mains Posts

13Jul
0

Chicken Parmigiana

My husband LOVES Chicken Parmigiana.  Loves it.  I think he’d be willing to eat it 7 nights a week if I’d make it.  I made it for his birthday last year. He loved this recipe SO much.  He has been so incredible throughout my pregnancy, I wish I could make it for him more often to thank him for everything he does.  However, I’m having some serious issues with sauce and severe heartburn.  (and touching raw chicken isn’t so good for my tummy)  Once this baby is born, he’ll be getting it for sure, all the time.  (Just hopefully me eating the sauce doesn’t affect the nursing baby!)

chicken parm

chicken parm

You’ll need~
4 Chicken Breasts
2 Eggs
1 cup Flour
3/4 cup Bread Crumbs
1 tbsp Granulated Garlic
1/4 cup Romano Cheese
Salt and Pepper
2 cups Grated Mozzarella Cheese (or more if you like it cheesy!)
4-5 cups Marinara sauce (depending upon how saucy you like it)
Parmesan Cheese (for sprinkling when done!)
1 lb Spaghetti

To make~
Combine the bread crumbs, garlic, Romano Cheese, salt and pepper.
Dredge the chicken in flour, and then put the chicken into the beaten egg. After chicken is coated in egg place in the bread crumb mixture and cover completely. In a pan over medium heat, add oil and pan fry the chicken. When the chicken is done place on paper towel. Pour some of the marinara on top of the chicken and then top with the mozzarella cheese and melt in the oven. Serve chicken with spaghetti and sauce


Posted by Judy in mains and tagged with ,
22Jun
0

Stuffed Peppers

My husband doesn’t like peppers, but really enjoyed this meal.  Even the kids ate it all up!  SO good!

stuffed peppers

stuffed peppers

You’ll need~
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups orzo
6 sweet bell peppers

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl.  Add the cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.

Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the orzo and cook for 4 minutes. The orzo should be only partially cooked. Use a fine mesh sieve to transfer the orzo to the large bowl with the other vegetables. Stir the orzo into the vegetable mix to combine. Transfer the warm chicken broth to a 3-quart baking dish.

Slice the tops off the peppers and remove all ribs and seeds.

Place the peppers in the baking dish with the warm chicken broth. Spoon the orzo mixture into the peppers. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle the top of each pepper with cheese and continue baking until the cheese is golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully transfer the stuffed pepper to a serving plate.

In the peppers pictured, I also threw in some fresh spinach that I’d had leftover.

Posted by Judy in mains, veggies and tagged with
11Jun
0

Fettuccine Carbonara

The pregnancy is going better, thank goodness (18wks 3days today!).  The seizures I was having have stopped, and the morning sickness has subsided.  I am slowly, but surely, starting to get some energy back.  Hopefully I’ll be back in the kitchen full time soon.  This recipe is for a Fettuccine Carbonara that I’d made before I got pregnant, and just recently came across the picture on my hard drive!  Yay!

You could use any pasta you want, I just happened to have some fettuccine on hand.  Admittedly, when I took this picture, I’d forgotten to add the cheese.  It was a big exciting evening here.  My husband had been outside with the kids when he called me to hurry out.  Our son had ridden his bike, without training wheels, for the very first time!

Fettuccine Carbonara

Fettuccine Carbonara

You’ll need~

1/4 C. flour
1/4 C. butter
1 qt. milk
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
24 slices extra thick bacon
1/4 C. olive oil
3 C. mushrooms, sliced
1 lb. fettuccine, uncooked
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add milk, salt and pepper and stir vigorously with wire whisk until mixture barely comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, whisking frequently while sauce thickens. Keep warm. Cook bacon until fully cooked. Drain on paper towels. Cut into small pieces and stir into sauce. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute sliced mushrooms. Add to sauce. Cook fettuccine according to package directions. Drain well and add to the sauce. Blend well and transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
I am still having problems eating meat with this pregnancy.  I’m not too sure if it’s the meat, or the handling of the meat when I have to cook it.  I’m thinking of attempting once a week cooking.  It will save time, and I won’t have to handle raw meat on meat-eating days.  Hopefully it will work.  I’m still down in the weight gain department.  As a matter of fact, my doctor has ordered me to drink milkshakes!

Posted by Judy in mains and tagged with
21Apr
0

Thai Barbecue Pork

This Thai recipe is a huge hit with my family.  It’s also super easy, so that’s a plus for me!

Thai BBQ Pork

Thai BBQ Pork

You’ll need~

2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp salt
1 lb pork loin
1 tsp Chinese five spice

Cut the pork with the grain into long  thin pieces. Marinade with the rest of the ingredients for at least half an hour or overnight.

Heat the oven to 350 and bake for an hour.

This is so easy, and so very tasty!!

Posted by Judy in Thai, mains and tagged with
12Apr
0

Barbecue Sauce!!

The weather is warming up, and that means I can pull out the grill!    I was out of bottled barbecue sauce, so decided to try to come up with a little something on my own.  Why not, right?

I marinaded some chicken thighs in it, and it was pretty darned good, if I do say so myself.

BBQ chicken

BBQ chicken

You’ll need~
2 cups ketchup
1 quart water
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup each dark-brown sugar, chili powder, fresh lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves of garlic, very finely minced
Boil everything together until thickened, stirring constantly.

I’m sure it would be tasty on other meats as well.  I can’t wait to find out!

Posted by Judy in mains and tagged with
27Mar
0

Bourbon chicken

This is a recipe that the kids absolutely loved and devoured it (even though they initially didn’t want to eat it because they thought it had real bourbon in it and feared becoming drunk?). I think that next time I’ll add a little more heat to it, but I wanted to go easy because the kids don’t do spicy stuff.
I served this over, my son’s favorite, brown rice.

bourbon chicken

bourbon chicken

You’ll need~
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
olive oil
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp ketchup… catsup… whatever
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of water
1/3 cup of soy sauce

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Brown the chicken pieces. While you’re doing that, combine everything else and mix well. Add the mixture to the chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Maybe next time I’d add some corn starch or something to thicken up the sauce a bit.

Posted by Judy in mains and tagged with
15Jan
2

An amazing Pot Roast

There is nothing better on a cold day than comfort food.  Yes, it gets cold here in Florida.  We had days where the high was in the 30′s… I know that to some people that’s nothing, but really, it’s all relative.  Not to mention that we don’t have the cold weather gear that people up north have.  My area did get sleet and flurries, which I did wake my children up for at 3am!  My Florida babies kept getting cold and required coming inside for warm snacks.
But yeah, nothing warms the body and soul like some good comfort food.  It’s also a plus if you have the oven on for awhile!

Delicious Pot Roast

Delicious Pot Roast

This pot roast is just SO good.  It also makes for some great sandwiches the next day!

You’ll need~
Pot Roast (no idea now what size it was)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Mushrooms
Beef Stock
Garlic
Basil

Rinse and pat dry your roast. Rub a lot of pepper and salt into it. Sear it brown on all sides in olive oil in a frying pan. Place in a baking dish. Add mushrooms and stock to frying pan. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add a whole bunch of whole garlic cloves. The more the better. I think I added 20 and wanted more, but then again, I am a garlic addict!  Simmer for a few minutes more.   Pour that over the roast, sprinkle with basil. Bake at 275 degrees for 3 hours, flipping it about 1.5 hours in.

It is so good, especially with a side of garlic mashed potatoes!

Posted by Judy in mains and tagged with
10Dec
5

Khao Mok Kai, Thai-style chicken biryani

Khao Mok Kai

Khao Mok Kai

This came out really well.  I was actually quite surprised at how much my family enjoyed it!  The five year old didn’t even complain that it was McDonald’s night for his school, because it was Thai night at home!  :D

You’ll need~

4 Chicken leg quarters
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl.  Rinse the chicken, pierce with fork and massage the rub into the chicken.  Let the flavors   Roast the chicken legs at 375 degrees for about an hour.

Prepare desired amount of Jasmine rice in a rice cooker (I made enough for 5 prepared servings).  Add in 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp curry, dash of cumin and a dash of ginger.  Cook according to rice cooker directions.

PPCsig

Posted by Judy in Thai, mains and tagged with ,
02Dec
11

Jasmine Fried Rice

Jasmine fried rice with chicken

Jasmine fried rice with chicken

This Thai fried rice is so easy and I always have all the ingredients on hand to make it for my family who loves Thai food.  It’s another super easy and super tasty meal.

You’ll need
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp chopped garlic
4 cups cooked jasmine rice
2 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
soy sauce, to taste
2 scallions, chopped
15-20 thai basil leaves, roughly chopped

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok. Add the beaten egg and cook. Remove from pan.
Heat remaining oil in wok with garlic. Add rice, chicken and peas. Toss until everything is heated through.
Season with soy sauce. Mix in scallions and basil. Transfer to serving dish. Top with egg.

PPCsig

Posted by Judy in Thai, mains
18Nov
0

Stir fried beef in oyster sauce

Stir fried beef in oyster sauce

Stir fried beef in oyster sauce

Another simple and delicious Thai dish. I served this over brown rice, as requested by my son. I also made some fried wontons to go with. That recipe will not make it here as it was a complete and total failure… hey at least I can admit when things don’t go as planned!

You’ll need~
1lb round steak
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped ginger root
3 1/4 cups mixed mushrooms… shiitake, oyster, straw, etc…
1/2 can bamboo shoots
1/2 can baby corn
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
4 scallions, chopped into smallish pieces
red pepper flakes

Slice steak into long thin strips on the diagonal.
Mix soy sauce and cornstarch, add steak and coat it well. Cover and marinade for a couple hours.
Heat half the oil in a wok (or frying pan). Add ginger and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Drain the juice off the steak and toss it in the wok. Stir it up! Cook until the steak is browned and tender, just a couple of minutes. Remove and set aside.
Heat the rest of the oil in the skillet. Add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots and baby corn and stir fry over med. heat until golden brown.
Return the steak to the wok and mix well. Add oyster sauce and sugar. Stir it up. Add the red pepper flakes and toss until it’s all combined. Stir in the scallions and serve!

PPCsig

Posted by Judy in Thai, mains and tagged with
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