Bake Me More

I am always leery about serving a “new food” when company comes, but after all of the reviews, I knew I would be safe with this one. I adapted my recipe just slightly from the original recipe at Annie’s Eats (who got it from Elly Says Opa!) using the Bon Appetite recipe for the same dish. Note that my recipe is doubled.

I said all that to say this is an awesome recipe. Easy and easily adapted to your taste. Dessert too was new to us (see next post). It also was really, really good. I had the company fooled into thinking I slaved over this one, but later revealed the truth. Try it, you’ll like it, I promise. My kids kept moaning about how good dessert was.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Adapted from this and this

• 2 lbs ground chicken
• 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper
• 1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
• 2 tbsp pasta sauce
• 8 french bread rolls (or hamburger buns)
• Zesty Italian salad dressing
• Additional pasta sauce
• Mozzarella Cheese, sliced (6 – 8) or shredded
• Saute’d mushrooms (optional)

Prep:

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, bread crumbs, Parmesan, seasonings and 2 tbsp pasta sauce. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Form into 8 patties (though mine made 9). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Pre-heat broiler. Broil the burgers for 4 – 6 minutes then flip and broil 4 – 6 mor minutes until cooked through (160 degrees). Remove and top each burger with pasta sauce and cheese. Return to broiler until cheese is melted.

For the buns, brush Italian dressing and toast under broiler until golden. Place burger on bun and serve with additional cheese, sauce and mushrooms if desired.

Notes about the recipe:

1. I was concerned about not having the “breading” that goes along with traditional chicken parmesan, however the bread crumbs mixed in with the chicken forms a breading-like texture when broiled. The bread crumbs were already seasoned too, so that added to the wonderful flavor
2. I used a jarred Pasta sauce – Classico Traditional Sweet Basil and Tomato
3. I used bakery fresh french bread rolls that were the same size as the traditional hamburger bun
4. From the Bon Appetit recipe was the idea to add some sauce into the chicken mixture. It was good because there were chunks of tomato intermingled in the burgers.
5. The salad dressing brushed on the buns was epic. Ok, exagerrating slightly, but rather than butter slathered all over the buns, they toasted up nicely and had an Italian flare. I used Kraft Light Zesty Italian

While shopping at Target I couldn’t pass up a deal on St. Louis-style ribs. It was a perfect night to grill also, as my husband was to return from an 8 day class in D.C. I knew it would go great with my fresh picked corn on the cob and green beans. With this I added grilled chicken and baked potatoes.

I wanted “fall off the bone” ribs. Didn’t take me long to settle on this recipe at MyRecipes.com. The rib meat was so moist and tender you didn’t even need a fork to remove it from the bone.

For the beans, we washed and snapped them. Then I sauteed them in a little olive oil for about an hour. If you haven’t tried fresh beans this way, it is really quite wonderful. I pre-boiled the corn, then put on it the grill for the last few minutes. I like grilled corn, but don’t care for the charring that accompanies 45 minutes on a grill.

This was one of those meals that you have to double your gym time on… Everyone deserves one of these meals every once in a while. Check out the recipe for the ribs and enjoy.

This recipe is from MyRecipes. This was their “Dinner Tonight” entree earlier this week. It turned out very good. My husband gave it an 8.5, however he said the “Bean Can Chicken” was his favorite (rating it a 9). Its a good choice if you just want to marinate your chicken and not put sauce on it while grilling. It is also better for you than frying buttermilk chicken.

The only “problem” I had when grilling this, was that I ran out of propane half-way through. I just kept the lid closed and ran to the store for a refill. Crisis was averted, and my chicken still turned out great.

Dinner was served with home made potato salad, grilled marinated vegetables and baked beans. The meal was topped off with Apple Cobbler and Ice Cream. Both recipes are posted below.

Grilled Buttermilk Chicken

from MyRecipes

Ingredients:

• 1 quart buttermilk
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• Chicken: I used 5 leg quarters and 8 legs

Directions:

Combine all ingredients (except chicken). Rinse chicken and place in a 9 x 13 x 2″ pan. Pour brine over chicken, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Before grilling, drain chicken and pat dry. Grill until thoroughly cooked. I used a gas grill and place the chicken in the center (indirect heat) with only  the two outer elements on. About 5 minutes before the chicken is done, I brown the chicken over the direct heat. Remove and let chicken stand about 5 minutes then serve.

Easy Apple Cobbler

(adapted from the millions of recipes for dump cake)

Ingredients:

• 1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling
• 1 box yellow cake mix (I only used 3/4 of the box), divided
• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• Ice Cream

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 8″ square baking dish with cooking spray and empty can of pie filling evenly in the bottom.

Melt 1/2 of the butter (3 tablespoons) and combine with 1/2 of dry cake mix. You should get a moist crumble. Sprinkle over pie filling. Pour remaining cake mix (about 4 ounces) over the top. Slice remaining 3 tablespoons of butter into squares and place on top of cobbler.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top is brown and crisp. Serve with ice cream. Run 3 miles.

 *I didn’t need an entire dish of cobbler, so I halved the recipe, using slightly more than 1/2 the box of cake mix.

My mil is leaving for Arizona tomorrow. She has lived here in FL for 22 years, but due to economic times, she is moving. I prepared one of her favorites for this farewell dinner – shrimp.

The meal itself was easy to prepare. The only drawback I had was grilling in the cold, pouring rain. It still turned out wonderfully.

The chicken was marinated all night in Italian dressing, then slow grilled for a little over an hour. Just before removing, a Honey BBQ glaze was applied. In the meantime, I steamed corn on the cob and prepared Hasselback (aka fan) potatoes. Now these potatoes rocked – and will become a staple for a starch side from now on.  We also had a freshly prepared Caesar Salad and some grilled onion packets. Overall dinner was highly successful.

I prepared the shrimp by boiling them in a lightly seasoned, butter bath and served them with melted butter. They were x-large shrimp and were purchased already deveined… mmmmm….

For dessert I made chunky brownies and served them warm with ice cream. Needles to say they were gone before photos could be taken.

Here is how to prepare the potatoes. It is very easy and well worth it.

Hasselback Potatoes(AKA Accordion, Fan etc…)

Ingredients:

• Medium Potatoes, I used Red
• Butter, I used spray, but you could melt some
• Olive Oil
• Seasonings, as desired
• Wooden Spoon
• Sheet pan coated with cooking spray or with a thin layer of olive oil

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the potatoes about 1/4 thick (as in the picture). To do this, place one potato in the “spoon” part, of a wooden spoon. The potato will rest in the well of the spoon and you can slice all the way through the potato till the spoon stops it. This leaves just enough of the potato attached that you can “fan” them and coat them with the oils and seasonings.

Place the cut potatoes on a microwave safe dish and heat for 6 – 10 minutes – based on the size and number of potatoes. Remove and place on prepared sheet pan. Spray the potatoes with butter, then brush on olive oil. Sprinkle with course sea salt and seasonings as desired. I use Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, coating with additional butter half way through. When the potatoes are soft, remove and serve.

*Note about the microwaving – the idea is to have them slightly cooked so they don’t scortch in the oven…just a nice crispy brown. I was hesitant about microwaving, but I am glad I did. The potatoes turned out perfectly.

Italian Grilled Chicken

Why is it that Sunday seems to be the only day that we eat “dinner” at lunchtime. Tradition? Timing? Does it really matter? For my family growing up, Sunday dinner was a time when the whole family got together, usually after church, and had probably the most formal meal of the week. Time and tradition now has replaced that dinner with eating out, or something quick (that and growing families). We did however enjoy one of those dinners today.

Whole roasting chickens have been on sale for .79 cents a pound… a deal difficult to pass up. As a matter of fact, I bought several. This recipe doesn’t get more simple or cost effective. I took a whole chicken and cut it into pieces, then basted it in Italian dressing. Then wrapped the chicken in foil and grilled it for about an hour. The dressing, along with the juices in the chicken kept even the white meat deliciously moist and flavorful.

I served the chicken with a Caesar salad and macaroni and cheese (for the kids ok?). One more little tidbit. When preparing the salad, I realized that I was out of croutons… so I made my own. I have included that recipe below too. We finished dinner off with some friendship bread that I had frozen a few weeks back.

Italian Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 whole roasting chicken (4 – 5 lbs)
• Italian salad dressing (Wish-bone Bountifuls)
• Foil

Directions:

Cut the chicken into pieces, separating by breast, wing and the leg/thigh. Place chicken in foil, larger pieces on the bottom, and pour dressing over the chicken. Wrap tightly with foil and let marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Place foil package on hot grill until the chicken reaches at least 165 degrees internally. For the final few minutes of cooking, remove the chicken from the packet and place on grill to brown the skin. Remove and serve. I satisfied 5 respectively with no leftovers.

Homemade Croutons

Ingredients:

• 5 – 6 slices of day old bread (any variety – I used white and wheat)
• Olive oil Cooking Spray
• Mrs. Dash Original seasoning
• Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil and coat with olive oil cooking spray.

Slice the bread into squares and place in a single layer on cookie sheet and spray generously with olive oil spray. Sprinkle with seasoning and Parmesan. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges of the bread slices begins to brown. Remove pan and turn slices over, coating again with spray and light seasonings. Return to oven and bake until crisp, about another 10 minutes.

You could use any seasoning blend or cheese. You could also use regular olive oil in place of the cooking spray, I was just trying to keep them relatively healthy.