Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

Ingredients

1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more.

Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish.

In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Panfried Potatos Cakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs Potatoes
8 oz chinese cabbage
4 tbsp Chopped chives
2 tbsp Flour
each salt, pepper and paprika for seas.
2 large Eggs, beaten
10 7/10 tbsp Milk
3 tbsp Cooking oil

Procedure

1. Peel and cut potatoes into small dice. Let it cook in salted boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Drain and puree in a food processor.
2. Slice Chinese cabbage into small 1/4 inch strips.
3. Mix together the shredded cabbage, chives, flour, egg, milk, and pureed potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Form round patties.
4. Heat oil in a large, non-stick pan. Panfry the potato cakes for about 4-5 minutes per side.
5. Serve with salad.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken with Black and White Rice Balls and Ripe Pineapple Spears

Ingredients

2 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt, eyeball it
1 rounded cup white rice
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds, toasted white sesame seeds may be substituted
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Vegetable oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper
1 cup chicken broth or water
1-inch ginger root, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 ripe pineapple


Directions

Preheat a grill pan or large griddle over medium high heat.

Bring water to a boil in a small covered pot. Add butter, salt and rice to the pot. Return the water to a boil.

Reduce heat to simmer and replace cover. Simmer 18 minutes and remove rice from heat. Take the lid off the pot to cool rice a bit. Scoop rice into balls with an ice cream scoop and your hands. Dampen hands with water to work with rice if it is very sticky. Set rice balls on a plate and sprinkle with black sesame seeds.

While your rice is cooking, lightly coat chicken with oil, salt and pepper. Place chicken on hot grill and cook 6 minutes on the first side.

While chicken is cooking, bring chicken broth and ginger to a boil. Stir in honey. When honey has dissolved into broth, add teriyaki sauce and sesame oil and reduce heat to simmer.

Turn chicken and coat liberally with honey teriyaki sauce using a basting brush. Cook chicken 4 minutes, turn again and baste liberally again with sauce, then cook 2 minutes longer. Remove chicken to a plate. Garnish chicken with sliced scallions.

While chicken cooks on the second side, peel and cut a ripe pineapple into 8 spears. Cut off top and bottom of pineapple. Set pineapple upright and trim away skin in strips from top to bottom. Halve pineapple lengthwise and quarter each 1/2, lengthwise. The core is edible, but may be trimmed if you wish. Pineapple can be very acidic. Spears set in cold water for just 1 minute will keep the fruit from stinging your lips when it is eaten. Serve with chicken and rice balls