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This is one of those recipes that when I see similar ones posted/printed elsewhere I admittedly think, "now that's not really a recipe." You know, the ones that are for things like a grilled cheese sandwich (2 slices of bread, cheese, got it). Or like the one in my one of mother-in-law's cookbooks that's for "busy day salad" and whose instructions are literally "put pre-washed bag of salad greens into a bowl and mix with bottle of store-bought dressing." Seriously?! That one always gets a laugh out of us.
But seriously, I'm including this one more for the sentimental value that anything. I first made this in college, and it definitely is a recipe with training wheels, it's great for the starter cook or the busy, single college girl wanting to cook for her friends. I hosted my friends often with this one, and my favorite memory is when I made it for 16 of my sorority sisters for before our "pink party" (which sounds so sorority, doesn't it?...). The point is, even beginners can pull of cheap and easy entertaining on a tight budget in an ill-equipped kitchen.
Ingredients
1 package refrigerated pizza dough
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken (approximately 3-4 breasts), cut into bite-size pieces or strips
3 roma or plum tomatoes, sliced thin
1 packet pesto sauce, prepared (or approximately 1 cup pesto sauce)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil
Blackening or Cajun seasoning, to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Pre-cook pizza dough according to instructions, if needed. Heat oil over medium heat in saute pan. Season chicken with blackening or Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Add to pan and saute until cooked thoroughly. (Alternately, you can bake them in the oven at 450 for about 20-25 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly). Remove and let cool, then slice into thin strips.
Once dough is pre-cooked and has been removed from oven, spread pesto sauce evenly on top. Add cooked chicken, then sliced tomatoes. Top with mozzarella cheese. Return pizza to oven and continue cooking to dough instructions, or until cheese is melted and begins to brown.
Let stand a few minutes then slice and serve.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Nancy's Sausage Bake
First let me say I have no idea who Nancy is. My mom got this recipe from my Aunt Kathy, and I'm not sure that either of them know her either, but whoever she is, she sure made a great breakfast casserole. My family has been making this for years for Christmas breakfast and I've since started making it for friends. We often take group vacations together to the lake or the mountains, and we assign each couple a meal or two to be in charge of for the group. I almost always volunteer for breakfast because of dishes like this that can feed a hungry, sometimes a tad hungover, crowd - oh, and there's no getting up extra early because you make it the day before!
There are a number of make-ahead breakfast casseroles out these, and a large number of those are some variation of this one. Feel free to adjust it to your liking, but the point is, everyone should have some version of it tried and tested and at their disposal.
*Need to prep night before
Ingredients:
1 lb breakfast sausage
1 box seasoned croutons
2 ½ cups milk + ½ cup milk
1 tsp dry mustard
6 eggs
2 cups shredded cheddar
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Brown sausage in skillet, break up, drain on paper towels when done. Once drained, arrange in bottom of 9x13 oven-proof casserole dish, top with croutons, then cheese.
Beat 6 eggs, 2 ½ cups milk, and dry mustard together by hand. Pour mixture over sausage, croutons and cheese.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to eat, preheat over to 350.
Mix can of soup and ½ cup milk together and pour over refrigerated casserole.
Bake for 1 hour, serve hot.
There are a number of make-ahead breakfast casseroles out these, and a large number of those are some variation of this one. Feel free to adjust it to your liking, but the point is, everyone should have some version of it tried and tested and at their disposal.
*Need to prep night before
Ingredients:
1 lb breakfast sausage
1 box seasoned croutons
2 ½ cups milk + ½ cup milk
1 tsp dry mustard
6 eggs
2 cups shredded cheddar
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Brown sausage in skillet, break up, drain on paper towels when done. Once drained, arrange in bottom of 9x13 oven-proof casserole dish, top with croutons, then cheese.
Beat 6 eggs, 2 ½ cups milk, and dry mustard together by hand. Pour mixture over sausage, croutons and cheese.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to eat, preheat over to 350.
Mix can of soup and ½ cup milk together and pour over refrigerated casserole.
Bake for 1 hour, serve hot.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Spinach, Crab and Artichoke Ziti
I used to work at a restaurant that had the most amazing crab and artichoke dip, and not long ago I saw Rachael Ray make spinach and artichoke pasta, inspired by the popular dip. So I've been thinking... why not combine both into a fabulous baked ziti type dish? So I did! My husband and I both agreed it was a deliciously successful experiment =)
Ingredients
1 T minced garlic
2 T butter
2 T evoo
2 T all-purpose flour
1 c shredded Italian blend cheese (I used reduced fat)
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 c chicken stock
2 c milk, warmed
1 box short cut pasta (I use Barilla Plus ziti)
10 oz chopped, frozen spinach
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
2 (4 oz) cans lump crab meat
pinch nutmeg
crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400.
Defrost spinach and squeeze dry. In a large pot bring water to boil and cook pasta as directed. While pasta is cooking, heat 1 T oil and 1 T butter in a wide, deep skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and saute 1 minute, add drained artichoke hearts and increase heat to high, sauteing 2-3 minutes to ensure all moisture is evaporated. Add spinach and saute another 2-3 minutes until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and move mixture to a bowl to cool.
Return skillet to burner and add remaining T of butter and oil over medium heat. Add 2 T flour, whisking together until well-blended to form a roux. Cook for 1 minute to ensure flour is cooked through, and gradually add warmed milk until completely incorporated into roux. Add chicken stock and increase heat to medium high, whisking/stirring constantly so bottom does not burn. Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes or until milk thickens and coats a spoon. Remove pan from heat and stir in shredded cheese, pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.
Return spinach/artichoke mixture to skillet with cheese mixture and stir to combine. Add cheese sauce and crab meat to pasta and gently stir to combine. Transfer to 9x13 casserole dish and top with grated Parmesan cheese. Cook in preheated oven 10-15 minutes or until set and top begins to brown. Serve immediately.
Ingredients
1 T minced garlic
2 T butter
2 T evoo
2 T all-purpose flour
1 c shredded Italian blend cheese (I used reduced fat)
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 c chicken stock
2 c milk, warmed
1 box short cut pasta (I use Barilla Plus ziti)
10 oz chopped, frozen spinach
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
2 (4 oz) cans lump crab meat
pinch nutmeg
crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400.
Defrost spinach and squeeze dry. In a large pot bring water to boil and cook pasta as directed. While pasta is cooking, heat 1 T oil and 1 T butter in a wide, deep skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper and saute 1 minute, add drained artichoke hearts and increase heat to high, sauteing 2-3 minutes to ensure all moisture is evaporated. Add spinach and saute another 2-3 minutes until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and move mixture to a bowl to cool.
Return skillet to burner and add remaining T of butter and oil over medium heat. Add 2 T flour, whisking together until well-blended to form a roux. Cook for 1 minute to ensure flour is cooked through, and gradually add warmed milk until completely incorporated into roux. Add chicken stock and increase heat to medium high, whisking/stirring constantly so bottom does not burn. Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes or until milk thickens and coats a spoon. Remove pan from heat and stir in shredded cheese, pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.
Return spinach/artichoke mixture to skillet with cheese mixture and stir to combine. Add cheese sauce and crab meat to pasta and gently stir to combine. Transfer to 9x13 casserole dish and top with grated Parmesan cheese. Cook in preheated oven 10-15 minutes or until set and top begins to brown. Serve immediately.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Classic Red Chili
I love chili. Maybe it's because it's a one-dish meal, or maybe because it's a comfort food and reminds me of home. This recipe is basically my mom's with a few additions of my own (namely beer and chipotle chilis in adobe sauce - one of my new favorite ingredient!).
Makes about 8 healthy servings
Ingredients
2 lbs ground turkey (I think any ground meat will do, but because you don't really taste the meat itself in this dish, I go for the low-cal option)
1 large videlia/yellow onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans beans, drained (I prefer black beans)
1 large (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
1 can rotel diced tomatoes with habeneros
1/2 bottle/can beer (enjoy the other half while you're cooking! cheers!)
2 tbsp adobe sauce from canned chipotle chilis in adobe sauce
3-4 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
S and P to taste
In a large, deep pot (the deeper the better to avoid splatters), brown ground meat with onion and garlic. If using fattier meat, drain fat then return to pot. Add beer, stir for a few minutes, add all remaining ingredients. Simmer 1 hour or until liquid has reduced an inch or two and has thickened up to your preferred consistency.
Makes about 8 servings.
I top mine with some shredded cheddar, dollap of sour cream and a big handful of Fritos. Delish!
Makes about 8 healthy servings
Ingredients
2 lbs ground turkey (I think any ground meat will do, but because you don't really taste the meat itself in this dish, I go for the low-cal option)
1 large videlia/yellow onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans beans, drained (I prefer black beans)
1 large (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
1 can rotel diced tomatoes with habeneros
1/2 bottle/can beer (enjoy the other half while you're cooking! cheers!)
2 tbsp adobe sauce from canned chipotle chilis in adobe sauce
3-4 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
S and P to taste
In a large, deep pot (the deeper the better to avoid splatters), brown ground meat with onion and garlic. If using fattier meat, drain fat then return to pot. Add beer, stir for a few minutes, add all remaining ingredients. Simmer 1 hour or until liquid has reduced an inch or two and has thickened up to your preferred consistency.
Makes about 8 servings.
I top mine with some shredded cheddar, dollap of sour cream and a big handful of Fritos. Delish!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Hashbrown Casserole
This is one of those dishes that I grew up eating. My mom made it, and so did many of my friends' moms, for cookouts and potlucks and weeknight meals (we didn't eat so healthy as kids...). I thought everyone knew this recipe well until I took it to a potluck with friends here in Atlanta and it was hailed, and inhaled, as "heaven in my mouth" as our friend Rachel likes to say. My reaction was, "Really?! You mean you guys have never had this?!" because I had actually felt I was copping out bringing something so easy and quick and that everyone was surely tired of or would quickly dismiss as something we ate "then" but not "now."
Boy was I wrong. So I keep making it, and everyone keeps requesting it - sometimes 2 batches even (Derrick!) - and every time we come home with an empty dish. It's now a staple at our annual Thanksgiving potluck we do with our friends, although it still seems strange to me to think of it as a Thanksgiving dish. My husband's coworkers have discovered it too, and they now make up events just so he'll have a reason to bring it in for breakfast.
There are slightly different versions and variations - and I know some people top it with breadcrumbs or crushed corn flakes or potato chips - but this is the one I know and love, and everyone I know has come to love.
Ingredients
1 bag frozen hashbrown potatoes
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of something soup (I use mushroom as their tends to be a vegetarian in every group now)
1 stick of butter (I sometimes use 1/2 stick and no one has ever seemed to notice)
1 (2 cup) bag shredded sharp cheddar cheese
(I love that it's 5 ingredients, one of each - so easy to remember!)
Heat oven to 450. My mom cooks this for an hour at 350, but I never seem to have an hour, so I go for about 30 minutes at 450. You don't have to wait for the oven to preheat for something like this, so just dump everything into a 9x13 casserole dish and place in the oven. Another trick from mom is that you don't have to pre-mix it either, which is hard and messy with frozen potatoes and a whole stick of butter. Just wait 10-15 minutes until everything has softened a bit in the oven and then stir it altogether. Let it go for another 20 minutes or so (about 30 minutes total) or until it's bubbling and the top starts to brown. You can't really over cook it but you can burn the top so if you need it to stay warm or it starts to burn just knock the heat down or loosely cover with tinfoil. Also amazing as leftovers!
Boy was I wrong. So I keep making it, and everyone keeps requesting it - sometimes 2 batches even (Derrick!) - and every time we come home with an empty dish. It's now a staple at our annual Thanksgiving potluck we do with our friends, although it still seems strange to me to think of it as a Thanksgiving dish. My husband's coworkers have discovered it too, and they now make up events just so he'll have a reason to bring it in for breakfast.
There are slightly different versions and variations - and I know some people top it with breadcrumbs or crushed corn flakes or potato chips - but this is the one I know and love, and everyone I know has come to love.
Ingredients
1 bag frozen hashbrown potatoes
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of something soup (I use mushroom as their tends to be a vegetarian in every group now)
1 stick of butter (I sometimes use 1/2 stick and no one has ever seemed to notice)
1 (2 cup) bag shredded sharp cheddar cheese
(I love that it's 5 ingredients, one of each - so easy to remember!)
Heat oven to 450. My mom cooks this for an hour at 350, but I never seem to have an hour, so I go for about 30 minutes at 450. You don't have to wait for the oven to preheat for something like this, so just dump everything into a 9x13 casserole dish and place in the oven. Another trick from mom is that you don't have to pre-mix it either, which is hard and messy with frozen potatoes and a whole stick of butter. Just wait 10-15 minutes until everything has softened a bit in the oven and then stir it altogether. Let it go for another 20 minutes or so (about 30 minutes total) or until it's bubbling and the top starts to brown. You can't really over cook it but you can burn the top so if you need it to stay warm or it starts to burn just knock the heat down or loosely cover with tinfoil. Also amazing as leftovers!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Chicken Enchiladas
So it's only fitting that my first recipe post be one of the first recipes I learned to make on my own. I first learned to make these with my old friend Erin while we were college freshman at UF. My family has been requesting them ever since. I'll admit they aren't "authentic" in that I use flour instead of corn tortillas, but either will work, I just don't care for the taste of the corn ones. You can also vary what you put in them, although I've always started with chicken.
Ingredients
8 flour tortillas, 10" or burrito size
2-3 lbs cooked, shredded chicken
3 (10oz) cans enchilada sauce (I use a mix of hot & mild red sauce)
3 c shredded sharp cheddar or mexican blend cheese, divided
2 (4oz) cans chopped green chilis
2 cans black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix 1 can of green chilis with the beans. Pour enough enchilada sauce into a 9x13 casserole dish to coat the bottom (about half a can, reserve remaining half for the top). Pour the remaining can of enchilada sauce into a pie plate and create an assembly line: tortillas, pie plate with enchilada sauce, a clean plate for assembly, chicken, beans, bowl with 2 cups of cheese, then the casserole dish*. This can be messy to assemble so have everything ready or cook with a friend =)
*note: you can mix the chicken, beans and cheese into one bowl if you like
Heat a non-stick fry pan (at least as wide as your tortillas) over medium heat. Add the tortillas one at a time, heating them on each side until lightly browned and air pockets begin to form*. Then transfer the tortilla to the plate of sauce coating one side. Transfer the tortilla to the clean plate, sauce side up, for filling. Then layer a handful of chicken (about 1/2 cup) in the middle of the tortilla, then a spoonful of beans (about 1/4 cup), and a sprinkle of cheese (about 1/4 cup). Then tightly roll it up - I keep the ends open - and place along a short end of the casserole dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas until pan is full - feel free to squeeze them in there good!
*note: If I don't have the time or just don't feel like it, sometimes I don't heat them first and they still turn out just fine
Once casserole dish is filled, top with the remaining can of green chilis, then the remaining 1/2 can of sauce (and any sauce left over from the assembly too - don't be afraid to be liberal with it). Top with remaining shredded cheese.
Bake in the oven until hot and bubbly and cheese is melted on top (about 20-30 minutes).
My mom always makes a double batch, not because there are usually that many people eating (nowadays just her and my dad), but because they're also awesome as leftovers.
Ingredients
8 flour tortillas, 10" or burrito size
2-3 lbs cooked, shredded chicken
3 (10oz) cans enchilada sauce (I use a mix of hot & mild red sauce)
3 c shredded sharp cheddar or mexican blend cheese, divided
2 (4oz) cans chopped green chilis
2 cans black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix 1 can of green chilis with the beans. Pour enough enchilada sauce into a 9x13 casserole dish to coat the bottom (about half a can, reserve remaining half for the top). Pour the remaining can of enchilada sauce into a pie plate and create an assembly line: tortillas, pie plate with enchilada sauce, a clean plate for assembly, chicken, beans, bowl with 2 cups of cheese, then the casserole dish*. This can be messy to assemble so have everything ready or cook with a friend =)
*note: you can mix the chicken, beans and cheese into one bowl if you like
Heat a non-stick fry pan (at least as wide as your tortillas) over medium heat. Add the tortillas one at a time, heating them on each side until lightly browned and air pockets begin to form*. Then transfer the tortilla to the plate of sauce coating one side. Transfer the tortilla to the clean plate, sauce side up, for filling. Then layer a handful of chicken (about 1/2 cup) in the middle of the tortilla, then a spoonful of beans (about 1/4 cup), and a sprinkle of cheese (about 1/4 cup). Then tightly roll it up - I keep the ends open - and place along a short end of the casserole dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas until pan is full - feel free to squeeze them in there good!
*note: If I don't have the time or just don't feel like it, sometimes I don't heat them first and they still turn out just fine
Once casserole dish is filled, top with the remaining can of green chilis, then the remaining 1/2 can of sauce (and any sauce left over from the assembly too - don't be afraid to be liberal with it). Top with remaining shredded cheese.
Bake in the oven until hot and bubbly and cheese is melted on top (about 20-30 minutes).
My mom always makes a double batch, not because there are usually that many people eating (nowadays just her and my dad), but because they're also awesome as leftovers.
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