Harvest Chicken & Rice

 Today was relatively cool at. We barely broke 70 degrees out. I had harvested quite a few of my Walla Walla Sweet onions a few days ago and we had a pretty decent picking of green beans. I also harvested my garlic so that I could get ready for the new seed garlic that I have coming in.

I came up with a new recipe for dinner tonight.

Bob had taken out a package of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs to thaw a few days ago and I needed to get them used up. We also picked a pretty decent sized mess of beans.

These are a mixture of my Tongues of Fire, Dragon Tongue, Tanya's Pink Pod, Cherokee Wax, Blue Lake and Contender beans.

The Harvest Chicken & Rice recipe starts out with a chopped sweet onion. You could use a Vidalia if you don't have Walla Walla Sweets available. I also chopped up one of my small heads of garlic. It doesn't get much more fresh than this.

I melted butter with olive oil. This is what I used to saute the onions and garlic.

Once the onion gets translucent, add in the rice and orzo mixture.

Saute this until the orzo starts to smell toasty and gets lightly golden brown. I cooked this in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven, so I did this low and slow.

I removed the skin from 4 chicken thighs. Then I sprinkled them, both sides, with a blend of spices.

Those get set upon the rice mixture once it has been browned.

Then I poured in chicken broth and water. I put the cover on the Dutch oven and let it cook in a moderate oven for 45 minutes.

This is a simple and delicious recipe. It hit all the right spots for us.

I served this with simple boiled beans. I cooked these in part chicken broth and part water. I didn't get a photo of the end result because we all know what boiled beans look like.

Harvest Chicken & Rice

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 small chopped sweet onion (like a Walla Walla Sweet or Vidalia)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil (or avocado)
1-1/2 cups long grain white rice
1/3 cup orzo
1-3/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water

Spice Rub for Chicken:

1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pull skin off of chicken thighs and rub with spice rub on both sides. Set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in butter and olive oil over medium heat until onion is soft and translucent. Add in rice and orzo. Stir to coat with oil/butter. Cook until the orzo begins to smell nutty and gets lightly golden brown.
Place seasoned chicken thighs on top of the rice, add broth and water. Remove from heat. Cover tightly. Place in preheated oven and cook for 45 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Fluff rice and serve.

Enjoy!

Smoked Bleu Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon

 Last week, I wound up buying a container of smoked bleu cheese. I had initially thought that I would include this on Bob's requested charcuterie board for Thanksgiving, but I thought there was more than plenty to remake one of my published recipes on allrecipes.com, Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon. I used to prepare this recipe quite often, several years ago, but had gotten away from it. It's always nice to revisit (and revamp) one of your highest rated recipes, I think.

I got away from adding anything to the bleu cheese. I figured with the smoke flavor, it didn't need any added ingredients, like shallot or parsley. Also, with the bacon and the cheese, this definitely did not need any added salt.

This also differs from the original recipe in that I baked these on a rack this time.

I baked these on a lower temperature than I did with the original recipe. I found that lowering the temp, even though I had them in the oven for over an hour, resulted in a much juicier version. These were not dried out at all.

Dinner, last night, was a sheer pleasure.


Smoked Bleu Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon

 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup smoked bleu cheese
4 slices of pepper bacon
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Penzeys Spices Parisien Bonnes Herbes blend
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a pocket into each chicken breast, without cutting all the way through. Stuff 2 tablespoons of smoked bleu cheese into each pocket. Wrap each breast with 2 slices of bacon. Secure with toothpicks, if necessary. Sprinkle each breast with 1/2 teaspoon of Parisien Bonnes Herbes blend. Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper.
Place in oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F on a food thermometer. Let stand for 10 minutes, remove wooden picks and serve.

Brizola Sto Fourno

 Every delicious dinner starts with an idea. It's been raining pretty much the entire weekend here. The upside is that I don't need to water my garden, the downside is that I had to put a towel over my head and shoulders to go out and pick our salad greens yesterday. It was a warm rain, so I'm okay with that. I love growing my own lettuces. You just cannot begin to find these types or varieties in a store and you'd be hard pressed (or, at least, I would be) to even find them at a farmers market. I have Red Romaine, Sword, Buttercrunch and Drunk Woman Frizzy Head. 

Last night's meal started out with some potatoes that I needed to use up.
I had Bob run into the little market up in Castle Rock on Friday as I needed some yogurt and milk. He came home with some really nice looking bone-in pork chops. In a couple of days, he'll be getting all of his top teeth pulled out (when he had radiation treatment for cancer, 11 years ago, it wiped out his teeth), so whatever Bob wants to eat, I'll fix it for him. I get to decide the style, however.
I found a recipe that I talked to my sister, Ginger, about and we both agreed that it sounded unusual to us...but it was just too unusual to not make it. I did cut the recipe in half. Click here to view the recipe.

As with any recipe that is really delicious, it starts out with some potatoes. 

Here is the "unusual" part. You soak parchment paper in water. Yep. You read that right. You soak 2 large pieces of parchment paper in water. Get it wet. Swish it around. Let it soak for a few minutes. 

After you get done playing around with the parchment paper in the water, wring it out. Next, drape it over your baking sheet and cut up your potatoes. You could use Yukon Gold or a nice red skinned variety. It doesn't really matter.

The potatoes get seasoned with some chopped garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Then you drizzle over some lemon juice (this is a Greek dish, after all!) and...

some white wine. I used a nice 2016 sauvignon blanc from right here in Washington state. We do tend to have some pretty spectacular wines produced from this state. 

After you add the wine, you cover the potatoes with the second piece of soaked parchment paper and seal it up. Then it goes into a 350-degree oven for around 40 minutes. Check it after 30 minutes because it really depends on your oven.

While the potatoes are in their lemony wine sauna, put some grill marks on your pork chops via a grill pan. Do not cook through. Remove from the pan and set aside.

After 30-45 minutes, pull the potatoes out of the oven, open the parchment sauna and...

stick the chops in on top of the potatoes. Reseal it and stick it back in for another 15 minutes or so. 

It doesn't get much better for a Sunday family dinner.