Creamy Pesto-Chicken Casserole

The Date: 29 March 2012

The Occasion: Thursday night

The Recipe: From Betty Crocker’s Annual Recipes

How it went: Yum! Loved this. I’d like to try my own version of it with broccoli and a homemade alfredo sauce. I think I could concoct a more from-scratch version that would be really good. I’ll get back to you if I do.

What You Need:

2 cups uncooked “fancy” pasta (Recipe calls for radiatore. I couldn’t find that so I used cavatappi. Campanelle would also be good)

1/2 C roasted red bell peppers from jar (I omitted these)

1/3 C basil pesto

1/4 C milk

10 oz jarred alfredo sauce

12-16 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked

1/4 C shredded Italian or parmesan cheese

Your Turn:
Cook the chicken. As I’ve said before, the best way I’ve found to do this is to cook it in the crock pot all day. For something that’s going to be pesto flavored, like this recipe, cook the chicken in broth with basil and garlic to start those flavors going.

When you get home, or when your chicken is done, cook the 2 C pasta until al dente. Drain.

Mix pasta in a large bowl with

· the cooked chicken

· 1/3 C basil pesto

· 1/4 C milk

· 10 oz jarred alfredo sauce

· 1/2 C roasted bell peppers (optional)

 

Spoon into a square 8x8 baking dish.

Bake 25 minutes at 350.

Cover with aluminum foil, then bake another 10 minutes.

When you remove it from the oven, sprinkle with 1/4 C shredded Italian cheese. (I sprinkled this on before I baked it. Oops!)

Enjoy with steamed fresh broccoli or green beans.

Peach-Berry Cobbler

About the Recipe: The potential issue with this cobbler, if you're not careful, is a mushy center. You really have to bake it a good long time. I've made it often with frozen fruit, but it's more risky. Fresh fruit is less likely to create excess liquid to cause mush.

What You Need:

1 stick of butter

1 & 1/2 C flour

1 & 1/2 C sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 & 1/2 C milk

about 2 1/2 C blueberries (fresh or frozen)
2-3 whole peaches, pitted, peeled and sliced (or 2 C frozen peach slices)

Your Turn:
Place the stick of butter in a 9x13 casserole dish and melt in the oven at 350. Yes, a whole stick of butter. Don’t think about it too much. 

While it’s melting, whisk together

· 1 & 1/2 C flour

· 1 & 1/2 C sugar

· 2 tsp baking powder

· 1/2 tsp salt

Add 1 & 1/2 C milk and whisk to form batter.

Pour batter into dish over melted butter. I try to pour it in near the edges for a more even batter/butter distribution. Otherwise the butter pools in the corners as you pour the batter into the center.

Scatter fruit over top.

Sprinkle sugar over the top. Bake 60-70 minutes at 350 until batter is brown and fruit is bubbly. You don’t want it to jiggle. If you shake the dish and the middle looks jiggly, put it back in. Cover with foil if the top is getting too dark. Let sit uncovered for about 30 minutes before serving.

Lemon and Thyme Chicken Stir Fry

The Date: 1 March 2012

The Occasion: I love stir fry, especially with chicken and veggies, and I hadn’t made one in a while. This was a recipe I tried first about a year ago and I wanted to make it again.

The Recipe: From Betty Crocker’s 2010 Annual Recipes Cookbook

How it went: A few things about cooking tonight were not ideal. My lemon pepper had gotten moist or something. The texture was all wrong. But I used it anyway and it tasted fine. I also forgot to get crunchy noodles as topping for the stir fry but I used sunflower seeds instead which added the texture I was looking for. 

The recipe calls for angel hair pasta, which I’ve used before, but tonight I did it with white rice. Either one is good. I omit the cherry tomatoes but add water chestnuts. You can add snap peas, zucchini, cauliflower, or any other veggies you’d like.

What You Need:

2-3 chicken breasts

1 onion

1 medium crown broccoli

1 green bell pepper

1/2 red bell pepper

1 C baby carrots, quartered

1 can water chestnuts

1 C chicken broth

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

1 tsp grated lemon peel or lemon juice

4 tsp corn starch

1 & 1/2 tsp lemon pepper

3-4 C cooked angel hair pasta or rice

Your turn:
Cook rice or pasta as directed.

Cut broccoli, peppers, and carrots. Set aside in large bowl. Add water chestnuts.

Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Slice onion into wedges. Cook together in olive or vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with some salt.

Add vegetables and cover. Cook about 10 minutes over low-medium heat until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Whisk together

· 1 C chicken broth

· 1 tsp dried thyme leaves

· 1 tsp grated lemon peel or lemon juice

· 4 tsp corn starch

· 1 & 1/2 tsp lemon pepper

Add to chicken mixture, when the vegetables are cooked, and stir. Let simmer, covered, several more minutes, until sauce thickens and everything is coated.

Serve over rice or pasta with crunchy noodles, peanuts, or sunflower seeds on top.

Cilantro-Lime Pork Enchiladas

The Date: 18 February 2012

The Occasion: Saturday night dinner

The Recipe: From Pillsbury 2009 Annual Recipes cookbook

How it went: I did this differently from the recipe’s instructions. I’ve never had luck with cooking pork in a skillet, which is what this recipe suggests. So I slow-cooked this in the crock pot all day. It was only supposed to be marinated for 1/2 - 2 hours, but I cooked it for probably 9 or 10 hours. I think this made the pork really tender and good. I've written the recipe below the way I did it, but the original recipe can be found here.

What You Need:

Vegetable broth or bouillon 

One lime

Cilantro

Garlic clove

Crushed red pepper flakes

1 lb boneless pork loin chops

2 small onions

1 can refried beans

Flour tortillas (about 6)

Shredded cheese (Mexican flavor, or Monterey Jack is good)

Salsa

Sour cream

Your Turn:

In a crock pot, place 1 lb boneless pork loin chops.

Add

· 2 C vegetable broth (I use 2 C boiling water over 2 vegetable bouillon cubes)

· The grated peel of the lime

· As much lime juice as you can squeeze from one half of the lime

· The other half of the lime, with the skin cut off

· 1 minced garlic clove

· 1 T fresh cilantro, finely chopped (more, if you love cilantro like we do)

· 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Let cook 7 or more hours on low.

When you’re ready to assemble the enchiladas, you can drain the pork and discard the marinade (or I guess you could save it for something else, if you wish). Chop 2 small onions and sauté in oil or butter until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Open a can of refried beans, empty them into a bowl and zap for 1 minute or so in the microwave until warm. Prepared some shredded cheese, Mexican blend or another type of your choice.

Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray. 

Assemble enchiladas as follows:

On a tortilla, spoon a few tablespoons of refried beans down the center. Top with some pork, onions, and shredded cheese. Roll up and place, seam side down, in the casserole dish. (I bet this would also be great with some rice in each enchilada!) I only made 5 enchiladas, but how many you can make depends how full you stuff them. Sprinkle additional cheese, and any onions you have left, over the top of the enchiladas. Bake 18-24 minutes at 375, until edges are golden brown. Serve with salsa and sour cream. 

Hawaiin Stir Fry

The Date: 6 February 2012

The Occasion: Weeknight dinner

The Recipe: From Taste of Home’s 2011 Annual Recipes Cookbook. It was in the “Cooking for One or Two” section. Perfect of us, you would think. But I doubled it, and therefore defeated the whole purpose of the recipe. But it lasts longer this way.

How it went: This is a pretty good meal. A little strange, maybe, but it’s tastier than you might think. 

I added some Orange Ginger Sugar
from this set of gourmet sugars
Mom got me for Christmas.
Quite yummy!!

What You Need:
1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 onion

2 or 3 stalks celery

1/2 green pepper

Garlic

Butter or oil

1 can (12 oz) pineapple chunks

1/2 C brown sugar

2 T flour

2 T vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

Cooked white rice

Your turn:
In a skillet, cook the ground meat until no longer pink.

Drain grease and set aside.

In the same skillet, sauté

· 1 onion, diced

· 2-3 stalks of celery, chopped

· 1/2 of a green pepper, chopped

· The pineapple from a 12 oz can (save the juice—you’ll need it later!)

· Some fresh minced or dried minced garlic, to your liking

in butter or oil until veggies are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

To the pineapple juice you’ve saved, add

· Enough water to measure 1 C

· 1/2 C brown sugar

· 2 T white flour

· 2 T white wine or rice vinegar (I tried it with apple cider vinegar, but it made the whole thing too cidery)

· 1/2 tsp salt

Whisk until smooth. 

Add to veggies in skillet and bring to a boil. Cook and stir over medium heat about 2 minutes. Add meat back to the skillet and stir to heat everything through.

Serve with white rice, and (optional) cilantro! 

Marinated Oven Steaks

The Date: 5 February 2012

The Occasion: I was out shopping on a Sunday afternoon, and thought that it might be nice to have a “real dinner” on Sunday evening. I bought some cheap steaks and used a marinade recipe I’d liked once before.

The Recipe: From Sara Lee’s Semi-Homemade Meals Cookbook.

How it went I guess this would be better with high quality steaks, but considering I bought the cheapest ones I think this came out pretty well. 

What You Need:

Steaks

2 T Olive oil

2 T Worcestershire sauce

2 T Some kind of red wine

1 T Steak seasoning

Your turn:
Combine

· 2 T Olive oil

· 2 T Worcestershire sauce

· 2 T Some kind of red wine

· 1 T Steak seasoning

in a wide shallow bowl. Stir gently to combine.

Place steaks in marinade. Prick each one a few times with a fork to let the marinade into the meat. Turn steaks over and prick again. Let the steaks marinate for as long as you like, the longer the better, I suppose.

Mash up some potatoes or cook green beans or something.

Place steaks on a broiler pan covered with aluminum foil. Broil 4-6 inches from the heat for about 8 minutes. Flip steaks over and broil 8 minutes on the other side. (Longer or shorter, depending on how rare you like it.) 

Serve and enjoy! 

Ravioli with Pesto Cream Sauce

The Date: 31 January 2012

The Occasion: Easy weeknight meal.

The Recipe: From a 2010 Betty Crocker Annual Recipes cookbook.

How it Went: Great. This is really simple, and makes an all-in-one meal. You can easily swap the vegetables in the recipe for what you like or have on hand. I skipped tomatoes and used carrots instead, but you could use plum tomatoes if you like. Sometimes I've used onion too. The green beans are really good, though.

What You Need:
frozen ravioli
olive oil
bell pepper
green beans (fresh or frozen)
carrots
salt
sour cream
pesto
lemon

Your Turn:
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and cook 1/2 sliced bell pepper (any color), 3/4 C sliced carrots, and 1 C green beans (fresh or frozen, about two handfuls), stirring frequently until tender. Add 1/2 tsp salt and stir.

Meanwhile, cook 1 package (16 oz) frozen ravioli as directed.

Mix 1/2 C sour cream, 1&1/2 T pesto, and 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel.

Toss hot cooked ravioli with vegetables and pesto cream sauce.