Chicken cutlets are a favorite around here. I vary them now and then but our absolute favorite is how I prepared them tonight.   The variations I’ve done over the years include pounding rather than slicing thinly, eggs and water for the binding rather than eggs and soy sauce and lemon juice, not marinading at all, skipping the flour and marinade and going straight for an egg and water dip then the breadcrumbs, using storebought Progresso breadcrumbs instead of the Panko breadcrumbs (which make for a crispier coating, especially combined with the marinade, then flour, then egg, then breadcrumb dip I did tonight. So if you don’t have everything, improvise. It’s always good!  This version is a bit more crispy with the double coating and Panko crumbs.

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thinly or pounded into thin pieces
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1 egg beaten with a splash of soy, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a spoonful of water
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs or so, seasoned with 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese and some herbs (I used an Italian blend tonight that was meant to go in some olive oil for a dipping sauce. I succumbed at a Foodie store then wondered what to do with them when I got home. This is a great use!  As are homemade croutons.)
• oil for frying

I usually make these with the frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts so just slice them thinly when they’re partially defrosted. If you start with fresh chicken, pound until the pieces are thin and probably cut into smaller pieces. I don’t know, we find them more appetizing when they’re cut into smaller pieces rather than one big huge piece.

Marinade in some buttermilk and refrigerate. If you don’t have buttermilk you can use plain yogurt. If you don’t have either you can skip this step but I do like the flavor it seems to add.

When you’re ready to cook, pull the chicken out of the refrigerator while you prepare a few pie pans or other small flat dishes with:

• flour and salt and pepper in one
• egg, soy sauce, lemon juice and water (or just egg and water) in another
• breadcrumbs seasoned as desired in the third (the Parmesan cheese is really good!)

Heat enough oil to cover 1/2″ inch or so in a large frying pan.  Test by throwing a pinch of flour in. When it sizzles, the oil is ready.

Use two forks to move the chicken pieces from buttermilk to flour, flipping to coat both sides, then to egg, flipping again to coat both sides, then to breadcrumbs, flipping again to coat both sides. From there, set into the hot oil and cook, turning once, a few minutes per side depending on how thick your pieces are. (Pull one out and cut it in half to test for doneness.

Later you’ll gain a feel for how “done” chicken cutlets feel when you poke a fork through them.) Lift up and let as much oil drain as possible.   Then drain on paper towels and keep warm while you finish whatever else you’re serving.

Tonight I made a boxed pasta mix actually, request of my youngest who came grocery shopping with me.

I also served this with a very simple cucumber and tomato salad. I’m growing both cucumbers and tomatoes in the garden so something similar to this is showing up a lot these days on our dinner table.   Chopped cucumbers and tomatoes and in this case green onions with a simple dressing of about:

• 1 Tbs honey
• 1 Tbs rice vinegar
• a pinch of salt
• pepper to taste

This dressed about half a long cucumber, peeled and sliced, and 1 roma tomato.

We’re figuring on using the leftover chicken cutlets in some chicken salad of some type for lunches.

Dom DeLuise died today. I have two of his cookbooks, Eat This .. It’ll Make You Feel Better and Eat This Too: It’ll Make You Feel Better. Both have some great recipes and are fun to read besides.

So after hearing he died I decided to alter my dinner plans and cook something from one of his cookbooks tonight for dinner. I settled on the Egg Croquettes because they are like nothing I have ever even heard of, let alone eaten. I liked them. Different, but good. One child at them happily, the other didn’t like them. (This is the one that used to be totally adventurous so it’s funny how they change through the years!)

A simple supper anyway, nothing too spicy or complicated or demanding. I’ve made chicken croquettes and potato croquettes before but these were my first egg croquettes!

• 4 eggs, beaten together
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 -2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup peas (frozen or canned or fresh)
• 1 cup of rice cooked in 2 cups of chicken broth

Heat the oil in a frying pan and start the onion and garlic cooking over medium low heat while you mix the eggs, bread crumbs, cheese and parsley in a bowl.  When the onion and garlic are soft, add the tomato sauce, water and peas. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

Meanwhile start the rice cooking. Bring the chicken broth to a boil, then stir in the rice, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

Use a soup spoon to drop the egg “dumplings” or croquettes into the simmering sauce. Drop them around the pan so they are not touching. Do not stir them!  Cover and cook over low heat 25-30 minutes.

Serve the croquettes and sauce over the cooked rice.

Serves 4.

cheese and spinach stuffed shell

These were good! The girls protested the spinach a bit, but ate them up. It’s funny because they would each happily eat spinach alone as a side dish. I don’t really like cooked spinach so liked it this way.

I started with this recipe from Karen Cooks. I used half a small onion instead of shallots and stuffed more shells than she allows for. But her count of 15 was about perfect for an 8×8 dish. I just froze the extra (about a dozen). Maybe my shells were smaller.

We each ate 2-3 shells with a Caesar salad and some sliced carrots on the side so this was more than enough to feed 6 by my count. I predict the leftovers will be delicious and if I didn’t have a lunch appointment tomorrow would be looking forward to them! I’ve been getting good lunches at home lately, between the Chicken Curry in Coconut Milk I made the other night and half a leftover burrito from lunch in Berkeley on Sunday.

• a box of large shells (but you may have too many)
• 1 10-oz box of frozen spinach
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 a small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15 oz container ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 cups grated Mozzarella (divided)
• 1 26 oz can of tomato sauce (I like the Hunts brand when it goes on sale)

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the shells according to the lesser time on the directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. If you overcook them, they’ll fall apart as you’re stuffing them. Believe me.

Meanwhile, thaw the spinach. Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the onion until soft, a few minutes, then add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Squeeze the spinach to remove the excess moisture and add to the pan and stir to mix up, then turn the heat off and let it cool.

In a small bowl, mix the Ricotta, 1 cup of the Mozzarella, and the Parmesan along with the eggs. When the spinach mix has cooled off a bit, stir it into the cheeses.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Pour half the sauce into an 8×8 pan. Use a large spoon to fill each shell with the cheese and spinach mixture. Lay them in the pan as you go. If you have extras, you can freeze for another day, as I did. Pour the rest of the sauce over the shells when you’re done, then top with the leftover Mozarrella. Bake uncovered for half an hour or so.

When I was looking through the Scarpetta cookbook, I spotted Marino’s Breakfast Bagel Sandwich and noted it mentally. Then when I went shopping the prosciutto just about jumped into my shopping basket. NOT cheap cooking. But very delicious.

I bought some onion bagels, prosciutto, and Swiss cheese. Split the bagels in half and toasted one half, then buttered it. Topped it with a slice of prosciutto and a slice of Swiss cheese and ran under the broiler for a minute or two.

Youngest declined to even consider them this morning and went with her usual egg salad sandwich for breakfast. I made mine and it came out from under the broiler right as my eldest came downstairs. She looked at it and said “What is that?” I told her and offered it. She took it and said “Oh, this is REALLY good!” I made myself another sandwich from the bottom half of the bagel.

And I said not  cheap cooking, but I think if you compared it to a box of sugared cereal, you’d find it not that outrageous on a per serving basis and probably more nutritious. Not healthy either, but I’d rather eat this than what a lot of people seem to eat for breakfast!

But tomorrow it’s probably back to homemade granola and yogurt. Well, maybe the next day. I have enough prosciutto and bagels for at least two more of these!

This is essentially how my ex-MIL taught me how to make meatballs and they are very good! You can bake them in the oven if you’d rather. I was stovetop intensive yesterday so just cooked them in a skillet. I used some in the lasagna and froze the rest for other uses later, like Meatball Soup or Italian Wedding Soup.

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 pound ground beef (lowfat)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 4 eggs
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste (say 1 tsp of each)

Mix all the ingredients together. I like to use my KitchenAid mixer.

This time I formed the meat mixture into very small meatballs, think the size of a grape. I heated 1 Tbs of oil in a large skillet and dropped the meatballs in as I formed them, periodically turning them and shaking the pan. Cook until done, remove to a plate lined with a paper towel, then start all over until they’re done.

If you’re making meat sauce (Sunday Gravy) you can just brown them and let them finish cooking cooking in the sauce. Drop them in and let them simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Otherwise cook them all the way through. Just cut open to test when you think they’re done. Flash freeze. (Put them on a cookie sheet and freeze.) Then bag them and freeze them.  Flash freezing them means you can just pull out as many as you need at a time later. Much easier to deal with than a clump of meatballs!

I somehow ended up with a great dinner (and then breakfast) based on two cookbooks based on fictional families, The Sopranos Family Cookbook: As Compiled by Artie Bucco and Food To Die For: Secrets From Kay Scarpetta’s Kitchen.

First, was the Sunday Gravy from The Soprano’s cookbook, modified only slightly to make smooth sauce rather than chunky. I put the whole tomatoes in my VitaMix and blended them up. You could also chop with scissors or just leave them whole and let them fall apart a bit as they cook.

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 pound meaty pork spareribs
• 1 pound veal stew meat
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 1 pound meatballs, preferably made from pork and beef
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 3 28-oz cans pureed tomatoes or whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 cups water (use the cans to rinse out all the tomato juice!)
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh basil, 6-8 leaves torn or chopped into small pieces

Heat the oil in a heavy pot large enough to hold everything. Brown the pork, turning now and then, about 15 minutes. Take the pork out and put it on a plate. Brown the veal, about 10-15 minutes, turning periodically, then take it out and add it to the plate. Brown the sausage, 10-15 minutes, then take it out and add to the plate.

Drain the excess fat, leaving about 1 Tbs in the pot. Cook the garlic one minute, flattening and turning now and then to flavor the oil. Take the garlic out and discard it.

Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, water, salt, pepper, and basil leaves. Stir until the paste is mixed in well.  Add the meats back in. Bring to a simmer, partially cover, and cook for 2 hours or so. Stir periodically.

Add the meatballs and cook another half an hour. If the sauce becomes too thick, add some water. If it’s not thick enough, take the cover off the last half an hour.

At this point, you can serve take the meats out and serve the sauce over cooked pasta, with the meat as a second course or alongside. Or make lasagna with the sausage and meatballs and sauce and save the pork and veal for another meal.

I made lasagna.

I hadn’t made pizza in a while and decided to try a new sauce last week. I started with this one, dubbed the  Ultimate Pizza Sauce.  It seemed like it would be way too thick as written but I was especially intrigued by the fennel seed. Unfortunately, after I started making the sauce I realized I had no fennel seed so I need to make it again. I bought the fennel seed my last trip to the grocery store but thought I’d post this as I made it, since it was quite good even without the fennel. I used way more sauce than the original recipe called for, but cooked it down.

• 2 Tbs oil
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1/2 an onion, chopped very finely
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped very finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 15-oz cans tomato sauce
• 2 6 ounce cans tomato paste
• 2-3 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbs chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• (and 1 tsp fennel seed if you want to try that!)

Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan large enough to hold all the tomato sauce without spattering too much. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and saute 5-10 minutes over low until very soft. Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until smooth.

Add all the rest of the ingredients and stir while bringing to a simmer. Turn it down to a very low simmer or it will spatter all over. Cover partially and cook at least half an hour, longer if you’d like. (I think I ended up at about 45 minutes to an hour.)

Take the bay leaf out and spread the sauce over your favorite pizza dough. I like to prebake my pizza just a few minutes before spreading sauce.

This served 2 of us for dinner and several lunches as well.

This is a bit of a blend between a Rachel Ray recipe from Classic 30-Minute Meals: The All-Occasion Cookbook and how I normally make chicken cutlets. I used chicken tenders this time, rather than boneless skinless chicken breasts, but either would work fine. I usually slice the chicken breasts in half to make them thinner but the cutlets were about perfect.

The major areas we differed: Rachel said dip the chicken in lemon juice but I used buttermilk; I left out the red pepper flakes from the bread crumb mixture and from the sauce; and I used ordinary mozzarella because this is part of CheapCooking.com after all.

The chicken was great and the marinara sauce was quite good. The combination was fantastic and the meal completed by a simple tossed salad.

Spaghetti and Marinara Sauce

• 1/2 pound spaghetti
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 28-oz can tomato puree
• a small handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
• a pinch of dried oregano
• a small handful of fresh parsley

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Cook according to package directions, trying to time it so the pasta is done as the chicken comes out of the oven.

Heat the oil in a pot and cook the garlic a minute or two. Watch it carefully and stir. After it sizzles and smells divine, add the pureed tomatoes and herbs. Bring to a low simmer and let it barely cook while you fix the chicken.

Chicken Parmesan

• 4-5 chicken tenders
• 1/4-1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• pepper to taste
• another handful of chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed but left whole
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• enough slice of mozzarella to cover the chicken pieces

Pour the buttermilk into a shallow dish. (Old pie tins work great.) Put the chicken pieces in there to soak a bit while you fix the breadcrumbs. (You could also do this first and give them a bit more time in the buttermilk.)

Combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, pepper, and parsley in another flat dish.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Cook the whole crushed garlic cloves just a few minutes to flavor the oil, then remove them. Dip the chicken pieces into the bread crumbs, turning and pressing the crumbs in so they stick. Cook the chicken pieces it the oil until done, about 4 minutes per side.

Spread a bit of sauce on the bottom of an ovenproof dish, then lay the cutlets down. Top each cutlet with a bit more sauce, then a slice of mozzarella. Broil until the cheese is just melted.

Drain the spaghetti, then toss with the remaining sauce.

These were inspired by Rachel Ray’s recipe in Classic 30-Minute Meals: The All-Occasion Cookbook
but I modified based on the fact that I was only serving 2 people and used up what I had on hand rather than her specifics. As I often do, I followed the spirit of the recipe rather than the letter.

1 boneless skinless chicken breast
McCormick steak seasoning
1 clove garlic, chopped
a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes
a small handful of sliced white mushrooms
a handful of frozen red, green, and yellow pepper strips
some leftover carmelized onions (or just add raw onion slices of course)
salt and pepper to taste
a splash of white wine
a small handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped
a spoonful of dried parsley
2 slices white American cheese
2 French rolls

If your chicken breast is still in the freezer, as mine was when I started, thaw it in the microwave. Then spread or spray of bit of olive oil on it and sprinkle the steak seasoning. I liked it heavy but my daughter complained it was a bit spicy, so if you’re cooking for kids adjust as needed. Heat a skillet over medium heat, then cook the chicken breast, about 6-7 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.

Add another spoonful of olive oil to the pan, then add the garlic, pepper flakes, mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions. (Oh she said to add some oregano as well but I forgot.) Cook until tender, 5-7 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the wine (she said red. I used white because I had some open. Her alternatives were chicken or beef broth. Water would work as well). Scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon.

Add the tomatoes and parley. (She’d called for 4 chicken breasts and a 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes so adjust if you have canned tomatoes and no fresh.) Stir and cook a few minutes. Slice the chicken breasts at an angle and return to the pan to heat through.

Turn on your broiler and broil the rolls a bit until lightly browned. Place the rolls on a cookie sheet, then pile on the chicken and vegetable mixture on one side and top with a slice of cheese or two. Broil until the cheese melts, then serve.

I started with the recipe for Tuscan White Bean Soup from The Six O’Clock Scramble: Quick, Healthy, and Delicious Dinner Recipes for Busy Families but modified it in a few ways.

First, I had turkey broth rather than chicken, used dried basil rather than fresh, and used one can of cannellini beans and one can of butter beans because that’s what I had in the pantry. I also had croutons I’d made previously and stashed the extra in the freezer, so I just thawed those and crisped them up in the oven for a few minutes.

2 Tbs olive oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 15 oz cans of white beans (cannelini, small white, butter, etc.)
2 cups homemade turkey or chicken broth (or 1 15 oz can of store bought chicken or vegetable broth)
2 Tbs sherry (recipe says optional, I think it’s key)
croutons
grated Parmesan (a spoonful per bowl)

Make the croutons if you need to. Just cut a few slices of French or Italian bread into 1/2 inch cubes, toss with some olive oil, salt and seasonings, then bake at 450 F for 5 minutes or so. (Watch them!)

Heat the oil in your dutch oven or soup pot, and cook the onions and garlic about 5 minutes, stirring, until softened. Add the beans and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Use an immersion blender, like the Cuisinart SmartStick Hand Blender CSB-76, to blend the beans, leaving as chunky as you’d like.

Stir in the sherry and basil (I used dried but I do think fresh would be better).

Put a servings worth in a bowl, add a bit of grated Parmesan, and a few croutons.

Mmmmm!