Chicken Parmesan

I have two ways to cook this recipe. One is using a crock pot or slow cooker. This method is good for working families. It will cook for almost 4 hours on low. The second is a faster method and will be useful if you have an hour or so when you get home from work, school or any sports activity. The ingredients are the same, just the cooking method changes.

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese blend (Italian, Mexican, plain mozzarella, whatever is your preference).

2/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs or panko.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

1 24 oz. pasta sauce (preferably without salt)

Hot cooked pasta (optional).

Place egg in shallow dish. In a second shallow dish, put 1/2 cup cheese and 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs. stir to combine. Dig chicken in egg and then in crumb mixture. Place chicken in a 4-quart slow cooker, adding pasta sauce on top. Cover and cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese and 1/3 cup bread crumb mixture. Cover and cook on low for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. You can use this time to add your pasta to boiling water.

Serve over pasta and enjoy.

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The fast version uses the same ingredients

Place 1 tablespoon oil in pan and heat. Dip chicken as you would above. Pan fry chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Place chicken in an oven-safe quart casserole dish. Add pasta sauce on top of chicken. Bake for 25 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Remove chicken and top with remaining 1 cup cheese and 1/3 cup breadcrumbs. Return to oven and cook for an addional 10 to 15 minutes. Serve over hot pasta.

Turkey Pot Pie

I know I have a recipe for chicken pot pie, but I made this recipe up yesterday when I was trying to use up the rest of the turkey from Christmas dinner. This recipe doesn’t exist anywhere but in my head. I added a little of this and a little of that and viola! Good Pot Pie.

Turn oven to 425 degrees and let it warm. Take a frozen deep dish pie crust from the freezer. I always have these on hand. Pie crusts have not been my favorite to make so why bother. These are in the grocery store freezer section and work pretty well for me. Also, I use a roll pie crust from the dairy case for the top. The best news is that when the pie is gone, you throw away the pie pan. It can be recycled so rinse it out first before throwing it away,

You will need:

One deep-dish frozen pie crust and one rolled pie crust from the dairy section of the grocery store.

2 cups Chicken broth

Any leftover gravy from Christmas dinner

1/2 cup leftover stuffing, chopped fine

2 +/- cups of chopped turkey (or chicken) depending on how much meat you want in your pie.

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1/4 cup onion chopped fine

1 package of dry Turkey gravy mix

Pour the chicken stock and leftover gravy into a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer and add the turkey, stuffing, onion and peas and carrots. Bring to a slow boil and let cook for about 20 minutes until onion and peas and carrots are tender. Add the envelope of gravy mix. This is what will thicken the mixture for the pie. That way, no cornstarch or flour is needed to thicken, and it adds more turkey flavor. Let simmer for about 10 minutes to allow gravy to thicken.

Flour your counter and roll out the top crust. This will give you a flakier crust than if you leave it the thickness that it starts with. Remove the pie filling from the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes. It will thicken even more. Spoon this into the deep-dish pie crust. Wet the crust edges with milk. Lay the rolled crust on top and fold it under the bottom crust on the edges and pinch together to seal the filling inside. Spray top with butter Pam or brush with milk to moisten the top crust and it will brown better.

Bake at the 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Then turn oven down to 400 degrees and finish baking until pie is golden brown. About 30 minutes more. Remove it from the oven and let it set for at least 10 minutes. Depending on how thick your filling was when it was put into the pie, it should set a little more. Cut into pieces and remove with pie spatula or a large spoon. Mine always spills the filling out, but that part is just put onto my mashed potatoes. So,all is good.

Sticky Chicken

Here is a new recipe I found for Sticky Chicken. I think the sauce that needs to be made is one similar to the Piquant Sauce I use on the meatloaf recipe. There are many sauces you can use. Some call for molasses and pineapple. This is one where I had all the ingredients needed. It calls for 4 chicken breasts, but I will make the recipe for 2. I will use the same measurements for the sauce as the original recipe calls for. I like to have plenty of sauce to bathe the chicken in.

2 boneless chicken breasts.

1/2 cup Ketchup

3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tablespoons Dry Mustard

* if you do not have dry mustard, you can substitute a prepared mustard. A honey mustard would be good.

Place chicken in a sprayed baking dish. Mix other ingredients well using a whisk. Spoon over the chicken

Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for about 40 to 45 minutes. Serve with baked potato, mashed potato or brown rice. Don’t forget your vegetable!

Baked (Fried) Chicken

If you love fried chicken, but don’t want the fat and grease, this is a recipe you should try. When I made it, it definitely tasted like Fried Chicken. But the crust wasn’t crunchy. It tasted like the fried chicken you go out to get and by the time it gets home, the skin is no longer crunchy. Still tasty, just not crunchy. I use Chicken Tenders, but you could use thighs, breasts or drumsticks. You will have to adjust your cooking times for some of those. Be sure to use a thermometer to test the doneness of the meat before taking from the oven.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut 4 tablespoons of stick butter into smaller chunks. Place these in a 9×13″ pan. Melt butter in pan in pre-heated oven.

Spread butter around on bottom of pan. Lightly spray with butter Pam if there are any dry spots.

Place chicken in a bowl of milk. Be sure to cover all the chicken pieces. Let soak for 20 minutes while you are getting the pan and dry ingredients ready. The recipe calls for flour, which I have used. I wonder how it would be if I added an additional 1/2 cup of panko crumbs. That may make the chicken a little crunchier.

1 Pound of Chicken tenders

Mix the following dry ingredients together. Place in large zip-lock bag.

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tablespoon of All Season salt

3/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup flour

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (if you want to try for a crunchier skin).

2 teaspoon paprika

Shake excess milk from chicken and place chicken in bag of dry seasonings. coat completely and remove to the prepared pan,

Cook for 20 minutes. Turn each piece of chicken and cook for another 20 minutes or until cooked through. You can serve with French fries or mashed potatoes. This is a great meal for kids who like chicken nuggets too. It is healthy and quick.

Chicken Tetrazzini

We visited my husband’s sister this week for lunch and this is what she made. It was delicious. I watched her put this together and realized that the best place for this recipe was here for all of you to try and enjoy. She made it in a 9 x 13 casserole, but I have cut the recipe in half for the smaller family.

This is a great recipe for leftover roasted turkey or chicken. If you have neither of those, you can poach a chicken breast to use or even buy a rotisserie chicken. You will need about 2 cups of chopped meat for the recipe which makes an 8 x 8 casserole.

1/8 cup unsalted butter

4 oz. sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup half and half

1 1/2 Tbs. dry sherry (optional)

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped turkey (or chicken)

Parmesan Cheese for topping. (You can use it for topping, but I mix it in when I add the spaghetti. I adds to the flavor more if it is mixed in).

1/4 to 1/2 pound of thin spaghetti (about the size of a large quarter)

Heat water for spaghetti. When it comes to a boil, put a half teaspoon of oil into the water along with about a teaspoon of salt. Break spaghetti in half. Cook about 9 to 10 minutes and drain. If you want to lower your salt, omit the salt from the recipe, but always salt your pasta water. This is the only way to season pasta.

Melt butter in large skillet. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes until mushrooms are soft and tender Add the flour to this mix and blend in well allowing the flour to cook off for 2 to 3 minutes. The flour helps to thicken the cream sauce.

Add in your chicken broth and half and half. Stirring constantly, simmer for about 3 minutes as the sauce starts to thicken. You can add the sherry at this time if you want. I don’t cook with sherry so I substitute 3 tablespoons of chicken broth. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix in well. Stir in the cooked chicken and spaghetti. Place in greased 8 x 8 casserole and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Quick Chicken and Corn Chowder

It is snowing again today. A great day to make soup. We always have soup in our refrigerator in the winter. We eat small dinners and have our large meal at lunch. Soup seems to fit the bill on a cold, snowy, winter night. This is a quickly made soup and doesn’t need a lot of ingredients that you have to make a special trip to the grocery store for. If you shop like I do, these ingredients are probably already in your pantry just waiting to get out and be made into a delicious meal.

** This recipe calls for canned chicken. The salt in canned chicken is high. You do not add salt because of that. But if you decide to cut the salt intake, use cooked chicken breast and add 1/4 cup of chicken broth to make up for the juice in the canned chicken. You can then add 1/8 tsp of salt if you think it is needed to enhance the other flavors.

I cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup onion

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 1/2 cup (12 oz. can) evaporated milk or half and half

1 16oz, can creamed corn

1 14 1/2 oz. can chicken broth

2- 5 oz cans or 1-12 1/2 oz. can of chunk chicken (or you can substitute cooked chicken)

1/8 teaspoon or less of ground pepper.

This recipe calls for 1 2-oz jar of pimentos drained, but since they will just be picked out of the soup, I leave them out.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onions and carrots and cook a couple of minutes until they are tender. Add the flour and stir into a paste, allowing the flour to cook off a little. Slowly add the milk or half and half into the mixture and whisk until all lumps of flour are gone. Stir in the corn, broth, undrained chicken or cooked chicken breast and pepper. Remember, if using cooked chicken instead of canned, you need to add another 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Also the pimentos if you are adding them.

Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. You can serve immediately or let sit for a couple of hours. Serve warm with breadsticks or slices of French bread for a light dinner.

Chicken Pot Pie

As soon as the weather cools, I look to my cookbooks and find all the recipes I didn’t make during the heat of summer. Chicken Pot Pie is one of those. Imagine sitting down to a warm pot pie with mashed potatoes and having the colorful leaves flying in the wind or the snow blowing outside the windows. Yum!

This takes a little time to put together, and it is well worth it when you come home after a day of being out in the fresh air and you have this. It makes great leftovers or it can be frozen for a fast warm dinner on those busy crazy days.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish (1 1/2 to 2 quart) with Pam.

1 can cream of celery or cream of chicken Soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cooked, frozen peas and carrots ( I add 1 cup as I like vegetables).

1 cup leftover cooked chicken cut into small bite sized pieces. Or a can of chicken can be used.

Dash of Pepper

1 refrigerated piecrust (let this warm to room temperature before trying to unroll).

Whisk together soup and 1/2 cup milk in quart baking dish. Stir in chicken, cooked peas and carrots and pepper. Unroll pie crust and place mixture.

Beat an egg and wash egg over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly. �

Chicken Caruso

This is another easy recipe. I always have a jar of spaghetti sauce in the pantry. I often just take some of my homemade sauce out of the freezer about an hour before I need it. Homemade sauce is so much better than the canned or jarred version. And, you can control the ingredients that is in the sauce.

1 Lb. Chicken Tenders

1/2 Salt & 1/4 tsp. Pepper

1/2 tsp.Garlic Salt

3 Tbs. Margarine

1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1 Cup Sliced Celery or 1/2 tsp celery salt

Melt margarine in a sauté pan, Add salt, pepper and garlic salt. Add the chicken tenders and cook on medium heat until no pink remains. (About 3 to 4 minutes on each side). Stir in spaghetti sauce and seasoning. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until well warmed through. Add celery or sprinkle about 1 tsp. Celery salt over all. Cook another 5-10 minutes over low heat. Serve over rice or noodles.

Roasted Chicken

There is nothing better on a cold winter day then to enter the house and smell a chicken roasting in the oven. A stuffed one at that. It is a meal we have often. The leftovers from the chicken can be used in several ways over the next few days. Chicken Divan, Chicken Pot Pie, Hot chicken sandwiches. Etc. This recipe is not really a recipe. You don’t need anything extra except a roasting chicken.

I use Bell’s stuffing if I stuff the bird. Follow the recipe on the box for the stuffing and stuff the bird before you put it in the oven. Be sure that the stuffing is moist when you mix it as it tends to dry when cooking. The stuffing will swell a little so don’t overstuff the chicken

Wash the chicken before stuffing. I know they say you shouldn’t wash chicken, because of the possible transfer of bacteria and salmonella, but I have to wash it, It is just me. I wash all utensils, sinks and counter tops after the bird has been prepared with bleach and hot, hot water.

Sooo. wash the chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. I salt the inside of the chicken with seasoned salt and then stuff it with the Bell’s stuffing. I salt and pepper the outside and also add a little Mrs. Dash seasoning. Doesn’t matter what kind. You can also just use seasoned salt instead.

Put it in a 9 x 13″ pan that has been sprayed with a little Pam and cover the bottom with aluminum foil. Add about a cup of water to the foil to keep the chicken moist. Cover the chicken with another piece of foil and put into a 350 degree oven and let cook for at least 3 hours. Many cooks say that is too long, but I like the chicken to almost fall off the bones. Don’t eat pink chicken! I take the top piece of foil off about 1/2 hours before taking the bird out of the oven to allow it to brown up

Bar-B-Que Chicken Tenders

I don’t own a bar-b-que grill. I used to. I hated the mess of trying to get all the grease and black off the racks. So now, I am a non bar-b-que person. This recipe is as close to BBQ as I get. It is easy and takes about 10 minutes. Also, it is all done in a fry pan without the messy clean-up. Remember, this is a Cooking for Two blog. If you have company or just want some for leftovers, (The leftovers work well on a salad), cook as many tenders you would like. You will need to increase the sauce to be sure all the chicken is coated.

6 chicken tenders.

1/2 cup Bar-B-Que sauce.*

2 Tablespoon of oil.

In a large bowl, pour sauce over tenders. using a pair of tongs, drag tenders through sauce to coat evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes before cooking so flavor has a chance to melt in a little.

Heat oil in fry pan large enough to hold 6 pieces of chicken tenders.

When pan is hot, carefully place tenders that have marinated into pan using tongs. Be careful oil is not too hot to cause it to spit when placing chicken in pan, but you want to hear a sizzle. Cook chicken on both side for about a minute. Cover pan and let chicken cook on med/low for 10 minutes turning every 3 to 4 minutes.

Serve over rice or with potato salad for a nice easy lunch or dinner.

*Be creative with the sauce. Honey, bold, spicy, whatever you like for flavor.