Chicken and biscuits

I had thought about having leftovers tonight, but didn't want to waste them on a Sunday night dinner. So, instead, I browsed on allrecipes for something in the crockpot I could make quickly. I found it! And, of course, I made some modifications.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp savory

1/4 tsp pepper

1 small onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup uncooked rice

Dump all of the above in the crockpot. I cooked it on high for 2.5 hours, but I'm sure it could be done on low all day.

For the biscuits:

ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder*
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar*
• 3/4 cup butter or 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk

directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until moistened.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing dough for four to six strokes or just until dough holds together. Pat or lightly roll dough until 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter, rerolling scraps as necessary.

3. Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve warm.

4. Makes 12 biscuits

Braciole

Here's my take on this Italian dish - which has many, many versions. All depends on what you like.

Ingredients

• • 2 1/2 lbs round steaks
  • 1/2 lb Italian sausage
  • 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
  • 1/4 cup shredded/grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onions, chopped ( 1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
  • 1 (16 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon salt ( again)
  • 1 bay leaves

Directions

1. Trim all fat from steak; cut meat into 8 equal pieces; then pound until very thin with a wooden mallet.
2. Remove casing from Italian sausage.
3. Break up in a medium size bowl; add parsley, Parmesan cheese, garlic, Italian seasoning, 1 tsp. salt and the lemon pepper seasoning; mix thoroughly.
4. Spread each steak with 2 heaping tablespoons of the sausage mixture; roll up, jelly-roll fashion; fasten with wooden picks or tie with string.
5. Brown beef rolls, 3 or 4 at a time, in hot oil in a Dutch oven; remove rolls and place on plate or wax paper.
6. Add onion, carrot and pepper to pot; cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
7. Stir in wine, tomatoes, paste and remaining 1 tsp. salt and bay leaf; bring mixture to boiling; lower heat.
8. Add beef rolls; cover and simmer for 1 hour.
9. Remove from heat.
10. Remove the picks or string from braciole before serving.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

This was my quick and easy dinner. I found a recipe on the Campbell's Kitchen website, and this is what I turned it into.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

veggies (could use a bag of mixed veggies, I used corn and peas)

1 can cream of chicken soup

splash milk

1 package chicken stuffing, prepared according to package instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Prepare stuffing according to the package directions

3. Combine chicken, soup, veggies and a splash of milk (about a 1/4 cup) in an oven safe casserole dish. Toss to coat with the chicken.

4. Top the casserole with the prepared stuffing.

5. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on if your chicken was thawed or frozen.

YUM!

Alton Brown's Turkey

This Thanksgiving, with encouragement from the chefs at Modern Bliss, I decided to go for it and brine my turkey. I'm so glad I did. I got so many compliments on the turkey....way more than I ever have before.

Since it's not mine, I'm not going to repost, but instead just post a link. Here is the recipe.

The recipe that revives the blog

I'm midway through making something I've only ever had in a restaurant, Maggiano's in fact. Maggiano's is now closed, so I've been googling my little heart out, trying to find a recipe that looked like what I'd had. What is this? Braciole. Perhaps you remember the Everybody Loves Raymond episode about it. Maybe you've had it at Maggiano's (although it looks like they've taken it off the menu). From what I've found, everyone makes it differently. So I found a recipe I liked and made my changes to it. Tomorrow night at dinner, we'll find out how I did.

In the meantime, I think I may update with some of my other new recipes that I've made. I've been cooking up a storm, and loving it.

Farmers Market Primavera

I have NOT abandoned the blog, I've just been making the same old, same old and been busy with my two mobile children. Time flies!

During the summer, I love to visit the farmers market and see what I can get a deal on, and what just looks super yummy. After today's visit to the Minneapolis Farmers' Market, we got a lot of yummy veggies, so I decided to make a primavera to use them!

1 box enriched pasta (I used MP Penne Plus from Target)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1 jar alfredo or garlic sauce (I used Ragu Roasted Garlic)
1 red pepper cut into bite sized pieces
green beans, cut into pieces
1 cup peas
handful matchstick carrots
drizzle of EVOO
shredded parmesan cheese

(remember, you can use whatever veggies you have, but if they're frozen, you'll need to cook them longer)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Heat EVOO and saute chicken in it until cooked through.
3. When the chicken is fully cooked, add sauce and veggies. Simmer on med-low heat until the pasta is done.
4. After you drain the pasta, add it to the veggie/chicken/sauce mixture and toss to coat.
5. Serve with a little bit of shredded parmesan on top.

Mexican Lasagna

I've found quite a few recipes for this, but decided to make a mish mash of a few of them to make my own version.

1 lb ground beef

1 can rotel

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can corn, drained, OR 2 cups frozen corn

12 tortillas

salsa

1 packet taco seasoning

water

cheddar cheese

1. preheat oven to 350

2. Prepare meat according to the directions on the taco seasoning packet.

3. Add corn, rotel and black beans and simmer.

4. Spray a 9x13 glass dish with cooking spray, layer tortillas so the entire bottom is covered. Spread some salsa on the tortillas.

5. Spread half of the meat mixture on top of the tortillas. Top with cheddar cheese.

6. Layer more tortillas on top of the cheese and add some more salsa. Spread the rest of the meat on top of the tortillas.

7. Layer the rest of the tortillas on top then spread more salsa and cheese on top.

8. Bake for 30 minutes.

9. Cut and serve!