Sticky Chicken

This is yet another recipe from Southern Plate.  Christy originally got it as a copycat recipe for some chicken served at Cracker Barrel.  I've never had the chicken at the restaurant (haven't even been to one since I think 1996!), but I've made this chicken probably 5 or 6 times over the past couple of years and we really enjoy it.  It really does taste like a great grilled chicken and does NOT taste like the sauce is salad dressing!  This recipe takes about 40 minutes to cook, but is pretty low effort. 

 

 

Sticky Chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cleaned and cut into 8 pieces

1 C bottled Italian dressing

1 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp honey
 

Place chicken pieces into a gallon sized Ziploc bag and add marinade ingredients.  Seal bag and squish it around to mix up the marinade and coat the chicken.  Refrigerate from 1-8 hours.
 

When you're ready to cook the chicken, heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium.  Dump in the entire contents of the bag, including all the marinade.  Cook the chicken over medium, turning the pieces about every 10 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken and get sticky.  This will take about 30 minutes.  At this point, you may want to reduce the heat to low.  Continue cooking, stirring and flipping the chicken frequently, until the chicken gets browned spots on it.  Be careful not to burn the sauce.  Swipe the pieces of chicken through the thick sauce before removing to a serving plate.
 

Yield: 4 servings, 2 pieces of chicken each.

Goulash

This recipe is from the Serious Eats website and was created by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.  He calls it American Chop Suey, but I've always known it as goulash.  In all honesty, it's never been one of my favorite foods, though I do have fond memories of my grandmother making it.  My husband requested something with macaroni, tomatoes, and ground beef, though, and I immediately thought of this recipe that I had bookmarked months ago!
 

This recipe does not disappoint.  It is by far the best goulash I have ever had and I don't really see bothering with any other version of the recipe.  How could it not be good with all the pockets of melted mozzarella?  Cheese aside, it's just an awesome recipe with lots of well balanced flavor, especially for a recipe that takes less than an hour to make.  My husband and I both rated it 9 out of 10, which is of course very good!

I mostly stuck to the original recipe, but it calls for letting the macaroni soak in hot water before draining it and adding it to the skillet.  A lot of recipe reviewers said this made the macaroni very mushy, which I of course wanted to avoid.  I compensated by just adding the uncooked noodles right to the skillet and letting it cook for a bit longer.  Perfect!  I also used one can of whole tomatoes and one crushed, but that was an accident, apparently the crushed tomatoes were hiding behind the whole ones on the grocery store shelf.  This probably didn't make a huge difference in the outcome, but crushed tomatoes are definitely thicker/richer than pureed whole tomatoes.  Next time I'll try using all whole tomatoes, but I have zero complaints about how it turned out!
 

 

Goulash

2 T olive oil

2 T butter

1 large onion, finely diced

1 bell pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 C fresh parsley, minced

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 lb ground beef

2 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, blended until smooth (I used 1 whole, 1 crushed)

1 C chicken broth

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1 lb dry macaroni noodles

salt and pepper to taste (I used 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper)

1 lb mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

3 oz grated parmesan

Heat olive oil and butter in a very large skillet over medium-high until butter is melted.  Add onion and bell pepper and saute until onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.  Add garlic, 1/2 of the parsley, the oregano, and red pepper flakes, and saute 1 minute. 

Raise heat to high and crumble in ground beef.  Saute until meat is cooked through.  Add tomatoes, broth, and Worcestershire sauce, and bring to a boil.  Stir in macaroni, reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and let cook 7 minutes. 

Stir, add salt and pepper to paste, then quickly stir in half of the mozzarella cubes, just enough to evenly disperse the cheese.  Evenly top with the rest of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan.  Cover the skillet, reduce heat to the lowest setting, and cook 3 minutes without stirring.  Remove skillet from heat and let sit 5 minutes more. 

Remove lid, sprinkle with remaining parmesan and parsley, and serve with Worcestershire sauce.

Yield: About 10 servings

Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken

This recipe is a little exciting for us because it's the first one I cooked on our grill this year, and the first time I've used the grill since we bought our house late last summer!  It did not disappoint.  If you like honey mustard at all, you will enjoy this.  Neither my husband nor I are particularly crazy about honey mustard, and we really enjoyed it.  My husband said it was excellent and I liked it, too.  It's one I'll make again for sure and I'd like to try baking it.  The extra dipping sauce would also probably be really good on chicken nuggets.

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.  My only changes were to sprinkle some salt on the chicken, use Worcestershire sauce instead of steak sauce, and I made more of the sauce so we could have some for dipping.

Quick Note:  If your chicken breasts are very thick, you may want to cut them down the middle so they're thinner and will cook through without the outside getting too done.  I know my chicken in the picture is a little more done on the outside than is preferable, I've only grilled chicken a couple of times in the past and am still getting used to our rather lousy grill!

Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (see note above)
salt to taste
1/2 C dijon mustard
1/4 C plus 2 Tbsp honey (this is 6 Tbsp altogether)
1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp mayo
 
Lightly sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with salt and place in a gallon sized zipper plastic bag.  Whisk together remaining ingredients until smooth.  Pour 1/2 C into a small bowl to use for basting later, and 1/3 C into another bowl to use as a dipping sauce when serving.  Pour the remaining sauce into the bag with the chicken, seal the bag, and squish the chicken around so it's evenly coated in the sauce.  Refrigerate the chicken until you're ready to cook it (about 8 hours is good) and periodically squish the chicken around in the bag to make sure it's all coated well.

When you're ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium and oil the grate.  Arrange chicken pieces on grill, let cook for a few minutes without touching them, then turn the chicken and grill on the other side for a few minutes.  After the chicken is opaque on the outside, you can begin to baste it periodically with the reserved basting sauce.  Continue to grill and turn chicken pieces until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of one of the pieces registers 165 degrees.  Remove chicken from the grill and let it rest for a couple of minutes, then serve with the reserved dipping sauce.

Yield: 6 servings

Secret Recipe Club: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

My Secret Recipe Club assignment for this month is Sarah's blog, Things I Make (for Dinner)!  Sarah lives in Canada, is married, and has been blogging since 2012. 

  

I considered making her Rustic Plum Tart, Baked Egg Boats, Hot Cheese Sandwiches, Volcano Sandwiches, or Spaghetti Carbonara, but I couldn't resist her Buffalo Chicken Pizza.  Believe me when I say this is one yummy pizza!  We love homemade pizza (this was the 4th weekend in a row I've made pizza), but in spite of loving buffalo chicken, I've neither had nor made buffalo chicken pizza before.  How could I resist it when I found a recipe on Sarah's blog?  No regrets, either, because it's delicious!  My husband really enjoyed it, too.  It's definitely one I'll make again and I'd like to use the sauce for other pizzas.

  
You can really make this pizza your own.  The type of pizza crust you use (store bought, homemade thin, pan, whatever) and even the size of the pizza is up to you.  The recipe makes a cup of sauce and it was nice and rather thin (but still delicious!) on my large pizza, but you could make a smaller pizza if you want and just have a thicker layer of the amazing sauce.  You can also use however much hot sauce, cheese, and green onions you want.

  

  

 Buffalo Chicken Pizza

 for sauce:

1 Tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, minced

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 C milk

1/4 tsp salt
 

for pizza:

pizza dough (2/3 of this recipe works great, just freeze the other 1/3 for later)

2 C shredded or chopped cooked chicken

1/3 C Frank's Red Hot Sauce or other hot sauce of choice (can use more to taste)

shredded mozzarella or crumbled blue cheese

shredded cheddar

green onions, sliced

 

for sauce:

melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic and saute until golden.  Add cream cheese, milk, and salt, and whisk until smooth.

 

for pizza:

Preheat oven to 450 and grease a large baking pam (I use butter).  Press or roll dough out to fit pan and prick all over with a fork.  Spread sauce over crust, then top evenly with the chicken, cheese, and green onions.  Bake until crust is lightly browned and cheese is melted and bubbly, about 12-20 minutes.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spam, Rice, & Eggs

This is one of those recipes I'm kind of embarrassed to share, both because it's incredibly easy and incredibly unrefined.  Everyone makes fun of Spam, and here I am tossing it into dinner.  My husband convinced me to post the recipe anyway because we enjoy it and the ingredients are basic enough that you can always have them on hand.

Spam, Rice, & Eggs

1 1/2 C raw rice, cooked according to package directions with 1/2 tsp salt (I use this baked brown rice recipe)
1 T butter
1 can Spam, cubed (I use turkey Spam)
6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
soy sauce to taste

Keep the rice warm while you cook the Spam and eggs.  Heat butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium high and add Spam.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned: about 10 minutes.  Remove Spam to a bowl and remove skillet from heat.  Crack eggs directly into skillet, then whisk them with your spatula.  Return pan to stove and scramble eggs over medium low.  When cooked, add salt and pepper to taste.  Return Spam to skillet as well as cooked rice.  Stir to combine and heat the rice through.  Let everyone top their own bowls with soy sauce.
 
Yield: about 6 servings

Salt & Pepper Tofu Triangles

This is an incredibly simple recipe for tofu that has turned into one of our favorites!  It's peppery with a smidge of sweetness from maple syrup.  Doesn't sound like much, but trust me when I say it's delicious!  The edges get all crispy and yummy and it's just an all around solid, reliable recipe.  Nice how such easy recipes with minimal ingredients often turn out really well.  I've made this 5 or 6 times since I stumbled upon the recipe about a year ago at Healthy Happy Life.  I always serve it with some type of salad and sometimes steamed rice or noodles.

Quick Note:  I don't bother drying my tofu with paper towels or pressing out the excess water or anything, I just dump out the water in the refrigerated package.  It's always turned out just fine!

 Salt & Pepper Tofu Triangles
 
14 oz package extra firm tofu, drained
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
pepper to taste (use more than you normally would!)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Cut tofu into thick slices, then cut them into triangles.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high.  Add tofu and sprinkle generously with pepper, then salt.  Let tofu cook without moving them until they begin to turn a little golden on the bottom, which will take about 3 minutes.  Drizzle the maple syrup into the pan and move the tofu around with tongs so the syrup gets evenly distributed.  When bottom of tofu is golden, flip the slices and cook until they turn a deep golden color. 

Yield: 2-3 servings

BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

This is definitely one of the best meatloaf recipes I've ever made, or eaten!  My husband liked it a lot, too, but what's not to like?  We weren't even tired of it on day 4 of leftovers.  This recipe comes from the blog Buns in my Oven, and as usual, I made a few changes.  I'd like to note that using both the cheese and the bacon isn't strictly necessary.  It's certainly good this way (and how I did it!), but I think it would be good too with one or the other of you're reluctant to dump both cheese and bacon into meatloaf.
 

Quick Note:  I used lean ground beef, I believe 93% lean.  Probably because of this, none of that gross looking meatloaf sludge formed around the bottom of my meatloaf!  Something to consider if you usually use beef with a higher fat content.
 

 And we're back to ugly photos...
 

BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

1 1/2 lb lean ground beef

2 C Panko bread crumbs

6 oz diced cheddar cheese (by weight, not volume)

1/2 C mayo

1 egg

2 Tbsp dried minced onion

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1 C BBQ sauce

1/2 C yellow mustard

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
 

Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9 by 11 baking dish (or similar sized) with greased foil.  In a large bowl, stir together everything except beef, BBQ sauce, mustard, and bacon.  In a separate bowl, stir together BBQ sauce and mustard.  Add half of it to the bowl with the other ingredients.  Crumble the ground beef over top and stir together just until everything is incorporated.

Place meatloaf mixture in prepared pan and form into a loaf, about 2 inches tall and 8 by 10 inches wide.  Spread the other half of the BBQ sauce/mustard mixture over meatloaf and sprinkle with crumbled bacon.  Bake until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, about 45 minutes.
 

Yield:  About 8 servings

Cheesy Bacon, Beef & Rice Casserole

Please do not judge this recipe by its photo!  Casseroles are inherently ugly, but oh boy, this one REALLY is.  I've been referring to it as "50 Shades of Brown Casserole", it's not often you see this many variations on the color brown.  Hideousness aside, this casserole is really good.  It was originally billed as Mexican Rice Casserole on the CopyKat Recipes blog where I found it (it was from a lady named Virginia McDowell in 1968!), but I don't think it really tastes like the rice you get in Mexican restaurants.  The bacon doesn't really help it seem Mexican, either, but it does help it be even more delicious!
 
You could serve the casserole with sour cream, cilantro, salsa, and the like if you want it to taste more Tex-Mex (I actually made a side salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and this Creamy Salsa Dressing), but on its own, it just tastes good and is a perfect comfort food.  You could also try adding more chili powder, some cumin, and some black beans to play up the Mexican factor.  I wouldn't leave the chili powder out, though, because it does add a special little something.

Note: The original recipe called for minute rice (quick cooking rice).  I don't like minute rice, so just used regular rice since the recipe looked like it had enough liquid and the simmering time of 20 minutes is just right for cooking it.  It turned out great this way!  I also used the whole bell pepper (yellow, in my case) and onion because I didn't want to waste the rest.
 

Now I'm no great shakes when it comes to photographing food, but isn't this ugly?  I almost feel bad for it!

 

Cheesy Bacon, Beef & Rice Casserole

4 oz bacon

1 small onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 C uncooked rice

1 lb ground beef

1 clove garlic, minced

1 3/4 C water

8 oz can tomato sauce

1 t chili powder

1 t salt

2 C cheddar cheese, grated
 

Cook bacon in a large skillet over low heat.  Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.  Add diced onion and bell pepper to the bacon grease and cook until they begin to soften.  Add rice and cook for a couple of minutes, just until it starts to turn opaque and gets a little golden. 

Add ground beef and cook, stirring constantly.  Keep a close eye on the heat because the rice could burn easily!  It's okay if the beef isn't cooked all the way through if you run the risk of burning the rice. 

Add the water, tomato sauce, chili powder, and salt, bring skillet contents to a boil while stirring, cover, and reduce heat to low.  Cook without removing lid for 20 minutes.

While that's cooking, turn the oven to 400 and grease a 2 quart baking dish.  When rice and meat mixture is done, stir thoroughly, then spoon half of it into the baking dish.  Top with half of the cheese.  Layer with the rest of the rice mixture, the rest of the cheese, and the bacon.  Bake about 15 minutes, until cheese is golden.

Yield: 6-8 main dish servings

Secret Recipe Club: Baked Honey Chicken Nuggets with Dipping Sauce

My blog assignment for this month's Secret Recipe Club was The Pajama Chef, which is written by a lady named Sarah.  This is kind of off topic, but have you ever met someone and felt like you've seen them before?  I swear, Sarah looks exactly like someone I know, but I can't think of who it is.  I even wondered if Sarah and I have met before at some point!

In any case, Sarah's blog has lots of yummy recipes.  So many that I actually made three recipes from her blog this month!  These chicken nuggets, which I made two or three weeks ago, but also her amazing Ginger Apricot Cranberry Sauce and her Mixed Vegetables Mornay.  I made the last two for Thanksgiving and am still enjoying the leftovers.
 
I decided to make Baked Honey Chicken Nuggets because the recipe looked so different, and different things intrigue me. My only changes here were to season the raw chicken with a bit of salt and pepper, and I turned on the broiler for a couple of minutes at the end of the baking time so the nuggets would brown a little.

These nuggets were really good!  The honey flavor was quite prominent (though far from overwhelming) and the crunch from the panko bread crumbs was delightful.  The dipping sauce is great, too, and would probably be very good with baked french fries served on the side.  I served mine with Green Beans Amandine (another SRC recipe!), which was yummy for sure, but fries just go with chicken nuggets, don't they?  I should probably add that long after the nuggets were gone (side note, they reheated fairly well), I still had leftover dipping sauce and kept looking for things to dip in it because it's so good.  It's like a creamy, mild honey mustard with a bit of BBQ flavor.
 

Next time I make this recipe, I'm going to try using mustard instead of the balsamic vinegar in the honey-vinegar mixture you dip the chicken into before baking.  We couldn't taste the balsamic vinegar at all (I think it mostly served to thin the honey a tad), but mustard would surely be noticeable.  I would also like to try cutting the chicken in half as described in the recipe, but then just cutting each half into 2 or 3 pieces instead of lots of small nuggets.  My husband ate his chicken with a fork anyway and this would be faster!
 

I would really encourage anyone who makes this to use panko bread crumbs vs any other kind.  This was the first time I used panko, and they were in the baking aisle with other bread crumbs.  In the past I've tried baked chicken with other bread crumbs, and panko is so much better.  It's so crunchy!

Baked Honey Chicken Nuggets with Dipping Sauce

for the sauce:

1/2 C mayo

2 T honey

1 T barbecue sauce

2 t yellow mustard

1 t lemon juice

for the nuggets:

1/2 C honey

2 T balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 C panko bread crumbs

salt and pepper

1 lb chicken breasts
 

Stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl until smooth, cover, and refrigerate while you make the nuggets.  You could even make this the night before, it tastes best after it's had time to sit!

Preheat oven to 375 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Stir together the honey and balsamic vinegar in a cereal bowl.  Measure bread crumbs into another cereal bowl.
 

Cut the chicken into nuggets.  To do this, slice the breasts in half lengthwise so you have two thin halves, then cut them into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste.
 

One or two pieces at a time, put the chicken into the honey mixture on both sides, and let any excess drip off.  Press both sides of the chicken pieces into the bread crumbs, gently shake off any excess, and arrange on the baking sheet.  Repeat until all nuggets are coated.
 

Bake chicken until cooked through, about 30 minutes.  If the crumb coating isn't toasted, turn the broiler on just long enough to make the bread crumbs light golden.  Make sure not to walk away because they could burn quickly!
 

Serve chicken nuggets with dipping sauce.
 

Yield: About 4 generous servings

An InLinkz Link-up

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

 I came upon this recipe for Teriyaki Chicken on the Cooking Classy blog a couple of weeks ago.  The sauce ingredients looked so good that I had to try it!  It turned out great.  A bit spicy, gingery, sweet (but not too sweet), and tangy.  My husband gave it a 10 out of 10, which isn't a rating he hands out willy nilly.  I had to add a little more cornstarch than the original recipe called for, but other than that, the recipe was spot on.  Next time I'm going to try adding the orange marmalade to the sauce pan after the cooking liquid has been strained so that the little bits of orange peel won't be strained out (I like the orange flavor), but that's the only change I would make.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

1/3 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C honey
3 Tbsp orange marmalade
6 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 C low sodium soy sauce (the low sodium part is important!)
1 Tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water

In a medium bowl, mix together everything except chicken, cornstarch, and water until sugar and marmalade are partly dissolved.  Pour into a slow cooker.  Add chicken breasts to slow cooker and turn to coat in the sauce.  Cover and cook on either low or high heat until chicken breasts are cooked through.  How long this take will depend completely on your slow cooker!

When chicken is done, remove it to a plate and refrigerate so it can cool down a bit while you finish the sauce.  Strain liquid in slow cooker into a small saucepan and discard the solids left in the strainer.  Bring cooking liquid to a boil.  Stir together the cornstarch and cold water until smooth, then pour it into the liquid, stirring constantly.  Simmer sauce for at least a minute or two so it can thicken and the cornstarch can cook completely.  Pour sauce back into slow cooker.

Shred the cooked chicken breasts, return them to the slow cooker, and toss with the sauce to coat.  Cover again and let cook until heated through, about 20-30 minutes.  Serve chicken over rice.

Yield: about 8 servings

Mrs Jones' Baked Macaroni & Cheese

As my blog name hints, I am a huge mac and cheese lover and always have been.  I've probably tried more mac and cheese recipes than any other type!  At the same time, I'm pretty particular about my mac and cheese.  A recipe has to be just right to get two thumbs up from me.  Maybe 1 in 8 mac and cheese recipes I try are ones I deem tasty enough to make it to my blog.  Those include the magnificent Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese (my husband's favorite), Beer Mac and Cheese, and Stove Top Mac and Cheese.  I also made Ina Garten's Mac and Cheese for Ina Fridays and enjoyed it, but wouldn't have posted it on the blog if I hadn't made it specifically for that recipe group.

So what I'm getting at here is that I'm always trolling for more mac and cheese recipes, and when I do make one, it has to be freaking fantastic if it's going to join my little mac and cheese recipe family.  Ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to say there's a new cheesy, noodley member of the family!  The recipe is called Mrs Jones' Baked Macaroni and Cheese and I found it on a blog called Chick in the Kitchen.  I honestly have no recollection of how I came upon the recipe, I just know it was a couple of months ago.  We moved recently and with all the craziness of buying a house, packing, moving, and not being able to use the kitchen for several weeks, I had in the back of my mind the idea that I would make this mac and cheese recipe once I made my way back into the kitchen.  That happy day finally occurred recently, so of course this is one of the first things I made!  Oh and for those wondering, apparently Mrs Jones was the preschool teacher of the cousin of the blog author, Dara, some number of years ago, and the recipe has been in her family ever since. I altered it a smidgen (increased the Worcestershire sauce and added some salt), but my version is pretty true to the original.

Okay, on to what people may actually care about: a description of the recipe.  This is NOT a creamy, saucy mac and cheese.  There's actually no sauce to speak of.  Instead, the cheese, eggs, and milk make a rich, custard-like binder for the noodles.  It's not dry at all, either, and that's coming from someone who loves lots of sauce!  The mac and cheese also has awesome flavor from all of the sharp cheddar and the dried mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper in the sauce.  All the flavors really work together perfectly.  Even my husband really liked this mac and cheese, and he's a guy who groans whenever I make any recipe other than Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese because he loves that one.  This recipe is definitely a keeper and one I'll still be making 50 years from now!  Thank you, Dara, Dara's aunt, and Mrs Jones!

Mrs Jones' Baked Macaroni & Cheese

1 lb regular or whole wheat small pasta shells (I used Barilla White Fiber)

2 Tbsp butter

1 lb shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 eggs

12 oz can evaporated (NOT condensed) milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground mustard

1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 casserole dish.  Boil shells in salted water, drain, and return to pot.  Add butter and stir until it's melted, then let the pasta cool for a few minutes so it won't melt the cheese.  Stir it occasionally so it will cool faster.

While the shells cool, whisk the eggs in a small bowl until smooth.  Whisk in evaporated milk, salt, ground mustard, cayenne pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

When pasta has cooled a bit, stir in the grated cheese until it's evenly distributed.  Spoon pasta into the prepared baking dish and pack it down lightly with the back of a spoon.  Pour the egg mixture evenly over top.

Bake, uncovered, until the edges are bubbly and the top is golden, about 30 minutes.

Yield: 8-10 main dish servings or twice as many side servings.  Mac and cheese is ALWAYS a main dish at my house!

Ina Fridays: Weeknight Bolognese

It's time for another Ina Friday!  Unfortunately I missed last month because I was sick and in no condition to cook, but it's a new month!  This time we were supposed to make a main dish.  I had about 5 main dish Ina recipes bookmarked as potentials, and after spending all day today thinking about her Weeknight Bolognese, I picked up the ingredients on the way home from work and whipped it up.

This recipe did not disappoint!  I did have to make a few small changes, the most important being that I only used 1/2 teaspoon salt instead of a tablespoon, and only 1/4 teaspoon black pepper instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons.  I think this was a VERY good call because with that amount of salt, we probably would have shriveled up and died.  Reducing the pepper was more an issue of personal taste, but I really think the given amount would have been excessive.  I also left out the olive oil simply because even lean ground beef has enough fat to cook fine, and used pre-shredded parmesan.  Normally for a recipe like this, I would have grated my own, but I had an open container in the fridge that I couldn't bear to throw away!  It definitely would have been better with freshly grated though, the pre-shredded kind detracted a bit from the dish because it made it a little chalky.  One last thing- I boiled a whole 1 pound box of shells even though the recipe called for 3/4 and thought my husband would just eat the leftover pasta with butter for lunch.  The recipe ended up making so much sauce, though, that I went ahead and mixed all of the pasta with it.  Even with the extra noodles, it was still wonderfully saucy.

Now, plenty of sauce aside, what did we think of this recipe?  Well, my husband LOVED it and rated it 10 out of 10!  I didn't like it nearly as much as he did, but it's still something I will make again and am quite pleased with how it turned out.  The sauce is very robust and hearty with great flavor from the wine and a bit of creaminess.  It does not taste like a sauce that was only simmered for 20 minutes!  Next time I may experiment with adding a bit more cream, mostly because there was a lot left over in the container and there's no way an extra 1/4 cup cream could make it worse.

Weeknight Bolognese

1 lb ground beef

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp dried oregano

1 1/4 C red wine, divided

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 Tbsp tomato paste

salt to taste (I used 1/2 tsp)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 C fresh basil, chopped roughly and packed lightly into measuring cup

1/4 C heavy cream

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 lb small pasta such as shells or orecchiette

1/2 C freshly grated parmesan, plus more for serving

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high and add ground beef.  Saute until cooked through.  Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and oregano and saute another minute, until garlic starts to turn golden.  Add 1 cup of the wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.  Bring sauce to a boil, then cover with a splatter screen, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After the 10 minutes are up, begin to cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water.  While the pasta cooks, stir basil, cream, and nutmeg into sauce and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is done. 

Drain pasta and place into a large serving bowl.  Pour sauce on top and add the parmesan.  Toss until pasta is coated and cheese is melted.  Serve in bowls topped with additional parmesan.

Yield: 5 generous servings

Secret Recipe Club: Chicken Shawarma with Pita Bread & Toum

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned the amazing blog of a nice lady named Sawsan who lives in Jordan.  Her blog is called Chef in Disguise and has so many incredible looking recipes!  I had a heck of a time choosing one because food from that region of the world is basically my favorite.  When I saw her recipe for chicken shawarma, I decided to go full out and make that along with her pita bread and toum (creamy garlic sauce) recipes.  This was my first time making any of these things and also the first time I'd had chicken shawarma or toum.

For the purposes of this post, I'm just focusing on the chicken shawarma recipe, but you can find her pita bread here and toum here.  I made the latter two exactly according to her recipes and they turned out great!  The bread was soft and tender, and formed pockets like it was supposed to (something I worried about a bit!), and the toum was extremely creamy, lemony, and garlicky.  They definitely get my recommendation.

The chicken shawarma was very good, too.  It's something I've always wanted to try and ended up being quite unique!  I've never tasted anything with this specific combination of ingredients, but cinnamon, allspice, and cardamom are among my favorite spices and this recipe has all three!  Sadly I did not have the mastic so had to do without, but I will definitely try to get some next time I'm in Seattle and will make this recipe again with it.  The flavors came together quite nicely even without the mastic, though, and my husband and I both are looking forward to the leftovers and making it again another time.  I'm so glad I was assigned Sawsan's blog because these three specific recipes are probably not ones I would have come across otherwise.

Below is my version of Sawsan's recipe.  There were a couple of things I was a little unclear about in the main recipe, so I did it how I thought she intended, but I followed her recipe pretty closely.

Chicken Shawarma

Marinade:
8 oz plain yogurt
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp mastic (I did not have this)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ground bay leaf (I put a whole bayleaf in with the marinade)
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Chicken:
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into strips (I used breasts)
2 Tbsp
1 onion, halved and sliced
2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges

Extra:
pita bread
sliced pickles
toum or tahini
french fries

Mix together marinade ingredients.  Add chicken and stir to coat.  Refrigerate several hours or over night.

When you're ready to cook, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium high.  Add chicken to skillet with tongs and discard the remaining marinade (some will stick to the chicken).  Saute until chicken is almost cooked through, then push it to one side of the pan and add the onions.  Saute the onions until they soften, about 3-5 minutes, then push them to the side of the pan.  Saute the tomatoes until they begin to soften, about 3-5 minutes more.  Stir everything together and let it simmer for about 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

To serve, open up a pita and spread with some toum or tahini.  Make a line of the chicken shawarma mixture down the center of the pita and add sliced pickes and a few french fries if you'd like.  Roll up the pita and serve with fries on the side.

Yield:  About 4-5 servings

An InLinkz Link-up

Quinoa Chicken Chili

 This is a recipe I randomly came across a few months ago on the Queen Bee Coupons website.  The idea of quinoa in chili intrigued me and I love chili, so decided to make it!  This was actually my first time cooking OR eating quinoa and it was great.  There's not a whole lot in the chili, but it really expands a lot and adds a bit of substance and texture.  Quinoa aside, the chicken and spices are just perfect.  My husband said this was the best chili he's ever had, and I'm inclined to agree!  I made it over a month ago and froze most of it, but need to make another batch already.

Quinoa Chicken Chili

4 C chicken broth

10 oz can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles)

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 15 oz cans black beans, drained

1 C quinoa

1 Tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Toppings such as sour cream, grated cheddar, diced avocado, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, or green onion (I just did grated cheddar and it was perfect)

In a 5-6 quart slow cooker, stir together everything except chicken.  Add chicken.  Cover and cook until meat is cooked through, about 4 hours on high or 6 on low.  Remove chicken, chop or shred, and return to slow cooker.  Serve with your favorite chili toppings, such as grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and green onion.

When I did this, I added the broth, Rotel, and half the crushed tomatoes to the slow cooker, blended with the immersion blender, then added everything else.  My chicken was frozen in a large solid brick, so it took longer to cook- about 4 hours on high.  I put the chicken in the fridge for 15 minutes to cool off before shredding.

Yield:  About 13 servings

Chicken Cacciatore with Mushrooms & Bell Pepper

Here's another winner from Kate at Our Best Bites!  I don't think I've ever had a dud recipe from there, and this Chicken Cacciatore was extremely good.  Like, serve it to company good.  I can definitely see why this recipe is a lifelong favorite of Kate's.  It's just perfect- the chicken, bell pepper, and mushrooms are right at home in the robust, rather spicy, wine tinged, velvety tomato sauce.  A keeper for sure!

My version of this is a tiny bit different from the original.  Used more chicken (actually 1 3/4 lb, but I'm freakishly picky about fat and stuff on meat and lost about 1/4 lb when I was cutting it off), divied up the pepper a little bit differently, and the recipe suggested using more mushrooms if you love them, which we do.  The big change, though, is that I did not cook this in the slow cooker.  I was afraid the chicken would get dried out since the pieces are so small and you brown it on the stove first.  The internet told me that chicken cacciatore is often just simmered over low heat for an hour, so that's the route I decided to take and it worked out smashingly.

We had this over spaghetti, but right as the spaghetti was finishing cooking, my husband came home with a spaghetti squash and I think the leftovers will be wonderful with it.

Chicken Cacciatore

6 T olive oil, divided

1 onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 C white wine (not cooking wine, it's very salty and just gross)

1 1/2 C chicken broth

6 oz can tomato paste

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 t dried marjoram

1/4 t dried thyme

1/4 C flour

1 t salt

3/4 t pepper

1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces (I actually used 1 3/4 lbs)

1 bay leaf

2 C sliced mushrooms (about 5 ounces by weight)

1 green bell pepper, sliced

Brown onion in 2 Tbsp of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  When onion is almost done, add garlic and cook until golden.  Remove skillet from burner and spoon the onion and garlic into a blender.  Add tomato paste, wine, chicken broth, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, marjoram, and thyme to blender and blend until completely smooth.

Place flour, 1 tsp salt, and 3/4 tsp pepper in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and shake to mix.  Add the chicken and shake until it's evenly coated. Place the remaining 4 Tbsp oil in the skillet and heat over medium-high.  Add chicken and any excess flour and cook, stirring frequently, until browned (does not need to be cooked through).

Add blended sauce to the chicken in the skillet along with the bayleaf, mushrooms, and bell pepper.  Cover skillet and cook at a low simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.  The chicken, mushrooms, and bell pepper should be cooked through and tender.

Serve cacciatore over pasta, spaghetti squash, or steamed broccoli with a bit of parmesan on top.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Garlicky Bacon & Cheddar Stuffed Burgers with Avocado

Tonight's dinner was originally going to be Chicken Cacciatore (a recipe that I'll share later if it turns out well), but right when I was about to put the ingredients in the slow cooker, I came upon some photos of a cheese stuffed burger called a Juicy Lucy.  The Juicy Lucy (or Jucy Lucy, if you prefer) is a cheese stuffed burger from Minneapolis.  Burgers aren't usually my favorite thing, but for whatever reason, a cheese stuffed one sounded perfect today!  When looking for a recipe, I decided to combine two of them:  the idea of adding bacon came from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice, the burger recipe itself came from this one on AllRecipes, and I used cheddar, lots of garlic, and served the burgers with avocado on top because I felt like it!

I'm happy to say that the burgers turned out awesome.  Sadly, all of mine did end up leaking cheese a bit (really seal those edges!), but the burgers don't seem to have suffered for it at all and the leaked cheese kind of cooked onto the bottom of the burgers.  My husband and I both agreed that this burger is better than just a bacon cheeseburger.  No issues with the bacon falling off the burger this way, and the cheddar was super melty and stretchy instead of just half melted on top..  The avocado was also a perfect, creamy addition.  Tomato and lettuce would have been nice on top, but the burgers were so thick already that they would have been impossible to eat!  Instead, we had a salad on the side.

 

Sorry if the half gnawed burger looks unappealing, I wanted to show the inside but didn't want to cut my burger in half!

Garlicky Bacon & Cheddar Stuffed Burgers with Avocado

 

1 T vegetable oil

4 slices sharp cheddar

6 slices bacon

2 T dried minced onion

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1 1/4 lb ground beef

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

hamburger buns and whatever condiments you like (we did ketchup, mustard, and mayo)

Fold each slice of cheese in half, then in half again so each slice ends up as a little stack of 4 small pieces.  Cook and crumble the bacon. 

Mix together meat, onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, just until well combined.  Divide meat mixture into quarters, then form each quarter into 2 equal sized balls.  Working with one burger's worth of meat at a time, flatten the two balls into uniform patties, each about 5 inches in diameter.  Place a quarter of the crumbled bacon into the center, then top with one of the folded stacks of cheese.  Top with the other patty and firmly pinch together the edges of the two patties.  Repeat process with the rest of the meat.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high, and when the pan is hot, add the burgers.  Cook until browned on one side, then flip them over and poke the center in a few places with a toothpick.  This will help release steam inside the burger and help prevent the cheese from gushing out while the burgers cook.  Cook the burger on the second side until the internal temperature of one of the burgers is 160 degrees, then remove them to a paper towel lined plate.

Let the burgers sit for a few minutes before serving because the cheese inside is very hot.  Serve on toasted buns topped with avocado slices and whatever else you'd like.

Yield: 4 burgers

Creamy Salsa Dressing

When we were teenagers, my cousin and I loved a bagged salad kit that had a salsa dressing, so one day I experimented in my mom's kitchen and ended up with this dressing.  I've been making it for about 12 years now and finally measured the ingredients tonight.  It's a snap to make, and everyone I've served it to has really enjoyed it.  I've made it with countless types of salsa over the years (green salsa is great, too) and it's always fantastic.  The directions are really just a guideline and how much you need of each ingredient will depend on what salsa you use.  For example, some salsas result in a thinner dressing.  You can just add more sour cream if it's too thin for you.

This dressing is great made into a side salad with lettuce, tomatoes, a sprinkle of cheese, and some crushed tortilla chips, or you can make it into a dinner salad by also adding cooked taco meat, sliced olives, and sliced avocado.  Whatever you want, really.  We always love having taco salad!  It's also good drizzled over grilled chicken or in turkey wraps.  You can even use cream cheese instead of sour cream and make a dip.

Creamy Salsa Dressing

3/4 C of your favorite salsa

1/2 C sour cream

1 Tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp cumin

salt to taste (I used 1/2 tsp but the amount will depend on the salsa and your preferences)

Puree all ingredients in a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender.  Taste it and add more of any of the ingredients if you think it needs it.  The dressing will stay good in the refrigerator for about a week.

Yield: 1 1/4 C, about 6 to 10 servings depending on the size of your salads

Pork, Mushroom, & Cabbage Stir Fry

For some reason, I've never had a lot of luck with stir frys.  They seem to turn out average at best.  There are actually only two stir fry recipes that we enjoyed enough for me to want to make them again!  This is one of them.  It's so good that I'd actually be happy to be served it at a restaurant!  It has nice flavor (not sweet at all like many), is spicy from the pepper flakes, and is just all around really enjoyable.  Be warned that it just makes enough sauce to coat the stir fry without much left over for rice.  We didn't eat ours with rice so that was no problem, but I supposed you could double the sauce ingredients (except maybe the pepper flakes) if you want more sauce for rice.

I found the original recipe at A Sweet Life and have altered it a little bit.  The main change is I increased the amount of pork and eliminated the scrambled eggs.  When I made it, I did use the eggs, but for some reason they ended up seeming like an odd addition and we'd prefer it without.

As for the cooking temperature, it depends on the stove since some are hotter than others.  For the cabbage and mushrooms, you'll want to cook it at a high enough temperature so the veggies get browned in places without going limp, but of course you don't want them to burn!

Also, sorry, no photo- it turned out hideous looking, but you can check out the photo at the link above!

Pork, Mushroom, & Cabbage Stir Fry

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin, cut into bite sized pieces

1 small cabbage, cored and chopped into 2 inch pieces

2 portobello mushrooms, cut into quarters and sliced (this was 1/2 lb)

salt to taste

for the sauce:

1/3 C water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium and add sesame seeds.  Cook and stir frequently until seeds are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.  Remove seeds to a small bowl.  Add a tablespoon of the vegetable oil to the skillet, raise heat to medium-high, and add pork.  Salt to taste.  Stir fry until pork is browned and cooked through, then place it in a large bowl.  Add another half tablespoon of oil to the skillet and add cabbage, plus salt to taste.  Stir fry until tender.  Add to bowl with the pork.  Add remaining half tablespoon of oil to the skillet as well as the mushrooms and salt to taste.  Stir fry until soft.

Add the cabbage and pork back to the skillet and cook until heated through.  While everything's heating up, stir up the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour into skillet and stir fry until sauce has thickened and turned clear, about two minutes.  Serve over rice if you'd like and top with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.  Fresh fruit goes great on the side!

Yield: 6 to 8 servings 

Buffalo Turkey Burgers

We really enjoy Buffalo Chicken, so when I came upon the recipe for Buffalo Chicken Burgers on the blog "Will Cook for Smiles", it didn't take me long to make them.  I made a few small changes, but nothing too drastic, unless you consider swapping the chicken for ground turkey to be drastic!  The result was quite good.  Spicy from the hot sauce, and very flavorful from the mix of seasonings in the turkey.  We ate our burgers without the buns and had raw veggies on the side with ranch to dip the veggies and burgers in, but I'm sure they'd be even better with the buns!  My husband said this was the best thing I've made with ground turkey.  I make a lot of things with ground turkey and turkey burgers are known for not being as good as ones made from beef, so that's quite the compliment!

Quick note:  I used Frank's Red Hot Sauce.  This is by far my favorite hot sauce and to me it's not Buffalo Chicken (or Turkey in this case) if it's made with a different one.

Buffalo Turkey Burgers

1.25 lb extra lean ground turkey
1/4 C dry bread crumbs (optional, I did not use them)
1 egg
2 cloves minced garlic
2 Tblsp minced dried onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 C water
Frank's Red Hot Sauce to taste (I used about 1/2 C)
4 slices cheese or crumbled blue cheese (I used cheddar)
4 toasted buns

Toppings:
ranch or blue cheese dressing
veggies like sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, and lettuce

Mix together ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, onion, and seasonings.  Form into 4 burgers and poke a hole in the middle of each one to help keep them from turning into a turkey meatball when they're cooked.  Heat oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium and brown burgers on both sides.  If they haven't cooked through completely by the time they're as browned as you want, you can add 1/2 C water to the pan.

When the burgers are done, remove them to a paper towel lined plate, and dump out the skillet if you added water (dry off the tops of the burgers as well if you added water).  Place the skillet back on the burner and add the Frank's.  Add burgers back to skillet, cook about a minute, then flip, move them around so they get coated in hot sauce, and place cheese on each burger.  Cover with the lid and cook about another minute, then remove the skillet from the burner and leave covered until the cheese has melted.  Serve burgers with whatever toppings you want (the dressing is a great addition).

Yield: 4 burgers

Black & White Turkey Chili

White chili has always been something I've really loved, even when I was a super picky kid I often asked my mom to make it and was fascinated by the dried beans she used!  White chili (with dried beans) is one of my favorite things to make in the slow cooker, not sure why I haven't shared a recipe on here yet. 

There are some recipes that I'm very loyal to and particular about, but white chili is not one of them.  I've basically never met one that I've not thoroughly enjoyed, and this recipe is no exception!  It's been pretty cold here lately (-40 yesterday) and I spend a good amount of time outside, so I decided to make white chili and remembered an awesome looking one I saw recently on a blog called Kitchen Meets Girl.  Ashley adapted it from a recipe she found, and I slightly adapted her version of it by reducing the amount of chicken broth and using ground turkey instead of cooked chicken.  I was intrigued by the use of a jar of salsa verde and black beans.  Sure enough, the salsa verde made it quite zingy, and the toppings (we did sour cream, cheese, cilantro, and lime) made it even tastier.  It's not spicy, just very flavorful.  My husband is definitely not as fond of white chili as I am, but he liked this recipe so much that his exact words were "Holy smokes, this is amazing!" and then asked to take part of the leftovers to work for lunch instead of putting it in the freezer.  Sounds like a sign of endorsement to me!

Quick Note:  The brand of salsa you use really matters.  I picked Herdez Salsa Verde because I knew we really like the flavor.

Black & White Turkey Chili

1 tsp oil
1.25 lb ground turkey
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
15 oz can black beans, drained
15 oz can white beans (like Great Northern beans), drained
16 oz can salsa verde (I used Herdez)
2 C chicken broth

Toppings:
sour cream
grated cheese
cilantro
diced avocado
thinly sliced green onion
lime wedges

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high and add ground turkey.  Break it up with a spatula and cook until meat is cooked through.  Add spices and stir around for another minute.  Add beans, salsa verde, and chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer while you prepare your toppings.  Divide chili among bowls and let people add whatever toppings they want to their bowls.

Yield: About 6 servings