Some things I've been making in the kitchen

It used to be that I'd get in the mood to cook and try new recipes. Over the last several years I haven't really wanted to cook, so it feels exciting that I've had such an interest the last several months to want to make new things. Here are some things I've tried out on my family recently:


This is Bruschetta. My daughter Susan actually made the Bruschetta, which is chopped Roma tomatoes, fresh basil, red onions, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and season to taste. I fried the french bread in garlic infused olive oil. I told Susan I had to do something, or else I couldn't post it as something I made.





I found this recipe in a cookbook I bought at a yardsale. It's called Broccoli/Spinach Bake. It's really easy to put together and looks really pretty on the table. Everyone who has tried it has loved it. It's a great side dish for chicken or pork, or even to take to a church potluck dinner.



I admitted in my last blog I'm learning how to fry chicken. I've been successful so far frying chicken with the skin on. Last night I fried boneless, skinless, chicken breasts. These things were really huge, so I cut them in half, then I even cut the thickness of the halves in half. (Does that even make sense??) I use a seasoned flour by House of Autry. It's really good and saves me from having to season my flour as this one is perfect. After I patted the chicken fillets dry, I coated them with the seasoned flour, dipped them in egg, then coated them again. I shook off any excess, then fried them in 1/2 inch of canola oil. They came out perfect. Very juicy and tender.





I just tried this recipe today. It's called "eggs in a nest" and I saw it on the movie "Moonstruck." You take a slice of french bread (Which I had left over from the Bruschetta) and make a hole in the center. I then buttered the bread and put it in a hot pan. I cracked the egg into the hole and let it cook. I thought flipping it over would be tricky, but it actually went well. You can top with bacon and keep your egg sunnyside up, but I don't like mine that way. This was very tasty!





This is a Spinach and Ham Quiche I made for dinner one night. I even made the crust, which always seemed so intimating to me, but my sister Kelley showed me how to do it with the food processor and it's really quite easy. A Quiche is great for any meal, as it makes such a pretty presentation and is so easy to prepare, but it looks like you spent alot of time in the kitchen. Oh, and real men DO eat Quiche!