"Breadcrumb" Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, and Mushrooms

This is a meal that can masquerade as healthy, for sure.  If you lessen the amounts of butter and salt, it would certainly lessen the masquerading factor, though.  I actually conceived this recipe with inspriation from my co-worker Colleen, who has perfected a weight watchers version of cornflake-breaded oven-fried chicken.  The way the chicken is done here keeps it perfectly moist, and the mashed sweet potatoes are a nice switch from your typical starches. The sauce dolloped on top was an impromptu blend of leftover guacamole ingredients the day before (light mayo, light sour cream, chopped jalapeno, chopped garlic, chopped onion, lime juice, S&P, hot sauce).  I wasn't crazy about the pairing with chicken so I didn't include the recipe on this post, but it would be delicious with swordfish or crabcakes.  I'm hoping to do a seafood dish next week to use it with and post shortly thereafter :)

serves 2-3 with leftovers

Mashed Sweet Potatoes:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced to 1/4" thick

1/2 stick butter

1/4 c heavy cream (you can substitute milk for a healthier version, but you may lose a little texture)

salt to taste

Chicken Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry

1 c flour

1 c cornflake breadcrumbs

1/4 Italian breadcrumbs

1 tsp Grill Time steak seasoning (this is Kroger's generic steak seasoning)

1 egg

1 dollop spicy mustard

S&P

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp EVOO

Green Beans with Mushrooms:

2 handfuls greenbeans (or 1 handful per person)

1 c sliced mushrooms

1 minced garlic clove

1/2 lemon, juice and zest

1 tbsp butter

S&P

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your overn to 425 degrees.

Start with the potatoes...

1.  Slice your sweet potatoes, and cover with water in a large pot or pan.  Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer for the remainder of your cooking time.

While simmering, move on to the chicken....

2.  Dump your flour into a large ziploc bag and add your rinsed/patted chicken breasts.  Shake to coat and transfer breasts to plate.

3.  Crack your egg into a bowl, add the dollop of spicy brown mustard, and just a touch of water to make the egg wash.  Whisk with a fork until well-blended.

4.  Add your conflake crumbs, Italian breadcrumbs, steak seasoning, and S&P to the same ziploc (it's ok if there is leftover flour in it).

5.  Coat your chicken breasts in the egg wash and place into the ziploc with the breadcrumb mixture, one-by-one.  Once all 3 are in there, shake to coat the breasts evenly.  YOu may need to manipulate the bag a little bit to make sure all surfaces are exposed to the crumb mixture.  Transfer breasts back to plate.

6.  Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp EVOO in a large skillet over Medium to Medium-High heat.

7.  Once the oil/butter mixture is hot, carefully place the chicken breast in the pan to sear.  The goal here is to brown the outsides and seal in the moisture before finishing off in the oven.  The second side always sears a little more quickly than the first, so I would advise about 3-4 minutes on the first side and 2-3 on the next.

8.  Once both sides are lightly browned, transfer to a baking dish.  I like to pour the pan drippings over the chicken to try and keep in those flavors and moisture, but you don't have to do this if the idea of it doesn't sit well.  The browned chicken should resemble the picture below.  Place the dish, uncovered in the preheated over for about 20 minutes or until slicing through the thickest part reveals no pink.

9.  The 20 minutes the chicken is baking should leave you plenty of time to finish off your potatoes and complete the green beans.  Get some water boiling next to your potatoes (I often clean out the same pan I used for chicken to minimize dishes).  While waiting, make sure your other ingredients are sliced and ready to go.  Once boiling, place the green beans in boiling water for about 5 minutes.
10.  Drain the greenbeans and run under cold water to stop the cooking (this helps keep them a little crisp). 
11.  Add tbsp butter to the same pan until melted over medium heat.  Add minced garlic and mushrooms and saute for a couple minutes.  Add green beans back to pan and toss with worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, S&P and grate a little lemon zest into the mix. Leave over
12.  Drain your potatoes (they should be fork-tender by now!).  Return to warm pot (burner off) with butter and add cream or milk little by little until reaching desired creaminess.  Add salt to taste.  Transfer to serving dish.
13.  Give your green beans another toss and transfer to a servish dish.
14.  If you haven't already, check on that chicken!!  You won't be able to judge by looks whether the chicken is cooked through, since we browned the outsides.  I swear by cutting in - I don't trust meat thermometers, but if you do, you want the heat to be at least 165 degrees.

Enjoy!

(This is my lady-sized portion, sans mushrooms.)

February showers bring.... March Flowers??

A Flowery Sunrise

This breakfast is a quick way to use up that bell pepper, half-package of bacon, one or two random eggs, and citrus from your fruit basket that's begging to be utilized.  I saw a similar picture on pinterest of an egg fried in a bell pepper ring to replicate a "flower" and  be kid-friendly.  I wish I could give credit to the source, but I didn't click through since the recipe seemed pretty self-explanatory.  Anyway - thank you, whoever "you" are!  Kids or no kids, that's a brilliant way to keep my eggs separate in the pan and appear creative!  I also had to add cheese and scallions - it's a hard bargain for me to enjoy eating just plain egg.  This was the perfect quick and rather healthy breakfast for a Saturday morning.  Certainly, you could healthify it a little more by nixing the cheese, substituting turkey bacon, and using egg whites only.

for 6 servings, as pictured above

Ingredients:

1 bell pepper (will make about 6 rings per pepper - maybe more - need 1 ring per egg)

1/2 package of bacon

2 oranges fruit

6 eggs

1/2 c cheddar cheese

handful of chopped scallions

1 pat butter

S&P

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet on medium heat.  I like to cut my bacon in half length-wise for easier pieces to manage.  Place strips in the heated pan and continue to turn each time the bacon bubbles until reaching desired done-ness.

2.  While my bacon is cooking, I slice the pepper rings, fruit, and scallions.  To slice the pepper rings, slice off the top part where the stem is.  Reach in and pull out the white parts and any remaining seeds.  Slice parallel to original cut, about 1/2-1cm in thickness.  Other slicing self-explanatory:)

3.  As bacon finishes, place strips on a plate lined with paper towels to drain the grease.  Because the eggs don't take very long, and unattended bacon is never good, I like to get it out of the way before focusing on my eggs. 

4.  Melt butter in a separate skillet.  Place pepper rings in pan (don't overcrowd, or flipping wiill be tough!).  Crack an egg into each ring.  Sprinkle each with salt and pepper.  Once you see the white hardening around the yolk about 2-3 minutes, carefully flip!

5. Top each with a bit of shredded cheese, and cover for about 30 seconds to melt cheese nicely.

6.  Transfer to a plate and top with chopped scallions and a litle S&P. Serve with a couple of pieces of bacon and sliced fruit! 

YUM!!!

Meaty Pasta

This meaty past is super-easy to make and just as easy on the wallet - many of the ingredients typical (at least for me) to have around the kitchen.  I always cook with the intention of having leftovers, and this recipe was more than enough for 4 people.  Serve with a simple tossed salad to balance out the carbs a bit!  I used cellentali pasta, but will probably use something else next time.  A linguini or macaroni would be easier to get all the great flavors in one bite.  Angel hair is my absolute favorite with a hearty sauce, but I don't get away with it too often.

serves at least 4, 30 min cooking time

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork/sausage - I like Italian

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 med-large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

1 box pasta

1 jar Ragu pasta sauce

upto 1 c heavy whipping cream

1 tsp oregano

S&P

1 tbsp butter

1-2 tbsp EVOO

Shredded parmesan for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Put your butter and EVOO in a large sauce pan on medium heat.  You want the bottom of the pan to be covered once the butter melts.  Once melted into the EVOO, add your onions and garlic.  While they are simmering, get your sausage ready to go.  After about 2 minutes, add your sausage to the pan and brown, breaking up into little bits as you cook.  I usually turn my burner up a smidge for this part towards Med-High.



2. Put on a pot of water large enough for the pasta, add salt to the water and put over high heat to get it boiling while you're finishing up the sauce.

3.  Once the sausage is thoroughly browned, add your jar of Ragu and 1/2 c heavy cream and stir.  You can add more cream little by little until you reach your desired consistency, but I wouldn't start off too heavy.  Bring to a boil (this shouldn't take long), then turn off heat, but leave on the warm burner. Cover, and allow to simmer while you finish off everything else.  If you haven't gotten the pasta into the boiling water yet, do that now. *Tip: add a tbsp of EVOO to the water to help the pasta keep from sticking together

4.  Once pasta is ready, drain it, and give the sauce a good stir. Season with oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Up to you whether you combine and serve or let guests decide their own pasta to sauce ratio!



Creamy Fettucine with Andouille and Asparagus

This is a simple concept that I often put a twist on with whatever meats/veggies I have available. Andouille sausage is such a great addition to almost any dish - it's sweet with a little kick and will rev up even the most boring basic weeknight staple.  The asparagus has the perfect crunch to make you feel good about getting your veggies into this potenitally heart-attack-worthy dish.  There are, however, alterations you can use to try and make it a little more healthy.  You could substitute whole grain rice for the pasta, or chicken for the sausage, even out the heavy whipping cream with some skim milk (if you can tolerate a thinner sauce).  The veggies and sausage is also great all on its own.  My favorite alteration, which I'll post the next time I create, is using andouille sausage and shrimp. I often keep the pasta and meat/veggie sautee separate so guests can choose how much they carb-load :)

Ingredients:

serves 4

1 package (4 links) Andouille sausage (Aidell's is a great brand for my favorite sausages)

1 bunch asparagus, tough ends cut off and chopped into 1" sections on the bias

1 lg or 2 md cloves garlic, smashed and minced

handful chopped onions (optional)

1 box pasta

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 c shredded parmesan

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp flour

1 tbsp EVOO

S&P

5 tbs  butter (a little more than 1/2 stick)

Directions:

1.  Get your pasta water salted and boiling.  I use this time to chop my veggies and meat.  Mix your chopped sausage and asparagus (leave out onion and garlic) in a bag or a bowl with the EVOO, balsamic vinegar, lime juice, cayenne pepper, and chili powder.

2.  Once the pasta water is boiling, get the pasta in there before starting to saute your meat and veggies. Tip: adding a little olive oil to the pasta once it's in the water will help keep your noodles from sticking together.  Giving it a couple of minutes (but not much more) after it's finished cooking will help the sauce stick to the noodles better

3. Add 1 tbsp butter to a skillet on medium heat.  Once it's melted, add your chopped onions and garlic and stir until translucent and/or fragrant (about 2 minutes).

4. Add your meat and veggies to the skillet.  Mix evenly and cover, stirring every couple of minutes.



5. In a smaller saucepan, melt the other 4 tbsp butter until melted on medium heat.  Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil.  Once bubbling, stir and remove from heat, add in your cheese and set aside to let it melt into the sauce and thicken.

6. Once pasta is al-dente (about 10 - 12 minutes), drain.  After getting your sauce and saute skillet ready, your pasta should be about ready depending on your speed.  Check on your meat and veggies, giving it a good toss, while the pasta drains fully.

7. Return pasta to it's pot/pan and place back on the stove over a burner that may be still warm or turn one on low heat.  Sprinkle your flour over top - this is optional, but helps the sauce cling to the pasta and thicken a little bit.



8. Stir your sauce up with S&P to taste and pour over pasta.  Toss until it starts to thicken and remove from heat.  You can let sit a little bit off the heat if you prefer to allow more thickening. 

9.  Serve hot, and top with your meat/veggie mixture.  You can also toss all together if you want (as pictured).  I like to keep the flavors separate and let guests experiment with which they want more of.





Great Guac!

HOLY GUACAMOLE!

I like to thing this is one of my "signature" appetizers.  Beginning with my Dad's guidance back in high school, I've been making this guacamole for about 10 years now iwth 100% success rate.  Spicy and salty is my preference, but you can adjust to your liking.  The key is getting to know your avocados - I like to buy the firm ones a few days ahead of time and let them ripen to perfection in my fruit basket.  There should be just a little give when you squeeze, but it shouldn't visibly give way to the pressure. *Tip: save the pit of at least one avocado and plop into the dip, cover, and refrigerate until you're ready to serve to prevent browning.

Ingredients:

4 avocados

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 lime

fresh cilantro (about 1-2 tbsp chopped depending on taste)

S&P

1 tomato (optional)

1 jalapeno (optional - or increase for spice!)

1/2 red onion (optional)

Hot Sauce (optional)

Instructions:

1.  I like to chop everything but the avocados and tomatoes first - they're the messiest.  Smash garlic cloves by hitting them with the back of your knife, peel, and chop.  Add to medium size bowl.  Chop 1 tbsp cilantro, red onion, and jalapeno, and add to bowl.

2. For the avocados, cut in half lengthwise around the pit.  To remove pit, whack your knife blad into it (carefully!).  In a ripe, not rotten avocado, the pit should pull out rather easily on your knife blade as you retract it - I will post a picture next time I do it to demonstrate for you avocado virgins out there.  I find that scraping out the insides lightly with a spoon (sort of like shaving it out a little at a time) makes the mixing/mashing process quite painless for smooth guacamole.  You can also peel the skin, chop, and mash the ingredients together after if you prefer chunkier guac or can't get the shaving motion down. 

3. Chop and add your tomato if you're choosing to use one - you should be pretty messy by now!  Go ahead and rinse off.

4. Squeeze 1/2 of the lime over the bowl.  Add a little S&P, and mash until everything is thouroughly mixed and mashed to desired consistency.  Continue adding your seasonings and/or hot sauce until it tastes right for you!

A Hearty Winter Dinner: Slow-Cooker Beef Short Ribs, Green Beans, and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

This meal is great for Sundays.  You can prepare it in peices between the day's other domestic demands.  I love to get the short-ribs in the crockpot by about 10 or 11am so that dinner can be ready anytime between 6pm-8pm.  Spending the day in the slow-cooker makes the ribs fall-off-the-bone tender, and all feedback so far points to the leftovers being just as big of (if not more of) a hit!  I'm the queen of overserving - The meat and veggies from the crockpot alone are plenty, but I like to have mashed potatoes to absorb some of those cooking juices and green beans to add a little color and balance out the cholesterol!  This picture is actually of leftovers - I forgot to take one on Sunday when I made them.  Imagine how juicy and tender they were the first time around! 

FALL-OFF-THE-BONE BEEF SHORT RIBS

 





Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
2-3 shortribs PER person (I usally get 3 so I have leftovers - I maxed out the crockpot with 15)
1 onion
3 celery stalks
15 baby carrots or 1.5 c sliced carrots
flour (approx 1/4 c per 4 ribs) - OPTIONAL
S&P
1 c red wine
1 c beef broth
EVOO

Intructions:
1. Rinse and pat dry your short ribs.
2. Mix together flour and generous amounts of salt (I always use sea salt) and pepper.  Put in a large ziploc with ribs and shake to coat.  The flour helps the ribs brown and seal in the moisture. This step is OPTIONAL, but if skipping the flour, don't forget the S&P!3. Coat the bottom of a pan with EVOO till about 1 cm high and heat on Med-High until the oil starts to bubble a little bit.
3. While waiting for oil to heat, chop your veggies.  You can substitute or add what you have in your fridge - chopped potatoes and mushrooms work well too.
4. Once oil is heated, brown your ribs on all sides (about 2 min per side) and transfer to crockpot.  I end up doing this in batches of about 4 so that I don't crowd the pan.
5. After browning all ribs and transfering to crockpot, turn heat down to Medium and add your veggies to the pan (don't dump the juices!).  Season with a little S&P - sometimes I add a little rosemary.  Saute until fragrant and spoon out over ribs in the crockpot. 
6. Add your chicken broth and wine to the juices and bring to a boil.  Turn off heat and let stand while you clean up a bit.  Pour over ribs and veggies and set your crockpot to cook on low.  This should be timed 7-9 hours before you're ready to eat.

MY DAD'S CREAMY GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients:

(This recipe serves at least 4)

2.5 lbs yukon gold potatoes

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1-2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 stick butter

S&P

Instructions:

1. Slice potatoes into 1/4 in slices(leave skin on) and peel garlic. *Tip: smash clove with the back of your knife for easy peeling and flavor release!

2. Place potatoes and garlic in cold water and leave for upto 4 hours before boiling.  *Tip: I just do this in the pot I plan to boil in for easy transfer to the stove.

3. About 35 minutes before you plan to eat, place pot of water, garlic, and potatoes on the stove over med-high and allow to simmer until it's time to smash and serve.  Make sure you have enough water to completely submerge potatoes in your pot.

4. Just before you're ready to serve, drain the potatoes and garlic and turn off heat.  Add butter to pot and return potatoes/garlic overtop.  Pour in 1 c cream (you can sub or mix in skim milk if looking to cut the fat).  Let the potatoes absorb the butter and cream while you set the table or clear some counter space.  Smash potatoes to desired texture.  Add cream in small doses until you reach desired creaminess and sesason with S&P to taste.  Serve hot!

CITRUSY GREEN BEANS

This recipe is super-fast and super-easy.  Typically, I take a break from my Sunday laundry or school work about 2 hours before I hope to serve dinner to prep the potatoes and green beans, so that all I have left to do is turn on the burners!  But you can wait until the last 10 minutes before serving for the green beans if you choose to.

Ingredients:

Green Beans (I grab at least a handful per person)

1 lemon

1 tbsp butter

Sea Salt

Instructions:

Boil green beans for 4-8 minutes depending on desired tenderness (beans should be submerged with water boiling for this time period).  As I mentioned above, I typically submerge the beans in water when I'm prepping the potatoes and just place on the stove until about 15-20 minutes before serving.  This allows time for the water to simmer and boil and eliminates the waiting for water to boil element.

Turn off heat and drain when beans reach desired tenderness.  Return pan to stove and add butter.  Return beans over butter and grate some zest from the lemon overtop.  Season with salt, toss, and serve.  In the above picture, I added a bit of orange zest as well.  Easy!



'Rita on 'Roids

This powerful, not-your-everyday-margarita was inspired by a great friend of mine's mother.  While visiting the Mills' condo in St. Pete, FL, I was the only girl on spring break with 5 of my closest guy-friends.  When Joe's parents came to join us, needless to say, Joe's mom (Kay) and I were quickly ready for some girl time.  Little did I know, I would soon be introduced to the most deceivingly delicious margaritas that I had ever tasted - I did not anticipate the spill-all-your-secrets-knock-you-on-your-ass effect they had on me!  All it takes is some good quality tequila, some elbow grease, and the wise words of Kay Mills to make the appropriately dubbed "Millsarita."  Here's my twist on the Millsarita:

Ingredients: 

(makes a pitcher - approx. 6 margaritas)

6 limes

6 lemons

3 oranges

1 grapefruit (optional)

6 oz simple syrup*

9 shots of amazing tequila (I use Herradura - Mama Mills uses Don Julio)

3 shots triple sec (or Grand Marnier for a Mama Mills version)

3 shots club soda

Directions:

Juice the fruit for some fresh-squeezed citrus and strain to remove any chunks or seeds. Combine freshly-squeezed juice with the other ingredients and pour between two pitchers to blend well.

Blend with or serve over ice in your favorite margartia glasses! Garnish with any extra fruit if desired.

*To make simple syrup, bring 1 cup water to a boil.  Add 1 cup sugar, remove from heat, and stir until sugar is disolved.