Chicken Tetrazzini

I made this for the first time and husband really liked it.  I am not making many modifications to the recipe, but the timing and sequence.  Note that this will take a while to prep (an hour or a bit more?). However, once it's in the oven, it's easy for you to sit with guests and chat.  Oh, and this is a fattening recipe.

Ingredients
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 # sliced button mushrooms
1 large onion, finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1/4 c white wine
1/3 c all purpose flour
1 qt whole milk
1 c heavy cream
1 c chicken stock
1/2 c frozen peas
1/4 fresh parsley, minced
1 c parmesan, grated
1/4 c bread crumbs, dried
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter
12 oz dried spaghetti or linguini
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
kosher salt
black pepper
olive oil

Non-standard supplies
None

Instructions

1. Measure out milk and cream and allow it to warm on counter before you start cooking chicken.
2. Trim chicken, sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and pan fry in 1 tbsp butter & 1 tbsp oil or 4 min on each side.  If not fully cooked, it's ok.  Remove from pan and rest.
3. In same frying pan, add another 1 tbsp butter and oil and saute mushrooms until liquid is almost gone and mushrooms are golden - 7 or 8 min, approx.  Add onion and thyme to mushrooms and cook until just translucent.  Stir in fresh garlic during last 1 minute of cooking careful not to burn garlic.
4. Remove veggie mixture and place in large mixing bowl.
5. In a large pot, begin boiling water for pasta
6. Without wiping out frying pan, add 3 tbsp more of butter to frying pan and melt over medium low heat..  Whisk in flour and continue whisking for 2 min to create roux.
7. Whisk in milk, cream, nutmeg, 1 3/4 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp pepper.  Cover sauce and bring to boil.  Once boiling, uncover and simmer to thicken.
8. Meanwhile, prepare pasta al dente when water is ready.  Drain.
9. Preheat oven to 450
10. Grease 9x13 baking dish
11. While pasta is cooking, shred/cut chicken into bite size pieces and add to mushroom mixture.
12. Run water over peas to remove ice crystals and add to bowl.  Add parsley, too.
13. Pour wine over mixture.
14. Mix breadcrumbs and cheese in a small bowl.
15. Add pasta to bowl.
16. Ladle in sauce and toss to coat mixture.  Once coated, add one more ladle.  It's ok if you don't use all the sauce.
17. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.  Top with 2-3 more ladles of sauce on top.  Sprinkle crumb/cheese mixture on top.  Dot with remaining butter.
18. Bake for 25 minutes.  Top will be browned, crunch and sauce will be bubbly.

How To: Grill a Steak

There are several tricks to ensuring a perfectly grilled steak.  First, for me at least, is to have a instant read thermometer to take out the guess work.  Second, is to have a quality cut of beef.  Fat is an essential aspect of a delicious steak, and of all grilled food, really.  When cooking at a very high temperature, you don't want the meat to be too lean or it seizes up and becomes tough.  Lean meats are better for slow, slow cooking -- braising specifically.

I grew up tasting Top Sirloin as that was my dad's preferred cut.  But I find it to be boring as an adult.  It has fat, but not marbled.  Nowadays, I think the best option is a Ribeye.  I buy boneless cuts for home cooking, but if given the chance at your favorite steakhouse, I recommend a bone-in ribeye.

I use a gas grill, because it's fast to heat.  A charcoal grill, if you have one, adds a deliciousness to food that you can't simulate anywhere else, though.

Some people will use dry seasonings, others wet.  I've tried pre-made rubs, homemade rubs, but I have a fallback recipe that has never let me down.  Some purists will use just salt and pepper.  This can be good, too, but you'd better have excellent quality meat if you want to cook so simply.

The grill should be VERY hot.  This ensures a good sear and that makes your steak look delicious.  It also helps keep some juices in the meat.  If you're not using oil in your wet seasoning, rub the grill with vegetable oil just before adding the meat.  Use the grill's lid to get the temperature back up.

You shouldn't keep moving the steak.  As you get more familiar with how much time your desired doneness takes, you'll move it less.  But generally, don't touch the steak for at least 4 minutes after you've  put it on the grill.

Never press any meat on the grill down onto the grates.

Always rest a steak before cutting into it.  You can cover it with aluminum foil to help keep it hot, but cutting too soon will send your side dishes into a pool and your meat will be drier than if you had waited.

When you find something you like -- write down the cut, thickness and how long you grilled it.  This way you can replicate it again next time.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I've made this several times and it freezes very well -- just omit the pasta.  If you like, you can add pasta when you reheat it..  It gets hotter with time, so expect the red pepper heat to kick in if you freeze it for later.  Double or triple as you see fit, just make sure you have a large stock pot.

Ingredients

6-8 red peppers, roasted, peeled and diced  (don't buy the kind in the jar)
1 - 1.5 # italian sausage in casing (sweet, hot or mild)
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 qt chicken stock
1 medium onion, diced
6-8 cloves fresh garlic, minced
crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt
black pepper

Non-standard supplies

None

Instructions

1. Pan fry the sausage for 4 minutes on each side, don't cut it and it won't be fully cooked yet
2. Slice into medallions
3. In a 2 qt pot, sautee onions until translucent
4. Add 1 tsp red pepper flakes unless using hot sausage - then only 1/2 tsp
5. Add garlic and stir until fragrant
6. Add canned tomatoes with liquid and cook for 5 min over medium heat to sweeten the tomatoes
7. Add stock and roasted peppers
8. Heat thoroughly, but don't boil
9. Add slices of sausage and cook over medium low for at least 15 minutes to finish cooking pork
10. Salt and pepper to taste

Variations

• Add dried pasta to broth and cook as directed -- orzo works well.

Baked Breaded Chicken Breasts

Here is a simple recipe that you can modify easily depending on the flavors you like.

Ingredients
1 c sour cream
1/4 c dijon mustard
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 pkg onion soup mix
1 c corn flakes, crushed
black pepper

Non-standard supplies
None

Instructions

1. Whisk sour cream, mustard, garlic, and pepper in a shallow bowl. 
2. Add chicken and coat thoroughly.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, turning occasionally
4. Preheat oven to 400
5. Grease a baking dish with butter or non-stick spray
6. Mix corn flakes and soup mix
7. Press chicken into dry mix to cover.
8. Bake in prepared dish for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken internal temp is 145.

Variations

• Omit the soup mix and use fried onions as the crust in lieu of corn flakes (add salt too)
• Substitute yogurt for sour cream for less fat
• Use a flavored mustard 

Strawberry Banana Ice Cream

This was my first homemade ice cream attempt, and it was delicious.  I used some items I had on hand as my flavors.

Ingredients
Sweet Cream Base
2/3 c Strawberry Daiquiri concentrate, thawed
2 tsp banana extract

Non-standard supplies
Ice cream maker

Instructions

1. Prepare base and mix in concentrate and extract with cream and milk.
2. Follow instructions on your machine for churning
3. Freeze for 4 or more hours, expect airy soft serve texture

Sweet Cream Base

I just got a new toy -- the ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.   This is the foundation of ice cream.  Yes you can lighten things up, but I'm only going to capture the successes I have, and I tried this first -- full fat.  You don't have to have the Kitchen Aid brand ice cream machine to follow this recipe, so follow the instructions of your own machine.

Ingredients
2 c heavy whipping cream
1 c 2% milk
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs

Non-standard supplies
Stand mixer
Ice cream maker (for part two)

Instructions

1. Whip eggs in mixer for 2 minutes
2. Add sugar gradually
3. Once all sugar added, mix for 2 minutes more
4. Add milk and cream
5. Cover and chill mixture 

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

These are a classic no-bake recipe.  In no way do I claim for this to be mine, as the recipe is older than me.  But they're super easy to make and folks love them.  This would be a great cookie to make with kids.

Ingredients
1/2 c peanut butter - crunchy or creamy
1/2 c butter (1 stick)
1/2 c milk
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 3/4 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 c oats

Non-standard Supplies
None

Instructions

1. Over medium heat in a 2 qt saucepan melt butter, sugar, milk and cocoa.
2. Once melted/blended, bring to rapid boil
3. Once boiling, time for 90 seconds
4. After 90 seconds, remove from heat and immediately add vanilla, peanut butter and oats.
5. Stir to blend
6. Drop onto wax paper to cool