Recipes from NYE: Chicken Scallopini, Roasted Vegetables, and Blini

 

Lemon Chicken Scallopini is one of my favorite dishes so it appears fairly frequently on my table, especially when entertaining. It's one of those recipes that people always enjoy and seem to be impressed with but, in reality, the dish is super simple to make and quite a bit of it can be made ahead.

The recipe is found here:  Lemon Chicken Scallopini

Cook's note:  Substitute 1 cup flour or bread crumbs (1/2 cup of each)  for the dredging solid.  The protein chips are not vital to making the dish come out well.

Roasted Vegetables

The basic concept for roasted vegetables is so easy that it's almost hard to write a recipe for it.  Here it is:  throw whatever veggies you want into a pan, toss them in some oil any seasonings you want, and then bake them either of two ways.  Auntie Miranda bakes hers for a half hour at 450 degrees.  I bake mine at 350 for an hour and a half.  The reason I bake mine slower is because I like the way the potatoes cook (it's a personal thing) and because any time I try to cook off something like this on a high heat I get tons of smoke coming off of it through my stove vent.  (It's a stove thing) Either method works, it depends on how much time you have.

Here's the recipe I used NYE night. It easily halves to serve TWO dinners for four people.  In a moment of Robin Miller pique, I made this vegetable batch huge specifically so I could set aside a gallon baggie full of veggies to roast for dinner later in the week.  The second batch was wonderful after sitting in the marinade for three days.

Roasted Vegetables

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse

Marinade:

1/2 cup Olive Oil (EVOO to Rachel Ray fans)

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tbsp  Cavender's Greek Seasoning or original Mrs. Dash

Vegetables

Bowl 1:

1 lbs new potatoes, halved if bigger than 2 inches

1 large onion, quartered

1 Fennel bulb, quarted

1 cup  Baby Carrots

1 Red Pepper, chunked

1 Yellow Pepper, chunked

Bowl 2:

2 cups Broccoli Florets

8 oz pkg Mushrooms

8 oz. pkg Cherry Tomatoes

1 medium Zucchini, chunked

1 medium Yellow Squash, chunked

When all the veggies are washed and chunked or quartered and the marinade is together, you should have something that looks like this, although do yourself a favor and separate them into two bowls like I show in the recipe.  I roasted all the veggies together on this one and the broccoli was a little worese for the wear. The second time I separated the veggies into two rounds and the broccoli and tomatoes were done perfectly to my liking.

 

Instructions:  Split the marinade between the two bowls and toss veggies to coat them all.  Let set for an hour up to a few days.  Lay the veggies from Bowl 1 out on a baking pan large enough so the vegetables are in one flat layer, and roast for an hour on 350 degrees. Then add the veggies from Bowl 2 and roast for another 30 minutes,  1 1/2 hours total.

 

I served half the veggies (shown above) on New Year's Eve and there were plenty for five people.  I saved back a gallon baggie sized portion for Gene and I later in the week and it was perfect for us to have dinner and then for me to take in my lunch the next night.

Blini

 

Not a great pic, but it gives you an idea of the size.  To me, blini are a cross between a crepe and a buckwheat pancake.  They're mellow enough to be a great vehicle for the toppings but have enough oomph to stand their own.  Blini and toast points served as carriers for our caviar, dressed with Greek yogurt, red onion, and capers.

Recipe from website:  Great Party Recipes

Easy Blini Recipe

3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup buckwheat or whole wheat flour
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter

Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and milk. Combine the flours and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and whisk again.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When hot, thoroughly coat the bottom of the skillet with butter.

Using 1 tablespoon of batter per blin, cook for about 1 1/2 minutes on the first side, until golden brown. Turn them when they are dry and slightly bubbly around the edges. Cook another 30 seconds or so.

You can cook 4 or 5 blini at a time in a large skillet, more on a large griddle. Recoat the skillet with butter each time.

Serve with caviar and crème fráiche . Makes 4 dozen blini.

Make-ahead directions: Blini can be prepared a day or two ahead of time, refrigerated, and warmed to room temperature before serving.

Comments

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Fabulous meal! We roasting veggies tonight. Hopefully there will be leftovers for a pizza tomorrow night.

[Free Printable Coupons]

it sounds yummy, i will try it.

[breadchick]

I was just thinking about making blinis to go with a smoked trout spread. These look much easier than the recipe I was going to use so I think I'll give them a whirl!

[Glenna]

Tanna--Very cool! Were there leftovers????

Thanks to the second commenter! I appreciate you.

Mary--Let me know what you think. This recipe had no yeast in it so it was heavier but I liked it. Sort of like there's a place for two different kinds of blini in life.

[Deborah Dowd]

This looks like a great meal-I have had blini but haven't tried to make them, but now maybe I will give them a try!

[courtney]

Wonderful meal. I love the flavor of lemon, so the scallopini sounds wonderful. Roasted vegtables are always a fave. I have yet to make blinie, but I know I will soon after reading this.

[Katie]

What a great idea - roasting veggies in bulk! As soon as I have a refrigerator bigger than a thimble...
Love the Lemon Chicken

[Glenna Muse]

Deborah--this recipe doesn't have yeast but we really liked it.

Courtney--Thanks! It really did work out well. Not too much food but just enough to feel celebratory!

Katie--It's really working out well. I'm going to do it more often. It saves so much time to do them all at once.

[Ava Timothy]

Gosh, the veggies look great! Blini is my specialty (I am Russian). The little blini with buttermilk are called OLADYEE.
Thank you

[Glenna]

Thanks for the head's up, Ava!

[Jollibee Philippine]

Hey,love your recipe here.I think my kids will love this.I will cook this tonight.

-Ava