Chicken Fricassee--the easy way

I don't want anyone to be fooled in to thinking that I slave over the stove for hours to feed Aaron. He doesn't care much about food so to do so would be a waste of time. I however love food...LOVE FOOD! But that doesn't mean that I have tons of time to cook. So here is an easy dish (think 30 minute meal) to whip up on any random Tuesday.
Gather together:

• 1lb boneless chicken bits
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 small bunch of carrots (about 4 large carrots) sliced--I used yellow carrots since they were in season
• 3 or 4 celery stalks--sliced on the bias
• 2 cloves of garlic-crushed
• 2 tablespoons of canola oil
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 4 tablespoons of flour
• 1 cup of white wine or chicken stock (add more if needed to thin out the sauce)
  
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 2 bay leaves
  
• salt and pepper

In a frying pan add the canola oil and over medium heat cook the chicken bits until they are browned on both sides. Remove them and add the onion, carrots and celery along with the butter. Cook until the vegetables are tender crisp. Then add the flour to the pot. Once the flour is made into a roux whisk in the wine and return the chicken to the pot along with the bay leaves and tarragon. Allow this to cook for another 10-15 minutes on simmer or low. Remove bay leaves and add salt and pepper to taste.

I served this over noodles with a simple green salad and garlic bread. This really is an easy recipe.

Mini Cheesecake

Erin and I subscribe to the "Good Things Catered" blog. This is a really good blog. It is also where we got this next recipe. I liked the idea of making mini cheesecakes with vanilla wafers and not having to make a crust or a water bath for a big cheese cake. This recipe is good if you just want a few bites of cheese cake.

gather together:

• about 30 Nilla wafers
• 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Line mini cupcake tin with liners and place Nilla wafers into bottom of cups (you may have to trim these slightly)
• In bowl of stand mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar.
• Beat to combine well until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Add sour cream and egg, mixing well to combine.
• Scrape down sides of bowl, add lemon juice and vanilla and mix to combine well.
• Remove from stand mixer, scrape sides and hand beat to make sure mixture is combined well.
• Using mini cookie scoop or teaspoon, fill each liner almost to the top.
• Place in oven and bake 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let cool.
• Cover tightly and place in fridge overnight, or at least 4 hours before serving. (yeah, like that happened...we put them in the fridge until they were cool enough to eat)

As you can see, we topped ours with fresh blueberries and cherry pie filling. We had to hurry and take the pictures because Anthony was eating these as fast as we could top them.

Tokyo Sushi--Lexington, Kentucky

I recently went on vacation back to Kentucky. I call it vacation, but it was really more like we had business to tend to, namely Aaron needed to get sworn in to the Kentucky Bar Association. (YAY!) During our trip we managed to eat out, everyday. One of my favorite places to go is Tokyo Sushi, but I don't go there for the sushi--Aaron loves the sushi--I go there for the bulgogi.

This stuff is a Korean dish and is so flavorful and can be a bit spicy. I love this stuff and I had been craving it since I left Kentucky. I've had bulgogi at other places, but this place has the best. Plus you get a 5 little dishes of picked vegetables including kimchi (or kim chee). If you live in Kentucky, check this out. If you don't live in Kentucky, go to your local Korean restaurant and order this; you won't be disappointed.
And Aaron ordered Sushi. Like I said, this is a good place to go.