Chicken Parm

Seventh and final dinner on the pioneer.  It has been a week of excellency!  And obviously by week, it's stretched into nearly 3 months.  I know, I'm AWFUL!!  But it has been a whirlwind of a few months.  And to be honest, I've had this cooked for about 2 weeks, and just haven't gotten around to upload the pictures. Big Surprise...I Know.

So....

Chicken Parm...

There is a very funny story about this meal.  After TheHubby's parents got divorced, the only real meal that his dad knew how to cook was Chicken Parm.  I've heard tell that it wasn't too bad.

However

I've also heard tell that he made it JUST about EVERY day. It was his specialty

So I KNEW that TheHubby would be tickled when I pulled this recipe out.  And he was.  He verified that he really like Chicken Parm...just not every day.

I have actually never had any version of it, and was looking forward to trying it!

First: The Crew

Dice up the onion

And the Garlic

For the chicken:  Ree says to pound the chicken until it is super thin.  I just ended up fillet-ing it, so I had two thin breasts instead.

Season with salt and pepper

Add the olive oil and butter into a large pan.

Let the butter melt completely and the oil get hot

Dredge the chicken through some flour

And place into the oil

Fry until cooked through.

Remove to a plate for later use

Heat the oil back up and add the onion and garlic, sauteing for about 2 minutes

Do you see all of those brown crispies on the bottom of the pan?  Don't even THINK about scraping those out!! They are filled with flavor!

While the pan is hot pour in the wine, and scrape all of those crispies off of the bottom.  

Simmer until reduced by half

This also cooks off the alcohol

Pour in the tomatoes and sauce, if necessary.

Season with sugar, salt, and pepper to taste

Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes

Towards the end, add some fresh parsley to taste

Lay the chicken on top of the sauce

Sprinkle some basil on top (optional)

And completely cover with parmesan cheese

allow it to simmer until cheese is fully melted and the chicken is heated through

Plate with some noodles

And There You Have It!

IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!

TheHubby ranted and raved about it for the three days of left overs. He even gave his dad a hard time, telling him that mine was better.  

Well, There it is: My week/month/3months on the pioneer.  It was a good experience, There were much more recipes to choose from, and many more that we would eat again and again.  

Even though it is over, I still scavenge her cook books and website for new and delicious recipes

For a printable version, click here

For the original version, click here

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I'm down to the last two recipes on my week (which I know has been more like a month) on the pioneer.
I have been especially pleased with all of the recipes, they are tasty and crowd pleasers.
I am still debating on what the last recipe will be. I might give the hubby the cookbooks and have him pick one (or two if he's being nice to me) (j/k he's ALWAYS nice to me) (Even when I have the pregnancy krazy)(He spells it krazy with a K. because It's Krazy Kate)
But I digress

I love anything cajun!  Like for real.  Gumbo, jambalaya, crawdads, you name it I am on it! I could live in Louisiana,  except for the mosquitos....and the oppresive heat...and the yearly flooding... Ok, So I couldn't REALLY live in Louisiana.  I just like to THINK I could.

So when I get a hankering for some creole nothing hits the spot quite like cajun chicken pasta.  No matter where I get the recipe, it is delish

The Crew

Cook the fettucine until tender

Chop up the onion, green pepper, red pepper, and garlic

(I used a food processor, because TheHubby doesn't like big chunks of veggies....what a load of crap!!)

Dice the tomatoes

Slice the chicken

Sprinkle it with the cajun spice

(I didn't have cajun spice, so I used a mix of cayenne pepper, paprika, and black pepper) (Also, It could have definately used more, because it wasn't spicy AT ALL)

Fry the chicken in a skillet with a little bit of oil,  once cooked, remove and drain on a paper towel

Add the veggies and cook until tender, remove from pan.

Add chicken broth to deglaze the pan, (which is to say get all the crusted-on crispies on the bottom of the pan)

Add the cream, bring to a boil and reduce

Add the veggies and the chicken, and let it simmer for a bit to let the flavors percolate

Add the cooked fettucine and...

There you have it!!

As always, it was delicious, not very spicy, but TheHubby prefers it that way. :-\ 

I just added a dash or two....or four of cayenne on my serving and it was perfect!

It was definately a "Make Again Dish"

The things I would change:

Definately get some cajun spice! 

Not chop up the veggies quite so fine

And do chop the tomatoes a little bit smaller

But none of that ruined the dish, so all in all it was good!!

For a printer friendle recipe, clicke here
Original recipe can be found here

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

AKA: Heart attack a la Pioneerwoman

TheHubby requested meatloaf.  And, since he doesn't request much, and pretty much eats what ever I put infront of him.  I told Him:  OF COURSE!   So Since I'm in the middle of my week on the pioneer, I KNEW that Ree just had to have a recipe for this...I mean, what down-home, mid-west cowboy cookbook DOESN'T have meatloaf.  

Lo and Behold!

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf.

The Crew

Pour the milk over the bread and let it soak in for a few minutes.

Put the ground beef, eggs, cheese, bread, and parsley in a bowl, and mix until combined

(Don't be a wuss, use your hands, it will be faster)

(But it's gross,  just a heads up)

Ta-Da

Form into a loaf in a pan

(I used aluminum foil to line the bottom and it was much easier to clean up)

Next wrap the meatloaf in bacon

(thin sliced would work best)

Combine the ketchup, brown sugar, and dried mustard.

Pour 1/3 over the meatloaf

Bake for 1 hour

There you have it

Now for the review:

It was very good, very moist, with a good flavor.

However,

It was heavy, and filling, and greasy, and just too much.

I probably won't make it again, for that reason.

If I did, I would omit the bread, and maybe cut up 2-3 slices of bacon, and mix in with the ingredients.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it WAS delicious!  But as we don't eat greasy food very often, it was just too much.  We would manage about 4-5 bites, and be full. 

I mean REALLY full

Like post-Thanksgiving feast full
Like finish an entire chipotle burrito full
Like unbutton the top button of your pants full (That may or may not have been a true story)

 

For a printable version, click here

Original recipe can be found here

Chicken Spaghetti

I have made this several times over the past few months, and it is ALWAYS a hit here!  It is super easy to make, and can be made ahead of time.  It keeps for 2 days (uncooked) in the fridge, and significantly longer time in the freezer.

Another good thing, is that I typically have all of this stuff on hand, so it is an easy thing to make on a night where I didn't have the time or the inclination to go the grocery.

I now present:

Chicken Spaghetti

The Crew 

(I used Cream of Chicken soup, but you could definitely use cream of anything)

(I also used canned chicken, but the original recipe at the bottom will tell you how much fresh chicken you need)

Break the spaghetti into 2 inch pieces, and cook until al-dente

Chop up the onion and green pepper. I used a food processor, as TheHubby said last time the chunks were too big and were over powering

Combine the spaghetti, onion, green pepper, and seasoned salt

Then add the chicken

And the soup and cheese

Mix it together well

Put it in a greased casserole pan.  

It fits well in an 8x11 pan (if you use the full recipe)

(I cut it in half and it fit in an 8x8 pan)

Cover it with the additional cup of cheese

Bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes, or until the cheese starts bubbling

It was delicious.  I actually made it the night before and stuck it into the fridge and it gave all of the ingredients a chance to mingle and it gave it a really nice flavor.

TheHubby LOVED it!  He said it was a definite "Make Again" 

I could go on and on about how great this recipe is.  Easy, Ingredients *usually* on hand, able to make before hand, Easy (am I starting to repeat myself?)   

For a printable version, click here

Original recipe can be found here

My Deepest Apologies

Since it is "Facebook Official"  I feel I owe you an apology for not blogging more

TheHubby and I recently found out that we are pregnant!  And, we are so excited!

However, Morning Sickness (and by morning, I really mean: morning-noon-night-and-all-times-in-between sickness) has not been kind to me.  The mere thought of food sends my stomach into a middle-of-the-ocean-free-fall-on-a-rollercoaster churn.

I also owe TheHubby an apology:  I have pretty much made him fend for himself for the past month.  :-(

But I promise, as soon as I can get this under control, I have the next 4 pioneerwoman recipes all picked out!  I just have to be able to look at food for longer than 12 minutes.


UPDATE:  I wrote this last week, and later that week I went to the dr, and got an Rx for Zofran:
 I FEEL AMAZING!!!!
NO MORE NAUSEA!!!

So,  I have 2 recipes down, and two to go.

Did you make cookies?!

The words TheHubby excitedly spoke as he walked through the door for a quick lunch before running back to the salt mines.

I hung my head in shame.

Let me take you back a few hours earlier when I awoke from a restless night's sleep.

The dogs were whining, the sun was shining through the blinds at just the perfect angle to hit my eyes no matter which way I turned, and I had a headache.  What a great way to start the day.

What would turn this day around was a biscuit!  Uuuuuuunnnfortunately I live a horrendous 3 hours away from the best biscuit place in the world.  Plus we are north of the mason-dixon, so there are zero Bojangles. 

What's the next best thing?!

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits via ThePioneerWoman

I looked up the recipe:  That seems easy enough!  I can totally do that!

UUuuuuuuunnnnfortunately something happened...

Maybe I didn't mix the ingredients well enough...

Maybe I rolled out the dough too much...

Maybe I just don't have the gene that bestows the ability to make buttermilk biscuits (and there IS a gene, don't ya kno!)

I'm almost embarrassed to show this picture.

Please don't judge me for this

Ok. Here we go

I KNOW!!! IT'S HORRENDOUS!!!

But, on the bright side, they tasted delicious!  Just like buttermilk biscuits should

So, Matt comes home from work, and excitedly asks:  DID YOU MAKE COOKIES?!?!

I said (just as excitedly): No! They're biscuits!

And He said: Aww baby. 

But I guess he liked them, as he ate about 6 of them.

I'm not even going to bother posting this until I figure out what went, oh so horribly, wrong

Simple Chili

TheHubby and I have VERY different ideas of what chili is.  

Having grown up in Cincinnati, home of Skyline Chili, he considers chili to be a sauce (without beans) to be put atop spaghetti and tiny hotdogs (coneys)

Having NOT grown up in Cincinnati, I consider the a-fore-mentioned chili to be a meat sauce, and (while this might make me disliked) would rather starve (actually TO DEATH) than eat skyline (more than once or twice a year) (please don't be mad if you read this Hubby!)

On a side note,  Stewarts Hotdogs in WV has THE BEST meat sauce, (Insert Shameless plug here)

 Chili, I mean *real* chili, to be something with beans and veggies, you eat on a brisk fall day while tailgating.  

This is a "discussion" that TheHubby and I have on a semi-regular basis.  So, in an effort to school him on the finer points of chili, I found a recipe from ThePioneerWoman, that sounded AMAZING!

I now present:

Simple Chili

The Crew (The Masa/Maseca can be found in the international section of the grocery)

Measure out the spices

Chop up the garlic

Add the garlic and ground beef to a large stock pot

Cook until brown and crumbly

Add the Tomato Sauce

And the Spices

Mix up and cook for about an hour

Mix the Masa with enough water to make a paste

Add it to the chili.

(Add more masa to make it thicker, and more water to make it thinner, until you get the consistency you want)

At this point add the the beans and any other veggies you want

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes

There You Have It!

FYI:  The Diced Salsa Ready, Fire Roasted Tomatoes were SUPER spicy!  It was almost too spicy for me, and that is saying something

While this dinner was Hubby Approved, it did not settle our...discussion...

I was unable to find a link to the recipe, but it is on Page 82 in Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl

For a printable version click here.