Cooking . . . It's a Family Thing!

I know I haven't posted any new recipes in a while! It isn't because I haven't been cooking (I cook every day). I just really haven't had time to take pictures and post my recipes. I did just post a new one today, however, for Chicken Cacciatore. It is a delicious dish so you should try it. I baked 3 cakes last night (with the help of my daughter, Lindsey, who by the way is so creative)! I will try to have those recipes and pictures posted in a week or so.

INGREDIENTS:

• 6-8 whole Chicken Thighs, Skin On (can use any whole chicken pieces)
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 T Olive Oil
• 2 T Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, halved & sliced
• 2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
• 2 whole Red Bell Peppers, cored and sliced (not too thin)
• 2 whole Green Bell Peppers, cored and sliced (not too thin)
• 12 ounces Mushrooms, sliced (white or Crimini)
• 1/2 t ground Thyme
• 1/2 t Turmeric
• 1/2 t Kosher Salt
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 can (28 oz) Whole or Diced Tomatoes, with juice
• 1 lb Egg Noodles
• Chopped, flat leaf parsley (if you have some)
• Parmesan Cheese, for sprinkling

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cook noodles according to pkg. directions. Do not overcook! Drain and set aside.
Salt & pepper both sides of chicken and dredge in flour. Heat olive oil & butter in a heavy skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place chicken skin side down in pan, four pieces at a time. Brown chicken on both sides then remove to a clean plate. Repeat with remaining chicken. Pour off half the fat in the pan & discard. Add sliced onions, peppers & garlic to pan. Stir around for 1 minute. Add mushrooms and stir around for 1 minute. Add thyme, turmeric & salt and extra black pepper to taste. Stir in chicken broth & allow to bubble. Pour in canned tomatoes and stir to combine. Add chicken to pan, skin side up, without totally submerging the chicken as you want the skin to retain its crispness. Place lid o the pot and place in oven. Cook for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and increase heat to 375. Cook for an additional 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Remove chicken from pan and place it on a plate. Remove vegetables from pan and place them on a plate. Return pot to burner and turn heat to medium high. Cook and reduce sauce for a couple of minutes. Pour cooked, drained noodles on a large platter or in a big serving bowl. Add vegetables all over the top, then place chicken pieces on top of the vegetables. Spoon reduced sauce over the chicken and pasta. Before serving, sprinkle on chopped fresh parsley and grated Parmesan.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hr. 15 min.
Servings: 6

I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's website (thepioneerwoman.com). Ree provides pictures for you on this site so if you're a visual person just go to this site, open the "cooking" tab and search for Chicken Cacciatore. This is a delicious dish and even though the list of ingredients might make you think it's complicated, believe me when I say it is not. You could even prepare your veggies a day ahead if you wanted to save a little time.

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CHICKEN PARMESAN
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 37 min

Ingredients:

• 4 Slices Whole Wheat Bread
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 4 heaping teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup skim milk (or whatever you use)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 4 (6 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2" thickness
• Cooking spray
• 1 jar good quality marinara sauce (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 T (1/2 ounce) shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the bread in food processor and process until fine crumbs are formed. Put the crumbs on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden. Let cool. In a medium bowl, toss crumbs with oregano, garlic powder, paprika, 1/4 t salt & 1/4 t pepper. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and milk together. In a third bowl stir together the flour and remaining 1/4 t salt and 1/4 pepper. Dip each chicken piece, 1 piece at a time, in the flour, shaking off excess, then egg, then bread crumbs, shaking off excess. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place breaded chicken on baking sheet and spray each side with cooking spray, about 5 seconds total per side. Bake breasts until cooked through and crumbs are browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer chicken to a baking dish with sides. Top with marinara sauce, mozzarealla and parmesan cheeses and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbling.

CAESAR SALAD

Ingredients:

• Romaine Lettuce
• Caesar Salad Dressing (I used a bottled dressing, Kraft)
• Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• Croutons (make your own or use store bought)

Directions:

Wash & dry your lettuce and tear into pieces. Place into a bowl and refrigerate until lettuce is chilled. Once it has chilled, remove from fridge and add dressing, cheese and croutons. Add as much or as little as you like (no measurements here). Toss to combine and serve. Now I know this isn't a true Caesar Salad as I didn't use anchovies and did not make my own dressing but it was good and I had all these ingredients at home!

I prepared the brown rice according to the directions on the bag. However, instead of water I used chicken stock that I had made earlier from the carcass of a rotisserie chicken I bought last week from Food Lion. This made a huge difference in the taste of the rice!

• 8 whole Thin Sliced Boneless Pork Chops (I used 4 & mine were thick so I just put them in a zip lock bag and pounded them to a thickness of about 1/4")
• Salt & Pepper
• 2 T Fresh Parsley, chopped (I used dried)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (I used about 1/8 cup for 4 chops)
• 2 whole eggs (I used 1)
• 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs (I used 1/2 cup for 4 chops)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Lemon

Directions:

Place boneless pork chops in a large zip lock bag or between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound to tenderize or thin your chops. Remove from plastic and salt & pepper both sides of the meat; set aside. Finely chop your fresh parsley or use dried. Next you want to prepare your dredging/breading assembly line. Use 3 shallow dishes (I used pie plates). The first should be your flour. Plate 2 should have your eggs, beaten. Plate 3 should have your panko bread crumbs. Mix the Parmesan & parsley with the bread crumbs.Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat with enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Start your dredging process. First coat the pork chop in flour on both sides. Then dip in the egg. Then finally in the panko mixture. Make sure you fully coat both sides. Set on a platter and continue dredging 3 more chops. (It's easier to do 4 at the time and get them into your pan, then you can dredge the other 4 while the first batch is cooking). Place the first 4 chops into the pan (you should get a good sizzle). They will only need to cook about 3-4 minutes per side. Turn them over when they are nice and golden brown. Remove the first batch and place on a plate lined with a paper towel. Add more oil, if needed, to cook the 2nd batch. Slice lemon into wedges and squeeze over pork chops. I am the only one who likes lemon on my food so I only did this for my chop! I also sprinkled a little chopped, fresh parsley over chops before serving.

Prep Time 15 Min Cook Time 15 Min; Serves 8

SWISS CHARD

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch Swiss Chard, any color (what I have in my garden is a rainbow of colors)
• 1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 whole Medium Onion, halved & sliced into half moons
• 1/2 t crushed Red Pepper Flakes (you can omit this or decrease if you don't like heat)
• 1/2 cups Chicken Broth, vegetable broth or water
• 2 T Toasted Pine Nuts (I love these)
• 1/4 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled (I didn't have any so I just left out)
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Cut the stems off the Swiss Chard leaves (I just lay down the leaf, start at the top of the stem closest to the leaf and cut down on each side of stem). Thinly slice the leaves into long ribbons & cut the stems (if they are large) into thin slices. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the Swiss Chard stems, onion and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Cook until the stems & onions have softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the broth or water and the Swiss Chard leaves. Partially cover and cook until the leaves have wilted but still have some body to them, about 5 minutes. (You don't want to overcook the leaves or they will be mushy). Using a slotted spoon, scoop the Swiss Chard and onions into a serving bowl, draining off most of the liquid. Top with toasted pine nuts and feta cheese (I left off the feta). Serve hot or warm.

Prep Time: 10 min, Cook Time 15 Min; Serves 4

PASTOR RYAN'S MEXICAN LASAGNA

The original recipe would make enough for a small army so I just halved everything so that I could use a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. This is so good and really not very time consuming. I put this all together Sunday morning before I went to church and then just baked it when I got home. When you begin to layer this dish you can do it anyway you want, just start with the salsa verde on bottom and then your tortillas. All the other ingredients add like you want!

Ingredients:
2 cups Unprepared Rice
3 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth/Stock
2-3 Whole Tomatoes (I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes which I drained but saved the liquid)
1 Whole Onion, chopped
4 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
Taco Seasoning, to taste (I made mine using 1 1/2 T of chili powder and 3/4 T of both paprika & cumin)
1 Can Black Beans
1 1/2 lbs Lean Ground Beef
1 Jar Salsa Verde (16 ounce)
Flour Tortillas
2 Packages Mexican Cheese Blend
1/2 can of Enchilada Sauce
1 1/2 Cans Corn, Drained (I just thawed some I had in the freezer)
Cilantro, to taste
Butter

Directions:
Begin by preparing rice using chicken stock instead of water (follow package directions.) Once prepared, salt to taste. Chop up tomates (or use canned diced tomatoes), onion and garlic as small as you prefer. Saute in pan with a tablespoon or so of butter. Since I used canned tomatoes I sauteed my onion & garlic till the onion was translucent then I added my diced, drained tomatoes. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes. Add about half of your taco seasoning, to taste. Stir until nicely combined. Add the beans here, if you like them, or leave them out . . . no need to drain. Mix rice together with the tomato/onion/garlic mixture.

Brown the ground beef adding the rest of the taco seasoning and salt to taste and about 4-6 ounces of water to create the taco beef. Since I used diced, canned tomatoes, I just added the liquid I had reserved when I drained my tomatoes instead of using water!

Spread about half the jar of salsa verde in the bottom of your casserole dish. I used a 9 x 13 dish. Then just start layering like you would lasagna; tortillas to cover the salsa verde, rice mixture to cover tortillas, ground beef, corn & cheese. Then begin again with another layer of tortillas but next pour enchilada sauce over tortillas and spread it out evenly. Now more rice mixture, ground beef, corn & cheese and contine layering until you've used everything then add the rest of the salsa verde on top and cover with any remaining cheese. Sprinkle the top with some taco seasoning or cayenne pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes until the cheese has melted and begins to brown a bit.

Serve this up topped with a dollop of sour cream and chopped cilantro (if you like it)

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Serves 6-8