Tag: dinner

Chicken and Orzo for NYE

This was such a fun dish to make. I saw a chicken and orzo rec online a few weeks ago, it used a whole chicken for it, which in general I am not a fan of “whole chicken” recipes.
I quickly read it, filed in my memory banks, then a day or two before New Years, thought of it and decided I needed to make it. I chose to use bone in thighs for it. We were going to a friends house for NYE, so I decided to cook this up.

  • Chicken and Orzo Steps
    Chicken and Orzo Steps

I browned the thighs with a garlic salt and pepper mixture. I think quickly sauteed the leeks, anise, garlic and carrots (added some fresh thyme, salt and pepper to it as well) in the fat left over from browning the chicken. I then deglazed the pan with about two cups of dry white wine and threeish cups of chicken stock, and added the juice of one lemon and some zest.

I arranged the chicken in a large baking pan. Put the saute around the pieces of chicken, then bakes it for about 30 minutes at 350.

I added the wine and stock mixture, baked for another 10 or so minutes, then added the orzo, and allowed to cook for another 15 minutes (or until liquid is gone and orzo is finished).

Italian Parsley to garnish and serve.

Couple things I would do different next time:
More lemon for sure. Likely a second one. Maybe even a third. This was 10 thighs, so maybe a lemon per every 4ish?
Finish with Parmesan Cheese maybe?
More garlic. 1 clove per piece of chicken I think.

Recipe:
8-10 Bone in Chicken Thighs (could use breasts, or boneless thighs also)
Garlic Salt, Pepper to taste to Season Chicken with
2 carrots cut into small circles
1 Leek, white part only. Sliced thin
1 Anise Bulb. Sliced thin
1 Lemon. Juiced and Zest from it (In Future: 1 lemon per 4 pieces of chicken)
5 Cloves of Garlic. Crushed (In Future: 1 clove per piece of chicken)
1 1/2 to 2 cups Orzo
2tsp Thyme
2tsp Salt
2tsp Pepper
2 cups Dry White Wine
3-4 cups Chicken Stock
Italian Parsley and Parmesan Cheese to serve

Tuscan Style Flank Steak with Cacio e Pepe and Artichoke

I have always been and continue to be inspired by Italy and Italian cooking, and their wine. I had also just watched all four ep of Bobby and Giada in Italy, so that helped me some with this dinner.

I tried to keep this simple, pure ingredients as much as possible.
I heavily salt and peppered the steak, then into a bag with the lemon juice and zest, tarragon, fennel seed, oregano, garlic and olive oil. Marinated it for about five hours.
The chimichurri was italian parsley, lemon juice and zest, a shallot, tarragon, olive oil and some salt and pepper.
Butter, pepper, parmesan cheese and the pasta for the Cacio e Pepe.

I started with the artichokes and melon and prosciutto.
Cutting the artichoke in half, I seasoned with olive oil, salt/pepper/garlic powder mix, and dropped a couple cloves of fresh garlic in the middle, wrapped in foil and onto the grill for about 45 minutes.
I cut up a Lemon Drop Melon, sort of a mix of a honeydew melon with a touch of lemon, Prosciutto wrapped the pieces and put on a bed of arugula.

While the steak was resting after the grill, the pasta was cooked until just tender. Melting the butter, adding a lot of pepper (and I mean a lot), I allowed those to combine, then added about a 1/2C of pasta water and the cheese, blended them and added the pasta, and simmered for about five minutes, stirring constantly.
Taking the pasta I nested them, and garnished with some italian parsley.

Cut and topped the steak with the italian parsley chimichurri.

Dinner was fantastic.