Italiaanse kip in bakpapier (Hip Kip and Vitatas)

Last week I got lucky: chicken breasts were on sale!! So I bought a kilo and popped them into the fridge. Finally a chance to try out a recipe from my cookbook Hip Kip!!

After long deliberation I decided on Italian Chicken in Parchment.

This recipe is supersimple and perfect for a dinner party, because

the packages can be prepared in advance!

I don't really care for black olives and decided to leave them out. Instead I used the fennel

from my Vitatas. Whilst baking the kitchen filled with the wonderfull smell of pesto, courgette, tomatoes and fennel....

The chicken thighs were cooked to absolut perfection.

The chicken was still moist, not dry at all. I never thought of combining pesto with lemon juice,

but this was soooooo nice!!!



Italian Chicken in Parchment (4 servings)

1 lemon, scrubbed clean
1 courgette
4 chicken fillets
250 grams cherry tomatoes
4 tbsp black olives (I substituted these with the fennel)
4 tbsp pesto

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Put the sheets of baking paper on the counter. Zest the lemon and squeeze it.

Slice the courgette into thin slices, cut the fennel into quarters and slice thinly. Mix them with the lemon zest and some pepper and salt. Place the courgettemixture in the center of the baking sheets and divide evenly over the four sheets.

Cut the chicken (schuin) into four pieces (I did 5 pieces....), top with salt and pepper on both sides. Place the chicken over the courgettemixture. Divide the cherry tomatoes and olives over the chicken and spread one tablespoon of pesto over each chicken (I left out the olives). Drizzle some lemonjuice over the chicken

Fold the paper into a package and place the packages onto a baking sheet. Slide the sheet into the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Place the packages on a plate. Open at the table. Great in combination with gnocci.

Vitatas #3: Contents....

Stay tuned for this weeks recipes!!

Sweet Potato Pizza with Onions and Rosemary (Vitatas)

This week I found one ingredient in my Vitatas that I have never cooked with: a sweet potato. Snooping around on the internet I found various interesting ideas on what to do with it: baking a pound cake, making fries, putting it in a quiche, making a delicious soup, covering it with marshmallows, making casserole (also topped with marshmallows) and the most appealing one to me: pizza!! (I warned you in my previous post about my love for Italian food...)

I only changed one thing in this recipe: I used red onion. Also I topped the pizza with about 150 grams of Gorgonzola Dolce after 15 minutes in the oven. Put it back in the oven for another 3 minuts, then sprinkle the grated cheese on top and another 1-2 minutes in the oven.

This is a great recipe that I will be making again: I loved the sweetness of the sweet potato and red onion combined with the saltiness of the Gorgonzola cheese. My dad came home very late and ate the leftovers, his verdict: 8+ out of 1o points.

Serves 4

Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 (10-ounce) portions frozen pizza dough, thawed
6 small sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/4 inch)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried, crumbled)

150 gram Gorgonzola dolce (optional)
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Arrange oven racks in the lower and upper third of the oven. Heat the oven to 475° F.

Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent and soft.

Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface to make two 8- x 16-inch rectangles or two 12-inch rounds and transfer to two ungreased baking sheets (or two 12-inch pizza pans). (I made one big pizza....)

Layer the dough with the sweet potato slices, overlapping them slightly and forming three rows (or in a circular pattern if making round pizzas). Top the potato slices with the onions and rosemary. Drizzle the pizza with the remaining olive oil and season well with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Bake pizzas 15 to 18 minutes, or until the edges of the pies are crisp and lightly browned and the sweet potatoes are soft. (After 15 minutes I added the Gorgonzola and popped the pizza back into the oven.) Top with Parmesan and return to oven 1 to 2 minutes, until cheese melts.

Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallots (Vitatas #2)

Back in October 2008 I made my first recipe with Butternut Sqaush and loved it. So when I found a Butternut Squash in this weeks Vitatas I knew I would like it. I decided not to make the same recipe and went looking for another dish.

Those of you who know me well will probably not be very surprised that it´s another pasta dish. I love pastas, so when I saw this recipe I knew I found a winner. The taste was great, although I did miss a sauce..... The added brown sugar brought out the sweet taste of the velvety squash and the shallots were cooked to perfection.

I cooked the Butternut Squash by cutting the squash in half vertically and removing the seeds and fibers with a spoon. I then placed the halves, cut sides down, in a baking dish and added water to a depth of 2 centimeters. The two halves were baked at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes until tender and could be pierced easily with a fork.

The only thing I changed about the recipe is that I quartered the shallots instead of slicing them in halves.

3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise (about 1/2 pound)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
4 ounces uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta) or fettuccine
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 475°.

Combine the squash, sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons oil, salt, pepper, and shallots in a jelly roll pan; toss well. Bake at 475° for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in sage.

While the squash mixture bakes, cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place cooked pasta in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons oil; toss well. Serve the squash mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.

Vitatas #2: Contents

So here's what's in this weeks Vitatas: sweet potato, butternut squash, white cabbage, edible burdock, apples, moro oranges and mandarins. I have no idea yet what to do with the burdock..... I gave the cabbage to my mom as I will be out of town for two days and therefor not eating or cooking at home.

Recipes that will definetely follow this week:

• Sweet Potato Pizza with Onions, Rosemary and Gorgonzola
• Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallots

Scorzonera (Vitatas #1)

One of the veggies in my first Vitatas were these strange looking sticks. At least, that's what they look like: branches.... But in fact they are not branches, they are the roots of Scorzonera hispanica, also known as black salsify, Spanish salsify, black oyster plant, serpent root, viper's herb or viper's grass. (source: Wikipedia)

Here in Holland they are known as schorseneren, in nineteenth century Holland they were called 'winter asparagus' because they were only available from October to March and once peeled and cooked they look a lot like asparagus.

I used this recipe from Coquinaria, it was very tasty!! Just as I finished my last piece of scorzonera I remembered I forgot to take pictures.... OOPS!! Hahaha

Microwave-cooked Chicory and Cheesesauce (Vitatas #1)

Got home late yesterday from work and didn't want to spend ages in the kitchen. I planned on eating chicory, so I went looking for a nice, easy and quick recipe. And I found one right here! (Beware: it's a Dutch site) The chicory is cooked in a microwave and the cheesesauce is also made in the microwave... Since I only had half a kilo of chicory I halved the recipe.

Ingredients

500 grams chicory

1 tbsp margarine

1 tbsp flour (I was out of flour, I still can't believe it!! So I used corn flour, works too)

250 ml water

a dash of bouillonpowder or half a bouillontablet

a splash of cream or milk (I used cream)

some grated cheese

Slice the chicory, was and pop into a microwavedish with some water. Put the dish into the microwave and cook for 8 weeks at the highest level (I used 750 watt). Take the dish out of the oven and let it rest.

Pop the margarine into a wide 1-litre pyrexbowl, stir in the flour and add the water, milk and bouillonpowder. Stir untill well blended, it will remain a bit grainy but this will turn out okay. Pop the liquid mixture into the microwave and cook for 4 minutes at the highest level. Add as much grated cheese as you would like and whisk.

Toss the chicory and pop back into the microwave for another 4 minutes at the highest level. Drain the chicory and mix in with the sauce. Enjoy!!

Vitatas #1

One of the things I wanted to do in 2009 is eat healthier and with more variation. When in the supermarket I found myself taking home the same vegetables over and over. So I went looking on the internet and stumbled upon the Vitatas. This intrigued me and I decided this was for me. Now I get to pick up a bag for one person every week containing locally produced biological vegetables and fruit.

This bag also contains a recipecard on which I'll find nice and tasty recipes and facts about the cultivators and the biological agriculture and horticulture, some of the recipes will be about the produce in the bag. I got a magazine with lovely recipes too!

So today was the day that I could pick up my first bag. It wasn't there.... Something went wrong. But fortunately there was one other (bigger bag for 2 persons) leftover, so I got to take that one home!!! It must be beginners luck!!

This week the bag contained: scorzonera hispanica (black salsify or Spanish salsify, also known as black oyster plant, serpent root, viper's herb, viper's grass or simply Scorzonera), brocolii, chicory, chinese cabage, apples, mandarins and kiwis. Yum!!! Stay tuned to find out what I'll do with the veggies!!