Chicken & Artichoke Hearts

Here's to being adventurous!  I've never liked artichoke hearts--I suppose this comes from my pre-disposition as a child to not like things like look healthy...or are kind of squeaky in texture...  Fortunately Z has definitely broadened my horizons!  This evening I was thinking about something to make for dinner, and I took it upon myself to try to incorporate the jars of artichoke hearts that I recently picked up at the grocery store. My journey found me to this recipe which is exquisite!  Please try and enjoy.

Ingredients:
1-2 TB unsalted butter
1/3 C all-purpose flour
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I cut mine into small pieces)
4 TB lemon juice
2-3 TB lime juice
2 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 C chicken broth
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried basil
1 (13-14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 TB cornstarch
1/4 C water

Melt the butter (start with 1 TB and increase if you need) in a medium skillet over medium heat.  While this is melting, combine flour and salt in a small bowl, and gently press the chicken pieces into the mixture to coat.  Shake off all excess flour.  Arrange the chicken in the pre-warmed skillet and cook until lightly browned on each side (~8-10 min).

Once the chicken is cooked, place the pieces into a medium pot.  Add lemon juice, lime juice, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, bay leaf, and basil.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.  Stir in the chopped artichoke hearts, and continue simmering for another 8-10 minutes.

Mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. Carefully pour the mixture into the pot with the chicken and broth, and cook (stirring occasionally) for 5-8 minutes, or until the broth has thickened.

Serve, cool, and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lemony-chicken-with-artichoke-hearts/detail.aspx

• 
  

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

My boyfriend Z has been begging me to indulge his cravings for a good lemon poppyseed muffin.  The only problem is between work, coursework, and life I get a bit bogged down.  We had some free time finally this evening and instead of picking up the boxed mix (which is usually my first pick due to time constraints) decided to poke around for a good recipe.  Z really enjoyed them and I hope you will too!

 Ingredients:
2 C flour
1 1/2 TB poppy seeds
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 C sugar
2 large eggs
1/8-1/4 C lemon juice (depending on how much lemon you like! taste as you go to adjust)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 C plain or vanilla yogurt

Preheat your oven to 350 F and line your muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl stir together the flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed--it should be fairly fluffy and creamed (~2 minutes).  Beat the eggs in one at a time, blending well.  Once the mixture is blended mix in the lemon juice and vanilla extract.  Turn your mixer down to low speed and in alternating layers mix in half of the dry mix, the yogurt, then the second half of the dry mix.  Make sure to remember to leave it on low speed or else you'll end up with more of the mix in your hair than in the bowl! Mix together until incorporated, try not to overmix!

Divide the batter into the paper liners in your pan, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 16-20 minutes (depending on your oven) or until they are browned.  You can check by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the muffin, and if it comes out clean you're good to go!  If it comes out with some dough, put back in the oven an additional 2-3 minutes.  Let them cool in the pan 5 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack or plate!  Then you're good to go, enjoy!

For a little extra kick of flavor you can add a simple glaze to the tops of the muffins while they are cooling on the racks.  Mix together 1/2 C powdered sugar and 1 TB lemon juice and drizzle over the tops.  Let the glaze set before taking bites out of those delicious muffins!

Adapted from: Muffins

Triple Lemon Cake

Well, I was really craving this when I was searching through the endless pages of tastespotting.com (which is really an amazing site for finding recipes--I entice you all to go check it out!).  However, if you are like me and living in New Zealand during the winter time (or something like that) I found it rather difficult to find delicious lemons in my grocery store.  Instead, I simply used just regular lemon juice, and found that the flavour was still quite excellent.  So for all of you lemon sticklers, you can wait for the season, just let me know if you think it makes any difference! :) 

Cake:

1 1/2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 C milk

1 C sugar 

1/2 C canola oil

3 eggs

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon extract

Syrup:

1/3 C sugar

1/3 C lemon juice

Glaze:

1 TB lemon juice

1/2 C powdered (icing) sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

milk

Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).  To begin the cake base, sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.  In a separate large bowl, combine milk, sugar, and canola oil.  Add eggs one at a time.  Next add lemon zest, vanilla, and 1/4 tsp lemon extract (the amount of extract can be upped if you don't feel that it's lemon-y enough!).  Finally add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir.

Pour this mixture into a well-sprayed loaf pan (or a silicone one if you are so lucky to have one!) and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick can come out clean from the center.

During the last 5-10 minutes of baking, heat the sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly.  Set aside while you remove the cake from your oven.  Let the cake stand for 5 minutes, then drizzle with lemon syrup over the top and sides, allowing it to be soaked up by the cake.  This is will make the cake rich and moist!

Once the cake is finally cooled, mix the lemon juice, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Once you have reached a consistency that you like (if it's too thick try using some milk to thin it out), use a piping bag or fill a zip-lock bag with the mixture and cut a small hole on the corner for piping.  Drizzle the mixture lightly over the top of the cake to add a little zing! 

Enjoy! :)

Adapted recipe from: http://www.onelovelylife.com/?p=1846