My Cooking Adventures

These were recipes I found using the AllRecipes Dinner Spinner app on my new iPhone. I just made a couple adjustments, and they turned out delicious!

Southern Turkey* Burgers
adapted from: allrecipes.com

1 lb. ground turkey
1 slice bread, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp prepared mustard
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
garlic salt to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, bread, egg, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and mix well. Form into 6 to 8 patties and season with garlic salt and salt and pepper to taste.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute patties for 10 to 15 minutes, or until fully cooked to desired doneness.

*original recipe calls for beef

Baked Sweet Potato Sticks
adapted from: allrecipes.com

1 tbsp olive oil
salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to taste (about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp each)
8 sweet potatoes, sliced lengthwise into quarters (and then sliced thinner, if desired, depending on size of potatoes)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or veg oil.
2. In a large bowl, mix oil and spices. Add potato sticks and stir by hand to coat. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake 40 minutes in the preheated oven (turning over halfway through).

From: Better Homes & Garden special issue - Holiday Cooking

Time: start to finish, 20 minutes
Makes: about 2 1/4 cups

Pan drippings from roasted turkey, goose, or chicken
Chicken broth
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp apple brandy, brandy, or chicken broth
1 tbsp snipped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1 tbsp snipped fresh sage or 1 tsp dried sage, crushed
Salt
Ground black pepper
Sprig of fresh thyme (optional)

**These are the directions from the magazine; but just an fyi, I basically just took these things and started throwing them together, and it turned out great. I am no expert at thanksgiving cooking, so the whole fat-separating-pan-drippings-idea was hard for me to figure out!

Pour pan drippings from roasted bird pan into a fat separator or a large glass measuring cup. If using a fat separator, pour off fat into a glass measuring cup. (If using a large measuring cup, use a spoon to skim and reserve fat from the drippings.) Pour 1/4 cup of the fat* into a medium saucepan; discard remaining fat.

Add enough chicken broth to the drippings to equal 2 cups liquid. Stir flour into fat in the saucepan. Stir drippings mixture all at once into flour mixture in the saucepan. Stir in brandy, thyme and sage. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Season gravy to taste with salt and pepper. Pour gravy into a gravy boat or bowl. If desired, garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme.
*Note: If there is no fat, use 1/4 cup melted butter.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place the turkey breast, skin side up, on a rack in a roasting pan.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, mustard, herbs, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice to make a paste. Loosen the skin from the meat gently with your fingers and smear half of the paste directly on the meat. Spread the remaining paste evenly on the skin. Pour the wine into the bottom of the roasting pan.

Roast the turkey for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, until the skin is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest and meatiest areas of the breast. (I test in several places.) If the skin is over-browning, cover the breast loosely with aluminum foil. When the turkey is done, cover with foil and allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Slice and serve with the pan juices spooned over the turkey.

Adapted from: Kraft Foods.com


1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin and sliced
1 package frozen pepper stir-fry vegetables
1/2 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
2 Tbsp. honey
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
2 cups hot cooked long-grain rice

COOK chicken in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 5 min., stirring occasionally.

ADD vegetables, dressing, honey, garlic and ginger.

COOK and stir an additional 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are heated through. Serve with rice.

Source: Kraft Foods.com

I wasn't sure about this at first. I wanted to make some sort of chicken salad, but not the traditional, all-womens-club chicken salad. I wanted to make something that everyone would look at and say, you know, that looks enticing. So when I saw this recipe it looked perfect. I tweaked it just a tiny bit to fit my friends' tastes, and voila! I made a chicken salad that--no lie--everyone could not stop eating!!! It was AWESOME!!

Chicken Spread

1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 large chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
1 8-oz. cream cheese, softened

Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat and coat with non-stick cooking spray. Season the chicken breasts with salt and black pepper to taste. Grill over medium-high heat until cooked throughout. Dice the chicken into small pieces, and place into a large mixing bowl. (You want the pieces to be small enough to fit onto crackers.)

Mix chicken with remaining ingredients, using a large spoon, or an electric beater. Serve with Ritz crackers. Refrigerate any leftovers for sandwiches.

Lemon-Mustard Chicken
Adapted from: BH&G Bridal Edition Cookbook


4 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon-pepper seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1. Place chicken pieces on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat about 20 minutes or until light brown.

2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, stire together oil, mustard, lemon juice, lemon-pepper seasoning, oregano, and red pepper. Brush mustard mixture onto chicken. Turn chicken; brush with remaining mixture. Broil for 5 to 15 minutes more or until chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees).

Nutrition facts:
207 cal, 11 g total fat (2 g sat. fat), 77 mg chol., 355 mg sodium, 1 g carbo, 0 g fiber, 25 g protein.
Daily values: 1 % vit A, 2% vit C, 2% calcium, 7% iron.

Spicy Chicken Strips

From: Amber

Ingredients
- 1 lb thin sliced chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into long 1-inch wide strips
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- Spices (about 1-2 tbs each): garlic powder, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes
- Dried parsley
- Option: ¼ c finely shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup flour
- Cooking spray

Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray
- Mix bread crumbs with spices; add in cheese if you are using it and mix
- Dip chicken strips in flour, then egg, then bread crumb mixture; put the strips on the cookie sheet
- Bake for 7 min, flip the strips and bake for 7 more minutes; then turn the broiler on for 1-2 min

Saturday night I cooked dinner for my mother and my youngest sister, since my dad and my brother had all gone away for a "boys weekend". I had just bought Giada's new book, Everyday Italian, and decided to try her Chicken Saltimbocca. I knew my mom liked spinach, and my sister would say she didn't. But I was going to try this dish with spinach anyways, and my sister was going to try it, whether she wanted to or not! I figure she has to try it sometime. That's how I started liking spinach, onions, garlic, etc. I just forced myself to eat foods that contained them as ingredients, and next thing I knew, I enjoyed their flavors! Both of these recipes were somewhat easy. The pasta did take longer to prep than I thought, so just give yourself plenty of time if you ever decide to make this dish (which I hope you do; it was super yummy!).

Oh, and as for pictures, I was too shy to take pictures that night, so I just now took a picture of the chicken, after it's been storing in the fridge. I don't have a good picture of the pasta, but just imagine the best-looking, ooey-gooey pasta you can, and that's it!

Chicken Saltimbocca

6 (3-ounce) chicken cutlets, pounded to evenly flatten
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 paper-thin slices prosciutto
1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Place the chicken cutlets flat on the work surface. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay 1 slice of prosciutto atop each chicken cutlet.

Squeeze the frozen spinach to remove the excess water. Season the spinach with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, toss the spinach with 1 tablespoon of oil to coat.

Arrange an even, thin layer of spinach atop the prosciutto slices. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over each. Beginning at the short tapered end, roll up each chicken cutlet as for a jellyroll. Secure with a toothpick.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Add the chicken broth and lemon juice, and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Simmer the cooking liquid over high heat until it is reduced to about 2/3 cup, about 5 minutes. Season the cooking liquid with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove toothpicks from the chicken. Drizzle the reduced cooking liquid over the chicken and serve immediately.


Farmer's Pasta

Butter, for greasing pan
2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil
6 ounces pancetta, chopped (I used bacon instead)
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups whole milk
8 ounces Fontina cheese, grated
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
6 ounces provolone cheese, grated
1 pound rigatoni pasta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups fresh coarse bread crumbs
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling


Butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and saute until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a small bowl. Pour off all but 1/4 cup of the pan drippings (if necessary, add more oil to the pan drippings to equal 1/4 cup total). Reduce the heat to medium. Add 3 teaspoons of garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the flour and whisk for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in all the Fontina, mozzarella, Parmesan, and provolone cheeses.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni and cook until almost al dente, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes. (The pasta will continue cooking in the oven.) Drain pasta and add directly into the cheese. Add the parsley, basil, and pancetta and toss to coat. Season the pasta mixture, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared dish.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat. Add the bread crumbs and toss to coat. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the pasta mixture. Drizzle the top with extra-virgin olive oil and bake until the sauce bubbles and the bread crumbs are golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Last night I made my famous Chicken Casserole. I'm sure everyone has made this very same casserole, or at least some version of it. I got this recipe from my mother a few years ago, when I was in college and wanted to cook something, anything. She said, "This is easy; you can't mess this up!" Well, she was right! It is very easy, and very hard to mess up. Now that I've started advancing in my cooking skills, since those rowdy college days, I'd like to start seeing what kinds of spins I can put on this traditional casserole. I didn't get too crazy this time; just added a simple flavoring to it that, in my opinion, made it taste oh-so-good! :)

Chicken Casserole

1 (12.5 oz) can of Tyson Premuim White Meat Chicken breast; drained (you can cook and cut up your own chicken, but for time-saving purposes, I have found this chicken to be just as delicious)
8 0z sour cream
1 can of Cream of Chicken
Ritz Crackers, about half a sleeve, crushed
Poppy Seeds
3 tablespoons of butter, melted
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a square baking dish, place the chicken pieces along the bottom. In a separate small bowl, mix together the sour cream and the cream of chicken. Spread the mixture over the chicken in the baking dish. Top with the crushed Ritz crackers. Sprinkle poppy seeds over the casserole, lightly. Season the casserole with salt and pepper, about a teaspoon of each. Pour the melted butter over the top of the casserole, making sure to coat as much of the top as possible, without over-soaking. Bake in the oven at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes (if using darker baking dish, cook longer), or until the casserole starts to bubble.

**Note: I realized when browsing through other blogs that I should be posting pictures of my dishes! Whoops! I'll start doing so asap! I promise! :)

Here's the recipe for the Ritz Parmesan Chicken (from KraftFoods.com). I made it for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! Although I do suggest packing on some extra cracker mix. That was the best part!

Ritz Parmesan Chicken
Total Time: 25 mins
Serves 4

1/4 cup KRAFT Mayo Real Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
25 RITZ Crackers, finely crushed (about 1 cup crumbs)
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix mayo and lemon juice in medium bowl; set aside. Combine cracker crumbs and cheese in separate medium bowl.
DIP chicken in mayo mixture, then roll in cracker crumb mixture until evenly coated on all sides. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
BAKE 20 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F).

To brief you real quick, I'm someone who up until recently thought putting frozen chicken nuggets and french fries in the oven was cooking! I love being in the kitchen, and making something fantastic. And then I love watching people eat it, and how their faces light up with satisfaction as they realize that they actually enjoy something I made! So this blog will be all about my adventures as a Beginner Cook, including recipes I've tried and whether they were successful or not (believe me, there will be some failures!). Enjoy!



Tonight I tried a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, star of Everyday Italian on Food Network. I saw it on the Food Network website the other day; it was the video of the day, and I thought it looked pretty simple, for someone with such little experience as I have.

Chicken Piccata

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.


I was thinking tonight that I would love to take a cooking class. However, I live in such a rural part of the country, and I don't think that there are any offered in my area. At least, I couldn't find any online. But that would be so great, to be able to take a class to learn what all these terms mean! The good thing is, Food Network does have tutorial videos on its website that shows you some techniques if you're not sure. For example, I wasn't sure I remembered how Giada butterflied the chicken in the video the other day for the Chicken Piccata, so I went to FoodNetwork.com, and found a video tutorial about butterflying chicken. It showed me exactly what to do! It was great! But I'd hate to have to run to the internet every time I'm not sure what a term means. Maybe I'll just ask around locally and see what I can find out.