Chicken with Creamy Parmesan Sauce

What does one do if you have chicken tenders, spinach, mushrooms and a lot of rice?
You improvise!
From start to finish, including the rice cooker rice time, it took about an hour. A large part of that time was the prep work, especially cleaning the chicken yuckies.
As always, prep everything ahead of time. If you don't care about the tendon running down the chicken tender, then you saved time. You can also save time by buying pre-sliced mushrooms, a little jar of minced garlic, and grated Parmesan cheese.
The only reason I made rice, it because I have a lot of rice, and the only pasta I had was lasagna noodles, though this would be nummy on fettucine!
Enjoy!

Chicken in Creamy Parmesan Sauce

 

1.5 lb. chicken tenderloins

2 Tbls. olive oil

10 oz. mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 Tbls. butter

1 Tbls. flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup cream

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2-3 cups baby spinach, rough chop

2-3 Tbls. sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, julienne cut

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder, optional

Heat oil in large skillet or wok over high heat. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. Add chicken to hot oil. Cook until brown and turn, about 3-4 minutes. Cook another 4 minutes and remove from pan. Add mushrooms to pan and cook until liquid evaporates and edges are caramelized, about 3-4 minutes. Remove mushrooms from pan.

Turn down heat to medium. Melt butter in pan. Add garlic, and sauté for a few minutes until light brown. Stir in flour, and cook for about a minute. Add chicken broth, cream and Parmesan cheese. Stir to blend for 3-4 minutes. Taste seasonings. Adjust with salt, pepper, or garlic powder, if needed.

Add spinach to sauce, allow to wilt. Add chicken, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir to blend. Heat for a few minutes to bring the chicken and mushrooms up to temperature. Serve immediately.

Serve over rice or pasta, or if you want to be healthier…a bed of spinach. Yes, more spinach.

Tips & Tricks:

·         My family is particular about their chicken. I tend to clean it up by removing excess membrane and the tendon running down the center of the tenderloins.

·         Chicken broth—I used 1 cup of water and @ 2 tsp. of Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base.

·         I like the baby portobello mushrooms because they are meatier, but use white button mushrooms if you like.

·         “Rough chop” is exactly what it says. Grab a handful or two of spinach, chop it a few times one direction, then again, the other way. Makes it less stringy.

Over the years since I was given the original recipe for Sour Cream Enchiladas from a co-worker, I’ve made a few changes. I’ve tried some different ingredients. Some worked. Some didn’t work. And depending on your personal, or families, preferences, you might make a few other changes.

My daughter isn’t a fan of chicken enchiladas, but likes the sour cream sauce. I had a cream cheese mixture* in the fridge that I formed into cylinders for the insides of her enchiladas. And yes, I did add more shredded cheese when I rolled them up. I didn’t put jalapenos on her two enchiladas to remind me which ones were hers.  

This is the recipe that I made last night.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas v. 2.0

2 cups sour cream

½ cup Herdez Salsa Verde

2-3 cups chicken, shredded or diced

1 Tbls. butter

½ onion, chopped, @ ½ cup

1 4-oz can Hatch chopped green chilies, drained

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

8-10 tortillas

Shredded Mexican cheese

Jalapeno peppers, sliced

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix sour cream and Salsa Verde in bowl.

Spray 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Spread ½ cup sour cream mixture on bottom of pan.

Melt butter in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in chilies and spices. Add chicken. Mix well until chicken is hot. Stir in ½ cup sour cream mixture. Turn off heat while building the enchiladas.

Lay tortilla on flat surface, spoon about 1/3 cup of chicken mixture down one edge of tortilla. Add handful of shredded cheese. Roll tightly. Lay seam side down in baking dish. Continue filling pan or until you run out of chicken mixture.

Spread remaining sour cream mixture over enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese and jalapeno slices.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until bubbly and slightly toasted.

Enjoy!

 

*Cream Cheese Enchilada Filling

8 oz package Philly cream cheese, softened

Garlic powder

Mayo, small amount

Shredded Mexican cheese

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Fresh chives, snipped 

Mix all together. Taste. Add more of whatever, depending on preferences. Also makes a good dip for whole grain tortilla chips, or spread on a bread and broiled until bubbly.

 

Tips & Tricks

·         Use regular sour cream, otherwise it might ‘break’ on you. “Breaking” happens when the product becomes too warm and separates into liquid and solid. The resulting chunks are edible, though unappetizing both visually, and in texture.

·         Feel free to use more or less salsa, depending on your preferences. I use enough to make the sour cream sauce a little more fluid, plus add flavor.

·         This time, I poached 3 large chicken breasts in water with peppercorns, oregano, cumin, garlic, and a bay leaf. When cooked, dice or shred when cool to the touch. I’ve also used rotisserie chicken, but the result varies depending what seasoning the provider uses.

·         When I sauté, I tend to use my flat-bottomed wok. The higher sides keep the potential messes to a minimum.

·         I used Hatch hot chilies. They weren’t as hot as I’d hoped. I’ve also used a fresh chopped poblano chili instead of the canned chilies.

·         Alter the spices to your preference, though I tend to make recipes as written prior to tweaking. The good part about this recipe is that everything is cooked prior to building the enchiladas, so you can adjust the seasoning accordingly.

·         Since my family isn’t a fan of corn tortillas (I am. I like white corn tortillas.), I use flour tortillas fajita-sized.

·         Pour the shredded cheese into a bowl. Digging in and out of the bag is a PIA, plus you’ll be contaminating the remaining cheese with your chicken filling fingers.

 

Foodie Friday -- Chicken Tortilla Soup

Problem: rotisserie chicken sitting in the fridge. I had deboned it the previous week, but it was time to use it up.

Solution: Chicken Tortilla Soup

I found a version, well, actually I found numerous versions of this soup, but I didn't make my own fried tortilla chips--are you kidding me? What kind of nut has the time to do that?

And it looked a little bit boring, so I spiced it up with the peppers. I didn't think about adding zucchini until later in the day after I went to the store, so it didn't get put in there.

BUT if you follow this recipe and add the zucchini, it's pretty darn close to tasting like the Chicken Tortilla Soup that is served at On The Border.

Totally unintentional, but there it is.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 Tbls. oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped

½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ Tbls. cumin

1 Tbls. chili powder

½ tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. salt

2 Tbls. flour

3 bay leaves

2--14 ½ oz. cans diced tomatoes

8 cups chicken broth

Chicken meat from one rotisserie chicken, cubed

Cooked Wild rice—make according to package directions—it usually takes 30-35 minutes so start rice about the time you start the soup.

Avocados, sliced

Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Cheddar cheese, shredded

Tortilla chips, crushed

Sour cream

Heat oil in large pan over high heat. Add onion, peppers, garlic and cilantro; sauté for about 3 minutes. Add cumin, chili powder, black pepper, salt and flour; stir and cook for a minute or two.

Add two cans of diced tomatoes and bay leaves.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes before adding rotisserie chicken *if you are adding raw chicken, add when soup comes to a boil*.

Adjust seasonings—more salt might be needed.

Cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove bay leaves and enjoy!

 *do not add the rice to the pot of soup--it will turn to mush*

Assembling:

½ cup of wild rice in bowl. Add 8 oz. of soup. Top with crushed tortilla chips, cheese, avocados, etc. Enjoy!

 

Tips & Tricks:

·         Yes, the cumin and chili powder are in TABLESPOONS

·         When chopping the peppers, you might want to wear gloves

·         If you don’t use gloves expect the skin under your nails to tingle. . . jus’ sayin’

·         If you want it hotter, keep the seeds and the membrane inside the peppers

·         Cut the top off the pepper, pull out the seeds, cut them in half and proceed to dice them from the inside as the outside of the skin is tough. Be careful, because it might squirt you with juice as you cut. DO NOT RUB EYES!

·         Again, I use the Better Than Bouillon chicken base. I usually add a bit along with the spices and then add the water later.

·         I used rotisserie chicken because I had it in the fridge and it needed to be used. If you don’t have pre-cooked chicken, simply cut up four boneless, skinless chicken breasts and add after the soup comes to a boil. The chunks will cook in the broth. –just don’t taste test your flavors until after the chicken is cooked.

·         If you want to add zucchini, then slice one zucchini into rounds and half them. Add when you add chicken

·         If you want a thicker soup after it cooks down—mix 1 Tbls of cornstarch with ¼ cup of broth. Add to soup. Depending on your preference, you might need to repeat.

·         To put a healthier spin to the toppers—use 0% plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, --use a reduced fat shredded cheese, --or baked tortilla chips.

·         This recipe is Weight Watcher friendly—roughly 5 points per 8 oz. serving. Rice will cost you extra points, unless you are on the Simply Filling technique.

Enjoy!

Foodie Friday--Lemon Chicken with Broccoli

This is a second lemon chicken recipe that you will find on my blog page. It’s just as good and as healthy as the other one. This lemon sauce is wonderful on broccoli . . . in fact, you could use shrimp instead of chicken if desired.

I have no idea who to give credit to as I seem to have cut the page down to fit into my notebooks and cut off the contributor. My bad. Sorry.  

Lemon Chicken with Broccoli

2 Tbls. flour

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

12 oz. chicken, thinly sliced

2 tsp. olive oil

 

1 ½ cups fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth

 

2 tsp. minced garlic

 

2 ½ cups broccoli florets

 

2 tsp. lemon zest

 

2 Tbls. fresh parsley, chopped

 

1 Tbls. lemon juice 

Toss sliced chicken in flour, salt and pepper mixture.

Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium-high heat (I have a wok). Add chicken and cook until lightly browned and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. Remove to a plate.

Pour one cup broth and garlic into wok. Bring to boil, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add broccoli; cover and cook 1 minute.

Stir 1/2 Tbls flour, ¼ tsp salt into remaining ½ cup broth; add to skillet and bring to simmer over low heat.

Cover and cook until broccoli is crisp-tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 ½ minutes.

Stir in chicken and lemon zest; heat through.

Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and parsley. Toss to coat.

 

Tips & Tricks:

·         This recipe cooks quickly, in about 10-15 minutes, so have EVERYTHING ready to go. I use tiny bowls, the kind you see on cooking shows, which keeps me from having to keep measuring stuff.

·         I used two large chicken breasts, which was almost 21 ounces, double the recipe. Adjust everything accordingly.

·         Gallon-sized Ziploc bags are wonderful to use when coating anything in a flour mixture.

·         I cooked the chicken in two batches since all the chicken would overcrowd the pan if I had done it at one time.

·         When pouring the one cup of broth into the very hot pan, be careful of the steam.

·         Two cloves of minced garlic worked well for the recipe. The cloves were of an average size.

·         Two heads of broccoli was enough to make a pile of florets.

·         One lemon provided enough zest and juice for this recipe.

·         I cooked wild rice, which was a nice side dish with this recipe. Time the rice to finish a little early. Set it aside, covered, until chicken is ready. This allows the water/broth to absorb into the thick hulls of the rice grains.

 

Enjoy!

 

Foodie Friday -- Creamy Pesto Lasagna

I found this recipe in Food TV magazine. It looked good so I decided to try this recipe. It’s a winner! The family polished off the leftovers in two days, so it’s a keeper.

This makes 12 servings. 

Creamy Pesto Lasagna

Béchamel sauce:

4 Tbls. Butter

¼ cup flour

3 cups whole milk

¼ tsp. nutmeg

½ cup purchased basil pesto

Salt and Black pepper to taste

Lasagna:

1 15-ounce package ricotta cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan

½ purchased basil pesto

12 dry, flat, no-boil lasagna noodles

3 cups diced rotisserie chicken

4 cups shredded, part-skim mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the béchamel, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk and nutmeg, bring to a simmer, and cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat, stir in ½ cup pesto; season with salt and pepper.

For the ricotta mixture, stir together ricotta, Parmesan, and ½ cup pesto; season with salt and pepper.

Assembling the lasagna:

Spread 2/3 cup béchamel in bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Lay 3 lasagna sheets side-by-side. Top with ½ cup ricotta mixture, ¾ cup chicken, 2/3 cup béchamel, and ¾ cup mozzarella. Repeat layering three more times, topping the final layer with 1 ½ cups mozzarella. Cover lasagna with foil.

Bake lasagna until bubbly, about 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake lasagna 15 minutes more, then broil on high until golden, 2-3 minutes. Let lasagna rest 15 minutes before serving.

Tips & Tricks:

·         I didn't have whole milk, so I used skim milk along with a little bit of heavy cream to make up the 3 cups.

·         The recipe called for refrigerated basil pesto, but I couldn't find it, so I found jarred basil pesto in the pasta aisle. I bought two 8.1 ounce jars because I couldn’t remember how much was needed. I did need the second jar when I actually measured it out.

·         I didn’t use rotisserie chicken, though it would have made this recipe really easy. Instead I grilled two very large chicken breasts that I seasoned with Cavender’s Greek seasoning.

·         Yeah, I don’t follow the “4 cups of Mozzarella cheese” number. I bought an 8 cup package and almost used the entire package.

·         The béchamel sauce is pretty easy to make, so freak out about it. Be sure to taste the sauce AFTER you add the pesto but BEFORE you salt it. The pesto I bought was pretty salty, so I didn’t really have to salt the sauce.

·         Depending on the store bought pesto, it might be very, very garlicy. . . the brand I bought was (Classico), but the family didn’t care.

·         Have everything prepared to make quick work of layering the lasagna

Enjoy!

Later, Peeps! 

Foodie Friday -- Lemon Chicken

As I posted on Facebook earlier this week, I made this lemon chicken recipe -- Cuisine magazine's name--Light Chicken Francese, but I knew the title would get lost in the "what the heck is this? file" so I went with the more traditional name-- that was wonderful! I ate my lemon chicken on a bed of spinach, while my hubby and kiddo enjoyed their chicken on a bed of angel hair pasta.

See? There are ways of cutting calories without cutting flavor AND getting in a serving or two of raw veggies!

This recipe is from Cuisine magazine. My sis-in-law very generously gave me a subscription for Christmas. This magazine is awesome in the fact that it doesn't have advertising. I hate flipping through a magazine looking for recipes only to discover 60-75% of the magazine is in the form of ads. This was why I stopped taking Martha Stewart years ago--it was before she even went to jail!

Back to the recipe, sometimes chicken can be a little boring, but add a little lemon and everything brightens up!

Lemon Chicken

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, pounded flat to 1/4 -inch thick, fat removed, 5-6 ounces each
1/2 cup flour, combined with 1/4 tsp. kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp black pepper
2 egg whites whisked with Tbls. skim milk
4 tsp. olive oil, divided

Sauce: 
1 Tbls. olive oil
2 shallots, minced
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbls. parsley
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1 lemon, thinly sliced, optional

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Chicken: Dredge pounded chicken in flour mixture, shake off excess. Evenly coat cutlet in egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Dredge cutlets again in flour mixture.

Heat 2 tsp. oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-heat. Cook half of the cutlets (2) until golden on both sides, about 6 minutes total. Transfer cooked chicken onto baking sheet to keep warm in the oven; repeat with remaining 2 tsp. oil and cutlets.

Sauce: In same skillet heat 1 Tbls oil over medium, add shallots and cook until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add 1 Tbls. flour and cook 1 minute.
Whisk in broth, wine, and lemon juice. Increase heat to medium-high and bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture reduces slightly and thickens.
Add butter to skillet, whisk to melt. Add 1 Tbls. parsley and season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper; add lemon slices to coat with sauce. Serve cutlets with sauce and lemon slices; garnish with chopped parsley.

Serve with angel hair pasta or spinach for a healthier alternative.

Tips &Tricks:

• If you've never made a recipe before and you're worried about how quickly everything will move along, then do what the cooks on the TV shows do--pre-measure, pre-chop, pre-everything! Have everything ready to toss into the pan. Yeah, you'll have lots of little dishes to wash, but it's easier than freaking out at the last minute because it's cooking too quickly for you. 
• Pound your chicken inside a resealable gallon freezer bag. Less mess. 
• I used shallots instead of 1/4 cup minced onion, as I didn't want a cut onion stinking up my fridge. The shallot is milder, plus it was easier to mince into tiny pieces
• I didn't want to open a bottle of white wine, so I used more chicken broth. 
• Lemons vary with the amounts of juice they give. It took one lemon to get 1/4 cup of juice. Sometimes it's more, sometimes less. 
• I don't buy chicken broth, or use bouillon cubes, I use Better than Bouillon chicken base, which must be refrigerated after opening. It lasts a long time, and all you need is hot water to reconstitute it. 
• I used dried parsley. It had been freeze-dried, which helped it keep its beautiful dark green color and flavor. 
• I used two pans for dredging chicken: one pan for the flour mixture, and one for the egg mixture. Use tongs to transfer chicken back and forth . . . the tongs get gummy, but not your fingers. 
• When the first side of the chicken cooked, I sprayed the floured, uncooked side with olive oil spray. 
• When you cook the chicken in two batches, place the first batch in the oven to keep warm while cooking the rest of the chicken and making the sauce. Place your dinner plates in there, too, to get them nice and warm. This way you aren't plating hot food on a cold plate, and your meal stays warmer longer. 

That's it for now. Enjoy!

Later, Peeps! 

Foodie Friday -- Potato Chip Casserole

I started writing this blog on Thursday, got busy on Friday and never finished it other than the title.

Here's the dealio:

Casseroles are comfort food. Most casseroles can be thrown together from the stuff you have in your cabinet.

And if you don't have soup, then make a roux with equal amounts of flour and butter, cook it for a minute or two and add milk, but keep it on the thick side. If you add too much milk, cook it down. If you want it to be chicken flavored, add some concentrated chicken base and some chicken. For cream of mushroom soup, add diced mushrooms.

It's not that hard.

BUT a couple cans of cream of whatever soup in your cabinet will almost NEVER hit the expiration date. Jus' sayin'.

Casseroles tend to be non-measuring recipes. Chop a little of this. Add a little of that. And bake at 350 degrees for anytime between 40-60 min.

If it calls for potato chips, but you have tortilla chips, then by all means go for it. If it works, woohoo! and if it doesn't then you've fed your family for one meal.

If you use fresh vegetables: many of them need time to cook into softness (celery, carrots, onions, potatoes), so chop/slice/dice them into smaller than normal pieces.

Also fresh vegetables are full of liquid--which means your casserole will have excess liquid when it starts cooking.

Have you ever made sautéed or creamed spinach? You take a huge bag of spinach and sauté it in butter and garlic only to end up with about a cup of the final product? Yeah, like that.

So when you make a casserole think of the flavor profile you want to end up with. Try not to get totally freaky-deaky with it, but have fun. You don't want to add so much of one thing that it overpowers the combination.

All righty then, you've waited long enough for this recipe.

Potato Chip Casserole

Cooked and cubed chicken
celery, thinly sliced
green onions, thinly sliced
mushrooms, diced
black olives, chopped,
can of Cream of chicken soup
Milk
Shredded cheese
crushed potato chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the first five ingredients in bowl. Add soup, and add about 1/2 soup can of milk. Mix together. Spray or lightly oil 9-inch square pan with vegetable oil.

Add 1/2 of mixture, sprinkle layer of cheese, crush a layer of potato chips. Repeat.

Place in oven for40-60 minutes, or until brown and bubbly. You might want to check it at the 30 minute mark to see how your oven is cooking it.

Enjoy!

Tips & tricks:

• don't a too many onions if your family is cranky about onions--oops!
• be sure to cook long enough so veggies aren't crunchy -- oops!
• leave out any ingredient family hates-- yay! they don't like olives, so I left them out. I like olives, but I guess Mom doesn't get a say in all this!
• don't be afraid to experiment--I thought about making a Mexican casserole with taco meat, ranch-style beans and Rotel tomatoes and layering it with crushed tortilla chips and cheese. If you try it, let me know how it works!
• Not a fan of tuna, but I overheard one lady making a tuna potato chip casserole.
• I wanted to make an Italian casserole, but I would have to experiment with uncooked pasta noodles to see if it would work. I have a feeling the dry ones would need a lot of liquid, but there are frozen and fresh noodles I could try.

Add your own twist to it. It's winter season, time for comfort food!

Later, Peeps!

Foodie Friday -- Chicken Pot Pie

I haven't been cooking much recently, what with taking the kidlet to swim practice and the hubs working late (7 or 8 PM). The kidlet and I would leave the house at 5:05 PM on the days she has dry land prior to swim practice, and at 5:45 PM on regular swim days. We get home around 8:00. I refuse to feed my kid a heavy meal when she's going to bed in the hour or hour-and-a-half.

This last week I had thawed some pre-made pie crust {If you've EVER read my foodie blogs, I will tell you that I a) hate these crusts, and b) can't make crust if my life depended on it}. So I buy the crusts. And I had thawed a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I love these little vacuum sealed packages from Target's Archer Farms brand. Each package is either twelve ounces for 2-3 breasts, or sixteen ounces for 3-4. And let's just say these breasts are plump!

These two items had to be used or they would go bad. So I told the kidlet when I picked her up at school on Wednesday that I was making Chicken Pot Pie, and received the rousing encouragement of "meh".

So go hungry. See if I care. Erm, she had two servings of this stuff.

I didn't measure anything, so be sure to taste and adjust seasonings prior to baking it. I did use the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie recipe as a guideline. If I could have made more filling, I would have. I wasn't going to post this recipe, until I realized that I didn't have one on my Foodie Friday blogs.

Here's my rendition.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 large stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup)
1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
Carrots, diced (about 1 cup) All I had were mini-carrots.
Green peas--if you have them, I didn't :-(
1 Tbls butter
1 Tbls olive oil
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, raw, cut into 1-in. cubes (about 2 cups)
flour (about 1/4 cup)
Kosher salt
pepper
thyme
1 Tbls Better than Bouillon chicken base
2 cups water
splash of heavy cream (I had some left over about 1/2 cup)
1 pre-made pie crust, Pillsbury

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt butter with oil in large pan until hot, toss in celery, onions, and carrots. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Toss in chicken and cook, about 3-4 minutes. Add Bouillon chicken base, salt, pepper, thyme and sprinkle with flour. Stir to coat and cook for a minute or two. Add water. Stir and boil for 3-4 minutes. It will start to thicken. Taste seasonings, adjust if needed. Add splash of cream and simmer for a few minutes until thickens. Pour mixture into baking dish. Throw crust on top. Poke holes in crust. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes, until crust is golden.

Hints & suggestions:

• I love the Better than Bouillon products
• I use a flat-bottomed wok for cooking. It has nice high sides that angle out to make for easy sauteing.
• Find the fattest piece of chicken and break in half to see if it's cooked (NOT pink), then continue with recipe.

Enjoy!

Later, Peeps!

Foodie Friday -- Chicken Piccata

I love chicken piccata. I think it’s the lemon part of the equation, or maybe it’s the tiny bits of salty from the capers. I don’t know what it is, but if I want a special meal this is what I make. Well, or the hubs will make, because he’s made this recipe for my birthday, mother’s day, or just because day. The only problem with his cooking for me is that I become his sous chef. I prepare everything ahead of time, ready to go in their little glass cups, and then I have to do the clean up . . . and there is a lot to clean up!

Things to remember:

--this recipe cooks quickly. Have everything ready to go, including your side dishes, salad, pasta, etc.  

Chicken Piccata

4 chicken cutlets

2 Tbls. vegetable oil
¼ cup dry white wine
1 tsp. garlic, minced

½ cup chicken broth

2 Tbls. lemon juice
1 Tbls. capers, drained
2 Tbls. butter
Fresh lemon slices, thinly sliced

If using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, then they need to be pounded thinly prior to cooking. Place chicken breast on plastic wrap, cover with another piece of plastic wrap, pound until thin cutlet. I’ve used a kitchen hammer to do this or bottom of a pot.

Season cutlets with salt and pepper, dust with flour, shaking off excess. Spray pan with non-stick spray, add vegetable oil, and heat over medium high.

Sauté cutlets 2-3 minutes on one side. Flip the cutlets and sauté the other side 1-2 minutes. Transfer cutlets to warm plate, and tent with foil.

Deglaze pan with wine and add minced garlic. Cook until garlic is slightly brown (do NOT burn) and liquid is nearly gone, about 2 minutes.

Add broth, lemon juice, and capers. Return cutlets to pan and cook on each side 1 minute. Transfer cutlets to warm plate.

Finish sauce with butter and lemon slices. Once butter melts, pour sauce over cutlets. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.

 

Enjoy, Peeps!  

 

Foodie Friday--Aunt Fan's Chicken and Noodle Casserole

Many moons ago (easily 40+ years), my Aunt Fan (Fanny Sue) and Aunt Mary (Mary Belle) would make this dish whenever someone visited them in Barnsdall. Nowhere, Oklahoma, where I base my Goblin’s Apprentice stories, is actually Barnsdall. I lived there for a scant few months when I was six, but I pocketed a pile of memories.

Yes, there is an oil pumper in the middle of Main Street. My aunts lived a few houses up the hill from this pumper. It was also the house where my grandparents lived. My grandfather was the town doctor.

When Aunt Fan died, Aunt Mary gave me this recipe. My mom made this recipe many times when there would be a crowd, but I haven’t made it in years. Aunt Fan was the aunt who discovered my love for good food and gave me all her Bon Appetit magazines.

--er, no, this is NOT a healthy recipe, but great if you have a large crowd.

Aunt Fan’s Chicken and Noodle Casserole

1 10-oz. pkg. egg noodles, cooked and drained

4 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cups chicken broth
1 4.5-oz. can ripe olives, sliced
1 4-oz. can pimentos, chopped
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
1 cup dry Sherry
1 lb. cheddar cheese, grated

Mix all ingredients, except cheese, together. Spoon into shallow 9 X 13 in. baking dish. Top with grated cheese. Sprinkle with paprika. Heat in 350° degree oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serves 12-14

Enjoy! And make your own memories!

FOODIE FRIDAY-- Chicken Noodle Soup

Last week, I picked up a rotisserie chicken. Most of them are pretty inexpensive, costing around five-six dollars. This is an awesome way to save time on those busy school nights.  Pop the chicken into the microwave, make a salad and a veg, and there’s dinner.

This time, I stripped the meat from the bones, placing the bones in a pan with water, a couple sprigs of rosemary, a small bunch of thyme, a bay leaf, about 2 tsp. peppercorns, one quartered onion, one coarsely chopped carrot and two coarsely chopped stalks of celery.  I cooked this down for about 30 minutes. I added a little salt AFTER it cooked down. Many times the rub on the chicken contains salt, and I didn’t want to over salt the broth. I strained out the solid stuff and adjusted the flavor with herbs and a little salt. Then the broth went into a container and into the fridge. The next day, I spooned off the fat and used the broth in this soup.

Sorry, most of this I didn’t measure. Just adjust according to your family’s tastes.

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced lengthwise and chopped
2 carrots, chopped
Olive oil
Chopped chicken @ 2 cups
Chicken broth @ 8-10 cups
Parsley
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
1 pkg. Reames frozen noodles, 16 oz.
Salt and pepper if desired

Add 1-2 Tbls. oil to hot pan. Saute celery, carrots and onion until slightly softened. Add chicken. Add broth and heat until boiling. Check seasonings, adjust as needed. Lower heat to a simmer. Add frozen noodles and cook until noodles are tender, about 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

This is just the comfort food for those cold nights.

Later, Peeps!

 

FOODIE FRIDAY--Chicken Alfredo

I actually came up with this recipe while driving the kidlet to swim class. It had been a busy week with the hubster out-of-town and the kidlet had basketball camp, which means I hadn’t been to the store for a few days.  I also had various items that were on the verge of going funky and I needed to get rid of them. So as soon as I got home, and released the hound from captivity, I turned on the grill and started a pot of pasta water

And this turned out pretty AWESOME! Trust me, it was better than the food we had at Macaroni Grill for the hubster’s birthday.

For lack of a better name—and ya’ll are more than welcome to come up with one—I’m going to call this:

Chicken Alfredo

Rigatoni Pasta –mixed with Campanelle pasta since I didn’t have enough rigatoni for the dish—they had the same cooking time.

2 chicken breasts, deboned

McCormick’s Grill Mates Montreal Chicken seasoning

Tomato, seeded and diced

½ cup green peas, I used frozen, but partially cooked in microwave.

Mushrooms, dried, because I had some, handful

3 cloves of garlic, minced

½ stick butter

Half and half or heavy cream

Coarse ground Black pepper,@ ½ tsp.

Dash nutmeg

Fresh garlic chives, snipped @1 Tbls

Fresh Italian parsley, chopped @1 Tbls.

Mushrooms, dried, because I had some, handful

Grated Parmesan--oh, please DO NOT use the KRAFT kind in the green jar . . .  

For the most part, I had ingredients—I just winged it on the quantities.

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with Grill Mates seasoning and toss on hot grill. When salted water is boiling, drop in dried pasta. Stir once.

In another pan—I have a wok-type pan, melt butter. Add garlic, black pepper and nutmeg. Add cream. Simmer for about 5 minutes.  Flip chicken and cook until done @ 10 minutes total, slice chicken into strips. 

In cream sauce, add mushrooms, peas, tomatoes and sliced chicken. Toss. Sprinkle parmesan until thickened, but not too thick. Add pasta a little at a time in case you cooked too much. If too thick add pasta water to thin. Add chives and parsley prior to serving, toss and serve.

I would have served a salad, but didn’t have time to wash some lettuce—oops.

 Again, this is a recipe that you could easily toss in othe ingredients: chopped black olives, artichoke hearts, fresh spinach, or spice it up with a chopped jalepeno pepper. I don't do green peppers (or red or orange or yellow either), but they would work well in this.

Ooo . . . or how about toasted pine nuts? Or grilled onions? Or Hot Italian sausage instead of chicken?

See? Just about anything would work.

Enjoy!

FOODIE FRIDAY--Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Many times, I’ll use leftover rotisserie chicken from a previous meal in this recipe.  If I don’t have any chicken, then I’ll poach a few boneless chicken breasts in water with whole peppercorns and a bay leaf.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

2 cups sour cream

1 7 oz. can salsa verde (Herdez)

2 cups chicken, cubed

1 small onion, or 1/3 cup onion, chopped

1 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 4.5 oz. chopped green chilies, drained

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

10-12 flour tortillas

Cheddar cheese, grated

Jalapeno pepper slices, optional

Take ½ cup of sour cream and hold for filling.  Mix sour cream with salsa verde and spread layer on bottom of 9 x 13 pan, reserving the rest for the top of enchiladas. Sauté onions in slight amount of butter until translucent.  Add chicken, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, chilies and mushrooms.  Stir in reserved sour cream.  Heat through.  Heat tortillas until pliable (microwave them 8-10 seconds each, if refrigerated) and place ¼ cup of mixture along the edge of the tortilla, sprinkle cheese if desired.  Roll and place tortilla seam-side down on baking dish. Continue until pan is full of enchiladas or mixture is gone.  Spread enchiladas with remaining sour cream/salsa verde mixture. Top with grated cheese and jalapenos.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

To lighten:

·         Substitute real sour cream with low fat.  Do not use no fat sour cream because it breaks down and becomes granular.

·         Sauté onions in a little water instead of butter

·         Use less cheddar cheese in recipe.  Do not use ‘fake’ or no fat cheddar cheese, as it just sits there and tastes like plastic. It’s gross, trust me.

 Enjoy!

Later, Peeps!

FOODIE FRIDAY--Chicken Wellington

This recipe originally came from the cookbook, BEST OF THE BEST OF TEXAS. I love this recipe. It’s quick. It’s easy. And it looks spectacular when presented on a plate with a lovely green salad. My ten-year-old LOVES this recipe.

I’ll type the ‘official’ version, but will offer hints at the end to make it lighter in fat.

Chicken Wellington

I sheet puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm—freezer section) room temp

¼ cup butter

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fat trimmed off)

½ (8 oz.) pkg cream cheese (Philadelphia Brand) room temp

Knorr Swiss Aromat seasoning for meat, to taste (sometimes hard to find—try a German food store if it isn’t in your normal grocery store)

Lemon Pepper, to taste

1. When puff pastry reaches room temperature, unfold it onto a floured surface, sprinkle top lightly with flour, and roll it out as flat as you can, but to where you can still handle the dough.  Cut dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. (works with three breasts, too)

2. Using medium heat, melt butter, add chicken breasts, and cook 5 minutes per side.

3. Place each breast in the center of a pastry square; put 2 tablespoons of cream cheese on top of each breast. (work quickly as the hot meat will soften pastry and cause it to rip)

4. Sprinkle to taste with Knorr seasoning for meat and lemon pepper. (I’m heavy handed with this step)

5. Pull the edges of the pastry square up and fold them over the breast to seal the breast inside the pastry, tuck edges under the pastry.

6. Brush top of pastry with melted butter, if desired.

7. Bake uncovered in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. May need to broil for a minute or so to brown the top.

To lighten the fat content:

Delete butter.  Use a non-stick pan and lightly spray with butter-flavored cooking spray (Pam). 

Use low-fat Philly cream cheese.  I used 1/3 reduced fat and couldn’t tell the difference.  Non-fat might work, too, since the seasonings would cover any weird graininess you might experience.

Lightly spray the top of the pastries with butter-flavored cooking spray prior to cooking.