Friday, February 27, 2009

Chicken Thighs Braised in White Wine

If you have been to my blog regularly, you will know that I absolutely love chicken thighs. They are inexpensive, easy to prepare and packed with flavor. I would take a chicken thigh over a breast any day. This recipe dresses them up a bit, but is very simple.




The recipe came from Everyday Food.




I cut this basically in half. You don't need a lot of ingredients for this. Some white wine, lemon, garlic, salt, pepper, dried thyme, parsley and butter.




And of course some chicken thighs!




The wine is a nice Sauvignon Blanc. I like cooking with this varietal because its dry, tangy and not buttery or oaky.




Slice up your garlic.




Slice up half of your lemon.




And juice the other half. You are done with your prep!




Get the chicken skin side down in a non stick skillet and get them seasoned with salt and pepper. Add in the wine, garlic, and thyme. Bring this to a boil.




Once its boiling, reduce the heat so it simmers and put the lid on it. You now have 30 minutes to do whatever you like! Go for a walk, read a book or play with your dog. Isn't cooking hard??




After 30 minutes, flip the chicken over and lay a lemon slice on each thigh.




Cover it back up and let it cook for 15 more minutes. While it cooks slice off some butter and grab some aluminum foil.




When the chicken is done, get it out of the pan and under some foil to keep warm.




Bring the liquid back to a boil and let it reduce by half. Remove it from the heat and stir in the butter and parsley.




Once the butter is melted, you are ready to plate.




I served this up with one of those instant rice packets that you just zap in the microwave. This chicken looks good, tastes great, and could not be easier. I hope you give this one a try.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Pork Paprikash

This recipe includes two of my favorite things, pork tenderloin and paprika. If you love both, you are going to adore this recipe. It comes from Everyday Food and I cut it in half.








Start boiling some water and we will prep our ingredients. You will need some egg noodles, sour cream, canned tomatoes, paprika, pork, onion, butter and parsley.




Dice up the onion. Throw your noodles in the boiling water.




Measure out the sour cream and chop up the butter for the noodles.




Chop up the pork into bite sized pieces.




Get it in a bowl with the paprika, salt and pepper.




Toss it around so the pork gets covered in the delicious paprika.




Brown up the pork for 3-5 minutes.




When your pork is browned, get it out of the pan and put in the onions with a little oil.




Your noodles should be done so drain those, toss in the butter and put a lid on it.




Once the onions have cooked for 4-5 minutes, add the pork back in with the tomatoes, water, and more paprika.




Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 2-4 minutes.




Remove from the heat and add in the sour cream.




Give it a stir so that it becomes creamy and delicious.




Plate up the noodles and add the pork over them. Garnish with some parsley and enjoy! I totally loved this dish and will be making it again very soon!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Beef Noodle Casserole

I have been going casserole crazy over here, but I have to get my fill as it is going to be hot here soon enough. Today it is going to be 86, so we are already getting a taste of our summer weather.








This recipe is from Cooking for 2 magazine. Boil up some water and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lets gather the ingredients and get this delicious casserole started.




You need some cream cheese or neufchatel cheese.




Some mozzarella cheese.




When your water is boiling throw in your egg noodles.




I used reduced fat sour cream, the non-fat just doesnt taste the same to me.




Slice up some green onions.




Rough chop the all important garlic. Now we have things prepped so lets start cooking.




Brown up some ground beef. You could also use ground turkey.




To get the excess grease out of the pan I just used the end piece of a loaf of bread.




Add in the tomato, green onion, garlic, green chiles and some salt. Give that a stir and let it heat through.




while that cooks a little, combine the softened cream cheese and sour cream. Drain your noodles and its time to start assembling the casserole!




The first layer is the beef mixture. This combo was delicious and would be great just on some rice or nacho chips.




Layer in the beef.




Add on the noodles.




Layer on the cheese mixture and sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese.




Repeat the layers and finish with one final layer of the beef mixture. Put a lid on it and get it in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Mine baked up in a lovely Autumn Harvest Pyrex casserole.

When its bubbly pull it out and serve it up!




I can't even tell you how good this was! I am so glad it made 3 servings as I enjoyed the leftovers as much as I did the original dish. This sort of reminded me of that Hamburger Helper stuff I used to eat as a kid, but it was a million times better. You definitely need to try this one!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Portobello Spaghetti Casserole

As I live in Arizona, I am trying to get the most use out of my oven as possible before it is 100 degrees outside again. This casserole is a great vegetarian meal that uses portobello mushrooms instead of beef or sausage.








Get a pot of water boiling and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.




You need some sour cream, portobello mushrooms, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, one egg, some spaghetti, pasta sauce, flour, parsley and garlic powder. Cute Pyrex bowl is optional. Whew, that is a lot of stuff, but don't worry this is pretty simple!




Use a spoon to scrape out the underside of the mushroom cap.




Slice them up.




Saute them in a pan with a little oil, salt and pepper. Drop your pasta in the boiling water.




While those saute, break an egg into a bowl.




Measure out the sour cream.




Drop it into the bowl with the egg and add in the Parmesan cheese, flour, parsley, and garlic powder.




Get those ingredients combined.




Drain your pasta and stir that into the sour cream mixture.




Put that into an adorable Pyrex casserole dish, or any old casserole dish you have.




Top it with the sauteed mushrooms.




Pour on the marinara sauce.




I used this delicious marinara from Delallo.




Pop the lid on the casserole and get it into the oven for 30 minutes.




Take it out of the oven and remove the lid when the 30 minutes are up. Top with some mozzarella cheese and put it back in the oven without the lid for another 10-15 minutes.




Pull it out and let it hang out for about 10 minutes, even though it is REALLY hard because it looks and smells delicious.




Plate it up and enjoy!