure it is wonderful, but who has the time to shuck and cut the corn off the cob when all you have to do is reach into the freezer and pull out a bag of the frozen. Not me that’s for sure. I grabbed an onion, some garlic and a jalapeno I had waiting for me in the crisper and got to it. Now you can make this dish as hot as you like, just add more jalapeno, but a word of caution here…… taste that jalapeno before you add it to the pan. Sometime I will taste one and think, hum, maybe I should use two? And sometimes I taste one and go WOW, half of this baby is all I need. You decide how hot you want it to be. 

Having said that this is a fast and easy side for hot summer nights and as it turned out just perfect with that grilled tenderloin.

Jalpeno Creamed Corn

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 16 minutes
Total Time 26 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 People

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups Frozen Corn
  • 1/2 Onion
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • 1-2 Jalapeno Peppers
  • 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
  • 1 Tablespoon Flour
  • 1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Instructions
 

  • Dice your onion, mince your garlic and jalapeno. Place a small skillet over med heat and add a bit of oil. Add the onion and saute until it starts to get tender, about 6-8 minutes, then add the jalapeno and garlic and let them start to get fragrant, about another 2-3 minutes. Add the cumin and corn to the skillet and let it start to warm up. You don't really need to cook it just get it good and warm, then add the flour and stir it around in the corn mixture letting it absorb the liquid in the pan. Add the cream and bring the heat to a gentle boil so that the cream will thicken and become saucy. Salt & Pepper to taste.

 

Cream of Onion Soup

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I have a great recipe for French Onion Soup that I make once a year because it’s a two day process and while I admit it worth it, sometimes a nice warm bowl of onion soup sounds good.  So I decided to see if I could come up with one that’s a little bit different and much quicker. That’s how I came up with Cream of Onion Soup.

I didn’t want to try to replicate French Onion Soup, I wanted something lighter and creamier. So I decided to try it with chicken broth instead of a beef broth base and added a bit of cream at the end to give it some depth.

Cream of Onion Soup cooks up in about an hour because it takes some time for the onions to caramelize but give it the time it needs and don’t try to rush it. It will be worth it in the end.

Top it off with some fresh chives or some garlic croutons and you have a great and easy weeknight meal.

 

Cream of Onion Soup

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, French
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 4 medium Yellow Onions
  • 1/2 Stick Butter
  • 1/4 cup Flour
  • 1 clove Garlic minced
  • 6 cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 tsp Thyme
  • 1 tsp Basil
  • 3 Tbsp Dry Sherry
  • 1 cup Heavy Cream

Instructions
 

  • Thinly slice the onions and saute in the butter with a pinch of salt until soft and golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so then add the flour and stir to coat the onions. Add the chicken broth, thyme, basil and sherry and cook for another 20 minutes or so to let the flavors marry and the soup to thicken up a bit. Add the cream and salt and pepper to taste.
    Serve with chopped fresh chives and garlic croutons.

 

Asparagus Perfect Every Time

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I just love fresh asparagus. Especially when you can find the small skinny stalks that don’t need any prep except just a trim. The tender crunch when prepared just right is hard to beat.

Yet for years I struggled to get it just right. I would steam it and invariably in my fear that it wouldn’t be done enough overcooked it and it came out soft and mushy. I would saute and once again I always tended to overcook it and it was soft and mushy.

Then one day I decided to try it on the grill. Once again I overcooked it but this time around instead of being mushy  it was overly crusty and charred and the delicate tips were shriveled up to nothing. But at least it wasn’t mushy. I decided I was on the right track, I just needed to keep working on it till I got it right.

I spent the next year or so cooking my asparagus on the grill and sometimes it came out pretty good and other times it was over done and charred. It’s just really difficult to gauge the temp on the grill and depending on where you place it; over the coals or indirect heat, has a tremendous effect on how long you want to cook it and how it will turn out.

Then one day in the winter when it was too cold and snowy to grill, I decided to try it in the oven. Eureka! I think I just found the perfect way to cook asparagus.  425 degrees for 10 minutes. Perfect every time.

Every so often when we’re grilling and having fresh asparagus my husband will ask me if it’s ready for the grill and I always tell him no. I’m doing it in the oven.

Asparagus

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 12 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Fresh Asparagus
  • 1 1/2 tsp Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Trim off the bottom couple of inches of the asparagus and spread it out on a sheet pan. Drizzle the olive oil over the asparagus and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Toss to evenly distribute the oil and salt and pepper. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Italian Beef

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It was Circus Week in St Louis last week. The St Louis Shriner’s put on a circus every year as their main fund raiser for their children’s hospital. While it’s a lot of work, it’s also a good reason to have a party.

This year my husband and I were in charge of putting all the evening events together for his group. We decide that Saturday night would be the perfect night for a wine tasting. My job was to come up with the main dish for the pot luck following. Now, keep in mind that we hold this event in a tent on a parking lot with no access to a sink or water and limited access to electricity.

With that in mind my first thought was my old stand bye, Italian Beef. It’s easy. It can sit in a crock pot on low for hours and everyone loves it. I have made this for Halloween block parties, business trade shows, christenings and even Christmas Eve.

Just set up the sandwich station with hoagies and slider buns, sliced mozzarella cheese and some sauteed onions and let everyone fix it how ever they like it. Pair that with a couple of salads and desserts and you’ve got the perfect parking lot pot luck dinner.

If by chance you happen to have left overs, it also freezes beautifully. So, pull out those plastic containers, fill them up and pop them in the freezer. Next month when you’re trying to come up with something fast and easy for dinner, you’ll be glad you did.

Italian Beef

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
15 minutes
Total Time 6 hours 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 15 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 3-4 lb Chuck Roast
  • 2 pkgs Good Seasons Zesty Italian Salad Dressing you want the dry packages
  • 1 10oz jar Sliced Pepperoncini Peppers juice and all or to taste
  • 6 oz Beer

Instructions
 

  • Place all the ingredients in a crock pot on high and cook for 6-7 hours. Remove the meat and let it cool, then shred it up and return it to the juices in the crock pot.
    Serve on Hoagie Buns with sliced mozzarella cheese and sauteed onions.

 

Cielos Chicken Soup

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We took a trip to Arizona this spring, with the pandemic we just weren’t comfortable traveling outside the US and I had never seen the Grand Canyon so we decided it was time to check that one off the bucket list. The Grand Canyon was amazing and Sedona is unlike any place on earth. Simply magical.

My grandmother was raised in Tuscon and I had never been there so we decided that while we were in the area we should check it out. We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel in Tucson called the Lodge of the Desert. If you ever have the chance to stay there I highly recommend it. It is a quaint little place full of charm and it has a wonderful restaurant on site called Cielos.

After the long drive from Sedona we were bushed and all we wanted was a simple bite to eat and a good bottle of wine and Cielos didn’t let us down. The soup of the day was what they called a vegetable soup, so we decided to give it a try and it was just marvelous. It was a simple chicken broth with onions, poblano peppers and potatoes with fresh tomatoes, cilantro and cotija cheese that they added right before they served it so they were fresh and not cooked to death with the rest of the soup. It was just wonderful. We enjoyed it so much we went back the next night and had it again.

I decided that when I got home I would have to try to recreate Cielos Chicken Soup. Well, the weather finally changed and we got a bit of a cool spell with some rain and I thought this would be the perfect time to give it a try. I decided to beef (or Chicken) it up a bit and I added a roasted bone in chicken breast and some frozen corn to make it a bit heartier.

Cielos Chicken Soup is a great way to use up left over chicken and make a wonderful dinner.

Cielos Chicken Soup

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine Southwest
Servings 8 Peolpe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Bone in Chicken Breast
  • 1 Med Onion Chopped
  • 1 Poblano Pepper Diced
  • 1 Med Clove Garlic
  • 1 Tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
  • 4 Cups Quartered Baby Potatoes About 10-12
  • 5 Cups Chicken Broth
  • 2 Roma Tomatoes Diced
  • 1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro
  • 4 Oz Cotija Cheese Diced into cubes
  • 1 cup Frozen Corn

Instructions
 

  • Season your chicken breast with salt and pepper and roast in a 420 degree oven for 45 minutes. While the chicken is roasting dice your onion, and poblano pepper and mince the garlic. Saute the onion, and poblano pepper in the olive oil until tender and then add the garlic and cumin and continue to cook for a minute or so. Add the chicken broth and potatoes and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Take the chicken meat off the bones and shred it and add it to the pot with the diced tomatoes, corn, cilantro and Cotija cheese. Warm through and serve.