Engaging Others in the Joy of Cooking

Well today I'm pleased to say that one of my faithful "followers" has taken some inspiration from my bantering about cooking and tried something different for the first time. She was asking what I had planned for dinner, and after explaining it to her, she immediately decided to try it herself. She is an avid "Facebook" user so as soon as she was finished with her meal, she uploaded pictures to "Facebook" to show her success. Now this golfer, tennis player, wife and mother, has added "chef" to her list of accomplishments. If I can inspire others to join in this wave of cooking and the joy of entertaining at home, then this blog will have been successful.

The recipe that is pictured is a rendition of "Snapper Veracruz" substituting Chicken instead of the Snapper. Even though we live in South Florida, it is difficult to find good fresh fish. The near-by Supermarkets have "fresh frozen" fish and the taste is distinctively different. So, in this case we substituted boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the Snapper and it was every bit as tasty.

Chicken Veracruz (from epicurious.com)

Ingredients

• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice, well drained, juices reserved


• 3 tablespoons canola oil


• 1/4 cup finely chopped white onion


• 3 small bay leaves


• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley


• 1 teaspoon dried oregano


• 1/4 cup chopped pitted green olives


• 2 tablespoons raisins


• 2 tablespoons drained capers


• 6 5 to 6 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts


• 3 pickled jalapeno chilies, halved lengthwise
  

Preparation

Place drained tomatoes in medium bowl. Using a potato masher, crush tomatoes to coarse puree. Drain again, reserving juices.

Heat oil in heavy large skilled over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until soft about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add tomato puree and cook 1 minute. Add bay leaves, parsley, oregano and 1/4 cup reserved tomato juices. Simmer until sauce thickens about 3 minutes. Add olives, raisins, capers, and all remaining reserved tomato juices. Simmer until sauce thickens again, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. This sauce can actually be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

In separate skillet saute chicken breasts in Canola oil. To insure that these brown nicely, dry the breasts well with paper towels and don't over crowd the pan. You just want to insure that the breasts get some nice color on them, you will finish cooking these in the oven.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread 3 tablespoons sauce in bottom of 15x10x2 inch glass baking dish. Arrange the chicken atop the sauce. Spoon remaining sauce over. Bake uncovered 15-20 minutes. Transfer chicken sauce to plates and garnish with pickled jalapeno halves.

I served this with roasted white potatoes and a light avocado salad. Simply chiffonade (to finely shred leafy vegetables used as a garnish or as a bed) romaine lettuce, arrange it in the center of a plate. Layer sliced avocado and sliced Roma tomatoes on top and sprinkle with fresh lime and a nice olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. You could always add some thinly sliced red onion if you prefer.

Bon Appetit!!