Where have I been?

I have not been ignoring my culinary duties...in fact tonight I am making Mole! Yum yum!

I also started another blog about just my life in general and other projects I work on. Cooking is not the only thing I do..gasp!

Anyway.. due to oe such project we did eat delivery pizza, and sandwiches....and left over sweet red wine sauce chicken. If you haven't checked out that recipe, you should. The sauce is super tasty!

So tomorrow I will be able to post about the Mole. Stay tuned!

Cheers!
CC

Turkey Shepard's Pie

Shepard's pie is really simple to make, and doesn't take too much time. It's a great dish to make for when you have guests, or if you want to cook once and have left overs. Since there are just the two of us, and our little one, we usually have left overs for a few days. This recipe has a lot of flavor. It is made with red wine, but you can omit that if you'd like. This is a great one dish meal, or you can serve it with a side salad like I do. And the great part about this is, you can add in other veggies...some people like it with peas and carrots.

I made this particular recipe with Charles Shaw wine because it is super cheap and still tasty...so that makes it great to cook with. You can use any red wine...I used the Shiraz, Cabernet is also a good one to cook with. The best part about cooking with wine...you can drink the rest! Or...you can do what I did and make some wine sauce for later recipes... here is my wine sauce recipe sweet red wine sauce


Ingredients For the Filling:

• 1 (or 1.3 pound package) ground turkey
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 small can corn, drained
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
•  Worcestershire sauce
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Black pepper, season salt, and Mrs. Dash Original to taste

Ingredients for Potato Topping:

• 2 large brown potatoes (the ones for baking are best)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk (depending on the size of your potatoes you may need more or less)
• Garlic powder, season salt, Mrs. Dash, and black pepper
• 2 oz shredded cheese (I used the Kraft triple cheese mix with cheddar)

Start off by getting the potatoes going. Boil water in a sauce pan and sprinkle in some garlic powder, season salt, and Mrs. Dash. The potatoes will absorb the spices and taste better. Peel, wash, and cut up the potatoes. I do smaller pieces so they cook faster, but not too small. Allow them to boil while you prepare the filling.

In a large skillet, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Add turkey and cut it up into small pieces as you stir. Add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, sprinkle in pepper, season salt, and Mrs. Dash. Cook meat, stirring frequently until browned and cooked through. Stir in tomato paste and corn. Add wine and cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Add in chicken broth and continue to cook until most has evaporated. You should have just a little sauciness to it. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

While the liquid is evaporating from the meat, mash the potatoes. Make sure to test them with a fork to ensure they are tender enough to mash. Drain the potatoes and place them in a mix bowl. Add butter, sour cream, milk, and spices then mash with a mixer until they are smooth. Add more milk if the potatoes are too dry. I also like to taste test them in case I need to add more spices or butter. Fold in cheese.

Put meat in a baking dish, then top with potatoes. Bake for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are slightly golden.

Cheers!
CC

Grasshopper Pie

When I was pregnant, I craved Grasshopper Pie. I went to countless pie shops and asked for it, and you would not believe the looks I got. "What is that? Is it made with grasshoppers?" I know pregnant women can sometimes crave strange things, but no...I was not wanting to eat actual grasshoppers. Apparently, Grasshopper Pie is more of a Southern type of thing and I lived in California. I could have easily made it myself, but I was sick through so much of my pregnancy, that I was not interested in cooking or baking.

Now that I live in the South, it is a well known dessert. It is a chocolate pudding pie with mint cream. And for fun, usually the cream is dyed green. So this would make an excellent St. Patrick's Day dessert.

This recipe comes from a Taste of Home Magazine supplement and is credited to Melissa Sokasits of Warrenville, IL.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cold milk
• 1 3.9oz package of instant chocolate pudding mix (its the smaller box of Jello pudding mix)
• 2 3/4 cups whipped topping (aka cool whip)
• 1 4.67 oz package of Andes candies, chopped
• 1 9in chocolate crumb crust
• 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
• 3 drops green food coloring

Whisk milk and pudding together for about 2 minutes, then let stand for a few minutes while you prepare the topping. In another bowl, combine 2 cups whipped topping, mint extract, and food coloring. Set aside. Add 3/4 cup whipped topping to the pudding mixture and mix well. Fold in half the Andes. Spoon into the pie crust and smooth out. Top with the green whipped topping and sprinkle on remaining Andes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Cheers!
CC

Chicken Satay & Curry Fried Rice

Yesterday was a cooking/baking day for me! I prepared the Chicken Satay early so that it could marinate for several hours (I highly recommend doing this, or allowing it to marinate over night). I also made my own fried rice...it wasn't your traditional fried rice from a restaurant, but it turned out very tasty. I also made Grasshopper Pie and Reeses Peanut Butter Brownies. :) I think tonight, I will take the night off from cooking, although, I did make some cornbread this morning for breakfast.

Chicken satay is a Thai dish. If you have a peanut allergy, this is not a recipe for you as it contains peanut butter. The original recipe came from Quick and Easy Chicken Dishes, a cookbook I have had for some time. I will post a bibliography for it at the bottom of this post. I did make some changes to the recipe...so this is not their original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 package chicken tenderloins (or you can use a package of 4 breast fillets, cut into cubes)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter (I only had crunchy peanut butter and it worked fine)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoons chili paste (I could only find garlic chili sauce at my store, so I used 2 teaspoons of that) HINT: look in the Asian food section of the store for this the cookbook calls it sambal oelek
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger (I found it in a jar in the Asian section of the store)
• 1 onion finely chopped

Make the marinade first and allow chicken to marinate for at least 2 hours, but the longer the better. Over night works as well. To make the marinade, combine everything but the chicken and stir it all together. I suggest mixing it all first then adding the onions. Then add chicken, cover and marinate in the refrigerator. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in a baking dish, and put some of the onions from the sauce on top. Do not add the sauce to the baking dish. Bake chicken for about 30 minutes ensuring it is cooked thoroughly. Place sauce in a pan and cook on medium heat, allowing it to boil and thicken a little. Make sure to stir it frequently. Serve sauce on the side for dipping.

Fried Rice

There are many recipes online for fried rice. I looked at a few and also took what I have seen the cooks do at Asian restaurants...the ones where they cook in front of you at the table. :) I decided since the chicken satay is a Thai dish, to add some curry powder to the recipe. To prepare...you need to precook some white rice and refrigerate it for several hours until it is cold. TIP: I just got a rice cooker and I LOVE it! The rice comes out perfect! For the veggies, I was being lazy and just used a bag of frozen steam in the bag veggies. I used the mix with green beans, water chestnuts, broccoli, and carrots. If you want to use fresh veggies, just be sure to dice and cook them ahead of time.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked, cold white rice
• 1 bag frozen veggies (steam in the bag as directed on the package)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/8 cup soy sauce (add more or less to taste)
• black pepper
• garlic powder
• curry powder
• 2 eggs
• splash of lemon juice

Steam and dice up the veggies. In a small pan, scramble the eggs. In a large skillet or wok, turn heat on to medium and melt butter. Add soy sauce, garlic, pepper, curry powder (just a few dashes), and lemon juice. Mix it up, then add rice and egg and stir well. Cook until rice is hot, stirring frequently. Mix in veggies. I like to do a taste test to see if I need to add more of any of the spices or soy sauce before I serve it up.

Cheers!
CC


Bibliography
Quick and Easy Chicken Dishes, Trident Press International, Second Edition, 2003, Page 10

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Turkey

I found this lower calorie recipe on Pinterest after Nick requested I make stuffed peppers. I did make a few changes because I felt like the original might have lacked taste, and I was really pleased that I did. They came out great! The original recipe says to use reduced fat cheese and chicken broth...however...I do no do this. If you do a little research, you will learn that reduced fat options are usually worse for your body than the regular version (thank you high school chemistry teacher for that one).

Here is the original post Turkey Stuffed Peppers on Skinnytaste.com.

Ingredients:

• 1 package ground turkey...the recipe says 1 pound, but the packages are usually 1.3 pounds
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon cilantro
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• season salt, black pepper, and Mrs. Dash original to taste
• Couple splashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 large sweet red bell peppers, washed, cut in half and seeds removed
• 1 cup chicken broth, divided
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
• Olive oil
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used a three cheese cheddar blend)

Preheat oven to 400.  Place bell pepper halves in a 13x9 inch baking dish and pour 1/2 cup of chicken broth in the bottom of the dish.

In a large skillet, spray or drip a little olive oil and set burner to medium high. Add onion, minced garlic, and cilantro and saute for about 2 minutes. Add ground turkey and break it up. Sprinkle on season salt, cumin, garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, black pepper and splash on Worcestershire sauce. Brown the meat until cooked completely. Add in 1/2 cup of chicken broth and tomato sauce, mix and simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Add in rice and remove from heat.

Spoon meat and rice mixture into the pepper halves. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and serve.

Cheers!
CC

Orange Roughy Dijon

I am not a big fish eater...but I do enjoy the light taste of Orange Roughy. I did have to go to four different stores to find it here in Louisiana. Again...Albertson's to the rescue!

This recipe came from Southern Living cookbook. I did change a couple things and I had to increase the cook time a bit. I served it with some rice and a salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 Orange Roughy fillets
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
•  1 tablespoon dijon mustard (I used honey dijon which gave it a little sweet taste)
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 cup butter softened
• 1 clove minced garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place fish in a lightly greased baking dish (I sprayed it with a little olive oil). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix butter, mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and cloves in a small bowl then spread over fish. Top with bread crumbs and bake 10-15 minutes. Fish should flake apart with a fork.

Enjoy!
Cheers!
CC

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions, Scalloped Potatoes and Chicken

Okay...to be honest...the best part of this meal was the green beans. The Chicken is my own recipe and its not bad either. The potatoes did not turn out too well...I will be searching for another recipe for those.

A few Christmases ago, my grandma gave me a Southern Living cookbook...she had no idea I would be living in the South at that point. Their recipe for Caramelized Green Beans is fabulous! I even used extra onions and sauce to top the chicken.

For this...you need to start the potatoes first because they take the longest. I found the recipe on about.com in Southern Food. But that was in 2009...and now I cannot find it again. I had printed it at the time and kept it. It had 5 star reviews, but I was disappointed. It's not bad...give it a try if you like, maybe you'll like it. TIP: If you have a slicer, it makes this recipe much easier. I found mine for $10 at Albertsons.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups thinly sliced potatoes
• 1 medium onion thinly sliced
• 2 table spoons flour
• 2 table spoons grated Parmesan cheeses (I actually doubled that cause I like cheese)
• salt and pepper
• 2 table spoons butter (I think I also used more than that)
• 1 3/4 cups hot milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. lightly butter the bottom of a 1/2 quart casserole dish Place a layer of potatoes and onions in casserole. Sprinkle with some of the flour, cheese,  salt and pepper. Dot with small pieces of butter. Repeat layering ending with a layer of potatoes. Dot with butter and pour in hot milk. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Baked Chicken
Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast (as many as you like)
• Splash of chicken broth
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Mrs Dash Original
• Season Salt
• Black Pepper 

Preheat oven to 375.  Place chicken and splash of chicken broth in baking dish. Pierce chicken several times with a fork. Splash on Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash on top and bake for 30 minutes. Make sure to check the chicken to ensure it is done cooking.

Caramelized Onions and Green Beans...this will make extra sauce to top your chicken
Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and washed
• 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced then cut in half
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (I had pomegranate flavored and it was very good)

Cook green beans in boiling water for 10-15 minutes.Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add onions. cook 8 minutes but do not stir. Continue to cook onion until golden, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining butter and brown sugar. Add the green beans and cook about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar and serve.

Enjoy!
Cheers!
CC

Things I am Planning

With St. Patty's Day coming up...I am determined to make a Grasshopper Pie. Those of you here in the South know what I am talking about. When I was pregnant (and living in California) I craved this for weeks. It was one of the few things I craved. But when I asked for it, people looked at me like I was insane. And I just was not into cooking much while I was pregnant. Now that I have moved and have all my cookbooks and magazines unpacked...I found a recipe for Grasshopper Pie and it is on my list of things to make. For my California friends...Grasshopper Pie is a mint pie with chocolate cookie crust. YUM! Stay tuned for that one!

Tomorrow I am making the Orange Roughy recipe I found in my Southern Living cookbook. Then Thursday or Friday, Chicken Satay. I am trying to convince Nick to take me to Red Lobster for Lobster Fest one day even though I am allergic and will pay for it. It's not a deadly allergy or anything...just some stomach uncomfort...to put it nicely.

This weekend I will be meal planning again and shopping for any items I may need. I heard this slow cooker orange chicken recipe on Pinterest is amazing, so I am giving that a try for sure. And I may also do stuffed bell peppers at Nick's request. I am also going to look for some new recipes to test out.

I hope you enjoy my cooking/baking adventures as much as I do :)

Cheers!
CC

Quick Pasta Using Philly Cooking Cream

I recently discovered the Philadelphia Cooking Cream. I had a coupon for it, so decided to give it a try. It's good. :) I've tried the Italian Herb and the Garlic flavors so far. Since I am really only cooking for 2 (and my toddler)...sometimes I have left over chicken breast. Last night I made a simple baked chicken (recipe will also be put up) and there were 3 breasts in the package. We only ate two...which meant I had one left. So...this recipe is the result of left over chicken breast :)

Ingredients

• 1 cooked and cubed chicken breast
• 1 bag frozen veggies microwave steamed (I used broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot mix)
• 1 container Philadelphia cooking cream...I used the Italian Herb for this one
• A splash of chicken broth
• Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash to taste
• Cooked pasta noodles
• Parmesean Cheese to taste

Place a splash of chicken broth in a skillet and add chicken. Cook on medium high heat until heated, stirring frequently. Cook veggies per package, then add to chicken. Add salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash. Stir in cooking cream, reduce heat to low and cook about 5 minutes. Stir in pasta, sprinkle with Parmesean and serve.

This makes about 4 servings.

Cheers!
CC

Liv's Favorite Lunch

My daughter has developed a few favorites in her 13 months of life. :) She loves yogurt, apples, and cookies. And recently she has developed a love for a super simple lunch item. Crescent roll ups. I make a batch and it lasts a few days (if daddy doesn't eat them all). It takes roughly 15 minutes from start to finish...and you can sneak some healthy veggies in there too. Or make them fruity for breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
16 thin slices of lunch meat
4 slices of cheese cut in halves
cut up veggies, broccoli, carrots,spinach...whatever you fancy

Preheat oven as directed on the package. Unroll the dough and separate into triangles (makes 8).

 Place one half of a cheese slice on the dough, then 2 slices of meat, then veggie.

 Roll them up and place on a cookie sheet. TIP: sometimes the cheese spills out during cooking. For easy cleanup, line your cookie sheet with foil.

Bake as directed on package (10-12 minutes). Let them cool before serving because they are very hot!

That's it! Super easy and pretty yummy. Toddler approved. :)

Cheers!
CC

Chicken Marsala and Asparagus

I love a good Chicken Marsala! Since we just moved to Louisiana...I am still finding my way around and it took going to 5 different stores before I found Marsala wine for the recipe. Thank you Albertsons!! They had an expansive wine selection and I finally found it there. Marsala is nice to cook with because it saves very well...where most wines do not once they are opened.

This is my interpretation of Emeril's recipe. If you would like to see how he did it, here is the site.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-marsala-recipe/index.html

Emeril pan fries the chicken...but I'm not a fan of doing it that way..so my recipe is a baked version. And in this particular cooking experience my sauce was a little thin...so I bumped up the amount of flour you should add in the recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 container sliced mushrooms
• 3/4 cup Marsala
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Minced garlic
• Salt and black pepper
• Onion powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and sprinkle with pepper, salt, onion powder, and garlic. Bake for 40-45 minutes ensuring the meat is cooked through. While meat is baking, make the sauce.

Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to a medium skillet then add mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are golden brown.

Add the Marsala wine and bring to a boil. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour to thicken sauce slightly.

 Carefully add the sauce and mushrooms to the baking chicken for the last 10 minutes of bake time. When chicken is done baking, remove from oven and stir in remaining butter.

Serve over mashed potatoes for a yummy, filling dinner.

The beauty of this asparagus recipe is that you can make the asparagus the way you like it. I happen to like it a little on the crisp side, but some people like it more soft. Just increase the cook time to get it how you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• 1/4 large sweet onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• black pepper

Directions:
Wash asparagus and break off the very bottom part (it should snap right off). In a large skillet, heat butter and onions til golden. Add in asparagus and sprinkle with pepper. Cook covered for 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy! Cheers!
CC