LASAGNA BOLOGNESE

I think I finally topped myself and found the perfect seasoning combination for bolognese sauce! I made the sauce a couple of days ahead so it could sit and let the flavors meld together.

LASAGNA BOLOGNESE
1 pound COSTCO organic ground beef
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
5 large Roma tomatoes, slice thin
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon fennel seed
2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Lasagna Noodles, prepared or oven ready**

Brown ground beef, Italian sausage, onions and garlic. Drain fat.
Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce.
Stir in sugar, salt, pepper, basil, Italian seasoning and fennel, mixing well.
Lay tomato slices evenly on top. Cover.
Simmer for 2 hours over low heat. Stir in tomato slices until well blended. At this time you can proceed to finish the lasagna or refrigerate the sauce until ready.

16 ounces Ricotta Cheese
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 pound shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the Ricotta cheese, egg, nutmeg and parsley.
Spray baking dish with PAM.
Spread some of the meat sauce along the bottom. Top with lasagna noodles. Add a layer of the Ricotta cheese mixture. Sprinkle with some of the Parmesan and then the mozzarella cheese. Repeat two more times.
Cover and bake 25 minutes.
Uncover and bake another 25 minutes or until cheese is golden and starting to crisp.
Let rest 10 minutes before cutting or serving.

**I love the oven ready noodles – no pre-cooking and so much less breakage. No one can tell the difference after you bake it!

CHICKEN COUNTRY CASSOULET

CHICKEN COUNTRY CASSOULET
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, diced
1 pound fat sausages of choice, cut into bite sized pieces
3 tablespoons butter
1 large Vidalia onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 carrots, sliced
1/2 pound snap peas, washed and deveined
1/4 cup fresh minced parsley
1 14-ounce can petit diced tomatoes, basil, garlic & oregano
1 tablespoon Classico sun-dried tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried
2 +/- cups chicken stock
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs**
salt and ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Brown the bacon until browned and crumbly in Dutch oven casserole dish. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Add chicken and sausages and brown on all sides. Remove from fat and set aside.

Add the onions and garlic and cook 3-4 minutes until softened.
Add the carrots, snap peas and parsley, sauteing 3-4 more minutes.
Add tomatoes, tomato puree, spices and salt and pepper to taste.

Add meat back in.
Add enough of the stock to just cover the meat and veggies, you don’t want things swimming around too much. You can always add more stock during the cooking if needed.

Cover dish and cook 1 hour.

Add more stock if necessary. Spread crumbs over the top and cook uncovered for 40 more minutes or until browned.

**Try adding other vegetables such as broccoli or white beans for variety. I used crushed Ritz crackers today and they worked reallllllllllllllly well as a substitute!

BROWN BAG CHICKEN aka IMPERIAL CHICKEN

I found this recipe in my bottomless box of magazine tear outs, clipped recipes from old worn cookbooks, grams old recipe cards and printouts to try. I’ve adapted it to my love of skinless, boneless chicken.

BROWN BAG CHICKEN aka IMPERIAL CHICKEN

1 cup dried bread crumbs (I use my stale sourdough ends and made my own)

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons minced parsley

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

large brown paper lunch sack, new and clean

PURE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small food processor blend bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper until finely ground and well blended.
Spray the inside of the paper bag with PURE really well.
Dip chicken into melted butter and then into bread crumbs.
Place chicken pieces in the bag, fold over and close tightly.
Bake 30-45 minutes. Be careful when you open the bag as the steam escapes. Chicken will be moist on the inside and crispy on the outside.

PAN SEARED CHICKEN BREAST with APRICOT RUM GLAZE

PAN SEARED CHICKEN BREAST with APRICOT RUM GLAZE
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup apricot pineapple jam
8-12 dried apricots, finely sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet.
Salt and pepper both sides of chicken pieces.
Brown chicken, turning once, until cooked through – about 4-5 minutes per side.
Remove from skillet and keep warm.

Reduce heat and add onion, sauteing until tender.
Add apricots, rum, wine, lemon juice and vinegar, simmering until reduced by half.
Add jam, blend well and simmer to desired consistency.
Serve over chicken and white rice with fresh kiwi.

CHICKEN MARSALA

I loved Italian food long before I met hubby. I’m also a creature of habit. When I find a dish that I absolutely adore I will try it every time I go out to find who makes it best. Unfortunately for this recipe no one makes it quite like it was originally made and I was forced to make my own recipe. I also found out that I have to hide the wine or hubby makes it disappear without benefit of the recipe/meal LOL.

Chicken Marsala

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – pounded 1/4 inch thick
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small white onion, sliced into thin rings and then separated
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/4 cup sweet cooking sherry

With a mortar and pestle grind the oregano.
Sift together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano.
Coat the chicken pieces well with the flour mixture.
In a heavy skillet, heat oil and butter.
When oil and butter is hot, saute’ onions and mushrooms until just caramelized.
Set aside onions and mushrooms and place chicken breasts in skillet and brown on both sides about 6 minutes per side over medium heat. Remove and set aside, but keep warm.
To the skillet, add the wine, lemon juice and sherry. Stir, reduce heat, and cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce is partially reduced and begins to thicken.
Return onions and mushrooms to the skillet.
Plate chicken breasts.
Spoon sauce over the chicken.
Cover and cook over low heat for about 5-10 minutes or until chicken is done.

FRITO PIE RE-VISITED aka BLACK BEAN CHICKEN NACHOS

My mom sent me a recipe recently that she’d made and said they’d really loved. It is sooooo simple, EXTREMELY TASTY, but moreover it was really easy to “modify” – you know me, I MUST modify! I’ll put the original recipe up and note the adjustments in red.

FRITO PIE RE-VISITED aka BLACK BEAN CHICKEN NACHOS
1 tablespoon butter
~~4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 lb.)~~ 1 pound chicken tenders **
~~1 cup TACO BELL thick & chunky salsa~~ 1 cup PACE thick and chunky salsa
~~1 can (15 oz.) black beans, undrained~~ 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained but not rinsed
~~1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk shredded Cheddar Cheese~~ 1 cup TILLAMOOK medium shredded cheddar cheese
FRITOS

Melt butter in skillet and brown chicken until just cooked through.
Add salsa and beans. Bring to a boil and cover. Simmer on medium to low about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Top with cheese. Cover and let stand until cheese is melted – 4-5 minutes.
Serve over Fritos and a dollop of sour cream.

**Next time I’ll cut the tenders into bite sized pieces.

PASTRAMI BURGERS

These couldn’t have been much simpler and were super tasty!

PASTRAMI BURGERS
1/2 pound ground beef per person
1 slice BOAR’S HEAD pastrami per person
1 green onion, minced per person
1 clove garlic, minced per person
1 slice provolone cheese per person
1/3 cup bread crumbs per 4 burgers
1 JUMBO egg per 4 burgers
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together except cheese.
Form burgers by hand.
Chill 2 hours.
Pan fry or grill.
Top with provolone cheese and serve.

GOLDEN FUNGUS BURGER

This was my first recipe in the BUNLESS BURGER SERIES. Bread in general is expensive and can be timely to make. It also doesn’t help on my diet so thought I would try going “bunless” and we are soooooooooooooooo glad we did. With planning to eat the burger with a knife and fork I was able to add so many more ingredients that would have otherwise made the bun mushy and slippery. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

So simple, but oh so yummy too.

GOLDEN FUNGUS BURGER

2 1/3 # burger patties

1/2 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin

4-5 large button mushrooms, sliced thin

1 large Roma tomato or 4 baby Roma tomatoes, sliced thin

1/4 cup Chablis

1/3 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Grill burgers inside or out. I add just a touch of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to the meat and hand form the patties.
In a large sauce pan melt butter.
When sizzling add onions and saute’ until translucent.
Add mushrooms and saute until tender.
Add wine and continue sauteing until moisture has sizzled away.
Add tomatoes until heated through.
Plate burger.
Top with onion mixture and then cheese. I use the pan lid over the plate for a minute to melt the cheese.

HOT WINGS & BLEU CHEESE

It doesn’t matter who you were rooting for, you CAN’T, I repeat CAN’T watch the SUPER BOWL unless you have hot wings and BLEU cheese dip!

HOT WINGS

2-3 dozen+ chicken wings ~ We prefer drumettes (with a little meat on them) to actual wings, but it’s your choice. Today I used what was in the freezer for picture sake, but next week it’ll be drumettes for sure!
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
hidden valley ranch dressing mix (DRY) OR Good Seasons Italian dressing mix (DRY)
2 sticks butter+
Frank’s Hot Sauce
PURE

I also prefer to use an old cast iron frying pan (our is at least 3rd generation, dating back to hubby’s grandfather that we know for sure). I still believe this gives you the most even browning.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Wash and dry the chicken pieces.
Mix together the flour and seasonings in a plastic ziploc bag. Using a ziploc bag makes it easy to throw away the whole mess after dredging all the chicken pieces and it helps you coat every possible spot of the chicken pieces.
Add chicken a few pieces at a time and coat them well. Set chicken pieces aside.
While you’re doing this, have the butter melting in the pan. Start with 1 stick and add as necessary, but make sure you don’t run out dry.
Once all the chicken has been dredged start frying. After you have the pan full pepper the pieces again. Don’t turn the chicken until you can see blood. You only need to turn the chicken one time. Brown evenly and then set aside on paper towels until all pieces have been fried.
As the last batch is frying melt the other stick of butter in a 4 cup measure cup. To that add 1 cup of Frank’s hot sauce per stick of butter. Whisk them together well.
Spray a cookie sheet with PURE.
Dip each piece of chicken into the hot sauce mixture and put on cookie sheet.
After you’re all done and if you have hot sauce & butter mixture left, pour a little over the top of each wing.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Serve hot with my homemade Bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks if you’d like.

Home made “BLEU” CHEESE DRESSING

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup large curd cottage cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
4 ounces bleu cheese crumbles (sometimes I use Gorgonzola for a bit of change or when I accidentally pick up the wrong container at the grocery store and we like it just as well)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
I put it all in my food processor and pulse until it’s well mixed. Chill for 24-48 hours before serving.

BLACK RIVER MEATLOAF

I have a new passion! I found this great new spice shop, SAVORY SPICE SHOP. They grind their own spices and have dozens of wonderful proprietary blends. Check out their website for some wonderful recipes too.

One of the things we love is a good meatloaf and I’m always looking for that “PERFECT” recipe. Well, I’m looking no more – this is it!! These days we eat small meals usually consisting of a protein and a salad or vegetable of some sort – our new favorite combo.

1 1/4 pound Kirkland Organic hamburger
2 bunches green onions, chopped or 1 small Vidalia onion, chopped
1 sleeve saltines, crushed
1 JUMBO egg
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup shredded Vermont white cheddar cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Four Cheese Tableside Sprinkle
1/2 teaspoon Black River Creole Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Honey Powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Blend all together.
I use the mini loaf pans and fill each one 2/3.
Bake for 45 minutes or until top is crispy.
Pour off excess fat before serving.
Bake how ever many you need today and freeze the others for future meals.
Thaw in refrigerator before baking.
These are truly greatest hits at our house and welcome leftovers for weekend picnic sandwiches.

HOW FIRECRACKER CHICKEN became SPARKLER CHICKEN

I originally found this recipe on recipepage and then proceeded to make it my own. But after the first few bites I edited it again – it just didn’t need that much BITE. So at first it was FIRECRACKER CHICKEN, but the 2nd time it became SPARKLER CHICKEN and we loved it even more. I’ll give you both recipes and you decide.

FIRECRACKER CHICKEN
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup cornstarch
2/3 cup Frank’s hot sauce
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350°.
Spray 9-13 baking dish with PURE.
Beat eggs until smooth consistency. You don’t want any “gloppy” areas.
Season chicken piece with salt and pepper.
Place cornstarch in a gallon sized bag.
Add chicken and shake until well coated. Then pour chicken into a mesh strainer and shake until all extra cornstarch is gone. (I do this over a large mixing bowl to make as little mess as possible.
Heat butter in skillet over a medium high heat.
Dip chicken pieces in egg wash and add to skillet. At this point you are looking to brown each side, not cook it through.
Remove chicken pieces to the baking dish.
In a medium mixing bowl add Frank’s hot sauce and apple cider vinegar to the brown sugar and stir to a uniform consistency.
Pour over chicken pieces.
Bake 45 minutes or until sauce had thickened and chicken is cooked through.

SPARKLER CHICKEN – FIRECRACKER CHICKEN revised
changes are in RED
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunk
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup Frank’s hot sauce
1 1/2 cups PACKED brown sugar
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350°.

Spray 9-13 baking dish with PURE.

Beat eggs until smooth consistency. You don’t want any “gloppy” areas.

Season chicken piece with salt and pepper.

Place cornstarch in a gallon sized bag.

Add chicken and shake until well coated. Then pour chicken into a mesh strainer and shake until all extra cornstarch is gone. (I do this over a large mixing bowl to make as little mess as possible.

Heat butter in skillet over a medium high heat.

Dip chicken pieces in egg wash and add to skillet. At this point you are looking to brown each side, not cook it through.

Remove chicken pieces to the baking dish.

In a medium mixing bowl add Frank’s hot sauce and apple cider vinegar to the brown sugar and stir to a uniform consistency.

Pour over chicken pieces.

Bake 45 minutes or until sauce had thickened and chicken is cooked through

ORANGE HONEY CHICKEN

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
heavy coat of olive oil
1 clove minced garlic, jar
1 bunch green onions, minced
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
Juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon red chile pepper flakes
1 1/2 tablespoon cream sherry
5 tablespoons sugar
zest of one orange
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix cornstarch, flour, salt & pepper in ziploc bag.
Toss chicken pieces in beaten eggs and sesame oil and then dredge in the flour bag.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil. When hot, add the chicken pieces and cook turning as needed until all sides are golden brown. 4-8 minutes.
Drain chicken on paper towel lined plate.
Pour off excess oil and clean pan with paper towel.
Add 1 tablespoon more olive oil and saute’ garlic and green onion.
Add the soy sauce, sugar, honey, orange juice, sherry, red chile pepper flakes and ginger.
Cook until thick, do not boil.
Dip in honey mixture and place on sprayed cookie sheet. If you would like sprinkle some sesame seeds over the chicken at this point.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Brush with original glaze after the first 10 minutes.
Save any additional glaze to use over the rice.
Serve over rice.

Category: PROTEINS

Chicken Marsala