Dark Wings, Dark Words, Light Meat

It's Back!! Winter is Coming and it Came... and went... and with it, Spring... and a new season of Game of Thrones.

So after the Red Wedding...

And the Mother of Dragons liberating the slaves of Mereen...

It's time for Mysha and I to feed our children... and prepare for the premiere tonight!

As Mereen seems like a combination of Africa, Morocco, and the Middle East, a little flavor is in order. (We're not into mutton here, so chicken is going to suffice!)

Myhsa's Pyramid Chicken
Set crockpot on high for 30 mins and added:
juice of half lime (other half for slaw dressing)
juice of half an orange
rind from most of orange in large sections
1/2 c wine (yes, WINE... the water of Westeros and Essos across the Narrow Sea.)
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c Xylitol... Splenda or sugar if you like
Allow to heat up, stir.

Browned package of bone in chicken thighs, using sesame oil

 Turn and brown both sides

 Turned and crisped the chicken

Then added to crockpot, setting to low for 6 hours

Dothraki Sea Grass Slaw
Assembled a coarse slaw, using a broccoli slaw mix and red peppers, diced
Dressing:
1/2 c mayo (or other)
1/2 c leftover low carb teriyaki sauce (could use regular bottled)
juice of half a lime
1/4 diced cilantro
2 pkts Splenda

Whisk and then toss with slaw, refrigerate until later.

Now Dessert....Second Son Daario's Gift... also known as these other 2 are, ahem, short lived for the series

This part is fun and easy.... get some pikes...because you gotta have pikes!

 Get some strawberries

 Spike them. (I used a heavy glass candle holder with a chunk of styrofoam to hold the berries in place.

 Melt some chocolate (micro at 50% power in 30 second increments)
Then dip and put in fridge to chill/set.

Once chicken is done cooking/crockpot dings/you just can't take it any longer - remove chicken and peppers to platter.

 Turn crockpot up to high and add half a block of cream cheese, cut into chunks. Curse the gods, old and new and even the drowned god, because the picture LOOKS oriented correctly in preview, loads to blogger sideways. Even save anew.

 Ser Barristan mislikes this breach in formalities.

Sprinkle on 1TBSP guar guam and whisk until thick and creamy.

 Drizzle sauce over chicken

 Pour a little wine or Targaryen "Fire and Blood" ale (from World Market)

 Fit for a queen, no royal testers needed!

This is Date Night

Ok, who doesn't want THIS once in awhile...?

Or this....?

But mostly likely have to settle for this...?

Along with this....

After racing home from jobs, securing a sitter...

What you really want is....

I fixed burgers and such on the grill for the kids. The bf was working late and I wanted something a little nicer for a later dinner, just us. Wouldn't be a full blown "date night", but we could carve out a few minutes for a quiet dinner and something better than chicken fingers. Fed the kids and sent them off to amuse themselves with electronics...

Started with 2 loins of cod (on sale with a coupon $3), 1 bunch gr onions, an orange pepper, and a lemon.

Laid out a piece of foil, spritzed with olive oil and squeezed on fresh lemon juice. Sprinkled with sliced green onions and pepper slices. Sprinkled with lemon pepper.Folded up like a package and place on hot grill.

Grill for about 5 mins per side. Cod is a fragile fish. The foil is to keep together and protect... just putting on grill while result in fish flakes. While grilling, toss together some field greens, pumpkin seeds, and a dressing. I mixed equal parts white vinegar, water, and olive oil. Added some Penzey's Country French and tossed with greens and shredded parm.

Plated with the greens and some cocktail shrimp.

Easy, grown up food.

Without any of this....

CBT Carb Back Thurday - Chicken Marsala

It was a dark and stormy night. Well, not exactly, but it was a Saturday and it was raining. I felt like cooking... more than my usual dump and run style. I did a little looking... hmm...Chicken Marsala takes a few minutes longer, but is still easy and so worth the "effort". 

“I had the urge to examine my life in another culture and move beyond what I knew.”

Dump 1 C flour into pan/dish and add ground pepper and either thyme or a spice blend with thyme in it. Either works. Dredge chicken in flour mixture.

Heat a few TBSP of oil in a pan. I used coconut oil. Turn chicken over, cooking both sides, set aside.

I sliced the mushrooms while I pan fried the chicken tenderloins

In another pan, I cooked some spinach angelhair til almost tender. Don't overcook!

“There is no technique, there is just the way to do it.

Now, are we going to measure or are we going to cook?”

Once all the chicken pieces are cooked, add 1/2 stick butter. Recipe I eyeballed called for 1 and 1/2 sticks. i just. couldn't. do. it. I also added 1/2 C of wine - I like the sweeter wines, so I added some Catawba. Let butter melt and mixture simmer for a couple of minutes.

Add mushrooms and cook until almost done; then add 2 or 3 good handfuls of fresh spinach as well as the cooked and drained angel hair noodles.

Add the chicken back to the pan to keep hot.

Toss up a salad and cut up some fresh fruit

Look Look! I made something special!!! 

And get a glass of that wine!

“Life offers you a thousand chances... all you have to do is take one.” 
― Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun