Chicken Romano with a Lemon Butter Sauce

What sounds better than something that is rolled in cheese, fried and baked in a lemon butter sauce? I mean, maybe your arteries have heard of something better, but for me it’s a heavenly mix. I found this recipe for Chicken Romano with a Lemon Butter Sauce on a blog that my friend Tay introduced me to. I immediately added ‘How Sweet It Is’ to my daily readings, not just for the amazing looking recipes (I’ve already made a ton), but because it might be one of the funniest blogs out there. Well I think so at least.

As I’ve mentioned before, Sunday nights= HBO + comfort food (a necessary combo to make me feel better after whatever kind of weekend I’ve been hit with). This one definitely nailed it. The chicken was cheesy and super juicy. I spooned tons of the sauce over it when it was ready and soaped up every bite I ate with more sauce. I could hear the constant sound of “yummmmmm” coming from my man beside me who otherwise was silent for a solid half an hour.  A good sign to say the least. Make this! Or, since I am already ready to eat it again….make me make it for you! We can practice getting our “yummmm”’s in perfect harmony.

Chicken Romano with a Lemon Butter Sauce

From the blog 'How Sweet It Is'

 

Flouring station: Dip tenderized chicken in flour, egg then romano cheese

On medium heat, fry chicken in olive oil until golden brown

Melt butter, add lemon juice and the lemons, white wine and oregano (didn't have parsley!)

Pour sauce over chicken, add chicken broth and pop in the oven

Finished! Place chicken on plate, cover with sauce and enjoy!

I served it with a home made Caesar Salad (I'll share the recipe for this another day)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup flour

2 eggs

3/4 cups romano cheese

3/4 chicken stock

1/2 stick butter

2 whole lemon

1/3 cup white wine (or Apple Cider vinegar and water)

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley (or Oregano)

 Preheat oven to 350. Add olive oil to skillet on medium heat.

Tenderize chicken, then dredge through flour, egg and cheese. Place in skillet and brown on both sides. Once brown, turn off heat.

Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add lemon juice and chopped up lemons. Try to discard all seeds. Add white wine and parsley. Let come to a boil. then pour entire mix into chicken skillet. Add chicken stock to skillet.

Cover and bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Serve with pasta or rice.

Vintage Prints

I’ve been doing a little Christmas shopping on Etsy (a favorite pass time of mine) and I came across these beautiful little prints that are done on vintage dictionary pages.  They are so unique and would look amazing in a group of three side by side on a wall. Also, if you like Banksy, they've recreated a few of his pieces. They are all done by Stay Gold Media, and I’m seriously thinking about ordering a few to give as presents. Enjoy a couple that caught my eye, check them all out here.

Jamie Oliver's Proscuitto and Leek Pasta

I saw an episode of Jamie Oliver the other day and after seeing the amazing pasta he was cooking up I knew I had to make it myself. Fast.  The episode was from 2008 so it was a litttleee tricky trying to track down the recipe. When I finally did it had no measurements or temperatures….so I really had to wing it.

It turned out amazingly and really hit the spot for the group of friends I had over (at my man’s place), before all venturing off to a friends concert.  It has wine in it and it goes well with either red or white, absolutely perfect for an evening of drinking. The leeks simmer in white wine, chicken broth and garlic under a blanket of prosciutto. The bread crumbs are made with dried mushrooms and cooked in a garlic and rosemary infused olive oil. The end result: Creamy almost buttery tasting pasta with beautiful chunks of leek and prosciutto, balanced nicely with a little crunch from the breadcrumbs. This is DEFINITELY a make again. I served homemade bruschetta on crostinis as an appetizer (recipe below- trust me this is a good one to make….totally killer), and served a light salad with grilled veggies as a refreshing side to the pasta. Bon appétit!

Leeks simmering in a white wine, chicken broth, garlic, butter and thyme

Proscuitto covering the leeks, don't let any steam get out!

Once its all mixed together, toss on the breadcrumbs and some extra Parmesan. Yumm

Jamie Oliver’s Leek and Proscuitto Pasta

Olive oil
Knob of butter 
3 cloves garlic chopped
Thyme leaves (4 sprigs)
4 leeks, chopped
½ Glass of white wine
Salt and pepper
2 cups of chicken stock
Prosciutto ham (1 package)
Bread (stale)
Dried porcini mushrooms (4-5)
2 garlic cloves (not pealed just squashed) 
1 Sprig of rosemary
Pasta (fresh lasagne sheets cut into 1cm strips)

Directions:
Heat olive oil and knob of butter in frying pan. Add garlic and thyme and heat until softened.
Add leeks, stir to coat. Add wine and season with salt and pepper. Boil to evaporate alcohol.

Add stock and cover leeks with prosciutto to seal in all the steam. Cook for ½ hour.
In food processor blitz stale bread, porcini mushrooms and seasoning. 
Heat olive oil in frying pan, squash garlic cloves and fry with rosemary sprig to flavour the oil.

Add breadcrumbs and fry for a couple of minutes till brown and crisp.
Bring a pot of water to boil and add pasta.
Remove prosciutto from top of leeks and chop up then add it back into leeks and stir. 
Add parmesan cheese and a knob of butter.
Drain pasta (reserve a little of  cooking water to loosen sauce if required).

Add pasta  to leeks and stir through, top with breadcrumbs, thyme leaves, pamesan cheese, and drizzle of olive oil. Serve and Enjoy!

Roasted Tomato Bruschetta

Preheat oven to 350. Mix cherry tomatoes with olive oil salt and pepper, place on a cookie sheet and pop into the oven for 20 minutes (or until roasted).

Chop: ½ a red onion, 5 artichoke pieces (from jar), 3 pieces of roasted red pepper (from jar), fresh basil, garlic and oregano. Mix together. Once the tomatoes are roasted add to mixture and roughly cut them/puncture them to release all their juices. Mix well and pop into the fridge overnight.

La Carnita

I have a problem with Toronto. And that problem stems from the fact that it is extremely difficult to find half decent Mexican/South American food here.  So when I recently read an article about a certain ‘pop up’ taco place that supposedly has the best Fish Tacos in Toronto, I had to find out more. The problem was that ‘pop up’ means just that, it ‘pops up’. You can’t just walk somewhere and it be a guarantee, you have to search it out. It was almost like a hunt, I needed to figure out how to track these people down. And last night…I was finally successful.

I’ve been hearing rumblings of La Carnita for awhile now. When I went to look them up all I got was a website with a video on it that read “Buy limited edition artwork, get limited edition tacos.” Initially, I was confused.   A few weeks ago I finally tweeted at them basically begging them to tell me when they would be popping by next. I got a response that they would be at The Drake Hotel on the 21^st. I booked it in my calendar weeks in advance and didn’t let anything get in my way of me tasting those tacos.

La Carnita's Cod Cheek Fish Tacos...sigh, they are beautiful

And taste I did. It was taco and tequila night, $3 shots of tequila, $5 tacos. The Drake had a fried chicken mole taco and La Carnita had fried cod cheek taco. And if it was a competition between the two (it wasn’t), La Carnita hit it out of the park. Maybe out of this earth. Up into space? Too far?

I asked what was in the tacos but it was too loud to get a straight answer. What I do know was that it was fried cod cheeks (perfectly soft and tender), cilantro, a red cabbage and carrot mix, and two delicious and flavourful sauces. While the chicken taco had a nice kick to it, the fish tacos were just so unbelievable and special I couldn’t leave without trying one more.  I’m definitely going to keep “stalking” this group and will do my best to try more of what they have to offer.  Check them out here, and I highly suggest following them on twitter (there’s lots of pictures of all their deliciousnessss.)

The Drake Hotel's Fried Chicken with mole sauce taco

A bird's eye view of La Carnita's Taco

The Toronto Life showing off the next La Carnita Taco I desperately want to try, Chorizo Taco: Mexican chorizo with mango salsa, avocado and cilantro on a handmade tortilla.

The beautiful print I got with my taco! They are all about Art and Tacos