Chicken Imperial

                                                                   

This recipe is nearly 40 years old! It was given to me by a friend and I still have the original card in her writing!  I have been cleaning out my recipe box and binders and getting rid of any recipes that I know I will never make again-like those with canned cream of anything soup. If I can't change the recipe to something healthier, I toss it.  This one was a favorite, I don't know why I stopped making it, maybe because of all the butter (the original called for 1 1/2 sticks!).  I wrote the recipe to serve four.  You might notice there's more than that in the photo.  I had family over for dinner tonight and doubled the recipe.

I changed the original recipe a bit-actually, I changed it a lot, but the original flavor is still there. The original recipe called for a whole cut up chicken and was cooked in the oven for an hour and a half.  I had thin sliced boneless breasts, so I decided to do it on top of the stove. I adjusted the seasonings a bit, and made a sauce with the seasonings and butter.  I added parsley and rosemary to the original seasonings.  Don't be afraid of the curry, it gives it great flavor!

If you don't want to spend the extra money for thin sliced chicken breasts, use regular boneless breasts and slice them through the middle to made two thin slices out of each one. This was a really quick meal because there was no chopping involved; it took less than 30 minutes to prepare.  Serve it over rice with a vegetable and salad and you have a great meal.

Chicken Imperial

4 thin sliced boneless chicken breasts, or two regular boneless breasts sliced to make 4 thin slices
4 tablespoons flour + two tablespoons more for the sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 stick butter
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
salt and pepper

Melt butter in a small sauce pan.  Combine curry powder, parsley, garlic powder, oregano, paprika and rosemary in a small bowl, stir to combine.  Add Worcestershire and Dijon mustard to the butter whisk, add dried spices and whisk until combined.  Keep on low heat while preparing the chicken.

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large heavy bottomed skillet.  Season 4 tablespoons of flour with salt and pepper, dredge chicken in flour and place in hot skillet.  Do not touch the chicken until it moves freely in the pan, about 2-3 minutes.  Turn and brown on the other side for another 2 -3 minutes  Add the butter, spice mixture to the pan, lower heat to medium, and continually baste the chicken for two to three minutes.

Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm while you make the sauce.  Raise the heat to medium high and add two tablespoons of flour to the pan, Whisk quickly to form a roux.  Add wine and continue mixing, Add chicken broth.  If mixture gets too thick, add more broth.  Taste and check for seasoning, you may want to add a little salt at this point.  Add the chicken back to the pan to warm through.  Transfer chicken to a platter and pour the sauce over.  Serve over rice.  Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a.
Nonnie

Fresh Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Oranges, and Almonds

This is one of those recipes that came about because of what was in my fridge at the moment.  I was in the mood for a salad, but  I was out of lettuce.  I did, however, have a bag of fresh spinach in the fridge along with some strawberries and clementine oranges, and so this was born!  You can vary it with whatever fruit you have on hand, I have even used craisins.  Tonight I made it with slivered almonds, but I have also made it with walnuts or pecans.  Your choice!  You can of course add other greens to the salad, even some fresh parsley or mint.  Add some goat cheese or blue cheese and it would be a wonderful light lunch or dinner on a warm summer day.  You can use bottled dressing, but I made my own. I have included the recipe here.

Fresh Spinach Salad

1/2 bag fresh baby spinach, washed and spun dry
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 clementine oranges peeled and sectioned
1/4 cup slivered almonds, or nuts of your choice
goat cheese or blue cheese (optional)

Dressing

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed dried mint (optional)

Combine spinach, fruit and almonds in a large bowl.  Combine dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well.  Pour over salad and enjoy!

Fried Rice

                                                                         

This is a recipe I learned from a Taiwanese woman about 35 years ago.  I have adapted and changed it several times to fit the likes and dislikes of my family.  This can be served as a side dish or as a meal in itself.  If I serve it as a meal, I try to make sure it has sufficient protein.  I always add eggs, and one other animal protein, usually either ham or pork.  You could also use chicken or shrimp. I also use edamame because it is higher in protein than the traditional green peas.  If you don't eat soy, you could use peas or green beans. The original recipe calls for regular long grain rice, but because I am trying to eat healthier, I have been making it with brown rice for a few years now. 

Fried Rice

1 cup rice (uncooked)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
4 eggs beaten
1 to 2 cups ham, pork, chicken or shrimp (cooked)
1 package edamame or frozen green peas defrosted
1 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder (found in the international section of your supermarket)
3 - 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 scallions chopped

Cook rice according to package directions.  While the rice is cooking, chop onions and garlic.  Add two tablespoons of oil to a wok or large skillet with the heat turned to high.  When the oil is hot, add the eggs to the pan and stir constantly.  I use chopsticks for this, but a fork will work just as well.  Cook for three or four minutes or until the eggs are cooked through and somewhat dry.  Remove the eggs to a bowl and set aside.  Add 1 or 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan and lower the heat to medium.  Add the onions and garlic.  Cook until the onion begins to soften.  Chop ham or pork and add to the onion in the skillet, along with the five spice powder.  Mix well.  Turn heat to low and add the eggs back to the pan along with the edamame or peas.  At this point the rice should be cooked, add to the pan along with a tablespoon of vegetable oil and mix well.  Turn the heat back to high or medium high..  Cook for several minutes, stirring often, then add soy sauce and sesame oil.  Cook for about five more minutes, stirring often.  Transfer to a bowl and top with chopped scallions.  Serve with additional soy sauce for those who want it.  Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a.
Nonnie

Sausage, Potato and Pepper Skillet Supper

                                                                            

This is a recipe that came about because one night, I unexpectedly had to babysit my grandchildren and I had to come up with something for dinner, quickly and with what I had on hand that was defrosted.  I planned to make some sausage, but didn't have enough for everyone, so I stretched it by adding some veggies, and potatoes and that night eggs. This meal took just thirty minutes! Everyone loved it, and it has become a regular on my menu list.

This is a make ahead dinner, you can make it over the weekend, and freeze or refrigerate it until you need it.  The most time consuming part is prepping the vegetables.  You can chop the peppers and onions when you are prepping for another meal and freeze them until you need them.  The consistency of the peppers will change, but once you cook them, there is no change in consistency or taste. You can adjust the amount of any of the ingredients to suit your needs or your family's preferences. The idea, is that the whole meal is made in a skillet and you don't have to worry about side dishes, unless you would like to serve this with a salad. One hint, I use my electric skillet for this dish because it is very large.

Sausage, Potato and Pepper Skillet Supper

1 pound Italian Sausage (sweet or hot - your choice)
2 - 3 large potatoes
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 - 3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 - 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Remove sausage from the casing, break into small pieces and cook over low heat.  While sausage is cooking, peel and thinly slice potatoes.  Add oil to the skillet and raise the heat to medium, when the oil is hot, add potatoes, salt and pepper.  Stir frequently to keep the potatoes from sticking to the pan.  While this mixture is cooking, chop peppers. onion and garlic and add to skillet.  Cook for about 15 minutes more, or until potatoes and sausage are cooked through.  If the potatoes stick to the bottom of the pan, add a little water and scrape up.  Serve with a fresh salad if you like.

You can add any vegetables you have to this meal, try broccoli, artichoke hearts, green beans, even fresh spinach.  Another thing I have done, is to add 3 beaten eggs just before serving. The eggs add a little more protein and bind the whole mixture together.  Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

Lasagna Rolls

                                                                        

Every time I make this, I forget how great it is! This is very similar to traditional lasagna, but I think it's less dry, and easier to serve.  I got this recipe from Giada De Laurentis. No, I don't know her personally, although I wish I did! I think I got it from the Food Network site. This is a dish you can prepare the night before, or even a few days before.  In fact, this is what I did for Easter this year.  I did all my cooking the day before, and all I had to do, was to stick things in the oven after we got home from church.  I will caution, if you prepare it the night before, let the pan come to room temperature before you bake it, or it will take much longer to bake.

This recipe calls for making a béchamel sauce for the bottom of the pan, which I do, because I think it adds a bit of creaminess to the whole thing, but you can certainly skip that step and just put marinara sauce on the bottom of your pan.  Another change I made this time, was to use fresh spinach instead of frozen chopped.  I chopped the fresh raw spinach and added it to the cheese mixture. 

If you are vegetarian, you can certainly leave out the prosciutto, but I really feel that it adds something to the dish.  Or, maybe it's just because I really LOVE prosciutto.  For those of you who aren't familiar, prosciutto is a kind of Italian dry cured ham.  It is always sliced very thinly, and it's a real treat. You could probably substitute regular thin sliced ham, but it's a very different flavor.  So here is the recipe, pretty much the same as the one I originally got from the internet.

Béchamel Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of nutmeg

Lasagna:
1 box dried lasagna noodles ( don't use the no boil ones, they won't work)
1 15 ounce container ricotta cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese plus more for sprinkling on top
3 ounces of thinly sliced prosciutto
1 large egg, beaten
1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained (or 1 to 2 cups raw fresh spinach, chopped)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for salting the water
2 cups marinara sauce - I use homemade, but you can certainly use a good jarred sauce
1 cup (about 4 ounces) shredded mozzarella
2 tablespoons olive oil

Begin by putting a large pot of water on to boil for the lasagna noodles.  When the water boils, add the olive oil and a tablespoon of salt to the water.  Cook according to package directions to al dente.

While the pasta water is heating, make the béchamel sauce, melt butter in a sauce pan over medium low heat, and add flour. Whisk to form a roux for about 2 to 3 minutes. Increase the temperature to medium high and add the milk, continue whisking until the sauce begins to thicken.  This should take about three minutes.  Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and whisk until they are incorporated.  Grease the bottom and sides of a 9" by 13" ovenproof pan and pour the béchamel sauce over the bottom of the pan. If you are not using béchamel sauce, increase the amount of marinara to 3 1/2 cups and pour 1 1/2 cups over the bottom of the pan.

When the lasagna noodles are done, remove and lay out on a cookie sheet or large cutting board.  Put layers of parchment, waxed paper, or plastic wrap between layers of the noodles.  Now prepare the filling. 

Preheat oven to 450F.  If you are using frozen spinach, defrost and squeeze out all the liquid.  If using fresh spinach (about 1 - 2 cups) chop the raw spinach.  Layer the prosciutto and chop it finely.  In a large bowl add ricotta, beaten egg, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, prosciutto and spinach, and mix well.  Take the noodles one at a time and spread a layer of the ricotta mixture over them.  Begin rolling them up from one short end and place in pan seam side down.  Continue until you have used all your filling. Depending on how many noodles where in your box, you can make between 12 - 18 rolls.  Once they are in the pan, pour over one cup of the marinara sauce.  Sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of parmesan and the one cup of mozzarella.  Cover tightly with foil, but try not to let the foil touch the cheese.  At this point, you can refrigerate the lasagna for use the next day, or bake in a 450F oven for about 20 minutes, remove the foil and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the top becomes golden.  Heat the remaining marinara sauce and serve with the lasagna. Serve with a salad and crunchy Italian bread (to mop up all the yummy sauce).  Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a.
Nonnie

Empanada Update - Big Improvement!

Several months ago, I wrote a VERY long post about my trials and tribulations with empanadas.  I have made them several times since and have made a huge improvement.  I went to the grocery store and purchased the Goya discos in the frozen food section of the store in the area where they have international foods.  Oh my goodness!  How easy this was!  I just rolled them to make them a little bigger, filled them, sealed with water and a fork and baked them.  The package does tell you to fry them, but I'm looking to make things easier, not harder.  I also brushed each one with a little beaten egg.  So here is the recipe again, this time using discos.

 Fillling: Makes enough for about 12 empanadas

1 lb. ground beef--you can probably substitute chicken or turkey
1 small onion finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, or run through the garlic press
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons vinegar - I used red wine, but you can substitute, white wine, apple cider or even rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Depending on the likes of your family you can also add red and/or green peppers or green olives--about a cup of peppers or olives.

Brown the beef, drain any fat and set aside in a bowl.  Add olive oil, onions and garlic to the pan and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or until translucent.  Add spices, vinegar and tomato paste.  And cook until combined. Add any other vegetables and cook till they are soft.  Return beef to the skillet and heat through.  At this point you can remove from the heat, cool and freeze so you have a meal ready to go for another night.  Or double this recipe and freeze half.

Roll out the discos crust on a well floured surface, so each is a little larger and thinner than when you began.  Fill half the circle with filling, leaving about 1/2 to 3/4 inch around the edge.  Wet the edge with a little warm water, fold over and crimp the edges with a fork. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Brush all the empanadas with a beaten egg to which you have added two tablespoons of water.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 -12 minutes.

 Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

Steak with Chimichuri Sauce

                                                                               

It's been a long, cold, snowy winter, but I think spring is finally here, and to celebrate, I fired up my grill tonight.  I grilled a London broil, made some green beans in a foil packet on the grill, splurged and made French fries and made some bright, fresh chimichurri sauce for the steak. This was a great meal!

Chimichurri sauce is originally from Argentina, but has become very popular here.  It's traditionally served on steak, but you can also eat it on pork or chicken. It can be used as a marinade or as a sauce over your steak.

The first time I had chimichurri sauce I was visiting my daughter in Colorado. A friend brought over this meal and I loved it.  For a long time, I couldn't stop thinking about it, finally I began researching recipes and found several.  After trial and error, I came up with this one.  It's easy to do, you can even chop the parsley in the food processor. The original recipe calls for cilantro as well as parsley, when I make this for my family, I leave out the cilantro, while I love cilantro, some of my family members have that gene that makes cilantro taste like soap.  No, I'm not kidding, it's an actual gene.  Look it up!  So if you don't like cilantro, leave it out! In my research, I also found many recipes that called for fresh jalapeno finely chopped, but that's too much heat for me, but if you like it, add it in.

Chimichurri Sauce

1/2  to 3/4 cup flat leaf parsley finely chopped - if you use the food processor, just pulse it, you don't want it pureed
1/4 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
3 to 4 fresh garlic cloves, finely chopped or run through a garlic press
1 shallot finely minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk in the olive oil with a fork.  Mix well and chill.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!
Carol
a.k.a.
Nonnie

This Pasta Salad is Almost Too Pretty to Eat!



This salad is a favorite of one of my granddaughters and she suggested that I post it on the blog.  This is a colorful pasta salad that has lots of possibilities.  Start with tri color pasta and then add your favorite veggies, cheeses, meats, or whatever is in the fridge.  I'm going to give you the ingredients for mine, but you can change it up however you like.  Use cheddar or Monterey Jack instead of mozzarella. Use ham cubes or salami instead of pepperoni or  leave out the meat and cheese and it can be vegan.  Add radishes, broccoli florets, scallions, red onions, or what ever your family likes. You can use bottled Italian dressing, but I made my own and included the recipe below. When I make this for a whole crowd, I use a pound of pasta, but for a weeknight dinner, I just use half a pound because there are so many things added to it that there is more than enough. Here we go!

1 to 1/2 lb. tri color pasta cooked and cooled
1/2 each green, yellow, red, and orange peppers chopped
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half
2 - 3 carrots thinly sliced
1/2 cups sliced black olives
2 cups fresh mozzarella balls (If the fresh mozzarella balls are large, cut them in half
1 cup pepperoni cut into small cubes
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

After you cook the pasta, rinse in cool water and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil.  Chill.  Add all the ingredients and stir to combine.  Add dressing.  Serve!

dressing:
 1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons wine vinegar - red or white
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until well mixed.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!
Carol
a.k.a.
Nonnie