Wressed Chicken with Broccoli

If you, like us, have a lot of turkey left over, try this casserole.

It's basically Thanksgiving in a casserole dish, but we like it year around.  It's a good way to use up leftover poultry, or a rotisserie chicken
 

Wressed Chicken with Broccoli

4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed  (~ 1.5 lbs of cooked chicken or turkey)

20 oz frozen broccoli

sauce:

    1/2 cup butter

    3 Tbs flour

    2 cups chicken broth

    1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Arrange in casserole dish in this order:
Broccoli, chicken, sauce

Top with stuffing mix:

~ 7oz dried bread cubes (homemade or store bought)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup butter

(if bread is unseasoned, add poultry seasoning or herbs de Provance for spice to taste)

Bake at 350 until heated through

For crunchy topping bake uncovered, cover lightly to keep dressing soft

Notes:
If this looks like
"Put a layer of  frozen broccoli in a casserole dish, then layer chopped left over turkey, pour gravy over it, and then top with stuffing, you're not wrong.

Indian Stew?

Ever notice how the best soup recipes start out "Saute chopped onion"? :-)
As soon as I started frying onions tonight every kid came up and asked "Whatcha making?" or "When's dinner?"

Tonight we had an Indian inspired stew (which we served with our experiment in making naan).

Indian Inspired Stew:


2 chopped onions
2 chopped carrots
4 cloves chopped garlic
~1" peeled and chopped ginger

Saute all together until tender

Add -

chunked meat (I used left over roast beast from New Years dinner)
~ 25 oz diced tomatoes
Thow in any nice big chunks of veggies you have around. ( I had two baggies full of baby carrots, broccoli, and snow peas, left over from a recent picnic.)

Spice to taste with:
ground fennel
curry
salt
pepper

Thin with water and cook down.

Notes and modifications:

I started dinner only an hour before we needed to eat. This would be better cooked down for half a day.

I used beef fat from another meal to saute the veggies.

If I had thought of it I would have used some beef bone broth instead of water to thin the broth.

Red Beans

Happy New Year's Day!

I love that we got invited to a potluck brunch for New Year's Day. Eating with friends is not only a good way to spend some time (and calories) but also portends a great year.

My offering was red beans and rice. It's simple, delicious, healthy, and economical. What more could you want?

This looks like a long recipe, but notice that it's really just beans, ham bone, chopped veggies, and spices.


Red Beans (and rice)
- from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, by Paul Prudhomme

1/2 pound dry red kidney beans
water to cover all
3 lbs small ham hocks
1 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped green peppers
3 bay leaves
3/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon garlic poder
3/4 teaspoon oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper


Throw it all together in a big pot and cook for at least half a day. Add water as necessary, depending on how thick you like it.

Serve with rice, especially if it's hot and your guests like it mild, or if you need to stretch the quantity.


Notes and modifications:

This doubles easily, and freezes and reheats well.

I didn't get any special "ham hocks", and didn't make sure I had 3 lbs of it either. I just used the bone left over from the Christmas ham. It was fine.

I've halved the pepper and Tabasco sauce from the original recipe. YMMV, depending on your tastes and how fresh your spices are. Remember, taste as you go and give the pepper time to expand to its' full flavor. You can always add spice, but once it's in all you can do is pour the mess over more rice if it's too spicy.

In the book the recipe actually has instructions about such frivolities as soaking the beans, cooking the meat separately, taking out the bones, etc. I'm not a patient cook. Soaking the beans speeds the cooking time, but I've never noticed the mythical decrease in flatulence (commonly called farts, or toots, at my house). Eat beans regularly, as your digestive system adjusts the toots will decrease (or maybe you'll just cease to notice them - shrug). Cooking the beans from the start with all the good stuff increases their flavor and nutritional content, and you want that nice meld of flavors that cooking for half a day gives. I also figure my people are quite capable of fishing out bay leaves and bones as necessary.

Not your mother's coleslaw

I got a couple of cabbages and this recipe from a friend about 15 years ago. It was a gift that lasted far longer than that first salad.


Asian Slaw

6 cups thinly sliced cabbage
6 thinly sliced green onions
6 oz snow peas - stringed and thinly sliced
1 large sweet red pepper thinly sliced
1/2 cup peanuts

Asian Dressing

whisk or shake together:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Toss all vegetables and salad dressing together, top with chopped roasted peanuts


Notes and modifications:

I make a batch of this dressing and keep it around for putting on our everyday lettuce salads.

Leave off the peanuts if you're feeding someone with a peanut allergy.

You can substitute olive oil or peanut oil for vegetable oil, but the sesame oil really boosts the flavor, so I've never left it out.

I have made this with many different raw veggies when I don't have the right ingredients. I've subbed red onion for green onion, julienne raw carrots for red pepper or peas, etc. The key is to keep the volume of the salad about the same, and always have the cabbage and something onion like.

Pocket Sandwiches

Frozen pocket sandwiches were all the rage when I was in college and flat broke. No worries, I had my secret weapon - the ability to cook. These are great for a quick meal or hearty snack.

Krautburgers and Pasties

Use your favorite bread recipe. After the first rise roll it out flat in batches.
Slice into rectangles. (twice as large as you'd like the finished pocket to be)
Put your favorite filling in and pinch the bread closed with your fingers. Use water to dampen if necessary. Bake at 350 for ~20 min, or until bread is done and filling is warm.

Fillings:
I've always made these with precooked meat and veggies.

Use any left over meat and veggies, chop into smallish bite sized pieces. Add left over gravy, or cheese to add moisture. Mix together in big bowl and then spoon onto prepared dough.

Examples:
Chopped leftover turkey, peas, mashed potatoes and leftover turkey gravy

Chopped steak, mushrooms, peas, fried onions and a bit of beef gravy

Chopped broccoli, cheddar cheese, cubed left over baked potato, and a bit of pepper

Cooked and drained spinach, feta cheese, fried onions, spiced with a bit of dill



Krautburgers
(I remember eating these as a kid, and even now a local fast food place sells something like them)

1 lb ground beef
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Fry up all together until browned and yummy. Eat up all on it's own or make into a pocket sandwich.

Notes and modifications:

There is no limit to what you can put in a bit of bread and call food. Taste as you go and you're not likely to go too far wrong.

These freeze and reheat well. To freeze put in freezer on a baking sheet. When hard wrap in plastic wrap, bag together and put back in the freezer. To reheat, microwave for ~2 minutes. I like to put them in the toaster oven for just a little bit when they come out of the microwave, just to make the bread toasty.

Comfort food

Here's something I make that I have never had a recipe for. My mom made it, and who knows where she learned it? Still it's cheap, hearty, and delicious. If you've never had scallop potatoes you're in for home-style a treat.


Scallop Potatoes

~ 5 lbs Potatoes, sliced, or enough to fill your casserole dish
~ 1 lb grated cheddar cheese
4-6 eggs
~3 cups milk
3 Tbs flour
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic pealed
1 tsp pepper
ham (optional)

Put milk, eggs, flour, onion, garlic, pepper, and handful of cheese in blender, blend until smooth.

Grease casserole dish.
Layer potatoes and cheese (and ham if you want it) in casserole dish. Leave out one handful of cheese.

Pour milk/egg mixture over potato/cheese in casserole dish. Add more milk if it doesn't come to the top layer of potatoes.
Sprinkle cheese over the top of the whole thing and bake for 1 hr. in 350 degree oven.

It's done when the potatoes are just tender.


Notes and modifications:

You can use up whatever extra cheese you have around, I've even been known to throw sour cream or yogurt in the blender with this.

Ham is what I've always added, but you could add just about any leftover you had around that appealed.

This freezes fine. I put it in the fridge to firm it up, then cut into chunks that look like about a meals worth, wrap with plastic wrap, and freeze. Then just microwave it for a few minutes to heat. You could also take it out in the morning to thaw and warm it in the oven. I just never think that far ahead.

A quick meal

There are plenty of times in family life when you want a quick, inexpensive, but healthy, meal or snack. I especially appreciate food that my kids can heat up and serve themselves. This recipe fits all the way around.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Bake a lot of potatoes. (Specifics? Really? Sigh. Fine.)

Bake 5 lbs of potatoes at 350 for 1 hr. (Satisfied?)

Eat any you want with some grilled meat and a salad, or make a potato bar and call it dinner.

Let cool. You can even stick the potatoes in the fridge and get to them tomorrow or the day after.

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise, so that it easily lays with cut side up.

Scoop out potato with a spoon leaving skins and a thin layer of potato behind for structural support.

Put potato guts in a large mixing bowl, mash with milk/cream and large amount of butter (as if for dry mashed potatoes). Now add cheese, eggs, veggies, garlic, spices, salt, pepper, and/or meat to the mix. How much is up to you, as a minimum I would add 1 cup cheese and 2 eggs to 5 cups potato, with veggies and meat being optional. Taste as you go to get something you like. (Yes, I know about not eating raw eggs, but it hasn't killed me yet, and I'm not going to worry about it!)

Now you just scoop the mashed potato mix back into the shells, lay face up on a baking sheet, sprinkle with cheese and bake the stuffed potatoes again. (usually just enough to heat, ~ 20 min @350)

If any survive you can freeze the extras on the baking sheets, transferring to a freezer bag when they're hard. They only take a couple of minutes in the microwave to be toasty and yummy again.

If all the twice backed potatoes got eaten then next time try starting with 10 lbs of potatoes.

Notes and modifications:

I usually start with at least 7 lbs of potatoes.

My kids favorite twice baked potato is cheddar cheese, cream cheese, garlic, salt and pepper.
I like to add broccoli to this, and it's pretty good with ham and broccoli.

We've also made pizza potatoes using dried tomatoes, pepperoni, and mozzerella.
I'd like to try spinach and feta.

The sky is the limit when filling these, change the cheese type and the extras to make your favorite flavor.


A link to this post is also at Food Renegade "Fight Back Friday" for April 30 2010

Easter Treats

Here is an Easter gift for you. Cream puffs are delicious and super easy. They also use up eggs, which are becoming abundant this time of year.



Cream Puff Pastry

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
4 eggs (or 3 large duck eggs)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Boil water, salt, and butter until liquid, dump in flour, stir.
Let stand 5 minutes.
Stir in eggs one at a time.

Drop on greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees F (350 convection) for ~40 minutes.

Cool thoroughly.
Cut in half along equator and remove "guts".

Fill with whipped cream and dust with powdered sugar (for cream puffs) or ???

Notes and Modifications:

Unfilled these can be stored for a couple of days. I put in largish container and cover loosely so they don't dry out, but also don't get soggy.

The size is entirely up to you. I make mine smallish, using a whopping tea spoon to drop. (In this case the "tea spoon" isn't the measuring spoon, but the one used for tea or coffee.) I've seen them made huge, which is easier to make, but sometimes more of a commitment than I want to make with regards to eating.

These can be filled with more than whipped cream.

Try something savory - an egg scrambler inside topped with salsa or maybe ham, egg and asparagus topped with hollandaise sauce. Fill shells with left-overs, top with a cream sauce and present these as if they're what you were planning all along.

Drop into longer shapes to make shells for eclairs - fill finished shell with custard and top with chocolate sauce or chocolate frosting. Oh man, I think I just talked myself into making custard tomorrow!

Stir Fry Pad Thai (sorta)

Friday night we had Steve's Chicken Marsala from the freezer, served over whole wheat thin spaghetti, with asparagus and salad on the side. The box of spaghetti said 7 servings. Since we had a guest I cooked the whole package of spaghetti. 5+1=6=~7, so I figured cooking the whole thing made sense. (No risk letting anyone go hungry.) I should have known better. From personal experience I know that half a box is enough for our family of 5, and our young guest doesn't seem to have come into his adolescent appetite yet. (I wonder who actually eats the serving size on the side of the box?) I ended up with a large tub of cooked plain spaghetti. Ugh.

I'm a bit of a tightwad. Which is strange to admit since I'll spend more to get organic and local when I can. I might be pound foolish, but at least I'm penny wise, and I hate to waste food. So here's what I did at 4:30pm yesterday when I had the dreaded experience of hungry children, and just dribs and drabs of leftovers in the fridge.


Stir Fry Pad Thai
(fed family of 5 w/ leftovers for 2 hungry people)


Chopped Veggies - about large dinner plate heaped with mixed veggies
Here's what I had on hand:
1 sliced onion
2 stems of broccoli, pealed and sliced
1 handful of broccoli florets
~1/2 cup sliced eggplant
1/2 cup left over asparagus
1/4 sliced red pepper
1 carrot pealed and cut into thin strips3 cloves of garlic pealed and pressed

~1/2 lb sliced cooked meat - I had 1 left over grilled chicken breast

1 quart cold cooked spaghetti
2 eggs, beaten

cooking oil (I used grapeseed oil)
rice vinegar
toasted sesame oil
Thai Kitchen Pad Thai sauce (~4 - 6 Tablespoons)
soy sauce

There's a trick to cooking with a wok, and that's not to overload it. So for our family of 5 I divided and cooked this in two batches. Cooking in batches also has the advantage of allowing you to spice one batch more or less than the other. That can be helpful if some in the family prefer milder food.

Here's the fully loaded wok just after I put in the meat and before I add the sauce and egg. If it gets too full you're steaming the food, not stir frying it.Heat wok on stove on high. Stir fry the raw veggies in the cooking oil in the wok. As they get close to done splash some rice vinegar and about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil in. Toss on top any pre-cooked left over veggies, the cooked pasta, sliced meat, pad thai sauce, and a few shakes of the soy sauce. Stir. Pour the egg onto the side of the wok (so it cooks a bit before it touches the other stuff) and stir again. Taste test and add sauce if it seems like it needs it. Serve it up hot!

Now, do it all over again with the next batch. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the brief quiet while the children eat.

Notes and modifications:

You can use any veggies you like. I highly recommend always having the sliced onions and garlic, either broccoli or cabbage, and something orange or red for color, but add whatever you have. Don't be afraid to mix in left over cooked veggies too.

I've also used soba noodles or rice noodles as designated in official recipes, but it's nice to know that you can use left over pasta too.

If you don't have noodles use a little less sauce and serve over rice.

If I'm out of pad thai sauce I make up a sauce. Try; teriyaki sauce, make your own teriyaki w/ soy sauce and brown sugar or maple syrup, or try peanut butter mixed with soy sauce and a little honey. Get creative with what you have on hand, a little salty, a little sweet, taste as you go and it'll probably be fine.

WRITE DOWN anything that turned out particularly well. My husbandgets pretty frustrated with my inability to repeat some meals. This one's for you sweet heart!