What can I say – I was one of those strange kids that liked to play with my food – sculpting, molding, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. I remember watching Close Encounters and thinking yeah, give me some mashed potatoes . . .
Continue reading “Big Black Rat Cheese Ball and other Halloween Ideas”Savory Mushroom Pork Chops with Asparagus Stalks
Have I mentioned that I like to collect cookbooks? I’ve lost count of how many books are now in my collection. For a while, it was new books (as in new at the time), and later became an obsession with old cookbooks. With very good reason.
Continue reading “Savory Mushroom Pork Chops with Asparagus Stalks”
Fun Party Foods for Halloween
Happy Halloween everyone! As I sip my first cup of coffee on this beautiful October morning, I survey what was once my kitchen prep table, now buried beneath a mound of candy. With several days to go for Halloween, I am so grateful to have a dining room to eat in.
Deviled Meat Spread for Sandwiches and More
Recently, I shared my Italian Pot Roast in a Beefy Red Wine Broth with you. Since it’s just Hubby, Kiddo and I, we have a tendency to have left overs from nearly every meal – especially roasts and stews. For the most part, these go into Tupperware containers and make for nice lunches or a clear-out-the-fridge smorgasbord dinner one night during the week.
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Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken
As many of you know, I like to plan out a menu for an entire week’s worth of cooking at a time. I know it sounds crazy, but I try not to serve the same basic dish twice in the same month if I can help it. Having a plan helps with that. Sometimes not cooking the same thing twice in a month isn’t always possible – football season is a great example. Johnsonville Bratwurst is a must anytime the Packers take the field. It’s some sort of a luck thing according to Hubby.
The first time I cooked up Chicken Milano, a wonderful, creamy chicken dish served over Fettuccine, it was a big hit. Italian dishes are very popular in our house. On the following week’s menu was a recipe for Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken. It seemed simple enough, something that could be whipped up with the usual assistance from my number one Sous Chef, Kiddo. Now I will be honest, I really didn’t read the recipe in detail; just sort of gave my new recipe the once over to see if I could work it into a mid-week dinner. Yep, it would work. Onto the planner it went.
The scheduled morning arrived. I was excited to cook something new. I printed out the recipe and read it carefully while sipping my morning coffee. The juices began to flow to my brain. OMG – the original recipe for Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken was so close to Chicken Milano it wasn’t funny. The only substantial difference that I could see was the choice of pasta. Oh no – that would not do, not at all. Changes needed to be made, and quickly.
- Switch the 1-pound big breast for 1 pound of thin-sliced chicken.
- Decrease the chicken broth, add white wine to keep the liquid at 1/2 cup.
- Cut sun-dried tomatoes into strips rather than dice.
- Add Parmesan cheese to the sauce.
- Season breasts with Italian Seasoning rather than salt and pepper.
- Replace fresh basil with spinach
- Increase the amount of garlic
Satisfied with the changes, I printed a new recipe, poured another cup of Morning Joe and finished getting ready to start my day.
That evening, Kiddo and I made quick work of dinner as a team. It was delicious!
Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup White Wine
1 cup heavy cream
6 Cloves Garlic, minced
½ cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup spinach, chopped
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut into thin strips
1/2 Lb Linguine
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large flat-bottom skillet. Sprinkle Italian season over chicken. Place seasoned chicken into skillet and cook over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown and no longer pink in center. Remove chicken to a small platter, cover with foil and hold in a warm oven.
Add Linguine to boiling water and cook until just cooked through, about 9 minutes.
While pasta cooks, add chicken broth and white wine to the now empty skillet to deglaze the pan, scraping up any little brown bits of chicken.
Add the heavy cream, minced garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Whisk over medium-high heat until smooth. Lower heat to medium-low and continue to whisk until sauce starts to thicken.
Lower heat to simmer, add the spinach and sun-dried tomato strip. Let it simmer until the spinach starts to wilt.
Remove chicken from oven. Cut into strips and return to the skilled with sauce. Spoon sauce over chicken to coat.
Drain pasta, transfer to rimmed serving platter. Arrange breasts over pasta, spoon sauce over chicken and serve.
Traveling Dinner Party – Part 9 – Desserts and Sweets
Have you been keeping track of all the twists and turns of this elaborate, multi-course menu? No matter, because at long last, we have arrived at dessert! Be it the 5th, 7th or 9th course of the evening – dessert is dessert.
Continue reading “Traveling Dinner Party – Part 9 – Desserts and Sweets”
Fried Chicken with Creamy Gravy
Have you ever had a craving for something old? Something that once was a part of Americana – especially on Sundays in the summer? I can remember my mother frying up chicken in a big black skillet. The sounds of the skin sizzling in hot grease – the wonderful smells floating through the kitchen. I can see my parents so clearly in my mind’s eye – Dad swinging a meat cleaver, cutting up a big, plump broiler chicken for Mom to fry up. We always had our fried chicken with biscuits that Dad made from scratch and fresh corn that we picked that day from the small patch of corn growing out back.
I hadn’t made fried chicken in years. Oh sure, “oven-fried” is one thing, but it’s not the big-skillet-real-deal fried chicken of my simple country childhood. And I wanted some of that. I wanted the chicken I remember as a child, only this time without the bones. For one thing, Kiddo won’t eat chicken that is cooked with the bones. I guess that’s because he’s grown up eating the boneless, skinless variety of chicken that is “healthier”. With a good, double-coating of breading, you can almost achieve that outer “crunch” of the skin-on fried chicken. And that’s what we are really after – that bite into a crisp fried chicken with a tender, moist piece of meat. Yeah, that’s the good stuff!
Fried Chicken and Sunday Suppers go hand-in-hand all year round. Served up with some mashed potatoes and fresh-canned green beans. My oh my – my mouth is watering!
Fried Chicken with Creamy Gravy
Ingredients – Chicken
10 Boneless Chicken Thighs (or 5 boneless Breasts)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 Cup Crushed Ritz Crackers (finely crushed)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
oil for Frying
Open thighs flat and season with salt and pepper. Set aside. (Note: If using breasts, cut in half width wise for faster cooking)
Combine cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, remaining salt and pepper in a pie pan. Whisk together 1 1/2 cups milk and eggs in another pie pan.
Dredge chicken in cracker crumb mixture; dip in milk mixture, and dredge in cracker mixture again. Place chicken pieced on a wire rack and let sit for the breading to adhere to the chicken.
Pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a 12-inch cast iron skillet (do not use a nonstick skillet). Heat oil over medium high heat (more on the high side). Once the oil is hot, fry chicken, in batches, 10 minutes, adding oil as needed. (If chicken begins to burn, adjust temperature).
Turn and fry 4 to 5 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack over a cookie sheet. Keep chicken warm in a 225-degree oven.
Carefully drain the hot drippings, reserving cooked bits and 2 -3 tablespoons of the drippings in skillet.
Ingredients – Pan Gravy
1/3 cup flour
2 – 3 tablespoons pan drippings
3 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon Chicken Bouillon Granules
Carefully drain the hot drippings, reserving cooked bits and 2 -3 tablespoons of the drippings in skillet. Add 1/3 cup flour to the skillet with the drippings. Cook over medium high heat.
Using a whisk mix the flour into the drippings until it starts to brown, creating a roux. If the roux looks to oily and runny you can add another tablespoon or so of flour and mix again. Whisk constantly until the paste becomes nice and brown.
Slowly add the milk whisking constantly and blending the liquid with the flour mixture until combined. Add seasoning.
Let the gravy come to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until the gravy thickens up. If the mixture thickens too much add more milk as needed until the gravy is the consistency that you want. This could end up being more than the required 3 cups.
Taste and generously season again with salt and pepper as needed.
Crock Pot Chuck Roast with Brown Gravy
Have you ever noticed that as things change in life – like when the weather of one season gives way to another, your thoughts drift back to other times and similar experiences? As a warm summer fades into the orange hues of autumn, we fondly recall romps through piles of leaves as children. It’s just nature’s way to keep us from freaking out – when we see lightning zip across a dark sky, we know it’s lightning, having seen it before. Or a meteor shower will conger up memories of laying in the back yard, gazing up into the night’s sky and wishing as children do on a falling star.
Biscuits with Taco Gravy for a Breakfast with a Kick
If you are frying up a batch of chicken, with corn on the cob grilling on the barbecue and all sorts of other family favorites for an old-fashioned country supper, biscuits from scratch might not fit into your preparation plans. Especially when you are the lone cook, jumping about from tasks to task.
Continue reading “Biscuits with Taco Gravy for a Breakfast with a Kick”Pan-Roasted Monterey Bay King Salmon
A few years back, we took a vacation that was jammed packed with adventure. Lots of hiking, dune buggy riding and an exciting boat trip up the Rough River. We took a seven-hour white-water jet boat excursion. Wow! As our boat headed up the mouth of the Rough out of Gold Beach (104 miles round trip, with over 40 miles total of white water thrills) we waived a friendly “hello” to the fishermen. While it was late in the year for the summer run of salmon, these fishermen were all hopeful. Upon our return, a few lucky anglers were eager to hold up their catch. Some mighty beautiful Salmon were held up with pride to the hoops and hollers from our fellow passengers.
Italian Pot Roast in a Beefy Red Wine Broth
The inspiration for this recipe came from Bare Feet In the Kitchen. Her Italian pot roast was cooked much longer, to the point that the meat was shredded prior to serving. She also used a combination of 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup red wine. While her recipe looks delicious, I wanted dinner a little sooner than the 4-hour cook in the oven. (The original recipe can also be cooked in a crock pot for about 8-10 hours).
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Cast Iron Skillets and the Feel of the West
Cooking over a fire in cast iron pots dates back centuries to the time when humankind first learned to forge tools out of the Earth’s metals. While we still enjoy cooking in a skillet over an open fire or burying a Cast Iron Dutch Oven in hot coals, the modern cook can utilize all the conveniences of an oven and stove top while retaining the flavor that only cast iron cooking can provide. Although this meal isn’t a one-pot wonder and you will have three pots to clean, these Cast Iron Skillets provide both a means of cooking as well as serving the meal.
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Cornbread Taco Bake with Spicy Pinto Beans
I’m spending a leisurely morning sipping on French Pressed coffee while searching through my recipes. I like to plan out the family menu for at least a week or two at a time. Truth be told, I’ve gotten into a rut lately – we’ve been eating a ton of chicken. That’s okay because we like chicken and there is so much variety in the preparation of poultry. But I wanted something easy that didn’t include boneless chicken breasts in the ingredient list. That’s when I remembered a family favorite that I haven’t made it a while.
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Celebrate this Day with a Banquet
Growing up, I don’t recall learning much about United Nations Day in school. Maybe we did, I just don’t remember. If it were something taught in elementary school, we were far too busy worrying about the missiles in Cuba and building bomb shelters to be concerned with United Nations anything. After all, the world was ending – or so we thought.
French Style Meatballs over Egg Noodles
These meatballs are wonderful. Little melt-in-your-mouth bites of heaven. While the recipe is designed to be served over egg noodles (similar to Stroganoff), it could be served over any style pasta or even rice if desired. I love the addition of red wine in the meatballs and the sauce. It brings depth and flavor to the plate. This dish is so simple to make, perfect for casual entertaining or as something a little extra special mid-week.
Welcome to Rosemarie's Kitchen 