This year for our Mother’s day celebration, the men of my house cooked the main meal of the day. I supplied the food, recipes and was available for consulting. They did the rest. One of the dishes they made was roasted carrots and fennel but we had way too much fennel for our needs that day. I knew I could find a way to use up the leftover bulb of fennel and yesterday was the day. I put my searching skills to work and found out that fennel, rosemary and garlic are complimentary flavors for chicken, among other proteins. This is my adaptation of a recipe found at Foodandwine.com .  I was able to use parsley from my garden which is growing so well. I will take new pictures this weekend and post them. I love watching things grow.

Braised Chicken with Fennel

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large fennel bulb (about 1 1/4 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/3 pounds in all)
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the fennel, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the fennel is golden brown and almost done, about 12 minutes. Add half of the broth and bring to a boil. Add more broth if it all evaporates. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer until the fennel is tender, about 3 minutes.  Remove the fennel and the cooking liquid from the pan and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat. Season the chicken with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Add the chicken to the pan with the remaining 1 teaspoon of rosemary and cook until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until almost done, about 3 minutes longer. Add the garlic; cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the fennel and its cooking liquid and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and finish cooking the chicken until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.  Stir in the parsley.

I served this with some yummy gnocchi we bought last week and put in the freezer. This dish was full of flavor and I loved having the light “sauce” for the gnocchi. This would also be good with mashed potatoes or polenta.

I prefer to try something new whenever I have guests. I think it’s because I can hopefully get some unbiased feedback. My family seems to love almost everything I make. Last night I made these really simple chicken strips that were covered in a coating of bread crumbs, crushed saltines and some herbs. They devoured them! I kept hearing “yumm, ummmm” from the guys all during dinner. They loved the simple dipping sauce as well. Both recipes came from a book, The Stocked Kitchen, which has some great all-purpose recipes that use simple to find, every day ingredients. So far they are true to their claim but I prefer a bit more of an international flair to my dishes so I am constantly revising recipes.

For tonight’s dinner I took a recipe for Brasato in Bianco, from Italian Food Forever, and combined it with some of the flavors and techniques of the Pioneer Woman’s Pot Roast recipe. I can’t wait to taste the results. We’ll start our meal with tomato bruschetta, olive and marinated artichoke hearts. The beef will be served with roasted potatoes and some zucchini, not sure if I’ll saute’ that or what.

I also made those delicious homemade granola bars for dessert because they are so easy to make. And let’s face it, they must be healthy with oats, coconut and dried cranberries—-right?

Buon appetite!

I finally went out and bought seeds and plants. Monday I was able to get most everything in before a nice rain fell saving me from having to water. And it’s been raining a bit daily so I haven’t had to worry about that part of gardening, so far. Here is what I put in:

Cherry tomato

Cucumbers

Early Girl tomato

Sweet Red Pepper

Marigolds

Sweet Banana Pepper

Fennel

Carrots

Radishes

Onions

Nasturtium

Lettuce- two kinds

Spinach

Zucchini

Basil- two plants

Dill

Greek Oregano

Rosemary

Cilantro

Parsley

Roma Tomato- two plants to be put into pots

I can’t wait to enjoy the fruits of my garden this summer. I am the very most impatient gardener around.

Here is an example of raised bed gardens, although I think since it seems to be all the rage, most will already know what I’m talking about. I’ve decided to start small with just one 4 x 4 ft bed.

Photo credit : The Great Garden Guru

I plan to put in three varieties of tomatoes – Roma, cherry and some kind of slicing variety. I will be adding in herbs such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil and transferring my oregano plant in there as well. I’ve had an oregano plant for two years now in a container that has done very well. I might just thin it and put some in the raised bed. I like having the planter just outside my back door to snip the fresh oregano during the warm months. I want to try to grow some romaine lettuce and zucchini. If there is room, I might attempt eggplant as well. We’ll see once I get mine loaded with all the soil mix and sectioned off. I also have an old half barrel that is cut vertically that I’m going to convert into a planter.

The funniest part about all of this gardening business is how I managed to get out of doing most of the heavy work. I did all the planning and helped my husband pick out what to buy. He went to the store and loaded all the compost, soil, peat moss, humus and other bags of stuff and brought it all home. He also did the stacking of those bags in the garage.

Last night I told my boys, teenagers who should be wanting to work on those muscles, to get outside and help me assemble and fill the bed. I bought a kit with cedar wood that is really easy to put together. What a fiasco it all was. I think we put the “fun” in dysfunctional.

I had one kid telling me how to measure the black liner to kill off all the weeds where the bed was being laid down. I had the other telling me to move out-of-the-way so he could put the bed together. Then when it came time to move the bags of soil and etc. they were yelling at me to “bend and lift with my knees” and such so my back wouldn’t hurt. Older son told me he was not filling that bed and I can’t force him. He watched me scoop in two shovelfuls then took over, of course he also told me how I was doing it all wrong. It was comical. I just stood back and let the boys do all the work while I just commented occasionally.

I have a feeling I’ll be the one who has to go shopping for all the plants and do the transplanting, which isn’t all that bad. I wonder if I’ll be “doing it wrong” so that my oldest son comes alongside me and takes over. Oh what fun this garden will be!

I can already taste the tomato sandwiches!

I apologize for not getting these up sooner but I’ve been extra busy lately. I have pictures from week 3 but can’t seem to get them to upload because they were sent to me from a classmate. But on week 4 I did take pictures of our final class meal. It was very good and I would love to take another course of Prep School at Gatherings Kitchen just for the fun. I also learned a lot of valuable information in the kitchen and will be able to use some of it in my own classes.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Panko-crusted white fish

Spinach salad with eggs and hot bacon dressing

Orzo with roasted carrots and fennel

Creamed Asparagus soup

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie!

One of the goals I had when I began this blog was to connect with family members I had never met, particularly any one in Italy who I am related to. I didn’t count on meeting anyone new here in the United States let alone my state. It gets better, they live within one hours’ time of my house! And they are from Italy and speak with Italian-American accents. Anna sounds just like my grandmother did so listening to her over the phone was like music to my ears. As I type this I just know that by the time I leave their house tomorrow I will be talking with the very same accent. It’s just how I am.

I am busy baking some almond and cranberry biscotti to bring along with me. I also had some old family photos put into a collage to give to Mike and Anna as a gift from me. I am  not sure they have copies of these pictures so I wanted them to have their own copies. About three years ago my eldest first cousin did a family tree and history of our Italian ancestors which included over 300 family pictures. Some of these pictures were sent from Italy to my grandmother during her lifetime. When she passed away they went to her oldest son, my uncle. When he passed away I guess they went to his oldest son, the cousin who put together the family tree. He made digital copies and scanned many items for our extended family to enjoy. 

I’m not sure if anyone but he and I are into this whole family tree thing. I know it’s important to me to learn about my ancestors and who shaped the person I am today. Like I said in the beginning of this post, I am super excited for tomorrow and the first of many visits. Mike has no surviving parents or siblings and the rest of the family is in Italy, all but those who are from my grandmother’s offspring. I will be taking photos tomorrow and sharing photos with Mike and Anna as well. 

I’d like to end this post with a family portrait of my great-grandparents on my father’s maternal side. It included my grandmother, Mike’s mother, and my uncle is the youngest child in the picture. 

Hot and Sour Mushroom soup

Cucumber Salad

Basmati rice

Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry

Almond Tuille cookies (fortune cookies)

For my group I made the Hot and Sour Mushroom soup. The whole meal was delicious and we all felt so proud of ourselves. Then last night we dug in deeper with new skills and made the following menu:

Carmelized Onion Tart

Spring Greens with Roasted Beets & Grilled Baby Leeks

Chicken Piccata

Fettuccine Alfredo

Rosemary Parmesan Breadsticks

Yogurt Lemon Cake

This week I did more work by making the cornmeal pastry crust for the tart, prepped and made the Yogurt Lemon cake and cooked the prepared chicken along with finishing the sauce for chicken piccata. We all made the pasta and breadsticks. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Prepped cake ingredients above and finished cake minus the glaze below.

Roasted Beet salad

Breadsticks

Carmelized Onion Tart

Chicken Piccata

Pasta before cooking

The completed meal all ready to be served! What a feast!

Stay tuned for next week’s report and pictures. I can’t wait!

I hope all of you will take some time with your family and friends this Easter thinking about the words I have written. I’m thankful for the gift of life Jesus gave to all of us. Don’t let another day pass without knowing Him and accepting His gift to you.

Thanks again to Michele for providing a generous box of popcorn for us to try and for the giveaway. And Alicia at Living Your Moment.

Not just any popcorn either but Michele’s Totally Awesome Gourmet Popcorn! Through my affiliation with Living Your Moment, I was chosen to do a review and giveaway of this wonderful sweet treat. I was sent a huge box of popcorn to test, eat and review plus I have a few sampler bags to give to one lucky winner. I will draw one winner on Friday, March 23rd. Easy, right? Now onto my review.

The popcorn in the picture above is the Peanut Butter Cup flavor which was my favorite of all the sweet flavors we tried. My husband enjoyed the Carmel corn as well as their Munchie Mix, which I think was thrown in as an extra! He said the ratio of each item in the mix was perfect. You know how sometimes you buy a snack mix only to find it heavy on pretzels or nuts? Well not the Munchie Mix. It was just right. My son Caleb totally enjoyed the savory bag of Pizza flavored popcorn. He said it was much better than pizza flavored Doritos! Now that is impressive since he is 15 and has a palate of unmentionable proportion! My son Jake could not get enough of the Mudslide popcorn which caused a few arguments over who got to eat the bag. Don’t worry, we shared. My favorite from the savory varieties was the Buffalo Chicken popcorn, it had just the right amount of spice and not too hot.

Overall Michele’s products are delicious and fresh. I mean very fresh considering we opened a bag and didn’t finish it for a few days and it was still fresh on the 3rd and 4th day. Everything comes packaged nicely with a colorful logo so you can’t beat the popcorn from Michele’s Totally Awesome Gourmet Popcorn. And it’s all made right here in the USA!  I believe in supporting local businesses whenever possible so if I lived in NH, I’d be buying lots of popcorn.

Remember, to win a bag of Jack Frost Crumble (sweet) popcorn and Na-Cho Cheddar (savory) popcorn, be sure to like Michele’s Totally Awesome Gourmet Popcorn on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me you did. For an extra entry visit Michele’s Shoppe online and find your favorite flavor you’d want to try, then come back here and leave it in the comments. This giveaway is for US residents only. Remember you have until Midnight Friday to enter.

Disclaimer: The only compensation I received for this was a sampler box of popcorn, no money was given for this review.