Chicken Alfredo Casserole

Made this today and Sam really liked it! It's this recipe, modified slightly and a great way to use leftover chicken that doesn't seem like leftovers.

Ingredients:

12 oz pasta, cooked

2 c cooked diced chicken

1 green pepper, diced

1 1/c c frozen green peas
4 T butter
4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 T flour

1 c chicken broth

2 c milk

1 tsp onion powder

1 T Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper (or a bit more)

1 c grated Parmesan cheese

3 c (8 oz) grated mozzarella cheese, split 2 c in sauce, 1 c for the top

Grease a 9"x13" pan and preheat over to 375 F,  Cook and drain the pasta.  

Make the sauce in a 12" saucepan.  Melt the butter and add the garlic, about 30 seconds until fragrant.  Add the flour and cook for about two minutes.  Add the broth and milk slowly and stirring constantly, bring to a simmer.  Add all the spices and stir the mixture until it thickens (it won't be all that thick),  Add the Parmesan and 2 c mozzarella, stirring until melted.  Stir in the pasta, chicken, and vegetables and pour everything into the prepared pan.  Top with the remaining cup of mozzarella.

Bake 20-30 minutes, until hot throughout and the cheese is melted.

White Chili

I like chili, lots of different types.  I like how you can toss just about anything in there and it mostly just adds some depth to the flavor.   This recipe is from the Washington Post and I liked it, but also discovered I'm not much of a fan of hominy because it tastes like farm to me so I'v substituted another can of beans in its place.  I wouldn't be adverse to adding yet another can.... 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 medium poblano peppers seeded and diced
• 3 tablespoons seeded and finely diced jalapeño pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 12 ounces lean ground pork or turkey
• Three (15 1/2-ounce) cans no-salt-added white beans, such as cannellini, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (whole-milk or reduced fat), for serving
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, for serving
• 4 lime wedges, for serving

In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion, poblanos and jalapeños and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, oregano, coriander, salt and cayenne pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the pork and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Add the beans and the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients have melded, about 20 minutes. Using a spoon, mash some of the beans on the side of the pot to thicken the mixture a bit.

Add the hominy and taste the stew. Season with more salt and/or cayenne pepper, if desired, and continue to cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the ingredients have warmed through and the chili has thickened, about 15 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and top each with a dollop of yogurt, a sprinkle of cilantro and a lime wedge.

Chicken Fricassee

Ben and I rented the move "Julie and Julia" a couple of months ago and Ben, being his usual impulsive self, immediately went out and bought Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." It's not a book I'd have bought but since it was here I glanced through it and saw that most recipes were 4+ pages long. I just don't have the patience for cooking with Julia but there was one recipe that didn't require me to boil pork fat and was for something I just love so I decided that a perfect Super Bowl meal would be....Chicken Fricassee! Hey, there are wings!

There were, however, challenges. First the recipe calls for a fryer. There weren't any chickens labeled as fryers in our supermarket, there weren't even any cut up chickens, only separate packages of breasts and thighs and drumsticks. I refuse to run around looking for a specific chicken so I just bought a whole "natural" chicken and cut it up so I at least had a whole chicken.
The recipe moves along nicely although it also required me to make two additional recipes, one for small white onions, the other for mushrooms. I think the real secret to French cooking is cooking everything separately and making lots dishes. However, it does mean that all the parts are cooked appropriately rather than having some over and some under cooked.
The combined three recipes call for more than a full stick of butter, an impressive quantity. But near the end she has you skim the fat off the sauce and I think I removed at least half of the butter. Wonder if it was really necessary? I also forgot to buy whipping cream but just substituted milk which seemed to be just fine. It's still extremely rich. The recipe says to strain the sauce at the end but I didn't bother because I don't mind having little pieces of onion, celery, and carrot in there. What can it hurt?
Final verdict? Excellent flavor, too much work. It's not difficult but it required me to pay attention to what I was doing for longer than I'd planned. It might be more worth the time if I could double the recipe but I really can't unless I work in batches which doesn't save much time. Will I make it again? I don't know...

Chicken and biscuits

I love chicken and biscuits! I'm forever trying to find a perfect recipe although I'm sure there is no such thing. I was inspired to make this because we'd invited friends over for dinner and then Ben informed me that there might be two people or possibly four people and I just didn't know if the chicken would go that far so I decided to change the menu plan. I baked the chicken in preparation for the rest of the work but alas, instead of eating at our house they invited us to their place. And I had cooked chicken all ready to be made into various dinners.


Baked Chicken with Vegetables

1 large roasting chicken
5 white potatoes, skins washed and halved
1 onion cut into eight pieces
2 stalks celery
handful of fresh thyme sprigs
3 large carrots, peeled
Salt
3 T Butter
pepper

Place the carrots in the roasting pan to act as a rack for the chicken. Place the potatoes, cut side down, in the pan. Rub the cavity with salt and stuff with the thyme, onion, and celery. Rub butter on the skin and put any remaining butter into the bottom of the pan. Salt and pepper generously.

Bake at 375 until done - depends on the size of the chicken.


Later remove all the chicken from the bones, dice pieces, and make stock with the carcass. I used a two hour simmer time this time around and I think it made a nicer stock than I get with my usual 45 minutes although I'm not sure if it's due to the quality of quality of the bird or to the increase in time. I got about 5 c of very flavorful stock from this.

Cut all the veggies from the bottom of the pan into bite size pieces.


Chicken and Biscuits

2 T butter
2 T flour (more if you like thicker sauce)
1/2 diced onion
4 cups chicken broth
2 to 3 cups diced chicken
3 to 4 cups diced cooked carrots and potatoes
1 c frozen corn
1 c frozen peas
Salt
Pepper

Saute the onion in butter until soft. Add the flour and cook until flour is lightly browned. Stir in chicken stock and heat to a simmer. Add chicken and all the veggies and bring to a simmer. Cook until flavors have combined nicely. Adjust seasonings. With the cook method above and a condensed stock additional seasonings weren't needed.



Biscuits

I don't have any southern in me and I never seem to make great biscuits. Since that's my history, I decided to try something very basic, Betty Crocker's standard buttermilk biscuits and I wanted to make them drop biscuits because at this point I was on day three of making this dinner. Of course I didn't have buttermilk in the house so I added a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice to make a cup of milk for the recipe. The dough tasted awful and the biscuits were light and tender and wonderful although a tad flat. I think a little less milk might have been helpful.

1/3 c shortening
1 3/4 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1 c buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk. Drop by large tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

Verdict: How could it not be wonderful? We all ate too much. Sam finished the biscuits today.


Of course I've got leftover chicken and leftover stock as well. Those are now residing in my freezer awaiting my next need for comfort food.

I used some of the chicken to make a chicken salad that was simple and very good. I didn't measure anything but here are the ingredients:


Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pecans

diced chicken
Sliced green onions
Craisins
Pecans
Mayonnaise


Mmmmm

The share! The share!

Pumpkin Muffins/Bread

Recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/840

Modifications:
Used cooked pumpkin flesh from one 7" diameter or so sugar pumpkin
Added about 1.5 c of cooked mixed cracked grains (baked while baking the pumpkin and contains oat, wheat, flax, rye whatever)
Added an extra 1/2 c of flour

Rating: Good

Comments/thoughts: Could use a bit less sugar - very sweet. Made most into muffins for Sam's lunch.


Chicken, cheese & egg noodle casserole

Leftover chicken from yesterday (3 legs/thighs) - dice meat into small pieces
Leftover fondue (about 2 cups probably)
Half bag of egg noodles
Some of the pumpkin water from cooking the pumpkin above
Sautee an onion, two stalks celery in butter
Add chicken, pumpkin water, leftover fondue, and when that is melted, the noodles
Bake for about 20 minutes 350 degrees

Rating: Excellent.

Cooking on New Years Day

Roasted Root Veggies

Roasted at 400 on jelly roll pan covered with foil for about 45 min:

Carrots
Cabbage (about half a cabbage)
Onions
Rutabaga (I think)
Parsnip (there was just one of them)

Sprinked with olive oil and salt.

Grade: So so. Had a funky smell to it but tasted ok, not terrific.

Possible changes/Add'l thoughts: Skip the cabbage in future roasts


Chicken & Barley

Bake 400 about an hour

Toss a couple of cups of pearl barley in the bottom of a pan. Add some onions, carrots, salt, thyme, pepper & whatever
Dot with butter
Place chicken pieces, with bone and skin, over the barley, salt pepper whatever pieces.
Pour boiling water over the barley to give it a head start cooking

Bake about an hour

Grade: Excellent


Sweet potato and Barley soup

Bake sweet potatoes (3 large in this case) until soft.
Allow to cool.
Sautee onions in butter
Use blender to puree sweet potatoes and sauteed onions- add water as necessary
Return mixture to pan, salt and pepper to taste
Mix in all the leftover barley from the chicken and barley recipe above and heat

Grade: Excellent!