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​It used to be that I would get supper on the table anywhere from 5 PM to 5:30 PM. Lately, it’s more like supper at 5:30 or closer to 6 PM. Sometimes, as my husband would say, I go “down the rabbit hole,” meaning I get sidetracked by another interest and delay in preparing supper.
 
Thank goodness there are some many one pan|skillet|pan meal recipes available these days. Today I prepared another New York Times Cooking recipe for Sheet-Pan Scallion Chicken with Bok Choy. This tangy recipe has you prepare a coating of mustard, miso (I substituted soy sauce), scallions, garlic and ginger that is spread over the chicken before cooking. For the recipe you’ll also need brown sugar or turbinado, salt and pepper, safflower or canola oil, bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts in place of the thighs. 
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With spending so much time at home and cooking, and a blog to write, I’m constantly looking for new recipes. Recently in my NYT Cooking feed a recipe for shrimp scampi appeared. I had to check my recipe index to make sure it wasn’t a repeat, but low and behold this recipe by Ali Slagle called Shrimp Scampi with Orzo was new to me and it’s another one pot meal.

These recipe developers are quite creative, I can’t believe how many recipes are now available that only need one pot |pan |skillet. 
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Yes, a winner. In a recent newsletter from NYT Cooking, I came across a recipe for Sheet-Pan Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Fennel. It sounded easy, used a vegetable combination I wouldn’t have  thought of and it had a tart and cheesy sauce that went over the entire dish.

In addition to the chicken you’ll need olive oil, salt, medium sweet potatoes, small fennel bulb, white wine vinegar, lemon (need zest and juice), Dijon mustard, garlic, black pepper, pecorino cheese. The recipe developer is Ms. Yewande Komolafe and she says you can substitute the sweet potatoes and fennel with other vegetables.
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​Perhaps you or someone you know, enjoys eating wild game. My husband does eat venison, quail and pheasant. Preparing wild game is not everyone’s cup of tea as they may find it difficult to find a recipe or, when they find one, they’ll wonder if its good.  
 
A friend gave me several packages of dressed quail. I did find the website “Hunter, Angler, Gardner, Cook,” and made a few of their recipes. This time I took a chance, to see The New York Times Cooking  web page had any recipes; in fact, they did! I selected a recipe by Mark Bittman for Quail Roasted with Honey, Cumin and Orange Juice. This recipe used pantry staples of extra-virgin olive oil, fresh squeezed orange  juice (I cheated in used Wegmans Premium Orange Juice, no pulp, 100% orange juice), honey, minced garlic and cumin. The recipe received favorable reviews from other cooks. 
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Recently, I had a customer come into the shop where I work telling me about the most delicious molasses ginger cookies he had. He purchased them at a stall at the Madison Square Park Holiday Market in Manhattan. I remembered that in my recipe box I had a such a recipe from my late mother-in-law and I told him I would dig it out and make a batch.
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For the past several months I’ve been on a morning yogurt kick. I top 5% plain Fage yogurt with sliced strawberries and a scoop of granola.  I’m obsessed with Healthy Dark Chocolate Granola, but how healthy can it be if one can’t stop eating it. I also love America's Test Kitchen’s Almond Granola with Dried Fruit, but with changes to make it similar in taste to the The Granola Factory’s  Honey Pecan flavor.
 
Recently my son-in-law found a recipe for Brown Butter-Pecan Granola on the Bon Appétit Magazine website. The flavor profile of this granola is cranberry orange and, for my taste, a tad sweeter than the other granolas I make. For this recipe you’ll need unsalted butter, dark brown sugar, honey, vanilla, pecans, old-fashioned oats, raw pumpkin seeds, unsweetened coconut flakes, finely grated orange zest, cinnamon, kosher salt and dried cranberries. (I omitted the  pumpkin seeds.)
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I have tendency to go into pumpkin overdrive during the fall season. This year, my daughter found a recipe in the November 2020 issue of BON APPÉTIT Magazine for Pecan Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies.
 
For the recipe you’ll also need ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, flour, baking soda, salt (either table or kosher, but see recipe for amounts), butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, vanilla, semisweet chocolate (you can use chocolate chips), dark chocolate chips and pecans. If you don’t want to make the pumpkin pie spice recipe the author gives, use store bought. It will be used in the following recipes.
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​Last week I was sitting at my computer on a beautiful November day. The temperature is the low 70’s. It’s a glorious day to be outside and take in the warmth and sunshine before it fades away.
 
Here’s a brief rundown of the recipes I’ve found that are tasty, easy to prepare and are family friendly. The first recipe I found in an e-newsletter from @nytcooking for Cornbread Tamale Pie. I used my Le Crueset braiser to make it a one pan dish. Your base is a beef chili with a cornbread topping, think Mexican-style pot pie. The second recipe I made was from Lidia Bastianich’s website, Lidia’s Italy, My Mother’s Chicken and Potatoes. Bone-in chicken legs (I used breasts) are browned with bacon roll-ups and are combined with golden brown red skin potatoes, onion pieces and fresh rosemary to create a hearty meal. It’s easy to adapt to feed 2 or 4 or more. The last dish is also from Lidia and is from her book, “Lidia’s Italy,” Braised Pork Chops with Savoy Cabbage.
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​Last week ShopRite had on sale flatiron steak for $5.99/lb. Flatiron steak is cut from the flat muscle located off the shoulder blade. It was the first  time I purchased this cut and I knew it needed to be cooked medium rare (135°) and thinly sliced across the grain. The recipe I found was on a website called Chelsea’s Messy Apron. I chose it because of the sundried tomato sauce that accompanied the steak.
 
For the sauce you’ll need 2 cloves garlic, ½ cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil and herbs and extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I made the tomato sauce using my blender’s mini cups.  
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​My sheet pan pancakes were a big hit with my granddaughter. Apparently, the batch I brought to my daughter’s never made it into the freezer. Being a good Nana, I made another batch yesterday, but left them plain. I found in my June 2020 issue of Southern Living Magazine a recipe for Mini Hash Brown Frittatas that can be made ahead and frozen.
 
For the frittatas you’ll need frozen shredded hash browns, cheddar cheese, frozen chopped spinach, butter, an onion, eggs, half and half, salt, pepper and cherry tomatoes. I know my granddaughter won’t eat tomatoes and neither will her father, so I left those out.


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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