Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Garlic Chicken Farfalle



I got this recipe from Becky Higgins via Kevin and Amanda. It is so not healthy, but so good. Seriously, so good.

Garlic Chicken Farfalle
by Becky Higgins

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (12 oz) bottle Lawry's mesquite marinade with lime
16 oz. farfalle (bow tie) pasta
1/2 cup butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon pepper (i only used 1/2 tablespoon and we thought it was plenty)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 lb. bacon, crumbled

Cook chicken and marinade in crockpot on low for 6 hours. Pull chicken out of crockpot, allow to cool a little bit, and shred. Set aside. About half-hour before serving boil the pasta. In a small saucepan melt butter. Add garlic, whipping cream, pepper, parmesan and bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour sauce over cooked, drained pasta. Add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle with additional parmesan.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

We had this at Sunday dinner and everyone seemed to like them. The recipe is from an old Taste of Home magazine.
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
2 T water
2 tsp onion powder
2 ts ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
5 c diced cooked chicken
20 flour tortillas ( 6 in), room temperature
2 cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 c sour cream
1 c milk
2 4 oz cans diced green chilies
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, water, onion powder, cumin, salt, and pepper until smooth. Stir in chicken.
Place 1/4 c chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in two greased 13x9" baking dishes.
In a bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, milk and chilies; pour over enchiladas.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. YIELD: 10 servings.
NOTE: I doubled the cream cheese, water, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper. I used shredded chicken instead of diced and the original amount seemed too dry to me. (Not like Rob's dry chicken though).

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

I got this recipe from Cooking Light. It is delicious and would be really easy to adapt with whatever you had on hand. I think it would be good to use a red salsa and red bell peppers or use pepper jack for extra kick. They could also be made on a griddle or in a skillet so you wouldn't have to heat up the oven. It also helps hide those vegetables that kids don't like to eat because they are covered in cheese. :)



Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

Ingredients

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil
12 ounces chicken breast tenders cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped red onion (about 1)
1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)
1 cup chopped zucchini (about 4 ounces)
1/2 cup green salsa
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
4 (8-inch)flour tortillas
Cooking spray
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Preparation
1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring well. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over chicken. Add chicken to pan; sauté for 3 minutes. Add onion, corn, and zucchini to pan; sauté for 2 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in salsa and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring frequently.
3. Working with 2 tortillas at a time, arrange tortillas in a single layer on a baking sheet; lightly coat tortillas with cooking spray. Broil 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn tortilla over and spoon about 3/4 cup chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla; sprinkle each serving with 1/4 cup cheese. Broil an additional 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, chicken mixture, and cheese.
4. Sprinkle each serving with about 3/4 teaspoon of remaining cilantro. Serve immediately.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Fresh Strawberry Bars

I found this recipe a couple of years ago in a Better Homes and Gardens. They are really good (even Rob likes them!).


Fresh Strawberry Bars

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup strawberry jam (I use my freezer jam)
4 cups strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered

Heat oven to 350. Line 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil beyond the edges. Set aside. In large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Beat in sugars, baking powder, and salt until combined. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Spread dough in prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely on rack. Remove from pan by lifting foil. Spread jam and top with berries. Cut into bars. Serve at once or refrigerate up to 6 hours. Makes 24 bars.


Make Ahead: Wrap the peanut butter base in foil; store at room temperature up to 24 hours. Before serving, top with jam and berries. Or freeze the peanut butter base in a freezer container up to 3 months.

**After about 6 hours the bar and berries start to get soggy. They still taste ok, but definitely not as good as when they are fresh.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Hawaiian Sweet Bread

I got this recipe from my Taste of Home cookbook. I love it. The bread is just slightly sweet. I like to use it instead of rolls for dinner, for sandwiches, I even used it as the crust for a Hawaiian pizza. Also the recipe makes enough for three loaves. I ended up freezing two of the loaves to use later. I just put them in into Ziploc freezer bags after the first rise and then thawed them and let them rise again before baking them. It worked great.



Hawaiian Sweet Bread

7 to 7 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup mashed potato flakes
2/3 cup sugar
2 packages active dry yeast (1/4 oz each)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup pineapple juice
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour with the next five ingredients. In a small saucepan, heat milk, water, butter and juice to 120-130 degrees. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add eggs; beat until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic; about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/4 hours.

3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into thirds. Shape each into a ball. Place in three greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cover; let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if top browns too quickly. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Yield: 3 loaves (12 wedges each).

Saturday, April 30, 2011

New Food Blog

So, this isn't a recipe that I've tried. Instead it is a new (to me) food blog. The recipes look so good. I am excited to try quite a few.

http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Buttermilk Syrup


I've been trying to convince my family to steer away from the fake maple syrup, so I've been trying lots of different syrup recipes for pancakes. We all love this one! With a stick of butter in it, I'm pretty sure it's not exactly any healthier than the fake stuff, but it's so much yummier!


Buttermilk Syrup
from The Sister's Cafe

1/2 cup butter
¾ cup buttermilk (I do milk + vinegar or lemon)
1 cup sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract*

Place butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Then turn stove on medium and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will bubble up; just continue to stir and give it a few minutes for the 'fizz' to reduce before serving.

*You can substitute different flavoring/extracts for the vanilla... coconut, orange, etc. Mike even did root beer extract once (the kids loved that one!).

Monday, February 28, 2011

Glazed Pork Chops with Apricot-Ginger Sauce

I saw this in the new Our Best Bites cookbook. It is one of the "new" recipes that isn't on the website. I thought it was so good (so did Nathan and Mom). It also is really quick to make (like less than 30 minutes). I would suggest having everything already prepared and ready to cook, that is how fast it is. Anyway, try it. You won't be disappointed.

Glazed Pork Chops with Apricot-Ginger Sauce
by Our Best Bites


3/4 tsp kosher salt 
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 boneless pork loin chops, about 1/2 inch thick each
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup bottled apricot-pineapple preserves

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. While the pan is heating, combine salt, garlic and onion powders, and pepper. Sprinkle half of spice mixture evenly over one side of pork chops.
3. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil. Place pork, spice side down, in hot pan. Sprinkle remaining spice mixture on the top of the pork chops. Cook pork for 3 minutes and then flip and cook 3 additional minutes. Remove the pork from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.
4. Reduce heat to medium and add the butter. When melted, add the garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds while stirring. Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Use a spatula to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and continue to simmer 1 minute.
5. Whisk in preserves. Bring the sauce to a simmer and return the pork to the pan. Cook for and additional 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
6. Remove from heat and let the pork chops rest 5 minutes before serving. Serve over white or brown rice and spoon the sauce over each piece of pork.

Click here for a printable version.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pesto Ravioli with Chicken

We LOVE this recipe. It's really easy and really, really good!

Pesto Ravioli with Chicken

2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1 package (15 oz) chicken tenders
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 package (9 oz) refrigerated cheese-filled ravioli
3 small zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup refrigerated pesto
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired

1. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook Chicken in oil about 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown. Remove chicken from skillet.

2. Add broth and ravioli to same skillet. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 4 minutes or until ravioli is tender. Stir in zucchini, bell pepper and chicken. Cook over medium-high heat about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender and chicken is no longer pink in center. Toss with pesto. Sprinkle with cheese.

Zephyr Pancakes

These pancakes are so yummy. Mmmmm... :)

Zephyr Pancakes
2 cups flour
2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 1.4 cups buttermilk
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cream, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry, just until combined- it's okay if there are a few lumps.

Preheat and lightly grease a heavy skillet or griddle. Scoop the batter onto the griddle with a 1/4 cup measure or a large spoon. Make sure the heat is slightly less than medium.