A Yummy Fall Dinner

A little inspiration from everywhere, including my dad. Thanks Dad! This recipe has flavorful rice, moist chicken, savory apples and delicious veggies. I'm eating leftovers today,which is all thrown together and it tastes great that way too!

Chicken  - I eyeballed measurements, so I hope it's close!
4 Chicken Thighs
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp water
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/4 C fresh Parmesan cheese
1 T paprika
1 t garlic salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 deg. Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Pre-heat skillet with oil over medium heat. Pat chicken dry. In one bowl mix egg and water. In another bowl mix bread crumbs, cheese, paprika, salt. Dip chicken, one at a time, in egg then in bread mixture. Coating well. Brown in skillet. The chicken will not be cooked through. We want to seal the chicken in the crusty bread. Transfer chicken to cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

Rice -change amount of rice as needed
2 C water
1 C rice
1 T chicken bouillon

Bring water to a boil in a pot that has a cover. Add bouillon and rice. Bring temperature to Low and cover. Let sit on Low heat for 20 minutes.

Apples
4 medium apples (we used a red apple good for baking)
1/4 C brown sugar (more or less to taste)
2 t Ground Cinnamon (more or less to taste)

Pre-heat oven to 350 deg. Core and slice apples. We did not peel them, but you can if you or your kids don't like the skin. Place apple slices, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Toss to coat. Place apples on baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve warm. ** this also fills your house with a wonderful smell! You may want to do more apples late in the afternoon and get this done first, prior to the chicken so you can snack while you cook.....Yes, I'm that bad**

Vegetables
I cheated. Grab a bag or two of steam in the microwave veggies. Pour cooked veggies in a bowl, serve.

Cuban Chicken?

So, I used Cuban seasoning......would one call it Cuban Chicken? If you try the dish, let me know what I should call it! Inspiration from this dish came from Mario Batali, although I only used half of his recipe and changed it from Mediterranean to Cuban...yeah, I do that.

I made the meat part of this last night and put it in the fridge. It takes about an hour and a half to make the meat, so I thought I would do it ahead of time and warm it the next day. Today I made the rice and threw the chicken/stock into a pot over medium heat while the rice cooked. It warmed it up to a nice temperature and the dish was delicious! I will write out what I did and at the end let you know some suggestions that I will try next time. Don't get me wrong, I think the dish is fine as is, but dishes always have room for tweaking and changing to one's liking.

4-6 chicken thighs (boneless if you want), skinless
flour
1/4 C oil (plus a little extra)
1 Lg red onion, you may dice or slice thinly
10 shakes of McCormick Cuban Seasoning ~ okay maybe 2 t?
1 carrot, diced
4 C chicken stock
1C rice, cooked to package directions


Directions:

Dredge chicken in flour. In a deep dish pan (a pan with a lid) heat oil over med-high heat until smoking. Add chicken and brown on both sides, transfer to a plate. Repeat with any remaining thighs.

Turn heat to low. Add onions (and additional oil if necessary) to the dish. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until soft. Add carrot and chicken stock, bring to a boil. Return chicken to dish and cover tightly. Bring temperature to Low and cook for 1 hour. Remove the lid and cook for 10 minutes.

Place rice on plate, top with chicken and sauce. Serve.

That all being said........


Mario's dish called for 1/2 t saffron threads to be added to onions, 1 C small green olives to be added to the carrot, and only add 3 C chicken stock. Also 6 servings of couscous instead of rice. Once you take the chicken out of the pot at the end, add 1/4 C fresh mint leaves. Stir leaves in sauce, then top over chicken.

What I would change to my dish......


I added another C of chicken stock because I wasn't sure if 3 was enough. The dish was DELICIOUS, but if you wanted less salt, try low sodium chicken broth instead of regular broth/stock ~ or homemade stock. I would also add more carrots and possibly celery or another vegetable. I'm sure the green olives would taste nice. I may add some fresh garlic to the onions and saute them together. I will use the McCormick Cuban seasoning again. I like that! I would have used couscous if I had any in my pantry. I think that's it.

Kid's Review:


Scott loved it! My 4 year old gobbled it up within minutes. My 2 year old is not eating much of anything right now, so I wouldn't put too much on him. And my husband hasn't had dinner yet......

Pork with Peaches and Pecan Sauce

First of all, thank you Campbells for this recipe! You can find it on the back of the Golden Mushroom condensed soup can. This recipe is flavorful and my kids ate it up!

1 T olive oil
1 lb pork tenderloin (I used 2 thick boneless pork chops, butterflied and cut into slices)
1 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, sliced (separate 2 and 1)
1 can Campbell's Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 can (about 15 oz) sliced peaches. Drain juice and set aside (you will use juice and peaches separately)
3 T (low sodium) soy sauce
2 T (Local) honey - I'm a local user ;)
1/4 C pecan halves, toasted and broken into pieces

1 C cooked rice

Heat oil in deep sided skillet over med-high heat. Add pork and cook until well browned on both sides. (Pretty much cooked) Remove pork from skillet and set aside.

Add onion (2) and garlic to skillet cook for 1 minute - don't let it burn though. Stir in soup, peach juice, soy sauce and honey. Heat to a boil. Cook 5 minutes or until soup mixture is slightly reduced.

Return pork to skillet and heat to a boil. Stir in peaches. Reduce heat to low and cook until pork is cooked through. Stir in pecans.

Serve next to or on top a bed of rice. Sprinkle/Garnish with remaining green onion.

Stuffed Apples - Two Ways!!

When looking for apples for this one, look for apples that can take the heat: Braeburn, Gala, Empire. Savory is one way to bake, Sweet is the other.

Savory Ingredients:

4 Large Apples

6 oz. sweet pork or turkey sausage

1/3 C chopped onion

1/2 C cooked brown rice

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1 T Olive oil

Dash ground black pepper

3/4 C Apple Juice

Sweet Ingredients:

4 Medium Apples

1/2 C chopped walnuts

1/4 C Raisins

1 T packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cardamom (look it up - substitute if needed)

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

4 tsp unsalted butter (yes, salted is okay)

1/2 C apple cider

1 T honey or maple syrup

1) Preheat oven to 375 F. Slice the tops off each apple and a thin slice from the bottom - allowing them to stand flat.Core the apples, starting from the stem end, using a melon baller or a small spoon, going to - but not through the bottom. Save the apple flesh.

2) Prepare the filling:

For the savory version, cook sausage and onion until sausage is browned, stirring meat to break it up. Drain fat. In a bowl combine sausage mixture, rice, rosemary, thyme, oil, pepper, and 1/2 C chopped apple flesh.

For the sweet version, mix walnuts, raisins, brown sugar, cardamom, and nutmeg. Set aside.

3) Place apples in a 2 qt square baking dish. Fill with sweet or savor mixture. Top sweet mixture with 1 tsp butter. Pour apple juice into baking dish of savory mixture; use cider and honey for sweet mixture.

4) Bake savory apples uncovered for 30-40 minutes.

Bake sweet ones, covered, for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and return to oven for another 20 minutes. Drizzle both with cooking liquid.

Cheesey Chicken with Broccoli

To my friend who also hates dry chicken! I am sorry - this one does take a lot of pans.....

Chicken breast - 1 for each person eating, let's say 4

1 C cooked rice

4 oz velveeta cheese

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

Broccoli - enough for 4 people

Seasonings - what do you like? Hopefully something with onion and garlic and herbs. I'll explain later...

Season your chicken the way you like it. You can cook it any way. BBQ on the grill, S&P pan fried... I have a couple different seasonings I use. I have this one from Pampered Chef that is a dill mix with onion, garlic, and other seasonings. I put butter in the pan and fry my seasoned chicken. A secret I have personally learned from a chef is that meats do not like to be touched while cooking. Put your chicken on the pan. LEAVE IT ALONE until you're ready to flip it to the other side. You want your pan to be hot before you put your chicken on. You want to seal in the flavor by searing it (not burning it). If you are fearful, sear it, then turn down the temp a little. May take some time, but try around medium heat. Flip to other side. I believe chicken is done when it's a little bouncy to the fork- not lots-a-bouncy though. You should flip your meat a max of 2 times. Cook the rest of the meal while the chicken is cooking:

Start the rice. 2 C water to a boil, add 1 C rice. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Bam!

While that is cooking you can also start your broccoli. Bring some water to a boil - about an inch, add broccoli. Bring back to boil. Cover, simmer -eh - 10 min or however crunchy/soft you want your broccoli. (ask if you're confused) Or microwave the frozen bag.

In a pot add cream of chicken, cheese, and again - any seasoning to taste (a good few shakes!). If in doubt try a Mrs. Dash blend. I'm a garlic and onion mix with other herbs fan but you can try almost anything. See what's in your pantry. The cool thing about cooking is that you can try anything and add to taste - unlike baking. Mix this over medium heat. Your're going to have to stir almost constantly to keep it from sticking to the bottom. Most liquids say to stir constantly for this reason. The consistency you're looking for is smooth, creamy like. You want no lumps in it. This is the last to start because you're going to be stirring while everything else is cooking.

Time to plate! Place your chicken on the plate. Next to it a spoonful of rice. Next to (or even on top of) that your broccoli. Time for the cheese.....yum...... pour the cheese over the broccoli. I like the cheese so much I put the cheese mix over everything. I can't have enough. It also helps having the cheese over the chicken if you've over cooked your chicken and it came out a little dry. I LOVE sauces. They can help the meal sometimes if it didn't come out right.

I've written this one in a rush so I hope it came out right. If it didn't please let me know and I'll explain better.