Provencal Style Chicken

Hubs and I are big fans of the site Reddit (a social news website).  Within the site there are tons and tons of sub-categories.  My favorites, of course, are based around food.  A contributor posted this recipe to the cooking category (I’m not sure where it came from before that) and it looked SO amazing, we put it on our menu for the week right away.

It is delicious!  The flavors are spot on (even though I didn’t use the capers)…it was wonderful!  I suggest you try this soon!

I decided to serve the dish over a small bed of egg noodles to help sop up all the lovely sauce.  It was perfect!

INGREDIENTS
4 Whole chicken legs
1 Small zucchini, cut into 1/2″ rounds
1/4 Medium sweet union, thinly sliced
2 Garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 Medium tomato, cut into eighths
1T. Sherry vinegar
2 Sprigs of fresh oregano
1T. Capers, drained
Thinly sliced basil
Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS
Add 1T. oil to a tall-sided pan and heat over medium-high for 2 minutes.

Pat chicken legs dry and season with salt and pepper.  Place in pan skin side down and brown for 5 minutes.  Flip and cook another 5 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Discard any fat in the pan, add 1-2T. fresh olive oil and heat until it starts to shimmer.

Add the zucchini pieces and cook until lightly browned on both sides.  Add the onions and cook for about 3-4 minutes until the onion starts turning translucent.  Lightly season with salt, add garlic for about a minute, then add the tomatoes and stir together.

Once most of the tomato juices are cooked out, add the vinegar and cook until almost gone.  Add chicken back to the pan on top of the vegetables.  Add enough water to come up to the top of the vegetables (keep below level of chicken skin so it stays crispy).  Add the sprigs of oregano, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low.

Simmer 15-20 minutes.  As the chicken is braising, keep adding water so the pan does not dry out.  Once the chicken is done, let it rest for about 5 minutes.  Add the capers to the vegetable mixture and mix through.

Husband Rating – 5 out of 5 – “Wonderful, simple flavors, amazingly crispy chicken skin!”

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Turkey Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

I’ve got a new found love for zucchini and almost started drooling when I saw these on Annie’s Eats.  I should have read the directions all the way through, because I didn’t have enough time to let these bake with the zucchini…so I made a few changes and cooked the veggies while making the filling and broiling afterward – worked like a charm.

I made a few ingredient tweaks, either due to allergies or just plain forgetting an ingredient…but these were fabulous!

[New Photo added 8/7/2010]

INGREDIENTS
1 Zucchini, about 12 inches long or 2 6-inch
2T. Olive oil, divided
½C. Onion, chopped
3 Cloves garlic, minced
½C. Mushrooms, chopped (did not use)
1lb. turkey sausage, casing removed
2T. Dry white wine
2-3 Tomatoes, seeded and diced
3T. Chopped fresh basil
1t. Minced fresh rosemary (did not use)
¾C. Grated Parmesan cheese  (I used soy Parmesan)
1 Egg, lightly beaten
½t. Salt
½t. Pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375.

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise.  Scoop out insides, leaving a shell about ¼-inch thick.  Put in an oven-safe dish with 1/4 inch of water and set in oven.  Allow to cook while you’re making the filling – about 15 min.

In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Crumble and cook the sausage until just about done.  Add onion and sauté  until tender, about 4-5 minutes more.  Add the mushrooms (if using), herbs, tomatoes, wine and garlic to the skillet and sauté another 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat.

Drain of any excess fat, remove from heat and set aside to cool.  Once the turkey mixture has cooled a little, mix in the Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper.

Remove zucchini shells from oven and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet, and pre-heat your broiler.  Fill the zucchini shells with the sausage mixture.

Broil approx. 12 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.  Serve immediately.

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Husband Rating – 4.5 out of 5 – “the only thing that could make these better is using real pork sausage”

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Sauteed Zucchini and Squash with Shallots and Garlic

I was never a big fan of squash or zucchini, but when my Grandmother made this for lunch a few weeks ago I tried it again and really liked it.  I’m so happy to have another veggie to add to our rotation!

INGREDIENTS
1 Yellow squash, cut into half-moons
1 Zucchini, cut into half-moons
1 Shallot, finely diced
1T. Olive oil
2 Cloves garlic, finely diced
S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS
Warm oil in skillet, add shallot and cook 4-5 minutes.

Add squash and zucchini and saute until just done – about 6 minutes – do not overcook.

During the last 45 seconds add the garlic to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper just before serving.

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Husband Rating – 3.5 out of 5 – “These are tasty!”

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