Crusty Parmesan Chicken

Yummy parmesan chicken.  I admit, I pan fried mine in the remaining garlic and butter and then I just sat it in the oven to warm with a little marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese baked on top.  Yum!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, pounded flat and cut into pieces
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 cube butter
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 TBSP. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. pepper

Melt butter and garlic in a pan.  Dry chicken breasts and coat in garlic, butter mixture then dip in bread crumbs and place in 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle remaining garlic butter mixture over the top and bake at 450 for 15 minutes.

Chicken Alabam

I haven’t made this recipe in a long time, but felt like making it tonight.  My family always loves it.

Ingredients:

8 pieces of chicken
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
dash of thyme
5 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 cup chicken soup stock
1/2 cup light cream
1/4 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp pimiento 

Instructions: 

Dredge chicken pieces with mitxture of flour, paprika, salt, pepper, and thyme. Brush chicken with 3 Tbsp of melted butter and brown in oven or shake off excess flour and saute in about 3 Tbsp of cooking oil.

Saute onion lightly in 2 Tbsp. butter for 5 min. Stir in excess flour from dredging chicken. Add soup stock. Cook and stir until thickened. Add light cream and cook until smooth and thick. Add lemon juice and pimento; blend well. Pour sauce over chicken in a 2-3 qrt. caasserole; cover and bake 1 1/4 hours at 325, or until chicken is fork tender. Serve over cooked rice. Makes 4-6 servings.

*I always double the sauce.

Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken

These were SO yummy slow cooked over charcoal briquettes tonight.  Yum!

Ingredients:
2/3 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
4 TBSP. mayo
2 tsp. steak sauce
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinate the chicken in half the sauce and reserve the other half for basting.  Sear, and then cook over indirect heat until done.

Simple Mini Chicken Cordon Bleu

In a hurry for a quick meal, yet easy and delicious? Try this cheat recipe for chicken cordon bleu. I tried making them mini-sized tonight. It worked so well, I don't think I will ever go back! They were the perfect serving size for kids.

Ingredients:

4 large chicken breasts, pounded flat

8 strips of ham

8 chunks of swiss cheese

Flour

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Salt

Mushrooms

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup sour cream

Pound your chicken breasts flat. Cut each into two rectangles and place a peace of ham and a chunk of cheese inside each one. Roll, cinnamon roll style and inset a toothpick to hold it all in place. Dredge in flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown in olive oil until browned on all sides. Remove toothpick. Place chicken in a 9x13 pan. Leaving the drippings in the frying pan, saute the mushrooms and then add the cream of mushroom soup, broth and sour cream. Cook until mixture comes to a low boil. Pour over chicken and back at 350 for 20 minutes. Serve.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Here is yet another one of my favorite salads. I've tried quite a few different dressings, combining some and I've settled upon two that I really like. I'm listing both the dresing recipes. Either one will be yummy. I love this served as the entire meal. My kids love it when I make scones to go with it. It's perfect for a shower or luncheon. The only disadvantage is that the next days leftovers are soggy if you premix everything. I typically keep everything seperate in ziploc bags in the fridge so I can enjoy it for a few days.Ingredients:
4 Lg chicken breasts (you can cook various ways. If you want fast, cook in a covered dish in microwave in 1 Cup soy sauce and 1 TBSP sugar, cooking in five minute increments and stirring everytime until done) Then cube.
1 pkg won ton skins (cut into strips and fry till crisp)
1 pkg rice stick (oil needs to be very hot. I cook the won tons first and then turn oil up high to do the rice stick. Just drop the rice stick in the hot oil. It will blow up and you immediately remove it from the oil.)
2-3 heads of lettuce shredded
3-4 bunches green onions

Dressing:
1 cup salad oil (I do use olive oil)
1/2 c rice vinegar
8 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp accent salt
1 tsp pepper

Combine in a jar and shake. Toss over salad right before serving. The regular recipe calls for twice this much salt. I've found that I'm sensitive to a lot of salt, so I half the salt. Start with this amount that I've listed. Taste it and if you want more salt, go for it.

Dressing #2:
1/4 c. sesame oil
1/4 c. salad oil
4 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine in a jar and shake. Toss over salad right before serving.

Apricot Chicken

This is one of those standards thats been in our family for years. It's an easy dinner that you can throw in the crockpot or in the oven. It's easy, very few ingredients and the kids eat it up because it's so sweet and yummy. Apricot Chicken:

16 oz. Russian Salad Dressing
16 oz. Apricot Jam
2 packets lipton onion soup mix

Mix it all together and pour it over the chicken and bake until the chicken is tender. Serve over rice.

Chicken Fried Steak with Creamy Pepper Gravy

I got this recipe out of a Southern Living Magazine about ten years ago while we were living in Iowa. It's been a favorite ever since! Normally I make it with pounded flat chicken breasts, but for the sake of this blog, I actually DID buy cube steak! It's great either way.
Ingredients:
1 egg white, beaten
2 3/4 cups milk, divided
20 saltine crackers, crushed
1 cup flour, divided
2 tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper, divided
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 cup vegetable oil
6 cube steaks
1 TBSP. butter

Instructions:
Combine egg white and 1/4 cup milk in a bowl. Combine crushed crackers, 3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper and poultry seasoning in a shallow dish. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until hot. Dip 3 steaks, 1 at a time, into egg white misture. Dredge in seasoning crumbs. Preass to coat. Fry 4 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove to a wire rack. Then keep warm in a 225 degree oven. Repeat procedure with remaining three steaks. Drain hot oil, reserve browned bits and 2 TBSP. drippings. Melt butter in drippings over medium heat. Whisk in remaining 1/4 cup flour, remaining 1 tsp. salt and 3/4 tsp. pepper. Whisk in 2 1/2 cups milk. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Garlic Wet Rub

I made up this garlic rub tonight to try on our steak. It was SO yummy! Apply it heavy, because there is no such thing as too much! (okay, so my opinion anyway!). Sorry, I don't have a picture of this one! We tried some of the leftovers on salmon the next night. It was great too. If you love garlic, you should love this.

7 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 1/4 tsp. salt
3 TBSP. olive oil
1 1/2 TBSP. lemon juice
3 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp. pepper
Steak

Put all of the ingredients in your blender and blend to a liquid paste. Baste on your meat while grilling.

Chicken Parmesan

I've tried lots of different recipes for Chicken Parmesan, as I love it. I've found lots of good recipes along the way, but tonight I think I found the "one" and only one I will ever use again...and that's saying a lot for me! It was truly delicious. The sauce was really good! Everyone in my family loved it. I gave Hollie a bite and she said "yum! Give me a WHOLE plate of that!" Dallin tried a bite and said "yum! I'm in heaven!" (which was hilarious!). Sydnee was at dance and came home and warmed her food up in the microwave and said "mom, this food is immaculate!" (which was even MORE hilarious!).....she was thinking of a different word! So, needless to say, we all gave it rave reviews. Don't cheat on the recipe though...use those fresh spices! Besides, nothing smells better than fresh basil. I sat and enjoyed smelling it for a few minutes before I had to put it in the sauce. I don't know how others chop their fresh spices, but I use my coffee grinder. It works great! I also cheated a bit on the cheese and used more....as I like cheese! I also doubled the sauce and I always add lots of extra garlic.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 1/2 cups Simple Tomato Sauce, recipe follows or purchased marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
16 teaspoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Stir the oil and herbs in a ziploc bag to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken breasts to the bag and coat the chicken breasts with the herb mixture. Heat a heavy large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Spoon the marinara sauce over and around the chicken. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of mozzarella over each cutlet, then sprinkle 2 teaspoons of Parmesan over each. Sprinkle the butter pieces atop the cutlets. Bake until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Simple Tomato Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 TBSP. minced garlic
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrot, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
6 fresh basil leaves
2 dried bay leaves
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.

Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.

Rosemary Grilled Chicken Kabobs

I decided to try a new recipe for dinner tonight. We all gave it a thumbs up. I have decided I'm definitely in love with grilling my veggies. Tonight I just made up my own rub, with some brown sugar, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and basil. It was really good. The rice is a mushroom rice...one of my favorites to make. It's just that basic rice recipe, only with more garlic, onion, mushrooms and some thyme. I did learn one thing...the leftovers for the shiskabobs taste really good the next morning in an omelette! Same goes for the steak shiskabobs. Ingredients:
1 cup olive oil
1 cup ranch salad dressing
6 TBSP. Worcestershire sauce
2 TBSP. minced fresh romsemary or 1 tsp. dried
4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. white vinegar
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 TBSP. sugar
Chicken Breasts
Green pepper
Red Pepper
Onion
Mushrooms

In a ziploc bag mix together all the incredients for the marinade. Let stand for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to absorb. Dump have the marinade in another ziploc bag and add the cut up veggies to it. In the other bag, put the cut up meat. Let marinate at least six hours.

Thread the chicken and veggies on your skewers. Lightly oil the grill. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes. Don't over grill!