Experimentations with Spices: Paprika

Yesterday I took a trip to the store to replenish and expand on the seasonings I use in the kitchen. This evening I decided to try out one of my new spices. Glancing over my new inventory, I chose to use paprika.  I can't recall ever using this specific one before. Holding up the bag,  it looks like it could be a specimen of fine dust from Mars. The vibrantly red seasoning would seem to possess a fiery mesquite smoky flavour. Although there are many that do, the one I have bought lacks the heat.  Its characteristics are more of a mildly dry sweet flavour. Paprika gives a dishe quite an appetizing quality as well when used as a garnish or rubbed over the meat I've found.

 

Recipe:

• 1 Bone in chicken breast
• 1 stalk of celery
• 2 small onions
• 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 3 table spoons of paprika
• salt
• pepper
• 3 stripped sprigs of thyme (plus a few for on top the chicken)
• 1 table spoon of basil
• extra virgin olive oil

Simply place the chicken in a casserole dish and begine to prepare.

Drizzle some olive oil over the chicken and massage all over to thoroughly coat.

In a bowl, mix paprika, basil, thyme, garlic and a pinch of salt.

Take the mixture and rub it all over the chicken breast, making sure to place the mixture under the skin as well.

Slice up the onions and celery any way you like. (I julienned my onions)

Place around the prepared meat and season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle the oninons and celery with olive oil.

Place a few sprigs of thyme on the top of the chicken.

Cover with foil and cook at 350 in the oven for approximately 45 mins or until done and enjoy.

 

 

 

This is a before picture. 

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After. 

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For show, I put a few celery leaves as garnish. I really enjoyed the dish. The garlic saturated the meat quite well, the chicken was juicy, and the paprika gave it a very subtle flavour. The side of onions and celery really obsorbed the color of the paprika and had a great carmalization over all.  This is one dish I will be making again maybe next time I will finally have friends over for sampling. If anyone tries this dish or have suggestions to improve it, let me know!

 

 

Something Really Good. Yum!

I've been trying to not eat out as much to save money and maybe eat a little healthier. I've been stocking up on basic staples along with fresh veggies, fruit, and easy to put together ingredients to keep myself motivated to eat at home instead of eating out. Yesterday I made something that I couldn't believe I made. It was so good! I thought to share it because this was something I just made up that I'll be making more of in the futur with different tweeks to it just to see if I can make it even better.

This was the initial mixture that was going to be the stuffing. Cashews, bell pepper, herbs, a little feta, a little sour cream, olive oil, garlic, and some sun dried tomatoes.

I later decided to put a little lemon zest and grated a half of a small potato to the mixture.

This is what the chicken looked like before I baked it. I drizzled a little olive oil and lemon juice on it and sprinkled some Italian herbs on the top.

Ths is what it looked like when it was done. Yum!

I wasn't sure which picture I liked better so here's another one.

I decided to throw this one in just to show you something else I made a few days ago. Fried green tomatoes with spaghetti pesto and feta. The fried green tomatoes may not have been too healthy, but over all I think it was ok. lol

Something I Made Today...

This is a split fryer breast I cooked. I butter fly cut it, stuffed it with an artichoke, egg, cottage cheese, sour dough, herb stuffing. I then used the rest of my fresh herbs I got out off the deck and put them on the top of it along with some dried italian herb mix, and drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil.

This is a berry strata I made also... pre-cooked. your suppose to let it marinate from 4 to 14 hours. It's got riccota, egg, sourdough, melted butter and honey along with a lil grape juice (the recipe calls for oj.. didn't have any on hand) and of course a berry mix. I used some frozen berries that were thawed. I've messed with the recipe a lil, but here's a link to where I got the recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/berry-strata-recipe/index.html

Ta Da!!!

This is it after it was cooked. I wanted to consume it right then but had to rush to work. The stuffing was really good. I think next time I'm going to think of using something with a tart flavour when it comes to cheese. Maybe goat cheese. I tried some the other day and it was actually really good. I think it would go well with the sour dough bread.

I ate it with some brown rice with lemon pepper. Yum!

This is the berry strata. It's really good! It's almost like a bread pudding. I suggest some vanilla ice cream with it after it's cooled a bit. I'm glad I finally made this dish. This has been something I've been meaning to make for months!