Tuscan Chicken Sandwich

Easy and very tasty.

Tuscan Chicken Sandwich

Chicken Ranch Pizza

I like pizza.  Lots of pizza.  Lots of different kind of pizza.

This recipe Deedy and I made up after having something similar at a Pizza place.

Ingredients

1 Bobalee (sp?) pizza crust, or even better, a homemade pizza dough of your choice. We sometimes make an herb pizza dough or wheat pizza dough
6-8 cloves garlic chopped
Ranch Dressing
2 chicken breasts
Sun dried tomatoes or 3-4 roma tomatoes, seeded a chopped.
Fresh basil
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Olive Oil

Options:

Sliced mushrooms
Broccoli trimmed

Directions

Saute garlic in olive oil for about 15 seconds. Just until they start to change color.

Either bake or pan cook the chicken breast about 15 minutes at 350. I usually undercook it a bit since it will be cooking on the pizza. Once the chicken is done, cut it into small strips.

Spread the Ranch Dressing on the pizza dough, don't make it too thick. A nice thin layer spread evenly across the dough. Spread the chicken over the ranch dressing. Spread the chopped garlic, tomatoes over the pizza then top with mozzarella cheese. I don't put too much cheese on, and sometimes I don't put any on.

Bake the pizza at 350 for 20 minutes. When the pizza is done, top it with the fresh basil.

Slice and enjoy.

Viennese Soup Pot

Deedy and I had this soup, Viennese Soup Pot, while we were in Vienna. It's really good and similar to Chicken Noodle Soup.

Here's a recipe on it, although I won't be frying the chicken: Chicken Soup Pot

Roasted Chicken with Mustard Thyme Sauce

I made this Roasted Chicken recipe Bon Apetit not too long ago and the kids thought it was the best chicken I've ever made. It was really good and tender. We'll definitely be making this again and it was super easy.

Ingredients

10 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup coarse salt
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Peel from 1 lemon, cut into long strips with vegetable peeler
1 bay leaf
3 large sprigs fresh thye plus 1 tspn fresh thyme leaves
1 4 1/2lb chicken


2 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 tbls butter, room temperature
1 tbls all purpose flour
2 tbls whole grain mustard

Directions

Bring 10 1/2 cups water, coarse salt, honey, lemon juice, lemon peel, bay leef, and thyme sprigs to boil in a large pot. Cool slightly, then refrigerate brine until cold. Place chicken in very large resealable plastic bag. I used a cooking bag, I couldn't find anything resealable to fit the chicken in. Add brine and seal. Refrigerate chicken 6 hours.

Drain chicken from brine; rinse and pat dry. Place chicken on plate. Let stand uncovered in refrigerator at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours

Preheat oven to 375. Place chicken on rack in roasting pan. Roast chicken 20 minutes. Add 1 cup chicken broth to roasting pan. Roast chicken another 20 minutes longer; add 1 cup broth to roasting pan. Roast chicken until thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 170 (I usually go with 160). Let chicken rest 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour juices from roasting pan into 2 cup measuring cup. Add more broth if needed to equal 2 cups. Simmer butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until beginning to brown; about 2 minutes. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Whisk broth mixture; bring to boil. Stir in mustard and 1 teaspon thyme leaves. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Slice chicken. Divide chicken amont plates. Drizzle with sauce.

Chicken Delicious

This was really good and simple to make.

Ingredients

4-6 whole chicken breasts, boned and halved
lemon juice
salt and pepper
celery salt
paprika
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of celery soup
1/3 cup dry sherry or white wine
grated Parmesan cheese
fluffy rice

Directions

Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry. Season with lemon juice, salt, pepper, celery salt and paprika. Place in Crock-Pot. In medium bowl or pan, mix mushroom and celery soups with sherry. Pour over chicken breasts. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover and cok on Low for 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours.

Serve chicken and sauce over hot fluffy rice.

Sweet & Sour Chicken in Pineapple Shells

I made this a couple of weeks ago and it came out great...plus it looked really neat. I would use this same recipe to make the Sweet and Sour Chicken without the fresh pineapple if I were in a rush of time.

Ingredients

2 small pineapples, about 3lbs each
Sweet and Sour Sauce (recipe at the end)
3 tbls salad oil
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 3/4lbs chicken breasts, skinned, boned, and cut into 1/2" x 2" strips
1 medium sized onion, thinly sliced
1 medium-size green pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
About 4 cups hot cooked rice
Fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions

Cut each pineapple in half lengthwise, cutting through crown. With a curved, serrated knife, such as a grapefruit knife, cut fruit from peel, leaving shells intact; turn shells upside down to drain. Trim away core from fruit, then cut fruit into chunks about 1/2" thick. You'll need 3 cups pineapple chunks; reserve any remaining fruit for another use.

Just before cooking, drain the 3 cups pineapple chunks; reserve juice for another use. Also prepare Sweet and Sour sauce and set aside.

Place wok over high heat; when wok is hot, add 1 tbls of the oil. When oil is hot, add garlic and half the chicken and stir fry until chicken is no longer pink in center; cut to test (about 3 minutes). Remove from wok and set aside. Repeat to cook remaining chicken, adding 1 tbls more oil.

Pour remaining 1 tbls oil into wok. When oil is hot, add onion and bell pepper; stir fry until tender-crisp to bite (about 2 minutes). Return chicken to wok. Stir sauce; add to wok with pineapple chunks. Stir until sauce boils and thickens.

Spoon equal portions of the chicken mixture into each pineapple shell, mounding mixture at 1 end. Spoon about 1 cup of the rice alongside chicken in each shell. Garnish with cilantro, if desired. Pour any extract chicken mixture into a serving bowl; offer at the table. Makes 4 servings.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Stir together 4 tspn cornstarch; 1/4 cup each sugar, wine vinegar, and regular strengh chicken broth; 2tbls minced fresh cilantro or 1 1/2 tspn dry cilantro leaves; 2 tbls catsup; 1 tbls each soy sauce and dry sherry; 1/2 tsp ground ginger; and 1/4 tsp each salt and crushed red pepper.

Chicken, Shrimp, Andouille Gumbo

Deedy and I worked in the kitchen together making this gumbo I got from bon apetit. The original recipe was for 16 people, we cut it in half. I think what we cut it down too would feed 16 people. Holy smokes this makes a lot of food. The pot we used was close to overflowing. Fortunately, it's incredibly tasty. Word of warning....it's pretty spicy! As much food as this recipe makes, and the little amount of Cayenne, garlic, and onions, this thing was pretty hot. It was great on a cold winter day, although Deedy thought it was peaking her ability to eat it.

I loved it :)

If you make this, make sure you've got a big pot. Great for a party with lots of people. Make sure to have plenty of rice on hand to serve this with.

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour
6 large onions, chopped (about 12 cups)
6 red bell peppers, seeded, chopped (about 7 cups)
8 celery stalks, chopped (about 3 cups)
16 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chopped fresh thyme
6 bay leaves
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice
4 8-ounce bottles clam juice
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 pounds andouille sausage, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
3 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 16-ounce packages sliced frozen okra

4 pounds peeled deveined medium shrimp
Minced fresh Italian parsley
Steamed rice

Directions

Heat oil in heavy 13-quart pot over medium-high heat until very hot and almost smoking. Add flour and stir constantly until mixture is dark reddish brown, about 5 minutes. Add chopped onions, chopped bell peppers, and chopped celery and cook until onions are soft and brown, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes. Add garlic and cayenne and stir 2 minutes. Add wine, thyme, and bay leaves; bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes with juice, clam juice, broth, sausage, and chicken; simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add okra and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Do ahead Gumbo base can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Bring base to simmer before continuing.

Add shrimp to pot and cook shrimp until just opaque in center, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Season gumbo to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with minced parsley and serve with steamed rice alongside.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Got this from my mom who got this from my sister...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

2 - 14 1/2 oz of chopped stewed tomatoes
2 - 14 1/2 oz of chicken broth
1/4 c chopped cilantro
1 c salsa (med)
1 clove garlic minced
2 tbsp margarine
4-5 bone/skinless chicken breasts (boiled and cut into bite sized
pieces)

Directions

In crock pot saute garlic in butter on high
Add remaining ingredients
Cover, cook on low 8-10 hrs

8 oz monterey jack cheese
Tortilla chips
Avacado slices
Light sour cream

In individual bowls place chunks of cheese in bottom of each bowl
Ladel soup in bowl
Add avacado slices
Crumble tortilla chips
Add a dollup of sour cream

Tomato and Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Deedy has made this chicken a couple of times and it has an incredible flavor with the sun dried tomatos.

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2/3 cup California-Sun Dry Sun Dried Tomato Spread
1/2 cup seasoned dry breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375f and spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Coat chicken with tomato spread, pressing with your fingers so that it sticks to the chicken. Stir together breadcrumbs and cheese, coat chicken heavily with mixture and place on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining breadcrumb mixture, then bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Pasta Night

Every once in a while, I get together with my sisters husband, Dale, and we cook everybody pasta. I have done this at home several times before doing this with Dale. I got the idea after going to KC's Golf Club in Redding for Pasta Night....hence the name. Each person's pasta is made just for them, so there are no two bowls of pasta that are a like.

It was a cool idea to cook the pasta for each person right there and it looked simple to do. It takes time getting the ingredients all cut up, but that's part of the fun. Dale and I are on the phone while we go shopping, trying to figure out which grocery store has the clams and mussels in stock and which store has the best pasta sauce to use. Pasta Night turns into quite an event with most of the activity happening before dinner even starts.



The challenge with this dinner is not putting too much in the pot when you're cooking. It adds up quickly and people will be more than stuffed when done.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

Whatever you want......really.

This is our typical list:

4 mussels per person, steamed
3 clams per person, steamed
3 uncooked shrimp per person (shelled and deveined)
BBQ'd chicken breasts. Use whatever marinade you like.
Sausages - I like the specialty ones with apple, artichokes, garlic. Whatever sounds good.
Basil - chopped.
10-15 Roma tomatoes - seeded, chopped.
1 Bulb of Garlic - chopped
Tomato Sauce - I like basil and tomato. Use your favorite
Can of chopped or stewed tomatoes with seasonings
Sliced mushrooms
Capers
Zucchini - chopped
Green onions
Red and or White wine for cooking
Parsley
Olive oi
Cooked Pasta - vermicelli, fettucini, whatever you want. We add a little bit of olive oil to the pasta so it won't stick.

grated Paramesean cheese

Cooking

Have whoever you're cooking for say what they want, then cook it. We usually start off heating the olive oil in a small wok style cooking pan. We'll add the shrimp and garlic and cook the shrimp until it's pink. While the shrimp is cooking, toss in the zucchini. When that's close to done, start adding whatever your customer wants. At the end of the cooking, we'll add in the mussels and clams then the pasta. Stir it all together and put into the bowl.