Duxbridge mysteries – Page 6 – Annie DeMoranville

Ducks In The Morning

Every morning they show up at the patio door to register their complaints.

Usually a lettuce bribe atones for any of my sins.

Instant Pot Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Cool weather has settled in and I’ve had a pot of soup on most days. Today I felt like some simple, quick chicken noodle.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

8 cups water
12 oz sliced carrots (I used frozen)
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 lb boneless chicken breast, cubed
1/2 onion, diced
2 tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp dried poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz egg noodles

electric pressure cooker (instant pot, multi-pot, etc), blender

In the blender, add 4 cups water, 1 stalk of celery, and 6 oz of the carrots, blend until smooth. Add mixture to the instant pot, along with remaining water, chicken, vegetables and seasoning. Cover and cook on soup setting for 30 minutes.

Depressurize, add egg noodles, and set to saute setting, cooking uncovered for 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Add more salt and pepper as needed.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

September Grilling: Cantanzaro Chicken and Tuscan Panzanella Salad

Tonight’s menu features the Cantanzaro spice mix. Cantanzaro is a city in Italy. So there are a lot of herbs this Italian girl recognizes: marjoram, basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano. And garlic, lots of garlic. But the kicker is the lemon and lemon peel.

It’s all very fresh for late summer/early fall harvest and great for grilling. Then I’ve added a fresh take on how to use the last of those fresh tomatoes. And just because I’m feeling ambitious, I included Gelato recipes.

On the board tonight:

Grilled Cantanzaro Herbed Chicken Breasts
Grilled Potatoes and Peppers (recipe here)
Tuscan Panzanella Salad (recipe here)*
Gelato (recipes here)

*the recipe calls for bread bowls, but with this meal, I served it over a bed of bibb lettuce.

Grilled Cantanzaro Herbed Chicken Breast

1 to 1-1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts
2 tsp each: garlic powder, dried marjoram, basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary,
1 tbsp lemon peel
1 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

grill, marinade container

Butterfly chicken breasts (slicing them open down the center so they lie flat like butterfly wings). Place them in between two pieces of plastic wrap, and pound until they are about 1/2 inch thick – you don’t want them much thinner because they will dry out on the grill.

Crush together the dry herbs. You can do it with your fingers or use a mortar and pestle. Combine with the lemon peel.

Place chicken breasts in a shallow container with a lid (I love my pyrex containers for this). Sprinkle 1/2 the herbs over the chicken, flip, and sprinkle the remaining over the other side. Cover with lemon juice (start with 1/2 cup and use up to a cup to get coverage).

Marinate for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

Grill quickly over high heat to get a good sear on both sides, reduce heat (or remove the chicken from directly over a coal fire, to the side of the grill), and grill over low heat until the internal temperature is about 160 degrees F. Once removed from the grill, tent loosely with foil and it will quickly reach an internal temperature of 165 without drying out. Because they are thin, this will not take long, so keep an eye on them.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

It Always Feels Like They Are Judging Me

The ducks show up often at the patio door and stare in. I’ll open it to see what they want and it always feels like they are judging me and I come up inadequate. Their poorly feathered, slightly awkward flock mate. LOL

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Life Is Short…Eat Ice Cream!

Ice Cream or Gelato? Why not both?!

Yummy Vanilla Nut Crunch can be found here.

And two Strawberry Ice Cream recipes here.

I have also made plenty of gelatos. It is definitely one of my favorite styles of ice cream. Smooth, creamy and not as heavy as many full cream styles.

Pictured above, Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato – one of my favorites. Recipe here.

Gelato starts with a good base that you can then add any number of flavors to:

Gelato di Crema (Gelato Plain Base)

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 large egg yolk
2/3 cup sugar

In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn’t form, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170°F.

Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper* the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185°F. Do not bring to a boil.

*The best way to temper is to add a tablespoon at a time until you’ve added about 1/4 cup. Then you can add a full ladle at a time, slowly.

For Vanilla Gelato: Just before freezing the gelato, mix in the vanilla and then add to the ice cream freezer. Use 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract depending on how intense you like your vanilla flavor.