Italian Chicken Stroganoff

The Recipe: From yummly.com, a recipe called "Simply Divine Crock Pot Chicken"

How it Went: Yummly was right. It was pretty divine. I changed the name because I served it with egg noodles, which seems stroganoff-ish to me. You could also serve it with rice. It was quite tasty.

What You Need:
1 package chicken breasts (3 breasts)
1 C Italian salad dressing
1 can cream of chicken soup
*OR homemade version: 2 T butter melted on the stove, whisked with 2 T flour, blended with 1/2 C broth and 1/2 C milk until smooth and thick*
1 C chicken broth
about 4 oz soft cream cheese
about 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
egg noodles

Your Turn:
Place 3 chicken breasts in crock pot.

Drench with 1 C Italian dressing.

Cook on low for 8 or 10 hours.

When you return to it, tear it all up with a pair of forks.

Drain the juice / dressing out. You can save it as a sort of stock, or just toss it.

In a medium bowl, mix:
1 can cream of chicken soup (or homemade substitute)
1 C chicken broth
about 4 oz soft cream cheese
4-5 fresh basil leaves, chopped small
1/2 tsp dried thyme
pinch each of salt and pepper

Pour over chicken in crock pot, and continue to cook on low about 1 hour.

It will become a divine thing.

Serve over egg noodles with a fresh steamed vegetable.

Grilled Teriyaki Sesame Chicken

The Occasion: Husband does the grilling around here, although he prefers to grill burgers rather than chicken. But I thought having him make this would be an easy way to get out of making a dinner this week. Ha.

The Recipe: From Betty Crocker's 2009 Annual Recipes cookbook.

How it Went: I was quite pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. I really wasn't sure how it would work, but it was very flavorful! I will make this again for sure. I guess it mostly had to do with how Husby grilled the chicken, but I like to think I contributed.

What You Need:
1 T sesame seeds
2 T teriyaki sauce or marinade
1 tsp ground ginger
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 lb angel hair pasta

Your Turn:
I was lucky for this meal because I had leftover angel hair, already cooked, from a meal earlier in the week. If you're not so lucky, boil about 1/2 a lb of angel hair pasta. Toss it with a bit of soft butter when it's cooked, to keep it from sticking.

For grilling chicken, I find it easiest to slice the breasts lengthwise, like a hamburger bun, to make them thinner. This allows them to cook more quickly and with greater chance of being done all the way through. It's actually very easy to cut chicken breasts in this way if they are partially frozen. I took my package of chicken out of the freezer in the morning, stuck it in the fridge, and then did a quick defrost in the microwave when I got home from work. This softened it enough that it was no longer frozen solid, but it was still firm enough to cut easily.

In a small bowl, pour 2 T teriyaki sauce (I used a 30-minute marinade) and add 1 tsp ground ginger.

Toast 1 T of sesame seeds in small skillet over medium heat. It won't take long at all, and they burn much sooner than you'd expect so don't walk away and leave them unattended. When they just barely start to brown, they're ready. Toss them in with the teriyaki sauce and ginger and mix well.

Put vegetable oil on a paper towel and wipe over grill rack. Then place the chicken breasts (or halves of breasts, really) on the rack. I slathered them with some additional teriyaki sauce first, smeared it around on them in a large ziploc bag. You can do that, or not. Once they're on the grill, brush them with the teriyaki sauce mixture you made.

Grill about 5 minutes, then rotate 45 degrees to create some pretty grill lines. Grill 5 more minutes in this position, then flip. Brush the second side with the sauce. Grill 5 minutes in this position, then rotate 45 degrees and grill another 5 minutes. Check periodically for burning. About 20 minutes total should do the trick, but slice through the thickest piece and make sure it's no longer pink inside if you want to be sure they're done.

Discard remaining sauce mixture.

Serve with hot angel hair pasta and a veggie. Fresh green beans from a friend's garden were perfect with this summery dinner! Husby liked soy sauce on his pasta.

Stroganoff

The Date: 27 October 2011

The Occasion: I finally felt well enough to cook a meal after being sick all week and mostly eating broth.

The Recipe: From this cookbook, with the cream of mushroom soup from the recipe substituted for this homemade version. 

How it Went:
Great, as usual. This is a favorite meal in our house and tonight did not disappoint. I loved not using a canned cream soup this time. The meal felt more wholesome without adding a gloppy cylinder of beige mush. Don't forget to cook a green vegetable with this. I made zucchini because I forgot to cook a veggie until the whole thing was done and sauteing some zucch's was the easiest option. Normally, though, it's great with steamed broccoli on the side.

What You Need:
ground turkey or beef
cooked bacon or real bacon bits
mushrooms (optional)
onion
garlic, fresh or dried and minced
flour
beef broth
milk
butter
Worcestershire sauce
pepper
salt
paprika
egg noodles
sour cream
shredded sharp white cheddar cheese

Your Turn:
Cook 1 lb ground beef or turkey in a large skillet. While it's cooking, add 5 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled (or a few tablespoons of REAL bacon bits). Add 1 cup mushrooms, if you're into eating fungus, 1 medium onion, chopped, and either a minced fresh garlic clove or a few dashes of dried minced garlic. Cook until meat is done.

In the meantime, melt 1 T butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add 3 T flour, slowly, until smooth. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 C of beef broth and 1/2 C of milk, slowly, while stirring. Return to medium low heat and stir while bringing it to a gentle boil. Continue to stir until mixture thickens. Stir in a few dashes of black pepper.

When meat mixture is done, drain grease. Stir in 2 T flour until blended. Add the flour/broth mixture you made and stir. Also add

• 1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp paprika

Bring to a boil, the reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, cook 6 cups of egg noodles and drain when done.

Just before serving, stir 1 cup of sour cream into the Stroganoff. Don't let it come to a boil again, just make sure it's still hot through after adding the cream.

Serve over egg noodles and sprinkle each serving with shredded cheddar cheese.