The good ole boneless, skinless chicken breast.

In millions of households across America, this versatile ingredient is eternally present in the refrigerator or freezer. I would venture to guess that there are more recipes involving chicken than any other meat on Earth.

Why, then, do we sometimes find ourselves coming home from work, changing our clothes and heading for the kitchen, where we stare in uninspired boredom at a package of chicken breasts? “Well,” we think, “I could marinate this and grill it. But I always do that.”

Despite its great popularity, I have always found chicken to be in need of some jazzing up. Which shouldn’t always mean slicing it and tossing it in a stir-fry, a fajita or a pasta dish. Or breading and frying, or stuffing, or crock-potting.

I want ideas for a quick dish involving whole boneless, skinless chicken dishes. That’s why I was excited to see a recipe for chicken breasts with mushroom-sage sauce on Simply Recipes (see below). That sounds like a topping with enough flavor to overcome the taste of plain chicken.

When you’re staring at a package of chicken breasts and you don’t want to spend an hour on prep and cooking, what is your go-to topper?

Read more »

I must admit that I haven’t paid much attention to this Jamie Oliver character, who is the star of “Jamie’s Kitchen” on TLC. I do know that he recently killed a chicken on live television in order to make a point about the welfare of chickens in Britain’s poultry industry.
I also know that some of the recipes in Oliver’s new cookbook, “Jamie’s Italy,” look pretty darn good. As soon as I cracked the book, I saw one for squashed cannellini beans with garlic, which sounded like a quick, easy and delicious topping for crostini or pita wedges. I’ll share that after the jump.
The first person who can tell me the name of Oliver’s London restaurant can have this book and enjoy all the beautiful full-color photographs and illustrations, not to mention the recipes.

Before we part ways for the weekend, I’d like to subject you all to a video that was shot and edited by my co-worker, Evelio Contreras. The star is another co-worker, Pete Dybdahl, who promised to score me one of the free breakfast burritos at McDonald’s this morning. As you’ll see, when the cashier told Pete that he could only get one free burrito because the rules were one per person, Pete thought only of himself.
Oh well, I’m not sure I wanted to eat one anyway.

Read more »

As we have all learned, there’s a national day or month for just about every different food on the face of the earth.
There’s even a National Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day and a National Crab-Stuffed Flounder Day.
Those are silly, but tomorrow’s day is one that I can wrap my head around: it’s National Banana Bread Day.
I absolutely love a good slice of banana bread. There’s nothing better with a hot mug of coffee or tea in the morning than a thick slice slathered with butter and microwaved for just a few seconds to get all warm and melty.
I’ve been guilty in the past of simply mixing overripe bananas into a banana bread mix. It’s not as good as made-from-scratch banana bread, but it’s a quick and easy way to avoid letting the fruit go to waste just because it’s too black for raw consumption.
I found a perfectly delicious-looking recipe for homemade banana bread on Simply Recipes. I’m going to attach the recipe after the jump.
Does anyone out there have a killer banana bread recipe? And what’s your vote — nuts or no nuts?

Read more »