Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmesan

We just love chicken Parmesan!  This tomato sauce is so good, it would stand alone with pasta.  Of course, without using the oil the chicken was cooked in, it would change the character of the sauce.

One thing I need to learn to do is trust that the chicken is done!  I overcooked the smaller pieces a bit.  I have finally discovered the secret to keeping fried chicken from sticking -- it's a combination of oil and butter!  This is the second time I've tried a recipe that called for both, and it worked like magic.

The recipe appeared in Parade on Sunday February 26, 2012.  It comes from the amazing Pioneer Woman.

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmesan

1/2 cup flour
8 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to uniform thickness
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup wine (white or red - I used a pinot noir)
3 14.5 oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 chopped fresh parsley, divided, plus more for garnish (I used about 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning in the sauce instead)
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb linguine or any other pasta, cooked al dente

Combine flour with salt and pepper to taste on large plate.  Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.  Dredge them in seasoned flour, set aside.

Heat oil and butter in a skillet on medium-high.  Fry chicken until golden, about 3 minutes per side.  Remove from skillet, keep warm.  Add garlic and onion to pan.  Cook for 2 minutes.

Pour wine and scrape skillet, getting flavorful bits off bottom.  Cook for 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.

Stir in tomatoes, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 30 minutes.  Add 1/8 cup parsley and 1/2 cup Parmesan.

Arrange chicken on top of sauce.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.  Cover skillet and simmer until cheese melts and chicken is hot.  Sprinkle with 1/8 cup parsley.  Put pasta on plates, top with chicken, sauce and parsley.

Pasta Puttanesca

I had never had pasta puttanesca, but then I saw it made on a local news channel. I had some confusion about the amounts and also referred to the Martha Stewart version. Over the past few years, I've made it my own, adding a jar of marinated artichokes, because I like them. This is my version. It makes a hearty two servings.


1/2 lb linguine
1 1/2 T olive oil
3 medium cloves garlic, minced or 1-2 cloves crushed and a small onion chopped
dash to 1/4 tsp crushed red-pepper flakes
1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
abt 2 T capers, drained
abt 1/2 c olives, quartered
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook pasta until al dente.
While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a deep-sided skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and red-pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until aromatic, 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes, capers, and olives. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Stir pasta into sauce. Cook, stirring, until sauce clings to pasta, about 2 minutes.

Pineapple Lush Dip

This recipe is so good, you might want to skip the pound cake and cookies and eat it with a spoon!

It comes from a recent issue of Kraft Food & Family Magazine.  It's super easy and makes a great presentation at a party.  It is also the filling for the Pineapple Lush Cake, which is made with an angel food cake cut into layers.  I've made that before and it is also fantastic!

Pineapple Lush Dip

1 pkg vanilla instant pudding
1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple, undrained
1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip (I use the whole thing, although the recipe only calls for 1 cup)

Mix pudding and pineapple together and stir for 2 minutes.  Gently stir in Cool Whip.  And you're done!

I serve it with Nilla wafers and pound cake cubes, but Kraft suggests pears, apples, bananas, grapes, oranges and pomegranate seeds.  That is a bit more fussy, and I worried about how it would look after it's been sitting out on the party buffet for a little while.  But it would be tasty!

Creamy Chicken Pesto & Bowtie Pasta

I enjoy the simplicity of the Philly Cooking Cremes and thought it was time to try another one. I absolutely adore the Santa Fe flavor and the enchiladas and although this wasn't as good as that (I *really* love those enchiladas!) this was pretty tasty and fairly simple to throw together. The pesto flavor wasn't overly strong either, in my opinion anyway, if that's an issue for anybody.

Ingredients:

1lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1cup frozen peas
1/3cup red pepper strips
1tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Creamy Pesto Cooking Creme
2cups hot cooked farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
1/2cup KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

COOK and stir chicken in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 5 to 7 min. or until done. Add peas and peppers; cook 2 to 3 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

ADD cooking creme; cook and stir 2 min.

STIR in pasta; top with mozzarella.

Chicken Cacciatore

I thought it was time to try another one of the McCormick spice kits last night. Again, we have the spices, but there is something very handy about having that all pre measured for you. I don't believe I've ever had chicken cacciatore before, so I don't have a comparison. But I thought it turned out very tasty. I served it on yellow rice.

1 package McCormick® Recipe Inspirations Chicken Cacciatore Or:

1/2 tsp Coarse Ground Black Pepper

1 tsp Minced Garlic

1 tsp Marjoram Leaves

1/2 tsp Oregano Leaves

1/2 tsp Crushed Rosemary Leaves

1/2 tsp Thyme Leaves

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 package (8 ounces) mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup)

1 medium green bell pepper, cut into thin strips (1 cup)

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

1. Mix flour, salt and Pepper in shallow dish. Coat chicken evenly with flour mixture.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove chicken from skillet. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in skillet. Add mushrooms, onions and bell peppers; cook and stir 5 minutes on medium heat or until tender.

3. Stir in remaining ingredients and Spices. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Return chicken to skillet. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through. Serve over cooked pasta or rice, if desired.

Chicken Marsala

It was my first time making chicken marsala, and it tasted like the best I've had in a restaurant!  The rich, brown sauce is to die for.  I was impressed that the mixture of oil and butter in the frying pan really kept the chicken from sticking.

Sadly, my camera battery was deader than dead, because it looked as fantastic as it tasted!

The recipe is from a McCormick spice kit.

Chicken Marsala

One package McCormick Recipe Inspirations Chicken Marsala OR

1 tsp minced garlic (dried)
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp minced onion (dried)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp basil
3/4 tsp parsley

Plus:

1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
6 thinly sliced boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lbs)
3 Tbsp butter, divided
2 Tbsp oil
1 pkg 8 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup marsala wine

Mix flour, garlic, marjoram, onions, salt and pepper in shallow dish.  Reserve 1 Tbsp flour mixture.  Coat chicken with remaining flour mixture.

Heat 2 Tbsp of the butter and all the olive oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat.  Cook several pieces of chicken at a time (don't overcrowd the pan) 3 minutes per side or until golden brown.  Remove from skillet.  Keep warm.  Repeat with remaining chicken.  Add mushrooms to skillet. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender.

Mix broth and reserved flour mixture.  Add to skillet along with wine.  Bring to a boil, stirring to release browned bits in bottom of skillet.  Stir in remaining 1 Tbsp butter and basil.  Cook 2 minutes or until saice is slightly thickened (I cooked it about 6 minutes or so).  Spoon sauce over chicken to serve.  Sprinkle with parsley.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake

This dish is fantastic, astounding, amazing, delicious!  (Yes, we really, really liked it!)

It has just enough heat for us, but we are not known for liking hot food.  If you do, you might want to kick it up a notch on your own.

The recipe comes from the February/March 2012 issue of Simple & Delicious.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake

1 16 oz box of penne pasta
1 lb boneless chicken breast, cubed
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
3/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing (Chris hates blue cheese so I used ranch)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Louisiana-style hot sauce (I used Red Hot Buffalo flavor)
1 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
3 Tbsp butter, melted

Cook pasta according to directions and drain.  Meanwhile, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Saute chicken in 1 Tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet until no longer pink.  Remove from the skillet.  Saute carrots, celery and onion in remaining Tbsp olive oil in the same skillet until tender (mine was still a little crunchy and I really liked the texture).  Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer.  Remove from heat.

Stir in dressing, mayo and hot sauce.  Add pasta and chicken to skillet; toss to coat (I put it all in the Dutch oven I had boiled the pasta in so it was easier to stir it all together.)  Transfer to greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  Sprinkle with cheese and bread crumbs,  Drizzle with melted butter.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees or until heated through and the cheese is melted.

Chili con Carne

Only I could get the "Light" issue of Food Network Magazine (January/February 2012) and still manage to try a recipe that is anything but!  There was a light version on the opposite page, but I went for the "rich" one!

Chris drinks Sam Adams Boston Lager, which made the chili a little bitter.  To compensate, I added about 2 tsp of sugar.  If you used a different beer, it probably wouldn't be an issue.

Oh.  And one important note.  When you crush whole tomatoes "by hand," they WILL explode.  Squeeze them inside the can to avoid getting tomato juice all over your kitchen wall and your sweatshirt.  Just sayin.

I served it with Awesome and Easy Creamy Corn Casserole.

Chili Con Carne

6 slices of bacon
2 lbs ground beef chuck (I used and would recommend 92%)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
salt
1/4 cup chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin (I skipped this)
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 12 oz bottle amber beer
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, crushed by hand (also added the thick puree they were packed in)
1 1/2 cups beef broth, plus more if needed
2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp hot sauce (I skipped this)
shredded cheddar cheese, sliced scallions, and/or sour cream for topping (optional)

Cook bacon in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp.  (I prefer to cut it into small pieces with kitchen scissors when raw instead of crumbling it after you cook it in strips)  Drain on paper towel and let cool.  Pour off all but one tablespoon of the bacon drippings.  RESERVE THE REST OF THE DRIPPINGS.

Increase heat to medium-high, add beef to bacon drippings and cook, breaking up the meat, until browned, about 8 minutes.  Transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon.  Wipe out the pan.

Heat one tablespoon of the reserved bacon drippings over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic ad 1 tsp salt and cook 2 minutes.  Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, and tomato paste and cook, stirring, unti the tomato paste is brick red, about 6 minutes (add a splash of water if the mixture begins to stick).  Add the beer and simmer until almost completely reduced, about 3 minutes.  (This took a bit longer, and I didn't reduce it completely either)

Stir in the beef and any juices on the plate.  Add the cocoa powder, tomatoes, beef broth, and beans andbring to a simmer over low heat.  Cook, stirring ocassionally, until the chili thickens slightly, about 90 minutes.

Stir the hot sauce into the chili and season with salt.  Add some beef broth if the chili is too thick.  Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, scallions, sour cream and/or bacon.

Pantry Pasta

I created this recipe last week when the cupboards were looking a little bare...

As long as you have a can of diced tomatoes, you can use up whatever pasta you have in the pantry and make a delicious dinner!

Add whatever spices you like.  Oregano or Italian seasoning blend would be good to try.  A friend even added a splash of balsamic vinegar to hers.  A dash of sugar might help cut the acidity.

Pantry Pasta

olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
parsley to taste
salt to taste
pepper to taste
basil to taste
at least half a box of pasta, any shape or size

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until lightly carmelized.  Add tomatoes and spices, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook, stirring occassionally, until liquid has evaporated.  Serve over hot pasta and sprinkle with parmesean cheese.

Rosemary Garlic Pasta Primavera

Have you seen the new Kraft parmesan blend packets in the store?  Tonight we tried the Rosemary Garlic Pasta Primavera and it was fantastic!

Hopefully they keep making this blend, but if not, I bet you could recreate it.  This is the ingredient list:  PARMESAN CHEESE (PASTEURIZED PART-SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), SEASONING BLEND (CORN MALTODEXTRIN, ROSEMARY, DRIED GARLIC, SUGAR, PARSLEY, DRIED ONION, SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR), CELLULOSE POWDER TO PREVENT CAKING, POTASSIUM SORBATE TO PROTECT FLAVOR. CONTAINS: MILK.

This recipe would also be good as a vegetarian dish if you skipped the chicken.

Rosemary Garlic Pasta Primavera

2-2/3 cups penne pasta, uncooked

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

2 cups baby spinach leaves

1 red pepper, cut into thin strips

1/2 cup thinly sliced zucchini

1 pouch (2 oz.) KRAFT Parmesan Seasoning Blend Rosemary and Garlic

 

COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.

MEANWHILE, heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 to 7 min. or until done. Add next 3 ingredients; cook and stir 4 min. or until peppers are crisp-tender and spinach is wilted.
DRAIN pasta. Add to ingredients in skillet with Parmesan blend; mix lightly.

Mix and Match Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe for homemade mac and cheese is fantastic! 

The best part of this recipe from Fine Cooking magazine is you can customize it to fit your own tastes.  Click here for the interactive that will walk you through the choices and measurements for each ingredient.  When you're done dragging things into your bowl, your customized recipe will appear.  You can email, save, or print it.

This is what I chose:

Macroni: shells

Cheese:  extra sharp cheddar (plus I added some swiss)

Accent Cheese:  parmesean

Add Ins:  bacon and scallions

Herbs and Spices:  dry mustard, sage, nutmeg (about half what is suggested - it wants you to choose one, but a combination is better in my book!)

Have fun with different combinations!  I want to try something else, but the above combination was soooooooo good.....!

Quesadila Casserole

This comes from one of those pre-measured McCormick spice kits.  It is super yummy, but it is best the first night.  The second night the tortillas got very doughy.  I scraped the filling off and ate it with tortilla chips instead.  Next time I might make it with chips instead of tortillas.  Or just bake half of it with the filling only for leftovers!

Quesadilla Casserole

One package McCormick Recipe Inspirations Quesadilla Casserole OR:

2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

Plus:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used more than that)
2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can (4 1/2 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
6 8-inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Brown beef and onions in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain.  Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and chiles, mix well.  Stir in spices except red pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes.  Add red pepper to taste, if desired.

Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13 x 9 pan sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.  Top with 3 tortillas, overlapping as needed.  Layer with 1/2 remaining beef mixture and 1/2 the cheese.  Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture, and cheese.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until heated through.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Ultimate Chocolate Pudding

This is simply THE BEST chocolate pudding I have ever tasted!  It is a cross between chocolate pudding and chocolate mousse.  It is thick and dense, but tastes like mousse.  Simply divine...

I found it in the February 2012 issue of Real Simple and asked Chris to make it for me (he is in charge of desserts around here!).  He said it was super easy.  But there is a lot of whisking.

Ultimate Chocolate Pudding

1/4 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch salt
2 c whole milk
4 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into pieces
3 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla
whipped cream for serving

Set a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl.  In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt.  Gradually whisk in the milk, then the egg yolks.

Cook the milk mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened to the consistency of mayonnaise, 7-8 minutes.  Continue to cook, whisking, for 1 minute more.  Remove from heat and pour through the sieve into the bowl, pushing the mixture through gently with a rubber spatula or spoon.  Add the butter and chocolate and stir until melted.  Mix in the vanilla.

Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.  Before serving, gently stir the pudding to loosen it.  Serve with whipped cream.