CHEESY ARTICHOKE CHICKEN

 

CHEESY ARTICHOKE CHICKEN
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon FRESH chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon FRESH chopped thyme
1 tablespoon FRESH chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, flattened to 1/4 inch thickness
1/2 cup chopped and drained marinated artichoke hearts

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Spray 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
• Stir together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Italian seasoning, two thirds of the artichoke pieces and half of the tarragon, thyme and parsley.
• Melt butter and stir together with the crushed crackers and half of the remaining thyme, tarragon and parsley. Set aside.
• Generously season chicken breasts with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
• Sprinkle half of the cracker crumb mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.
• Arrange chicken breasts in a single layer on top of the crackers crumbs.
• Spread cream cheese mixture on top of the chicken breasts.
• Sprinkle the remaining cracker crumbs over the cheese mixture.
• Loosely tent with foil and bake 20 minutes.
• Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
• Bake 5-10 minutes more until chicken is cooked through.
• Let sit 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle remaining chopped herbs and serve immediately.

CINNAMON ROLL FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE

CINNAMON ROLL FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE
TOAST
12 slices thick BRIOCHE bread
2 cups whole milk
6 LARGE eggs
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 teaspoons PURE vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon QUALITY cinnamon

• Cut bread into 1 inch cubes.
• Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray.
• Place bread cubes in a large mixing bowl.
• In a small bowl whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon.
• Evenly sprinkle the cinnamon mixture over bread cubes and toss.
• Whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla and sugar.
• Pour evenly over bread cubes and toss to coat.
• Fold in raisins.
• Arrange an even layer in the baking dish.
• Cover tightly with saran and chill overnight.

TOPPING
1/4 + 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon QUALITY cinnamon
6 tablespoons melted butter

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Uncover casserole.
• Mix together 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon.
• Sprinkle over casserole.
• Drizzle melted butter over casserole.
• Bake 35-45 minutes until browned and baked though in the center.

ICING
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
4-6 tablespoons whole milk
2+ cups powdered sugar

• Cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
• Add vanilla and 4 tablespoons milk, blending until smooth.
• Gradually add powdered sugar until well incorporated.
• Add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach a pourable desired consistency.
• Pour over slightly cooled french toast casserole and serve.

GREEN ENCHILADA CHICKEN SOUP

Thank you Carrie for making me try this recipe. I had seen it on Pinterest and Facebook, but now I’ve gotten around to making it in reality. 😀

GREEN ENCHILADA CHICKEN SOUP

2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1 recipe homemade green enchilada sauce (recipe below) or 1 (28 ounce) can green enchilada sauce
3 cups homemade chicken bone broth
1 cup half and half or heavy cream, depending on desired consistency
2 cups Monterey jack cheese or pepper jack cheese
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed at room temperature
4-8 ounces green salsa verde, to taste
FRESH ground salt and pepper, to taste

• In a 6-quart slow cooker add chicken breast or thighs, green enchilada sauce, and chicken broth. Cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours.
• Remove chicken and shred.
• Add shredded chicken, jack cheese, cream cheese, half and half, and green salsa to slow cooker.
• Turn slow cooker to warm and stir until cheeses are melted.
• Add hot sauce or additional salsa to taste.
• Top with lime wedges, avocado, cilantro, green onion, shredded cheese and sour cream or any other topping of your choice.
• Serve and enjoy!

NOTE: you can short cut this recipe using chopped Costco chicken rotisserie pieces. They now come already picked in a large package. Using this chicken also makes it easy to cut the recipe in half or double it 😀

GREEN ENCHILADA SAUCE
Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce is a quick and simple homemade recipe for use in your TEX-MEX recipes.

1 recipe = 1 (28 ounce) can of store-bought green enchilada sauce

2 tablespoons avocado oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, FINELY minced
1 cup UNDRAINED diced canned green chiles
2 cups homemade chicken bone broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Optional to spice it up: 1 jalapeno pepper, diced

• Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
• Saute onion until soft.
• Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
• Reduce heat to medium.
• Add green chiles, broth, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and jalapeno if using.
• Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the liquid is reduced to about 3 cups, by about 25%.
• Use an immersion blender to blend ingredients to your desired consistency.
• Transfer back to your skillet.
• If the sauce is for later use, let it cool, then store it in an airtight container for storage in your refrigerator or freezer. I use a canning jar with an airtight lid.

ALL DAY MEATBALLS with WHISKEY SOUR SAUCE

If you are anything like me, you have a drawer or even a box full of recipes from newspapers, magazines, old maiden aunts, grandmothers, friends and every potluck you ever went to and said I have to have that recipe! I originally started making this recipe (and posted it too) about 15 years ago. I haven’t made many changes since that initial time – it’s just that good!

While I usually keep the combination of ingredients, spices and seasonings somewhat intact, I do make changes to those recipes to make them more palatable to my family. So I always keep a list of likes, dislikes and allergies and am constantly altering recipes to fly by the seat of my pants.

These recipes have been floating around so long in the box that I have no idea where they actually originated, but one looks like a page from an old, and I mean OLD magazine and the other is handwritten. I have them stapled together with a note to combine them together.

I’m like that – whatever works for my family. I had a girlfriend in college who loved fashion but was on such a strict budget there wasn’t room for the things she eyed the most. I remember Julie borrowing a fancy designer dress from a Joann, a girlfriend of ours for an event and then later that night she took it apart, made a pattern and made her own dress before putting Joann’s dress back together. To my knowledge Joann never knew. Now I can’t do that with recipes literally, but I do do it in my mind while I’m reading the recipe(s) as if I’m eating a particularly tasty tidbit. Some days I feel like an archaeologist unearthing pieces to make a whole from.

This is one of our particularly favorites recipes from my archaeology days of recipe hunting. It’s also versatile in that you can easily change the sauce to whatever your tastebuds crave that day whether it’s one of the ones I have listed or one you make up to fit your family. Serve it with salad, in a pasta dish or even on a sandwich!

ALL DAY MEATBALLS
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup Panko read crumbs
1/2 cup WHOLE milk
1/4 cup powdered Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup garlic salt
FRESH ground tricolor pepper, to taste
1 small Vidalia onion, chopped fine
2 LARGE eggs

• In a large bowl combine the quick cooking oats, milk, eggs, onion and garlic salt.
• Crumble the beef over top and then mix in well.
• Shape into 1-2 inch balls.
• Place in slow cooker.
• Pour sauce of choice over meatballs. If using my whiskey sour sauce, save sauce until serving.
• Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until the meat is no longer pink.

CHERRY SAUCE
3 tablespoons QUALITY vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup tart cherry jam (or jam flavor of choice)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup jalapeno ketchup

• Mix together the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire, jam and brown sugar

NOTE: Cherry, raspberry and apricot pineapple jams work extremely well with this recipe.

WHISKEY SOUR JELLY SAUCE
3 limes, juiced (6 tablespoons)
2 lemons, juiced (6 tablespoons)
1 orange, sliced, rind removed, each slice quartered
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup bourbon
3 ounces liquid pectin (1/2 of a foil pouch)
1/4 cup maraschino cherries, quartered

• In a heavy saucepan stir together the lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, water and bourbon.
• Bring to a FULL rolling boil, boiling hard for a full minute, stirring constantly.
• Quickly stir in pectin.
• Return to boil, boiling hard for a full minute more, stirring constantly.
• Fold in oranges slices and cherry pieces.
• Pour over meatballs before serving.

NOTE – Make a LARGE batch of sauce and use it for pretty gifts. Add an orange slice and maraschino cherry before ladle into sterilized jars. Water bath to seal.

BACON GREEN BEANS

 

BACON GREEN BEANS

Total: 40 minutes Active: 10 minutes Yield: 6 servings

1 pound green beans, trimmed
3 slices bacon, diced
2 tablespoons bacon grease
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, SMALL chopped
1 cup chicken broth, plus more as needed
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped mini red bell pepper
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper

• Cooked bacon JUST until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease. If you don’t have 2 tablespoons supplement with salted butter.
• Add garlic and onions, cooking for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the green beans and cook 1 minute until the beans turn bright green.
• Add chicken broth, chopped red pepper, salt and pepper to taste.
• Reduce heat to low and cover, leaving the lid cracked to allow steam to escape.
• Cook 20-30 minutes until the liquid evaporates and the beans are fairly soft, yet still tender crisp. You may need to add more chicken broth during the cooking process, but don’t be afraid to let it all cook away so the onions and peppers can start to caramelize.
• Stir in bacon pieces.
• Serve immediately.

ONION SALISBURY STEAK

SALISBURY STEAK adapted adapted from the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2-1 pound FRESH mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon creamy horseradish
2 tablespoons jalapeno ketchup
1 packet LIPTON French onion soup mix
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 tablespoon WONDRA flour
1/4 cup cream sherry
1 1/2 cups beef broth
FRESH parsley leaves as garnish

• Combine the ground beef, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire, 1 tablespoon of the ketchup, horseradish, 1 tablespoon of the soup mix and some salt and pepper in a bowl and knead until well combined.
• Form into 4 oval patties, and using the side of your hand, make lines across the patties to give them a “steak” appearance.
• Place a HEAVY skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium high heat and add the butter.
• Add mushrooms, cooking until caramelized. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add oil and more butter if necessary.
• Fry the patties about 5 minutes per side until no longer pink in the middle.
• Remove from the skillet and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the grease.
• Sprinkle the flour remaining grease and let cook for a minute.
• Remove the skillet from the heat and deglaze with the sherry, scraping up all the little bits from the bottom to release all the flavor.
• Return to the heat and add the beef broth, remaining ketchup and remaining soup mix. Bring to a boil and let thicken, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
• Fold mushrooms into gravy, stirring a minute or two to reheat mushrooms.
• Remove the skillet from the heat.
• Return the patties to the gravy, spooning a little gravy over each.
• Garnish with the parsley.

AMAZU CHICKEN

I have a small piece of a note that says AMASU Chicken on it from an old folded recipe in an antique box I found in an antique store. I have no idea when or even when I found it. I started researching it and came up with a few recipes that sounded interesting, but none of them sounded interesting enough by themself to be worth trying in my book. So, I piece mealed the bits and pieces of all of them into a recipe we like.

Karaage is basically a Japanese term/technique for deep frying in oil. It is most often used for chicken. The meat is usually coated in a corn or potato starch dredge before frying.

Amasu – means “leave over” in Japanese
Amaza – means “ no one knows everything” in Zulu

Karaage Amazu? Amasu? Chicken I’ll just call it TANGY YUMMY Fried Chicken Serves: 4-6 people
3 pounds chicken thighs (cut into bite size) OR chicken wings
1 cup cornstarch
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
1/2 cup Mirin
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar (unseasoned)
1/4 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1/2 cup water
1 small can crushed pineapple (DO NOT DRAIN)
1/4 cup ketchup (Jalapeno ketchup adds a bit of a kick!)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (1 LARGE lemon)
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon FRESH, FINELY chopped cilantro coriander
1 teaspoon red chili flakes (or more if you like more heat)
Chopped green onions for garnish

• Marinate the chicken pieces with liquid aminos and set aside.
• Combine mirin, rice wine vinegar, water, pineapple, salt and sugar in a pot and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to medium and cook until the liquid thickens.
• Completely cool the mixture.
• Whisk in lemon juice, cilantro and red chili flakes, to taste.
• In a large ziploc bag coat chicken in cornstarch, shaking to coat well. Tap off excess cornstarch before frying.
• Heat oil to 350° and fry until crispy and cooked through.
• Add chicken to large bowl.
• Pour sauce over and toss to coat.
• Plate, garnish and serve hot.