Chili

As winter comes to a close, I like to bring out my favorite cold-weather dishes for their last meal of the season. Chili was the dinner choice last week, and although it seems like a tedious task, it's really quite simple. All you need is the following:



Chili Cheese Frito's, Hunt's Diced Tomatos for Chili, Bush's Chili Beans, and Hunt's Tomato Sauce


You will also need:
aprox. 1lb. of ground meat (I use turkey)
1/2 a chopped onion
2T chili powder
1/2T cumin
1t salt
1/2t pepper (I used white pepper, but black is fine.)
1/4t garlic
Red Pepper to taste
1 can of cheap beer



 I like this recipe b/c I get to use my beautiful Dutch Oven.

On Med/Low heat, brown meat in Dutch Oven (or stock pot). While cooking, season with a dash (or several) of your spices. When meat is fully cooked, add your onion, beans, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce. The cans do not have to be drained, but I get most of the juice out of them as I can. (I like my chili really thick. If you like yours a little soupier, just open the can and pour everything in.) Stir, then add your measured spices. Stir again. At this time, you should add 1/2 to 3/4 of your beer, depending on the consistency you want your chili. Turn heat to low, cover, and cook 4 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally. If the chili gets too thick for your liking, just add more beer. I serve this over Chili Cheese Frito's and top it with cheese, chopped onion, bell pepper (not pictured, as they were $2.49/ea), and sour cream.

Lemon Chicken

We celebrated Valentine's Day and the Chinese New Year this weekend with one of the best dishes I've ever made!! I found this recipe on one of the many cooking blogs I read (not sure which one, otherwise I would credit it), and I had to try it right away... especially since Lemon Chicken is one of Boyfriend's all time favorites. It was time consuming, and a true labor of love, but the end result was definitely worth it!!

Main Ingredients: 2 pounds of chicken, cut into small pieces & vegetable oil for frying.

Marinade
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Batter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Lemon Sauce
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup honey - this came to a whole small jar.
9 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice - about 5 lemons.
6 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons ketchup
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (Mine turned blue. Not sure why?)
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
Dash of white pepper
Peel of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons corn starch
3 tablespoon cold water

1. Marinating Chicken: Place cut up chicken in glass baking pan. In separate bowl, put together the ingredients for the marinade. Turn chicken to coat both sides. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until you're done with the sauce.

2. Lemon Sauce: While chicken is in the refrigerator, mix the lemon sauce ingredients (except the cornstarch and the water) in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. At this point, in a small prep bowl, add the cornstarch and water together and mix very well. (Remember that old science experiment with the cornstarch and water where it ended up being not a solid, but not a really a liquid? Yeah. That's what you're making.) Then add the cornstarch mixture to sauce. Cook and stir until sauce is thickened; about 10-20 seconds. Remove from heat and discard lemon peel.

3. Deep Frying: Heat vegetable oil (about 2-3 inches) in a Wok to 350 degrees. (I found this on Med/Low end. If you get it too hot you will burn you little chicken nuggets. Trust me. I set off the fire alarm. Twice.) Dip the chicken, one piece at a time, in the batter. Fry 8-10 pieces at a time, until lightly brown -- about 2-3 minutes, then flip. When cooked, place on a paper toweled plate to help with the grease.

4. Plate and top with fresh lemon, and either pour or dip the lemon sauce. Serve with sticky rice that can be found in the ethnic section of your local grocer.

5. Enjoy!!

ps I'm pretty sure that this sauce can be used on grilled chicken as well to avoid the whole frying mess, but then you loose the batter that is oh-so-good!!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potato casserole is a new-found-old-love of mine. I've made it a couple times sans any recipes. I'm sure you've seen it with a variety of toppings, bur I make it with my two favorites--pecans and marshmallows. This way seems to keep everyone happy!!




You will need:

Aprox. 4 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
A pinch (or 2) of salt
Marshmallows (about 3 cups will cover a 9x13 pan)
OR
Chopped pecans - it's best if you salt and toast these ahead of time b/c it keeps them crunchy!
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon light brown sugar

Bring water to a boil in a dutch oven over high heat. While you're waiting on that, remove the skin on your potatoes with a vegetable peeler, and cube potatoes so that they're all somewhat the same size--in order for them to cook the same. Boil potatoes in water until tender, then drain them and return to pot. Mash with a potato masher. (Tip: If you cook them long enough, the less mashing you'll have to do!!) Add stick of butter, brown sugar, and salt. Stir until mixed well and butter is melted. Pour mixture into 9x13" pan.

Now for the toppings: for marshallows, just spread the 3 cups evenly over the top. For pecans, mix toaster chopped pecans, melted butter and tablespoon of brown sugar in small bowl, and then spread evenly over potatoes.

Cook at 350F for about 20-30 minutes, or until marshmallows (if that's what you went with) are golden and potatoes are bubbly.

Chicken Pie

Chicken Pie is a yummy, quick fix for a weeknight meal! Pair it with a salad or some mashed potatoes and green beans, and you've provided a full-out meal!

You'll need:

1. About 1 lb of chicken, cooked and cubed
2. 8 oz sour cream
3. 1 can cream of mushroom soup
4. 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. Ritz crackers, about 1/2 tube
7. 2 tablespoons butter, melted

You'll:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix soup and sour cream together in bowl.
3. Add chicken, salt and pepper to cream mixture.
4. Pour mixture into oven-safe 9" pie dish
5. Crumble ritz crackers in small bowl. Add melted butter, and mix to coat.
6. Spread cracker mixture over the top of the prepared chicken mixture.
7. Bake at 350 until the cracker topping is golden brown, probably about 20 minutes.

Nom! Nom!

Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie

With a little help from Emeril (ok, fine…more than just a little), I made this delicious key lime pie! It’s great—and soooo easy! I know it sounds a little funny, but the topping is what really makes this dish special. But, you can always omit it if you like.

You need:
1. 9” pre-made pie crust
2. 2-14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk
3. 2 eggs
4. 1 cup lime juice (I used a combination of fresh and bottled)
5. 8 oz plain Greek yogurt
6. 4 tbsp powdered sugar

You will:
1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Whisk together milk, eggs, and lime juice.
3. Pour it into the piecrust. Note: I could find the pre-made 9” crust, so I bought the 8”. That’s fine, but just beware the pie crust will be VERY full. You can hold a little back, or just fill it that full—completely up to you. I used all the mix because I really like the thickness of the pie.
4. Place pie crust pan on a cookie sheet. Cook in oven for 20 minutes.
5. Allow pie to cool to room temperature.
6. Mix yogurt and sugar in small bowl. Emeril uses sour cream here instead of yogurt. I prefer the yogurt, and Greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt, so it’s a good substitution.
7. Spread yogurt mixture over the top of cooled pie.
8. Cover with pie pan top (comes with the crust) and chill for at least 1 hour. Or, up to a week—I made this over a week ago and I just had the last piece!

Nom! Nom!

Stuffed Shells with Spicy Sausage Marinara

Stuffed Shells with Spicy Sausage Marinara

You need:
1. ½ lb spicy Italian sausage (I used turkey sausage)
2. 2 cloves minced garlic
3. ½ medium white or yellow onion, chopped
4. 1 packet spaghetti seasoning
5. 6 oz can of tomato paste
6. 15 oz stewed tomatoes
7. 1 tspn parsley
8. ¼ tspn red pepper flakes
9. 1 package cheese stuffed shells (I used Rosetto)
10. ½ cup grated Mozzarella cheese (optional)

You do:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Remove sausage from casings and brown in medium saucepan. Add garlic and onion while browning.
3. Once meat is browned, add seasoning and stir to coat meat.
4. Add tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, parsley and red pepper flakes to meat. Stir well.
5. Spread shells, open side down, in an oven-safe dish like Pyrex or Corning. At a minimum, you’ll need an 8”x8” dish with deep sides—this makes more than I thought it would!
6. Pour tomato mixture over shells. Do not stir.
7. Cover dish with lid or aluminum foil.
8. Cook 45 minutes at 400F.
9. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top if desired.
10. Serve alongside a salad and bread for an easy, yummy Italian meal!

Nom! Nom!

Roasted Lemon Chicken

Roasted Lemon Chicken

This is one of those dishes that takes a long time to cook, but with only about a 5 minute prep time, you can put it in the oven and then get busy doing something else. Works great for busy weekends! But, it’s a nice dish that’s a great centerpiece to any meal. So, if you have 4-6 people over for dinner, it would also be ideal because while it’s in the oven, you can be doing other things, like last minute cleaning! Haha.

You need:
1. 1 whole chicken (about 5-6 lbs)
2. 2 lemons
3. 1 medium yellow onion
4. 1 tspn salt
5. 1 tspn black pepper
6. 2 tspn lemon pepper

You do:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Empty cavity of chicken. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry.
3. Place chicken in baking dish.
4. Cut lemons into 8 pieces each—cut into 4 wedges, and then cut each wedge in half.
5. Squeeze lemon pieces so that juice runs over chicken.
6. Cut onion into wedges as well.
7. Stuff chicken with lemon and onion—any pieces that won’t fit, you can place around the chicken.
8. Mix salt, pepper and lemon pepper together in small ramekin.
9. Sprinkle seasoning over chicken. Rub the seasoning with your hands to get under the drumsticks and wings.
10. Cover with aluminum foil and cook at 400F for 75-90 min (this time varies based on the size of your chicken, so make sure it’s done all the way to the bone).

Nom! Nom!

Meatcakes

Meatcakes—as in meatloaf cupcakes! Sound gross? Get over it! It’s deeeelicious! And, cute to boot. If you cook meatloaf, chances are you serve it with potatoes anyway, so why not combine the two into a really nice looking, creative entrée. Talk about bringing something new to the table…

You’ll need:
1. 1 lb ground chuck
2. 3 tbsp ketchup
3. 2 tbsp marinade (such as Dale’s or Moore’s)
4. 1 tspn Worcestershire sauce
5. ½ tspn salt
6. ½ tspn black pepper
7. ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
8. 1 egg, lightly beaten
9. ¼ cup baking mix (such as Bisquick)
10. 2 baking potatoes
11. 3 tbsp butter
12. 3 tbsp sour cream
13. 2 tbsp milk
14. ½ tspn onion powder
15. Salt and pepper to taste
16. Parsley (optional)

You’ll do:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Bring water to boil in large pot.
3. Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. Drop in boiling water
4. Mix ground chuck with ingredients 2-9 above, until well blended.
5. Line 8 cups in a cupcake pan with foil liners. You can use paper, but the little grease these produce will make that kind of a mess. Either way, though, they’re prettier if you remove the liner at the end.
6. Separate meat mixture into 8 equal segments and roll each into a ball. Place one ball in each cupcake liner, and press down lightly to flatten on the bottom.
7. Place meatcakes in the oven on 350F and cook for 15-18 minutes.
8. Once potatoes are soft to the touch, drain the water off and put potatoes into a large bowl. Add milk and sour cream to potatoes and mix with a hand mixer.
9. Add salt, pepper, butter, and onion powder to potatoes and blend until mostly smooth. You don’t want any large chunks, but small ones are fine.
10. When meatcakes are done, remove from oven and allow to rest about 10 minutes.
11. Transfer creamed potatoes to sandwich-size Ziploc bag and cut the corner off.
12. Remove liners from meatcakes (if you want, but this step isn’t necessary). Place meatcakes on serving dish.
13. Pipe creamed potatoes onto the top of each meatcake in circles, beginning on the edge and working towards the middle.
14. Pair with a salad, some extra creamed potatoes, or a green vegetable and you’ve got a fun, creative twist on a traditional meal!

Nom! Nom!

Sausage Manicotti

Sausage Manicotti--this recipe isn't expensive and it makes enough to feed a small army! Serve it to company alongside a tossed salad. Add some powdered doughnuts for dessert and you've got a yummy, filling meal!

You’ll need:
1. 2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes
2. 1 can tomato paste
3. 1 medium onion diced, divided
4. 1 tspn garlic, divided
5. ¼ cup sugar
6. 1 tspn basil
7. 2 tspn parsley, divided
8. 1 tspn salt
9. ½ tspn black pepper
10. ¼ tspn red pepper flakes
11. 14 manicotti shells
12. ½ lb Italian sausage
13. 15 oz ricotta cheese
14. 2 cups mozzarella
15. 1 egg, lightly beaten

You’ll do:
1. In medium boiler, mix stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, ½ diced onion, and ½ tspn diced garlic. Bring tomato mixture to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Add sugar, basil, 1 tspn parsley, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a large stockpot. Once water is boiling, add manicotti shells and cook until done, approximately 12 minutes.
3. Begin to brown sausage in medium saucepan. Add ½ tspn diced garlic and other ½ of the diced onion to meat. Continue to cook until meat is browned through.
4. Once meat is brown, place meat mixture on paper towel to drain grease.
5. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9x13 pan.
6. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, 1 ½ cups mozzarella, 1 tspn parsley, and egg. Add meat.
7. When done, drain pasta and rinse with cold water.
8. Fill Ziploc bag with ricotta/meat mixture. Snip corner off of Ziploc bag.
9. Fill manicotti shells with ricotta/meat mixture.
10. Place filled manicotti shells in greased pan. Pour tomato sauce over shells.
11. Cook in 350F oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of mozzarella and cook another 10 minutes.

Nam! Nam!

Pancakes with Warm Berry Compote

Pancakes with Warm Berry Compote
You’ll need:
1. 2 cup pancake mix (such as Bisquick)
2. 2 egg
3. 1 cup milk
4. 1 pint strawberries
5. ½ pint blueberries
6. ½ cup orange juice
7. 4 tbsp granulated sugar
8. 2 tspn powdered sugar

You’ll do:
1. Cut the strawberries into quarters and place them in a bowl that has a lid
2. Add blueberries, orange juice, and sugar to the bowl with strawberries. Shake to mix and set aside.
3. Mix pancake mix, egg, and milk in medium size bowl.
4. Heat large skillet or griddle over medium heat.
5. Pour batter onto skillet, 2 at a time. Cook each side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. You can keep cooked pancakes warm on a cookie sheet in a 200F oven.
6. Meanwhile, pour berry mixture into a medium saucepan on medium heat. Heat berry mixture until liquid is reduced to half, about 10 minutes.
7. Serve compote on top of pancakes and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

You can serve this with bacon for a yummy breakfast (or dinner) for 2!
Nam! Nam!

Sicilian Spaghetti

Delicioso! Or, something like that! This is a yummy recipe for mostly made-from-scratch spaghetti that will have your house smelling like Sicily! Just grab your honey and go for a gondola ride when you're finished eating! :)

You'll need:

1. 1 lb lean ground beef
2. 1 medium onion, chopped
3. 2 cloves garlic, minced
4. 2 15oz. cans tomato sauce
5. 5 oz. can Italian (or regular) tomato paste
6. 1/4 cup sugar
7. 1 tspn basil
8. 1 tspn dried parsley
9. 1/2 tspn crushed red pepper flakes
10. 1 box thin spaghetti or vermicelli

You'll do:

1. Heat medium pan over med-hi heat.
2. Add ground beef, onion.
3. Cook, using a wooden spoon to break up beef, until beef is browned completely and onion is tender.
4. Drain meat and wipe out pan with paper towel.
5. Place meat/onion mixture in medium-sized pot on medium-hi heat.
6. Add garlic to pot.
7. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste.
8. Fill 1 empty tomato sauce can with water, and add to pot.
9. Add basil, parsley, sugar, and red pepper flakes to tomato sauce in pot.
10. Bring sauce to a boil and then decrease heat to low.
11. Allow sauce to simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
12. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente.
13. Serve sauce over pasta, with bread and salad.

Nam! Nam!

Turkey-Apple Sandwiches

These were a last-minute concoction that turned out quite yummy! They're very simple, with no cooking (duh--it's a sandwich!), but they have some tart granny smith apple slices for an added crunch.

You'll need (for 4 sandwiches):

1. 8 slices Wheat bread (I used 9-gram Sara Lee because they are large slices)
2. 1/2 lb. thick sliced turkey (again, Sara Lee, sliced fresh in the grocery store deli)
3. 1 Granny Smith apple, sliced
4. Spicy or Dijon Mustard

You'll make them by:

1. Preheat your oven broiler on high.
2. Place all the bread slices on a large cookie sheet and brown them for about 2 minutes, or until lightly toasted. I like the soft, freshness of wheat bread, so I only toast one side of it. But, if you want both sides toasted, just flip the slices over and toast another 2 minutes. It's helpful to toast at least one side to keep the bread from getting soggy if not eating the sandwiches immediately.
3. Spread mustard lightly on the toasted side of each bread slice.
4. Place apple slice(s) on 4 of the pieces of toast atop the mustard.
5. Top the apple with 2 oz. of turkey for each sandwich.
6. Place the other bread slice, mustard side down on top of the turkey.
7. Cut diagonally and serve with veggies and dip, fruit salad, or chips!

Nam! Nam!