Uncategorized

1800’s Chicken

And no, I wasn’t around then to make this recipe up….it appeared in my email this morning as a recipe someone found in Taste of Home. I have not tried it yet, but it does sound really good and so easy to have on hand during the holidays when you have cooked so much that you feel like you are old enough to have been born in the 1800’s. Just get your slow cooker out and add ingredients and sit back and make your Christmas list to give to everyone.

1 large onion, chopped

1 medium sweet red bell pepper

2 teas minced garlic

3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 tables curry powder

1 teas ground cinnamon

1 teas ground ginger

1 teas dried thyme

1 tables light brown sugar

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup golden raisins

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

Hot cooked rice or noodles

Place onion, pepper and garlic in 6 qt slow cooker. Arrange chicken pieces over this.

Whisk the next 5 ingredients with the chicken broth. Pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Add the raisins and tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and cook until chicken reaches 165 (about 2 1/2 hours).

Serve hot over rice or noodles. Sprinkle with parsley if desired or tops of green onions.

Chicken · Daily Thoughts · Meats · Uncategorized

Chicken Croquettes

Years ago, in the 70’s, before I married, I had a roommate, Sheila Waterman. She was a teacher and I worked for the government. We spent lots of Friday nights, sitting in our apartment, wondering why all the guys were not flocking to our door, to take us out on dates.  When we would get paid at the beginning of the month, we would go crazy buying  all sorts of great food that would last us about a week or so. By the end of each month, we dined on vermicelli, boiled cabbage or mac & cheese. But the first of the month, oh boy, did we have some great meals. One of those great recipes that Sheila made were these chicken croquettes.  We would sit and visit over this great meal and laugh at our feeble attempts at how we would try to get certain guys attentions and tell ourselves, “wow,if they could see how good we cooked, they would be lining up outside the door.”  In reality, looking back, it was probably all the great meals that kept us both in  one piece bathing suits, while the other girls who lived at the apartment complex were sitting out there flirting with the guys in their two piece cute little suits that wouldn’t cover a 3 yr old, much less a 20 year old. But…don’t feel sorry for us. After a year or so, we both met guys that ended up marrying us.  Neither of our marriages lasted, but this recipe….it has lasted through the years.

I wish you could see the stains on the recipe card that this recipe is written on. Isn’t it great to hold these little gems and think back over the years of times you have made a certain recipe and the memories that come flooding back? Maybe it is the rain this morning, or the fact that we have been cooped up in our home for 2 weeks that has given us time to just reminisce over things we haven’t thought about in years. I know it is not written in the usual way of how recipes are given to us today, but I’m going to write it just as it appears on the recipe card.

Melt 3 tables butter. Blend in 1/4 cup flour. Add 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Over low heat, stir continually until mixture is thickened. Stir one minute before removing from heat. Add 1 tablespoon dried parsley, 1 teas lemon juice, 1 teas onion flakes, 1/4 teas each of : salt, paprika, nutmeg and pepper.

Add 1 1/2 cups finely diced chopped chicken. Chill in refrigerator thoroughly. At least 2 hours, covered.

With wet hands, shape mixture into balls, using about 1/4 cup of the mixture for each ball.  Roll in 3/4 cup Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs or fine crushed bread crumbs. Dip in beaten egg then the bread crumbs again. Fry in hot oil in skillet until all sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towel until ready to serve.

Sheila and I like to think it was this recipe and her fresh spinach with cheese sauce that got us both a repeat date, but it was probably the fact that we were the only ones left without dates that weekend that got us both a second change to show just what great catches we were. At least we like to think of it that way.

Chicken · Daily Thoughts · Meats · Uncategorized

Slow Cooker Mississippi Chicken

Yesterday was a great day. In spite of all the craziness and fear around, some friends and I opted to meet in Peggy’s house for lunch and to play cards….what a wonderful afternoon. Cindy, one of the friends who joined us was caring for her 8 month old granddaughter and brought her along. We all took turns holding the baby while eating and playing cards. Brought back so many memories of doing that every day. Was such a sweet time together. Peggy, who is a wonderful cook and is always serves such great food passed us all a copy of this recipe. Because this is such a wearisome time, I thought it was the perfect day to share this as it is taken from the Wearychef. Peggy told us that it is such a great recipe and when I sent to some of our kids, Christi responded that this was already one of their favorite recipes and makes me quite often. So, if you are like me and had not heard of it…here it is.

Serves 8

3 lbs boneless chicken breasts (or thighs)

1 packet of au jus gravy mix

1 packet ranch dressing mix

1 stick (8 tables) butter

6-8 peperoncini peppers

Add chicken breasts (or thighs) to the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle both packets of the seasonings on top of the chicken. Top with the stick of butter and the peppers.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.When it’s ready, take a couple of forks and shred the chicken.

Serve over rice, noodles or potatoes. For a low carb meal, serve over riced cauliflower.

 

Chicken · Daily Thoughts · Meats · Uncategorized

Baked Fried Chicken

Face Book is such a great way to keep up with memories of what we have done on a specific day for the last few years. It is so great to see memories pop up with pictures of our kids or grandkids and how they looked 2, 5, or even 7 and 8 years ago, if we have taken pictures and posted them. One thing I truly enjoy is the recipes that folks have posted and I shared so I would have them on my page and then would not loose them. This recipe popped up yesterday on my memory page. After going back and reading it, I realized that I never made it but it sounds so good that next week, we will definitely be making it. *sorry I don’t know who to give the credit for this but whoever it was, thank you! It sounds like a winner that will go with a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and hot buttered rolls…….ending with maybe a coconut cream pie loaded with whipped cream. Now, that will be a memory meal!

Place thawed chicken breast tenderloin strips in a bowl of milk. Let soak for 20-30 minutes.

Mix in a Gallon Size Ziplock or Large Bowl:

1/2 teas salt

1 Tables Season All

3/4 teas Pepper

1 cup flour

2 teas paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick (4 tables) unsalted butter into a few pieces and pace in a 9×13″ baking dis. Melt the butter in the preheated oven.

Spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Highly spray the pan, if needed, to make sure that there are no dry spots.

Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. You can either shake the chicken in the bag, until coated, or dip each piece in the bowl, until coated.

Place each tenderloin in the melted butter and place in oven. Bake for 20 minutes and then turn chicken and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes or until chicken is done. ENJOY!

*ok, I can tell you right now, that I will add some garlic powder to the mix and also probably pour a little more butter over the chicken when I turn it before continuing to bake on the other side. After all, can you really have too much butter?

Casseroles · Chicken · Uncategorized

Chicken Supreme

This is a recipe I posted back in 2009 when I first created chocolate castles. As I was looking through some of my old recipes which were in a file last night, I came across this one. It was such a great casserole that is so easy to prepare and had such a great flavor. The ladies at the luncheon raved about it and so I thought I would repost it. Thanks Martha Samuelson for sharing the recipe. Can’t wait to make if for a luncheon in December. Goes great with a spinach salad and a little cute side of a marinated mozzarella ball, cherry tomato and a little piece of fresh basil, sprinkled lightly with EVVO, all put on a toothpick. Makes a pretty plate for the holidays.

1 whole chicken boiled and deboned (save some broth for cooking the rice)
1 pkg of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice, made according to directions on box but cooked in the chicken broth instead of the water the box calls for
1 can cream of chicken or cream of celery soup (I like to use the celery)
1 cup of mayonnaise
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
1 can chopped canned pimentos with liquid
2 cans French style green beans, drained
1 can French onions for topping

Combine all ingredients except onions. Bake for 45 min at 350…remove from oven and top with the french onions and bake for another 5 min or until onions are lightly browned.

Breads · Casseroles · Chicken · Daily Thoughts · Holiday Fare · Meats · Pies · Starches · Uncategorized

Old Fashion Chicken Pot Pie (Minus the Peas)

One of the most dear to my heart comfort foods is chicken pot pie. But, because one cannot ever find it without peas, I am forced to make my own. Actually, it is such a great dish to make. For some reason, it makes me feel like autumn is in the air, even though it is over 100. It brings back memories of sitting by a fireplace while the pot pie is in the oven and the apple crisp is sitting over on the counter waiting to bring about a wonderful closure to our meal. Yesterday I could not wait any longer. Chicken pot pie was on the menu. I didn’t care if there was no fire in the fireplace, or that the thermostat was turned down to 64 so the oven could be on. Because we had had the kids over for dinner on Sunday evening for barbecued chicken and hash brown casserole, there was still some of the potatoes left over so I began to think, “hum, the hash brown casserole could be used in my pot pie and give it a wonderful cheesy flavor. And flavor it did have. The pie was absolutely wonderful and we ate unit there would have been no room for apple crisp (ok, not for a couple of hours anyway, but we had pumpkin cookies and cherry pie so didn’t need to make anything else). The only thing I will change when I make it again is that I will homemake the biscuits to place on the top. Last night I used canned biscuits because I was in a hurry to get to game night at a girlfriends house. But it was still really really good.

1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups finely chopped chicken
1 cup chicken broth
1 can Campbells cream of chicken with herbs (not ever store has this but if you can find it, get it, it is a great addition) I find it at Walmart
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2/3 cup finely chopped celery
2/3 cup finely chopped carrots
1 cup of finely chopped cooked potato
(If Randy would not have been here, I would have added 1 cup of sliced mushrooms and cooked them along with the onion, celery, chicken mixture)
1/2 teas poultry seasoning
1/2 teas thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Biscuits to cover the top of casserole

To a medium size saucepan, place carrots and potato in a little water to cook for about 3-4 minutes after bringing to a boil. Drain and set aside.
In a large skillet (If you use an iron skillet, you could actually complete the baking in the skillet and would not need to pour mixture into a different baking dish), melt the butter and add the chopped chicken, onion and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper until veggies are tender and chicken is done. Add the can of cream of chicken to the mixture. Stir. Slowly add the chicken broth (you might not need to add the full cup, so after adding about 1/2 cup, stir and add to thin mixture until it is still creamy, but not to runny) to this mixture along with the poultry seasoning and thyme. Stir in the drained carrots and potatoes. (Yes, if you are a pea lover, you can add those also, but be are and drain them well before adding.) Stir until mixture is well combined. If leaving in iron skillet, you an top with enough biscuits to cover the top and bake at 350 until mixture is bubbly and biscuits are done. (I cut each biscuit in 4th’s, but I think if I did use canned biscuits in the future, I would slice them in half horizontally making each biscuit into two. That way the biscuit isn’t so think on top.
If you are not using an iron skillet, pour into a greased 9×9 baking dish, top with biscuits or corn bread stuffing and bake until bubbly and biscuits are thoroughly cooked.
This pot pie reminded me so much of Thanksgiving that I think next time i make it, I am going to top it with corn bread dressing. The sauce in the pie using the cream of chicken with herbs was outstanding.

Casseroles · Daily Thoughts · Meats · Uncategorized

Parmesan Chicken Casserole (Southern Supper)

I know, “suppers” is really not used too much anymore, but doesn’t it sound like it makes the meal in the evening much more informal. You can just imagine, friends and family gathered around the table, passing plates of rolls, bowls of mashed potatoes and platters of fried chicken or roast. Supper is a Southern term which interpreted should just mean, “comfort food being enjoyed by folks which enjoy being together”.  After finally getting moved into our new “digs” (there, I used a term which sounds a little more current and hip) my cooking magazines have started to arrive. Because we were traveling for a couple of months after moving from Texas, I let my subscriptions expire until I had a permanent address. Just yesterday we are the proud owners of our new Arizona license plates which adorn our new car. We feel much more Arizonian now. Am still dreading going to get our DL, which means that we will have to take a eye test and just don’t know if I’m quite ready for that yet. Am eating lots of carrots before that time, hoping that I do, in fact, past the eye test.  OK, back to the supper that I want to post this afternoon. When I saw this recipe, I printed it up so we could buy the ingredients and make it this week.

Parmesan Chicken Casserole

6 boneless chicken breasts, diced

1 cup may or plain Greek yogurt

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 teas Lawrys seasoned salt

1/2 teas ground black pepper

1 teas garlic powder

Instructions

Placee diced chicken into a greased 9×13″ baking dish

In a small bowl, combine the mayo/yogurt, 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Spread evenly over chicken

Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese on top of may mixture.

Place dish in preheated 375 oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and serve chicken over pasta!

Chicken · Soups

King Ranch Chicken Soup

Windows are open, more apple cakes are in the oven and looking through the newly delivered Southern Living magazine, this soup caught my eye. Our adult kids love King Ranch Casserole, but never thought about transforming it into a soup. Thank you Southern Living, that’s why we love you!

2 tables butter

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

2 (10 3/4 oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup

1 (same size) can cream of chicken soup

5 cups chicken broth

1 (1 1/2 to 2 lb) whole deli-roasted chicken, skin removed and meat shredded

1 teas dried oregano

1 teas ground cumin

1 teas chile powder

8 ((6 inch) fajita size CORN tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips and then halved *(I like mine fried crisp in a little oil instead of leaving them soft, which if you do this, you can do this by frying the strips in hot oil and drain on paper towel while soup is cooking before adding at the end)

Garnish: salt, shredded cheese and cilantro

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and sauté 6-7 minutes or until tender.

Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Stir in diced tomatoes, cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup; combine thoroughly. Stir in broth and next 4 ingredients.

Still on medium-high heat, cook until soup is begging to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, about  minutes. Stir in tortilla strips and simmer  2 more minutes. Add salt to taste and garnish as desired.

makes about 4 quarts

Chicken · Meats · Soups

White Lightning Chicken Chile

Since the temps have fallen below 100, surely the cooler weather will be here shortly. When it does, we need to be prepared to have a big pot of chile ready for that first cool evening. This is taken from Southern Living

Comfort Food magazine.

1 large sweet onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tables olive oil

4 cups shredded cooked chickn

2 (14 1/2 oz) cans chicken broth

2 (4.5 oz) cans chopped green chiles

1 (1.25 oz) package white chicken chile seasoning mix

3 (16 oz) cans navy beans, undrained

Saut onion and garlic in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in chicken, next 3 ingredients and 2 cans navy beans. Coarsely mash remaining can of  navy beans and stir into chicken mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring often; cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Serve with desired toppings such as avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro.

Makes 11 1/2 cups

Casseroles · Chicken · Meats

Chicken Breasts Lombardy

A friend of mine brought me 2 sacks of cookbooks that she was getting rid of, knowing how I love to look through them, she immediately called me to see if I wanted them…one of those was Five Star Recipes from Southern Living which has a picture with each recipe. This one caught by eye and cannot wait to get back in town to make it.

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

2 tables butter, melted

6 skinned and boned chicken breast halves

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup butter, melted and divided

3/4 cup Marsala or any white wine

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 teas salt

1/2 teas pepper

1/2 cup ( 2 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Cook mushrooms in 2 tables butter in a large skillet, stirring constantly, just until tender. Remove from heat; set aside.

Cut each chicken breast half in half lengthwise. Place each piece of chicken between two sheets of wax paper.; flatten to 1/8″ thickness, using a mat mallet or rolling pin. I prefer to cut each piece into smaller pieces.

Dredge chicken pieces in flour. Place 5-6 pieces of chicken in 1 to 2 tables butter in a large skillet; cook over medium heat 3-4 min on each side or until golden. Place chicken in a lightly greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish or other large casserole dish. repeat procedure with remaining chicken and butter. Reserve pan drippings in skillet. Sprinkle reserved mushrooms over chicken.

Add wine and broth to skillet. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 min, stirring occasionally. Stir in salt and pepper. pour sauce over chicken. Combine cheese and green onions; sprinkle over chicken.

Bake uncovered at 450 for 12-14 min. Broil 6″ from heat (if you have electric oven, allow door to be partially opened), 1-2 min or until browned.

Serves 6-8