Dill Chicken Paillards with Tomato-Dill Relish

I found this recipe on my handy dandy Epicurious IPhone app. Yes it is bit summery. In fact, each bite is like a burst of summer in your mouth. But as I've already mentioned I live in San Francisco and the seasons here are a bit mixed up. So if you have a hankering for a little summer during your fall, give this recipe a try. The dill really makes this dish great. Fresh herbs have a way of doing that. It was incredibly easy to make and incredibly easy to eat. I will definitley make it again.

What you need:

• 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped dill (must be fresh)
  
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered

What you do:

Turn the grill on medium-high heat. (I used the grill, but you can also throw the chicken in a pan with a little oil.)

Pound chicken 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin.

Whisk together oil, dill, shallot, mustard, and vinegar in a large bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, then add to dill mixture, turning to coat.

Toss tomatoes with reserved dill mixture and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Grill chicken, turning once, until just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes total. Serve topped with relish. (If you use a pan, cook over medium-high heat, turning once, 5 to 7 minutes total.)

Good n' Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's a big day for the Cardboard Club, this is our first sweet tooth feature. What can I say? I was in the mood for some straight-up good ol' fashion chocolate cookies over the weekend. So I found a recipe on another one of my iPhone apps - big oven. It's perfect for when you know exactly what you're looking for, because you have to find recipes using a search field. There are tons of recipes, the but the reviews make it easier to figure out which one to use. So without further ado, here is the recipe I chose for chocolate chip cookies.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown and white sugars until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough, then drop 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Bake 15 to 17 (I had to bake more like 20) minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly browned. Check the cookies afer 7 or 8 minutes and rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completley. Store in an airtight container. And as always, enjoy.

Sausage and Summer Vegetable Saute

While I realize most of you are experiencing what we call "fall" at the moment, we San Franciscans are enjoying our indian summer. So, this is the recipe I tried last night from Epicurious via my iPhone app. I'm an idiot and forgot to take a picture, so here is what our plates looked like after dinner. It's a shame because this meal was quite lovely with the yellow corn and green dill. I'll take a photo next time I make it and update this post, but for now you'll just have to imagine it in your heads. It was a big hit in my house and incredibly easy to make.

Here's what you need:

4 fresh pork sausages (I used chicken sausage)
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes (5oz)
2 ears corn (I used 2 cups of frozen corn)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped dill (don't cheat, has to be fresh)


Here's what you do:

Prick the sausages a few times then simmer in water in a 12-inch heavy skillet, covered, over medium heat 7 minutes. Uncover and cook, turning occasionally, until water has evaoprated and sausages are well bronwed and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes more. Transfer the sausages to a plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet if neccessary. (Since I used chicken sausages I really had no fat and had to add a little olive oil.)

In the same pan cook onion, fennel, and tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper over medium heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until onion and fennel are crisp-tender and tomatoes are soft and beginning to burst, about 7-10 minutes. Add corn and dill and saute 2 minutes.

I served the sausages whole with the vegetables on top.

Epicurious

I downloaded this great iPhone app from Epicurious to help me out with my dinner nights. So far so good, last night was a big hit. On my way home from work I browsed through the "Weeknight Dinner" recipes until I found what I was looking for. Then I ran into the supermarket and about 45 minutes later - dinner. If you're someone like me who needs a recipe in order to cook anything resembling food, it's perfect.

Chicken Tacos

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen. Here is the link. When I made it I cut the recipe in half, but that's the only thing I changed. It's really quick and easy to make, and it's a plate cleaner every time.

Shredded Chicken for Tacos

Serves 6 to 8

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
1 large white onion, peeled and quartered
5 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ancho or other mild dried chili, optional
Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and add water to cover chicken. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil, and skim any foam that comes to the surface. Partially cover and adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily. Cook until meat is very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from liquid and cool.
2. Shred meat with fingers. Taste and adjust seasonings; use within a couple of days

Salsa Fresca

Makes about 2 cups.

2 large fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/2 large white onion, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon minced raw garlic, or to taste
1 habanero or jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice or 1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper.

1. Combine all ingredients, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
2. Let the flavors marry for 15 minutes or so before serving, but serve within a couple of hours.

Assembly

For the assembly, I like to set everything up as a build your own taco system, starting with fresh, soft corn tortillas. Toppings - salsa fresca, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, fresh lime, and whatever else your heart desires.

Chicken Salad

Here is the chicken salad you can turn your leftover roasted chicken into. Or if you don't have leftover roasted chicken, just buy boneless skinless chicken breasts and boil them until they are done.

I can't really give you measurements, because it really depends on how much chicken you have and how you like your chicken salad, but here is what you'll need.

Celery
Red Onion
Garlic
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Chicken
Mustard
Mayo

Here is what I do.

In a mixing bowl add chopped celery and onion, and one small garlic clove minced. Add a little olive oil.

Shred the chicken and add to the mixing bowl. I chop up everything really well because I prefer my chicken salad this way rather than chunky. But if you like it chunky, by all means go for it.

Add the mustard and mayo, salt and pepper. Mix everything together.

Now you just have to taste it and figure out what you're missing. If there isn't enough crunch, add more celery. If it needs a little kick, add more onion. If it's too dry, add a little olive oil and mayo. And of course, and salt and pepper to taste. It's not an exact science, but you can't really screw it up either.

You can eat it as a sandwich on a toasted baguette with sliced cucumber, sliced tomato, and lettuce. Or you can top a salad with it and add a little balsamic.

Amy's Corn Chowder

Amy made this for dinner when we were living in Seattle. It was delish. And it sounds it really easy to make. Thanks for sharing Amy.


Ingredients:
3-4 cups corn (fresh or frozen)
3 small yukon gold potatoes
1 bell pepper, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 can vegetable or chicken broth
1-2 cups milk (I used reduced fat so it would be a bit creamier than skim)
3 or 4 pieces pancetta or bacon
salt, pepper
dried thyme, less than a teaspoon.

-chop up pancetta/bacon and sautee over medium heat until crisp. remove with slotted spoon and let rest on a paper towel.
-Add chopped onion, pepper and celery to oil cook for about ten minutes, I like to add some hot sauce at this stage
-Pierce potatoes with a fork in several places. Microwave for about ten minutes. Mush up when done.
-Add broth, corn, potatoes, salt, pepper and thyme. Bring to a boil then simmer for a bit.
-Add milk, more salt and pepper (you need to add a lot) Add bacon bits
-Taste to see if you need more salt and pepper or hot sauce.

That's all. I served it with a goat cheese flat bread. You can just take pitas, add olive oil, goat cheese, salt, pepper, oregano and then toast.