Curried Couscous with Grilled Chicken Breast

It's bikini season, oh yes it is! Lately I have not been eating the best foods in the world so it was a nice surprise when Ina of all ladies, came up with this bikini inspiring curried couscous. We just tossed in some grilled chicken and it made a superb dinner for three... and uh, lunch, and ummm dinner, lunch, dinner. Yes, it's the couscous that keeps on giving.

Ian and I switched out the carrots and extra onion for some blanched green beans, finely chopped red bell pepper, chick peas, and a small grilled chicken breast. Plus we figured that the oil could be cut down to half, considering it is a Barefoot Contessa recipe!

It was so delicious we are going to make this again tonight with quinoa (the trendy grain) and eat it for another week!

Thanks to Ellyn of Recipe Collector and Tester for restoring my faith in Ina.


Curried Couscous with Grilled Chicken Breast
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa
this is our version of the recipe here

1-1/2 cups couscous
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups boiling water
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/8 cup good olive oil
3 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1/8 tsp. cyanne pepper (optional, if you like spice)
1-1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried currants
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup blanched green beans, cut to one inch
1 cup drained chickpeas


Place the couscous in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water and pour over the couscous. Cover tightly and allow the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Grill and cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces. Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous, and mix well with a fork. Add the grilled chicken,green beans, parsley, currants, almonds, scallions, red pepper,and chickpeas, mix well, and season to taste. Serve at room temperature

Outrageous(ly Fattening) Brownies - Barefoot Bloggers

Seriously, are you surprised by the amount of fat and sugar in these brownies, it IS Ina. This is the lady that puts half a stick of butter in her burgers. Even though, I think she has outdone herself this time. Let’s see how we can kill a person with one simple dessert:

i) 1 POUND of Butter... go Ina,
ii) 2 POUNDS of Chocolate, ok, I love chocolate, but two pounds?!?
iii) 6 EXTRA LARGE EGGS, ugg, the cholesterol
iv) 2.5 CUPS of Sugar, really, as if the 3 pound of butter and chocolate isn’t enough
v) 3 CUPS of walnuts, lets just keep tacking on the fat, why not?

I'm not saying that these weren’t amazing, because they were, but after a couple of these puppies don’t expect your heart to pump normally ever again. I remember watching her make these on TV a year back and wanting to throw something at the screen because I was sure that just watching that much fat go into one dessert was terribly terribly wrong.

If you want to live on the edge, first book your hospital stay, then make the recipe here. Nice knowing you.

Asian Chicken Salad - Barefoot Bloggers

Sorry BB's, this is posted late. But I made it five days early.... does that count?
This was one of the best tasting chicken salads that I have ever had. Maybe it was the peanut butter in it. How can you go wrong with peanut butter? Oh yeah, that's right, you can't! What did you think?


Asian Chicken Salad
adapted from Barefoot Contessa
serves 5

1kg grocery store roast chicken
olive oil
salt and black pepper
1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed
1 zucchini, cut in coins
1 orange bell pepper, cored and seeded
2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp peeled, grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Remove the meat from the chicken, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces. Cook the asparagus and zucchini in a fry pan for 10 minutes until crisp-tender. Cut the peppers in thin strips. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, zucchini and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve over rice noodles.

Cherry Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Hey BB's. What to say about this tart? Well how about crazy amazing. Or maybe insanely good. I guess just simply tasty will do. Anne Strawberry picked this Ina inspired tart (of course made with butter filled puff pastry) that BB's all over the world lovingly made and enjoyed.

I made three sizes of the tarts thinking that I could eat a couple small ones with my hands like appetizers, ummm...no, they were so good I ate all three sizes with my hands. Nuts to utensils.

The tomatoes were like fresh berries, they burst at every bite releasing delicious juice in your mouth. It was nice to have a 'summery' dish to remind us that winter (horrid horrid winter) is over and of what's to come.


Cherry Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart
adapted from Ina Garten's book 'Back to Basic's'

1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted (PC makes it pre-rolled)
Good olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
salt and black pepper
3 tbsp. dry white wine
2 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
20 mini tomatoes, cut in half
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves

Unfold a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to an 10 by 10-inch square. Using a 6-inch wide saucer, cut 1 circle from each sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with smaller round plate, and possibly a cup, until most of the pastry sheets have been cut out. Place the pastry circles on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add salt and pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook until the wine has evaporated and the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat. Score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border. Place some of the onion mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge. Place the cherry tomatoes on top of the onions. Crumble goat cheese on top and brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle over some salt and pepper. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Once baked add the basil on top of each tart. Serve warm or cold.

Chicken Piccata

Hey there Barefoot Bloggers. So this is the second challenge that I have participated in with the BB's and let me tell you... it has been so much fun! This Thursday Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings chose Chicken Piccata.

For those of you out there that don’t know the fancy name, it’s basically classic breaded chicken (no shake n' bake allowed) with a lemon sauce. Oh yeah, and butter. Lots, lots, lots of butter. I even cut the amount of butter in half, and still the sauce was buttery. What did you expect from Ina, really!

I truly enjoyed this dish, but I wasn't so fond of the three steps, three bowl breading catastrophe that left the walls and floor of my kitchen covered in egg, flour, breadcrumbs and salmonella.

I think it was worth it though. You should have seen Ian's face when he took the first bite, he was in pure heaven. For him, breading + chicken + lemon = win. Mind you, he was the kid in kindergarten that ate the left over lemon and lime candies that all the other kids wouldn’t touch.

Chicken Piccata
adapted from Ina Garten's book 'Barefoot Contessa at Home'

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 extra-large eggs
1 tbsp water
2 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
4 tbsp. olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
Freshly squeezed juice from 3 lemons, lemon halves reserved
1 cup dry white wine
Sliced lemon, for serving
Italian Seasoning, salt, and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick.
Mix the flour with salt and pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate with Italian seasoning. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.
Heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add 1-2 of the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Re-oil the pan with another 1 tbsp. of olive oil and repeat. Place the chicken on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 7 minutes while you make the sauce.
For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, salt and pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon.

Pavlova Chantilly

Hey there, it's Christie from Toronto. I'm still on my break, but yesterday I finally received an e-mail from "The Barefoot Bloggers" telling me that Ian and I are officially members! Hurray! And what does this membership entail you ask? First, that you have a ton of butter on hand. Second, that every second Thursday of the month you bake, brown, roast, whip, stir, or burn (hopefully not) a specific recipe by Ina, the Barefoot Contessa.

So for the first challenge picked by BMK of Reservations not Required, we had these light and fluffy Pavlova's. The ingredients are simple enough, egg whites and sugar basically, but you have to bake them at a very low temperature for two hours, and then let them sit for another four.

Ha ha, nuts to that. We ate it after one hour of sitting and they were amazing, although the berry stew of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, plus the orange scented whipped cream didn’t hurt. The Pavlova melts in your mouth, it is just so light.

But, unfortunately you can only eat one of these beauties, because in following with the practices of the Barefoot Contessa, everything should have at least enough sugar and fat in the dish to kill a small Moose. (Nice Canadian reference there eh.)

Oh, by the way, I took this picture by myself! Im getting better eh! (please say yes Ian)

Pavlova Chantilly
adapted from the book ‘Barefoot In Paris’, 2004
makes 6

4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Kosher salt
3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped Cream with Orange, recipe follows
Stewed berries, recipe follows

Whipped Cream with Orange
1 cups (1 pint) cold heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp orange juice

Stewed berries
1 half-pint fresh blueberries
3 half-pints fresh raspberries and strawberries, divided
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
2 teaspoons framboise (raspberry brandy)

Pavlova
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small glass and a pencil, draw 6 (3 1/2-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn the paper face-down on the baking sheets. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on medium speed until frothy. Add a 1/2 cup of the sugar and raise the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar into the meringue. With a large star - shaped pastry tip, pipe a disc of meringue inside each circle. Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells. Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.
Spread some of the sauce from the stewed berries on each plate. Place a meringue on top and fill with whipped cream. Top with berries and serve.

Whipped Cream with Orange
Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla and orange and continue to whip until the cream forms stiff peaks. Don't overbeat.

Stewed Berries
Combine the blueberries, one-half pint of raspberries, and one half pint of strawberries with 1/3 cup water, the sugar and zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. The juice will become a syrup and the berries will be slightly cooked. Off the heat, stir in the remaining raspberries and the framboise. Set aside.