Tilapia in Papillote with leeks, asparagus and compound butter

Tilapia on Andrea the Kitchen Witch??  No, you're eyes aren't playing tricks on you.  Tilapia IS what today's post is about and, get this, I actually liked it!  This is a Kitchen Witch first!!  For those of you who don't know the Kitchen Witch does not like fish.   Unless it's batter dipped and deep fried, then it's pretty tasty.  Outside of that version the Witch was pretty convinced that all fish tasted like the dirty water it was pulled out of.  Eww.  She tried to make fish a few times before for the Husband (who adores fish) and every time the Witch was grossed out, tried a bite and couldn't do it.  The last time she tried to make fish, the fish had gone bad unbeknownst to her and well, that was scarring, let's just leave it at that.  Then came along Jenn, from Jenn's food Journey.  Jenn and I have been BFF (Blogging Foodie Friends) for a while now.  Her blog is awesome and she has been known to turn out a mean tilapia dish.  Week after week the Witch read Jenn's blog, looking at fish dish after fish dish and wondering, why, oh why! can't I like fish too???   The Witchy family had been asking for some variety in their protein choices,"Please can we have fish?"  Time after time the Witch said "I'll think about it" and promptly walked directly past the fish department in lieu of pork or chicken.   Suddenly, that changed.

One day while at the Sunflower Farmers Market the Witch found herself in front of the seafood department and wouldn't you know it, but out of her mouth came these words: "I'll take a pound of tilapia, please".  Proudly the Witch took her fish home and put it in the freezer.  There it stayed for over a month (so much for  bravery!) before she finally got up the courage to make the fish.  When she did, she was a HUGE baby about it; the Witch actually cried and pitched a full on hissy fit about the fish, one that her 5 yr would have been proud of.  It wasn't cute people.  The Husband said something snarky along the lines of "Watch, you'll discover that you love fish and it'll become your new favorite protein".  That really really pissed off the Witch at the time, but as it turns out, he was right.   The dish that Jenn recommended I try first was Parmesan Garlic Tilapia.  It was really really good!   If you're looking to convert a fellow fish hater, try this one.  It worked for the Witch (and she's a tough sell let me tell you!!)

Damn that Husband for being right (again)! As it turns out, the Kitchen Witch doesn't hate all fish.  As a matter of fact, after having tilapia the first time her mind hasn't stopped creating fish recipes.   Now the Witch realizes that papillote isn't a new cooking method in the slightest, and the flavors here aren't new or innovative.  Leeks, asparagus and white wine have been paired with fish more often than not;  they're good with fish!  The papillote method is a very easy to assemble, it's impressive to serve and most of all provides perfectly cooked moist fish every time.  I'll be the first to admit the tilapia isn't the most flavorful fish (which is why it's a great 'starter fish'), so if you have a favorite white fish, please use it here.  The fish could have used some more herbs, too, but my herb garden is only producing chives and parsley so far this year.  If you have fresh herbs, use them!  The finished dish is beautiful on the plate and tastes pretty darn good, too.  I hope you give this a try!

Tilapia in Papillote with leeks, asparagus and compound butter
makes 4 servings
4 tilapia filets
2 leeks dark green cut away, sliced into quarter moons and rinsed well
20 asparagus spears
1/2 stick butter
2 T fresh minced parsley
15-20 chive stems, minced
1/2 t dried oregano (or 1t of fresh minced)
1/2 lemon, cut into rounds
1/4 c Chardonnay or other dry white wine
kosher salt and pepper
12 grape tomatoes
parchment paper

Preheat oven to 400F

Make the compound butter first by combining the softened butter, a few pinches kosher salt and pepper along with the herbs.  Mix well to make the compound butter.  Place butter in the freezer while assembling the papillote.

Cut the parchment paper into large rectangles, about twice the size of the fish.  Make the parchment look like a fat lopsided heart - this will aid in rolling the papillote.

Rinse and dry your fish.  Season fish with kosher salt and pepper on both sides.

Lay 5 asparagus spears down on the parchment paper.  Lay a small handful of leeks on top of the asparagus.  Top the leeks with the fish.  Now take 1/4 of the compound butter (about 1 heaping tablespoon) and place it on top of the fish.  Top the butter with 2-3 lemon rounds and finish with 3 cherry tomatoes on top of the lemons.  Drizzle the fish with 1T white wine.

Fold the papillote, heavily creasing the paper as you go to seal in air and juices.  Place sealed papillotes on a baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven, cut the papillote open and slide the entire contents onto a plate.  Drizzle the juices on top of the fish and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts calculated at SparkPeople recipe calculator Amount Per Serving Calories 273.1 Total Fat 13.7 g Saturated Fat 7.7 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g Monounsaturated Fat 3.3 g Cholesterol 86.0 mg Sodium 551.1 mg Potassium 643.2 mg Total Carbohydrate 11.8 g Dietary Fiber 2.5 g Sugars 2.5 g Protein 25.2 g

Mushroom marsala sauce

My Husband's birthday was last week so of course I had to make him something delicious for dinner. Between the two of us, we couldn't decide on what he wanted. One thing was for sure: he wanted beef. And mushrooms. And wine. The first thing he suggested was beef burgundy, delicious indeed, but we'd recently had beef stew, which is very similar and I didn't want those flavors again. Yes, it's his birthday, but I'm in charge of the food! Beef Stroganoff was suggested, we haven't had it in a while, but I've made that plenty of times before. Steak, sure, but what can we do to make it more special for his birthday??

That's when my good friend Phyllis and I got chatting. She told me about a recipe she'd concocted using shallot & mushrooms, a bit of marsala wine, sour cream and Parmigiana done up gratin style. The timing of our conversation couldn't have been better!! Here was something different that would pair perfectly with the beef the Witchy Husband had requested. And it has wine, a flavor he'd been thinking about. And mushrooms! And sour cream!! I couldn't wait to get working on this delightful birthday treat!

Phyllis' original dish was done in a casserole and baked to melt and brown the cheese. I decided to morph her idea into a sauce that could blanket the steaks. I cooked the beef using the grilled steak technique I've written about before, except I seared them on my stove top in a cast iron skillet. The skillet was then deglazed after the steaks cooked so that lovely browned beefy flavor could become one with my sauce. The sauce was done in a seperate sautee pan, starting with the butter, shallots and mushrooms. Once the 'shrooms were deeply browned the pan was deglazed with marsala wine. After reduction the Witch added the deglaze liquid from the steaks pan, a touch of water and sour cream. The resulting sauce was rich, velvety, lusciously and deeply flavored. It was the PERFECT companion to the medium rare cooked sirloins. Birthday dinner perfection!! Happy Birthday Hon, I love you!

Mushroom Marsala sauce

makes 2 servings

Inspired by Phyllis Davis

8 large white mushrooms, sliced

1 medium shallot, fine diced

3T butter, unsalted

1/2 c marsala wine, dry

1/2 c sour cream

1/2 t thyme crushed

1 c water, divided

parmesean cheese, fresh grated, about 4T

2 steaks, pan seared using reverse sear technique

kosher salt and pepper

In a sautee pan melt butter over medium high heat. Once it stops foaming add the finely diced shallot and sautee until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and toss to coat in butter evenly. The mushrooms will absorb the butter, this is ok, just let them cook. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until mushrooms are deeply browned.

Deglaze pan with marsala wine. Allow to reduce by half. Remove from heat and add sour cream, slowly stirring it into the sauce. Add 1/2 c water to the sauce and stir well.

Deglaze pan that steaks seared in with remaining water. Scrape up any browned bits from the pan and add this to the sauce. Add the parmesean cheese to the sauce, stir well, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve over rested steaks.

*~*Kitchen Witch TIP: If you're cooking the steaks outside on the grill simply substitute the steak deglazing liquid with about 1/2 cup of beef broth.~*~

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		325.6
Total Fat		29.4 g
	Saturated Fat	18.3 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	8.5 g
Cholesterol		71.9 mg
Sodium		37.6 mg
Potassium		224.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate		6.2 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.1 g
	Sugars	0.2 g
Protein		2.8 g

Herb wine grilled chicken

I've posted my recipe for herbed chicken breasts in white wine sauce. Its a favorite around here. I use the basic marinade often, it makes chicken taste SO GOOD!!!

This week I decided to marinate the breasts for 4 hours and grill them over charcoal. Boy was that a great decision!!! The chicken took on some lovely color from the grill and the long marinade gave the chicken fantastic flavor. I poked the chicken breasts aggressivly with a fork in all directions, on both sides, to allow more of the marinade penetrate the chicken. The fork marks were not visible on the finished product and the chicken was juicy and flavorful.

I used fresh herbs from my garden, as of right now I have 4 to choose from: sage, thyme, oregano and chives. All 4 made it into this marinade. I also used chablis white wine, again it was what we had. Any dry white wine will work. If you're not a wine drinker you can use white wine vinegar, about 2T, in place of the wine. Its not exactly the same but it'll impart a tangy yet sweet flavor to your meal. My Witchy Sissy uses vinegar on hers and loves it.

Herb wine chicken
makes 2 servings
2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1/2 c dry white wine like chablis or chardonnay
fresh herbs finely minced (about 10 chive stems, 1 sprig oregano, 6 sage leaves and 3 small thyme sprigs)
3 cloves garlic chopped fine
1/2 t kosher salt
pepper to taste
2 T olive oil

In a small bowl mix the herbs, wine, salt, pepper, garlic and oil. Pour over chicken breasts that have been punctured with a fork on both sides, in both directions so marinade can penetrate meat. Allow to marinate for 4-6 hours.



~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: Allow your meat to come to room temperature before grilling or cooking it. You'll have a tender piece of meat that won't dry out on the outside and be undercooked inside. Having your protiens at room temp helps ensure even cooking as well, since the interior of the meat is the same starting temp as the exterior. While food safty is always important, leaving your chicken out on the counter in the marinade for a few hours (up to 2 hours) is safe, as long as you cook it to an internal temerature of 160.~*~



Cook chicken on a hot grill or sautee pan. Cook about 7-8 minutes on the first side or until the sides begin to turn opeque. Flip and cook about 5-6 minutes on second side, until internal temp reaches 160.

Nutrition Facts provided by Spark People recipe calculator
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 372.5
Total Fat 9.7 g
Saturated Fat 1.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.7 g
Cholesterol 136.9 mg
Sodium 1,316.9 mg
Potassium 620.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 3.5 g
Dietary Fiber 0.1 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 54.8 g

Chicken with 40 cloves

O.M.G. This is quite possibly the best chicken dish I've cooked. Ever. I know, that's a pretty strong statement, considering I make a lot of chicken dishes. Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic may become my signature dish. Its that good.

Now, I'm an honest Witch, I won't lie to you. I was afraid of this dish. Terrified even. 40 cloves of garlic? I don't know, that seems awfully potent. Oh sure, I'd heard that the garlic mellows and sweetens as it cooks but 40 cloves? Really?!

Really. Mellow is a great word to describe this dish. The garlic becomes a complex flavor, sweet, caramelized, smoky, pungent, delicious. The touch of heavy cream at the end adds richness. Thyme plays its herbal qualities to its finest, perfuming the dish with flavor and the wine becomes the most flavorful savory sauce you can imagine. A touch of cognac adds to the sweet smoky qualities.

I wasn't expecting much out of this dish. I'd actually avoided it for years. A good friend of mine suggested that I make it and that was the push that I needed. For that I have to say thank you Kelly, thank you for suggesting it! Thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone because I have a new love. And its chicken with 40 cloves. Next time I see you I'm making this for you!

Chicken with 40 cloves
serves 6
1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 wings, 2 breasts)
S&P
2 T EVOO
40 cloves of garlic peeled (about 2.5 heads)
1 1/2 c white wine
3 T cognac
2 T heavy cream
1 t dry thyme or 4 fresh sprigs
2 T flour

Pat the chicken dry. Cover pieces with salt & pepper.

Heat a dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot add the EVOO and 4 pieces of chicken. Once browned flip and brown on 2nd side. Remove from pan & set aside. Brown remaining chicken and reserve with the rest.

Add garlic to the pan and stir well to coat in oil. Cook garlic until its evenly browned on all sides. Take care to move the garlic often and flip it to avoid burning. If you burn any remove it, this will bitter the dish.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: To peel garlic blanch in boiling water for 60 seconds. Remove from the water and peel, the skins will slip right off. If you see any green shoots in your garlic cloves be sure to remove them! I cut them in half and pull out the shoot. If you leave the green shoots in the garlic will bitter, which is not a flavor component we're trying to add here. I had to de-shoot all 40 cloves of my garlic. While it was a pain, it was 100% worth it.~*~

Once garlic is browned add the cognac (remove pan from open flame if cooking over gas) and wine, scraping bottom to loosen cooked on bits. Bring to a boil then add chicken back to pan, along with any juices that have collected on the bottom. Place the chicken in the pan in this order: thighs, legs, wings, boneless breasts on top. The placement will ensure even cooking for all pieces. Sprinkle thyme over top, cover and reduce heat to very low.



Cook over very low heat for 30-45 minutes or until chicken is done through. Remove chicken to a plate, cover with foil and allow to rest while sauce is prepared.

Remove 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the flour to this, whisk well to make a thick paste. Pour the thickened liquid into the pot, whisking well to incorporate. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes. Add 1 T cognac and 2 T heavy cream, stir to incorporate and simmer for 1 minute. Serve sauce with chicken and enjoy.



Nutrition Facts
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 279.1
Total Fat 7.2 g
Saturated Fat 2.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.0 g
Cholesterol 93.0 mg
Sodium 492.7 mg
Potassium 406.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 10.4 g
Dietary Fiber 0.5 g
Sugars 0.6 g
Protein 30.7 g

Sissy's Shrimp Scampi with pasta

One of my Sissy's favorite dishes is shrimp scampi. Since its her birthday today I made it for her for lunch. This is a quick and easy meal, it literally takes 20 minutes from start to finish.

Happy birthday Sissy, I hope you enjoyed lunch :-)

Sissy's Shrimp Scampi with Angle Hair pasta
serves 2
16 large shrimp (21-28 count)
1 cup dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t lemon juice
S&P
2 t EVOO
4 oz angel hair pasta
1 T fresh chopped parsley
1/8 t dry Italian seasonings
1 tomato diced
2 T butter

Marinate peeled and deveined shrimp in 1/4 c white wine, lemon juice, garlic, a few pinches salt and pepper, and dry herbs for 15 minutes.

While shrimp marinate bring water to boil for pasta and heat a large stainless sautee pan over med high heat. The angle hair pasta takes 5 minutes to cook so once you put the pasta in the water start your shrimp.

Once sautee pan is hot add EVOO, swirl pan to coat bottom. Add shrimp to pan. Cook 1-2 min on 1st side then flip over, starting with the 1st shrimp you put in the pan for even cooking. Cook 1 min longer. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.

Add the tomatoes and remaining wine to the pan, bring to a boil and allow to reduce by half. Add the shrimp back to the pan and remove from heat.

Drain pasta, add it to the shrimp wine sauce, stirring to coat pasta. Top with parsley.

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
Shrimp Scampi with angel hair pasta
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 474.4
Total Fat 18.2 g
Saturated Fat 8.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 6.8 g
Cholesterol 104.1 mg
Sodium 161.8 mg
Potassium 244.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 51.5 g
Dietary Fiber 6.8 g
Sugars 1.9 g
Protein 16.6 g

Steak with Red Wine Garlic marinade

New York bone in strip steaks were on sale last week, BOGO so of course I had to get some! I hadn't made steaks since last summer so my husband was pretty happy to see the steaks. What I was looking for was a flavorful marinade that would enhance the steaks great flavor. The inspiration for this marinade came from Jenn at Jenn's Food Journey, a great blog that I throughly enjoy. Jenn made an awesome steak sandwich but it was the marinade that caught my eye most of all.

Simple on hand ingredients turned an ordinary steak into a special occasion meal. I was very pleased with this marinade, the steak turned a beautiful brown, not sickly grey as some home cooked steaks can do. The red wine caramelized in my screamin' hot cast iron pan which enhanced the steak flavor. Mmmm is really all I can say about this one. It'll be used on many more steaks from here on out!

Red wine marinade
enough for 2 large steaks
1/2 c red wine
2 cloves garlic sliced thin
1 t dry Italian herbs
1 T EVOO
1/2 t kosher salt
1/8 t black pepper
1 T Worstershire sauce
1 t soy sauce

2 steaks (NY bone in strip is pictured, about 8 oz each)

Mix everything together in a large zip top bag. Add your steaks and allow to marinate at room temperature for 2 hours.

Scrape off garlic slices and pat meat dry before cooking.

To cook steaks:
1. Open a window and a door, its about to get smoky in here!
2. Preheat oven to 400*
3. Heat a cast iron (or heavy bottomed skillet, NO TEFLON PLEASE!) over high heat until it smokes.
4. Place dried off steak in the pan, cover with a splatter screen to mitigate mess and cook about 5 minutes on 1st side or until deeply browned. The wine will caramelize the meat and help you get a deep brown which translates to deliciousness.
5. Flip steaks and transfer to the oven until cooked to your desired level of doneness. For me that was about 4 minutes to get to medium.

That's it!



Nutrition Facts
2 Servings (8 oz NY Strip steak each, only 55 calories are from the marinade)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 552.5
Total Fat 25.7 g
Saturated Fat 9.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.0 g
Cholesterol 130.7 mg
Sodium 576.9 mg
Potassium 5.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 5.5 g
Dietary Fiber 0.0 g
Sugars 4.0 g
Protein 66.8 g

Coq Au Vin

One of my good friends Kelly sent me a link to The Amateur Gourmet and his version of Coq au Vin. Immediately I knew that I too must make this. As I'm sure many of you have realized by now I'm a sucker for long slow braised dishes, and dishes that include wine. Well, my friends, this one has both :) And its wonderful!!!

There are a TON of steps to making this meal. Lots of little, simple things, but a LOT of them nonetheless. I'm pretty adventurous in the kitchen and even I was thinking about half way through, "This better be some damn good chicken for all this flipping work!" I'm happy to report that it was worth the work.

When my husband took his first bite of Coq au Vin, he looked at me and said "This is the most complex sauce, its like a good chocolate in that regard". Do I love that man, or what?? He's so right too, its a very deep flavored, complex and yet oh so comfy cozy home cooking.

And the smell...dear Lord, the smell!! Forget April Rain or Apple Breeze air fresheners, they need to sell Coq au Vin scented febreeze. The smell was out of this world good.

My 3 yr old daughter even enjoyed this meal. She told me "its like a restaurant Mom, but its our own house!" What an astute little girl I have :) It really was out of this world. If you have 3-4 hours and want to impress your friends and family, I highly recommend making this dish.

Coq au Vin
serves 6-8
adapted from Molly Stevens and The Amateur Gourmet
1 chicken cut into 8 pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 breast and 2 wings)
1 bottle red wine (I used el cheap-o boxed Burgundy wine, worked great!)
1 onion, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cloves garlic crushed but whole
1 t dry thyme or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 t kosher salt
1/3 t pepper
4 strips bacon, diced
1 cup chicken stock
1 T tomato paste
1 bag pearl onions (next time I'm using cipolini onions I think they'd be a lot better)
1 pack cremini mushrooms (or white mushrooms)
3 T butter
1/4-1/2 c flour for dredging

First do all of your prep work: chop veggies, measure herbs, dice bacon, cut up chicken (if using whole) and pat it dry. Preheat oven to 325*

In a heavy bottom pan - I used my trusty enameled cast iron Dutch Oven - cook bacon until crispy. Remove and reserve bacon bits.



Season chicken pieces with 1 t salt. Dredge chicken in flour on both sides. Put chicken pieces into the hot bacon fat and cook until very browned. The browner the better here. Brown chicken in 2 batches for best color and results. Set chicken aside.



Add diced onions and carrots to the pan, adding 1 T butter if needed (I had enough bacon fat in the pan still), cook about 5 minutes over medium heat. Stir well, scraping up as many browned on bits from the pan as you can.

Once the onions start to brown add the tomato paste. Stir paste into the veggies very well and cook about 5 minutes, you'll really start to smell the tomato paste as it cooks and browns.



Add red wine and herbs, bring to a boil. Scrap the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen the cooked on fond from the bottom, incorporating it into the sauce. Bring to a boil and cook about 15 minutes or until reduced by half.

Once wine has reduced by half add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and remove 1/2 cup of the braising liquid for later use in the pearl onions. Add bacon and chicken to the braising liquid, legs and thighs in first, wings and breasts skin side up, on top. Cover the top of the dutch oven with parchment paper or tin foil (I used foil) and place lid on top creating a very tight seal and put it in the oven.

After 15 minutes flip the breasts over so the skin side is in the braising liquid, recover with foil and lid, cook an additional 60 minutes or until chicken is fork tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the garnish of pearl onions and mushrooms. In a sautee pan (I used my trusty cast iron skillet, man I love that thing!) melt 1.5 T butter. Once it stops foaming add the bag of pearl onions. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir well, recover and cook 5 additional minutes. Remove lid, allow liquid to evaporate and onions to brown, about 5-10 minutes longer. Once onions are browned add the reserved braising liquid, bring to a boil and reduce to glaze the onions. Remove onions to a small bowl, scraping out as much of the liquid from the pan as possible.



Melt remaining 1.5 T butter, once it stops foaming add the mushrooms and cook until they are very browned, about 10-15 minutes at my altitude. They may give off a bit of moisture, just keep cooking them until they are nice & toasty. You may need to add 1-2 t EVOO to keep things moist while cooking (I did). Once mushrooms are browned reserve them with the pearl onions.

~*~the original recipe didn't call for this but I just couldn't resist deglazing the pan, it was so brown from the onions and mushrooms, it seemed a waste to just throw that wonderful fond away. The Kitchen Witch added about 1/2 c red wine, deglazed it and added the wine to the mushrooms & onions. Feel free to do the same if you so desire~*~

Now, this last step will depend on how much of the braising liquid you have left in the pan. I had about 1 cup, 1/4 c of that was fat, so skim off any fat (I used a gravy separator) and didn't really see any reason to further reduce that as I wanted some extra sauce (for my mashed potatoes). If you have more than 1 cup of the braising liquid left you might want to reduce it some. Either way remove the chicken pieces to a plate & cover to keep warm. Remove bay leaf & discard.



Once liquid is reduced (or not) add the garnish to the liquid, stir to mix.
Serve chicken pieces with the onion/mushroom/carrot/bacon pieces and sauce over top. Excellent with garlic mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 377.3
Total Fat 11.0 g
Saturated Fat 5.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.5 g
Cholesterol 106.1 mg
Sodium 780.3 mg
Potassium 601.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate 19.0 g
Dietary Fiber 1.8 g
Sugars 8.8 g
Protein 32.4 g

Chicken with Chevre, sun dried tomatoes and lemon

Goat cheese makes everything it touches better. Take my infamous chicken with herbs in wine sauce. We love that dish and have it at least once a week. Its quick & easy to prepare. It however can get boring after a while. Thats where the goat cheese comes in.

The chevre has a creamy texture, very similar to cream cheese, but with an added tang that only goat cheese can provide. Don't be afraid of goat cheese, its quite possibly the best cheese ever. There isn't a goat cheese that I've tried and not liked. I can NOT say that about standard cows milk cheese. Added bonus, goat cheese is lower in fat naturally than cows milk, so the cheese is automatically low fat.

Chicken with sundried tomatoes, chevre and lemon
serves 2
2 chicken breasts
kosher salt & pepper
1/4 c white wine
1 t dry Italian herb seasoning
1 clove garlic minced
zest of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 whole or 10 julienned strips sun dried tomatoes
1 oz. chevre (goat) cheese

Click here to get the recipe for the chicken, marinade and preparation.

To the sauce I add the juice of 1/2 a lemon and lemon zest. Add sun dried tomatoes to the sauce, about 5 to 6 julienne strips per chicken breast. Top each breast with a medallion of chevre, the sun dried tomato strips and the lemony wine sauce & dinner is served.



nutritional information provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Nutrition Facts
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 216.4
Total Fat 6.8 g
Saturated Fat 2.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.8 g
Monounsaturated Fat 2.7 g
Cholesterol 72.3 mg
Sodium 306.7 mg
Potassium 416.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 4.3 g
Dietary Fiber 0.4 g
Sugars 1.8 g
Protein 29.4 g

Braised Beef Short Ribs

This was my first time making beef short ribs. They were on sale at the market so I figured I'd give them a shot. They are cut from the chuck primal, meaning they're perfect for a low, slow, moist cooking environment, AKA a braise. The short ribs I got are boneless, an added bonus because the bone in ones tend to take FOREVER to cook.

Braising is simply cooking things, like tough cuts of meat, in a flavorful liquid, at low temperatures, for a long time. This magical way of cooking will transform tough, cheap cut of meat into a succulent moist and delicious cuts your family will go crazy for. You've probably braised before and just don't realize that's what you were doing. Ever made a pot roast? What about a stew? Yup, those are both braises. The long, slow, moist (wow that was pretty sexy!) cooking method breaks down the collegens and fat, producing geletain, which makes the meat delightfully sticky and savory, it has a velvety mouth feel, very unctuous and full of umami. (to those of you who don't speak chef, that means you'll get a yummy tender beefy tasting piece of meat)

In a beef braised dish normally I'd use red wine. However I was out, and getting more wasn't an option. So I used white wine and augmented it with balsamic and red wine vinegars as well as soy sauce. The vinegars I hoped would provide a deeper, rounder flavor, more like a red wine would produce. The soy sauce provided the umami, which is the 5th taste, beefy and meaty. Trust me, the addition of a little soy sauce really amps up the YUM factor. The cooking liquids then get reduced to make a jus (gravy), served over hot buttered egg noodles. Its cold day dinner bliss!


Braised beef short ribs
Makes 6 servings
1 lb boneless beef short ribs
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 c white wine
1 T soy sauce
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 t dry Italian seasoning
S&P
1 onion, sliced
4 large cloves garlic chopped roughly
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 3 in chunks
1 rib celery, cut into 1 in cubes
1 T oil for browning beef

Pat meat dry. Sprinkle with S&P. Brown each piece of meat well on all 4 sides. This will take a few installments. As always don't worry about the funky stuff building up on the pan, thats your flavor base.


Once all pieces are browned deglaze pan with water and vinegars. Avoid steam, vinegar fumes are nasty to breath!

Take care to scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Once its fully deglazed add the tomatoes and their juices, herbs and onion. Add beef back to the pan, cover with foil and then with lid. This ensures a tight seal so your beef will be very tender and juicy.

Cook at 250* for 5-6 hours.

3 hours into the braise add carrots and celery. Recover and finish cooking.

Remove from oven, remove ribs and veggies to a serving platter. Strain the cooking veggies in a mesh strainer and return the cooking liquids to the braising pot. Bring liquid to a boil and reduce by half. This will result in a very concentrated jus which is a French term for the cooking juices from meats. What we call it is the best darn gravy ever!

Serve with egg noodles or mashed potatoes.



Nutrition Facts
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving 1 1/2 ribs each with vegetables
Calories 292.0
Total Fat 16.4 g
Saturated Fat 1.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.8 g
Cholesterol 48.0 mg
Sodium 716.1 mg
Potassium 551.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 9.0 g
Dietary Fiber 1.9 g
Sugars 3.1 g
Protein 23.5 g

Beef Stroganoff

When creating my dinner menus I look to the weekly sales at the grocery. Combine a few fresh ingredients with what I've got in the pantry and freezer and voila! Dinner is served. Case in point: Beef Stroganoff. Being a Kitchen Witch I don't own or use cream of soup. Finding a decent recipe with out a can of soup was harder than I thought to find. Sometimes I feel like I'm the last of the 'from scratch' home cooks out there! So I created this one for you all.

In my freezer I had cube steaks. I figured if I sliced them against the grain I'd have a nice tender piece of meat for the Stroganoff. Most recipes call for thin sliced sirloin or tenderloin, however the cube steaks is what I had on hand. They worked out quite well in the end product I'm happy to report.

Mushrooms were on sale this week - I had stroganoff in mind when I saw the sale. I also had an abundance of sour cream in the fridge that desperately needed to be used up. Most recipes call for either red wine or brandy to deglaze the fond (cooked on crud on the bottom of the pan). I had neither so I used my trusty white wine. We liked the flavor it brought to the dish and didn't add a reddish hue to the creamy sauce. The wee bit of lemon juice added at the end brings a nice tang to the dish that really makes the sour cream sauce sing.

Even the littlest Kitchen Witch liked this meal! She said that the gravy was good, thats high praise from a 3 yr old :-)

Beef Stroganoff
serves 2 very hearty servings with a lunch left over
2 cube steaks
8 oz package mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 T flour
S&P
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 c white wine
1 1/2 c chicken stock
dash lemon juice
1/2 c sour cream
1 T fresh minced parsley
hot buttered egg noodles (3 c dry noodles was enough for 2.5 dinners & a full lunch)
butter and oil or sautee

Clean and quarter mushrooms. Discard any tough stems.


Slice the beef against the grain into 1/4 in wide strips. Season beef with S&P, then toss with the flour.

In a skillet heat a drizzle of oil and cook beef until nicely browned. Remove browned strips from pan. Add 1 T butter and mushrooms. Allow to brown before stirring. Once mushrooms brown, remove from pan & set aside with the beef.

Add a touch more oil if needed and cook onions. Once the onions begin to sweat add the garlic & stir well. You want the onions to just start to brown on the edges. Once they have browned slightly remove from pan & place with beef & mushrooms.


Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Stir well scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Return beef, mushrooms and onions to the pot & simmer about 20 min.

Cook and drain egg noodles.

Turn heat off on the stroganoff. Stir in 1/2 c sour cream and 1 T fresh chopped parsley. Serve over the hot egg noodles.


Nutrition Facts
2 Servings **you could very easily make this feed up to 4 people by adding a veggie side dish, it makes 2 VERY hearty servings!
Amount Per Serving
Calories 475.9
Total Fat 18.3 g
Saturated Fat 9.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 6.5 g
Cholesterol 125.7 mg
Sodium 818.6 mg
Potassium 1,008.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 33.9 g
Dietary Fiber 1.4 g
Sugars 2.3 g
Protein 33.2 g

Shrimp scampi with broccoli and tortellini

Garlic, white wine and butter, classic scampi ingredients. What makes this so different is the calories, or lack there of! Imagine eating a nice full bowl of pasta, tender veggies and big plump shrimp in a decadent sauce for LESS than 350 calories! The prep on this is quick - almost as fast a microwaveable meal - you'll be eating in 20 minutes or less!!

Other flavorful, low calorie additions could include sun dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, wilted spinich, olives, really anything you like! And if shrimp isn't your thing feel free to use chicken or pork.

I used pre-cooked shrimp because that's what was on sale at the store this week. I had reservations about heating the cooked shrimp in the wine garlic sauce because I didn't want them to get too tough, a very common problem with shrimp. I am happy to say that the quick boil was enough to thaw & reheat the shrimp, while adding a nice seafood flavor to the sauce, and the shrimp were still nice & tender. If you have raw shrimp cook in the wine sauce about 1 min longer than directed or until shrimp turn pink & curl.

The amounts shown below are for 1 lunch size portion. If I were making this for dinner I'd double it for myself & the husband and pair it with a salad to round out the meal.

Shrimp scampi with broccoli and tortellini
makes 1 serving
7 large (21-30) shrimp, precooked is fine
1/4 c Barilla 3 cheese tortellini
1/2 head broccoli, cut into very small florettes
1 clove garlic minced
1 dash salt
1 t butter
1/4 c white wine
1 t crispy onion toppers, optional (I found these in the crouton area of my local store. You could use french fried onions if you can't find the Fresh Gourmet Crispy Onions)

To a pot of boiling water add the tortellini. Set timer for 10-11 minutes. 5 min after adding pasta add broccoli. At 10 minutes test pasta for tenderness. Drain pasta & broccoli. Put into a bowl & cover to keep warm.

In the same pot add the butter, frozen shrimp, garlic, salt & wine. Bring to a boil, simmer until shrimp are heated thru, about 1-2 minutes max. Remove shrimp, arrange on top of pasta.

Crank the heat up to HI and reduce the wine by half. Pour reduced sauce over top of shrimp and serve.



Andrea the Kitchen Witch will now be posting nutritional information for recipes. I hope this is a feature that will help you plan healthy nutritious meals for your family! Its one thing to look good, its another to taste good & its the best of all when it does both of those AND is good for you! Healthy can be tasty, with a little Kitchen Witchcraft!
Nutrition Facts
1 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 329.2
Total Fat 11.2 g
~~Saturated Fat 6.7 g
~~Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
~~Monounsaturated Fat 1.8 g
Cholesterol 114.5 mg
Sodium 828.3 mg
Potassium 221.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 26.1 g
~~Dietary Fiber 3.4 g
~~Sugars 1.7 g
Protein 14.2 g

Herbed chicken with white wine sauce

This is one of my all time favorite dinners. Its super quick and yet looks, and tastes, very impressive. Minimal effort for maximum flavor, sounds like a Kitchen Witch essential for sure!

In the summer when my herb garden is in full swing I like to stir up the herbs. One of our favorites is "Scarborough fair chicken" which, not surprisingly, consists of parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme as the herbal additions to my white wine & garlic. They make an amazing combination, Simon & Garfunkel knew a good thing when they sang it apparently. Marjoram, parsley and thyme is also a favorite combo. Marjoram has such a delicate scent & flavor, its great in summer, we really enjoy it! Try your favorite combo of herbs - I promise you can't really go wrong! *NOTE if using fresh herbs DOUBLE the amount of the dried.

In the winter when fresh herbs are harder to come by with out paying a premium I use dried with great success.

Herbed chicken with white wine sauce
2 chicken breasts
1 t dry Italian seasoning blend (oregano, rosemary, basil, marjoram) (or favorite herb blend)
4 pinches kosher salt
4 dashes pepper
1 clove garlic minced
1 t EVOO
3/4 c dry white wine, divided
1 T oil for sautee
2 T butter for sauce

Reserve 1/2 c of the wine for sauce.

Assemble marinade: 1/4 c wine, herbs, salt, pepper, garlic & EVOO, pour over chicken & marinate 2-4 hrs. Pound to 1/4 in thick overall for even cooking (I do this while the chicken is in a zip top bag marinating, no messy chicken spatters that way! Just be sure to use the smooth side of the mallet).


Remove chicken from marinade, remove large garlic pieces from chicken to avoid burning. Pat dry with paper towels to help browning.

Heat a stainless skillet over med heat.**DO NOT USE NONSTICK OR CAST IRON. Non stick won't allow the fond (browned bits) to form on the pan so you can't make a pan sauce. Cast iron will react with the wine giving the dish a metallic taste.

Add 1 T oil to pan, once it shimmers add chicken. Allow chicken to cook on 1st side about 4 min or until golden brown and chicken easily lifts from pan. If it won't release its not ready to flip.

Flip chicken & cook to an internal temp of 160* (about 4-5 min longer). Remove chicken & cover loosely with foil while sauce is being made. *NOTE: take temp of the chicken in the thickest part of the chicken, placing the thermometer in through the side wall of the chicken breast.



This yucky looking pan plus that glass of white wine will equal this wonderful brown liquid!

Deglaze pan with 1/2 c wine. Scrape bottom of pan with whisk or wooden spoon to loosen all cooked on browned bits. Simmer over med heat until reduced by 1/2. Add butter stirring well to incorporate into sauce. The butter will help thicken sauce further & add a nice gloss.


This sauce is more of a jus, or finishing sauce, so a little goes a long way. It is not a thick gravy. 1 to 2 T per person is usually plenty. Pour the sauce over the chicken after plating for best presentation.



Nutrition Facts
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 359.3
Total Fat 20.0 g
Saturated Fat 8.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.8 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.7 g
Cholesterol 99.5 mg
Sodium 1,245.5 mg
Potassium 310.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 3.5 g
Dietary Fiber 0.0 g
Sugars 0.6 g
Protein 27.5 g.