Category: Entrees

I’ve made this recipe before, with much success. It’s definitely Hubby-friendly, but I don’t think the kids had it last time, so I wanted to see what they would think. At first, they were excited when they heard be say we were having chili for dinner (they are Texans, after all), but protested a bit when they saw what was in their bowls: “Where’s the chili? You said we were having chili!”

Once they tasted it, however, they were won over.

Of course, I did make some adaptations to the original recipe:

I sprinkled a bit of Baby Bam on the chicken before adding it. I wasn’t kidding when I said that I use that stuff on everything!

I added a tiny bit (1/2 tsp.?) of chili powder with the other spices.

I used 2 fresh, pressed garlic cloves (add with the onions) instead of the garlic powder and about 3 Tbsp. fresh, finely chopped cilantro instead of the dried cilantro leaves.

I added about 1/2 cup coarsely chopped baby carrots (I had them in the fridge) and about 1/2 cup pre-cooked green beans (leftover from last night’s dinner). This turned it into more of a stew than a chili.

I don’t like using the “caldo” (the liquid that comes in canned beans), because it’s very high in sodium, so I drained and rinsed them and used a chicken stock (1 additional cup) and corn starch (about 3 tsp.) slurry, instead, to give the “chili” some thickening.

I used cheddar, instead of monterey jack cheese, because that was what I had on hand. Pepper-Jack would have been even better.

The only thing that I would do differently (and I should have known better), if I make this again, would be to pat the chicken dry before adding it to the pan. There was a lot of “juice” on it (I had cut it up and refrigerated it early in the day, to make the prep faster at dinnertime) and the pan wasn’t very hot, so the chicken was more braised than browned. It would have been better with a little “sear” on it.

I served this with a salad (romaine hearts, bell pepper, tomato, purple onion and balsamic vinaigrette) and some Great Harvest bread with butter. I big hit with everyone; both of the kids said that they really liked it.

I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much when I first saw this recipe: I thought it would be kid-friendly and easy, but wasn’t expecting it to be terribly tasty or sophisticated. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The funny thing is that this ACTUALLY TASTED a bit like tamales. It was sort of an upscale version of Frito Pie, but much better and it was ridiculously easy to whip up.

We served it with the leftover green beans from last night.

This was a big hit with all four of us. If I do it again, I might break up the polenta and make it into more of a “paste” so that I can spread it into two layers, rather than having the “rounds” of polenta, which made the dish a little difficult to cut/portion/serve.

I saw this recipe in an issue of Gourmet and set it aside (since March), but thought I’d pull it out and give it a try tonight. We will definitely be making this again. Super easy and VERY delicious. The pork cooking technique is not revolutionary or innovative (I do this same breading and frying technique with chicken pretty frequently), but I don’t usually do this with pork. I usually cook my pork tenderloins whole, so that part was new for me.

I did, as usual, make a few adaptations:
-I used a mixture of plain and panko breadcrumbs (I LOVE panko).
-I used a mixture of canola and olive oil, with a little bit of butter, to fry the medallions.
-I added some salt, pepper and Italian herb seasoning blend to the breadcrumbs.
-I added a little squeeze of lemon juice (1 teaspoon, maybe?) to the caper sauce.
-I pounded the tenderloin medallions a little bit with a mallet to make them more like cutlets.
-I didn’t bother with a meat thermometer, but just pushed down on each medallion to see how done it was by how much resistance it gave (if it feels “firm”, it’s done).

These were absolutely wonderful and I was pleased with how much I enjoyed the sauce; I wasn’t too sure about the yogurt, so I was withholding judgment. It would be really good with a little mustard added to it, too, but was quiet yummy, as it was. When I make these again, I will sprinkle a little salt and pepper (or Baby Bam) on the pork medallions before I bread them. Tonight’s leftovers will probably find their way onto to salad for lunch tomorrow, with the sauce mixed into some sort of a dressing.

I VERY highly recommend this recipe.

I saw this recipe while doing a recipe search recently and decided I had to try it. I combined the polenta with this recipe (scroll down to the “Elegant Weeknight Dinner Menu”, kind of making a hybrid of the two. We all liked it a lot, but I didn’t prepare the garnish for it, which was a mistake (it just looked very, um….yellow). From a flavor standpoint, it was great, it just looked naked without a little touch of green. Another option would be to add some chopped fresh spinach to the final stages of the corn relish to add a little color. I also made the polenta a little too thin, but it was still very yummy.

Here’s my slightly edited version:

Chicken with Polenta and Corn Relish, serves 4
(or serves 2 adults and 2 kids for dinner, with leftovers for Hubby’s lunch the next day)

For the chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
about 1 tsp. Baby Bam seasoning

For the corn topping:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 of a large Vidalia onion, diced
1/2 of a large red bell pepper, diced (you could also sub. peeled, seeded, diced tomatoes for this, if you can find nice, ripe ones)
1 and 1/2 cups corn kernels (I used frozen, but this would have been DELICIOUS with fresh)
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup orange juice
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. of your favorite dried green herb (marjoram, basil, oregano or tarragon would all be good, but I used marjoram this time)

For the polenta:
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
3 cups chicken stock (you might not need it all)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. of whatever herb you used in the corn (above)
2/3 cup polenta (coarse ground yellow cornmeal)
1/2 cup grated cheese, preferably fontina or parmesan (I found some smoked fontina and it was YUMMY)
1/4 cup half-and-half or milk

Garnish:
4 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh Italian parsley or chives or thinly sliced fresh basil

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 2 and 1/2 cups of the chicken stock, the garlic, the 1/4 tsp salt and the 1/8 tsp black pepper to a boil. While this is heating up, pat the chicken breasts dry with a paper towel and then sprinkle them on both sides with the Baby Bam seasoning. Grill them until they are cooked through and nicely seared on the outside. Set them aside to rest. Keep an eye on the stock while the chicken cooks, and when it has come to a boil, stir in the cornmeal. Bring the heat down to a simmer and continue to cook it for about 30 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and polenta is tender and not “grainy” (you will need to taste it to be sure – add more chicken stock, if necessary). Continue to stir it occasionally as it cooks, to keep it from sticking to the bottom or forming lumps.

As the polenta cooks, start to prepare the corn relish:
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a medium saute pan. Add the bell pepper and onion and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Add the corn and saute about 5 more minutes. Stir in the wine and simmer 5 more minutes. Add the juice, 1/4 cup chicken broth, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp ground red pepper, and the herb/s; simmer 10 more minutes or until slightly thickened and most of liquid has cooked off.

The polenta should be done by now – remove it from the heat and stir in the half-and-half, herb and cheese. Thinly slice each chicken breast.

To serve the dish:
Scoop some of the polenta on each plate (or you could serve it in a shallow bowl). Fan out a chicken breast on top of each portion. Top with some of the corn relish and sprinkle with the parsley or chives.

Serve this with a green vegetable or salad, served on a separate plate.

This recipe was adapted from one published in Southern Living magazine MANY years ago – so long ago that I don’t remember what year. It’s definitely a kid-pleaser and is actually not bad for adults, even though we’re really NOT the kind of people that normally use canned cream soups. The recipe originally had pimiento-stuffed olives in it, but I’m the only person in the family that likes green olives (Boy likes black ones), so I left those out. This is a horrible photo of the casserole, because it was taken when we ate the leftovers the next day. I initially made the casserole for Boy and Girl to eat with the babysitters while Hubby and I went out for an early celebration of his birthday, so I wasn’t here to take the photo when it was fresh out of the oven, but we heard laudatory reviews!

Baked Spaghetti Casserole

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
3/4 cup water
1 16-ounce can tomatoes, undrained and chopped
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 8-ounce package spaghetti, uncooked
2 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Cook first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan or stockpot, stirring until meat crumbles; drain and return to pan. Stir in soup and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Stir spaghetti and cheese cubes into meat sauce. Spoon into a lightly greased 13 X 9 inch baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove foil and sprinkle with the shredded cheddar cheese, and bake, uncovered, an 10 additional minutes.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

We tried this recipe last night (from my favorite cookbook). It was REALLY good. Hubby, especially, loved it.

Of course, I did make a few adaptations. Our family doesn’t really care for bones in our meat, so I used 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs and 3 boneless, skinless breasts (cut into thirds), instead of the bone-in thighs and drumsticks. I added a few more peas (about 1 and 1/4 cups – what I had left in the bag in the freezer) than the recipe originally called for. I also discovered, as the rice was cooking with the chicken, that I needed a little more chicken stock to keep the rice from sticking before it was cooked all the way through. I ended up cooking it a TINY bit past its prime, but it was still better with the extra liquid than it would have been if it were still crunchy inside. I DID add the optional saffron.

Definitely a “keeper” recipe, although I’m going to try 2 other versions soon that I have tucked away in my recipe repertoire, just to be sure that this is our favorite. I think, for my family, that another version that used bite-sized pieces of chicken might go over a little better. My family is a bit spoiled and doesn’t like to work very hard (mess with bones, etc.) to eat their dinner.

This recipe is from September 2003 Cooking Light magazine. Usually, Hubby doesn’t care for “sweet” sauces, but this was a hit with everyone! Instead of using entire chicken breasts, I cut each breast into 3 pieces, for a smaller portion size.

I found this recipe online one night when I promised the kids Sloppy Joes and then realized that I didn’t have any of the canned sauce mix in the house. I had been wanting to find a homemade alternative to the canned stuff, anyway, because it has high fructose corn syrup in it. If you’re going to make your own, be sure that the ketchup you use doesn’t have corn syrup in it – otherwise, why bother – you might as well just use the canned stuff.

This recipe is really easy and is made from ingredients that I usually have on hand, anyway. I did ad a can of beans (drained and rinsed), to add a little more fiber and nutrition. I also used some chopped fresh red bell pepper, because I didn’t have any green pepper around. I also used fresh onion and garlic (saute it with the meat), because it’s BETTER. We like to make little mini-sandwiches, using dinner rolls. We liked this a lot and were surprised at how much it tastes like the kid-friendly original!