An Accidental Repeat July 23, 2008

We wanted to have chicken for dinner tonight.  We thought we’d look for a new recipe.  We both decided we’d search around and one of us would come up with something.  Ross sent me a link to a few recipes, and I chose one that sounded really good to me.  He bought the ingredients, brought them home and I started to cook.  About halfway through cooking, Ross commented that it was kind of similar to “that chicken dish we made for our parents”.  Yeah, I thought, it kind of is.  The more I cooked, the more similar it seemed.  I got out my recipe box and sure enough, it was the exact same recipe.

 

I guess when you know what you like, you know what you like.  I just didn’t know our memories were so bad.

 

Here is the link to the post from May 8 when we made Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic for the first time.  It was just as good this time.  I just wish I had the dessert to go along with it that I made in the other post!

http://lindsayrose.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/dinner-and-dessert/

 

Tomorrow I head to Raleigh and will stay at my sister’s.  From her house, I will head out at 6 am on Thursday to start my drive home to Rochester, NY.  When you are making a 12 hour trip North, it helps to start out in Raleigh instead of Sanford.  That hour makes a big difference.  On Saturday I will be in my best friend from high school’s wedding.  Sunday, my Mom is having a bridal shower for me with my family and hometown friends.  It should be a fun weekend, and I am sure I’ll be exhausted when I make the trip back on Monday. 

 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Canneloni…or is it manicotti? July 21, 2008

I had ground chicken that I wanted to use tonight so I searched for ground chicken on several different sites.  On one, I found a recipe for canneloni.  Although I didn’t really like that recipe, I decided that I did want to find a canneloni recipe to make.  I searched and searched, and I just couldn’t find the perfect one.  I finally found one that was close, so I decided to go with it and make some of my own changes.  By the time I was mid way through preparing it, I got to thinking… what is canneloni?  Is this still going to be canneloni the way I am making it, or have I turned it into manicotti or a stuffed shell?   I kept going, but when we finished eating what ended up being a delicious meal, I had to find the definition of canneloni to see exactly what made it that.  Here is what wikipedia says about it: 

Cannelloni is often confused with manicotti, the major difference being that manicotti are preshaped tubes.^[1] In Italian, cannelloni literally means “large reeds” , while manicotti means “sleeve”. Although both terms are plural nouns in Italian, the English term is often construed as singular, particularly when used as the name of the dish. The term manicotti is more common in the United States, so the two terms have been used interchangeably.

So I guess we had manicotti?  Who knows.  Either way it was good.  Here is the recipe I used to start with, and below is what I did.

 

Sauce

1/4 c butter (1/2 stick)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 c flour

1 1/2 t instant chicken boullion

pepper to taste

2 c half and half

1/2 c parmesan cheese

 

Melt butter in medium saucepan.  Add minced garlic and flour, whisk until lumps are out.  Add boullion and pepper.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1/2 and 1/2 slowly, whisking out lumps while doing so.  Return to medium high heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly.  Boil and stir one minute.  Reduce heat to low.  Add parmesan cheese and stir until melted.  Set aside.

 

Canneloni

1 box manicotti (or you can make your own canneloni, but I was too lazy for that tonight!)

2 T butter

1 lb ground chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 bunch green onion, chopped

10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained (I wrap it in an old dish towel to wring out all of the liquid)

1/2 c parmesan cheese

2 eggs, beaten

small container ricotta cheese

2 eggs, beaten

Italian seasoning to taste, about a teaspoon

salt and pepper to taste

1 jar spaghetti saue of your choice

 

Boil water, add manicotti and boil for 7 minutes.  Rinse with cold water, set aside.

Melt butter, add garlic and green onion.  Add ground chicken, cook completely.  Combine with remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Stuff manicotti with mixture.

Coat bottom of 9×13 pan with red sauce.  Place pasta tubes on top of sauce, top those with the white sauce.  Drizzle red sauce on top of that.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Broil for 2 minutes or so, until white sauce on top is golden brown and bubbly.  Serve with extra red sauce if you prefer.

Grilled Chicken along with Zucchini Casserole July 18, 2008

We are having a luncheon at work tomorrow and I wanted to make something that I hadn’t taken to work before.  This is a challenge, because like me, many of my co-workers love to eat.  We sometimes joke that we all feel like we put on 10 pounds when we started working there!  We find any excuse to have a luncheon… baby showers, new homes, teacher appreciation week, weddings, birthdays, and sometimes we have one just because we haven’t had one in awhile.  What better reason is there than that?  It’s always fun because everyone has a different style of cooking or baking and brings a different type of food.  I love to try other people’s recipes and have a huge plate with a sampling of a lot of different stuff.

 

Tomorrow we are celebrating a co-workers new home.  I am making a zucchini casserole, and decided to make one for Ross and I to have for dinner tonight as well.  This recipe comes from one of my favorite gifts of all time.  One year for Christmas, my sister made me a special cookbook just for me.  She used a photo album and put 4×6 index cards in each slot with a different recipe on each one.  The reason that this is a perfect gift is because my sister knows me so well.  Therefore, there is no need to weed through it as there are with other cookbooks.  They all sound great to me, because my sister chose them for me and she knows just what I like!  I am sure it took her forever to make it, but if you ever need a good gift idea that is very personal and inexpensive, I recommend it!

 

So, along with our grilled chicken marinated in our favorite Asian Toasted Sesame salad dressing, we will have this zucchini casserole.  And, I get to have it again tomorrow, along with lots of other great dishes made by my friends and co-workers.  It will definitely be something to look forward to at the end of a long and hectic week.

 

Zucchini Casserole

1/2 c margarine

1 c seasoned bread crumbs

4 c chunked zucchini

2 carrots, diced (I used a huge handful of matchsticks because it was easier)

1/2 c sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of celery or mushroom to make it vegetarian)

1/4 c milk

1/2 onion, chopped

 

Melt margarine and stir bread crumbs into margarine, set aside.  Boil zucchini chunks for 5 minutes, drain.  Stir in carrots, onion, sour cream, chicken soup, and milk.  Mix well, then add 1/2 of the breadcrumb mixture.  Mix well.  Pour into greased 9×13 pan (I always use an 8×8 pan or a round baking pan) and top with remaining breadcrumb mixture.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

 

Tonight I added parmesan cheese in and mixed it around, then sprinkled a little on top.  I have also topped it with shredded cheddar in the past and that was good as well.  I’ve also added chunks of chicken into this and made it into a main meal.

 

In honor of my great cookbook gift, here is a picture of my sister and I taken a few summers ago.

Pasta Primavera with Italian Turkey Sausage July 16, 2008

I made this for dinner tonight and loved it.  I think I’ve mentioned before that I could eat pasta pretty much every night.  I love it.  Any dish that is remotely Italian or includes pasta is always high on my list of cravings.  We had some Italian turkey sausage and needed to find a recipe, so I went to my favorite site and searched.  This is what I found.

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pasta-Primavera-with-Italian-Turkey-Sausage/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

 

All of the fresh veggies in here make it a great summer meal!  I was afraid that all of the fresh stuff was going to make for a high grocery bill, but it wasn’t bad at all.  I made a few changes while cooking.  First, I added mushrooms to the veggies.  I can’t have a pasta primavera without mushrooms!  Also, instead of adding 1/4 c of olive oil after taking the sausage out, I added about 1/4 c of white wine to deglaze the pan and then about 1/8 c of olive oil.  Also, at the end of cooking the veggies, I added about 1/8 c of wine and 1/8 c of olive oil.  It gave it a good wine flavor and cut back on the oil at the same time.  Ross had bought some sort of tomato basil pasta nests and we used that instead of bowties.

 

We both liked it and plan to make it again!

Pork Chops O’Brien July 15, 2008

Pork chops are oneof those foods that I either hate or love.  I like to have pork chops every now and then to get a different kind of meat in, but sometimes they can just be blah, or too tough, or just not all that great.  We’ve tried to find some pork chop recipes that are really good, so that we can look forward to having something different now and then.  I think it was Ross that found this recipe a few months back.  It is absolutely delicious.  He made it last night and made a bunch of changes, and it was even more delicious!  Here is the basic recipe:

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pork-Chops-OBrien/Detail.aspx

 

Basically, take some frozen (but thawed, if that makes sense) hash browns and mix together with cream of celery soup, sour cream, cheddar cheese, french fried onions and some salt and pepper.  Brown the pork chops, put on top of the potato mixture in a 9×13 pan, top with more cheese and french fried onions and bake.  The pork comes out really tender and flavorful and the potatoes are delicious.  Ok, so it’s probably not the healthiest meal in the world, but it is worth it!

 

We’ve made it with southwestern hashbrowns, which give it a kick and taste really good.  Last night Ross was using a little of every cheese we had in the fridge and put a dollop of cream cheese on top of each pork chop before topping with the cheddar cheese.  That was reallygood.  We also didn’t have any french fried onions, so he caramelized some onions in some balsamic vinegar and included those.  It gave it a hint of sweetness, which I wouldn’t have thought belonged, but it tasted good as well.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and have fun playing with it to meet your liking!

Gone in a flash taco dip July 13, 2008

Tonight the Tipton’s came for dinner.  Lara had ordered a whole bunch of food from Omaha Steaks, so we really didn’t have to do any cooking.  She brought a whole bunch of fish (salmon, swordfish and halibut) and also some steaks since Ross won’t eat fish.  Ross’ parents brought a green salad and potato salad along with a bunch of veggies to grill, and Lara also brought a cheesecake that she ordered.  So… our job was really just to clean the house beforehand!  Ross made his famous salsa and I made my Mom’s taco dip.  She’s made it for years and Kara and I still make it often for gatherings.  It is from one of my Mom’s cookbooks… I can’t remember which one, but it is no coincidence that it is called Gone in a Flash.  This stuff is always gone fast.  I’ve brought it to work several times and the platter is always scraped clean.  It’s nothing fancy, but somehow the flavors just work well together.  It’s easy to make as long as you don’t mind lots of chopping.  Here’s the recipe:

 

Gone in a Flash Taco Dip

 

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 c sour cream

1 1/2 T taco seasoning mix

1 c salsa OR taco sauce (or just enough to cover the platter, I am not sure of the exact measurement)

1 green pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

shredded lettuce (around a cup or so)

1 tomato (or I used 2 smaller Roma tomatoes)

8 oz shredded cheese

 

Mix together sour cream, cream cheese and taco seasoning mix.  Spread on the bottom of a round platter.  Top with salsa or taco sauce.  Top that with chopped onion, green pepper, shredded lettuce, tomatoes and shredded cheese.  Serve with your favorite tortilla chips, we like the multigrain Tostitos.

 

Along with the dip we had cheese and crackers, and although everyone else knew of them besides me, I was excited to try the Town House crackers (Flips maybe?  Can’t remember the name…)that are crackers on one side and pretzel on the other side.  I am not sure why it took so long for someone to come up with this idea, but it was a great one.  They are super good!  We love to dip pretzel rods in Port Wine cheese, and topping these pretzel crackers with some good cheddar is close to that, and a little easier!

 

Lots of thanks to the Tipton’s for bringing so much delicious food.  We owe you all a meal!

California Chicken July 11, 2008

Tonight for some reason… I wasn’t that hungry.  I know, it’s weird and totally uncharacteristic.  It’s something that rarely happens.  I could never skip a meal, so instead of not eating, I just wanted something light.  I had chicken defrosting, so I went to my favorite site, allrecipes.com and searched for “summer chicken”.  I figured that would give me something light and tasty.  I found a bunch of chicken salads, but that seemed like more steps than I was interested in taking.  I scrolled down, went to the next page, and finally found the winning recipe, California Chicken.  It looked tasty, light and easy so I went with it.  I only had to stop for a few ingredients too, which made it a double bonus.

 

You can click on the link above to get the full recipe, but here is the basic idea:  Season some chicken breasts with salt, pepper and onion powder.  Saute in olive oil for a few minutes on each side, until mostly cooked.  The recipe says to just top with sliced tomatoes and monterey jack cheese, but I deglazed the pan with some white wine and sauteed some mushrooms, too.  I topped the chicken breasts with the tomatoes, then the mushrooms, and then the monterey jack cheese.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is done (depending on the size of your chicken of course).  Top with sliced avocado and serve.

 

I think this would also taste great with bacon on it.  Of course, that would take away from the whole light idea, but it would taste good.  I ate most of it just as it was, but had to try a few bites dipped in Ranch and that was definitely tasty.  I recommend it!

Garlic and Herb Chicken with Romesco Sauce on Spicy Greens July 9, 2008

I decided to try this Rachael Ray recipe for dinner last night and we loved it.  It was quick and fairly easy and had a great taste.  The sauce was perfect for summer, very fresh tasting with the tomatoes and roasted red peppers.  It seemed like there were a lot of random ingredients in the sauce, but they all came together really nicely. I served it with some parmesan pasta on the side.  We’ll definitely make this again soon!

 

 

Garlic and Herb Chicken with Romesco Sauce on Spicy Greens

From Rachael Ray 365:  No Repeats

 

5 garlic cloves

½ c EVOO

¼ c. fresh flat leaf parsley leaves

Salt and pepper

½ T fresh thyme leaves

4 6-8 oz chicken breasts

1 c cliced almonds

1 slice sandwich bread

1 8 oz jar roasted red peppers, drained

¼ c red wine vinegar

1 plum tomato, cut into quarters

2 bunches arugula, cleaned and trimmed

 

In a food processor, combine 3 of the garlic cloves, about ¼ c of EVOO, the parsley leaves, salt, pepper and the thyme.  Process the ingredients to a somewhat smooth paste.  Scrape the contents of the processor over the chicken breasts; coat the breasts in the mixture.  Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, then add the seasoned chicken breasts to the skillet and cook on each side for 5 to 6 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pan and let rest for a few minutes covered with aluminum foil to keep warm. 

 

While the chicken is cooking, toast the almonds in a medium skillet over medium heat until they are golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Toast the slice of bread until golden brown.  With your hands, rip the toast into a few pieces and add to the food processor (don’t need to wash it from previous use, flavors will mix well).  Add the toasted almonds, roasted red peppers, the remaining 2 garlic cloves, the red wine vinegar, plum tomato, salt, and pepper.  Start processing and while the machine is running, pour in the remaining ¼ c of EVOO in a slow, steady stream.  Process until all the ingredients are ground and the mixture is pretty smooth. 

 

Arrange the arugula on the center of 4 serving plates.  Slice each rested chicken breast at an angle, then place on top of the arugula.  Top the chicken slices with a large dollop of the Romesco sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

Buffalo Sauce-Round 2 July 7, 2008

We went ahead and followed through with our idea for the extra Buffalo sauce from our Buffalo Chicken the other night (see recipe in post below for the Buffalo sauce) and made Buffalo Chicken Pizza.  We both agreed that it was our favorite homemade pizza that we’ve made.  We used a Boboli crust from the grocery store and topped it with the Buffalo sauce.  We chopped and cooked 2 chicken breasts and tossed some mushrooms in at the end.  That mixture went on top of the sauce, and was topped with shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese and chopped green onions.  It baked for about 10 min at 450 and tasted wonderful!  I had searched for recipes earlier today and many of them included Blue Cheese in the pizza, but I just dipped my pizza in it and Ross used Ranch. 

 

On another note… how did I forget in the 5 years since Sully was a puppy just exactly what it was like to have a puppy?  Don’t get me wrong, we love Luna a little more each day and would never dream of giving her up, but tonight she is DRIVING ME NUTS.  As soon as I can get her to stop biting my legs (why do I always choose herding dogs for my pets?  They can’t understand that I am a HUMAN, not a sheep or cow that needs to be herded), she will pee.  We’ll take her out, she’ll come in, bite some more, pee some more.  And she even had her first #2 accident today.  Actually, it was her first 3 #2 accidents.  I’ll spare the details.

 

It will get better… It will get better… It will get better…

Fourth of July July 5, 2008

I didn’t cook anything on the Fourth because it wa a super busy day.  Stepping Stones organized the kids area at the Depot Park celebration.  We were out there all day and had a good time with a great turnout.  Many, many thanks to the hundreds of people who supported us and our playground project!

 

After the festivities in Depot Park, Ross, Katie and I headed to Regency Park in Cary for their celebration.  I have been to this once before and it is my favorite way to spend the Fourth of July.  I love all of the patriotic music that the many different bands play.  Before the fireworks, the North Carolina Symphony plays and it is beautiful.  The fireworks over the lake are a perfect way to wrap up the celebration.  We didn’t go last year because we had just closed on our house and were painting.  Also, Ross was attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets, so we pretty much hung out at home in case of a bad reaction (luckily that didn’t happen).  So, this year I was psyched to be heading back to Regency Park.  Here is a timeline summary of our evening.

6:30: leave Sanford

7:00:  arrive at Regency Park

7:20:  finish our long walk to the ampitheatre and find all of our friends, pour a drink

8:00:  rolls of thunder begin in the distance, a sprinkle or two falls

8:30:  LOUD thunder begins, everyone packs up in record time

8:35:  start walking to the car

9:05:  finally arrive at the car (took longer on the way back because EVERYONE was walking at the same time), ring out our shirts and hair and climb in, start the engine.

10:37:  finally pull out of Regency Park 

 

Yes, that was approximately an hour and a half in the parking lot.  The whole time sitting there, sopping wet.  Never did we see so much as a spark in the sky (not man-made at least, Mother Nature provided plenty), but oh well, we still made the best of it and had fun.  Here are a few shots from our night.