Chicken Piccata

This is another great way to prepare those boneless chicken breast you're always looking for a new way to prepare!

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 egg beaten
1 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. Italian bread crumbs
1/2 stick butter

Cut each breast into two slices. Pound each slice on both sides to make tender - I skipped this step here. Sometimes I do it and sometimes I don't. To me the chicken taste great either way. If you do not have something already, this tenderizer from Pampared Chef is a great one. The round disk at the bottom unscrews and flips, allowing you to tenderize on one side and flatten on the other side.

Salt and pepper to taste. Dip in milk, dip in egg, and dip in seasoned bread crumbs.
These dipping trays are also from Papared Chef and I really like them.

Melt butter in hot skillet and place seasoned chicken in butter to brown on both sides until golden brown, but not cooked through. Just 2-4 minutes on each side.

Place in a 9x13 pan or on stoneware (again, I like my Pampared Chef!). Cover with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil the last few minutes to allow to crisp a bit.

For more great recipes, visit Foodie Friday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Olympics Dinner Party

We'll pretty much use any excuse to get together and have a party! Friday night we invited a group of friends to come over for an Olympics Watch Party. One of our friends, Meghan, is from Canada and we wanted to celebrate the Olympics with her. This is her in her official Canada Olympics mittens and scarf you saw them wearing throughout the opening ceremonies and on the sidelines during the competitions.

When I thought about what we should do for food, I kept thinking "What is 'Olympic' food?" Wednesday morning it hit me - Food from around the world. So that's what we did. Each couple/person brought something from a different country.

For an appetizer, we had Mexican chips and salsa and cheese dip. We also had Fried Plantains from Cote d' Ivoire, Africa and a great crab dip made by Meghan (she grew up in Nova Scotia which is on the Canadian East Coast).

Our main dishes were Italian Lasagna (trust me, it tasted better than it looks here, the guys were hungry and wouldn't let me get a good picture! Ha!)...

and Sauce d' Arashide from Cote d' Ivoire, Africa.

Four of our friends (all present that night) recently returned from Cote d' Ivoire and Karen made this dish. I really have no idea what all is in it except that it has chicken and a peanut butter sauce. She served it over couscous.

For our bread, we had what else but French Bread!
For dessert, we had Canadian Crepes. They were sooo good!

It's great to get together with friends and it's also fun when you can try some new foods in the process.

We are loving us some Winter Olympics this year!

Sorry no recipes this post, but it was a great food night at my house!

For more great recipes, visit Foodie Friday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Molten Chocolate Cakes

I LOVE this dessert. It's easy and I usually have everything on hand to make it up quickly if we're in the mood for something sweet. I thought this would be a good week to post it since Valentines is this weekend. This is a great couples dessert. This recipe makes 4, so you could either half it and just make 2 or go ahead and make all 4 and put the extra 2 in the fridge for later. Just reheat for 20-30 seconds and they are just as good the next day!

Ingredients:
4 squares semisweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 T. flour
Cool Whip, powdered sugar or ice cream to top

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 4 custard cups. Place on baking sheet. Microwave chocolate and butter in a large bowl for 1-2 minutes until butter melts. Stir with whisk until chocolate melts. Stir in sugar.

Whisk in eggs and yolks. Stir in flour.

Divide batter between cups.

Bake for 13-14 minutes until sides are firm but centers are still soft. Let stand for 1 minute. Run knife along edge to losen.

Invert onto dessert plates or place in bowl. Top with cool whip or ice cream or dust on powdered sugar.

When you break into the cake, the yummy melted center pours out of the cake. Enjoy!

For more great recipes, visit Foodie Friday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Roasted Chicken and Asparagus

The key to this chicken is low and slow! We have a great little local store that carries dozens of spices, spice blends and specialty items. One blend that I love is a simple Rotisserie Chicken Rub (I'm sure you can find a similar spice in most stores). I start by tying the legs together with oven bands (available at most cooking stores) or twine and lay on the rack in my roasting pan. Next I drizzle olive oil and rub it all over my whole chicken. I then sprinkle on - and inside the cavity - the rub all over the chicken until it is completely coated.

I cover the roasting pan with heavy duty foil and place in the oven. I bake it for 2.5 to 3 hours at 325 degrees. My mom couldn't believe it. She said that would nearly cook a whole turkey, but that's what I do. I do not uncover the chicken at all for at least 2.5 hours when I then check the internal temperature. The chicken is so tender and juicy that it will completely fall apart when you begin move it off your baking rack.
Another idea is to cook two chickens at the same time. My roasting pan is perfect size for two chickens, so many times I will cook two at the same time. It's a great meal for taking to someone who is sick or has had a baby and it's no more work than just cooking yourself dinner. Or occasionally I'll let the second cool completely, vacuum seal and pop in the freezer for a meal later on.

By the way - whole chicken just doesn't photograph well! I work for a magazine where we've tried many times with our food photographer to make it look good - and it just doesn't! Ha!


Microwaved Asparagus:
I'm the only one in my house who will eat asparagus, so I like to make it quick and easy.

I wash and cut the ends and lay in a 8x8 glass dish. I coat with olive oil and sprinkle on dried Italian seasoning. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the microwave. My microwave has a setting for fresh vegetables that I use to set my time. I check it and microwave a couple minutes more if needed. If you're microwave doesn't have that setting, the important thing is to cook on 50% power. That allows it to cook more evenly without drying out the asparagus. Once it's cooked to your liking, sprinkle on a little Kosher salt to taste. Do not salt it prior to microwaving! You never want to salt anything you are cooking in the microwave because salt is a dehydrator.

For more great recipes, visit Foodie Friday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Snow Cream

We are watching the weather outside, patiently waiting for the sleet falling to turn to snow for a pretty good snow storm headed our way. We may get up to a foot of snow - major for Arkansas. Only a couple times in my life have we had that much snow here. Schools are already closed and I bought a sled yesterday. When it snows here, the one thing we have to have is snow cream. So I thought it would be a great time to post the recipe. (This picture is from a couple years ago). This exact time last year we were experiencing a catastrophic ice storm - and that is no exaggeration. Read my post below about that great experience!

Ingredients:
1 large bowl snow
1 egg (we use pasteurized egg product for safety)
1 cup sugar
dash vanilla

Mix and eat. It's really yummy!

Crispy Herb Baked Chicken

This recipe is so easy and yummy! It makes me hungry just typing up the recipe. I'm always looking for new recipes to use for chicken breast, and this is one that we really like.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup potato flakes
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp parsley flakes
3/4-1 tsp garlic salt
2-4 chicken breast, boneless, skinless
1/3 cup margarine or butter, melted

Grease or line with foil a 13x9 inch baking dish or place on stoneware (I prefer the later).

Combine potato flakes, Parmesan cheese, parsley flakes and garlic salt in shallow dish; stir until well blended. Dip chicken in margarine, roll in potato flake mixture to coat. Place in greased pan or on stoneware. Do NOT cover.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes until chicken is fork-tender and juices run clear.

For more great recipes, visit Foodie Friday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Chicken Noodle Soup

It is COLD here! I mean seriously cold for the south. We got nearly an inch of snow last night - pretty good for Arkansas and schools were out for a snow day. They also cancelled school for tomorrow due to "extreme cold temperatures and below freezing wind chills." Okay - northerners stop laughing! I'm serious - we are not bred in the south for such cold. But you can't stand with us when it's 96 with 90% humidity! LOL

So it seemed like a perfect night for chicken noodle soup! I don't really have exact measurements for this recipe. I just kind of throw everything in, but I'll give as close as I can.
Ingredients:
3-4 cups, cooked chicken cut into bite size pieces
3 cups carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 large container chicken broth
basil, dried or use whole dried bay leaves and remove before eating
parsley, dried
salt and pepper
water
extra wide egg noodles

Boil chicken (I used 3 chicken breast this time. It's a great recipe when you have left over chicken too). Remove chicken to cut up and add in carrots, celery and onion. Pour in chicken broth. Add chicken back in. Add about 4 cups water (more or less depending on the size of your pot). Season to taste with basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Bring back to a boil. Add in egg noodles. Add more water if you like and let cook until heated through and noodles and vegetables are tender.

Basically - it's a can't go wrong recipe. You can add more or less of anything and it still taste warm and yummy!

For more great recipes, visit Foodie Friday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Momma's Soft Sugar Cookies

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe for cutting out shapes with cookie cutters. It makes a really nice dough and is fun to do with the kids.

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sift before measuring
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room teperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
Into a bowl, sift together the sifted flour, baking soda and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla with an electric mixer. Beat for 2 minutes. Add sour cream and half of the sifted dry ingredients; beat 1 minute.

Stir in remaining dry ingredietns with a wooden spoon. Divide dough in half and roll each portion out on a lightly flour surface to 1/4" thick. Cut with floured cookie cutter. Place cookies on greased cookie sheet.


Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake or they will not be soft, which is the best part. Store soft sugar cookies in an airtight container.

My boys added red and green sprinkles for Christmas! But I use this recipe for all seasons. They are great for Easter or Halloween cookies too.

For more great recipes, visit Foodie Friday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays!

Pork Stew

I LOVE this recipe! It's easy and so yummy, especially in the winter. And it's even better the second day. The recipe comes from my Pillsbury Complete Cookbook and unlike most recipes, I made no variations. Ingredients:
1 T. oil
1 1/2 lb. boneless pork loin, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 (14 1/2 oz) can ready-to-serve chicken broth
1 C. water
1 med. onion, cut into 8 wedges
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram leaves
1/8 tsp. pepper
10-12 small red pottoes, quartered
1 1/2 C. sliced carrots
1 C. frozen sweet peas
1/2 C. half-and-half
1/4 C. all-purpose flour

Heat oil in 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Add pork cubes; cook 3 to 5 minutes or unitl browned, stirring occasionally. Add broth, water, onion, salt, marjoram and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Add potatoes, carrots and peas. Return to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer an additional 15 to 20 minutes or unitl vegetables are tender.

In small bowl, combine half-and-half and flour; blend until smooth. Gradually stir into pork mixture. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture is bubbly and thickened.
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This week I am adding this favorite recipe to 4 weekly blog parties - because it's just that good! Check all 4 out for great recipes: Friend Making Monday,Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, What's for Dinner Thursday, and Foodie Friday !