Recipes

Ingredients
6-8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
16 ounces frozen spinach
2 pounds rigatoni pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
16 ounces half and half
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons garlic, minced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon white pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
Dash nutmeg
8 ounces sour cream
1 cup Italian cheese blend
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, shredded or shaved

Instructions
1. Heat grill and set for direct grilling.  Bring large pot of salted water to boil.  

2. Season chicken with garlic salt and black pepper.  Grill 3 to 4 minutes a side or until chicken is cooked through.  

3. Place spinach into large sieve.  Cook pasta 2 minutes less than directed by package directions, drain over spinach.    

4. Heat oven to 350*F.  

5. Add butter and olive oil to large saucepan or Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat.  Add flour and stir to combine.  Cook one minute, stirring, until smooth.  

6. Slowly add half and half to pan, stirring constantly until mixture begins to boil.  Add milk, salt, garlic, white pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg to pan, stirring constantly.  Return to boil and add sour cream and cheese.  Remove from heat and stir until cheese has melted.  

7. Cut chicken into small pieces.  Mix together chicken, pasta, spinach, and sauce in a large baking dish or Dutch oven.  Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until bubbling and heated through.  Serve with Parmesan cheese.  

Comments
This recipe is from Patio Daddio BBQ and it was scrumptious.  The flavor that the grilled chicken brought to the dish was really grand.  Art was happy to grill up the chicken for me and I prepared everything else.  I’d love to incorporate grilled chicken into more dishes like this, because it really did enhance the overall flavor of the meal.  I wonder if I could grill up a bunch of chicken breasts at a time and then freeze them in meal-sized packages?  It’s worth considering.  

I did think this dish needed a little bit more of something, but I’m not sure what.  Maybe sundried tomatoes?  Or a bit more spinach?  Or… mushrooms!  Mushrooms would be a great addition here!  

Be aware, this recipe does make quite a bit of food, so consider halving it if you’re not interested in having leftovers all week.

Internet - Patio Daddio BBQ

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
¹⁄₂ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes with puree
¹⁄₂ cup half and half
1 pound farfalle pasta
¹⁄₂ cup fresh basil, chopped
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated or shredded

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. 

2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add sausage and red pepper flakes.  Sauté until sausage is no longer pink, breaking up into pieces with wooden spoon while cooking.  Add onion and garlic, sauté until onion is soft, about 3 minutes.  Add tomatoes and half and half.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until sausage mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. 

3. Add pasta and reserved cooking liquid in ¹⁄₄ cup increments to sausage mixture and stir over medium-low heat until sauce coats pasta.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen and I selected it because it combines some of Art’s favorite ingredients – sausage, pasta, basil and tomatoes.  It was a great dish and we all enjoyed it.  I only wish I had made more so that there were more leftovers.  Luckily, this is a pretty easy dish to double.

Internet - Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded
8-10 soft taco-size flour tortillas
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken 5-10 minutes per side, or until cooked through.  Remove from heat and shred with forks. 

2. Heat oven to 425*F. 

3. Mix 1 cup cheese and chicken in medium bowl.  Place equal amount of chicken mixture into each tortilla.  Roll tortillas up and place seam-side down in lightly greased 9 x 12-inch baking dish. 

4. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Slow add in chicken broth, stirring constantly.  Increase heat to high and bring to boil.  Cook, stirring, until sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and chilies. 

5. Pour sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese and sauce are bubbly.  Sprinkle with cilantro before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from [Let’s Dish](http://letsdish(recipes.blogspot.com/2011/02/white-chicken-enchiladas-with-green.html) and I think  they’ll be called Mexican Crepes from this point on since they reminded us quite a bit of crepes and not too much of enchiladas!  I loved these the most and claimed all of the leftovers for my own.  The guys enjoyed them as well, but I was the one who really dug them.  This would be delicious with spinach added to the chicken mixture. 

Shown here with Mexican Rice.

Internet - Let’s Dish

Ingredients
3-4 medium potatoes, washed and thinly sliced with knife or mandolin
¹⁄₄ cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Butter (about ¹⁄₂ teaspoon per stack)

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375*F. 

2. Toss potato slices with olive oil, salt and pepper, ensuring slices are well coated. 

3. Stack potato slices in regular-sized muffin tin until potatoes reach the top of each cup.  Put thin pat of butter on top of each stack. 

4. Cook for 45-50 minutes or until potatoes are nicely browned on top.  Rest 5 minutes in muffin tin then remove and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is inspired by Souvlaki for the Soul.  I made Pommes Anna a few weeks ago and these are just like mini version of that recipe.  We all thought they were perfect due to the increased edges which increased the crispiness.  I used tarragon olive oil which added fantastic flavor.  

I used three medium russet potatoes which ended up filling 9 muffin cups.  This recipe is super easy to scale, so don’t feel that you need to stick with the measurements exactly as they’re shown here.  I will definitely remember to make these in the future! 

Shown here with an awesome grilled burger care of Eggmaster Art.

Internet - Souvlaki for the Soul

Ingredients
1 pound linguine
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
2-4 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
4 tablespoons butter
2 green onions, thinly sliced
4 cups half and half
4 tablespoons sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried basil
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon garlic powder
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground black pepper
¹⁄₂ cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain.  

2. Place chicken in bowl with Cajun seasoning and toss to coat.  

3. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked.  

4. Reduce heat to low.  Add green onions, half and half, tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper garlic powder, and black pepper.  Cook until heated through.  Add in linguine, toss to combine, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  

Comments
This recipe is from Blog Chef and, woah, was it spicy.  The original recipe called for 4 teaspoons of Cajun seasoning and I used the full amount.  I ended up eating Tex-Mex for dinner since it was entirely too hot for me to tolerate.  I recommend going with a smaller amount of Cajun seasoning unless you really love spicy food!  I think I’d like to try to make this again, I’ll just modify the spice level and see how it goes.  I think I would have liked more sundried tomatoes as well, but that might be because I’ve got a weird sundried tomato craving going on right now.  Art loved it and ate all of the leftovers during the rest of the week.

Internet - Blog Chef

Ingredients
6-8 ounces Greek yogurt
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
2 sweet onions, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3 bay leaves
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
3 tablespoons ground almonds
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¹⁄₂ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Instructions
1. Place yogurt, half of garlic, half of ginger, and chicken into a ziptop bag or plastic container with lid.  Mix and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours. 

2. Place onion, remaining ginger and garlic, jalapeno, and salt in food processor and blend until smooth. 

3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Pour onion mixture into skillet.  Bring to low boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove lid and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes, stirring often. 

4. Add turmeric, paprika, coriander, bay leaves, tomatoes and tomato paste.  Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, 3-5 minutes.  Add chicken and marinade.  Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes.  Add coconut milk, almonds, garam masala, and cumin, stirring to combine.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with cilantro before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from TasteInspired.  All three of us love Indian food so I’m always keeping my eyes open for good looking recipes.  This recipe is not only good looking, it’s also good tasting!  We all enjoyed the curry and I wished that I had doubled the recipe in order to have more leftovers.  This is a nice, mild curry – a great introduction for curry initiates.

I served it with a mixture of basmati and texmati rice.

Internet - TasteInspired

Ingredients
4 (6 ounces each) salmon fillets
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
18 ounces fresh spinach
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
6-8 ounces crème fraîche (store-bought or homemade)
Salt and pepper
Pinch of cayenne

Instructions
1. Pat salmon dry with paper towels and season well with salt and pepper. 

2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat and place salmon in skillet skin side down.  Cook about 3 minutes per side, or until salmon is cooked through and flakes easily.  Remove to plate skin side up. 

3. Add butter to skillet.  Once butter begins to foam add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add spinach, parsley and crème fraîche and cook until spinach has wilted.  Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.  Serve spinach mixture topped with salmon. 

Comments
This recipe is from Chase Blackwell.  I attempted to make it quite a while ago only to find that my spinach had bugs in it, so I modified the recipe to omit the spinach.  This time, the spinach was great and everything turned out perfectly.  I served the salmon and spinach with rice which worked out quite well.

Internet - Chase Blackwell

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 (4 ¹⁄₂ to 5 pound) top round, patted dry
16 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced in half if large
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped,  or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon seasoned salt, such as Emeril’s Essence
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 small sprigs fresh thyme 

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400*F. 

2. Combine flour and salt in medium bowl.  In another medium bowl, beat eggs.  Add milk to eggs then gradually add egg mixture to flour, mixing to make a smooth batter.  Let rest 1 hour at room temperature. 

3. Put roast in small roasting pan.  Make sixteen ¹⁄₂-inch deep slits in roast with small knife and insert clove of garlic into each slit. 

4. Combine thyme, salt, seasoned salt, and pepper in small bowl.  Stir in oil to make paste.  Rub paste on all sides of roast and place thyme sprigs under roast.  Roast for 1 hour. 

5. Remove pan from oven and turn roast for even browning.  Reduce temperature to 350*F and continue roasting until instant read thermometer reads 125*F to 130*F for medium rare, about 45 minutes.  (Mine was done much faster than this.)  Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before carving. 

5. While roast is resting, increase oven temperature to 450*F.  Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of hot pan drippings, adding hot melted butter if necessary to reach 3 tablespoons of fat.  Place pan in oven to stay hot while oven comes to temperature.

6. Pour batter into roasting dish and bake, without opening oven door, until risen and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Comments
This recipe is from Emeril and I’ve been avoiding posting it because my preparation of it was full of fail.  I’m not sure what I did wrong which is also bothersome.  The meat was tasty and flavorful, the garlic studding was great.  The Yorkshire pudding was flat and floppy.  My plan is to read up on Yorkshire pudding recipes before trying this again to try to figure out where I messed up.

Internet - Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 (8 ounces each) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup ranch dressing
³⁄₄ cup pepper sauce (such as Frank’s)
1 ¹⁄₂ cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F. 

2. Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat.  Cook chicken 5-10 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.  Cool chicken until it’s cool enough to handle then chop or shred into small pieces. 

3. Mix chicken, hot sauce, cream cheese, dressing and half of cheese in casserole dish.  Bake 20 minutes, remove from oven, and stir well.  Top with remaining cheese, return to oven, and bake until hot and bubble.  Serve with crackers, celery sticks, or tortilla chips. 

Comments
This recipe is from everywhere since it’s a pretty standard appetizer for gatherings.  I’d never made it before so I read a few recipes and ended up with this.  I forgot to reserve some of the cheese to top the dip with, so it all got mixed in.  It was delicious in all of its orange glory.

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Ingredients
2 slices bread, torn into pieces
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise (Or use thin-sliced breasts)
¹⁄₄ cup flour
¹⁄₄ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons dried marjoram
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon milk
1 large egg
4 teaspoons olive oil
4 lemon wedges

Instructions
1. Place bread in a food processor, and pulse until breadcrumbs measure about 1 ³⁄₄ cups.

2. Place flour in shallow dish.  Combine breadcrumbs, cheese rosemary, marjoram, salt and pepper in second shallow dish.  Combine milk and egg in third shallow dish, beat with fork. 

3. Working one breast at a time, dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess.  Dip into egg mixture then dredge in breadcrumb mixture, pressing to coat evenly on both sides.  Repeat procedure with remaining chicken pieces.  Place chicken pieces on baking sheet covered with parchment paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

4. Heat oven to 375*F. 

5. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add two breast pieces and cook, 3 minutes on each side, or until browned, return to baking sheet.  Repeat procedure with remaining breast pieces.  Bake for 12 minutes or until chicken is done and meat thermometer reads 165*F.  Squeeze lemon over chicken before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from the 2011 Cooking Light Annual.  It’s a pretty basic breaded chicken recipe, but it was still delicious and very flavorful. 

Shown here with Bacon and Mushroom Risotto with Baby Spinach.

Cooking Light 2011