Sunday Sweets With Sam! Episode 3: Quick Garlic Balsamic Baked Chicken

Welcome to another episode of Sunday Sweets with Sam! This week, I made a quick chicken breast and some bomb sandwiches with homemade focaccia and balsamic garlic aioli. I'd say Sam, Boyfriend and New Roomie were pretty happy by the end of the day.


Here's a bit of background on the chicken I used for the sandwiches:


Have I mentioned that I'm a lazy asshole? Well, if I haven't, let me tell you now: I am a lazy asshole.


Believe it or not, most of the time I don't even feel up to cooking, and I have to force myself to do it.


That being said, I have become a master of simple chicken marinades. Chicken breast is the perfect meal for a lazy asshole. All I have to do it marinade and bake. The end.




Quick Garlic Balsamic Baked Chicken Breast


Ingredients:

• Two whole chicken breasts (Thawed or frozen)
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Rub chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
3. Combine oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic powder, basil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
4. Place chicken in bowl and evenly coat breasts.
5. Marinate for thirty minutes to two hours.
6. Place chicken with marinade in a shallow baking dish.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes if thawed, or 45-55 minutes if frozen.

For the sandwiches, I sliced up the chicken, spread some aioli on some fresh baked focaccia bread, and topped it with fresh spinach. Damn good.

Sunday Sweets With Sam! Episode 2: The Best Baked Mac EVER.

I wish I could explain to you the degree to which I love cheese. I'm afraid if I try to, I'll end up crying, writing a soulful article on the importance of cheese, and I will inadvertently cause a group of 80's musicians to re-create the "We Are The World" music video.

So I'm just going to give you food recipes that reflect my undying love for cheese in a way that I could not otherwise express.

Mac n' cheese is one of my favorite vehicles for cheese, mostly because of the nostalgia it holds. When my brother and I were wee ones, our parents divorced and we were left to fend for ourselves in the kitchen more often than we were used to. The one thing that we could always count on to be in our cabinets was a stack of those delightful dinosaur-mascoted, blue Kraft macaroni and cheese boxes. It was really the only thing my brother knew how to make at the time, it was easy, and it was delicious. 

Moreover, one day, my tactful Mexican dad improved the boxed mix by accident. He spilled the day-glo orange sauce powder packet all over the kitchen. Determined to save the already-cooked noodles, he replaced the sauce packet with real cheese, creating a melty, stringy, cheesy mess of a plate of food that was absolutely amazing and awe-inspiring.

So when my brother made it for us as an after-school snack, he always added real cheese, too. I haven't had boxed mac any other way since. In fact, I hate the watery consistency of it without real cheese so much that I won't touch it unless it has real cheese mixed in.

I guess you could say that my pickiness as an eater is a good thing, as it has enabled me to pick out the very best of the best recipes. Shit, I'd call that a talent.

I've tried a lot of baked mac recipes, and the only one I've ever really loved was one I stole from a recipe book my old roommate got as a house warming present from her mom when we moved into our apartment. I've used it a few times, and eventually improved it enough to put it here.

And of course, Sam took pictures for me (After I flaked on him a few times!), only improving the master craftsmanship that was put into this dish. Sadly, he didn't get to try any. He brought his older brother, Scott, along for the shoot and I made the mistake of giving him a plastic fork so he could try some on their way home.

Sam didn't even have a bite. Scott ate it all. He will never touch a plastic utensil in my house again.


The Best Baked Mac n' Cheese EVER!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup 
• 1 cup milk or heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I usually use cholula, and sometimes I'll throw in a bit more than is called for!)
• 2 cups shredded cheese (Any cheese will work. I use a mix of sharp cheddar, mozzarella, and gouda!)
• 4 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine cream of mushroom, milk, dijon, hot sauce, and cheese in a large bowl.
3. Fold in cooked macaroni
4. Spread macaroni mixture into an ungreased, shallow baking dish
5. Mix melted butter with bread crumbs and sprinkle them on top.
6. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until it is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly in the center.

Thanks, Sam!!

Sunday Sweets with Sam! Episode 1: Chewy Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

There comes a time in every girl's life when she says "Enough!" to using her cellphone to take pictures for her burgeoning blog. And the time for this girl has come.

I've actually been thinking about getting a decent camera for a while now, but it's definitely going to take me some time to come up with the funding for that, so until then, I'm going to have to rely on the kindness of strangers...sort of. 

At first, I thought about asking my oldest brother to help me out. He mostly does concert photography, but has a lot of experience with taking pictures in general. Unfortunately, he lives over an hour away, and is also a student with a full-time job. I may borrow him at some point in the future, but for now, it's too inconvenient.

Last weekend I had a pretty epic birthday party, which involved wayyy too much alcohol, a ghetto makeshift beer pong table, thirty people getting wasted with me, and a really intense drinking game called "dizzy bat" (More on dizzy bat later...). Scott, a co-worker of mine, brought his lady friend and his brother, Sam.

Through some mild Facebook stalking (Don't judge me. We all do it. In fact, it's amazing how many people I "know" from Facebook, but never talk to...), I learned that Sam had a legit camera and had a pretty good eye for photography. And then I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Cue classic italian mafia movie music...

In exchange for taking pictures of my culinary creations, Sam would receive: (1) a large quantity of whatever food he photographed, (2) full access to our overstocked beer fridge while he's here, (3) ample experience with foodtography, and (4) a really legit high five from yours truly.

I'd say that's a pretty amazing prize package. (Especially the high five part...) And Sam agreed!

And as an added bonus, I'm starting a new segment to my blog, called "Sunday Sweets with Sam," where I'll put up a new dessert or sweet recipe featuring Sam's photography every Sunday. 

Today, as SSWS's maiden voyage, I'm giving you my recipe for Chewy Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

I believe that this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Stay tuned, internet. 

Chewy Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cocoa powder (Fair trade is usually the best quality!)

1 1/2 teaspoons red food coloring

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer (This adds air bubbles, which helps create that chewiness!). Add egg and vanilla and combine until there are no more lumps. Beat in red food coloring. Combine cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually fold dry ingredients into wet mixture. Fold in chips.

Spoon 1-2 in balls of dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes.

Enjoy!