Chicken Smothered With Love and Vanilla Cupcakes

For Valentine's Day I made my love his favorite meal, Chicken Smothered With Love. It's oh, so good. I made mashed potatoes, broccoli, rolls, and chocolate covered strawberries on the side. I made Shirley Temples and vanilla cupcakes, too. We were stuffed. I love to feed my family.

Chicken Smothered with Love

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (4), salted and peppered
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 cup Flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 onion sliced
1 1/2 cup hot chicken stock pinch of red pepper flakes

Season chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika...then dredge in flour. Heat oil and butter in skillet add chicken and brown all sides...then remove and set aside. Add onion to skillet and sauté until translucent and beginning to brown. Return chicken to skillet; add hot chicken stock just up to the side of the chicken and add red pepper flakes.Bring to a boil... lower heat to simmer, cover and cook 30-40 minutes until gravy thickens.

Vanilla Cupcakes

From Bake and Shake, Adapted from Amy Sedaris' recipe

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups vanilla sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups All Purpose flour, Dip-And-Sweep method
1 1/4 cups milk, pref. 2% or above, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Whisk or sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy and light yellow, 45 seconds to a minute.

Add eggs, one by one, mixing to combine. If mixture looks slightly curdled, don't worry -- it should come together once you add the flour, or tears of failure. But this can be avoided by making sure your eggs are room temperature. I like to rinse a ceramic bowl out with hot tap water, dry, and set the eggs inside that. They come to temperature easily.

Add Vanilla, and then alternate flour mixture and milk, beating after each addition. I like to begin and end with the flour. Mix on low speed until batter is lump-free and almost glossy looking. It should be silky. Using an ice cream scoop or similar, scoop or spoon batter into a muffin tin lined with paper or foil baking cups -- if you're not lining, use a little vegetable oil or butter and flour your tin. This recipe will easily give you 16-24 cupcakes, depending on how high you fill them.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, checking after cupcakes have risen and begun to turn golden around the edges. When they're done, they'll be dry on top, slightly golden around the edges and a skewer inserted in the middle will come out dry. Allow to cool for three minutes in the pan, then remove to a rack. Frost and eat, or display for three days, swearing each time a hand nears them.

Vanilla Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 ounce softened cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar, as needed (2-4 cups, depending)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Food coloring, if desired

In a large bowl, whip the butter and cream cheese together until completely smooth. Add in sugar, cup by cup, until desired consistency/sweetness level is reached. Divide into smaller bowls and color, if you want. Swirl generously on top of fully cooled cupcakes, and decorate as desired. (I double the frosting).