Faux Calzone?

What's a girl to do with some sauce she made earlier in the week and the thought of eating pasta one more time as appealing as neon Zubaz?? Find a new recipe, that's what!

With a can of Biscuits, some ricotta and that sauce I actually came up with something Bella loved and had seconds of (!).

INGREDIENTS

Sauce:

Pasta Sauce - Either use a jar or your own

1 lb ground beef or turkey

Palmful of garlic salt

Palmful of Italian seasoning

Palmful of Ground black pepper

Filling:

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

½ cup Ricotta (or you could use cottage cheese)

1 tablespoon parsley – fresh or dried

½ teaspoon dried minced onion

½ teaspoon dried basil

Couple of palmfuls of grated Parmesan cheese

1 can of canned biscuits – use the large variety

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400°F. In 10-inch skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in pasta sauce, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and pepper. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes.

2. In small bowl, mix mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, parsley flakes, onion and basil until well blended. 3. Separate dough and press or roll each into 4-inch round. Place about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture on each biscuit round. Fold dough in half over filling; press edges with fork to seal.

4. Into ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish, pour hot beef mixture. Arrange filled biscuits on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Experiment #1 - Bistro chicken??

I've had a certain herb roasted chicken dishe at one of my fav restaurants here in the metro, Salut, that I loved. This herb roasted chicken... ooohhh MMMMMM G!.. is this delish! Thyme roasted chicken with it's juices and it's aaaaaaaahhhhhmazing.

I always tear dishes apart though... it's what I do. So staring at my freezer this morning trying to figure out what to make for dinner, I see these chicken thighs staring back at me. And it hits me... I'm going to try and put my own spin on this amazing dish which I love and hopefully make something just as delish. (Or let's face it, it could just be awful).

I started out making a marinade of olive oil, fresh rosemary and thyme, dried oregano (b/c I didn't have fresh), garlic salt (I contemplated using fresh garlic, since I add it to everything, but given I'm going to roast the chicken I didn't want to risk it burning), salt and pepper, the zest of a small lemon and a few glugs of really good balsamic. I didn't add actual lemon juice because when you marinade with citrus, it can start to cook the chicken which you do NOT want. I covered it and tossed it back into the fridge for a good hour.

Part of what I love about the dish at Salut are these yummy fries it comes with. Crispy on the outside, soft and potatoey in the middle. I had to do something similar to get the same effect, right?

Snooping in the pantry I find some little baby Yukons - perfecto! Quartered and tossed in marinade, I decide roasting some onions with them would be yummy too (who doesn't love roasted onions??), so in they go!

Since 375 seems to be the universal temp for roasting chickens, that's what the oven is set for. In goes the chicken and the potatoes for 30 minutes. Ding! I took the cookie sheet out, sprinkle some coarse sea salt and then some cracked fresh garlic and a squeeze from the zested lemon, use a basting brush to baste the thighs with some of the juices that are on the pan and back in another 20 minutes. The house smells awesome!

Ding!

Everything looks really yummy... but I thought a little bit lacking in the crispy department. I cranked the oven up to 450 and in for another 10. Sounds good right?

I was a little worried when I pulled it out and there was a LOT of juices and oil in the pan. The chicken looked amazing though - super crispy and the fat had rendered out of the skin. It smells amazing!! I served it with a small green salad with a similar balsamic vinagrette for me (cheese and a little ranch for my daughter).

Success! Bella loved it - which now a days says a lot. She's developed a palate for "kid food" these days, which of course I find grossly offensive. But she LOVED it! She ate all of it.

All in all, it's not BETTER than my favorite chicken from Salut - but's it's pretty damn tasty and really super easy. I will probably cut down the oil next time (which I accounted for below), but I was very happy with the outcome. Let me know how it works out for you!

Bistro Chicken - Experiment #1 from Andraya

Ingredients:

6 Chicken Thighs, bone in and skin on

12 small baby Yukon gold potatoes, quartered (unless very small, then just 1/2'd)

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

approx. 3 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar

1 lemon, zested and remaining lemon reserved

2 Tablespoons Fresh chopped Rosemary

3 sprigs of fresh thyme, pulled from stem

1 big pinch of dried oregano (about a 1/2 a tsp I suppose)

1/2 a palm full of garlic salt (roughly 2 teaspoons)

4 cloves of fresh garlic, cracked

Coarse sea salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place chicken and potatoes into a large bowl.
3. Put oil, herbs, zest of lemon, balsamic and seasonings in a bowl and whisk to blend. Pour olive oil mixture over chicken and potatoes, and stir to coat. Put into fridge and let marinate for an hour.
4. Cover baking sheet with sides with aluminum foil. Scatter the chicken and potato pieces on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Bake for in the preheated oven, uncovered for 30 minutes, take pan out, squeeze lemon juice over chicken and return for another 20 minutes. Again, remove pan, baste then turn up temp to 450 for another 10 minutes.