Small Update

It has been awhile since I have posted.  It is still a little hard to believe 2012 is over and we are already three months into 2013.  Time flies.

I do not have much to say tonight, but I felt like writing.  I guess I will start by saying (for posterity, since everyone probably already knows) I had corrective eye surgery last August.  My eyesight recently returned, hence the lack of posts since July.  Just kidding.  It was a rather spontaneous decision, but I have not regretted it (except the first week).  I now have 20/15 vision, which is better than 20/20.  I love not wearing glasses, and personally, I think I look better without them.  :-)

I also withdrew from school late last year.  I needed time to renew myself, rediscover who I am and what I want, and resolve some personal issues.  I do want to return and finish my degree one day, but I am thankful for the break.  I regret not finishing sooner than I had hoped, but I felt postponing a formal education was necessary for my mental health and stability.

Those are two of the biggest changes in my life since the last post, but I hope others are coming soon.  That is all I will say at the moment.

Because I am still working on the blog challenge, I will end with a recipe.  My "wives" (yes, a gay man can have wives), Deborah and Christa, and I made this for dinner a few weeks ago, and it was easy and tasty.  (Actually, I will add the recipe later when I have access to a computer.  I am typing this on my Samsung Galaxy tablet using a bluetooth keyboard, and I am getting frustrated with correcting the many mistakes caused by it.  Ugh.)

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

Ingredients:

4 breasts chicken, boneless and skinless
2/3 cup milk
3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups Progresso Italian Breadcrumbs
2 tablespoon butter, melted
1 (18 ounce) can Progresso Creamy Three Cheese cooking sauce
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut each breast of chicken into 3 pieces. Dip each piece into milk, then cheddar cheese, then Italian breadcrumbs. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with foil.
2. Bake chicken in preheated oven for 25 minutes, then remove foil, baste with melted butter, and cook 10-12 additional minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and coating is golden brown.
3. While chicken is cooking, place the Progresso Cooking Sauce into a small saucepan and simmer until reduced in half.
4. Remove chicken from oven and place on platter. Spoon sauce over chicken. Top with fresh parsley. Serve and enjoy!

Recipes

The mortgage broker we used when we bought our house (Kevin Horrocks, Olympus Funding) occasionally sends us postcards with recipes.  Here are two we recently tried:

Shrimp Paella

Prep Time:  10 minutes

Cook Time:  30 minutes

Serves:  10

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 14-ounce diced tomatoes
• 1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 12-ounce bag arborio rice
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 24 large pre-cooked shrimp
• 2 scallions, diced

Directions:

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet.  Saute the onions, garlic, and thyme for 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, clam juice, stock, pepper, and paprika.  Stir in the rice and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and cook uncovered for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Saute the shrimp in the remaining tablespoon of oil and the oregano for 3 minutes.  Place the shrimp and scallions over the rice and serve with salt and pepper.

Lemon Basil Chicken

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  20 minutes

Serves:  6

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chunked
• 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup white grape juice
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (4 lemons)
• 8 Roma tomatoes, chunked
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese
• 1 pound cooked penne pasta

Directions

In a large skilled, brown the garlic and mushrooms in the oil.  Add the chicken, salt, and pepper and cook until done, about 10 minutes.  Add the grape juice and simmer 5 minutes.  Add the lemon juice and tomatoes, and simmer 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the chopped basil.  Serve over the pasta and top with Asiago cheese. 

Cooking With Marsala

I am glad I did not commit to posting a topic from The Blog Challenge everyday, like Sean did.  I would have failed, considering I have not blogged since my last entry, My Favorite Things.  At least I completed a topic, unlike Mike (but to be fair, he only committed to posting the list of topics).  So, to make up for my lack of posts, I am blogging twice today!  Yay!  Lucky you!

A few weeks ago, I watched a Good Eats episode ("The Proof Is In The Pudding").  The host, Alton Brown, breaks into the liquor cabinet, not to concoct a drink, but to examine the uses of alcohol in food preparation.  He made zabaglione, a dessert consisting of eggs, sugar, and Marsala.  It looked really good and very simple to make, so I decided to make it.  It was fantastic!  Below is the recipe, as well as a recipe for chicken Marsala I cooked to go along with the zabaglione:

Zabaglione

Prep Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  15 minutes
Serves:  8 - 10

Ingredients:

• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Marsala
• Pinch kosher salt
• Fresh berries, for serving (optional)

Directions:

Bring 1-inch of water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan set over high heat.

Add the egg yolks and sugar to a large glass bowl.  Using an electric hand mixer on the highest speed, beat the eggs and sugar until the mixture is thick, pale yellow, and the sugar is completely dissolved, 4 to 5 minutes.  Decrease the mixer speed to low and add the Marsala and salt.

Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and put the bowl atop the saucepan with the boiling water, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water.  Beat the mixture on medium speed, until it is thick, frothy, holds a ribbon, and the temperature reaches 145 to 150 degrees F, on an instant-read thermometer.

Spoon the warm mixture into custard cups or serving glasses and serve immediately or allow to cool slightly.  Serve with fresh berries, if desired.

Chicken Marsala

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time:  5 minutes
Serves:  4

Ingredients:

• 4 (8-ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• All-purpose flour, for dredging, plus 2 tablespoons
• 3 ounces butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 4 tablespoons Marsala wine
• 2 cups beef stock

Directions

Put the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of waxed paper and flatten with a meat pounder until thin.  Cut each chicken breast into 4 pieces.  Add some flour to a shallow bowl.  Dredge the chicken in the flour and shake off the excess flour.

Add the butter and olive oil to a large saute pan over high heat and heat until it sizzles (do NOT let it brown).  Add the chicken and saute until brown on both sides.  Stir in the sliced mushrooms and saute briefly, then add the garlic.  Add the Marsala and simmer for 3 minutes, then stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.  Pour in the beef stock and let simmer until the sauce thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

Magic Sweet Rolls

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 8 ounce can crescent rolls
• 8 large marshmallows
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• milk
• sugar

Directions:
Place a cookie sheet in an oven set to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is preheating, lightly grease 8 cups of a 12-cup muffin pan (I used two 6-cup muffin pans). Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon, and set aside. Separate the crescent rolls.

Roll each marshmallow in the melted butter and then the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place the marshmallows in middle of the crescent dough. Pull the sides up and completely seal the marshmallows inside. Place the rolls in the greased muffin cups. Fill the empty muffin cups halfway with water. Brush each roll with milk and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Place the muffin pan(s) on the preheated cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

While the rolls are baking, pour the leftover cinnamon-sugar mixture into a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Fill the cup with powdered sugar. In a small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the sugar mixture. Stir in enough milk to make a glaze. Remove the rolls from oven, and allow them to sit in the pan for 1 minute. Place the rolls on a serving platter, and drizzle the glaze over the rolls.

*Insert Witty Title Here*

I seem to average one to two posts a month. I'd like to post once a week, but blogging about nothing is pretty boring. I've been trying to get Sean to post once in awhile, but now that school has begun and he's working full-time again, he's not likely to.

Work is going well. I attended supervisor training, which lasted two full days, last week. It was pretty fun, and I liked meeting people from the other contact centers/hotels in the Salt Lake City area. One of the courses touched on professional grooming/clothing, which made me really self-conscious about the way I dress for work. So, this past weekend, I went and spent way too much money on several new outfits. I wore one of them today and received several compliments, so it's already begun to pay off.

Speaking of work, if anyone needs a good full-time job, we're hiring. If I recall correctly, pay starts at $10.50. Go to https://wss6a.unicru.com/hirepro/marriottcorp/siteLocatorForm.jsp to apply.

I mentioned that Sean went back to school this week. I, too, begin a new term at WGU tomorrow. I'm retaking two courses, Quantitative Reasoning and Communication and Visual and Performing Arts, I didn't complete last semester. I'm also taking Marketing Principles and Applications and Fundamentals of Finance, Accounting and Information Technology. I feel more motivated now than I did last week; let's hope I stay motivated enough to actually do homework.

I'm getting tired, but before I go to bed, I wanted to post this recipe. Sean and I prepared it Saturday evening, and everyone enjoyed it.

Eggplant Pasta
(recipe courtesy Alton Brown)

Prep Time: 40 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-large eggplants
• Kosher salt, for purging
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chile flakes
• 4 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup cream
• 4 tablespoons basil chiffonade
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Peel each eggplant leaving 1-inch of skin at the top and bottom unpeeled. Slice the eggplant thinly lengthwise, about 1/4-inch thick. Evenly coat each slice with the salt and purge on a sheet pan fitted with a rack for 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water and roll in paper towels to dry. Slice the pieces into thin strips to resemble pasta.

In a large saute pan heat the oil. Add the garlic and chili flakes and toast. Add the eggplant "pasta" and toss to coat. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Add the cream and increase heat to thicken sauce. Finally add the basil and Parmesan and toss to combine. Season with pepper, no salt needed as the eggplant will have residual salt from the purge. Serve immediately.