Social media was hyped up, all of the meteorologists were calling for 24-36 inches of snow. The electric company called with recorded messages warning of power outages. Our town selectman called with emergency information. The governor imposed a travel ban on all roads. Everything shut down completely in advance of this historic storm.
School was let out absurdly early yesterday, so while I had a window of opportunity I took it. I started at Trader Joe's at 8:00 in the morning. Got provisions like coffee, olive oil, produce and whatever else I saw that added up to $100.
Then I headed to Target. They were completely out of large bottles of water. People were panicking and buying everything. I grabbed a 24 pack of Poland Spring and whatever else that added up to another $100.
After Target I thought I would hit the local grocery to see if they had any gallon-sized waters.
They did not. But I still managed to spend $25 there.
So, $225 later I went home and unpacked my groceries, feeling like I was completely prepped for the possibility of being housebound for a few days.
We had invited the neighbors over for a "blizzard" dinner. This gave me the opportunity to knock off two more cookbooks and use some of the provisions I had bought.
Here are cookbooks number 13 and 14 of 98.....
I'll tell you right now, this is NOT going to be a diet-friendly post.
We collaborated on dinner, and my neighbor brought a baked ziti and salad. I made Auntie's Parmesan Chicken, garlic bread, and Williams-Sonoma Cherry Hazelnut Biscotti. We also had some very bizarre cookies from a Target impulse buy.
So, I got the "traditional" cornflake-chocolate chip-marshmallow mix.
Umm, yeah. Save yourself the $6. These things were NOT good. That's all I have to say about that.
What WAS good?
Auntie's chicken of course!
Because I was stressing about the impending storm, and had company coming I did not photograph the cooking process. I did manage to get a shot of the finished product though!
Parmesan Chicken
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4 inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.
The biscotti were decidedly more "adult" friendly. Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!
Cherry Hazelnut Biscotti
Ingredients:
- 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room
temperature - 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and coarsely
chopped - 1/2 cup dried tart cherries, coarsely chopped
- 1 tsp. grated orange zest
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour 1 large baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Have another ungreased baking sheet on hand.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until fluffy and pale yellow. Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is no longer gritty when rubbed between your finger and thumb. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla until blended.
Over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat on low speed or stir with a wooden spoon just until incorporated. Mix or stir in the hazelnuts, cherries and orange zest until evenly distributed. The batter should be very soft.
Turn the batter out onto a generously floured work surface and divide in half. With well-floured hands, transfer one-half onto the greased baking sheet and shape into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on one side of the sheet. Repeat with the remaining batter, leaving at least 4 inches between the logs. (They will spread as they bake.)
Bake the logs until the edges are golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the logs cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs, still on the pan, on the diagonal into slices 1/2 inch wide. Carefully turn the slices on their sides and return them to the oven. When you run out of room on one baking sheet, start transferring slices to the other sheet.
Bake until the edges are golden, about 10 minutes more. Let the biscotti cool completely on the pans on wire racks. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 4 dozen biscotti.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until fluffy and pale yellow. Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is no longer gritty when rubbed between your finger and thumb. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla until blended.
Over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat on low speed or stir with a wooden spoon just until incorporated. Mix or stir in the hazelnuts, cherries and orange zest until evenly distributed. The batter should be very soft.
Turn the batter out onto a generously floured work surface and divide in half. With well-floured hands, transfer one-half onto the greased baking sheet and shape into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on one side of the sheet. Repeat with the remaining batter, leaving at least 4 inches between the logs. (They will spread as they bake.)
Bake the logs until the edges are golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the logs cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs, still on the pan, on the diagonal into slices 1/2 inch wide. Carefully turn the slices on their sides and return them to the oven. When you run out of room on one baking sheet, start transferring slices to the other sheet.
Bake until the edges are golden, about 10 minutes more. Let the biscotti cool completely on the pans on wire racks. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 4 dozen biscotti.
And that blizzard?
Well, let's just say we dodged a bullet. I'm actually a little disappointed. I had a romantic notion that we would all be snuggled together for a few days, and want for nothing will all of the storm prep that we did. Oh well. In reality I would probably be stress-eating cookies and wanting to rip my hair out.
In the meantime, I've got quite a stockpile for next time!
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