Cool Weather Comfort

I love, love, love this cooler weather! It's a rarety here in East Texas so we take it when we can get it! Of course, steamy bowls of goodness hit the spot when the evening temperature is dropping into the 40's and this has become our favorite recipe for chicken and dumplings. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Chicken & Dumplings

For the Chicken and Stock:
1 whole chicken
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt

For the Dumplings:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk

For the Sauce:
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. oil
2 carrots, thinly slice or diced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
chicken stock from chicken
1 cup frozen peas or corn
1/4 cup heavy cream
chopped parsely for garnish

For the stock: place your whole chicken in a large stock pot or slow cooker and add enough water to ust barely cover the chicken. Place your bay leaves, thyme, pepper, garlic and salt in the pot with the chicken. Cook on the stove top, partially covered for about 2-3 hours at medium-low heat or in a slow cooker (crock pot)for about 4 hours. I think the slow cooker yeilds a richer stock if you are able to take the time and cook it with this method. Remove the cooked chicken from the stock, discard the bay leaves and shred the chicken when it has cooled. Strain the stock and set aside. It will be used for the sauce.

For the Dumplings*: Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, using a whisk, lightly beat the eggs, and buttermilk together; pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients adn gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together; the batter should be thick and cake-like.

For the Sauce: in a large pot or dutch oven, over medium heat, add the butter and oil. Add the carrots, celery, garlic and bay leaves, sauteing until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Continue to cook an stir for about 2 minutes to remove the starchy taste. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, one cup at a time, stirring or whisking well after each addition. Add the frozen peas or corn. Let the sauce simmer and thicken for about 10-15 minutes; stir in heavy cream. Fold the reserved chicken into the sauce and bring to a simmer. Using two spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoons of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be too crowded. Poach the dumplings for 10-15 minutes until they are firm. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Top with chopped parsley.

*Live-It-Up-Variation: Stire 1/4 cup chopped chives into the dry ingredients when preparing the dumplings.

Tortellini Primavera

Mmmm, spinach. Nearly everyone will gobble up spinach in a salad, sometimes in an omelet combined with yummy feta cheese or even in an enchilada. Yet spinach has so many vitamin and mineral nutrients it's one vegetable we really can't consume enough. Throw in a little cream cheese (yum) and some tortellini, garlic and onion and you've got one creamy and delicious spinach dish. This primavera is yummy as a lunch dish by itself or serve it up for dinner as a side dish paired with a grilled pork tenderloin or a roasted whole chicken. I hope you and yours will enjoy it as much as we did!

Tortellini Primavera

1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
2 Tbs. butter
10 oz. spinach, steamed & drained (can use frozen spinach, thawed and drained)
1 8 oz. package cream cheese (can use reduced fat)
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
9 oz. fresh or frozen tortellini, cooked and drained

Over medium heat, cook and stir mushrooms, onion, and garlic in butter until tender. Add remaining ingredients, except tortellini, and cook until mixture just begins to boil, stirring constantly. Add in tortellini, heat thoroughly and serve warm. Enjloy!

*Live-it-up Variation: Substitute crushed red pepper flakes in plac of ground black pepper.

Simple Summer Skillet

It's hot outside. I mean really, really hot. We can only survive so long on salads, cold cut sandwiches and paninis before I am forced to turn the stove on in order to add variety to our repetitious summer palette. This one pan wonder filled the need to create a savory summer meal without adding excess heat to the kitchen unnecessarily.

Pork Chops and Rice

1 Tbs. vegetable oil
4 pork loin chops
1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup orange juice
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
Garlic Salt
Pepper

Sprinkle both sides of pork chops lightly with garlic salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat; add the pork chops and cook until browned on both sides, about ten minutes. Remove chops and set aside. In the same skillet, combine rice and onion, cooking about 3 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in broth, orange juice and 1 1/2 Tbs. parsley. Heat to boiling; return chops to skillet and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and chops are no longer pink. Top with remaining 1/2 Tbs. chopped parsley and serve up with a side of steamed broccoli or a yummy summer salad. Buon Appetito!

Shrimp Carbonara

My children and I love shrimp...my husband does not. When we find ourselves dining without the Music Man present, we like to indulge in little delights that we otherwise might not prepare. Most carbonara is made with linguine and often call for eggs. While dining out a few weeks ago, I was served shrimp carbonara that used neither linguine or egg and this inspired me to attempt a version of my own. You'll need to assemble some ingredients before you begin...


First, chop one medium size yellow onion, 8 oz. of white mushrooms and 6 slices of crispy bacon. Quarter 10-15 cherry tomatoes. Then melt 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) of butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until tender and translucent.


Once the onions are soft and tender, add the mushrooms and 1 pound of already cooked shrimp with tails removed. I find that pulling tails off of shrimp is a great job for my 8 year old who consistently wants to help in the kitchen! If you have children, get them involved - their future nutritional choices are being sculpted right now by the every day food choices they (and you!) make...I will now step down from my soap box and continue...


Remove the shrimp mixture from your pan. Over medium heat, add 2 Tbs. olive oil and 2Tbs. flour to the same pan and whisk to combine. Heat for 2-4 minutes allowing the olive oil and flour to marry together - this will remove the starchy taste from the flour. Whisk in 1 cup of chicken broth, 1 tsp fresh black pepper and 2 tsp. koser salt. Cook and whisk until well combined and beginning to thicken.


Stir in 1 cup of cream and 8 oz. of shredded monterey jack cheese, combining well and stirring until cheese melts. Always shred your cheese by hand - it melts better this way. The pre-shredded cheeses at your grocer are coated with a product that prevents the shredded cheese from clumping to itself in the packaging...this coating also prevents the cheese from melting evenly.


Return the shrimp, onion and mushroom mixture to your pan and stir to well combine with the cheese mixture.


Now pour the yummy, cheesy, shrimpy goodness over 1 lb. of cooked rigatoni...


Top with the chopped bacon and the quartered tomatoes...


Stir to combine well and grab a fork!



Shrimp Carbonara

6 slices crisp cooked bacon, chopped
10-15 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 lb. box rigatoni (or penne or farfalle), cooked to package directions
8 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 medium size yellow onion, chopped
8 oz. white mushrooms, chopped
1 lb. cooked shrimp with tails removed
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup cream
4 Tbs. butter
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh black pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. flour

Melt 4 Tbs. butter in the bottom of a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped yellow onion and saute until tender. Add de-tailed shrimp and chopped mushrooms to the pan, cooking until mushrooms become tender. Remove shrimp mixture form pan and set aside. In the same pan, whisk together the olive oil and the flour for 2-4 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and chicken or vegetable broth, whisking until well combined and beginning to thicken. Add cream and monterey jack cheese, stirring until well melted. Return the shrimp mixture to the pan and coat thoroughly with the cheese sauce. Pour over cooked rigatoni, stir in chopped tomatoes and bacon. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Live-It-Up-Variation: Cook 8 ounces of frozen peas to package directions and stir into carbonara with the bacon and tomatoes.

Deep Fried Satisfaction

On a recent trip to Oklahoma City, we found ourselves in the midst of a deep frying frenzy. While visiting my in-laws, we intended to deep fry the numerous catfish caught by this adorable offspring of mine:


The act of deep frying is a smelly, messy one to say the least. If one is going to initiate the trouble of frying a little, then why not fry a lot? Right? Beyond the catfish and french fries we needed a fried dessert as well. I whipped up these apple fritters to fill the need...and filling is exactly what they were!

Apple Fritters

2 granny smith apples*
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. Sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tbs. melted butter
1 Tbs. lemon juice
Vegetable or peanut oil
Powdered Sugar

Peel and core the granny smith apples. Place the apples in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. The apple chunks must be very fine in order to fully cook in the 2-3 minutes that the fritters will be in the hot oil. If you leave your apple chunks too big, they will be raw and crunchy in your otherwise cooked fritter. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients: eggs, melted butter, lemon juice and buttermilk. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing to combine. Add diced apples and stir just till combined. Drop by the spoonful into 2 inches of hot oil, heated to 350 degrees. Cook in small batches approximately 1 minute on each side, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and immediately toss in powdered sugar while still warm.

*Live-It-Up Variation: Substitute fresh pears or peaches for apples

Chicken, Black Beans and Rice, Oh My!

I'm always on the look-out for one pot recipes that can be made up in a snap. During hectic times when I'm baking wedding cakes back-to-back and the Music Man's semester is crazy busy, I like to pull together something healthy and easy to reheat for lunches. I threw together this recipe last week and it was a huge hit with the whole family - especially the little people.

Chicken, Black Beans and Rice

3 1/2 cup chicken broth (about two cans)
3 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. fresh black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
Zest and juice of one lemon
2 1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 can black beans, rinsed and well drained
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 chicken breasts, poached and then shredded

Bring broth, butter, pepper, garlic powder and lemon to a boil in a large pot. Stir in rice, cover and reduce heat to medium-low, cooking for about 25 minutes. When rice is cooked, stir in shredded chicken, black beans and cilantro. Serve warm.

Not-Your-Mama's-Meatloaf

I know meatloaf is nothing fancy and by no means gourmet, but there are times when it just hits the spot...like comfort food. While the term "comfort food" is typically applied to something warm, rich and filling, I often think of this meatloaf as my ultimate comfort food. Considering the lean meat content and mixture of finely chopped veggies that comprise this dish, it really isn’t unhealthy - making it a low-guilt comfort food. This recipe is exceptionally versatile as it can be made with virtually any ground meat: beef, turkey, pork, etc. I used beef this time and must admit - the leftovers make delicious meatloaf sandwiches!

Once you combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly using your hands (I admit, I glove up my hands with disposable rubber gloves, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with clean, bare hands getting involved), then shape your mixture into a loaf. No need to use a loaf pan, the egg and bread crumbs will hold this meatloaf together quite adequately.



Not-Your-Mama's-Meatloaf

4 slices white or wheat bread, torn into pieces
2 1/2 pound ground meat
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and loosely chopped into large chunks
2 cloves garlic
2 ribs celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 large eggs
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tsp. mustard
1 tbs. salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper*

For Topping(to be added during last 20 minutes of baking):
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tsp. mustard
2 Tbs. brown sugar
Mix the above three ingredients until smooth.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place bread in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a large bowl; add ground meat. Place onion, garlic, celery, carrots and parsley in food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Add to meat mixture; combine using your hands. Note: the texture and shape of your meatloaf will not be the same if you attempt to mix with a spoon or in a large mixture-must be mixed with your hands! Add eggs, ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper; combine thoroughly, again using your hands. Shape into a loaf and place in a large casserole dish. Cover very loosely with a foil tent and bake in 400 degree oven, about 90 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees, remembering uncover and spread topping on the loaf during the last 20 minutes of cooking. Enjoy!

*Live-It-Up-Variation: add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes to give an extra kick!