By Michele
Sometimes I’m at a loss as to what to make for dinner. One particular evening I had a pound of chicken breast defrosting with nary a thought as to how to make it. I’ve cooked chicken breasts in multiple ways throughout the years, but, on this night, I was looking to do something a bit different. So, I did what I suspect many of us do and went to the Internet and YouTube to look at recipes. I found a particularly interesting chicken francaise recipe on YouTube that had over 6.5 million views and also 200 million views on Facebook. It had a plethora of excellent reviews, so, with that many views and accolades, it was a no brainer, I had to give it a try.
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Following the video instructions on the link below, I made the recipe and was blown away!
The chicken breast was extremely flavorful with notes of butter, lemon and wine. The meat was fork tender and each bite delivered a tangy delight!
On another evening, I was in the same state of mind not knowing what to make for dinner. I had fresh cod in the fridge, so I surfed the Internet again for suggested ways to make it. After reading a half dozen recipes, I combined them to formulate my own recipe. I’m calling it Baked Cod Italian Style because it includes many ingredients found in Italian cooking.
The recipe took only minutes to prepare and twenty minutes to bake.
The fish was perfectly flaky, and each forkful was replete with the taste of a buttery light sauce, the soft texture of tomatoes, shallots and herbs.
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds cod fillet, cut into four pieces
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large shallot, chopped
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, ½ of them cut in half
1 tablespoon of olive oil
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped and divided in two portions
3 tablespoons of basil, chopped
Salt and pepper
¼ cup white wine
4 tablespoons of butter, in small pieces
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a rectangular baking dish that will comfortably hold all your cod pieces and tomatoes and place the fish in it.
Scatter the shallot, garlic, and tomatoes around the fish.
Drizzle the olive oil all over the ingredients. Sprinkle with half the parsley and the basil and season with salt and pepper. Pour the wine into the dish. Scatter the butter evenly over the fish. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tomatoes and fish are cooked.
Scatter remaining parsley over the fish prior to serving.Â
This blog post wouldn’t be complete without a dessert that could follow either one of these entrée dishes. I share with you a lemon pudding recipe that I’ve used multiple times. It’s so easy and can serve either as a casual dessert or dressed up for a splendid dessert to compliment a fancy dinner.
What I love about this pudding is its silky texture with lots of citrusy flavor. It’s a real pallet cleanser. Let’s look at it that way, and not as a calorie-ridden dessert. Enjoy!
Ingredients
(for 4 Servings)
2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
6 tablespoons of lemon juice, preferably freshly squeezed.
Garnish: blueberries, mint leaf, raspberries, chopped nuts, lemon zest, whipped creamÂ
Preparation
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, sugar and lemon zest. Bring to a boil. Adjust heat to a gentle boil, stirring often for about 5 minutes. Do not allow mixture to boil over.
Add lemon juice and simmer for about 5 more minutes.
Remove pan from heat and let the cream cool for 5 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer and pour mixture evenly into four four-inch dessert glasses.
Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 2 hours or until set.
Garnish with your choice of toppings. Â