Friday Foodie - Chicken Sandwiches with Balsamic Barbecue Sauce

So it's Friday and that means time for a foodie, a wintery barbecue foodie. (It has molasses in it and to me molasses means winter.  Don't ask me why.)  These pulled chicken sandwiches are sweet and tangy all at the same time, easy to prepare and the recipe makes enough for leftovers.  And there's nothing like walking into the kitchen the next day to make dinner and realizing, "Hey, I have leftover chicken sandwiches already made!"

I made some homemade baked sweet potato fries (sprinkled with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and baked on a greased cookie sheet at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes, turning once) to go with.  Enjoy!

Chicken Sandwiches with Balsamic Barbecue Sauce

1 4-lb. roast or boiled chicken, shredded

Sourdough or other sturdy sandwich rolls

Balsamic Barbecue Sauce

1 cup ketchup

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 tablespoon worcestershire

1 minced garlic clove

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

To make barbecue sauce, add all ingredients in a 2-qt. saucepan.  Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced to about 2 cups, about 12-15 minutes. 

Mix together shredded chicken and sauce.  (You may not need all the sauce.  Add some, stir in, and add more according to taste.)  Serve on rolls. 

Have a great weekend!

Friday Foodie {Miracle Food}

I have witnessed a miracle. Yep, I did. My kids……ate fish. Now, as incredible as that may seem, that’s not even the miracle. Not only did they eat it……they liked it! I know! I wish I could take credit for it, but I really can’t. All the kudos goes to Rachael Ray. It was her recipe for Buttered Toast Crispy Fishwiches that did the trick. So I’m just going to direct you to the link here.  There’s even a video included with Rachael preparing the recipe on her show. Let me know if you witness any miracles after making this recipe, too!

Happy weekend,
Dorci

Friday Foodie {Penne Pasta Bake}

Penne Pasta Bake

12 oz. penne pasta

1 lb. ground beef or sausage

1 cup chopped onion

1 15-oz. can Italian-style tomato sauce

1 14 1/2-oz can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs

1 6-oz. can Italian tomato paste with roasted garlic

3 cups shredded mozzerella cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook meat and onion in large skillet over medium-high heat, 5 minutes; drain. Stir in tomato sauce, undrained tomatoes, tomato paste and 1/2 cup water.  Cook, stirring ocassionally, for 10 minutes.

3. Layer half pasta, half sauce and half of each cheese in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish; repeat layers.  Cover with foil (non-stick if you have it) and bake in oven, 20 minutes.   Makes tons. 

Friday Foodie - Orange-Beef Stir-Fry

I love stir-fry, especially in the summer. It’s quick, you can use veggies that are just hanging around your fridge waiting to be used up, and you don’t have to turn on the oven. Wash it down with an ice-cold Pellegrino water garnished with a slice of orange and you’re good to go.

Orange-Beef Stir-Fry

12 oz. beef top round steak

1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel

½ cup orange juice

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon granules

2 tablespoons cooking oil

4 green onions, bias-sliced into 1-in. pieces

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup sugar peas, bias sliced into 1-in. pieces

½ of an 8-oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained

3 cups hot cooked rice

1. Trim fat from beef. Thinly slice beef across the grain into bite-size strips. Set aside. For sauce, in a small bowl stir together orange peel, orange juice, cornstarch, soy sauce, sugar, and bouillon granules. Set aside.

2. In a wok or large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Add green onions, garlic and sugar peas; cook and stir in hot oil for 1 minute. Remove green onion mixture from wok using a slotted spoon. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to wok or skillet. Add beef to hot wok. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking.) Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or to desired doneness. Push beef from center of wok.

3. Stir sauce and add to center of wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return green onion mixture to wok. Add water chestnuts. Stir all ingredients together to coat with sauce. Cover and cook for 1 minute more or until heated through. Serve immediately over hot cooked rice.

Linda's Friday Foodie - Cheesy Nacho Bake

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  (Romans 10:9)

So today’s Friday Foodie is, indubitably (yep, I said indubitably), dedicated to my friend, Linda. “Why,” you say?  I thought you’d never ask. It’s dedicated to her because I told her a while back I’d send her this recipe and I never did. (Sorry!) I’d remember every now and then, but it was always when I was right in the middle of some other pressing project, like a eating a bowl of ice cream or something. So, to try to make up for my memory lapses, today’s post is just for you, Linda! But I bet she won’t mind sharing it with the rest of you.  She's nice that way.

This is THE simplest recipe and it’s uber kid-friendly. (Pssst…you can even sneak some tomatoes into their diet.) Have a nacho-y day.

Cheesy Nacho Bake

1 lb. ground beef

1 can (14½ oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 package taco seasoning

1½ cup sour cream, divided

1 pkg. (9 oz.) tortilla chips

1 pkg. (8 oz.) shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese

chopped tomato and green onion (optional)

1. Brown meat; drain. Add tomatoes, ½ cup water and taco seasoning mix. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 cup sour cream.

2. Place ½ of the chips in a 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with ½ of the meat mixture and ½ of the cheese. Repeat layers.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Top with remaining sour cream, chopped tomato and green onion, if desired.

Friday Foodie - Chicken and Walnut Stir-Fry

If it has soy sauce in it I love it. I’ve probably fixed 3 meals just this week that had soy sauce in it, and this recipe is one of them. It’s one of my favorite stir-fries.  It has a little kick to it and it’s really easy. And it has soy sauce. Did I mention I love soy sauce? I’d recommend getting all your veggies cut up ahead of time and your ingredients measured out - “mise en place” as the French call it.

Have a great weekend!

Dorci

Chicken and Walnut Stir-Fry

1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tablespoons soy sauce (oh, yeah)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons dry sherry

1 teaspoon grated gingerroot or ½ teaspoon dried ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 medium green peppers (or any combo of any color you want), cut into ¾-inch pieces

4 green onions, bias-sliced into 1-inch pieces

1 cup walnut halves

Hot cooked rice

1. In a small bowl, stir soy sauce into cornstarch; stir in dry sherry, gingerroot, sugar, salt and red pepper. Set aside.

2. Preheat a wok (if you have a wok I wanna hear about it!) or large skillet over high heat; add cooking oil. Stir fry green peppers and green onions in hot oil for 2 minutes or till crisp-tender. Remove from wok or skillet. Add walnuts to wok or skillet; stir-fry 1-2 minutes or until golden. Remove.

3. (Add more oil if necessary.) Add the chicken to the hot wok or skillet; stir-fry until just cooked through. Stir soy sauce mixture and add to chicken. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Stir in vegetables and walnuts; cover and cook 1 minute more.

4. Serve over hot rice.

Friday Foodie - Chicken Apple Sausage with Pesto and Gemelli Pasta

As promised (to some Facebook friends), here’s the recipe for the Chicken Apple Sausage with Pesto and Gemelli Pasta. If you're not normally a fan of pesto, don’t let it scare you. It’s stirred into the dish and your palate won’t be able to pick it out, but it does add a certain deliciousness to the dish. Have a great weekend!

Chicken Apple Sausage with Pesto and Gemelli Pasta

(adapted from an Emeril recipe)

1 12-oz pkg. chicken and apple sausage (or whatever flavor you like)

½ cup pesto

1 12-oz. pkg. gemelli pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 cups chopped, red bell peppers

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for the table

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until tender, about 30 seconds.

2. Slice sausage into ½-in. diagonal slices. Add sausage and peppers and stir until hot, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Drain pasta and reserve 1/3 cup of the pasta water. Whisk pasta water with pesto and add to sausage. Add parmesan cheese and stir. Sprinkle the tops of each serving with parmesan.

4. Taste and go mmmmmm…

Friday Foodie - Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary Mustard Sauce

Today’s Friday Foodie has no sugar in it. Okay, yes it does. But it’s not a dessert. With Easter around the corner I thought I’d devote today’s and next week’s foodie to recipes for our Resurrection Celebration. Today’s is an alternative to ham - pork tenderloin.

Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary Mustard Sauce

1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pork tenderloin, 1½ lbs.

Rub

½ tablespoons spicy mustard

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Sauce

¼ cup spicy mustard

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

¼ cup brown sugar

1½ teaspoon crumbled, dried rosemary

2 tablespoons water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim excess fat from pork. In a large skillet, heat 1½ tablespoons vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add pork to the hot skillet and brown on all sides - 4 to 6 minutes.

2. Combine rub ingredients; in a bowl, stir together the 1½ tablespoons spicy mustard, (I like Boar’s Head Delicatessen Style Mustard) salt and pepper. Transfer pork to an oven-proof dish and spread the rub mixture over pork tenderloin. Roast, uncovered, for about 35 minutes, or until the tenderloin registers about 155 degrees on a meat thermometer.

3. Remove pork to a serving plate and tent with foil.

4. In a small saucepan, stir together the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 1 minute while stirring. Slice the pork and serve with sauce. Serves 4.

Friday Foodie - Chicken Tortilla Soup

I don’t know about you, but I’m about cookied out. And since it’s winter, (at least we like to pretend it is here in the Arizona desert) I’m going to post a nice, warm, cozy soup for today’s Friday Foodie. The added beauty of this recipe is that it’s a crock-pot recipe, so you can put it on in the morning, let it cook all day, and it’s ready for dinner when you are. Julie, this is just for you.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 chicken breast halves

2 15-oz. cans black beans, undrained

2 15-oz. cans Mexican stewed tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes

1 cup salsa

4-oz. can chopped green chilis

14 ½-oz can tomato sauce

tortilla chips

shredded cheese

1. Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in a large slow cooker. Cover; cook on low 8 hours.

2. Just before serving, remove chicken breasts and slice into bite-size pieces and stir into soup.

3. To serve, ladle soup into a bowl and top with crumbled tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Friday Foodie - Turkey Brine

So I have two Friday Foodies before Thanksgiving and that’s not nearly enough time to share with you all my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. There’s my favorite Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, the dressing with dried cranberries, the buttery baked sweet potatoes with lightly browned marshmallows, of course, the green beans with toasted pecans, and then there’s the turkey. So since I can’t fit all that in in two weeks, I’ll give you two recipes that you may not have, the first being the secret to the juiciest, most flavorful turkey you’ve ever had: brine.

This is so easy and it makes a huge difference in the flavor the turkey. You can make it a couple of days before and have it ready, or even make it way ahead of time like I did and freeze it, and then thaw it out a couple of days before Thanksgiving.

Oh, I wish you could smell that. 

Turkey Brine

1 gallon water

3 tablespoons ground cloves

3 tablespoons ground ginger

7 tablespoons cracked black peppercorns

12 bay leaves

1 pound kosher salt

12 ounces honey

12 ounces maple syrup

1. In a large stockpot, bring the water, cloves, ginger, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt to a boil. Lower to a simmer and stir in the honey and maple syrup until well blended. Turn off heat and let cool to room temperature.

2. At this point you can freeze it, refrigerate it for a couple of days, or use it immediately.

3. Rinse off your turkey, inside and out, with cold water. (Don’t forget to remove those giblets.) Get a container that is large enough to fit your turkey and place it inside, and pour the cooled brine over it. If you need to, add water until the turkey is covered. You might need to place something on top as a weight, like a bowl, to keep the turkey immersed. We’ve used a bucket as the container before, but it has to be able to fit inside your fridge. Now what we do is use a cooler, fill it with super cold water, put the turkey in, and cover it with ice. That way we don’t have to use precious refrigerator space.

4. Marinate for 4 hours to overnight. Remove the turkey and rinse it very thoroughly, inside and out, and roast as usual.

If you’d rather skip the spices, honey and syrup, but still want to soak the turkey in a brine, you can simply cover the turkey with water and pour 2 cups of kosher salt or 1 ½ cups table salt over the turkey, rubbing the salt into the bird, leave to marinate, and rinse the turkey thoroughly before roasting.  You will love it. 

Let me know how it goes!

Friday Foodie - The Crabcake

Mmm…crabcakes - tiny, delectable patties of sweet seafood goodness. 

Perfect Crabcakes with Green Onion

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons minced green onion tops

½ teaspoon Chesapeake seasoning, such as Old Bay

¼ teaspoon hot red pepper sauce

1 pound lump or backfin crabmeat, drained and picked over for shells

4 teaspoons milk

10 saltine crackers, finely crushed

6 tablespoons olive oil for frying

lemon wedges for serving

1. Mix egg, mayo, green onions, Old Bay and hot sauce in a small bowl until mayo is completely incorporated, then set aside.

2. Lightly break up crabmeat in a medium bowl. Add milk; toss gently to coat. Add crushed saltines; toss gently to combine. Add egg mixture; gently toss, once again, to combine. Divide crab mixture up into 8 portions and form compact patties. (Can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 8 hours.)

3. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Carefully add crab cakes; sauté, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Friday Foodie - Grilled Chipotle Salmon Tacos

This recipe for Grilled Chipotle Salmon Tacos is fantastic. Even if you're not especially a seafood fan, I think you might like these. It's the perfect combination of smoky grilled and spicy southwest flavors with the creamy coolness of sour cream. And of course you can change up some of the ingredients, like I used regular chili powder instead of chipotle pepper, since this was the first time we were making them and I wanted to make sure we'd make them again before I bought a bottle of ground chipotle chili pepper for $6, and I also used red taco sauce instead of green. Enjoy.

Grilled Chipotle Salmon Tacos

1 lb. fresh or frozen skinless salmon fillets
8 oz. Medium red potatoes, cubed (1 cup)
1 ½ teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
¾ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt, divided
1 cup purchased mild green salsa
3 tablespoons lime juice
¾ cup thinly sliced green onions
½ cup snipped fresh cilantro
12 6-in corn tortillas, warmed
½ cup sour cream
lime wedges

1. Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse and pat dry. Set aside. In covered saucepan, cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and cool.

2. In small bowl combine chipotle chili pepper, sugar and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Rub pepper mixture onto fish. Grill fish 4 to 6 minutes per ½ inch thickness or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, turning fish after half the grilling time. Cool slightly; break fish into bite-size chunks.

3. In medium bowl combine salsa, lime juice and remaining salt. Add potatoes, fish, green onions and cilantro; toss gently to coat.

4. Divide the fish mixture among tortillas. Top with sour cream; fold tortillas. Serve with lime wedges.

Food Friday - Fiesta Chicken Noodle Soup

I love soup. Sadly, soup season is drawing to a close. We're blessed to be having one of our last soup days today in Arizona, though, with its overcast skies and high winds blowing the trees around and clanging the stove's exhaust vent. (For some reason I love that sound.) That's about as close as we get to a blustery spring day this time of year here in my neck of the woods.

So, here's a yummy soup recipe, a la southwestern style.



Fiesta Chicken Noodle Soup

1 whole chicken, about 3 ½ lbs.
1 yellow onion
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 small can diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1 white onion, peeled and chopped
8 oz. package fine egg noodles
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
12 oz. can corn, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
12 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/8 to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the chicken in stock pot and cover with water. Chop yellow onion into quarters and add. Add the 1 tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer, cover and cook until done, about an hour.

2. Cool chicken and skim the scum off of broth.

3. Puree the tomatoes, garlic and white onion in a food processor. Add the tomato mixture to the broth and stir to combine.

4. Add the noodles, red pepper, corn and cumin; simmer 6 to 8 minutes until noodles are done.

5. Meanwhile, chop chicken into bite-size pieces.

6. Add chicken, ½ cup cilantro, beans and cayenne pepper. Salt and pepper to taste.

7. Garnish with additional cilantro and serve with tortilla chips, if desired.

Superbowl Pizza

I have hung onto this pizza recipe for quite a while now, just waiting for the opportunity to make it, knowing full well that if I made a barbeque chicken pizza for my family they would say something like, "What? Barbeque Chicken pizza! Eeewww!"

Anyway, the stars were aligned on Superbowl Sunday when my husband and our oldest son went to downtown Tempe to scream and howl with hundreds of other people while they watched the Cardinals (almost) take the Steelers, and our youngest son went to hang out with his youth group from church at a friend's house to watch the game.

And I (weeeeee) was left in blessed solitude for a whole 4 hours. I seized the day and made this scrumptious recipe. And it was well worth the wait. This isn't the healthiest recipe, (sorry, Allan!) but it is delicious. And if you want to make a few changes you can certainly make it a healthier pizza. So, without further ado...

BBQ Grilled Chicken Pizza

4 oz. boneless chicken breast

pinch salt

pinch pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1/4 cup red peppers, chopped

4 slices bacon

3/4 cup barbeque sauce

2 8" Boboli pizza crusts

2/3 cup mozzerella cheese

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon dried basil

1. Preheat grill to medium and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper. Oil chicken; grill chicken until grilled through, about 5 minutes on each side. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces.

2. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions and peppers for 2 minutes. Remove from pan. Cook bacon in same pan and chop.

3. Spread barbeque sauce onto crust, leaving a 1/2 inch border; top with cheese, chicken, bacon, onions, and peppers.

4. Bake pizzas in lower 1/3 of oven, 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Tips - Cooking and Otherwise

1. If you’ve purchased your celery, wrap it in foil to keep it crisp and crunchy.

2. For goodness sake, please do not purchase a pre-made pie crust, unless it’s an emergency. It is painfully easy to make and infinitely better. And you can make it a few days ahead of time and store in the fridge to roll out when you bake the pie. I’ve put the recipe down below, along with the recipe for my favorite turkey-leftover salad sandwich.

3. Plan on 2 lbs. of turkey per adult if you want to have leftovers. Unless you’re masochists like us, then plan on 3.

4. That’s a bag of giblets in there, not pre-mixed stuffing.

5. If you want your turkey to be extra juicy, put it in a bowl (or in a cooler with some ice if it’s too big for the fridge) filled with water to cover and 1 1/2 cups of table salt, rubbed into the turkey until the salt is dissolved. Leave it overnight in the fridge and rinse thoroughly, inside and out, before roasting.

5. Do not roast your turkey below 325 degrees and cook it all day. That creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria to set up their own Thanksgiving right on the surface of your perfect-looking bird. You don’t want to see your dinner again once you’ve eaten it.

6. A 10-18 lb. turkey, unstuffed, will only take about 3-3 ½ hours to roast at 325 degrees; stuffed – 3 ¾ to 4 ½ hours.

7. As tempting as it may be, do not discuss politics or religion or that thing that your brother did to you when you were 8.

8. Pray before your meal, and give thanks to God, Who is the giver of the enormous bounty on your dining table. Many in the world could only dream of such a blessing.

9. Go for a walk after you eat. Then have another piece of pie.

10. The rules for the day after Thanksgiving are no cooking and wear your p.j.’s all day. That day is quite possibly my favorite day of the year. After working up a sweat the entire day before only to see the meal last 15 minutes, I love to walk into the kitchen in the morning, open the fridge and see at least a day’s worth of leftovers. That means no cooking. I recover with a peppermint mocha to ring in the Christmas season and piece of pumpkin pie for breakfast – with whipped cream.

Happy Thanksgiving!


Pie Crust

1. If your pie crust needs to be prebaked (some pies require the crust to be unbaked), line the inside of a 9” or 10” pie plate with a double thickness of foil, making the inside diameter a little smaller than the plate, but the edges should be long enough to hang over the top. Take it out and set it aside. You’ll see why in the minute.

2. Put 4 ice cubes in a 1-cup measuring cup and fill it with water. Set aside.

3. Put 2 ½ cups flour in a bowl. Add 1 cup (8 oz.) cold butter that has been cut into ½ inch cubes. Rub the flour and butter together with your fingers until the butter has been broken up into 1/8 inch pieces.

4. Remove the ice cubes from the water and pour all BUT ½ cup water out of the measuring cup. Pour the remaining ½ cup water into the dough. Toss the dough lightly with a fork JUST UNTIL the dough is moistened. The secret to a light, flaky crust is simply to work it as little as possible. The dough should look flaky and course and not quite hold together.

5. Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently push it together with your hands. If the dough looks smooth, it has been overworked.

6. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and gently shape the pieces into flat, round discs. Cover each disc with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes if you’re going to roll it out now, or for 3 days or you can freeze it for up to 2 weeks. If it is frozen, let it thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling it out.

7. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it set at room temperature for 10 minutes. Roll each piece out to be about 1” in diameter larger than the pie plate. Roll gently, from the middle to the outside. Take your rolling pin and starting at one end of the pie crust, roll the pie crust up and around your rolling pin, then unroll it from one end of the pie plate to the other. Do not stretch the dough as you lift it to make sure it is set inside the plate. Fold up the edges and then pinch with your thumb and forefinger all the way around.

8. If prebaking, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prick bottom and sides of crust with fork, including where bottom and sides meet. Gently set the foil inside the pie crust. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 5 or 6 more minutes, or till golden, but not brown. Cool.

Thanksgiving Turkey Salad Sandwich

3 cups cubed, cooked turkey
1 cup sliced celery
½ cup chopped red onion
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup toasted, sliced almonds ½ cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, spread on your favorite bread (or a leftover roll) and enjoy.