Quick Spicy Pineapple Salsa

Want to spice up you sex life? I mean dinner. Make this quick spicy pineapple salsa and serve it along side your simply grilled/broiled/roasted chicken/fish/fish tacos/pork. It’s so easy, can be made a day in advance and requires nothing other than a chopping board and a knife. I buy the cubed pineapple from Whole Foods. Yes, you heard me. It’s a huge timesaver but do not use canned!

This summer when you’re sitting outside grilling, you’ll think of me.  Continue reading

(3907)

Turkey Bolognese

In Italian restaurants I am always tempted by those bowls full of stick to your ribs Pasta Bolognese that I see being delivered to tables around me. I don’t eat red meat often, well maybe never, so  I played around with some classic Bolognese recipes and over time came up with my version of it using ground turkey instead of beef. It’s quick, easy, yields a lot and freezes beautifully.  Continue reading

(2538)

Lemony Roast Chicken On the Fly

If your family is anything like mine, when you roast a whole chicken, everyone eats the breasts, drumsticks and thighs but you’re always left with this unappealing carcass of wings and skin. Nope, I’m not going to tell you to ‘simply make chicken stock’ out of the leftovers because mine is not that kind of blog. You know, that blog that is so smug it makes you feel like a failure in the kitchen if you use (gasp) store bought broth.

My advice is simple: don’t roast a whole chicken and save yourself both the messy hassle of carving it and a lot of cooking time.

Serves 4 (three in my household)
Preheat oven to 400

4 bone in, skin on organic chicken breasts (they really are more tender and moist)
Juice of one lemon, remove pits
3 tbs EVOO or basil infused olive oil or lemon infused olive oil
3 chopped or crushed garlic cloves
1 tsp dijon mustard (if you have it on hand. If not, disregard)
Herbs de provence, salt and pepper to taste

In the bottom of a roasting pan whisk together all of the ingredients and coat both sides of the chicken well. Leave the skin on, it gives the chicken so much more flavor and you can remove it before eating if you’re watching your cholesterol.

Roast until juices run clear when you pierce the breast. 35-45 minutes.

Serve with my kale salad or raw cauliflower couscous salad and you have just made a simple and delicious dinner. Be proud!

Enjoy and always let your taste buds soar
Hugs,
Maria

(1798)

The Marinate Anything Marinade

To feel comfortable in the kitchen it really helps to have one or two basic recipes committed to memory. It just builds confidence. When you can make a quick marinade with just a few ingredients, one that pairs perfectly with fish*, poultry, pork and flank steak and also works on the grill, under the broiler or in the oven, you will feel like a rock star.

And it is so unbelievably easy.  Continue reading

(2828)

It’s (finally) getting to be turkey chili weather

Here we are with October virtually behind us and only now will day time temperatures dip below 60. Yeah, yeah, yeah everyone around me loves it and I just feel like I’m being cheated out of that perfectly crisp New York weather. It’s just not natural to go apple picking in shorts people! Fall weather to me means new boots, outdoor running, good hair, and turkey chili. This is a recipe I can comfortably claim as a Flycakes original. I’ve tweaked and adjusted it over the years and honestly I barely even measure the ingredients anymore. It’s simple, healthy, delicious, makes your apartment smell like a spice market and yields so much you can freeze the leftovers for a night when you don’t feel like cooking.

Flycakes Turkey Chili  Continue reading

(1669)

Are we sick of chicken yet?

I rarely make red meat at home since a) I don’t eat it b) my husband watches his diet like a girl (no offense honey) c) burgers and steaks are so much better on an outdoor grill and d) steak dinners just masochistically taste amazing when the markup is 500 percent and you’re being served by cranky waiters in ugly suits. So, I buy enough organic chicken to feed an army at Costco and within two weeks it’s gone. Yes, this is another flipping chicken recipe. But it’s delicious, so so easy (have I lied to you about that yet?), and perfect for a fall night when you don’t feel like cooking but feel like a shitty wife and mother if you don’t.

Roasted Red Chili Paste Chicken Curry Continue reading

(2934)

“Grandmother’s” Chicken

I’ve been debating since I started this blog if I should share this recipe. Why? Because it’s the type of ‘Good-Housekeeping-Sandra-Lee-semi-home-made” recipe that I hesitate to admit I love. Let’s face it no one REALLY reads this blog (yet?) and other than my family and friends (that I generously bribe), no one really gives a rat’s ass what I have to say. I’ve got nothing to lose so here goes.  Continue reading

(1605)

Hoisin Glazed Roast Chicken

My husband knows that when we go to a restaurant and if after studying the menu, putting it down, picking it up, putting it back down again, looking on the back, asking about the specials, asking a bunch of questions, and then asking the waiter to bring me a bunch of olives and orange slices from the bar….if after all that I order THE CHICKEN it’s because there is NOTHING else on the menu I want or can eat.  I cook chicken at home. All the time. If I wanted to eat chicken I’d stay home, I don’t want to eat it when a professional is making it for me. I like making those chefs earn their $1.50/hour wage…make me something I can’t make myself at home for heaven’s sake!!!!!

OK on to the chicken recipe now that I have a) revealed what a giant pain in the ass I can be b) that I am, in fact, married to a saint and c) you can correctly assume that we are big tippers.  Continue reading

(5825)