COUNTRY CHICKEN & RICE

COUNTRY CHICKEN and RICE

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, tenders or thighs
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes, drained
or I prefer 1/4 cup sun dried tomato pesto
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Marsala wine
3 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin tops and all
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups boiling water
chopped fresh parsley for garnish
  • Whisk together the tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, Italian seasoning and 1/2 of the salt and pepper.
  • In a Tupperware marinader or a large Ziploc bag pour sauce over chicken pieces and marinade 2 hours or overnight is really yummy too.
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Spray a 9×13 baking dish with PURE.
  • Place rices, carrots and onions in the baking dish.
  • Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper.
  • Remove chicken pieces from the marinade to a plate.
  • Stir remaining marinade into the boiling water and then stir that into the rice.
  • Evenly layer chicken pieces over rice.
  • Cover tightly with foil.
  • Bake 1 hour or until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
  • Sprinkle with fresh parsley as garnish.

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ORANGE HONEY CHICKEN

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.

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BACON CHEESEBURGER HAMBURGER HELPER NOT!!


BACON CHEESEBURGER HAMBURGER HELPER NOT!!
6 bacon strips cooked crisp and crumbled
1 1/2 pounds hamburger
1 small Vidalia onion, chopped
2 cups green giant frozen corn, thawed
2 large Yukon potatoes, sliced
Land o’ Lakes American Cheese Slices

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Toss bacon and corn together.
  • Layer potatoes over top.
  • Generously salt and pepper the potatoes.
  • Place a thin layer of cheese slices over potatoes.
  • Brown hamburger and onions together. Salt and pepper well while meat is browning. Drain off fat.
  • Layer over the potatoes and top with another layer of potatoes.
  • Salt and pepper again and layer with another layer of cheese.
  • Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
  • Uncover and bake another 15 minutes.

**I like to make this and the ITALIAN SAUSAGE BAKE back to back (that way I also have 2 meals ready to go with half the mess) so the left over bits of browned sausage and caramelized onion add flavor to the hamburger.
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Italian Sausage Bake

ITALIAN SAUSAGE BAKE
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, (no casings)
1 small Vidalia Onion, chopped
2 large Yukon potatoes, chopped
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 can diced tomatoes with herbs
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning mix
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Brown sausage and onion. Drain off grease.
  • Place sausage in the bottom of a 9×9 casserole.
  • Drain tomatoes, reserving juice.
  • Toss together the potatoes and carrots and layer over the sausage and onion mix.
  • Top with the tomatoes.
  • Whisk together the tomato juice, ricotta cheese and seasoning
  • Pour over top of everything.
  • Top with mozzarella cheese.
  • Bake 45 minutes or until potatoes are done.
For some reason hubby loves Hamburger helper. Must be left over from his bachelor days. Now I can’t have pre-prepared foods due to health issue so I made him a substitute recipe that tastes even better. I make it in advance too which makes a great weeknight casserole ready to pop in the oven when you get home. Hubby likes the texture of Velveeta, but I find it a bit rubbery. So I tried Land of Lakes American cheese and it slices great while still giving you that smooth creamy cheese texture when it melts.

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2 1/2 BEAN SALAD

I love 3 bean salad, but I hate kidney beans. So, I developed this recipe to cater to my own likes. If you like kidney beans, add them back in.
2 cans green beans
1 can wax beans
1-2 oz. jar pimentos
1 cup white vinegar
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons salt
  • Drain beans and pimentos and place into a jar with enough room for the liquid.
  • In a sauce pan dissolve the sugar and salt into the vinegar and bring it to a boil.
  • Let it cool.
  • Pour it over the beans.
  • Marinate at least 24-48 hours for the best flavor.

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CHICKEN PAPRIKA IN BALSAMIC CREAM SAUCE

When I was a little girl we went a restaurant on the west coast called the Sea Lion for special occasions. The restaurant sat right on the beach and my favorite time to go was during a storm. My family always reserved a window table in advance. The waves would crash up on the windows while you were eating and it created such an ambiance that ALL food tasted better in my opinion. I wasn’t much on fish back then (silly me) so I would always order their Paprika Fried Chicken which I have not yet been able to completely duplicate, but have settled for this recipe until I can. The flavor is similar, but creamy. Their recipe was more like a broasted chicken, but the flavor combination was just so unique!!
CHICKEN PAPRIKA IN BALSAMIC CREAM SAUCE
2 pounds chicken tenders
1/2 teaspoon each sea salt & white pepper
1/2 cup flour for dredging
1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
2 large bunches green onions, thinly sliced
olive oil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon chicken base
1/2 cup heavy cream
  • Mix together the sea salt, white pepper and 1 tablespoon of paprika with the flour in a plastic bag.
  • Coat each chicken tender well with flour seasoning mix. Reserve any remaining flour mixture.
  • In a large skillet heat olive oil.
  • Brown chicken pieces until golden on each side, until almost cooked through, set aside.
  • Add onions to oil and saute until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
  • Add balsamic vinegar and lemon juice to deglaze the pan scraping up any bits stuck to the pan for added flavor.
  • Whisk the boiling water, chicken base 2 tablespoons paprika together until smooth.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Add any remaining flour seasoning mix and whisk until smooth.
  • Reduce heat, return chicken to pan and simmer 5-10 minutes.
  • Add cream and simmer 5-10 minutes more until chicken is cooked through.
  • Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

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S.O.S., creamed chipped beef or S*%$ on a Shingle ~ it all tastes the same no matter what you call it

Hubby had been craving S.O.S. a lot lately! I hadn’t made it in years and he really wanted to go OUT for a hometown diner style breakfast. Someone told us about a local diner that had it as a special every other weekend. Of course we had just missed that weekend so he had to wait almost 2 weeks until yesterday! He was soooooooooo excited and then he was soooooooooooo disappointed. It truly was S@#%! on a shingle, the dogs weren’t even thrilled with the leftovers! So this morning I surprised hubby with home made Creamed Chipped Beef and I thought I would share the recipe. One of my ‘secret’ ingredients is serving it over sourdough toast for extra flavor. The other is using a cast iron skillet.

1/3 cup butter
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 jar Armor dried beef*, chopped small
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (my last secret ingredient)

  • Melt the butter and add the onions.
  • After about 2 minutes add the beef also. Saute’ until onions are translucent.
  • Sprinkle with pepper. Use salt sparingly (beef is pretty salty)
  • Sprinkle flour over the meat and onions and stir in well. The flour will burn, so work quickly.
  • Gradually add in the milk, stirring continuously until mixture boils. Turn down heat.
  • Add the Worcestershire sauce and thicken to a gravy consistency.
  • Serve immediately over toast.

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Chocolate Obsession

CHOCOLATE OBSESSION
It is a little frightening. I go through my recipes on both my blogs and what do I see dozens of recipes for chocolate chip cookies and brownies plus all kinds of other chocolate goodies and I keep baking more. Of course, my excuse is my class, who I do the bulk of my baking for. They adore chocolate, like I don’t.

I thought I would bake one of the best recipes with you and of course, it has chocolate.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into squares
1 stick unsalted margarine
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Method:
In a microwave, melt the bittersweet chocolate and margarine. Allow it to cool.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl until frothy.

Slowly add the sugar and beat until the mixture ribbons off the beaters. Add the melted chocolate mixture. Stir to combine.

Sift the dry ingredients together.

Add to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine.

Fold in the chips and nuts.

Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is well chilled . I did not have the time to do this.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with baking parchment. (I used four sheets and doubled on one of them. I got loads of cookies, figuring 16 on a sheet.

Using a small cookie scoop (one teaspoon) make balls to place on cookie sheets, leaving about one and a half inches between cookies.

Bake about 12 minutes. Start checking at 11. Depending on the shelf, they were on, some were done.
The tops of the cookies should look dry and cracked. None of mine were.
Allow to cool for a minute on the baking sheet, then remove to cake racks for further cooling.
Finally, eat and be aware, you will want to keep eating more and more. These cookies don’t look like much, in my opinion but they are the chewiest so if you like chewy, here it is.
Check out Tyler’s brownies on Sweet and Savory – more chocolate

THE ULTIMATE OLD FASHIONED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Chocolate chip cookies were one of the earliest recipes I began making on my own. There was always the great nut debate between my grandfather and uncle who both believed they didn’t like nuts. I LOVE walnuts in my cookies and brownies and even as a child learned that there are two ways to skin a cat as my dad would say. It turns out that what I liked was the flavor, didn’t really care about the actual nut one way or the other. So, I learned to “fake” out my grandfather and uncle who despite their belief in no nuts had no problem devouring a batch of my cookies! I’ve tweaked this recipe for years to make a larger batch and keep everyone happy.

ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 1/2 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple extract
3 3/4 cups flour
1 cup walnut pieces
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup golden raisins

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Using a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar together.
  • Add molasses and blend until smooth.
  • Add eggs one at a time until well blended.
  • Add vanilla and maple extracts and blend until smooth.
  • Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder.
  • In a small food processor, chop nut pieces until a fine flour.
  • Gradually add the nuts and flour mixture until well blended.
  • Gently fold in milk chocolate chips and raisins.
  • Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
  • Bake 10-12 minutes
  • Enjoy

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Kitchen Dreams & Wishes

A while back I began Kitchen Dreams & Wishes at 3 Sides of Crazy and then it gravitated over to my food blog, OUR KraZy kitchen and now that it has grown into a wonderful collaboration of some awesome foodie blog buddies, it only seems natural to move Kitchen Dreams & Wishes to my personal food blog.

Today’s dreams are courtesy of:

Improvements Catalog, King Arthur Flour, Cooking Enthusiast

What does this step chest have to do with the kitchen you may ask? Well, I dream of it as a pie safe, jam cabinet & spice cubby!

I love this strainer! It seems that all of mine have holes that are just big enough to get the food particles caught and torn!

These measuring spoons are wonderful for actually getting into spice jars easily.

I’m going to be making English muffins soon and these rings will be of a great help!

And this is just a great idea! It could be used in the kitchen and EVERYWHERE else!
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RUSTIC APPLE DUMPLINGS with MOCHA CARAMEL SAUCE

I made a less than appetizing dinner the other night trying to clean out the refrigerator and while hubby was as diplomatic as possible, I felt bad. He has always been a wonderful guinea pig. So I had 2 apples and a can of refrigerator biscuits that all still needed to be used. Here is what I made:


RUSTIC APPLE DUMPLINGS with MOCHA CARAMEL SAUCE

I peeled, cored and chopped the apples.
Then I sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar and tossed them well.

I flattened each of the biscuits with a little additional flour.
Topped 5 of them with the apple mixture.

Then draped the apple mixture with another flattened biscuit.
I brushed each one with butter, sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar and baked 10-12 minutes.

After they were baked I topped them with Mocha Caramel sauce and voile’ my family loved me again.

MOCHA CARAMEL SAUCE

1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

  • Combine the cream and butter in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat.
  • In a medium saucepan cook the corn syrup over a medium heat until bubbly. Fold in 1/4 cup of the sugar and continue to cook until the edges begin to turn a light amber color. Add in 1/4 cup sugar more and repeat until all the sugar is blended in. Continue cooking until amber color darkens stirring constantly.
  • Remove from the heat and carefully fold in the cream mixture.
  • Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until caramel is bubbling.
  • Toss in the milk chocolate chips and blend until smooth.
  • Serve warm.

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