Chicken and Blueberry Crunch

Remember that time I stopped blogging for like...3 years?

Woops.

Anyway, in that amount of time I had some major life changes!  I moved to a different country, got a new job, and stopped cooking as much as I used to.  I missed the blog though, so I want to keep up with it, maybe just more sporadically!  You missed me too, right? RIGHT???

For my glorious return, I decided to try and copy one of my favorite meals from a restaurant called iQ Food Co. that I frequent for lunch.  It actually turned out pretty well!   Here was the original version:  http://iqfoodco.com/menu/type/hotboxes/blueberry-crunch/

Ingredients you'll need (makes enough for 2 people):
- 1 chicken breast, pounded thin
- 1 cup of brown rice
- 1 apple
- about 6 mini carrots
- a handful of blueberries
- a handful of candied pecans, or sunflower seeds...or any type of nut really
- a 1/4 cup of feta cheese, crumbled
- salt and pepper

For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon of honey

I think that's it!

First things first, we'll need to bake some chicken.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.  Line a shallow pan with parchment paper, and throw the chicken in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear.  Should be pretty quick if it was pounded thin.

While that's working away, you'll want to julienne the apples and carrots, and get the pecans, feta and blueberries ready to go.  Colorful, no?

You can also whip up the dressing.  Just whisk the honey, oil, balsamic and dijon mustard with a fork until completely combined.  Give it a taste, if it seems out of whack you can mess with the proportions a bit.  I like the dressing to be pretty strong since it's going to be what actually flavors your rice and chicken.  I also used ground mustard, but I think the regular Dijon would be better as far as texture goes.  You can't win them all.

You'll also want to get started on the brown rice!  Just follow the directions on the package, I was just using the minute rice so it took about 10 minutes for everything to be ready.  

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Ok!  Once the chicken is done, chop it up into bite sized chunks, like so....

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Perfect!  Now, putting everything together.  Put the rice on the bottom of a bowl, and place the chicken on top of the rice.  Laugh at Mac (the golden retriever in the pic below) and give him a piece of chicken because he's trained you well.

Now add all the fresh fruit and carrots, topping everything off with the feta and chopped up pecans!

Last, but certainly not least, drizzle everything with the balsamic dressing.

Voila!  I usually attack this by mixing everything up into one big mess so I get a bit of everything in each bite.  It's so crunchy and satisfying. The sweet and tangy dressing just makes it so delicious. Also everything is pretty basic so I feel pretty good about eating this kind of stuff :)

Enjoy!

Courtzilla

The Best Birthday Cake

Time to get serious.  Two cake layers.  Double the frosting.  Mass amounts of sprinkles.  This cake was for my roommate Aly, but I'm posting in celebration of someone else's birthday... MINE!  I'm hoping you'll make me one of these. Deal?  Birthday's July 9th... you know in case you were wondering.

 Recipe yoinked from Deb over at Smitten Kitchen


You'll need:
- 2 9" cake pans, can be round, square - whatever strikes your fancy.
- 4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk


Alrighty!  First you'll want to butter and flour your pans.  Grease up the pans with a bit of butter, then pour a small bit of flour in the pan.  Shake it around until the whole pan is covered with flour, then shake out the excess.  Should look like this....

Ok!  Now, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. 

In another larger bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, and then add the vanilla.

Add your eggs one at a time.  Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl down after each egg, so we can guarantee it's all been mixed together perfectly.  After that, slowly add your buttermilk until just combined.  Then you can add you flour in 3 batches, beating after each batch.  Make sure you stir/beat it until it's just mixed together.  If you over beat the flour you can wind up beating out the moisture from the cake.  What's the point of cake without moisture?  Oh wait, frosting. I forgot.

Pour the batter into your cake pans, and put them in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

VOILA!

Alrighty.  Now in order to stack these so they line up and don't look like a soccer ball, we have to cut off the rounded tops.  I think it's easiest to do this once they've cooled with a big knife while they are still in the pan.  That way you get perfect measurements, and the two cakes will line up perfectly.

Now, take on half of your cake, and spread frosting on the top of it.  Let's be honest here - I got lazy and bought frosting in a can.  SO SUE ME.

Now turn the other half of the cake upside down, and plop it down ever-so-gracefully on top.

Here's another trick for you, slide 3 pieces of parchment or wax paper under the cake, so none of the rim of the cake touches the plate/counter.  That way when you're done frosting you can pull away the parchment, and it won't make a mess.  THANKS MARTHA STEWART YOU'RE THE BEST.  Don't even act like you don't watch her show religiously.

An easy way to frost a cake is to put a "crumb layer" of frosting on first.  Just a thin layer that will hold down all the crumbs so they don't peel off and get everywhere.

We're going for function here, not beauty.

Now, get the rest of the frosting on there.  Lay it on reallll thick.  Like sarcasm.

Sprinkles anyone?

Ta daaaa! Aren't you impressed?  Now you can pipe your favorite roommate's name on top.  Apparently I need to work on my piping skills.  Pull away the parchment paper at the bottom, and you are ready to throw a birthday party.

I'll be expecting my cakes no later than the 8th of July.

Enjoy!!

<3<3Courtzilla

Stromboli

Stromboli!  It's a recent discovery of mine.  A discovery in the best sense of the word.  It's like a JJ's italian night club rolled up in a hard to spill dough blanket.  Best description ever?

Fact: this is delicious.

You'll need:

- some italian meat.  I used genoa salami and pepperoni, but feel free to use fancier stuff if you feel like it.
- provolone cheese
- parmesan cheese
- italian seasoning, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes
- a can of pillsbury italian bread (you can use pizza dough too!)
- some flour to roll it out
- sauteed peppers? carmelized onions?  italian sausage?  possibilities are endless.

Alrighty!  First things first, scatter some flour on your counter.  This thing is going to get sticky.  I put a piece of parchment paper down because I live with 2 boys and you never know what's going to be on the counter.  Better safe than sorry.

Now, roll out your dough so it's roughly in a rectangle shape.  Pinch together any holes or thin spots - you don't want delicious filling flying all over your oven, trust me.

Now... layering!  Throw down one of your meats first... in my case the genoa salami.  Try to leave a 1" border of dough around the filling, it'll be easier to pinch together at the end if you do that.

Alrighty, now you'll want to sprinkle on some Italian seasoning, and the red pepper flakes.  Amount is up to you.  I went pretty heavy on the Italian seasoning, next time I'll probably cut this down by at least a third.

Now I put a layer of the cheese down.  I broke the provolone in half so it would be easier to roll up.

Add on some scattered pepperoni...

Sprinkle some grated parmesan on there...

Alright, now we're getting serious.  Rolling time.  Start at one of the long edges and start to roll up the dough, pinching the edges at the end together as you go.  This will seal in the goodness during the baking process.  When you're done, it should look like a long log.

Kinda ugly looking ain't it?

Pinch the seam shut, and place it seam side down on a baking sheet.

Oook.  Now I melted some butter and brushed it across the top to get a nice brown and crusty edge in the oven.  Sprinkle some more parmesan on top, along with some garlic powder and more Italian seasoning if you're feeling rebellious. 

Looking better looking better...

Throw your dough log in a 350 degree oven, for about 25-30 minutes.  Really all you need to cook is the bread so check your packaging for exact measurements.

It'll come out lookin' something like this:

Haha what a horrendous picture.

Slice up the stromboli, should make about 8 or so 1.5" thick pieces.  Check it out!

So good.  Serve it with your favorite marinara or pasta sauce and you're good to go!  It's just as good cold, too.

Clearly, I hated mine.

Enjoy!

<3 Courtzilla