New Recipe Night - Couscous Paella Soup

I'm finally back to cooking at least for the moment.  One more week of summer and then it's back to school, so I guess I better get back into the swing of things as well.
This was really tasty, quick and easy.  Even more exciting... I got John to eat couscous despite his hatred of it.  Frankly, I don't understand how anyone can hate couscous, but he is not a fan.
I did get him to admit that it was "okay in soup."  Success on all fronts!

Couscous Paella Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup diced red pepper

1/3 cup diced onion

1/3 finely diced Spanish chorizo (substitute pepperoni if needed)

2 large cloves garlic, minced

8 oz chicken tenders, diced

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/c cup frozen peas, thawed (optional)

large pinch of saffron (optional)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 cup water

2/3 cup couscous

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional) I substituted chopped green onion

1.  Heat oil in a large pan, add bell pepper, onion, chorizo, and garlic.  Cook stirring until vegetables begin to soften, about 2 minutes.  Add chicken, broth, peas, saffron, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook until vegetables are tender - 8-10 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat.   Let stand 5 minutes. 

3.  To serve, mound about 1/2 cup couscous in bowl.  Ladle the soup around the couscous and sprinkle with cilantro or green onion.

It really was very tasty and very easy.  My only suggestion... needs a little more spice/heat for me.  Maybe add jalapeño or other hot pepper.

P.S.  Didn't even offer it to Zack.  He seems to be boycotting all food except Ramen, Waffles and Froot Loops.  It's like he's skipped high school and gone straight to college!

New Recipe Night - Two-fer again!

I ended up taking a brief break from the Olympics to actually cook some real food.  You can only eat so many leftovers, sandwiches and cereal before you start to feel the need for real food.  Not Zack of course, I think that child would eat cereal and ramen every meal of his life if I didn't make him eat some "real food" occasionally.  But I digress... needless to say, he did not join us for dinner.

Maple-Mustard Glazed Chicken

2 tsp olive oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tsp fresh chopped thyme ( I used 1 tsp dried)

2 med garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp stone-ground mustard

Preheat oven to 400.  Heat a large ovenproof skillet over med high heat.  Add oil, swirl to coat.  Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt.  Saute chicken 2 minutes on each side or until browned.  Remove from pan.  Add broth, syrup, thyme and garlic to pan' bring to a boil.  Cook 2 minutes stirring frequently.  Add vinegar and mustard; cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.  

Return chicken to pan and spoon mustard mixture over chicken.  Bake for 10 minutes or until the chicken is done.  Remove from pan and let sit for 5 minutes.

Place pan over medium heat;cook mustard mixture 2 minutes or until liquid is syrupy, stirring frequently.  Spoon over chicken and serve.

Parmesan-Roasted Green Beans

8 oz green beans

olive oil

salt 

pepper

Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

In a medium bowl place green beans (clean and trim ends), small amount of oil (enough to coat beans), pinch of salt and pepper.  Mix until everything is covered.

Lay green beans onto a cookie sheet and sprinkle a "healthy" amount of cheese on top.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes - green beans should be crips on the outside and tender on the inside.

Both recipes were Delish!  Super easy to make and yummy!  Yeah for me, now I have the strength to sit on the sofa and watch more Olympics!

New Recipe Night - Dijon Chicken Linquine

It's been a long stretch for New Recipe Night.  It's actually be a long stretch since I've cooked.  With John's new job, he's working 14-16 hour days, 7 days a week - Zack doesn't eat real food and Brenna is here hit or miss so I haven't seen the point in cooking.  But, now that the new clinics are open and it looks like his hours may settle down a little I'm jumping back in with both feet.

Dijon Chicken Linguine with Mushrooms and Toasted Almonds

350 gram package linguine, cooked

4 boneless, chicken breasts

1 cup mushrooms

3 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves minced garlic

salt and pepper to season

1/2 cup toasted, slivered almonds

4 oz white wine

2 cups whipping cream

3 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Heat olive oil in large frying pan.  Add chicken breasts, garlic, season with salt and pepper and continue to cook chicken until done.  Remove chicken from pan and hold in a warm oven.  Add to the pan wine and simmer until volume is reduced by half.  Then add whipping cream, mustard, salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer until sauce thickens enough to coat a metal spoon.  Return chicken to sauce, add the mushrooms and simmer for an additional 2 minutes.  Serve over cooked linguine.  Sprinkle with toasted almonds.

John loved it, but I don't know if he loved it because it was really good or because it's the first time I've cooked in weeks.  I thought it was good, but I'm not sure it was good enough to counteract the fact that it has 2 cups of heavy cream in it!  I'll keep the recipe for now.

New Recipe Night.... Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

Hello...New Recipe Night... it's been a long time... how have you been??  It's been awhile since we did  New Recipe Night... if we're being honest, it's been a while since I actually cooked.  John started his new job 2 weeks ago and he's been working looonnnnggg, crazy, late hours, Zack doesn't eat real food and Brenna doesn't even get up until 2pm so what's the point in cooking!  But one can only eat cheese and crackers, Lean Cuisine and popcorn for dinner for so long.  So..... back to cooking!

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

1 cup cooked rice ( I used yellow rice)

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 green onion, diced

1/2 green or red pepper, diced **optional

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garlic salt

2 cup shredded cheese ( I used cheddar)

sour cream

6 burrito-sized tortillas

Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt.  Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream.  Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Can add a dollop of sour cream if desired.  Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open.  Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.  

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat for 1 minute.  Arrange wraps seam-side down and cook until golden brown and crisp about 2-3 minutes per side.

This was definitely a keeper.  John said it was like eating at a restaurant, although since he hadn't eaten anything home cooked in almost 2 weeks, I'm not sure how accurate his review is, but I'll take it.

New Recipe Night - Two-fer

Another success with a little adapting...

Maple-Mustard Glazed Chicken

2 tsp olive oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp stone ground mustard

Official version

Preheat oven to 400.  Heat a large ovenproof skillet over med-high heat.  Add oil, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and add to pan.  Saute 2 minutes on each side or until browned.  Remove chicken from pan; add broth, syrup, thyme and garlic to pan.  Bring to a boil, scraping sides to loosen brown bits.

Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add vinegar, mustard; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Return chicken to pan and spoon mustard mixture over chicken.  Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until chicken is done.  Remove from pan and let sit for 5 minutes.  Place pan over med-heat; cook mustard mixture 2 minutes or until liquid is syrupy.  Drizzle over chicken.

My version

This was very tasty and pretty darn easy.  My changes... a little less maple syrup and a little more mustard.  It was a little too sweet for me, but I'm a much more savory girl than I am a sweet girl.  (But we all knew that!)  John really liked it... Zack didn't even come downstairs... :o)

New Recipe Night #2 - 

Herb-topped Stuffed Tomatoes

1 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 Tbsp + 2 tsp butter, divided

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp seasoned bread crumbs

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese ( I substituted mozzarella)

4 large tomatoes, halved

 1 Tbsp fresh basil

1 Tbsp fresh parsley

In a small skillet, sauté onion and garlic in 1 Tbsp butter until tender.  Melt remaining butter.  In a small bowl, combine the onion mixture, bread crumbs, cheese and melted butter.  Spoon 2 Tbsp onto each tomato half.  

Place on a baking sheet.  Broil 8 in from the heat for 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned.  Sprinkle with basil and parsley.

Official version

These were very good.  My only adaptation... broil the tomatoes with out any cheese topping first.  Then add the cheese at the last minute.  Otherwise the cheese gets brown too quickly and the breadcrumbs and tomato stay cold.

I think I might be back on a roll.  The worst part is that our weather has been so beautiful, 86 today, 92 tomorrow.. that all I want to do is sit outside in the sun and read my book or hang out with the neighbors so it's quite a burden to come in and actually cook something....That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

New Recipe Night - Crock Pot Chicken Cordon Bleu

It's been a while, got off the cooking bandwagon there for a week or two.  Spring Break did me in with the enthusiasm for doing anything including cooking.  Seems like the less I do, the less I want to do.  Anyway, break is over and we're back in the swing of things and so it was time for another New Recipe Night.

Crock Pot Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup milk

4 oz sliced ham

4oz sliced swiss cheese

1 (8oz) package herbed dry bread stuffing mix

1/4 cup butter

Mix together the cream of chicken soup and milk in a bowl.  Pour enough of the soup into the crock pot to cover the bottom.  Layer chicken breasts over the sauce.  Cover with slices of ham and then swiss cheese.  Pour the remaining soup over the layers, stirring a little to distribute between layers.  Sprinkle the stuffing on top, and drizzle butter over stuffing.  Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours or 2-3 hours on high.

I have the worst luck with crock pot recipes.  The crock pot is not my friend.  But this recipe turned out pretty good.  It was tasty, but it doesn't look very pretty.  Surprisingly the bread crumbs stayed relatively crispy, but you can't see the chicken under them, so when I tried to scoop the chicken out all the ham and swiss slipped off and feel into the mixture.  When you put it on the plate it looks like a big sloppy mess.  But it tasted pretty good.  I think it's a keeper.

New Recipe Night - Aussie Chicken - FREAKING ROCKED IT!

On of the best new recipe nights EVER!  Again from Pinterest... Zack didn't eat it, but Mimi, John and I really liked it!  AWESOME!  I don't know why it's called Aussie Chicken, I think it comes from a recipe that you can get at Outback Steakhouse, but since we never eat there, I wouldn't know.

Aussie Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness (sometimes it's easier to filet them instead)

seasoned salt

6 slices of bacon, cut in half

1/4 cup regular mustard ( I didn't have enough so I substituted a little Grey Poupon)

1/4 cup honey

2 Tbsp mayo (didn't have it, used sour cream)

2 tsp dried onion flakes

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

2 cups shredded Colby/Jack cheese

Sprinkle and rub the chicken breasts with seasoning salt.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (didn't do this).  

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp.  Remove bacon. ****Do Not discard grease*** Saute chicken in the bacon grease for 3-5 minutes per side or until browned. Move chicken to 9x13 pan.

In a small bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayo and dried onion flakes.  Apply the honey mustard to each breast, then layer with mushrooms, bacon and shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and chicken is done.  If chicken has been filleted then more like 20 min.

I serve it with rice pilaf and a salad.  It really was delicious and easy (except for the cooking the bacon) and it's made from regular ingredients that you would usually have around the house.  A great one to pull out for unexpected company.

New Recipe Night - Easy Garlic Chicken

This has to be the EASIEST, quickest New recipe night ever...AND....it's a keeper!

Easy Garlic Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts

4 garlic cloves

4 Tbsp brown sugar

3 tsp olive oil (I'd use 4 tsp, that way it's all "4's")

Preheat oven to 450 and lightly grease a casserole dish.

In a small sauce pan, saute garlic with the oil until tender.  Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.  Place chicken breasts in baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Bake uncovered 15-30mins.  The smaller the breasts, the less time cooking.

Really, could it be any easier?  Served with some rice and a salad and call it done.  Of course, since it's chicken Zack wouldn't even look at it, but John liked it a lot.  It was so quick and easy that I forgot to take a picture, but for once it looked exactly the same as the pic!  Yeah! 

New Recipe Night - Herb and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts - Failure #1 - 2012

Finally an end to the New Recipe Night success streak.   It wasn't an epic failure, as a matter of fact John liked it, but I did not.  And really since I'm the one cooking it, it's really only my opinion that counts.  This one sort of had the deck stacked against it from the beginning.  Generally I steer clear of anything that involves stuffing anything.  I find that for the most part, my stuffings always leak out all over the pan leaving me a mess to clean up.  I also avoid anything that uses the broiler as the main method of cooking because I inevitably set off the smoke detector.  This happens often enough that now as soon as the smoke detector goes off, both John and Zack yell, "Dinner's ready!" and come running.  Whatever....
But, the promise of warm, yummy goat cheese lured me in... I love me some goat cheese, but not this goat cheese.    It was mixed with mint, parsley and panko crumbs and it just ended up being dry, which meant it didn't leak out of the chicken, but I'm not sure dry stuffing is any better than leaking stuffing.  The smoke detector did go off as predicted and the resulting chicken was sort of rubbery and weird.  Not an epic failure like the historic Peanutty Chicken, but still not a keeper.

New Recipe Night - Bourbon Street Chicken

I found this recipe on my new addiction Pinterest.  I can't stop that thing, you can lose hours on that website just looking at nothing.  But I did find this nugget of yummy.  When I stumbled on it I figured I had to try it since this is the only chicken Zachary has EVER eaten voluntarily - that wasn't pressed into a shape and breaded... As a matter of fact it's one of the only reasons I will go to the mall when he asks, because I'm pretty much guaranteed to get him to eat some "real food."  Now I'm sure there are many who would claim that Bourbon/Teriakyi Chicken from the mall probably only qualifies dubiously as "real food."  But in our house, when it comes to Zack, anything non-carbohydrate based is considered "real food" including hotdogs, corn dogs, bacon or even PBJ.  If it's not a waffle or cereal and has protein anywhere in it... we jump for joy if he'll eat it.  So, Bourbon Chicken...SCORE!

Bourbon Street Chicken

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/4 tsp ginger

3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup apple juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp ketchup

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp cornstarch (if thicker sauce is desired)

Heat oil in a large skillet, add chicken pieces; cook until lightly browned.  Remove chicken.  Add remaining ingredients, heat over medium heat until well blended and dissolved.  Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered.  Serve over hot rice.

Easy Peasy, lemon squeezy.  Zack proclaimed it "good" and ate all that I gave him.  Another keeper!  The only thing I might do differently is try and put it in a crock pot so that the chicken gets a little more tender.  It was quite as tender as the mall chicken.  And we all know that if there's anything to aspire to it's "mall chicken!"  :o)