Southwestern Chicken Casserole – Pure Comfort Food With a Little Heat!

Tags

casserole, Chicken, Cooking, Food, pasta, recipe

I made this recipe on the fly the other night and it was a complete hit with my husband and I! It had a ton of flavor with just the right amount of heat. The creamy sauce prevented it from being overly spicy. And this was a great way to use the leftover chicken I had from roasting a whole chicken earlier in the week. A store bought rotisserie chicken could also be used.

Southwestern Chicken Casserole

4 servings

8 oz. penne pasta

1 tbsp oil

1/2 lb. shredded cooked chicken

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 large jalapeño, finely diced

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup sour cream

1 4 oz can diced green chilies

1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded and divided

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp hot Hungarian paprika

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil pasta in salted water for 8 minutes. It will continue to cook when you bake the casserole. Drain maintaining pasta water for possible use.

In an oven safe frying pan or braiser, add oil and over medium heat sauté the onions, bell pepper, jalapeño and corn until softened. Stir in cream of chicken soup, broth and sour cream. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Stir in chicken, green chiles, black beans, 1/2 cup of pepper jack cheese and seasonings. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in drained pasta. If sauce is too thick, add some of your reserved pasta water. Mix until pasta is incorporated. Top with remaining 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Leftover Stuffing Strata – A Great Use for That Leftover Thanksgiving Stuffing!!!

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Cooking, Dressing, Egg, Food, holiday, recipe, Strata, Stuffing, Thanksgiving leftovers

Leftover Stuffing Strata

I had a bunch of my Southwestern Cornbread and Chorizo Stuffing leftover from Thanksgiving. We had enjoyed some of it as is and I was ready to try something new. I had seen a different strata recipe on one of my favorite cooking shows (Food Network’s The Kitchen) and a lightbulb went off in my head! Why not use my leftover stuffing (or dressing!) as the bread component of a strata?!? This would be an awesome brunch dish for Black Friday!

I think this would work well regardless of the type of stuffing you made. You could change the flavor profile by changing up the veggies and cheese you use. I went with the Southwestern theme of my original stuffing recipe and this strata was fabulous!!! I have tried to write the recipe in a way that will help you work with what you have.

Enjoy!

Leftover Stuffing Strata

2 1/2 – 3 cups of leftover stuffing/dressing

4 small green tomatoes, diced (You could change this up to tomatillos, red bell pepper, or even leftover green beans!)

1/2 white onion, diced (This could also be red onion, green onions or leeks)

5 -6 eggs

1/2 cup half and half

1 – 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used pepper jack. If you had a more traditional stuffing recipe, jack, cheddar or even grayer cheese would be a great add)

Dash hot sauce

Paprika or hot Hungarian Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet, cook veggie of your choice (I used green tomatoes) and onions in a tablespoon or two of oil or butter until softened. Drop spoonfuls of leftover stuffing/dressing into a greased casserole dish, leaving some space between spoonfuls. Spoon veggies from skillet over stuffing. Do not pack down. You want to leave room for the egg mixture to seep down into mixture.

In a mixing bowl, crack eggs and beat lightly. Add half and half, a dash or two of hot sauce (optional), grated cheese and a bit of salt and pepper. Mix together and then pour over stuffing and veggies in casserole.

Sprinkle a little paprika over the top of the casserole. Cover dish with lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Olive Garden Copycat Breadsticks

Tags

baking, bread, Breadsticks, Cooking, Food, garlic, Olive Garden, recipe, Sticks, vegetarian

So I cannot take credit for this recipe, I found it at Cooking Classy. I made these breadsticks yesterday for my mother-in-law’s birthday. She is a huge Olive Garden fan, but with the COVID situation we decided to have a small luncheon at home. My daughter challenged me to find a recipe and try to recreate the Olive Garden breadsticks instead of baking my usual bread loaves. This recipe fit the bill!!! My MIL said the breadsticks were even better than Olive Garden’s!!!

I did find that when I measured out 2 oz balls to form into the breadsticks, I actually got 14 breadsticks out of this recipe.

I also chose to make these a day ahead and par-baked them for 6 minutes and then stored them in a ziplock back over night. Then the day of I baked them an additional 7-8 minutes until golden brown and then brushed with the butter and seasoning. You could definitely freeze these too.

Delicious!!! I will definitely make these again! Everyone loved them!

Servings: 12-14

Prep 25 minutes

Cook 11 minutes

Resting 2 hours 30 minutes

Ready in: 3 hours 6 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp warm water(110 – 115 degrees)
• 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar,divided
• 3 – 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil

Topping

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer whisk together warm water, yeast and 1/2 tsp granulated sugar until yeast has dissolved. Allow to rest 10 minutes.

2. Add in remaining 1 Tbsp + 2 1/2 tsp granulated sugar, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 3/4 tsp salt and vegetable oil, then fit mixer with paddle attachment and blend mixture until well combine.

3. Switch mixer to dough hook attachment, add in remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and knead mixture on low speed, adding up to 1/4 cup additional flour as needed, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic.

4. Transfer dough to a large buttered mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in a warm place free from draft until double, about 1 1/2 hours.

5. Punch risen dough down, divide into 12 equal portions (2 ounces each by weight), keep them covered with plastic wrap as you work. Roll each piece into a 9 inch rope on a lightly floured surface, then transfer to two parchment paper lined baking sheets. Cover and let rise 1 hour.

6. Preheat oven to 425 during the last 10 minutes of rising. Bake in preheated oven 11 – 13 minutes until golden.

7. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together 1/4 tsp salt and garlic powder.

8. Remove breadsticks from oven and run a stick of butter over hot breadsticks (using 2 Tbsp, or brush with melted butter) and immediately sprinkle with garlic salt mixture.

Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato & Balsamic Sauce – DELICIOUS and low fat!!!

Tags

balsamic, Chicken, Cooking, entree, Food, healthy, low-fat, main dish, oregano, Poultry, recipe, tomato

Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato & Balsamic Sauce

I think chicken is my favorite protein to cook with! It’s so versatile, healthy and just delicious! This dish was even more delicious than what I expected going in. I want to make it again, so I told myself I definitely needed to blog this recipe. Because yes, I do cook from my own blog! LOL! They are recipes that I loved enough to take the time to document and photograph, so in my book that means they’re worth revisiting!

Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato and Balsamic Sauce

Serves 4 people

Cooking time: 45 minutes

4 chicken thighs (I used bone-in with skin removed, as they add more flavor, but you could do boneless and reduce cooking time)

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

2 tsp avocado or olive oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (I buy the multicolored heirloom cherry tomatoes. Delicious!!!)

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine (Only use wine you would drink. If it’s not good enough for drinking, it’s not good enough for cooking!)

2 tsp capers, drained

2 tbsp lemon juice

Add oil to non-stick frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. Season one side of chicken with 1/2 of salt and rosemary and add to pan, seasoned side down. Season other side of chicken. Brown chicken on each side for about 2-3 minutes per side. When browned but not cooked all the way through, remove to plate and stick in a 350 oven while you continue cooking sauce.

Turn the heat on your frying pan down to medium-low and add garlic and shallots (You don’t want to burn your garlic! It turns bitter, ruins your dish and that pan is done!) stir until shallots are softened. Add vinegar and cook until mostly evaporated, scrapping the bottom of the pan while it cooks to get the yummy stuff off the bottom and into your sauce.

Stir in tomato halves, capers, chicken broth, wine, lemon juice and a little more salt and pepper to taste. Stir and simmer until well mixed. Add your chicken back in to the plan and turn to coat with sauce. Cover the pan and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, turning chicken once, until chicken registers at least 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.

This is great served over rice! The sauce is fabulous, so you want something to soak up that goodness!!! I paired it with some artichokes cooked with lemon and garlic. So good!!!

I hope you enjoy!!!

Dill Pickle Popcorn – A Yummy Snack!!!

Tags

Cooking, Dill Pickle Popcorn Recipe, Food, Snacks, Super Bowl, vegetarian

So my daughter LOVES dill pickles!!! I even bought her a box of pickle juice pops for Christmas one year. LOL! She and her husband were hosting the Super Bowl party and I decided to try my hand at making dill pickle popcorn to bring. Everyone loved it!!!! We had two separate viewing rooms and people kept stealing the bowl back and forth, so I think it was a hit!!! If you like salt and vinegar chips, you will love this flavor profile.

Dill Pickle Popcorn

• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon citric acid (I bought this online through Amazon. This gives you the sour vinegar taste!)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups crushed Lays Dill Pickle potato chips
• 5 quarts of buttered popcorn

Mix together all the seasonings in a small bowl. Then in a large bowl mix popcorn, potato chips and seasoning mix. Enjoy!!!

Stovetop Paella – Impressive Enough for Your New Year’s Guests!!!

Tags

Chicken, Cooking, Food, healthy, mussels, Paella, Rice, sausage, shrimp, spanish, stovetop

I have always wanted to try making paella and I recently made that happen! I was in a FB conversation about spices and my friend, John, mentioned that he grows saffron. The most expensive spice in the world! After my head stopped spinning, I told him we were going to have to talk about this. He asked, “Over wine?”. I answered, “Yes, and paella!” Guess who called me that afternoon asking when we were getting together for wine and paella? LOL! John and his lovely wife have an amazing wine collection and are generous with it, so I’m always happy to have them over for dinner! They bring amazing wine and I do my best to cook amazing food!

So special note about this recipe, how do you clean mussels? You want to buy the freshest mussels you can get. You start by going through your mussels and if any are opened, tap on the shell with your fingernail. If it closes, you’re good to go. If it does not, throw it away! Or if you have any with broken shells that have been exposed to air, throw them away. You will almost always have to throw away a few. I got lucky and only had to throw away 2 out of my 1 1/2 pound batch. Those mussels that are opened and won’t or can’t close will be fishy and can ruin the flavor of your dish. You then want to pull off the beard from each mussel, if they have one. This is the stringy thing coming out of the shell. Then scrub each mussel under running water with a stiff brush. I did this a few hours ahead of time and then put the mussels in a bowl of salt water and stored them in the fridge. This allows them to release any sand or grit in them.

So the paella turned out great and it really wasn’t hard to make! I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Stovetop Paella

Serves 6-8 people

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 – 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite size pieces

1 pound andouille sausage links, cut into bite size pieces

2 cups basmati rice

6 cups chicken broth, divided

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp saffron threads

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds mussels, cleaned and de bearded

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I love to buy the EZ peel shrimp! They are already deveined and they are truly easy peel!)

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

5 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped

Lemon wedges

You will need an enamel coated dutch oven that is at least 5 quarts in size or another large pan.

Put olive oil in pan and sauté onion and bell pepper until softened. Then add garlic and cook until fragrant another 2 minutes. Next add chicken and sausage and cook for another 5 minutes until partially cooked. Next stir in the rice, 5 cups chicken broth, red pepper flakes, crumble in the saffron, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes. Stir the rice gently and continue cooking for another 10 minutes until the rice is fully cooked. Taste the rice and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Add the mussels, shrimp, peas and green onions and stir. Place lid on pot and allow seafood to steam, check after 5 -7 minutes. If the shrimp are not turning pink and mussels are not opening and you didn’t notice much steam, add some of the remaining chicken broth and continue cooking until the seafood is just cooked. You don’t want to over cook it, as the seafood will get tough.

You can make the rice portion a little ahead and then stick in the oven on low for a while, but you want to wait until right before serving to add and cook the seafood.

Before serving, garnish the paella with parsley. Serve with lemon wedges.

I served the paella with a wilted spinach salad and home baked bread. It was a delicious dinner! The leftovers were yummy too!

Enjoy!!!

Turkey Chili with Pepper Jack Cornbread Dumplings – Break Out that Ninja Foodi!

Tags

chili, Cooking, cornbread, Food, healthy, Ninja Foodi, Pressure Cooker, recipe

So my electric pressure cooker recently died. I’ve kind of been waiting for that day, so I could get one of the new gadgets that came out after I got that appliance. I took the leap and bought a Ninja Foodi. It was a great investment! This thing can just about do anything! Tonight was my first time really experimenting and making up my own recipe. I was incredibly happy with how it turned out!

This chili was delicious and I even managed to sneak in some vegetables! I had some zucchini that needed to be used, so I diced it up and threw it in. It was a great add!!!

I also loved the cornbread “dumplings”! I usually bake cornbread to accompany our chili and most of the time my husband crumbles his up and puts it right in the chili, so I thought I would try and simplify things and cook the cornbread right in the pot with the chili. It was perfect!!!

I hope you enjoy it! It’s a perfect meal as the evenings get chillier!

Turkey Chili with Pepper Jack Cornbread Dumplings (6-8 servings)

1 pound ground turkey

2 – 14 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 – 28 oz can crushed tomatoes in puree

1 – 4 oz can diced chiles

1/3 cup beer

1/2 large yellow onion, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 zucchini, diced

3 garlic cloves, chopped or pressed

1 heaping tablespoon chili power

1 tbsp cumin

3 tsp kosher salt

3 tsp ground pepper

3 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp onion powder

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup pepper jack (or cheddar) Shredded cheese

1 tsp Tajin seasoning

Sour Cream (optional)

Place turkey, beans, tomatoes, chiles and beer in the large pot. Break apart the raw meat. Put on the pressure lid making sure the pressure release valve is in the seal position. Select pressure and set to high. Set time to 15 minutes. Select start/stop to begin cooking.

When pressure cooking is complete, quick release the pressure by moving the pressure release valve to vent. Remove the lid.

Select Sear/Sauté and set to Medium. Select Start/Stop. Add onion, jalapeno, cilantro, zucchini, garlic and spices, stir. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, mix cornbread batter by combining muffin mix, egg, mild, cheese and Tajin.

When chili is done simmering, spoon cornbread batter over the top of the chili. Close the crisping lid. Select Bake/Roast, set temperature to 350 degrees and set the time to 15 minutes. After 10 minutes, open lid and insert a toothpick in the cornbread. If it comes out clean the corn bread is clean. If it’s not done cook for a few more minutes until done.

When cornbread is done sprinkle a bit more cheese over the top of the dish and allow to cook a couple more minutes until chili is done.

The chili is great topped with sour cream. Enjoy!!!

Camp Cutthroat 2 – It’s Back!!!

Tags

Alton Brown, Camp Cutthroat, Cooking, Food, show, television

For once I’m on the ball and telling you about a food related show BEFORE it starts!!! Camp Cutthroat will be returning to the Food Network on August 24. This summer the show takes the form of Camp Cutthroat 2: Alton’s Revenge! He’s revealing a 5-week diabolical plan to do in the chef campers. Anyway, I really enjoyed last summer’s version of Camp Cutthroat. I found it even more entertaining than the usual Cutthroat Kitchen episodes. I mean, who doesn’t love summer camp and camp pranks!?!? Good times! You should check it out! I know I’ll be watching!

Feed The Beast – New AMC Series About the Trials of Opening a Restaurant

Tags

AMC, Cooking, David Schwimmer, Feed The Beast, Food, Jim Sturgess, restaurant, television

My husband and I have really been enjoying the new AMC series, Feed The Beast. I’m a fan of both David Schwimmer (Friends) and Jim Sturgess (Across The Universe) and they are a good combo playing childhood friends that have dreamed of opening a restaurant together. The show is a good combination of cooking, restaurant drama, mob activity, romance and sentimentality. It offers up a little bit of everything!

Without being a spoiler, Schwimmer plays a widowed sommelier who is raising his adorable young son alone. Sturgess plays a big-hearted chef with a drug problem, who is involved in questionable activities. Enter the mob! Schwimmer is trying to raise a kid in a decent environment with a buddy who is going about getting money in the wrong way. 

Anyway, this is an interesting show! The characters are engaging and endearing and the action is plenty. There is a good enough amount of restaurant/kitchen/cooking activity to keep this foodie girl happy!

Check it out and let me know what you think! I think the older episodes are available on on-demand and might also be available on the AMC website.

Kitchen Confidential – A Fun Cooking Sitcom!

Tags

Anthony Bourdain, Bradley Cooper, Cooking, Food, fox, Kitchen Confidential, show, television, TV

OK, I’ll admit it! I have a problem! I’m addicted to all things cooking related. I even like to watch movies and TV shows related to cooking.  I recently renewed our Hulu subscription, so I could watch their original series 11-22-63 (which I highly recommend!!!). I was cruising around Hulu and looking at the food related shows they offer and ran across Kitchen Confidential. I had heard of Anthony Bourdain’s book of the same title, but had no idea a TV series had been made based on the book. AND it stars Bradley Cooper??? Score!

This show is definitely worth your time!  They only made one season, so it’s not a big time commitment. I’m surprised they didn’t make a second season, as I and my husband really enjoy this show. From what I could find online, it appears the show was battling with baseball for time slots and got lost in the shuffle.

The cast of this show is great! It is a light-hearted look at the New York culinary world and the cast members are charming and funny. Plus, if you love food, you’ll dig all the fabulous meals being created.

Anyway, if you have Hulu I strongly suggest you check out this show. It is definitely good for a laugh and Bradley Cooper is easy on the eyes! It is not for the kiddies though.

Enjoy!