Vanilla-Brown Sugar Squash

This was requested over at Musings & Mutterings, but if I don't also post it here, I'll completely lose track of it.  Fancy name notwithstanding, I totally made up this recipe, so adapt at will!

Vanilla-Brown Sugar Squash

Cook a butternut squash.  For me, that means halve a butternut squash and scoop out the seeds. Put both halves cut-side down in a 9x13" pan with about 1/2 inch of water and cook for an hour, or until soft.  Scoop the flesh out of the skin and discard the skin.  (You can totally do this ahead of time or, as in the case of this Turkey Day feast, use leftover squash.)  Mash/mix the squash with butter.  LOTS of butter, and a fair amount of brown sugar and a decent splash of vanilla.  Mash until you deem the texture suitable, adding more butter as needed. (Julia Child note: more butter is good!). I made ours early with leftover squash & kept it warm in a minicrockpot, which worked very well.

Cheddar Chicken Chowder

Yes, yes, I know - another recipe from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2002. I can't help it - it has a lot of yummy ones in it. I needed a recipe for soup that used chicken broth and leftover chicken from a whole one I'd made earlier in the week. As a bonus, I used up the leftover not-crispy-like-it-was-supposed-to-be Potatoes-Anna I'd made the day before instead of chopping & peeling new potatoes. AND I happened to have a package of 3 bacon slices in the freezer, which totally isn't enough for a meal, but perfect for this recipe!

Cheddar Chicken Chowder

2 [or 3!] bacon slices
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces [or sub in leftover chicken or turkey]
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 1/2 c. fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth [I used broth from our basic one-pot chicken, which had been cooked with sweet potatoes so it was especially lovely and rich!]
1 3/4 c. chopped peeled red potato [or if you've got leftover cooked potatoes, chop them up and use those.]
2 1/4 c. frozen whole-kernel corn
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. 2% low-fat milk
3/4 c. (3 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese [sharp gives more flavor]
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

1. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble; set aside. Add chicken [if raw], onion, bell pepper, and garlic to drippings in pan; saute 5 minutes. Add broth and potato [if raw], and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Add corn; stir well. [If you're using leftover chicken and/or potatoes, I'd add them at this point.]

2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Place flour in a bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended; add to soup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in cheddar cheese, salt and black pepper. Top with crumbled bacon.

Yield: 7 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 c.)
[If made as originally described...]Calories: 306 (22% from fat); Fat 7.5g (sat 4g, mono 2.2g, poly 0.6g); Protein: 25g; Carb 33.7g; Fiber 2.9g; Chol 58mg; Iron 1.6mg; Sodium 376mg; Calc 193mg

Rosemary Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I know The Sexy Blonde sent out a link to the recipe she used for the lovely chicken salad sandwiches she and AKJ served us on croissants at Girls' Adventure Weekend, but I know I'll forget that and look on here for it. So, here it is! :) Thanks, TSB!

Rosemary Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Dinner Tonight

Randy Mayor

Yield:5 servings (serving size: 1 sandwich)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 3/4 pound)
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped smoked almonds
• 1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 10 slices whole-grain bread

Preparation

Combine first 9 ingredients, stirring well. Spread about 2/3 cup of chicken mixture over each of 5 bread slices, and top with remaining bread slices. Cut sandwiches diagonally in half.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 360 (29% from fat)

Fat: 11.6g (sat 2.1g,mono 3.5g,poly 1.8g)

Protein: 33.6g

Carbohydrate: 29.9g

Fiber: 4.4g

Cholesterol: 76mg

Iron: 2.9mg

Sodium: 529mg

Calcium: 104mg

Brandy Long, Cooking Light, APRIL 2005

Oven-Easy Omelet aka Egg Bake

This is another recipe I got from my mom, but it's infinitely easy to adapt. In fact, I don't know the last time I actually looked at the real recipe (other than now!). In case you were ever at a GAW when we made individual Egg Bakes, yeah, this is it.

1 1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese
1 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
2 Tbl. flour
6 slices bacon, fried & crumbled OR some ham OR some sausage
3 Tbl. diced fresh red peppers OR 2 Tbl. cut-up canned pimento
2 Tbl. parsley leaves (opt.)
8 large eggs
1 c. milk

Heat oven to 350F. Toss together cheese & flour. Spread cheese mixture in bottom of greased 8" baking dish or casserole. Scatter bacon, pepper, and parsley over cheese. Beat eggs and milk together. Pour egg mixture over ingredients in baking dish. Bake 30-45 minutes (depending on size/shape/depth of dish) until puffed and completely cooked. Serves 6.

This can also be made in small loaf pans, especially if you want to let people choose their own toppings. Also, faster cooking!


Now, FYI, in my head, the recipe for Egg Bake goes more like this:

Mental Egg Bake

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Put a LOT of shredded cheese (various kinds or just Cheddar) in bottom of greased pan; stir in big spoonful of flour so cheese doesn't stick together. (Don't forget the corners if it's a square pan!)
   
3. Toss on sliced mushrooms and/or cooked bacon and/or ham chunks and/or diced bell peppers and/or diced onion and/or any other food you might put in an omelet. (Good way to use up ends and bits of leftovers or homemade pizza toppings!)
4. In a separate bowl, mix together some eggs with quite a bit of milk. Pour over cheese and toppings. Realize you didn't mix together enough eggs/milk since most of the topping is still sitting there high and dry, so mix together a few more eggs with some milk. Add to dish.
5. Stick in oven for what seems like a long time because it always smells good and makes me hungry well before it's ready!

Split Pea Soup

This started with the classic Joy of Cooking, but I think I've got almost more notes written on the sides of it than the length of the recipe itself, so it's rather highly adapted. As you can tell, it's a very adaptable, forgiving, non-exact recipe!

1 c. split peas
4-6 c. chicken broth (or water + chicken bouillon*)
1-2 c. chopped ham and/or a bone and/or whatever leftover ham you've got
2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
spices as desired - maybe some rosemary, a bay leaf, pepper...
a couple of carrots, sliced into coins
a couple of potatoes, diced into middlish small chunks
some oil/butter


1. Rinse the peas and make sure there are no stones or junk. Simmer them in a big pan with the chicken broth for like an hour, or until they're soft. Pour most of the soup in the blender and blend until smoothish. You could do it all, but I like a little texture. If you've got one of those immersion blender thingies, it'd work great. Stir in the Worchestershire (for the umami, you know) plus any spices you'd like. If it seems a little thick, just thin it down a bit with water or more stock.

2. In a separate pan, (at any time during this process), saute up the carrots until tender, set aside, and do the same with the potatoes. If you've got leftover roasted or baked potatoes (or carrots for that matter), just cut them up and use those instead with no need to cook 'em.

3. Once the peas are blended, add in the carrots, potatoes, and ham pieces, and put on low heat at least until heated through, but you can let it simmer for hours. If you've got a ham bone, I'd throw it in now and just let it all simmer for a long time, later taking it out and trying to cut off some of the meat.




I've also done this in the slow cooker, putting the peas and broth in on high for a few hours (4?) or until they were so mushy I didn't even have to blend them. Then I added in the pre-cooked carrots and potatoes and ham and turned it to low and let it simmer until supper.


*I now swear by "Better than Bouillon" after using it at my mom's because it actually tastes like soup not just salt.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

This simple, yummy, easy recipe is from the back of a Campbell's soup label. It's a good way to use up any leftover chicken you may have, because you're likely to have some or all of the other ingredients on hand. You can always throw in any other leftover veggies that might be in your frig, or extra cream soup or season it up a bit, but the basic is good, too. Yummy, easy, simple.

1 c. cubed cooked chicken
1 c. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 can Campbell's Cream of Potato soup
1/8 tsp. pepper (ok, who measure 1/8 tsp.? A dash of pepper, people.)
3/4 c. milk (split into 1/4 and 1/2 cups)
1 egg
1 c. Bisquick Baking Mix

1. Preheat oven to 400F. In 9" pie plate, mix chicken, vegetables, soup, pepper and 1/4 c. milk.
2. Mix remaining milk (1/2 c.), egg and baking mix. Pour over chicken mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until golden.

Serves 4.

Quick and Easy Moroccan Chicken

Got this from Real Simple Magazine:

1 box couscous
1/2 tbl olive oil
1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tbl light brown sugar
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tbl red wine vinegar
1/2 c orange juice
1 can diced peaches or peach slices, drained (I use a bag of frozen instead)
1 rotisserie chicken, cut into pieces (or use leftover chicken)
1/4 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Cook the couscous according to the package directions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the sugar, nutmeg, vinegar, and orange juice and bring to a simmer. Add the peaches and continue to simmer until the liquid has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Divide the couscous and chicken among individual bowls, top with the peach sauce, and sprinkle with parsley if using.

TASTY

Chicken Chimichangas

Ok, this is a cheater recipe, because I've posted it before on my own blog when I was living in Ireland, but it makes an easy post to share here. Besides, then (eventually) all my posted recipes can be in the same place. So here it is, copy/pasted from the first time I posted it.

(Oh yeah, that reminds me... Pusher, did you want to include your Bloggy Potatoes? 'Cuz yummy!)


For supper tonight I made chicken chimichangas that were, if I can say so myself, absolutely yummerific. So, I thought I'd share the recipe with y'all. I can't tell you much about its origins, except that I'd cut it out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune... apparently from the ads on the back, near some Memorial Day that was on the 31st.

[Marks made in these square parentheses are my notes.]

1 1/2 c. shredded cooked turkey or chicken
1 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese [can't get here - used cheddar]
1 (4 oz.) can diced mild green chilies, drained and rinsed [again, can't get - used about 2 Tbl. of chopped jalepenos in white wine vinegar I'd found at a fancy grocery store]
2 med. tomatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch dice
2 Tbl. minced fresh cilantro [couldn't get today, so skipped]
1/2 tsp. ground cumin [cumin seed]
1/2 tsp. crumbled dried Mexican oregano [regular]
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbl. salsa
2 Tbl. olive or peanut oil
2 med. cloves garlic, minced
1 med. onion, minced (about 1 1/4 c.) [plus an extra shallot I had on hand]
6 (12 inch) or 8 (10 inch) flour tortillas [did 6 large]

Garnishes: [Really, whatever you like on your chimichangas, so I'm not going to bother to specify theirs with amounts and all, but salsa, avocados &/or guacamole [made some (since as some of you know, the guac I can get here has PEAS for the first ingredient)...and must confess it was so tasty I ate the last bit with a spoon while cleaning up the kitchen.], lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, sour cream, etc.]


In a large bowl, combine cooked turkey/chicken, cheese, chiles, tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, oregano, salt and 3 Tbl. salsa.

In small skillet, heat oil. Add garlic and onion and saute over medium heat until soft (about 5 min.), stirring occasionally. Stir into turkey mixture.

Lay a tortilla flat on work surface. Into the center of the tortilla, spoon some of the turkey mixture, shaping it into a rectangle about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch deep, leaving about 2 inches of the tortilla uncovered at either end of the rectangle. Fold the ends of the tortilla in toward the middle, then fold the sides down over the middle, securing well with toothpicks. [I skipped the toothpicks since not deep-frying.] Place seam side down on baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining filling and tortillas.

[Here they give directions for deep frying them, but they take like two paragraphs to do so and I don't want to type all that. We baked ours, so that's what I'm going to recommend. Tasty and healthier, too. I put them in a 180C (about 350F) oven for 15-20 minutes - or until they were heated through and a little brown on the top due to the huge old fan in our oven that I hate.]


Serve with garnishes and enjoy. Yummy!