March is officially comfort food month for me. It is the worst month here in the Midwest because one day you will have a sunny, 40 degree weather day and the next day it will be snowing and 15 degrees. I am usually freezing all through March because I am tired of wearing a coat and I feel like if I just stop wearing it that maybe mother nature will cooperate and give us some warm weather. So when this doesn't happen, I turn to food - what else is new? One of my favorite "warm you up" things to eat is chicken parmesan, so I went looking for a good recipe. I was surprised to find that a lot of the recipes out there don't include a tomato sauce which I thought was imperative to the chicken parmesan recipe so I went with one that did incorporate a marinara sauce. I did change a few things about this recipe, but not much. I did not put the sauce in the baking dish and cook the chicken in it because I would assume that this would make the chicken soggy. Instead what I did was that I cooked the chicken by itself in the baking dish and made some angel hair pasta on the side. I topped the angel hair with the chicken and then poured the tomato sauce over all of it. I also didn't have monterey jack cheese on hand, so I used provolone. Delish!
Tomato Chicken Parmesan
By: vero_cn81 (Allrecipes)
2 Eggs, Beaten
1 C Grated Parmesan Cheese
7 oz Seasoned Bread Crumbs
3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts Cut in Half Lengthwise
1 Tbspn Vegetable Oil
12 Oz Pasta Sauce
6 Slices of Monterey Jack Cheese
1) Preheat oven to 375
2) Pour beaten eggs into a shallow dish. In another shallow dish, mix together the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken breasts into the egg and then the bread crumbs to coat.
3) In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add coated chicken and saute for 8-10 minutes on each side, or until chicken is cooked.
4) Pour tomato sauce into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Add chicken, then place a slice of cheese over each piece of chicken. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.
I love making chicken enchiladas, but I don't make them a whole lot because I find it a pain to wrap all of the filling in the tortillas and I think that mine always come out drier than I would like. I found this recipe in Cooking Light and thought that it might be a good substitute. I didn't LOVE this recipe - I felt like it still lacked a sauce, but when I topped it with sour cream and guacamole it made it much better. It tasted good and packed some spice and the chicken wasn't dry, so I loved those things about it. I think that if I made this again, I wouldn't use as many tortillas - if any. I think maybe instead I would make some of my cilantro lime rice and serve it with that.
Mexican Chicken Casserole
1 C Fat Free Chicken Broth
2 4.5 oz Cans of Green Chilies
1 2/3 pounds of Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 C Chopped Onion
1 C Evaporated Skim Milk
1 C Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1/4 C Light Cream Cheese
10oz Enchilada Sauce (I used a Medium Salsa Verde)
12 6 inch Corn Tortillas
Cooking Spray
1/2 C Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 Ounce Crushed Tortilla Chips (about 6-10 chips)
1) Combine broth and 1 can of the chilies in a skillet; bring to a boil. Add chicken and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is done.
2) Remove chicken from cooking liquid and set liquid aside. Shred chicken with two forks and set aside.
3) Preheat oven to 350
4) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 can of chilies and onion; saute for 3 minutes. Add reserved cooking liquid, evaporated milk, monterey jack cheese, cream cheese and enchilada sauce. Stir well and add shredded chicken. Cook 2 minutes, remove from heat.
5) Place 4 tortillas at the bottom of a 2 quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Spoon two cups of the chicken mixture over the tortillas. Repeat layers twice, ending with the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and chips. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
I love going out for breakfast and ordering things that I would never make at home. Everything from fruity crepes to fluffy pancakes. But why is it that I don't make these things? They are simple after all and they taste good at any time of day. One Sunday morning I had a hankering for pancakes, so I went searching for the perfect recipe. I found a winner by crazycatlady on AllRecipes. I don't like maple syrup - or any syrup for that matter; so I like pancakes that have ingredients that make them naturally sweet. The bananas and chocolate do the trick in these. The great thing about this recipe is that the batter is really good - so you can mix the flavors up by substituting different ingredients for the banana and chocolate.
Chunky Monkey Pancakes
1 C All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 C Milk
3 Tbsp Melted Butter
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Large Banana, Diced
1/2 C Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/3 C Chopped Pecans
Cooking Spray
1) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set bowl aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, being careful not to over mix the batter. Gently fold in the banana, chocolate chips and nuts.
2) Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfulls of batter onto the skillet and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.
I love a good piece of meat, but sometimes I am at a loss of what to do with it. My "go to" steak marinade is: garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper - but I wanted something different. One thing I dislike about a lot of marinade recipes is that they all require a long time to marinade and I usually fail to pre-plan long enough in advance to marinade for the length of time that the recipe requires. Because of this, the meat often doesn't get the full flavor that it would had I remembered to thaw my meat and prepare my marinade in time.
I found a great flank steak recipe on All Recipes by GUYCON. He grills this, and seeing that my grill is currently covered in 3 feet of snow I skipped this step (broiled instead), and I of course didn't have the 6 hours that this recipe recommends marinading my meat and instead marinated for 1 hour. The meat was still plenty flavorful and everything I look for in a steak. I may have found a new "go to" steak marinade - and maybe one day I will remember to take my meat out in enough time to marinade for the full 6 hours.
Marinated Flank Steak
1/2 C Vegetable Oil
1/3 C Soy Sauce
1/4 C Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbspn Lemon Juice
1 1/2 Tbspn Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbspn Dijon Mustard
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 Pounds Flank Steak
1) In a medium bowl mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, and ground black pepper. Place meat in a shallow glass pan. Pour the marinade over the steak, turn and cover. Refrigerate for 6 hours
2) Preheat grill for medium-high heat
3) Oil the grill. Place the steaks on the grill and discard the marinade. Grill meat for 5 minutes on each side or until it is to your liking.
January is comfort food month for me. After the holidays where you have to eat and make "pretty" food, the only thing I want to do is eat a bowl of something that will make me all warm inside. Beef Stroganoff is one of my favorite comfort foods - it is simple to make, hits the spot and tastes even better the next day. I stumbled across Donna's Beef Stroganoff recipe on All Recipes and was intrigued by the 4.375 average rating out of almost 800 reviews - can't go wrong there.Beef Stroganoff III2 Pounds Beef Chuck Roast1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp black ground pepper4 oz butter4 green onions, sliced (white part only)4 Tbspn all purpose flour1 can condensed beef broth1 tsp prepared mustard1 6oz can sliced, drained mushrooms1/3 C sour cream1/3 C white winesalt & pepper to taste1) Season meat with 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper2) In a large skillet, melt the butter and brown the beef. Then push the beef to one side of the skillet. Add the onions to the skillet and cook 3-5 minutes. Push the onions to the side of the skillet with the beef.3) Stir the flour into the juices on the empty side of the skillet. Pour in beef broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and add the mustard. Cover and simmer for 1 minute or until meat is tender4) Five minutes before serving, stir in mushrooms, sour cream and white wine. Heat briefly and then salt & pepper to taste. Serve over cooked egg noodles.
So many things can go wrong with Gingerbread Cookies. The dough can be overspiced, underspiced or dry with very little effort on the baker's part. I found the perfect gingerbread cookie recipe from Food Network. The cookies came out perfectly moist and chewy and had a wonderful ginger flavor without being overpowering. Alex Guarnascelli, the baker behind this recipe also offers a recipe for an orange frosting to use with this recipe, but I didn't make that. I instead just used standard white cookie icing on some and left some plain; both tasted great. Just as a general cookie baking suggestion - if you are baking several cookies in one day, don't leave this until the last recipe. Gingerbread cookies by nature are a very labor intensive cookie to make, so make it your first or only cookie when baking.
Gingerbread Cookies
1 1/2 Sticks Lightly Salted Butter, Softened
1 2/3 Cups Sugar
1 Orange, Zested
4 Cups All Purpose Flour (plus extra for rolling)
1 1/2 tspn Baking Powder
1/2 tspn Baking Soda
1 Tbspn Ground Ginger
1/2 tspn Ground Nutmeg
1/2 tspn Ground Allspice
2 tspns Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tspn Ground Cloves
1/2 tspn Kosher Salt
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Dark Molasses
1 Lemon, Juiced
1) In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the butter, sugar and orange zest and beat until smooth - 5 to 8 minutes
2) Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk to blend. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses and lemon juice.
3) Preheat Oven to 350
4) When the butter and sugar are integrated, lower the speed of the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Add the egg mixture and when blended, remove the bowl from the machine. Divide the cookie dough in half.
5) Press the first half of the dough in between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second half. This step will make it easier to finish rolling out the dough when it has chilled. It will also mean you only have half of the dough getting warm as you roll it.
6) Lightly flour a flat surface. Use a floured rolling pin to gently roll the first half of the dough about 1/2-inch thick. Lightly flour the cookie cutter(s) and cut the shapes, making as few scraps as possible. Use a metal spatula to gently transfer them, cookie by cookie, (the cookies should be similar size) to a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough and transfer them to another baking sheet.
7) Bake until brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
The holidays don't start for me until I have polished off my first glass of egg nog while admiring the shining lights of my Christmas tree. When I decided to have a holiday party, I decided that an extra special touch would be to serve homemade eggnog. I scoured my various recipe websites for a winning recipe and I found Amazingly Good Eggnog by Nataliesmom on AllRecipes. This recipe as an astounding 307 5 star recipes, so I figured that I couldn't go wrong with this one - and boy was I right. The eggnog was the first thing to go at my party and I got rave reviews about it.
Amazingly Good Eggnog
Makes about 1/2 gallon
4 Cups Milk
5 Whole Cloves
1/2 tspn Vanilla Extract
1 tspn Ground Cinnamon
12 Egg Yolks
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
2 1/2 Cups Light Rum
4 Cups Light Cream
2 tspn Vanilla Extract
1/2 tspn Ground Nutmeg
1) Combine milk, cloves, 1/2 tspn vanilla, and cinnamon in a saucepan, and heat over lowest setting for 5 minutes. Slowly bring milk mixture to a boil
2) In a large bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar. Whisk together until fluffy. Whisk hot milk mixture slowly into the eggs. Pour mixture into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes, or until thick. Do not allow mixture to boil. Strain to remove cloves and let cool for an hour.
3) Stir in rum, cream, 2 tspn vanilla, and nutmeg. Refrigerate overnight before serving.
