| 4 cup poached chicken (diced) | |
| 1 cup celery (finely chopped) | |
| 1 cup pecans (chopped) | |
| 1/2 cup Craisins | |
| 1/2 cup white seedless grapes (cut in fourths) | |
| 1/2 cup white raisins | |
| 4 oz | sour cream & 1 cup mayo |
| Taken from Just A Pinch Recipe Club, this recipe won a blue ribbon and is so much like the chicken salad I used to love at Celebrity Bakery in Dallas.Combine all ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. You might have to add a little more mayo. Serve with crackers or make a delightful sandwich with your favorite bread, lettuce and tomato. |
Category: Chicken
Chicken Portobello Stroganoff
Taken from Taste of Home, this recipe is a winner. I did change using chicken chunks in places of the ground chicken.
1 lb of chicken, cut into bite size pieces
12 oz baby portobello mushrooms, or white mushrooms, halved
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tables olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tables white wine or chicken broth
2 cups chicken broth (besides the previous amount)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tables lemon juice
1/4 teas salt
1/8 teas pepper
1 cup sour cream
Hot cooked egg noodles or white rice
In a large skillet, cook the chicken, mushrooms and onion in oil over medium heat until the meat is done. Add garlic and cook another couple of minutes.
Stir in wine. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is almost evaporated. Add the broth, cream, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half.
Reduce heat; gradually stir in sour cream, heat through (do not boil). Serve over noodles or rice. Serve with a salad and fresh asparagus.
Chicken & Biscuits in a Pot
The last few days it has been such a delight and look through several new cookbooks that have come in the mail. One recipe that has caught my eye and sounds just like such a comfort food, yet, it comes from Food & Wine, which normally, I wouldn’t think of when I am thinking “comfort food”, but it just goes to show you that once again, you “cannot judge a book by it’s cover” Also, don’t know if you have noticed, but this is actually 2 days in a row that I am posting recipes that don’t have sugar in them. Am I getting healthy or what?
6 tables unsalted butter
2 shallots, thinly sliced (or 1/2 cup chopped onion)
1/2 pound shitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 large carrot, cut into 1/2″ chunks
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 cup plus 1 table self rising flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup frozen baby peas, (because we don’t like peas, we will be using green beans)
1 tables each: chopped sage and thyme
1/2 cup plus 2 tables whole milk
Preheat oven to 425. In a large dutch oven or cast iron casserole pan, melt 2 tables of the butter. Add the shallots, (you can use onions in place of shallots if you wish, I won’t send the shallot police looking for you.) mushrooms and carrot chunks and cook over medium heat, stirring until the shallots (onions) and mushrooms are softened, about 8 min.
Add wine and cook until completely evaporated, about 1 min. Stir in 1 tables of the flour and the broth and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until thick, about 3 min. Stir in the chicken and peas (or green beans).
In a food processor, combine the remaining 1 1/4 cups of flour with the remaining 4 tables of butter and the chopped thyme and sage. Pulse 5 times. Add the whole milk just until a shot dough forms.
Using a small ice cream scoop (hurry and clean the ice cream scoop so you can have some ice cream while this is in the oven) or a tablespoon, scoop 20 balls of biscuit dough oven the chicken stew. Bake in the center of the oven for 25 min. Turn on the broiler and broil the stew for 1-2 min until the biscuits are golden. Let rest for 5 min before serving.
Baking this dish takes the guessing out of how long you have to actually boil dumplings to get them just right.
Easter Chicken Enchiladas
Got your attention now, who ever thought of having enchiladas at Easter? After you see this recipe, you might be inclined to push the ham away and get to the store to buy tortillas and cilantro. These are delicious and the cream cheese in them make them extra special for that pretty Easter buffet.
1 cup diced sweet onion (or if you are in a sour mood, I guess you could use a mean onion)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh chopped baby spinach
2 (4.5 oz) cans chopped green chiles, drained
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened *You can use the low fat cream cheese if you really really want, but just don’t get to skinny to fit into that new Easter outfit.
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese (I used cheddar just because I like the flavor better than the jack cheese)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro (if you have a Trader Jo’s store close by, they sell little frozen trays of cilantro, which you keep frozen and just pop out a square of cilantro, allowing you to always have fresh cilantro on hand) (If using frozen squares, the substitution amounts are on the little tray)
8 (8 in) soft taco-size flour tortillas
Pam cooking spray
Tomatillo Salsa
Preheat oven to 350. Saute onion and garlic in hot oil in a large skillet over medium heat for 5 min or until onion is tender and clear. Add spinach and green chiles and sauté 1-2 min. Stir in chicken and next 3 ingredients and cook stirring continually for about 5 min, or until cheese melts.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon about 3/4 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla and roll it up. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top.
Place rolled tortillas, seam side down in a greased pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 min or until golden brown. Top with Tomatillo Salsa.
TO MAKE AHEAD:
Prepare recipe as directed through placing the tortillas into a baking dish. Cover and keep in fridge, then allowing to stand at room temp about 30 min before you want to bake. Uncover and bake.
Chicken Cacciatore
This is one of my favorite spaghetti recipes. I love making it and I love eating it. It makes me feel so gourmet when I am chopping all the celery, onions, bell peppers and mushrooms, so I put on my pearls, apron and music and chop away. It is low fat but tastes great. One of the great things about it is that you don’t have to have exact measurements, so you can adjust it to your liking and it will always be delicious.
1 can of Hunts Italian Original Spaghetti Sauce (24 oz can)
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes (1 lb, 12 oz can)
1 c chicken broth
2 cups chicken, chopped
1 (14 oz) package of white mushrooms
1 cup each of chopping celery and onion
1 cup of green bell pepper
2 cups cooked spaghetti noodles
Italian seasoning, garlic powder, seasoning salt, pepper and dried parsley (I put about a table of each in, except for the pepper, about 1 teas of that)
In hot oil, sauté the bell pepper, onion and celery. If you like, you can also add chopped carrots to this veggie mixture. Add 1 cup chicken broth and cook until veggies are tender.
Add all the seasonings and then the Hunts spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes. Add the chopped chicken and then cook for at least 2 hours over low heat or at 325 in the oven for about 1 1/2 hrs to 2 hours in heavy pot, covered.
Serve over warm spaghetti and then sprinkle flaked parmesan cheese with lots of buttery, garlic bread. Since the sauce is low cal, you can save the calories for the yummy bread that you will want to dip into the sauce.
Vegetable Soup
I know, I know, I should be posting recipes that will help you stick to your New Year’s Resolution of losing that extra 10 lbs, but let’s wait till spring when cold salads sound better than they do when it is 50 degrees and the fireplace is just calling our name to sit by it with a book, blanket and a bowl of hot soup. Now, see doesn’t that sound better already? Besides, we really need this extra little “roll” to help us stay warm. So head to the kitchen and whip up this delicious vegetable soup.
3 quarts chicken broth
2 lbs red potatoes, cut into 2″pieces
1 lb carrots, cut into 1″ pieces
1 large onion, cut into 1″ pieces
1 stalk celery, peeled and chopped
1 (2 lb) bag frozen baby lima beans
1 (1 lb) bag frozen niblet corn
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (14.5 oz) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
3 tables garlic powder
1 1/2 tables salt
1 tables sugar
1 tables Worcestershire sauce
In large stockpot, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, simmer uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. (I like to put it in a heavy pot and bake it at 300 for 2-3 hours). Also that allows you to leave the house and come home to a great smelling kitchen. Serve with fried garlic toast (find that recipe on the blog)
Chicken A La Chardone
Last week, I told you that I would be posting a new chicken recipe when I received it from the lady who cooked it for us at her house. She sent it to me today so here it is. Pat, thanks for introducing us to a most amazing delicious recipe that is just so easy and so good. The chicken was just the most moist and flavorful I have tasted in quite a while.
4 half breasts (boned and skinned – Pat uses thin sliced breasts)
1 egg
1 stick of butter
salt and pepper (optional) Pat didn’t use any!
2 tbsp. dried parsley
2 tsps garlic powder
juice of ½ lemon
¼ cup Italian bread crumbs
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
½ lb mushrooms sliced
Beat egg with 1 tsp garlic powder, (adding salt and pepper to taste) – SET ASIDE!
In another bowl mix bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and ½ tsp garlic powder.
Dip each piece of chicken in egg mixture and dredge through cheese mixture. Lay one layer deep in glass baking dish.
Melt butter. Stir in remaining ½ tsp garlic powder, lemon juice and parsley. Mix together and drizzle ½ mix over chicken. Bake at 375 degree for 30 –35 minutes.
Slice mushrooms. Sprinkle on chicken. Drizzle last of butter sauce over top. Bake another 10 minutes. Serve with white rice.
Dinner For Moms
Tonight I am hosting a dinner for about 10 young moms who are so excited to be getting away from kids (and probably hubbies, but don’t tell the husbands that) to come allow me to serve them. It is always a joy to have precious young women who are sleep deprived, frazzled and just tired of having to think up meals, carpool kids and all the while be attentive and trying to be a sweet, pretty wife. I hope that tonight when they leave, they will feel loved on, waited on, with absolutely nothing to think about except what joy and fun they had just being “girls” for a few hours.
I can think of nothing better to feed them than comfort food. So the menu will be:
Homemade Chicken Mushroom Pot Pie, Dilled-Broiled Asparagus, Homemade Rolls, Salad and Homemade Peach Cobbler topped with Real Whipping Cream.
The Chicken Pot Pie is a new recipe that I am thrilled with the results. It begins with a cream sauce and was very simple, but tastes quite differently than most homemade pot pies. Try it during the holidays, it is such a great dinner for Fall nights and for impressing in-laws.
6 chicken breasts, baked and chopped (I sprinkle seasoning salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and parsley on them before baking. Bake them using 2 cups water or chicken broth. Makes the broth much tastier)
Save 2 cups of the chicken broth that the chicken is baked in. Set aside.
Cook 4 medium potatoes, chopped with 5 large chopped carrots, until tender. Drain, reserving the liquid and set aside. (won’t you be glad when you get to sit aside).
Melt 1/2 stick butter in a skillet. Add 1 cup each: chopped onion and chopped celery. Add 1 8 oz package of white mushrooms that you have washed and sliced. Sprinkle Seasoning Salt, pepper and garlic powder to your liking while veggies are becoming tender. Set this aside.
In another skillet ( I know, I know, all the pots and pans that you will have to wash, but isn’t that what either a dishwasher or hubby is for?), melt 1 1/2 sticks butter. Add 2 tables dried or fresh parsley, 2 teas garlic powder, 1 teas dry mustard, pepper and seasoning salt to your liking. When butter is melted add enough flour to make a paste, stirring with a whisk all the time you are adding the flour so that it does not lump. When you have a gravy like paste, add the 2 cups left over chicken stock,1 to 2 cups milk (adding the milk 1/2 cup at a time, until you get a thick cream sauce) and stir until thick. Add 1 8 oz package of shredded cheddar cheese to this gravy and stir until cheese is melted. Add chopped chicken, and veggie-mushroom mixture to sauce.
Pour into a large casserole dish which you sprayed with Pam. Using canned biscuits, or crescent rolls (but do not roll them up, leave them as they come out of package), place them over meat mixture to cover. It’s ok to leave a little room between the biscuits or rolls, as they will expand. Bake at 350 until mixture is bubbly and rolls or biscuits are done and lightly browned.
Chicken & Dressing Casserole
It is true what they say, if you wait long enough, things come back in style and they were right. (have you ever found out who “they” are?)
The popularity of casseroles is coming back. Maybe it is the time crunch everyone seems to have, or economics or just plain wanting something easy and fast. The following casserole was a great seller when we used to have Mistletoe Market at our house in October. It was a gathering of different ladies who would sell jewelry, purses, holiday goodies and frozen casseroles which I made. Here was one that was so easy to make and it keeps well in the freezer for company at holiday time.
1 chicken, cooked and deboned
2 tables butter (to sauté the onion/celery)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion (to make this easier, just buy the container of mixed chopped onions/celery mix in the fresh veggie section of your grocery store)
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 package herb stuffing mix
1/4 cup butter
2 cups chicken broth.
Saute the onion, celery mixture in about 2 tables of butter until onion is clear and celery is tender (about 10 minutes). Set aside.
Place chicken in bottom of a 9×13 greased baking dish. Combine soups & milk. Pour over chicken. Add onion/celery mixture to dry stuffing mix and sprinkle this mixture over top of the soups. Melt butter in chicken broth. Pour over stuffing and bake at 350 for 35-40 min. Serve with green veggie and salad.
Bruschetta Chicken & Veggies
Tonight, since I am leaving town tomorrow for a week to go see grandkids, I figured that I should feed Randy a home cooked meal so he would appreciate me. After a friend of ours gave me this recipe last week, I have been waiting to try it and tonight was the night. It is so easy and so different. We loved it. Since bruschetta is one of those favorite dinners that we have on Friday or Sunday nights, I knew that this had to be a hit.
2-4 chicken breasts, uncooked
2 tomatoes
*1/4 to 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (if using 2 chicken breasts, use the 1/4, 4 breasts use 1/2 cup)
*1-2 tables butter (if using 2, 1 tables, if using 4, use 2 tables butter)
2-4 fresh basil leaves
1-2 tables olive oil (yes, depends how many chicken breasts you are making)
In small saucepan, put the balsamic vinegar and the butter and cook over medium heat until the mixture is reduced by half and is thick. Set aside.
In the olive oil, sauté the chicken breasts and season with seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, garlic powder and onion powder (be sure these are not garlic and onion salt, but powder)
Brown the chicken on both sides and place about 1/4-1/2 cup liquid and place skillet over pan. Cook until chicken is tender and is completely done. (liquid can be chicken broth, white wine or water)
When ready to serve, place chicken over pasta, rice or asparagus and place a fresh basil leave on top. Place sliced fresh tomatoes on top of basil leave and then drizzle the balsamic reduction over the top one the tomatoes allowing to drip onto chicken. We served this with broccolini and brussels sprouts that I had sautéed in a skillet with bacon and onions. Made a delicious dinner that we didn’t miss having starches, which we are really trying to cut back on. 
Chocolate Castles 