quick and easy meals for 1 or 2


 Teriyaki chicken  serves 2 But if you want to make more it goes good in the freezer in zip locs

You have to start the marinade before you leave for work or school. You can put the chicken in the zip loc frozen. it’ll be ok when you come home.

2 Boneless chicken breasts

2 cup white rice cooked

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

--MARINADE--

1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon ginger minced

1/3 cup red wine

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup soy sauce

PREPARATION

Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, sherry, and vegetable oil in the marinade.

Put chicken and marinade in ziploc bag and marinate for at least 3 hours.

Grill over medium heat until cooked through; about 20 minutes. Slice on a diagonal bias and serve over cooked white rice. Top with sesame seed

Just a Japanese twist on quick and easy.

          SERVE IT UP!! With some Saki or beer or wine.

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2


Veal piccata,, this is so easy and you will look like a chef!

• 6 Veal (or chicken) pieces pounded thin. I've done it with chicken tenders
• 1/2 cup flour
• 6 tablespoon butter
• 12 mushrooms
• 2 tablespoon Fresh parsley chopped or 1 tbsp dried
• 1 lemon sliced
• 1 for juiced
• 1/2 cup white wine

Slice mushrooms length-wise. Pound the scallops or chicken until thin and even. Salt and pepper scallops and drop one at a time into a bag with the flour. Shake until lightly coated. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in skillet over medium heat. As soon as butter begins to melt, add the mushrooms and teaspoon of the lemon juice. Once mushrooms are wilted, pour entire contents into a shallow bowl and wipe skillet. Place skillet back on the burner to re-heat. Once skillet is hot, add the remaining three tablespoons of butter. Quickly cook the scallops or chicken until they are brown only at the edges. Remove to a serving platter. Add the wine or vermouth and stir, being sure to incorporate the pan drippings. Return the mushroom and lemon juice mixture to the skillet and allow to simmer for a minute or two, then pour over the meat. Garnish with lemon slices and parsley.

SERVE IT UP!! with some pasta, crusty bread and the rest of that wine!

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

It's quick and easy

serves 6,,it will keep in the zip locks in the freezer for a nuke no brainer

4 ounce(s) slab bacon or pancetta, diced in 1/4-inch pieces pancetta is better if you can get it. If not bacon works good.
2 or 3 garlic cloves (optional)
2 swirls of olive oil
3  large eggs
1/4 cup(s) Italian parsley, chopped or 1 1/2 Tbsp. dried
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound dried spaghetti or linguine or fettucini  
1/2 cup grated Parmesan


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil




Cook bacon or pancetta in oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat until golden brown and most of the fat has been rendered, about 8 to 10 minutes, then remove skillet from heat. some times I put a couple of cloves of garlic chopped up into the bacon stuff just for 1 min. or 2 before I take it off.


In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, parsley, salt, and red pepper flakes until combined


Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook until al dente (tender yet still firm to the bite). Drain pasta, holding back about a cup of the cooking water


Add hot spaghetti to bacon mixture in skillet and toss well over medium-low heat until pasta is coated. Add egg mixture and a little of the cooking water; toss gently until spaghetti looks creamy. Add cheese and toss to combine. 


SERVE IT UP!! with some good chianti, bread and some salad

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2


Quick shrimp with white wine

• 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
• 2 swirls of olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh or 1 Tbsp dried
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Peel and devein the shrimp.

Put oil, garlic and shrimp in a pan and sautee for 3 minutes or until they turn pink

 Turn shrimp over and cook the other side 'til pink

Add the wine and cook til shrimp are cooked through. Do not overcook.

Sprinkle with parsley, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over some linguine or fettucine cooked al dente.

SERVE IT UP !! with the rest of the wine, some crusty Italian bread and some salad.

you know what to do with the extra,,,,zip lock bags ,,freezer

coq au vin

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2


coq au vin

Some great friends we met down here had us over to their house for some wine and eats. Sonya is a great cook and made this. I thought I knew a lot about cooking , but this was great and a new experience for me. I did it at home with a few personal touches (would you believe it?)

A couple of breasts and a couple of legs cut the breasts in half (crunch right thru them) cut the legs in half at the joints. Take the skins off if you want ,,,or not.
8 slices of bacon
15 or so pearl onions
1/2 med onion chopped
about a large handful of baby carrots
2 large cloves of garlic minced
about a cup of sliced mushrooms.
1/4 cup chopped fresh or 2 tablespoons of dried parsley
1/2 tbsp marjom ( if you have it)
1 bay leaf (you oughta have it)
1/2 tbsp thyme
1/2 tbsp sage
3 cups red wine or 1/2 and 1/2 red and white
salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups rice


Cut the bacon crossway's and put it a stock pot big enough to hold the whole thing. add the carrots and cook for about 5 minutes med heat stirring once in a while, until the bacon starts to get brown on the edges. Add the onions cook for another 2-3 minutes then the garlic for about 1 more minute. Add the spices and stir it up. Move the pot over to the side of the burner and put the chicken in the hot side of the pot. Stir and turn the chicken over a few times until it's browned all over. Add the wine and mix it up. Cover and simmer for 1 hour (or more) stirring every 10 min or so. Add some more wine if it starts to get a little dry looking. Add the mushrooms about 5 min from serving.

 After about 45 min. bring 3 cups of water to a boil and add the rice and a little salt. Cook it til the rice is soft but chewy.

Serve it up!!! with some more of that red wine and some crusty bread. It'll go over great!!

P.S. Sonya likes to add some cognac with the wine shhhhh.

risotto

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Risotto

I know I've gone on and on about risotto before, but Gammy says this is my best ever.

olive oil
1 stick of butter
med sized onion chopped up fine
2 cups of rice
1 cup of wine (red or white)
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp pepper
8 cups chicken broth (hot but not boiling) you can get this in cardboard boxes or you can make it with
1 cup frozen peas let the peas and corn thaw a little while you get the risotto going
1 cup frozen corn
bouillon cubes or powder.
grated Parmesan cheese


1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
8 chicken tenders



In a large pot (6-8 qts), med heat, put a couple of swirls of olive oil and half of the stick of butter. get the butter sizzling. add the onions cook until the onions are translucent. Add the rice cook and stir until the rice is coated with the other stuff and just starting to get translucent. add the wine. cook for a minute or so until the rice starts to absorbe the wine. Add a cup of the broth.  cook and stir until the broth is almost all absorbed and add another cup of broth. repeat the process until the rice is done but still a little chewy. If you run out of broth a little hot water will work until the rice is done. While all this is going on dredge the chicken in the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder mixture and fry them up in a frying pan with some olive oil and big enough to handle it. When the tenders are cooked put them aside on a cutting board to cool and after a bit cut them up in bite size chunks.. When the rice is done add the rest of the butter about half a cup of grated cheese, peas, corn and the chicken.

Mix it all up and serve it up!! with some crusty italian bread and the rest of that wine!!

Then comes the best part,,, put the pot in the fridge overnight and the next day (or the next) put the leftover in zip locks and save them for a quick microwaved no brainer for some weeknight when you come home tired and don't want to cook.

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Chicken Saltimbocca

 

serves 6. 

I purposely made the recipe for some extra.  Freezes great in a zip loc with some of the sauce in each bag.

6 small chicken breasts, pounded to about 3/8” thick

Salt and black pepper

6 paper-thin slices prosciutt ,,boiled ham will work in a pinch

1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed

olive oil

1/4 cup grated Parmesan  cheese

1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

about ¼ cup of white wine or red if your feeling adventurous

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay 1 slice of prosciutto on each chicken cutlet.

Squeeze the frozen spinach to remove the excess water. Season the spinach with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, toss the spinach with 1 about a tblsp of oil to coat.

Arrange an even, thin layer of spinach on the prosciutto slices. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over each.(sometimes I put a slice of mozzarella or provolone on also). Beginning at the short tapered end, roll up each chicken cutlet like for a jellyroll. Tie it up with a toothpick.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large frying pan over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice and the wine. Scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Simmer the cooking liquid over high heat until it is reduced to about 2/3 cup, about 5 minutes. Season the cooking liquid with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove toothpicks from the chicken. Drizzle the reduced cooking liquid over the chicken and

SERVE IT UP!!!! With some pasta aglia e olio, salad, crusty Italian bread and the rest of that wine and maybe another bottle.

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Italian Chicken Soup..

This is sorta like Chinese egg drop soup , but, 'ay it’s Italian,,,ya know wat I mean? With a some salad, some good crusty Italian bread and some wine it makes a good, fast meal. Also, let the leftovers cool, then into Ziplocs and into the freezer for some great outtta the freezer and into the nuker quick and easy meals.

3-4 cups cooked chicken cubed or pulled from a rotisserie chicken

6 cups chicken broth 

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

2 tblsp chopped fresh or 1 Tbsp. dried parsley

2 tblsp chopped fresh or 1 tbsp. dried basil leaves

1 cup lightly packed spinach leaves, cut in thin strips

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, cheese, parsley, and basil to blend. Add the chicken to the broth. Cook for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir the broth in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin strands about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach, then season the soup, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

This a recipe from our friend Butch. It makes a lot of it but it freezes good for a no brainer some weeknight. I'll let Butch tell you about it.

This recipe is easy to make using leftover chicken. Feel free to
substitute cooked ground beef or chopped steak.
 
2 1/2 cups chicken, cooked, shredded
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
16 ounces salsa
1/2 teaspoon cumin
pinch of salt
6 − 10 inch flour tortillas
1 cup refried beans
Olive oil (for basting)
Sour Cream
Guacamole
 
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  In a large saucepan, saute
onion and garlic in oil until tender.  Stir in chili powder, salsa,
and cumin. Stir in shredded chicken. Let cool.  
 
Grease rimmed 15 x 10 x 1 baking pan.  Working with one tortilla at
a time, spoon a heaping tablespoon of beans down center of each
tortilla. Top with a scant 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture. Fold up
the bottom, top and sides of tortilla; secure with wooden
toothpicks if necessary.
 
Place chimichangas in greased baking pan, seam side down. Brush all
sides with the oil. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and
crisp, turning every 5 minutes.  Serve with sour cream and
guacamole.
 
Serves 8-10

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Quick marinated pork chops, onions and wine sauce

2-4 sorta thick pork chops
some good olive oil
about 2 tbsp. butter
red wine
1 whole orange (or lemon or lime)
half  of a med sized onion or about 8-10 pearl onions
some rosemary fresh is great but dried will work in a pinch
salt and pepper
flour for dredging

Put the pork chops in a big bowl. Put in about 2 swirls off olive oil. 2 good splashes of red wine. cut the orange (or lemon or lime) in half and squeeze the juice in with the pork chops. Put in the skins as well. Mix it all up so all the chops get coated. Slice up the onion in sorta wide slices or if pearls just cut off the ends and peel them. Heat up a frying pan big enough to handle the chops with a couple of swirls of olive oil. The thicker the chops slightly more oil is needed. Coat the chops with some salt and pepper.Dredge them in some flour. Cook them in the pan just turning once. Put the onions in with the chops when you turn the m over. When the chops are done remove them and put on a plate on the back of the stove to keep warm. Add the butter and rosemary (a couple of sprigs of fresh or about a tbsp. of dried)  Add the wine and kinda scape the bottom  the pan with whatever you used to turn the chop to "deglaze" it. When the wine is reduced some and thickened pour it all over the chops and serve.

I usually fry some potatoes while I'm doing all this and get a salad ready in between turns and stuff.

SERVE IT UP!! with some good crusty bread and the rest of that red wine and maybe another bottle!!