New Recipes!

Hello, fellow chefs! I have been very long in posting and I apologize. I have been cooking, but haven't been able to take pictures of what I've prepared. I think the pictures make such a difference that I wanted to wait until I had some to share.

So, my first recipe is a pot roast recipe. I make my pot roast in the crock pot. On a side note...I LOVE MY CROCK POT!! I use it all year long. In the cold winter months, it's such a cozy feeling to know I have dinner bubbling away in the crock pot and in the hot, summer months, I plug it in out on the front porch! (seriously!!) It keeps the house cooler and I still have the freedom of dinner being cooked all day without me doing much at all!!


Pot Roast dinner:


1 3-4 pound chuck roast for slow cooking
1 cup beef broth, burgundy wine or plain water
1 Tablespoon thyme leaves
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Put roast into crock pot. Pour broth (or whatever liquid you desire to use) over roast. Season with thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. (you have to get up early to start this dinner!!)

At about 1 hour before the roast is done, prepare potatoes to steam in chunks. Also, prepare some other vegetable to serve along with potatoes and roast. (you can cook the roast with carrots and potatoes, if you cut them small and put them under the roast in the crock pot...I prefer to cook things separately.)

At about 15 minutes before you want to eat, remove roast from crock pot to platter.
Mix 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup cold water in a seal able container. Shake well. Add to broth in crock pot, stir to blend. Cook for 15 minutes on high. Salt to taste.


The other crock pot recipe is for chicken breasts. I found a similar recipe and tweaked it! It's in the crock pot as I type this...we can't wait to try it! (Stay tuned: I'll update how it was after dinner tonight...)

Stuffed Chicken breasts in the crock pot


This is my homemade stuffing.

I dried out some bread, broke it up into chunks, added some poultry seasonings.
I sauteed' about a half cup each of celery and onion in 4 Tablespoons butter until soft.
Added about 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and mixed it all together.


I stuffed 5 chicken breasts that I had pounded to about 1/4 inch thick. I browned them in 2 Tablespoons butter and put them into the crock pot.


Poured over a jar of Alfredo sauce (about 2 cups). (the original recipe called for 2 cans of cream of celery soup...I don't really like the flavor of those types of soups, so I used my Alfredo sauce)


*Side dish idea for this meal: garlic and whole green beans sauteed' in olive oil until caramelized.

Update to come!

Amazing Oven Barbecued Chicken Tenders

Don't you just love the buffalo chicken tenders you can get at restaurants? Sometimes they are sweet and sour, and sometimes they are so spicy you need cool ranch dressing to dip them in!
Well, I recently found a great recipe that copies the tenders described above. The family LOVES them!


Frying before baking locks in the juice.


A basic honey/barbecue sauce for coating tenders.


After frying, brush on the sauce, then bake!


Amazing Tenders, homemade french fries, and green beans...classic!


Recipe:

4 whole chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
seasoned salt
garlic salt
pepper
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup flour

~Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
~Slice chicken into 1/2 inch strips. (you can also use wings for this) Place chicken in a large bowl and coat with worcestershire sauce.
~Put 1/2 cup flour in a gallon bag with seasonings, add chicken tenders, seal and shake to coat.
~Heat 1/2 cup oil on med/high in a large skillet. Fry chicken until golden brown. Place on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil, coated with cooking spray.
~Mix barbecue sauce and honey in a bowl. Coat each piece of chicken with a liberal amount of sauce.
~Bake for 10 minutes, turn pieces over and coat other side with sauce. Bake 10 minutes more.

Substitutions can be used for most of the ingredients, but the important part is to fry, then bake with the BBQ sauce. It is the most juicy, flavorful chicken! Well worth the time in preparation! To make the spicy buffalo version, just add some hot sauce to the barbecue sauce.

p.s. Melody loves to make a sandwich with the leftover chicken. She cuts up the chicken to bite sized pieces and puts it on bread. She shreds cheddar cheese on top and toasts the whole thing.

Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken

Put 4-6lb whole chicken in crockpot. Place 1/2 cup of chopped onion inside of chicken cavity. Rub 2 Tablespoons butter OR oil on the skin. Squeeze juice from one lemon over chicken and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 2 Tablespoons parsley, 1/2 teaspoon thyme and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. (I don't see why you couldn't oven-roast this chicken. It would be just as yummy that way!


After 8 hours in the crockpot, the meat is just falling off the bones...I did drain the juices before taking this picture. You can cool the juice, skim the fat and use it for soup or gravy.


My dinner plate:


Coming soon: Asian steamed dumplings

Barbecued Chicken in the crockpot and Oven Roasted Root Vegetables

I love to roast root vegetables. Tonight I cut up white potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions into the same size chunks. I put them in a gallon bag and added about 1/4cup vegetable oil. Then just seal the bag and coat them thoroughly. Put them into the bottom of the broiler pan that has been sprayed with oil. Season with garlic powder, onion powder and sea salt. (or any other seasonings you might like...some like a bit of spice...you could use chili powder, for instance)
Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes or until soft. Turn up heat to 375 degrees in the end for 15 or so minutes to crisp up a bit. You can also add softer vegetables in the last 30 minutes, too. (zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, peppers, apples, etc....)


AND, I tried a new recipe today! I had bought chicken thighs, which I don't usually buy....and put them in the crockpot. I drizzled them with barbecue sauce and cooked them on low for 6 hours. Afterwards, I put them on a greased baking sheet in the oven with the root vegetables for about 10 minutes to crisp up the skins...Oh so good!! Ordinary chicken thighs turned into extra-ordinary yummy-ness! The whole family ooh-ed and aah-ed over the way the meat fell off the bones! (I know I used WAY too many exclamation points, but I just couldn't help it! This meal was delectable!!)





I'm hoping to post some scrumptious desserts soon...

Success!

DINNER~CHICKEN CACCIATORI (a new family fav. I will be making this one again very soon!)

In slow cooker, layer 3 sliced onions, 4 skinned chicken thighs, 2 skinned chicken breasts, 5 cloves chopped garlic, 1 28oz can chopped plum tomatoes, 1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth. Cook on low for 6 hours.



At the end of the cooking time, add 20-25 roughly chopped pitted kalamata olives and one Tablespoon dried basil. (or a bunch of fresh basil, roughly chopped)


Serve with vermicelli. The flavors are fantastic!


DESSERT~MARTHA WASHINGTON CAKE

Make Dinette cake recipe. (Recipe follows) Slice into two layers with a long bread knife.



Place on serving platter, spread 1/2 cup of strawberry or seedless raspberry jam over bottom half.


Replace top half.


Glaze with any simple vanilla glaze.


Enjoy! (TacCom's favorite dessert!)



Dinette Cake

1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup softened butter
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a one round 8 inch cake pan. Mix all ingredients together until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove and cool on wire rack. Follow above directions to assemble Martha Washington Cake.

Leftover Chicken Idea:

We had a chicken dinner last night. Instead of the usual chicken pot pie, I have been making a tetrazzini dish that is most definitely considered to be a comfort food in this house.



Start with a small chopped onion:


A cup of sliced mushrooms:


Saute' together with 3 Tablespoons of butter until soft:


About a half pound of vermicelli, broken in half and cooked ahead:


Either make a white sauce or do what I did...use a 16oz jar of prepared alfredo sauce:


Two kinds of cheese; cheddar, which is added to the white sauce:


And mozzerella, which is sprinkled on top before baking:


Right out of the oven:



Chicken/Turkey Tetrazzini

8oz cooked vermicelli or thin spaghetti
2 cups cubed chicken or turkey
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small chopped onion
3 Tablespoons butter
2 cups of white sauce or 1 16oz jar prepared alfredo sauce
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

~Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well and place in a greased 11x7inch baking dish. Top with turkey/chicken and set aside.
~In a large skillet or saucepan, saute' mushrooms and onions in 3 Tablespoons butter until tender. Whisk in white sauce (or prepared alfredo sauce), milk, sage and ground mustard. Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Pour over turkey/chicken.
~Sprinkle with mozzerella cheese. Bake in 350degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

*Coming soon: Beef Bourguignon

~Chicken flavored water~

Here is what I did with the leftover chicken carcass...It was yummy, but I think my family has had enough of chicken for a while! We'll be having some beef or fish very soon, for sure!

Chicken Pot Pie

Here is my version of Chicken Pot pie....

1/3 cup chicken fat or butter (chicken fat adds tons of flavor! I collect it from the bottom of the pan the chicken roasted in and save it for this recipe...it usually is just the right amount of fat and jelled flavor)
1/3 cup of flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
10 oz frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups of chicken...chopped largely
Leftover stuffing for bottom of the pan

~Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

~Melt fat in large saucepan. Add onion and sprinkle flour, salt and pepper on top, whisking till smooth. Cook for one minute over medium heat.

~Slowly add broth and milk to flour mixture, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil...boil and stir for one minute. Remove from heat.

~Add chicken and frozen vegetables. Mix well.

~If you have leftover cooked stuffing, spread evenly in the bottom of a 13x9 pan. Pour chicken filling on top.

~Make pie crust. Roll out to a bit larger than 13x9 pan. Put on top, rolling edges inside of pan, covering filling completely.

~Bake in preheated 425 oven for 30 minutes. Enjoy!




Oil Pie Crust (2 crust recipe)

1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons cold water

~In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together with a fork.

~Add oil and mix lightly...you should still see some flour pockets.

~Add cold water and mix lightly again...flour pockets are good..they make the flakes in the crust!

~Roll out all the pie dough in rectangle shape between two large pieces of waxed paper. ( I have been using waxed paper for rolling out pie crust for years...I wouldn't do it any other way!)

~Place on top of chicken filling, flute (poke with fork here and there)

~Bake in 425 oven for 30 minutes.