Chicken Marsala

I've always seen recipes for Chicken Marsala but for whatever reason, I never felt compelled to try it. I came across a picture on someones blog that looked tasty and lo and behold, that's what it was. After looking at a few of the ba-zillion chicken Marsala recipes on the internet, I came up with this...

Chicken Marsala

Ingredients:

1 pkg boneless skinless chicken breasts - approx. 3 chicken breasts
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon oregano
desired seasonings - I like salt, Tony's Creole seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups Marsala wine
3 cups chicken stock
1 package whole fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
linguine, cooked

Method:

In a gallon size Ziploc bag, pound chicken breasts until thin, but not breaking. Season as desired. In a large bowl, mix flour, oregano and desired seasonings. Heat oil and butter over medium-high heat. Dredge chicken breasts in the flour and add to the oil mixture, cooking 3-4 minutes on each side. Transfer to an oven-safe dish and keep warm in the oven.

In the same pan that you fried the chicken breasts, add the wine to deglaze. Make sure to scrape all that golden goodness leftover into your wine! Add chicken stock, mushrooms and garlic, bring to a boil. Check for seasonings, adding desired seasonings (careful not to add too much salt!). Cook about 15-20 minutes, or until sauce has reduced by 1/2. Return chicken to the pan and cook an additional 10 minutes. Serve over linguine.


Chicken Marsala with Bacon & Caramelized Onion Asparagus

The Verdict: This was delicious!! I added the part about being careful adding salt because I messed that up. I tasted it and it was a bit bland, so I added salt. Then when it reduced, I guess all that flavor was bundled up because it was SALTY! I had to add a little sugar to make it not so bitter. It still turned out delicious though! I don't like eating whole chicken breasts so I left one whole for photo purposes, and cut the rest into small pieces before I added it back to the sauce. Definitely will be making this again!

Spaghetti With Meat Sauce and Italian Sausage

This recipe is basically the same exact thing as the regular spaghetti with meat sauce recipe but it's got a small change that really gives it a little extra oomph! It's delicious and definitely should be put on your weekly menu sometime. I'm going to copy the original recipe and make some changes. It's a nice change from "the ordinary"

Spaghetti With Meat Sauce and Italian Sausage

Ingredients:
1 pkg. Italian sausage links
1 lb. ground beef
4 small cans Hunts tomato sauce (2 Roasted Garlic, 2 Basil & Oregano)
2 small cans tomato paste
1 pkg. frozen Seasoning Blend (onions, peppers, celery)
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 small cans mushroom pieces and stems
1 small jar whole button mushrooms
1 can Rotel original
Seasonings to taste (Salt, Pepper, Tony Chachere’s, garlic powder, onion powder)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 can/bottle of beer (any kind will do)
1 tbsp McCormick’s Italian Seasonings
1 tsp sugar
1-2 Bay leaves –optional

Method:

Bring a large pot coated with cooking spray to medium heat. Coat bottom with olive oil and allow to heat. Add 1/2 pkg. sausage and put the rest in a freezer friendly ziploc bag for next time. Brown the sausage on all sides, then add 1/4 can of beer. Cover and allow to simmer until the sausage is cooked through. You may need to add another 1/4 can of beer if it begins to stick. When it's done, remove to a cutting board and cut into bite sized pieces.

Brown ground beef, seasoning while browning with salt, pepper, Tony’s, etc.). When browned, add sausage pieces, minced garlic and frozen seasoning blend. Cook down until veggies are soft. Add can(s) of mushrooms, including liquid, stir well. Add Rotel and stir well. Add cans of tomato paste and mix evenly. Add the rest of the ingredients (tomato sauce, Worcestershire, beer, Italian seasoning, sugar, and bay leaves) and let cook on medium-low heat 20 minutes. Taste seasonings and adjust as needed. Let simmer about 30 more minutes, though the longer it cooks the better it will be! Stir often to keep from sticking to bottom of pot.

Serve over your favorite kind of pasta (I like linguine).



The Verdict: This is great and very husband-friendly. The addition of the extra meat makes it more "manly" and the pork gives it a great flavor.

Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss & Tomato, Avocado & Onion Salad

Today's recipe is mixing a little tried and true with a little new to you! I discovered Rachel Ray's Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss recipe in one of her cookbooks a few years ago, and with my own variations of it, have been cooking it ever since! I also came upon a recipe on a friend, Josh's blog the other day that literally made my mouth water, for a fresh tomato, avocado and red onion salad. I knew I had to try it, soon!

Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/3 pounds chicken breast tenders, cut into 1-inch
pieces
Seasonings to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white wine
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup chicken broth or stock
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 pound penne rigate pasta, cooked

Method:

Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and the chicken to the pan. Season chicken as desired. Brown chicken until lightly golden all over, about 5 to 6 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add another tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter, the garlic and green onions to the skillet. Saute garlic and green onions 3 minutes. Add flour and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in wine, lemon juice and broth into sauce. Stir in capers and parsley. When the liquid comes to a bubble, add remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter to the sauce to give it a little shine. Toss hot pasta with chicken and sauce and serve. Adjust seasonings to your taste.

Fresh Tomato, Avocado & Onion Salad

Ingredients:

2 avocados, sliced into chunky strips
3 Roma tomatoes, sliced into chunky strips
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice

Method:

Combine in a bowl, folding gently to avoid breaking up the avocado. Let stand for 5-10 minutes and serve.



The Verdict: Well as I said, the recipe for the pasta is one I've been cooking and enjoying for years. It's delicious. The recipe I wrote is an altered version from the one from Rachel Ray, just as a FYI. And the tomato salad was fantastic! It was so light and fresh and even better leftover once the flavors really got to mingle! I think I'll try cilantro in it next time, for a little more of a kick, but that's just because DH has this strange obsession with cilantro! It's delicious as is!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Let's face it, the economy sucks and we're all trying to find ways to pinch those pennies and make things stretch as much as possible. Yesterday's meal not only dirtied practically every dish I own, it also called for three quarts of chicken stock or broth, which would have been wasted as it was only used for boiling the spaetzle. Rather than let it go to waste, I made it into another recipe.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

3 quarts chicken stock
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 can sliced carrots
2.5 cups egg noodles, raw
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 bay leaves
2 TBSP fresh parsley, chopped
3 cups water
1 TBSP heavy whipping cream
desired seasonings

Method:

In a large pot, bring chicken stock and water to a boil and add the bay leaves. Season chicken with desired seasonings and add to the pot, cook till done. Add carrots and celery, allow to slowly boil for another 5 minutes. Add noodles, cook covered until they are tender. Add whipping cream. Serve hot.


Chicken Noodle Soup

Verdict: I have never made chicken noodle soup before that was not condensed! This was very easy to make and was delicious! If you don't have leftover stock on hand, you can buy it already made, or buy broth and season it up! Two thumbs up!

Jagerschnitzel with Bacon-Mushroom gravy and homemade Spaetzle

Do you ever get into a food "rut" and end up cooking the same things over and over? That's why you haven't seen any new posts here in a week or so, we haven't made anything new. So the other day I watched The Food Network to get some inspiration. Guy Fieri made a German meal on his show Guy's Big Bite that had my mouth watering! Normally when I think German food, I think sausage and beer! I am not a fan of sausage, but what he made was Jagerschnitzel with a bacon-mushroom gravy and homemade spaetzle, which is a pasta. I was concerned when I saw "Jagerschnitzel" because my mind immediately went to Jagermeister. The alcohol. Which tastes like cough syrup. NO thanks! I looked up the recipe and found that was not in the ingredients so I decided to give this a try, but tweaked it to fit what I had on hand and my own tastes (I'm a southern girl, I like seasoning!! And paprika is NOT what Southerners consider seasoning!!).

Jagerschnitzel with Bacon-Mushroom gravy

Ingredients:

Pork chops, flattened/tenderized with the fat cut off
Seasonings to taste: I used Tony's, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika)
1 cup crackers, crumbled into fine crumbs
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp. mustard
1 cup flour
1/2 lb. bacon
2 small cans mushroom pieces and stems, drained
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups beef stock
1/4 cup red wine
2 TBSP butter
Olive Oil for frying

Method:

In a shallow medium bowl, mix together 3/4 cup flour with preferred seasonings. In another shallow medium bowl, combine egg, milk and mustard. In another medium shallow bowl, combine cracker and panko crumbs. Dredge pork slices first in flour, then in egg wash, and finally in crumbs. Let set on a baking sheet fitted with a cooling rack for 5 minutes.

In a medium saute pan over medium heat cook the bacon until crispy. Remove from pan to drain on paper towels. In same pan with bacon fat, add onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue sauteing for 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup flour. Cook flour to make roux until light brown, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook for 3 minutes, reducing by 1/3, then add stock. Continue cooking to reduce by 1/3 again. Add crumbled bacon. Season with desired seasonings. Keep warm.

Heat 1/4-inch oil in thick saute pan or cast iron skillet. Cook pork evenly on both sides, about 5 minutes for the first side, 3 to 4 minutes for the second. Remove to platter when done. Add butter to sauce, stirring until it has melted. To serve, cover pork with sauce.

Spaetzle

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cold water
1 3/4 cups flour, plus extra for kneading
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
3 quarts chicken broth
3 tablespoons butter
3 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Special equipment: pizza wheel

Method:

In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, water, eggs and salt with a wooden spoon. Place dough mixture on a clean cutting board dusted with flour. Flour both sides of the dough and roll into a long rectangle, approximately 12 by 2-inches and 1/8-inch thick. With pizza cutter, cut into strips, 2-inches in length and 1/4-inch wide.

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Drop spaetzle in batches into boiling stock and cook until pasta floats to the surface. Remove pasta to the ice bath. Drain spaetzle and hold on sheet pan. Continue with the other batches.

In a medium saute pan, add butter, and melt over medium heat until butter turns a light brown. Add garlic and cook until it becomes lightly colored. Add spaetzle to the pan to heat through. Add parsley, cheese, salt and pepper, to taste.


My spaetzle dough, ready to be rolled out with my great great aunts rolling pin!


Dough rolled out and cut


My meal, ready to eat!

The Verdict: I actually have mixed feelings on this review. The food was absolutely delicious, though I'm really not a fan of al-dente pasta. I like soft fluffy pasta that's fully cooked. It was all great, my husband said it was the best pork chop he had ever had. And the spaetzle had a GREAT flavor, just like I said I'm not a big al-dente' fan. Next time I'd probably just cook the pasta fully. Definitely a keeper though!

Shrimp Scampi

James has been after me for a little while now to make shrimp scampi. I've never made it before and frankly hadn't felt like looking up a recipe! Then lo and behold, good friend ShoeFanatic posted a recipe for it on her blog! It looked so delicious and she gave it such a great review that I just had to try it. Here is the recipe she used:

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:
1 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp
Seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder)
Olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, diced
1/2 tsp dried hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 c. dry white wine
Salt & pepper
5 T butter
3/4 lb angel-hair pasta
Fresh parsley, chopped

Method:

Boil pasta to your liking. Reserve at least 1 cup of pasta water for later.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. You need just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Sauté shrimp, turning over once, until just cooked through, about 2 minutes, and transfer to a large bowl. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and wine to skillet. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute.

Add butter to skillet, stirring until melted, and then add shrimp back in. Add the parsey as well and coat the shrimp well. In the large bowl, toss the pasta and shrimp mixture well. Add some of pasta water if necessary to keep moist.


The Ingredients


The Finished Product

The Verdict: This was fantastic! I was a little wary of it because it just didn't look like there would be enough sauce for the noodles. I used the medium size shrimp to save money and was just as happy with them. It was great, it wasn't dripping butter down your face like often happens with scampi. James and I both went back for seconds and we will be happily enjoying the leftovers tomorrow night! I highly recommend it! Thanks, Shoe!

Chicken in Mushroom Sauce over pasta

This is my favorite meal that I personally can cook. It's not my favorite meal, that is reserved for boiled crawfish. And a few other things. But this is a go-to meal for something easy, tasty, and always good. Just whatever you do, do not ever try to buy the powdered mushroom soup mix because that stuff is just awful! Another tip for all recipes (not only this one) is that if you use wine make sure it's a wine you would actually drink. Nasty wine in food equals nasty food.

Chicken in Mushroom Sauce over Pasta

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup white wine or inexpensive beer (or more if you want!) both are good. Just don't use a dark beer, probably wouldn't be as good!
2 small cans mushroom pieces and stems (or if you're richer than me, sliced mushrooms)
Butter
1 onion, chopped into small pieces
Seasoning to taste (Tony's, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder)
1 pkg egg noodles, cooked.
Milk as needed

Method:

Season chicken pieces with your seasoning of choice. In a deep skillet, cook your chicken in a few pats of butter. When almost done, add the onions. When those are almost soft, add the mushrooms. Let simmer for a few minutes. Add your cans of mushroom soup and stir well, then add your beer or wine. Depending on how thick you want your sauce to be, you can add milk until you reach your desired consistancy. Taste test and add seasonings if needed. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Serve over egg noodles with a salad and garlic bread!


The ingredients


The chicken, onions and mushrooms cooking away


A super yummy meal. Sorry for the blurry picture!

Verdict: As I said, this is one of my favorite things to cook (and eat!) so I had to share. If you use wine or beer, both are good but a slightly different taste. I cannot say enough how much I love this dish, I think I'll have to cook more this week!

Artichoke stuffed shells with marinara sauce

I got this idea from a show on the Food Network, the Everyday Italian show. But I did mine a little differently.

Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:
1 pkg jumbo shells
1 bag frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped
1 pkg Italian mix cheese
1 egg
1 onion, chopped
minced garlic to your liking - I like a lot!
breadcrumbs
salt, Tony's seasoning - to your tastes
1 jar marinara sauce - I used leftover spaghetti sauce from previous recipe!
1-2 green onions, chopped.

Method:
Preheat oven to 350. Boil jumbo shells till barely al-dente'. In a bowl, combine artichoke hearts with half the cheese mix, the egg, onion, breadcrumbs, garlic and seasonings. Gently stuff the mixture into the shells and place on a greased casserole dish. Cover completely with marinara sauce and then cover with cheese. Sprinkle the chopped green onions and Italian Seasoning on top. Bake until sauce bubbles on the side and cheese is melted and browning.


Ingredients, minus breadcrumbs, Tony's and green onions!


Artichoke mixture


The stuffed shells


All baked!


And ready to eat!

The verdict: Honestly I was a bit disappointed. I expected it to be just oh my god good and it really wasn't that great. It basically tasted like my spaghetti with artichoke. If I made it again, I think maybe a different sauce, an alfredo perhaps.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

This should really be called "Linguine with Meat Sauce" but people associate the red meat marinara sauce as "spaghetti" so there you have it. This is a Christen Original Recipe folks! I don't need to put a verdict because I've been making it for years and I've had rave reviews from many friends and family!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
4 small cans Hunts tomato sauce (2 Roasted Garlic, 2 Basil & Oregano)
2 small cans tomato paste
1 pkg. frozen Seasoning Blend (onions, peppers, celery)
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 small cans mushroom pieces and stems
1 small jar whole button mushrooms
1 can Rotel original
Seasonings to taste (Salt, Pepper, Tony Chachere’s, garlic powder, onion powder)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
½ can/bottle of beer (any kind will do)
1 tbsp McCormick’s Italian Seasonings
1 tsp sugar
1-2 Bay leaves –optional

Method:
Brown ground beef, seasoning while browning with salt, pepper, Tony’s, etc.). When browned, add minced garlic and frozen seasoning blend. Cook down until veggies are soft. Add can(s) of mushrooms, including liquid, stir well. Add Rotel and stir well. Add cans of tomato paste and mix evenly. Add the rest of the ingredients (tomato sauce, Worcestershire, beer, Italian seasoning, sugar, and bay leaves) and let cook on medium-low heat 20 minutes. Taste seasonings and adjust as needed. Let simmer about 30 more minutes, though the longer it cooks the better it will be! Stir often to keep from sticking to bottom of pot.

Serve over your favorite kind of pasta (I like linguine).


The Ingredients - minus Rotel and minced garlic which I forgot to include in the picture!


Ingredients are in, sauce is cooking!


The finished product...

Beef Stroganoff

Once upon a time in a land far far away.... just kidding. But I really do have a story behind Beef Stroganoff. When my husband James asked me out for our first date, he invited me over to his house for dinner. I asked what he was cooking and he responded with "meat and noodles." It turned out to be Beef Stroganoff and it was very good. But oddly enough, that was the last time we had it, six years ago!

Yesterday I was trying to think of something good for supper and went on the Food Network website. One of the first things to catch my eye was Beef Stroganoff. I used Paula Deen's recipe and tweaked a few things to my liking. I'll put notes on what I did differently. Here it is:

Link to her recipe at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/beef-stroganoff-recipe/index.html

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds cubed round steak, cut into thin strips (I used a ribeye steak)
House Seasoning, recipe follows (I just seasoned with Tony's, salt, garlic powder and onion powder)
All-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, sliced
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can beef broth (I used Beef Stock)
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
Salt and black pepper
1 cup sour cream
Cooked egg noodles
Directions
Season the steak strips with House Seasoning, then dust with flour. In a large skillet, quickly brown them on both sides in the olive oil and butter. Remove the steak from the pan. Add the onion slices and mushrooms to the pan drippings. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is tender. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour. Put the steak back into the pan with the onion and mushrooms. Add the mushroom soup and beef broth. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, covered. Adjust seasoning to taste, adding salt and pepper, as needed. Stir in the sour cream the last few minutes, right before you serve. Serve over cooked noodles.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix the ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yields: 1 1/2 cups

Notes: I left the recipe for her house seasoning in just in case you want to use that, as the recipe calls for. I used Tony Chachere's seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. After reading the reviews of her recipe before cooking, I decided to use a ribeye steak (available at Wal-Mart in a package of one) for more tender meat. I also used beef stock instead of broth, following recommendation of one of the reviews. And finally, I added a splash of white wine for a little extra something!


The ingredients


One ribeye, cut into thin slices


Onions and mushrooms cooking


The finished meal

The verdict: Very tasty. The sauce had a great flavor, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't darker though. Stroganoff tends to be more of a light brown sauce and this one wasn't. That would easily have been fixed by adding a bit of browning liquid but I didn't feel like messing with that. It tasted great and will definitely be served again!