Cat Cora's Greek Stewed Cinnamon Chicken and Bananas and Cream Bundt Cake w/ Brown Butter Glaze

Cat Cora's Greek Stewed Cinnamon Chicken

Yes, here I go again with chicken! What can I say....we love it! I saw Cat Cora serve this dish on Oprah a couple weeks ago and when I heard she was putting the recipe on Oprah's website, I knew I had to snag it and try it. It looked so good on the show it made my mouth water-besides, Oprah, along with Tyler Florence and Curtis Stone were raving about it. I was intrigued with the rub....cinnamon on chicken? My grandmother made a chicken dish to serve with polenta that has a pinch or two of cinnamon, but a rub???? Well, why not give it a shot? Let me tell you, it didn't disappoint at all!
The cinnamon rub adds so much flavor to the chicken. Cat used chicken on the bone-she suggested getting the family-pack of cut up chicken, but all I had was boneless chicken breasts and thighs so that's what I used. A family-pack of chicken would be a great money saver-especially when they're on sale! I'm not sure if she removed the skin from the chicken in her dish-she didn't mention it when she was talking about it on the show, and there's no mention of it in the recipe, so I'm assuming you can remove it or leave it on-whichever you choose.
The sauce is so simple, using basic ingredients and it goes together in a snap. The house smelled WONDERFUL while it was cooking. I couldn't wait for dinner!
Cat used orzo pasta which I happened to have and used here, but I don't see why any small pasta wouldn't work just fine-even spaghetti...or rice. Shoot, this chicken and sauce would taste good on the bumper of a car!
There's a sale on cut-up chicken this week at the grocery store, so you know I'll be grabbing a couple packages for the freezer. This is a recipe I'll be making again and again!





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CAT CORA'S GREEK CINNAMON STEWED CHICKEN

1 (2 1/2-3 lb.) chicken, cut into 8 pieces (legs, breast and thighs)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 c. water, divided (preboil water with sea salt) (I didn't do this)
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 Tbsp. dried Italian herb seasoning
1 c. orzo, cooked according to package directions
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. A wet chicken will cause the oil to splatter while the chicken is sauteing. Mix the cinnamon, salt and pepper in a small bowl; rub the chicken pieces on all sides with the seasoning.

Heat the olive oil in a large, nonreactive, deep skillet over high heat. A 12" skillet with sides about 2 1/2-3 inches high will allow you to brown all the chicken at once. If you don't have a skillet large enough, brown them in 2 batches using half the oil for each batch. What's important is that the chicken isn't overcrowded, which would cause them to steam rather than brown.
Add the chicken to the oil and brown for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Turn the pieces using a metal spatula, as they have a tendency to stick to the pan. Remove the pieces when they are well browned on all sides.

Mince 3 of the garlic cloves. Lower the heat to medium-high and add the onions and minced garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the onions have softened and are a rich golden brown. Add about 1/2 cup of the water and scrape the bottom of the pan with the spatula or a spoon deglaze the pan, loosening any particles stuck on the bottom.
When the water has evaporated, add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water, tomato paste, Italian seasoning and remaining 2 garlic cloves, minced.

Return the chicken to the pan. The liquid should cover about 3/4 of the chicken pieces. Cover the pot and simmer over medium-high heat for about 30-40 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and thoroughly cooked. If the sauce becomes too thick, it can be thinned with a little more water. Season the finished sauce with kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over orzo, cooked according to package directions, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top.


Bananas and Cream Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Glaze




My most favorite food aroma coming from my oven is apples and cinnamon, my next favorite is banana cake. Oh the wafting that was going on in my kitchen today! This is a very moist dense banana cake made with shortening, 1 1/4 cups of mashed bananas and a cup of sour cream. The kids loved it! The recipe called for walnuts in the cake but hubby doesn't like them so I decided to make a nutty tasting brown butter glaze to put on top. This little gem came from Taste Of Home website and is totally worth your time. It's easy and delicious, it doesn't get any better than that!





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Bananas and Cream Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

Taste Of Home

Ingredients:

1/3 cup shortening
1-1/4 cups Domino® or C&H® Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Domino® or C&H® Pure Cane Powdered Sugar
Directions: In a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add bananas and mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, stirring just until combined. Stir in walnuts. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Yield: 12-16 servings.

Brown Butter Glaze
RecipeZaar

For Glaze
1/2 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons milk


For glaze:
In a medium bowl, add powdered sugar.
Place butter in a small saucepan. Melt butter over medium heat until bubbly. Cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown.
Remove from heat and pour butter into the bowl of powdered sugar. Add milk and vanilla, stir until smooth.