Jenn’s Cook Book

Welcome to Jenn's Cook Book, a collection of recipes created in Jenn's Kitchen. If you are looking for something specific, please click on a category to the right. If you feel like browsing, try clicking on an ingredient and see what you find. Under Jenn's Favorites, you will find all of my favorite recipes worth repeating!

What's new at Jenn's Cook Book? Check out the new discussion board by clicking on the link "Discuss" above and adding your comments or questions about recipes, food, and entertaining. Also visit the revamped Links and Books pages with updated resources for any aspiring chef. My many Special Projects are listed under the "Categories," including my latest project Smoothie-licious.

The Cool Food Blogroll is constantly being updated and adjusted as I discover awesome food blogs worth visiting. These include blogs by home chefs like myself, professionals, and groups committed to food news and trends.

Thanks for stopping by and please come again soon! ~Jenn

Here is a quick, simple recipe from Everyday Food magazine using just 5 ingredients! This is perfect when you need an easy way to spice up some plain chicken. The tangy flavor is great for fall, with just a kick of heat from red pepper flakes.

Spicy Apricot-Glazed Chicken
from Everyday Food

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat broiler. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken on broiler pan.

Combine apricot preserves and red pepper flakes. Brush half of the mixture over the chicken.

Broil chicken 5-7 minutes. Flip chicken and brush with remaining apricot mixture. Broil an additional 5-7 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.

Another new recipe from the new kitchen! For my second meal, I adapted a recipe from Cooking Light magazine originally called “Orange-Ginger Skillet Chicken.” The recipe was designed to make ahead and take camping or to a cookout, but works just as well made immediately. To balance the citrus flavors, I added earthy mushrooms.

Macaroni is only a suggestion, you could also use egg noodles, rotini, or even brown rice. Though this is mostly an all-in-one meal, I would suggest a side salad or steamed vegetables to complete the meal.

Above: Okay, I cheated and used canned mandarin oranges. So sue me.

Orange-Ginger Chicken with Macaroni
adapted from Cooking Light

1/2 cup orange juice
3-4 chopped green onions
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1 1/2 lb chicken breast tenders
8 0z sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped orange sections
3 cups uncooked macaroni or similar shaped pasta
Combine first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl. Place chicken tenders in the mixture and chill for 15-20 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions, about 6-8 minutes, until just al dente (still slightly firm). Drain and keep warm.

Over medium heat in a large skillet, saute mushrooms in a small amount of oil. When near tender, add chicken mixture to pan and increase to medium-high heat. Cook 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through until no longer pink.

Add pasta to skillet and toss well to coat. Sprinkle orange segments on top. Remove from heat and cover, allow to set 2-3 minutes before serving (this will allow the orange segments to warm without breaking).

Above: James wasn’t feeling well, so I came home and made some “comfort food.”

Well, it’s finally here! The first meal at the new apartment, complete with dinner guests. This recipe is from Real Simple magazine. It combines some of my favorite things: sweet potatoes, stir-fry, garlic, and hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce is the Asian version of ketchup (it goes on everything!). Prepare the sauce first, then the stir fry.

For wine, I served Gewurtztraminer, which is as hard to pronounce as it is to spell (ga-VERZ-tra-mee-ner). This wine is fruity and lush, with a semi-sweet to almost medium-sweet taste. It is well known as one of the few wines that compliment Asian cuisine, particularly spicy dishes. Fetzer from California produces a great variety with a reasonable price: about $7-$9 a bottle.

To complete the dish, I prepared Vigo’s Saffron Yellow Rice to serve with the stir-fry. While normally I reserve this for Mexican dishes, but the flavor also goes well with Asian cuisine.

Garlicky Hoisin Sauce
from Real Simple

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 green onions, white parts only, chopped (reserve green parts for stir-fry)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar

Heat a skillet or small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add the scallions, garlic, and pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 1/2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

Garlicky Hoisin Beef
from Real Simple

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb flank or boneless sirloin steak, thinly sliced
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/3 cup water
1/3 to 1/2 lb snow or sugar snap peas
3 scallions (green parts only, reserved from sauce), cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
1 recipe Garlicky Hoisin Sauce
cooked rice or noodles, for serving

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 2 tbsp oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add the steak, working in batches if needed, and stir-fry until cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Reduce heat to medium-high, add remaining oil, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits, and add the bell pepper and cook, stirring constantly for 10-15 seconds.

Add the sweet potato and water, cover partially and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are near tender. Add the peas and scallions, cook for 1 minute. Add the Garlicky Hoisin Sauce and increase the heat to high. When it starts to bubble, add steak back to the pan. Toss ingredients and heat until warmed through, about 1 minute. Serve immediately over rice or noodles.

CNN reported during these economically tough times, more folks are turing to home cooking (see Chilly Economy Fires Up Home Cooking).  The irony is that this new “trend” has driven up the price of basic cookware and cookbooks.

During the packing-moving-unpacking process, I realized just how many cooking utensils I own that never really get put to use. It’s a little amazing how versatile one stockpot can be, and eliminate the need for 10 other pots and pans.

Now I am undertaking the task of downsizing my kitchen, without sacrificing so much that it becomes inconvenient to make a meal. Stay tuned for updates!

My friend Leah is coming by to see the new apartment on Thursday, so I’ve set that as a deadline for myself to finish unpacking. I’m almost there! Just a few more boxes stand between me and well-organized bliss.

We also have friends coming over for dinner on Friday, which will be my first prepared meal at the new apartment, unless you count the shells and cheese I made Monday night (which I don’t). Hopefully, it will give me a chance to explore what does and does not work with my current kitchen arrangement so I can make it into a functional space. I can see the counter tops now, so it’s a start!

So far, we have been fairly ambitious with unpacking and organizing the apartment. In past moves, it has taken me weeks if not months to fully unpack and decorate. At this rate, we will be near finished in just under one week.

I’m looking forward to ”breaking in” the new kitchen - wish me luck! 

Meanwhile, if you are looking for interesting food news and information, check out You’ve Got to Taste This, the blog run by MyRecipes.com (which I will also add to Cool Food Blogs).

As I mentioned, unpacking my kitchen has become a “square peg-round hole” situation, in more ways than one. First, my old kitchen was long and narrow (often referred to as an alley kitchen) and my new kitchen is wider and more square-shaped. This shape has brought about a new challenge: corners. In the defense of the contractor, it’s great that the space is utilized as well as it is, but the some of the cabinets present a challenge in arranging items. The ceilings are also higher, resulting in taller cabinets that require a footstool to reach (and even a couple I can’t reach with the footstool).

The second “peg” is the gas stove/oven. My previous apartment was all electric, and so almost all of my previous cooking experience is with an electric stove. My cooking experience with a gas appliance is limited to boiling water, sauteing ground beef, and cooking frozen pizza.

The third “peg” is the garbage disposal, another piece of kitchen apparatus I have limited experience with using.

Finally, the pantry in this kitchen is much smaller than my last one, but the shelves are bigger and sturdier, so it’s actually more functional.

Unpacking will hopefully wrap up tonite, by then our Internet will be up and running and I can send pictures! In the meantime, please enjoy this post from Slashfood with 8 Sangria Recipes.

Well, we made it into the new apartment! Now the task of unpacking all of my wordly belongings begins, which leads to questions such as “Do I really need to keep all 20 wine glasses?” and “How often do I use the double boiler?” and “Who owns 103 cookie cutters?!” (by the way, the answers are yes, once in a blue moon, and me, of course).

The process was slow going for awhile, mostly because I couldn’t commit to a location for my pots and pans, baking supplies, the coffee machine, or anything else for that matter. Trying to organize my new kitchen like my old one was a little bit like shoving a square peg through a round hole, you know it isn’t going to work but darn if you won’t try two or three times anyway.  

Finally, things are starting to take shape. While I still cannot locate even one out of my four pair of scissors, I can locate wine glasses, a corkscrew, and a bottle of Moscato D’Asti…so things can’t be that bad!

I know, I know…I suck. I haven’t updated in forever and a day. My sincere apologies. The truth is, there hasn’t been much going on in the kitchen. Hence, no new entries. But there is good news!

James and I are moving next week, which means a brand new kitchen full of possibilities. I am hoping to have some new things to post by the end of the month, and I want to launch a new project for autumn. Autumn is my favorite season, as I documented last year with Autumnal Delights. Hopefully, there will be some new ideas and updates before then (but, let’s be honest, don’t hold your breath).

So, again, I apologize. Profusely. Please forgive me and I shall dazzle you from my new digs once I unpack my beloved pots and pans (have I mentioned how heart-breaking it was to pack up my loyal cookware? Sob!).

In the meantime, whilst I grovel for your forgiveness, check out this awesome site: Ideas in Food. This site features recipes with creative food combinations such as Brown Butter Popcorn Gelato and Mashed Potato Croutons, but also tales from the kitchen, food articles, photography and even poetry (yes, food poetry!). C’mon, you know you want to try some German Potato Salad Gnocchi.

Check out the new, revamped BakeSpace site. I already love the new, more sophisticated signage and color scheme.

http://www.bakespace.com/

Hello Everyone!

In case you were not aware, I have been out of town on vacation in Northern Michigan: land of pristine lakes, sandy beaches, too many mosquitoes, and no Internet access. Vacation aside, some other events have prevented me from my regular cooking and posting schedule, including the heat (if I turn on my stove or oven, the apartment might literally burst into flames).

There are some behind-the-scenes updates going on, which eventually will be a website redesign. We are also trying to update the software used on the site, which hopefully will lead to a better discussion board and a photo gallery.

Currently, I am brainstorms new projects to use in the kitchen - and I am always looks for ideas! If you have a great idea, please post to the discussion board. I hope to have a new project ready to launch for August. Keep checking for more details!

— Jenn 

Above: Chicken Teriyak Stir-Fry (chicken pieces marinated in teriyaki sauce for 30 minutes, stir-fried with green onions, mushrooms, matchstick carrots and zucchini, served over hot egg noodles).  

A note to those of you with other blogs/websites:

If you like my amateur photos, great! If you like my recipes, even better! If you want to post my material on your blog or website, awesome! Please do so, but give proper credit and appropriate links to my site (if you don’t, I get a little cranky…taking those pictures is hard work!).

Also, if you are going to link to my site, you should understand the context of these recipes. I am not a professional chef, nor am I any kind of food expert, dietitian, nutritionist, or medical doctor. My recipes are here because they are what I like to cook, not because I believe I have the answers to magic weight loss or disease-curing recipes. Please, consult an expert (might I recommend WebMD?).

Please note: some recipes are adaptations of published recipes, and I have given appropriate credit where necessary.