I love one pot meals, especially when they involve pasta. I saved this recipe for One-Pot Chicken Mudega (Chicken with Prosciutto in a Lemon Wine Sauce) last year and I'm so annoyed that I put off making it this long. Isn't that always the way?


One day I found myself perusing the freezer looking for dinner ideas. I found some prosciutto and a few chicken breasts and I remembered this recipe. Like any one-pot meal, this one comes together easily with delicious results. I really love pasta cooked in a flavorful sauce rather than added at the end. The brightness of the lemon zest and juice really make this dish pop. And anything with prosciutto is a win in my book. We all gobbled this one up.

The sauce can get a bit thick after you add the cheese, but you can just add a little extra water to thin it out. The leftovers reheated beautifully the next day, too.

One-Pot Chicken Mudega (Chicken with Prosciutto in a Lemon Wine Sauce)
As seen on Coffee and Cannolis

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
Salt and pepper
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons flour
1 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
12 ounces thin spaghetti, broken in half
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup shredded Provel cheese (or a combination of 1/2 cup American and 1/2 cup mozzarella)

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto and cook until crisp, about 4-5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon or tongs and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook without moving for about 1 minute to brown. Stir the chicken and continue to cook until cooked through, about 2-4 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the prosciutto.

Add the onion to the skillet. Cook over medium heat until softened. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in wine and simmer about a minute until thickened.

Stir in broth, water and pasta. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook at a high simmer for about 12-15 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the pasta is tender. Make sure to stir the pasta often with tongs so it doesn't clump together.

Add the chicken, prosciutto and any juices to the skillet, along with the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and cheese. Stir well to incorporate everything and melt the cheese. If the sauce seems too thick, thin it with some water. You want the pasta to be silky and move around easily when picked up with tongs. Serve.

We all love fish but I'm not great at changing up how we eat it. We have two family favorites - homemade fish sticks and tilapia francese. I buy a club pack of frozen tilapia filets and those are the two dishes I make over and over again.

Then Ina's recipe for Mustard-Roasted Fish came into my life. I follow Ina's page on Facebook and it was re-posted there as an easy weeknight meal recommendation. I've had a jar of grainy mustard in my pantry for ages just waiting to be used and this sounded easy and delicious.


Ina recipes never steer me wrong but this was outstanding. I loved the flavors in the sauce (I was glad I made rice to sop up the extra) and it really was one of the easiest meals I've ever made. All you do is mix the sauce ingredients, put the fish in a baking dish, top with the sauce and bake. I'm happy to have a new fish dish in the rotation.

Mustard-Roasted Fish
From Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Cooking spray
4 fish fillets (tilapia, cod, red snapper, etc.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces creme fraiche
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons drained capers

Preheat the oven to 425.

Spray an ovenproof baking dish with cooking spray. Place the fish fillets in the dish. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine the creme fraiche, 2 mustards, shallots, capers, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Spoon the sauce evenly over the fish fillets, making sure the fish is completely covered.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. You want the fish to flake easily at the thickest part (test by pulling at the fish with a fork).

Serve hot or at room temperature with the sauce from the pan spooned over the top.

Chocolate chip cookie recipes are a dime a dozen and everyone seems to have a favorite. I wanted something sweet to bring to our friend's house and remembered Mary Ellen posting this recipe for Chewy Café-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies. She raved about the recipe so I was excited to give it a try.


You have to chill the dough, which means planning ahead if you want to make these, but they're worth the wait. I'm still not sure rolling the dough into balls, then tearing them apart and smashing them back together is worth the time and/or energy, but in the interest of following the recipe I did it this time. Next time I may just scoop the dough loosely and see how that works out.


These were delicious (and huge). Full of chocolate chips, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Not too sweet, either. I, unlike most people, didn't have a go-to recipe before this one and I don't think I need to look any further. These were everything I like in a chocolate chip cookie.


Chewy Café-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
As seen on Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations, from Host the Toast

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the cooled melted butter and the sugars with a hand mixer for about one minute. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until just combined.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix just until there are no flour clumps left. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325 degrees, making sure you have one rack in the middle of the oven. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper (I needed 5, but it you don't have that many you can always reuse them once they've cooled).

Scoop 3 tablespoons of cookie dough at a time and roll into balls. Pull the balls apart by pulling on both sides, then put the two halves together again with the lumpy, torn sides facing up. Place the dough on a baking sheet, making sure the cookies have plenty of space to spread. (I was able to fit 5 cookies per sheet).

Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating half-way through, or until the cookies have spread out and the edges are golden, but the center of the cookie still looks soft and just slightly under-cooked. Remember, every oven is different, so you can start with just one or two cookies on the tray to see what baking time works best for your oven. Mine took 13 minutes.

Let cool on the baking sheets until the cookies are firm enough to remove. Place the cookies on wire cooling racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batches, until all cookies are baked. Store in an air-tight container.