12/15/13

Turkey (or Chicken) Pot Pies




Picture and recipe courtesy of: Karen Dirgins-Graves

Ingredients:
 
 6 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp flour
2 cups turkey or chicken broth
substitution - throw a couple of bouillon cubes in hot water
1 cup heavy cream
½ tsp pepper
Salt – to taste – a pinch, a couple of shakes, it's up to you Salty McSalterson
4 cups cooked turkey (or chicken), cut into large chunks
12 small white onions, cooked
substitution – 2 regular onions, raw and diced
¾ cup peas, cooked
substitution -3/4 cup peas, frozen
I also diced up some raw carrots too.
Directions:

Preheat oven to 425*F. Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the broth, cream, pepper, and salt. Cook for 5 minutes, until thickened and smooth. Then I threw everything else in and stirred it up and set it to the side while I got the pie crusts ready.
This recipe called for making one 9” pie. I made 8, 4” mini pies. I used 2 boxes(4 crusts) of Pillsbury ready made refrigerated pie crusts. I had left over filling.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

11/26/13

ASIAGO SUN-DRIED TOMATO PASTA

"This recipe is sooo good and definitely not low fat. The creamy sun-dried tomato Asiago sauce is delicious!"

PREP TIME
25 Min
COOK TIME
35 Min
READY IN
1 Hr

SERVES: 6
 
INGREDIENTS


2 cups heavy cream
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 tablespoon Asiago Cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed with equal parts water
1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 (16 ounce) package bow tie pasta
3/4 cup bacon
1/4 cup butter
1 cup diced red onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped green onion
1 pound grilled skinless, boneless chicken breast, diced
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
 
 
DIRECTIONS


In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook 2 cups cream until just bubbling. Watch carefully, to ensure that it doesn't boil over. Stir in bouillon and Asiago cheese. Stir with a whisk until dissolved. Add cornstarch mixture, and simmer until sauce is thickened, stirring constantly. Mix in the sun-dried tomatoes. Set aside, or cover and refrigerate for later use.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute red onion until soft and translucent. Stir in garlic and cooked bacon, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in green onions, chicken and 1 cup cream. Cook, stirring, until cream is heated through. Add Asiago cream sauce, and heat through. Toss with cooked pasta until evenly coated, and sprinkle with chopped parsley

Chicken Franchese

 

Ingredients

                                              1/2 cup all-purpose flour
                                                        4 eggs, beaten
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
                                                     salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter
2 lemons, juiced
1 teaspoon cornstarch

 Directions

Coat chicken with flour, then egg beat, then saute in a large skillet until almost cooked through. Drain on paper toweling.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
In a medium saucepan combine the wine, broth, parsley, salt and pepper to taste, butter or margarine and lemon juice over medium low heat. Stir together while heating slowly. When butter or margarine has melted, slowly stir in cornstarch until sauce thickens slightly. Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish and pour sauce over all.

Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear

7/4/13

Summer Pasta Salad


Recipe and picture courtesy of: Danielle Mulholland

Ingredients:

1 package bowtie pasta cooked and drained.
1 red bell pepper and one yellow, cut into bite size pieces.
3/4's of an English cucumber, I cut it lengthwise into fourths and then cut horizontally into desired thickness.
2 or three tomatoes (any kind you prefer) seeded and chopped.
Half a jar of pitted, sliced kalamata olives.
A handful or two of fresh spinach leaves.
8 oz of fresh mozzarella.  
(If you get the loaf/log version just cut into cubes.)

Directions:

Season generously with your favorite vinaigrette dressing. 
I used a rustic Italian my family loves. 
Refrigerate at least 2 hours, overnight is best.

7/2/13

Zucchini Casserole

Recipe and Pictures courtesy of: Carrie Smith


Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cups of finely crushed Ritz crackers (don't substitute; they're perfect for this)
... ~1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
~2 and 1/2 cups of grated zucchini
~3/4 cheddar cheese
~1 egg, lightly beaten
~1 small white onion, finely chopped
~1 small clove of garlic, finely minced (i have that garlic in a tube, and i just put in 
the equivalent of that)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8" x 8" pan and set aside.
In large bowl, combine cracker crumbs and melted butter. Once blended, set aside 1/4 cup of the mixture for the topping. Next, stir the remaining ingredients into the large amount of cracker mixture (zucchini, cheese, egg, onion & garlic). Once combined, put into the greased pan and then sprinkle with the reserved 1/4 cup of cracker mixture and bake for 1 hour. 
**Note: I used a glass pan & my oven runs hot, so i adjusted the temp and kept an eye on mine when it was baking...keep that stuff in mind when you're making yours. :)See More


Scotcharoos

Recipe and picture courtesy of:  Crystal Linn 


Directions

1. Generously butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. Set aside.

2. In a large pot, mix together corn syrup, sugar, and peanut butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring until 
    peanut butter melts. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat, and stir in crisp rice cereal.

3. Transfer mixture into a well buttered 9x13 inch pan. With your hands well buttered, pat it down into pan.

4. In a medium saucepan, over medium low heat, melt chocolate chips and butterscotch chips until smooth.   
    Spread over top of bars and let bars cool. Cut into squares.

6/20/13

Chipotle Citrus Marinated Grilled Scallops




I copied the ingredients from a stores list of ingredients on their pre-marinated scallops. I switched their Mango for fresh orange juice. It is such a light and fresh taste, great before grilling.

Ingredients:

2 TBS Vegetable oil
Chipotle pepper 
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Paprika
Pinch of hot pepper flakes
1TBS fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tsp orange zest

Marinate in zip lock bag or in a casserole dish wrapped with foil. Keep refrigerated, let sit at least 2 hours. Grill or broil. 

5/26/13

Mom's Coconut Custard Pie




1 (9 inch) unbaked refrigerated pie crust 
3 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 full tablespoon vanilla extract
1 more egg separated (total of 4 eggs in recipe)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Separate one egg…keep the yolk for now and save the white for your egg wash later in the recipe. 

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and heavy cream. Heat until just starting to boil – be sure to watch it because it will go from barely simmering to heavy boiling rather quickly. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the one egg yolk, the three whole beaten eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix well. Now slowly (it is important to pour very slowly) add in the hot milk mixture continuing to whisk vigorously and continuously so that the egg mixture already in the bowl does not cook. Once the hot milk mixture is completely blended in, add in the coconut and mix well. 

Place the unbaked pie crust on a cookie sheet lined with a silicon mat. Brush the insides (bottom, sides and top) with that egg white you put aside to help prevent the crust from getting soggy. Carefully pour the custard mixture into the pie crust.

Bake for 35 minutes then carefully place strips of aluminum foil over the exposed crust to prevent it from getting too dark. Reduce the oven temp to only 250 degrees and put pie back into the oven to bake for about 20 minutes or until the filling is just about set. It should not be wet and jiggly but not completely firm or solid.

Remove from oven and cool on rack. When pie is just about room temperature then place in refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Delish!

5/22/13

Stuffed Eggplant Bolognese



Ingredients:

3 medium size eggplants
2 lbs chopped beef and pork mix
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
3 cups prepared tomato sauce
Extra virgin olive oil
Italian seasoning , salt, pepper and some hot pepper flakes



Directions:

Peel the eggplants skin off with a peeler and cut them down the middle lengthwise. Rub with evoo and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scoop out the all the middle of the eggplant halves with a large spoon. Take the eggplant and chop into pieces, put it aside.

Place the halved eggplants in a bake dish sprayed with non-stick spray, cover with foil and bake on 375 for 30 minutess.
Meanwhile, sauté the meat in olive oil, then add in chopped garlic and eggplant. Pour in 1cup of the tomato sauce and stir to mix together. Season to your preference with the spices.

Fill the eggplants with the meat/eggplant mixture, pour the rest of the sauce all over the tops and top with the mozzarella and a little more of the seasoning mix.
Put back in the oven until the cheese is melted and just starts to brown.
 
 
 
 

5/4/13

Moist Turkey Meatloaf




Ingredients:

2 lbs ground turkey
1 ½  cups plain panko crumbs
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 packet onion soup mix
3 Tbs tomato paste
½ large white onion, chopped   
1 tsp thyme
1 Tbs butter 
3 Tbs parsley
Salt, pepper, paprika
Olive oil

Directions:

In a small pan,  cook the onions with the butter, a little salt and pepper until translucent.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together with the onions , reserving  1 Tbs of the tomato paste. 

Form into loaf in a bake dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Spread the tomato paste and 1 Tbs olive oil over the top of the loaf evenly.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes- 1 hour or until just starting to brown slightly around the edges. 

Also, during the cooking process, I poured a ½ cup of water all over the top 3 times. It absorbed right into it and it made  it a very moist meatloaf! 




2/21/13

Dani's Braised Chicken Thighs

 
 
Recipe and picture courtesy of:  Danielle Mulholland
 
This is the first time I have actually written down a recipe that I created entirely by myself. I will be doing it more as I continue to experiment with ingredients and flavor profiles. It was a huge hit, even my 8 and 11 year old boys loved it.

Dani's Braised Chicken Thighs

1 cup all-purpose flour (approx.)
... Kosher salt (for seasoning)
Freshly ground black pepper (for seasoning)
10-12 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
2 to 4 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 med. onion diced
2 large carrots chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
4 large garlic cloves finely diced
½ tsp. fresh thyme chopped
1 can diced tomato's
3 tbsp. roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
2 cups chicken stock

Heat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. *You can cook at a higher temp for faster cooking time, just be sure to check your chicken for doneness regularly.

Add the flour to a large, shallow bowl. Generously season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Heat a large oven-proof Dutch oven or pan over medium to medium-high heat.
Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
Dredge the chicken thighs in the flour mixture.
Once the pan is hot, add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken, skin-side down (be sure not to crowd the pan with chicken or the chicken will steam not brown). Let the chicken cook on the first side until golden brown. Flip over and continue to cook on the other side until golden. Once all of the chicken has been browned, remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Add onions, celery and carrots to pan season with salt and pepper (to taste) and saute until onions are translucent scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan. (approx. 5 min.)
Add garlic and thyme and cook for 1-2 min. and then add tomato's and parsley, stir.
Place browned chicken thighs back in pan and add chicken stock, bring the liquid to a gentle simmer. Cover and place into the oven for about 2 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and fork tender.

For a crispy chicken skin uncover pan at the end of cooking time and turn on broiler for approx. 5-10 min.
Garnish wish more flat leaf parsley, serve over rice, noodles or creamy polenta.

1/16/13

Chicken and Vegetable Alfredo Casserole



Ingredients:

1 bag of wide Egg Noodles
2 jars of Alfredo Sauce
3-4 boneless Chicken Breasts
1 large bag frozen Mixed Veggies
3 TBS Butter
3 TBS Bread crumbs (optional)
4 TBS Vegetable Oil




Directions:

Boil the noodles in salted water.

Salt and pepper the chicken breasts, then sauté until browned in a frying pan with vegetable oil. Let cool, then cut into cubes. Save the chicken juices and bits from the pan.

Heat up the veggies in microwave safe bowl or in a pot on the stove.

In a sprayed or greased casserole dish, combine the cooked noodles, veggies, chicken and sauce.

Pour a few tablespoonfuls of the chicken drippings and pieces left in the pan all over the top. Top with slivers of butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and optional bread crumbs.

Bake on 375 for 30-45 minutes or until crispy and browned on top.