Today was drizzly and grey. One of those days when I changed out of my pjs this morning right into sweats. I chose to ignore the piles of clean laundry that need to be put away and spent the day happily in my kitchen. Today was a cooking day. I think I hit a couple of balls out of the park.
From the larger-than-life zucchini that my friend Erika gave to us from her garden, I made several loaves of the best zucchini bread ever. Really. I found the recipe on my new favorite cooking blog, Smitten Kitchen.
Zucchini BreadHave you noticed how comfort food isn't usually very healthy? Throwing caution and cholesterol to the wind, today I made some scrumptious fettucine alfredo with chicken & tomatoes. Mmmmm.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans or line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl, beat three eggs with a whisk. Mix in 1 cup vegetable oil and 1 3/4 cups sugar, then 2 cups grated zucchini and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Combine 3 cups all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt, as well as 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional), and 1 cup chocolate chips and/or dried fruit (optional - I didn't use nuts, chocolate, raisins, or cranberries this time; I wanted to see how the recipe stood on its own). Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans. Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.
Fettucine Alfredo With Chicken & Tomatoes
from Kristi's kitchen
Boil 1 lb. fettucine until al dente. Heat large skillet to medium. Add one large chicken breast, diced. Season with Lowery's seasoning salt & a little Worcestershire sauce. Once chicken is cooked through, decrease temperature to low. Stir in 3/4 pint heavy cream, 1/2 cup butter, & 1/2 cup sour cream (I told you it was not healthy!). Keep stirring throughout. Melt in 1 cup fresh, shredded parmesan cheese (this will thicken it up). Season with pepper & garlic salt. Stir in fettucine noodles. Add a handful of bacon bits (those yummy ones in a bag from Costco) and a handful of cherry tomatoes. Serve immediately. Accept the praise.
5 comments:
Yum both sound good. I haven't enjoyed cooking as much since I have been in my new house because 1) the oven doesn't cook things right - usually too fast but then middle of things aren't done
2) every time I cook - even boil water the smoke alarm goes off and
3) it is so tiny that to get anything out of the cupboard I have to shift everything around/take it out.
Ahh apartment living. When I buy a house I am going to make sure tbe kitchen is great
Kristi shared both of these delicious foods with me today, and I can verify that they are wonderful! Trinity brought the zucchini bread to the zoo in her lunch to share with Grammy. The Fettucini leftovers fed Glenn and I tonight. Now I need to copy the recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Mom
Yummy! And for some good news, according to this excellent and anti-establishment health/food/diet research organization (www.westonaprice.org), the butter, sour cream, and heavy cream in the chicken Alfredo are some of the healthiest things in the recipe! A great recipe book with more scrumptious meals is "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" by Sally Fallon. The website above has some great research and articles for those who actually have time to read anything beside "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See" :o)
I was amazed when Phyllis came home and had fettucini on the table within about 10 minutes, especially after spending the day with Trinity and her clasmates. It didn't take long to learn that dinner was from your kitchen - thanks, it was great!!!
Dad
How well does it ship?
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