Chicken in Vodka Sauce

If you’ve not had Vodka Sauce, it’s pretty amazing. Don’t let the pink-ish color turn you off. It’s not totally a chick sauce. It has VODKA in it….(In our case BAKON Vodka, because BAKON VODKA rocks, but any decent vodka will do). I’m going to make some with Nude Vodka for the Italian Benedicts (coming up next week) because I like the vodka, the bottle, the idea of nudity (We're old and cook with butter so we won't bore you with pictures) on a Sunday morning along with some great food... and they are some of our local Oregon peeps!
I had a really hard time explaining to Jerry that it is it’s own thing. Not some other Italian sauce with vodka in it. Finally I said “Go to the store and look at the bottles. You will see Marinara, Alfredo, Pomodoro and VODKA sauce. It’s the pink one honey”. Then he got it!

He did most of the making and it was wonderful! We poached eggs in the morning in the leftover sauce.

Chicken in Vodka Sauce

4 chicken breasts

Salt

Pepper

½ c Flour

1 tbs olive oil

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce or tomato puree

1 stick of butter

1 onion, diced

1/2 pt. heavy cream

1/2 c. vodka (I used BAKON VODKA for this but if you prefer traditional vodka we won’t hold it against you. I think Lemon Vodka would be pretty spiffy.)

First, get yourself a chicken. (Okay, sorry I couldn't resist. This is the way they sell chickens in the Saturday Market in La Rochelle, France. I thought it was cool in a weird sort of way and felt compelled to take a picture.)

Pound the chicken until it is approx 1/2 “ thick all the way around. (I think the head on this one is just tucked the wing so I would set it aside) Lightly salt and pepper both sides. Dredge the chicken in the flour. Heat the olive oil on medium and fry the chicken lightly on both sides until golden. Remove chicken and set aside.


Easy Vodka Sauce


1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce or tomato puree

1 stick of butter

1 onion, diced

1/2 pt. heavy cream

1/2 c. vodka


Melt the butter in a large (12” skillet/sauté pan) Saute onion in butter until translucent (clear-ish).

Add vodka and cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes.

Add tomato sauce and cook a couple more minutes.

Slowly add the cream and heat through but do not let it get to a boil.

Turn the heat down and return the chicken to the pan with the vodka sauce. Let simmer for 10 minutes

We served this with pene pasta, a salad and a Savignon Blanc.

Kentucky Derby Mint Julep Cake

One of my favorite events of the year is the pageantry of the Kentucky Derby. I love to watch the guy make the $1000 Mint Julep. Mint from Morocco, ice from the Arctic Circle and sugar from the South Pacific in a 24k gold cup with a sterling silver straw. The money goes to the New Jersey-based Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides homes for the former race horses.

When my daughter was young she loved The Derby and could name in order all the horses that had won The Triple Crown. She is 23 this year and has yet to see it happen, as the last horse to win it, Affirmed, won in it 1978. She did however, get to spend 5 hours one day chasing a grandson of Affirmed around a field after he got loose.

I got this recipe from http://homecooking.about.com/od/cakerecipes/r/blc140.htm

The only changes I made was to triple the amount of bourbon and cut the sugar in the cake in half.

What I am giving you here is the original recipe without my changes.

Kentucky Derby Mint Julep Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

Cake:

3 cups cake flour

2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

Bourbon Butter Sauce:

1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar

1/3 cup butter

3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons Bourbon whiskey

.

Mint Frosting:

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) white chocolate chips

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

1 teaspoon white creme de menthe liqueur or 1/2 tsp mint extract (see Note)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

Cake:

Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.

In a separate smaller bowl, combine buttermilk, butter, vanilla extract, and eggs.

Add wet ingredients to flour mixture. Beat at low speed for 1 minute, then increase to medium speed for 3 more minutes. Pour into prepared pan and smooth evenly around bundt center.

Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Ten minutes before cake is done, prepare Bourbon Butter Sauce.

Bourbon Butter Sauce:

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/3 cup butter, and 3 tablespoons water. Stir until melted and combined. Do not boil. Remove from heat, continuing to stir for 2 minutes. Then stir in Bourbon.

When cake is done and still warm from the oven, use a skewer to poke holes around the top of the cake. Pour Bourbon butter sauce evenly over the top of the cake. Let cake cool to room temperature in the pan before removing.

Mint Frosting:

Melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until chips are melted. Remove from heat and stir in creme de menthe liqueur (or mint extract). Let cool for 10 minutes, then spread evenly over the cooled cake. Garnish with fresh mint leaves. Chill to set chocolate ganache. Take cake out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cutting to serve.

Yield: 12 to 18 servings, depending on slice cut

Note: You may substitute green creme de menthe for the white, however the color may not be appealing. Just add a drop or two of green food coloring.

Irish Beef Stew with Guinness

If you have not been to Ireland, it is as magical as it's made out to be. I've always gone in the Spring or Autumn and the weather is kind to me. It always seems that on days when I want to go take pictures, it is bright and sunny, or at least gives me spectacular clouds. On days when I am going to be stuck on a bus or train all day it rains and at the end of every day there's always a pub nearby.

Ross Castle, Killarney, Ireland

Kerry Bog Pony, Kerry, Ireland

Red Deer, Killarney National Forest, Killarney, Ireland

A couple of things you need to know when travelling in Ireland

1. Any Guidebook telling you where your accommodations are was given this information by the host. "Less than a kilometer from the bus/train" actually means "less than a kilometer from the pub and after that who cares." If they offer to come get you, say YES.
2. Crossing lights are just a suggestion. Go when you can. (same advice for bathrooms. If you find one, go when you can.)
3. Any information you need can be gathered at the pub; and if not who cares, you're at the pub.
4. Don't suggest to the barkeep that he mix Guinness and anything. (I do, but have been close to evicted several times.)

Nancy Murphy's Pub, Enniskerry, Ireland

Irish Beef Stew with Guinness

2 tbsp olive oil


2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1"-ish bits

1 large onion, peeled and rough cut


2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped


1 tsp dried or fresh thyme

1 tsp dried or fresh rosemary


2-3 tbsp flour


3/4 cup beef stock
(I used bouillon)

1/2 cup Guinness


1 tbsp chopped parsley


1/2 lb carrots, sliced


1/2 lb potatoes cubed

1/2 lb mushrooms cleaned and chunked. (Or in my case rehydrated and chunked)

salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste


Directions:

In a large pot (I use my FAGOR 6qt pressure cooker pot, just not pressurizing it, for this), heat the oil and add the meat.

Brown the meat on both sides on high heat. In the same pot cook the onions for a few minutes until they are translucent.

Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley (which I took off my plate at the restaurant and brought home) and flour, and stir well until nice and mixed.

While I realize Guinness does not travel as it should and should always be gotten at the source, if possible, sometimes a compromise has to be made. Open the beer, take a sip to make sure it's not gone bad or anything like that...(I suppose if you are making this for the crock pot before heading to work you should omit the sipping step).

Add the beef stock and beer. Simmer and stir until the stew begins to get thick. Add the remaining ingredients and cover.


If at any point it looks like there is not enough liquid add the rest of the Guinness if you didn't already drink it.

Turn the heat to low and leave on the stove for a couple of hours stirring occasionally.

You did good...Drink one of the other leftover beers.

You can also do all the prep (brown the meat, cook the onions and herbs etc) stick it all in a crock pot set it on medium and leave it all day while you are at work!

Serve with nice warm Very Easy Beer Bread

Very Easy Beer Bread

This is a lot of fun for even for kids (just watch out for the ones who liked the Seriously Baked Beans and don’t let them drink all your beer).

It is really easy recipe and mostly fool proof , (there are some fools you just can’t proof).

If you are over here scoping out 365 Days on a regular basis, it’s likely you have the ingredients on hand for this dense bread. It is very good with soups, which is why I am posting it today. Tomorrow I am posting Irish Guinness Stew and the bread is in the picture.

The weather here has regressed to wintery and stormy, which, along with 70 degrees and sunny is typical Bend, Oregon, spring weather. Perfect for some last rounds of soups and stews.

Very Easy Beer Bread

Ingredients

12 oz beer

3 cups flour

3 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

Mix together the sugar and flour in a big bowl.

Add the beer. Here’s where it gets creative. I’ve used everything from Apricot beer to really dark beer like Guinness (in which case I use brown sugar) and keep on mixing. When it gets thick enough, switch to using your hands. The batter will be sticky. Tough it out. Drink more beer.

Pour into a 9 x 5 inch greased loaf pan. (My silcone one seriously rocks.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 for 60 minutes.

The top will be hard and crunchy, and the inside will be nice and yummy.

Champagne Shrimp

There is not a lot of skill involved in making these, but not only are they really good, you get to drink the leftover champagne (because who leaves a bottle of open champagne to fend for itself?)

They are elegant and bright. Great a BBQ or a formal dinner. (Shane is thinking they will appear at the Chateau de Touffou for formal dinners.)

Shrimp and champagne how much better does it get without chocolate?

Today my score was that the bags of shrimp were not only on sale but I also had an extra $5 off coupon. I got 2 bags so you should be seeing Bakon Vodka shrimp soon as well!

Champagne Shrimp

Ingredients:
2 lb. peeled cooked shrimp
1/3 c chopped green onions
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cup champagne
¼ white balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp pickling spices (or ½ tsp each cinnamon, mace, ginger root, cardamom, allspice, dry mustard)
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or dill (depending on what you like)

In a bowl big enough to hold everything, combine champagne (I use Cooks White Zinfandel Champagne but if you really want to go up in style and price use Korbel’s Chardonay Champagne.)
, onions, olive oil, vinegar, pickling spices, (I did my own version here because pickling spices are easier but contain cloves which my sister is allergic to and I was making this for a family BBQ) salt, sugar and pepper.

Add shrimp, toss well making sure all the shrimp are well coated and covered with marinade.

Cover and chill for up to 1 day, stirring occasionally and stealing one at a time..

When I cover I put them in a bowl and put cling wrap right down to the top of them sealing them off .

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

These fall under the heading of "Decadence is it's own reward". Don't let the picture deceive you. They don't photograph like the cupcakes that keep coming up on the side of my Facebook, however, they are very, very, very good.

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 sm. pkg. instant chocolate pudding
1tbs instant coffee
2 c. sour cream

4 eggs
3/4 c. oil
1/3 c. Kahlua
12 oz. chocolate chips

Pour a cup of coffee. Pour an extra 1 oz of the Kahlua in the coffee. If it’s the weekend skip the coffee. (It’s good to set limits somewhere.)
Combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips. (Pour a few in your hand and eat them.) *Do not give chocolate to the dog no matter how much he begs.

Mix well….Now fold in chips.
Bake in cupcake holders at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

WARNING this makes about 4 DOZEN cupcakes. So if you don't have a big party or a lot of coworkers waiting to test whatever you are making next on the list for 365 Day of Cooking With Alcohol...you might want to cut it down some.

OR: Pour it all into greased and floured (dusted with powdered chocolate is even better) bundt pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

I made 12 cupcakes and a bundt cake.

Frosting

I am not a huge sweet frosting fan. For these it was almost criminal to put frosting on them at all they were sooooooooo good.

For the sake of a nice finished photo; and frosting lovers, we compromised. Jerry chose Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting. I took 4 tbs and dowsed it with a 1tbs Kahlua and 1 tsp barely moistened instant coffee. We blended it up, put it back in the fridge to re-solidify a bit and put it on some of the cupcakes. Turned out pretty dang good.

A nice sprig of mint on top and we are done! (I wanted to put Nopareils on top but couldn’t find them.)

Seriously Baked Beans

Be careful making these. Do not do a ton of taste testing or YOU will be seriously baked Trust me!

These are not for wimps and probably not kids. Kids probably won't like them and if they do you should worry.

There's not much to this. After you cook the bacon (I learned that gadget man has a handy little screen that goes on top of the frying pan and keeps me from swearing at the bacon), and onions everything goes in the pot and cooks itself into food.

Oh.. and if you accidentally use cayenne pepper instead of chili powder you'll have to rename it to:
SERIOUSLY TOO FREAKIN' HOT TO EAT BAKED BEANS.

Seriously Baked Beans

1 Can Pinto Beans
1 can Great White Beans
1 can black beans
1 c water
1/2 onion, chopped
8 slices bacon, rough chunked (optional.. Wait, no! Bacon should never be "optional".)
1/2 c BAKON vodka
½ c whisky or Yukon Jack
3 tbs brown sugar
3 tbs honey
1 tablespoon chili powder
3/4 c ketchup
2 tsp salt or bacon salt
Fry bacon until very crisp, cut up and set aside. (Unless you want just bacon flavor but veggie beans..the BAKON Vodka will provide.)

Drain drippings from bacon into whatever pot you plan on cooking the beans in. Cook the onions until they are semi transparent.

Add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT THE BOOZE into the bean pan and mix them up. (Wait..if you just want the alcohol flavor now would be the time to add it in. If not…wait.)

Drain beans, add them to the mix. Put the bacon in and stir it up.
Add water cover and cook on medium heat for about 1 hour. Add more water if needed.

Stir in BAKON vodka and Whisky or Yukon Jack. Cook uncovered for another 20-30 minutes or until it gets thick.