Brian W. Immler Home Improvements

Brian W. Immler Home Improvements and Remodeling Westminster, MD and surrounding areas! He does great work!!  -  http://www.home.earthlink.net/~bwimmler/

Boy in Blue Overalls giclee Fine Digital Art Print by oneredhen

Boy in Blue Overalls giclee Fine Digital Art Print by oneredhen

Custom Digital Watercolor prints available upon request, check out my Etsy shop and send me a message for more details! 

My Updated Etsy Site with Halloween Banner!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/oneredhen

Be afraid. Be very afraid. on Twitpic

Be afraid. Be very afraid. on Twitpic

Chicken with Zucchini and Herb Garlic Butter over Linguini

We picked our first zucchini out of the garden yesterday, and my father in law gave us some garden onions, so I wanted to make something out of my fresh ingredients.  I also did not want to heat up the house by using the oven, since it hit 102F here today. I whipped this up in about a half an hour, it was delicious!

Chicken with Zucchini and Herb Garlic Butter over Linguini
serves 2 (or three not so hungry people)


2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium zucchini
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano
pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 TB olive oil
1/4 to1/2 box of linguini
1 stick of butter 

• dice or mince the garlic
• cut onion into 1/2" size chunks
• cut zucchini into 2"x1/2" slices and save on the side
• cut chicken lengthwise into 1/2" slices, then cut those into 1" chunks (the goal is to make them all close to the same size so that they cook at the same rate)

•  sautee the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a medium to large skillet until the onion is starting to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes. stir frequently.

• add the chicken and basil, thyme and oregano and continue to sautee until chicken is nearly done, about 7 to 10 minutes. My chicken was still a little frozen so if yours is already thawed, it will probably only take about 5 minutes. stir frequently.

• add zucchini, stir and cover. Reduce to low heat. While it continues to cook, cook the linguini per the package instructions. After 5 minutes, stir the chicken and zucchini mixture and remove from heat, cover and let sit until linguini is done.

• Melt the stick of butter over very low heat in a small saucepan.  Add a pinch of oregano, pinch of cayenne and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder. stir frequently. cut off heat.

Serve the chicken and zucchini over the linguini and top with the herb garlic butter sauce.Salt and pepper to taste.

Husband approved!

Printable Version

This is an experiment, I am trying to add this code to my website

New Website!

I made up a little splash page, nothing fancy.

One Red Hen Vintage Goods

Sooo it seems like I am more of a casual blogger than an everyday blogger!

I have been working on my Etsy shop and listing some new items, check it out here!

One Red Hen Vintage Goods

We are growing a big Garden this year, so excited!

It will be so nice to have a garden this year, it has been a few years mostly due to weather and lack of money. This year we are growing most things from seed. The only plants we bought were tomatoes and blueberries. 

We also planted eggplant, cucumbers, potatoes, radishes, four kinds of peppers, zucchini, green beans, sunflowers and lots of other flowers.

I can't wait for fresh veggies! Peace.

Browse other personalized gifts from Zazzle.

Sweet Italian Bread

Today I decided to make a nice, kind of sweet Italian Bread to go with the pork and sauerkraut I made for dinner.  I also made one loaf into cinnamon bread for desert!


Sweet Italian Bread
1-1/2 cups water (at temp recommended by manufacturer)
3 TB olive oil
3 TB sugar
2 tsp salt
3 TB dry milk (you can substitute milk but reduce water likewise)
4 cups bread flour
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2-1/2 tsp)


Put the above ingredients in your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Set for dough cycle, this makes a two pound loaf.  I made three smaller loaves instead.

• Remove dough from bread machine and shape into loaves of your choice (on a well floured surface).
• Cover and let rise for 40-45 minutes
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Slash the loaves a couple of times with a sharp knife, then brush with melted butter or olive oil.
• Bake loaves for 20-25 minutes until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, cool and enjoy!

For cinnamon bread, roll out on a floured surface, try to keep the length close to the length of your bread pan. Roll to less than 1/2" thick.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, roll up and place seam side down in a greased and floured bread pan.  Let rise for 40-45 minutes, then bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

The glaze is 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla and a little milk.  Add milk a little at a time until it forms a thick paste, I made mine a little too thin and it ran.  You want it to be like cake frosting so you can spread it and it does not run.

Delicious pork spare ribs baked in the oven

I have been looking at sales flyers from the local grocery stores to find the best deals.  One of them had pork ribs on sale for $1.99/lb.

Here is my tried and true recipe for great ribs in your oven! This is so simple and the ribs come out juicy, moist and falling off of the bone!

BBQ Pork Spareribs

• 1 rack of ribs (4-5 lbs), trim off excess fat

• 4-5 TB dry rub of your choice (I like Stubbs Rub for all meats  http://www.stubbsbbq.com/) Use a dry rub that is pretty low in sugar so that it does not burn.  Prepared rubs will list ingredients in order, from the highest amount to lowest.

• 1 cup prepared or homemade BBQ sauce 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Remove the thin membrane from the bottom of the ribs (grab it with a paper towel, this works really well). The membrane is really chewy and not very pleasant to eat. Here is a link to a video of removing the membrane http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9plB5BYhj8

Rub both sides of the ribs with the dry rub and place bone side down on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil (this will help immensely with cleanup!)

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

Remove ribs, cover with foil and return to oven.
Reduce heat to 325 F.  Bake covered for 1 hour.

Remove ribs and brush on 1/2 of the BBQ sauce. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, basting with the rest of the sauce after 15 minutes. Yummy!

The finished ribs are juicy and moist. I suggest serving them with macaroni salad, delicious!

Pizza Dough in the Bread Machine

I didn't quite get the crock pot stuff together, so I ended up turning the oven on for about 25 minutes to make a pizza with dough from my bread machine.  This makes a pizza that is much better than a frozen pizza from the store, and it is cheaper (or should I say less expensive, that sounds better).

Pizza dough in bread machine -  recipe - 2 lb

1-2/3 cups water

2 TB olive oil

2 TB sugar

2 tsp salt

2 TB dry milk

4-1/2  cups bread flour

2 tsp active dry yeast 

Add ingredients to bread machine in the order specified in the manual

Set on dough or pizza dough cycle

Check after about 10 minutes and scrape down sides, if dough looks too wet add flour 1 TB at a time until sticking together and forming a dough ball, if too dry add water 1 TB at a time until consistency looks right.

I like to let it knead for about 15-20 minutes in the machine, then turn it off and let it rise for a half hour.

Yields 2 thick or 4 thin 12" crusts, which can be divided and stored in the fridge for a day or two, or frozen to use later (just thaw overnight in fridge, or in an oiled bowl on the counter for a few hours). 

To Make a pizza

Set oven to 400 degrees

Flatten dough on a well floured surface and either roll out or use fingers to make a 12" round crust, or bigger if you want it super thin.  Raise up the edges to form a crust, to keep the sauce and toppings in while baking.

Place on a baking pan, or pizza pan, or this is really good in an oiled cast iron skillet (for pan pizza, you may need to add some baking time)!

Prebake crust in oven for 11-12 minutes

Remove from oven, add sauce and any toppings you want, ending with the cheese.

Sprinkle with a little olive oil and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is done.

Enjoy! I like to add a TB of spices to the dough, oregano and basil are nice additions, along with crushed red pepper flakes.

It's too hot to bake bread today!

I use my bread machine to make the dough for my breads, then shape, rise and bake in the oven. I don't like the result of making bread totally in the bread machine, see below) I think food should look appetizing and taste good.

I think that loaf was the first one I made in the bread machine, wow, my old 70's white and gold flecked counter. The hubby made me a new one for our anniversary a few years ago, thank goodness!

It is 80 degrees in our house, so no oven cooking today to heat it up even more! It sounds like a good crock pot day. My favorite recipe site is allrecipes.com. I like that they have user reviews, so you don't waste time or ingredients on something that isn't very good.



jimmler

So I've gone and done it now

I've been thinking about this for months now, and I have finally started my blog!