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I hope you all enjoyed your New Year’s Eve celebration.…. saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming in the new year.
You now have 365 days of blank pages for the next chapter in your life and I hope it is your best year yet.
Bob and I had a small celebration filled with friends, finger food, and fun, watching the ball drop on TV and welcoming in the New Year 2023.
We enjoyed a variety of hors d’oeuvres and shrimp cocktail plus an assortment of different styles of chicken wings and some chips and dips – strictly fingers foods.
Included in some of my finger foods was a favorite recipe of mine for a 5 ingredient “Apple Jalapeno Chicken Wings” which is so delicious and easy with the help of a jar of jelly from Stonewall Kitchen and a little bourbon.
I wanted to repost the recipe (see below). I hope you give it a try.
And of course, we had to end the night with Prosecco and an Italian cheesecake- simply delicious. A little denser than a NY Cheesecake and has the flavor of anisette.
I hope your celebration was the start to a healthy, happy, and prosperous year to follow…… stay well!
Until my next post, make every day a celebration!
Stay well,
Diane
Apple Jalapeno Chicken Wings
This is a 5 ingredient recipe that I learned how to make back in 2014 when I took a cooking class at the Stonewall Kitchen headquarters in Maine. Simply delicious and works for a barbecue, Superbowl, or any time you need an easy delicious chicken wing recipe. I hope you try it and enjoy it.
Ingredients:
1 cup Stonewall Kitchen Apple Jalapeno Jelly
½ cup water
¼- ½ cup bourbon (I used 1/2 cup)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 pounds of chicken wings
Directions:
In a food processor, puree the Stonewall Kitchen Apple Jalapeno Jelly.
In a large skillet place the Stonewall Kitchen Apple Jalapeno Jelly, water, bourbon, and butter over medium heat. When melted stir until uniform.
Add the chicken wings. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another 30 minutes, turning the wings several times. The sauce should thicken, but do not allow it to burn.
Remove wings and finish under the broiler until golden brown. Serve hot with reserved sauce from a skillet.
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Hi everyone,
I hope you are all well and staying comfortable and cool dealing with the heatwave we are having.
I knew today was going to be extremely hot so I got up early and decided to cook dinner while the kitchen was still cool. Tonight’s dinner is a favorite of my son and it is Chicken Marsala. Nice and easy and so flavorful and fairly quick to make. I am looking for all shortcuts during the heatwave.
Bob and I have been going out to dinner the past few nights dealing with the heat and not wanting to cook but I am getting tired of eating out and needed a home-cooked meal.
I wanted to share this recipe with you (serves 4) if you needed a new idea for dinner. I am serving this with one of my favorite Summer salads that I have previously posted which is tomatoes, peaches, burrata, and fresh basil with a light lemon/olive oil vinaigrette.
8 oz of baby Bella mushrooms (or assorted mixed mushrooms)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup dry Marsala wine
1 ½ cups chicken stock
1 yellow onion sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Season both sides of the chicken breast with salt and pepper and dredge in the AP flour (shake off excess)
Add the chicken to the pan and sear on each side for 3-5 minutes, turning once until golden brown, remove to a plate.
If needed, add a little more oil and butter to the pan if it is dry. Add the onions and the mushrooms and a dash of salt to draw out the liquid and sauté until the onions are caramelized and the mushrooms are soft (approx. 10 minutes). ADD the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.
ADD the Marsala wine to the pan and let it reduce to half scraping up all the bits on the bottom of the pan.
ADD the chicken stock and the sauteed chicken with any juices that have accumulated on the plate, bring to a boil, and then reduce to medium and cook for another 10 minutes to cook the chicken through and thicken the sauce.
Remove the chicken to your serving platter and add 1 tbsp of butter that has been dredged in flour to the sauce, cook for a few minutes to thicken, and ADD the chopped parsley. Check for seasoning and serve this sauce over the chicken.Enjoy!
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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!
Stay well,
Diane
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Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post…
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I wanted to share with you the special dinner I made Bob for Father’s Daythis past weekend.
I hope all the dads, grandpa’s, godfathers, dad’s to be and pet dads had a wonderful day!
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I knew restaurants would be crowded for Father’s Day and we would be staying home, so I was thinking about a meal that I could make for Bob that would be a surprise. Something I could make at home that wasn’t on the usual dinner rotation, and then the lightbulb went off.
A few years ago, before my heart transplant and Covid arrived, Bob and I spent many days and nights in NYC visiting restaurants, museums, Broadway plays, and yes, even tourist sights. We love NYC.
One afternoon we stopped in a restaurant near Chelsea Market that was a real old-fashioned Mom and Pop red sauce Italian restaurant (sorry I can’t remember the name) and we ordered their special of the day which was chicken parmigiana but in the style of a pizza. Ground chicken with mozzarella, red sauce, and basil- plain, simple and delicious.
Recently, I have asked around on Facebook and with friends to see if anyone knew of a restaurant closer to my home that made this dish and no one could give me an answer. So, I decided for this Father’s Day I would try and make it myself.
So I did a little research on the best way to fry the chicken in a disc and gathered my ingredients and put it all together. Bob was quite surprised and enjoyed the chicken parmigiana “pizza” style as we remembered the little restaurant where we first tasted it.
It came out great but the only thing I would change next time is the size of the pizza. I only had an 8″ cake pan and a 10″ high-sided skillet and the chicken crust came out a little thicker than I would have liked so I would prepare this again using a 10″ cake pan and fry it in a 12″ high-sided skillet next time. But we were very happy with the results and I wanted to share this recipe with you…..
Chicken Parmigiana – “Pizza Style”
Ingredients:
1 lb. of ground chicken
3-4 cups of Breadcrumbs (I made my own from Italian bread and seasoned them myself) but you could use packaged Italian seasoned breadcrumbs or panko or a combination of both breadcrumbs styles- your choice. —– Season the breadcrumbs with dried parsley and some grated cheese for extra flavor.
6 large eggs, beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper
Additional grated cheese for serving- I use Locatellicheese
1 cup red sauce – I used homemade sauce but you could use jarred sauceor canned pizza sauce.
6 leaves of fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp oregano
dried parsley
3 cups peanut oil (I use that to fry) but you could use canola or a light olive oil
COOKS NOTE: any leftover eggs and seasoned breadcrumbs can be combined and fried. My grandmother called these “egg cutlets” and they are crispy and delicious. Give them a try…
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Materials needed:
I prefer a 10” round cake pan(I used an 8 ” cake pan for this pizza)
12” deep-sided round skilletor saute pan
2 large metal spatulas
Wire rack
3 aluminum half-size steam table trays(for easy clean-up for the breading station).
Pizza stone or cookie sheet
Directions:
Let’s get ready to prep…this meal takes two days
In a bowl, season your ground chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and poultry seasoning
Make the crust– use a cake pan lined with plastic wrap and add the seasoned ground chicken. Mold the chicken into a thin circular disc. Then wrap in the plastic wrap and place in the freezer overnight.
READY FOR THE FREEZER
The next day, prepare your breading station. I used 3 aluminum half-sizetrays for flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs
Take the chicken out of the freezer and do not thaw
(Food saver gloves can come in handy now)
Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour until fully coated then shake off the excess.
Next drop the chicken disc intothe eggs, coat fully, and shake off excess
Then into the breadcrumbs. Pat the breadcrumbs into the chicken but be gentle not to break the chicken disc. Fill all the areas on both sides until there is no more egg or chicken visible. The disc has to be fully coated in breadcrumbs.
Then wrap the disc and put it back in the freezer for another hour to firm up.
Once the hour is over, remove the chicken from the freezer and work quickly before it starts to thaw.
Heat the oil on medium in a high-sided skillet or sauté pan (approx. 1 inch of oil in the pan). When the oil is hot ADD the frozen chicken disc, it should sizzle immediately.
COOKS NOTE: you can tell when the oil is hot enough by placing a wooden spoon in the oil- when bubbles appear, the oil is hot enough to fry…
When the edges of the chicken start to look golden, with the two metal spatulas, gently lift the chicken from the skillet onto a plate. Place another plate over it and gently flip the chicken.
Now gently slide the chicken back into the oil and fry the 2nd side until fully brown.
Remove the chicken and let it dry on a wire rack.
At this point, preheat the broiler to high
Place the chicken on a pizza stone or cookie sheet pan and assemble the chicken like a pizza……. Add sauce, then grated cheese, and then shredded mozzarella.
Place under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. Garnish with fresh torn basil.
Cut and serve as a pizza. Side dishes to complement the pizza can be salad or sauteed broccoli rabe.Enjoy!
I hope you try this recipe and enjoy every bite!
To finish our Father’s Day celebration, I bought Bob a chocolate mousse cheesecake with a thick ganache topping to complete the celebration.
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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!
Stay well,
Diane
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Hope all is well. Happy to say that my healing is complete with my eye surgery and I am back in business and can see clearly now to write my entry to the blog.
We had a little celebration here last night and it was our “Dating Anniversary”.
This year we celebrated the 37th year of our first date or as Bob likes to refer to it, our 13,513 days together!
My husband is the biggest romantic and very, very thoughtful and since we started dating, Bob has always celebrated and bought me a little gift for every anniversary of our first date, engagement date, and wedding date. The months have blossomed into years and he has never missed an anniversary.
Yesterday he bought flowers and an occasion cake (carrot cake, one of our favorites) and I made dinner at home this year and made Chicken Francese meatballs and served it over tri-color spaghetti.
This is the recipe I want to share with you today. So, let’s get started
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Chicken Francese Meatballs
Serves 4- approx. 6 meatballs a serving
Ingredients:
1 pound ground chicken
2- 3 cloves of garlic -minced
1 large egg – lightly beaten
½ cup breadcrumbs – seasoned or panko, your choice
½ cup grated cheese – I use Locatelli
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp Calabrian chili peppers in a jar OR crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Ingredients for Lemon Wine Sauce:
1 shallot- diced small
2 cloves of garlic- minced
Salt to taste
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup white wine
2 cups no-salt chicken broth
1 large lemon cut into round slices
½ lemon zested and juiced
2 tbsp parsley
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, set aside
Prepare a pot of water for boiling the pasta and follow the pasta package directions
In a medium-sized bowl add the ground chicken, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, grated cheese, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder, crushed Calabrian chili peppers OR red pepper flakes, salt & pepper.
Mix well with your hands but DON’T OVERMIX, just combine
Shape the meatballs into balls no bigger than 1 inch – aim for 24 meatballs
Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet
READY FOR THE OVEN
Cook the meatballs for about 20 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees….. once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside
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Once the meatballs are in the oven, make the pan sauce
In a large 12-inch skillet, add butter, shallots, and garlic with a touch of salt
Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the white wine
Let it simmer for 2 minutes. Add in the lemon zest, lemon juice, sliced lemons, and the chicken stock
Simmer until the mixture has cooked down slightly, 5 minutes
Add the cooked meatballs and additional parsley and mix to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes
Add the cooked pasta, mix well and simmer for 2-3 minutes to combine the flavors and reduce the sauce a bit.
The final dish…
Cooks Note: if you don’t want the meatballs over pasta, you could serve them in sandwiches, over rice, or over a vegetable.
Cooks Note: these are the crushed Calabrian Chili Peppers
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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!
Stay well,
Diane
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I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. I just wanted to share an old recipe with you that I added a “secret ingredient” to and it seemed to work out very well for me,and I just had to tell you about it.
When my son was still living at home, it seemed that I made Buffalo-Style Chicken Wings for him and his friends on a regular basis.
Back then I deep fried them and dipped them in Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and melted butter served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.
(No wonder he went to school in Buffalo, NY- close to “Anchor Bar” and the original hot wings recipe.)
Since then, I now bake our chicken wings and I started to use a dry spice rub on the wings before baking and then finish with the hot sauce, butter, and addition of minced garlic and honey.
You are probably wondering what my secret ingredient is and it is BAKING POWDER….. NOT baking soda.
A few recipes I recently came across used baking powder on the chicken to dry out the skin and make the chicken extra crispy and I am here to say it worked.
The skin was crispy on the outside and the chicken was juicy on the inside. I hope you all give it a try.
So here is my new and improved recipe for
Baked Buffalo Style Wings
Ingredients:
2- 3 pounds of chicken wings (whole or they can be halved into party style separated at the joint into drumettes and flats).
1 tbsp. BAKING POWDER
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp fresh black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp dried parsley (optional)
Cooks Note: if there are other spices you prefer, feel free to switch the spices to your liking and customize your wings, just don’t forget the baking powder.
For Sauce:
4 tbsp melted butter
½ cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
1 tbsp honey
1-2 minced garlic cloves
Cooks Note: if you can find “ Little Vicki’s Garlic Honey”, in your grocery store, that product is perfect for this recipe.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Line a broiler pan with foil and spray the top of the broiler pan with cooking spray OR line a sheet pan with foil and place a non-stick oven safe rack on top of the pan.
Pat the chicken wings dry with a paper towel and place them in a large bowl. Add the BAKING POWDER and the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, coriander, dried parsley, and chili powder.
Toss the chicken evenly with the Baking Powder and the spices
Place the wings on the rack in a single layer
Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the wings are light golden in color and crispy
Remove the wings to a bowl and set them aside
In a small bowl, whisk the minced garlic, melted butter, and Franks Hot Sauce
Pour the sauce over the chicken wings and toss well to evenly coat
Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese or ranch dressing
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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!
Stay well,
Diane
Please ask your family and friends to “follow”, “like” and “share” DishingwithDiane.com
Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post…
Also, continue to send me your comments, I love hearing from you.
Good morning … I recently made Chicken Marsala and posted it to my personal Facebook page and received a lot of requests for the recipe so I decided to share the recipe on my blog as well. I hope you try it and enjoy it.
This recipe can be made with chicken breast cutlets or turkey cutlets and also a variety of mushrooms. Mix and match the mushrooms and make the perfect combination for you.
I usually serve this meal with a baked potato, sweet potato, brown rice or roasted brussels sprouts.
I find if you pound the chicken cutlets ahead of time up until the dredging in flour step (don’t dredge before you are ready for the oil or the flour and cutlet will get gummy and too moist), dinner comes together rather quickly. Enjoy!
Until my next post, make every day a celebration!
Stay well,
Diane
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Ingredients:
2 packages turkey or chicken cutlets or scallopini (sliced thin)
½ cup all purpose flour (I used Wondra or 00 flour)
¼ cup shallots, minced
2 garliccloves, minced
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp thyme
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2- (8 oz packages) of white button mushrooms-sliced OR-1 package white button, 1 pkg cremini and 2 portobello caps sliced
1-cup sweet marsala wine
2 cups low sodium chickenstock
3 tbsp sour cream (NOT reduced fat, it will make watery sauce w/reduced fat)
2 tbsp snipped fresh chives or 3 tbsp dried
Sprinkle a small amount of water on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Place 2-4 cutlets on top of the plastic and sprinkle again with water (not too much).
Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap or waxed paper and pound with a rolling pin or meat pounder until ¼ inch thick. Repeat with the remaining cutlets.
Mix the flour, thyme, salt and pepper in a shallow pie plate
Heat half the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until almost smoking
Working in batches, place the cutlets in the flour mixture and turn to coat on all sides. Shake off theexcess flour and add to the skillet
Cook 2-3 minutes on each side. Repeat with the remaining oil and cutlets
Transfer to a plate or platter and cover loosely with foil until you have prepared all the cutlets
Add the cold butter to the skillet and heat until melted and foamy.
Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes
Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until almost all of the liquid that the mushrooms give off has evaporated and the mushrooms are a nice golden color about 5 minutes
Pour in the marsala, increase the heat to high, and cook stirring, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated
Add the chicken stock and simmer on medium high for 3 minutes.
Return the cutlets to the skillet and simmer, turning often until the cutlet is warmed through and the sauce has thickened, about 2 minutes (If it is easier for you, do this step-in batches)
Transfer the cutlets to a warm serving platter
Stir the sour cream and chives into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper and spoon over the cutlets*
*If the sauce is too thin for your liking adding 1 tbsp of cornstarch to thicken it up
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Hi Everyone,
I hope you are well.
I haven’t been cooking much lately since I came home from the hospital but Bob was craving a roasted chicken and I did manage to prepare that using a new recipe and it was absolutely Fabulous!
So I have to share it.
I keep reading about “engagement chicken”. If you are not familiar with the story, here is an excerpt from an article I read inThe Daily Meal byCarlton Jared Lockett.
“The recipe was developed by Kim Bonnell, who gave it to co-worker Kathy Suder to prepare for her boyfriend. Soon afterward, the couple was engaged. The recipe was so spot-on that it became a hit in their office. Three other colleagues tried this secret weapon, and marriage proposals soon followed. Even Howard Stern’s wife used the recipe to win his heart. Some say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach — maybe this recipe will win your beau’s eternal affections”.
Cute, right? It is even what Meghan Markle made Prince Harry for dinner before he proposed. I wasn’t looking for another marriage proposal but I had to try this chicken recipe. When I saw how easy it was, I was ready to cook.
I used the recipe courtesy of Ina Garten and added a few side dishes, mustard & brown sugar-glazed carrots ( I make this every year for Thanksgiving) and smashed Yukon gold potatoes.
It was a quick and delicious meal.
(PS- I didn’t get a marriage proposal but Bob did say that he loved the chicken. And loved that I made it for him even when I didn’t feel well. That is what you do after 34 years together, you take care of each other.)
I hope you give all of these recipes a try and enjoy them as much as we did.
They could be a nice addition to your Thanksgiving table.
Prep Time:5 min ***Cook Time:1 hr. 35 min***Level: Intermediate***Serves:3 Courtesy of Ina Garten…
Ingredients
1 (4 to 5 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
1 whole head garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
Good olive oil
2 Spanish onions, peeled and thickly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove and discard the chicken giblets. Pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Cut the lemons in quarters, place 2 quarters in the chicken along with the garlic and reserve the rest of the lemons. Brush the outside of the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the chicken in a small (11 by 14-inch) roasting pan. (If the pan is too large, the onions will burn.) Place the reserved lemons and the sliced onions in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Pour the mixture around the chicken in the pan.
Roast the chicken for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and a thigh. Remove the chicken to a platter, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the sauce, leaving the lemons and onions in the pan.
Place the pan on top of the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits. Add the stock and sprinkle on the flour, stirring constantly for a minute, until the sauce thickens. Add any juices that collect under the chicken. Carve the chicken onto a platter and serve with the lemons, onions, and warm sauce.
Brown sugar caramelized with butter and Dijon mustard creates a sweet-hot glaze for carrots. A sprinkling of fresh chives adds a colorful finish.
Ingredients:
Salt, to taste
8 large carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh chives or flat-leaf Italian parsley
Directions:
Bring a saucepan three-fourths full of water to a boil over high heat. Salt the water, add the carrots and cook until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
Return the carrots to the pan and set over medium heat. Add the butter, mustard and brown sugar, season with salt and pepper, and stir gently to coat. Cook, stirring constantly until the carrots are evenly glazed. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and sprinkle with the chives. Serve hot.
These potatoes are incredibly tender on the inside yet amazingly crisp on the outside!
INGREDIENTS:
24 ounces Dutch yellow baby potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
In a large pot of boiling water, cook potatoes until tender, about 15-20 minutes; drain well.
Place potatoes onto the prepared baking sheet. Using a potato masher or fork, carefully smash the potatoes until flattened but still in one piece. Top with olive oil, garlic, and thyme.
Place into oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.
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Hi Everyone,
I hope you are all well.
I am back. I had a little bit of a setback in my heart transplant healing with a very strong virus and I ended up spending 12 days in the hospital. The virus is under control but I had to come home with a PICC line in my arm so I can continue IV medication at home.
I have been home for a week and needless to say, there hasn’t been much cooking going on here. When I first got home Bob and I were eating the meals that I had frozen from previous dinners.
It seems that it is still “a blessing” that after seven years that my son hasn’t lived home, I still can’t cook for two people and I use my mother’s recipes that serve 4-6. This allows us to package individual meals and use the food saver to freeze meals for a later date and they came in handy this week. I usually use the frozen dinners for days I am too tired to cook or have a full day of doctor appointments.
The other day I had a bit more energy and I was in the mood for Mom’s Chicken Cacciatore over egg noodles. I made the dish and posted it to some of my Facebook food groups and were asked by so many for the recipe that I thought I would post it to the blog to share with all my members.
I hope you give it a try and enjoy it.
Chicken Cacciatore aka Hunter’s Stew
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, bone-in, skin-on and each breast cut in half for smaller pieces….(I use thighs and drumsticks, but use whatever pieces you like)
10 oz. mushrooms, (I use a combo of white button and cremini)
1 onion, diced medium
1 small yellow and 1 small red pepper, diced medium
4 small carrots, peeled and sliced
5 garlic cloves, peeled and shaved
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup white wine
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
2-3 diced Roma tomatoes (I use 1 pint of grape tomatoes –cut in half.)
Assorted herbs, parsley, basil, oregano and thyme to taste
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Optional:pitted kalamata olives, a large handful
Instructions:
Season chicken with salt, pepper, and sprinkled oregano.
Heat a heavy cast-iron skillet, drizzled with olive oil.
Place chicken skin side down and do not move it until it reaches a deep golden brown and it’s easy to turn, brown the other side for a few minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.
Add vegetables, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, a few sprigs of thyme (tie the thyme with kitchen cooking twine to make it easier to pull the stems out),sauté for 5 minutes.
Add wine and let it reduce.
Add chicken broth and tomatoes.
Toss in 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper and chopped fresh basil.
Place the chicken back into the pan and sink into the juices.
Simmer on LOW uncovered on the stovetop, for a couple of hours or until chicken falls off the bone.
Garnish with fresh parsley and remove thyme stems.
Serve with cooked pasta, egg noodles, polenta or warm crusty bread
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Hi Everyone,
Hope this post finds you well.
I promised more recipes during my recoveryand I have another recipe to share that I posted a few weeks back on Facebook. I think you will like this one. Ciao!
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I am getting around a little bit more, so Bob and I have been taking it slow and cleaning the garage and preparing donation boxes.When I get tired, Bob continues on his own. You could say I am a little late on my Spring cleaning….
Bob was cleaning the garage mezzanine and came in the house with a box and said, “Look what I found?” These four words always get me excited because I have collected so much stuff over 31 years of marriage, that I never know what I might stumble upon and most definitely I forgot about it tucked away in the attic or basement or garage.
Well, this was the case with the mystery box. I peaked inside and a flood of memories came back to me.
It was a waffle boat maker.
I know that doesn’t sound that memorable, but when my son was little we would eat ice cream in waffle boats with sprinkles and whipped cream on the patio after soccer practice and just talk about anything and everything.
It was a great one on one time with my son.
Bob asked if we should keep the waffle maker or donate it andthen the bell in my head went off with an idea.
One of my favorite meals to order at brunch is “Chicken and Waffles”.
What if I prepared fried chicken wings in waffle boats? And at that moment, I knew what we were having for dinner. Bob went out to Whole Foods to buy waffle mix and a few packages of chicken wings and when he got back, I got to work.
My favorite recipe for fried chicken is a recipe from Ina Garten for oven fried chicken – easy preparation and it starts off in the frying pan for three minutes and finishes baking in the oven. Of course I had to tweak the recipe a bit–see cooks notes.
Very easy, and the chicken is always crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.Her recipe calls for marinating the chicken overnight in buttermilk, but in this case I only marinated the chicken for two hours because I couldn’t wait.
Cooks Note:To the buttermilk, I added 1- 1/2 tsps. of dried tarragon and a splash of sriracha sauce.
(I will share the recipe at the end of the post).
Now, what to serve with this and the first request Bob had was French fries so that was an easy decision. Cole slaw or mashed potatoes with gravy would be nice also.
I am serving the chicken with three condiments- maple syrup, honey and hot sauce. (I loveMike’s Hot Honey on chicken- unfortunately for me, I can no longer have raw honey so I have to settle for the pasteurized“honey in the plastic bear bottle”.
Making the waffle boats were a snap with the mix and dinner was ready in no time. For the full experience with this meal, Bob and I had ice cream for dessert.
BTW– this is the waffle boat maker that I used. I have had it so long it is considered a “collectible” online.How is that for making someone feel old? A collectible appliance.
It can be found on Amazon from various sellers- price varies from $147 to $300.
VillaWare 2007 UNO Series Waffle Boat Maker
It was a great dinner with lots of memories and one I am sure any child(that is children of all ages)would love to have fried chicken wings in a waffle boat.
Oven- Fried Chicken
recipe courtesy of Ina Garten and Food Network
Ingredients:
2 chickens (3 pounds each), cut in eight serving pieces
1 quart buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil or vegetable shortening
COOKS NOTES:
FOR MY ADD ON…tarragon & hot sauce
Adjust the buttermilk amount according to chicken quantity…
Directions:
Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and coat each piece thoroughly with the flour mixture. Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot to a depth of 1 inch and heat to 360 degrees on a thermometer.
Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until the coating is a light golden brown (it will continue to brown in the oven). Don’t crowd the pieces. Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan. Allow the oil to return to 360 degrees before frying the next batch. When all the chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot.
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I hope you have a chance totry this recipe.
Until my next post, make every day a celebration!
Stay well,
Diane
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Hi Everyone.
First of all, I hope that you are all safe & warm from the inclement weather that is sweeping across the country.
Here in the Northeast, we have 14 inches of snow, strong winds and single digit temperatures with wind chills below zero. Not very pleasant.
Please check in on your neighbors to see if they are okay, especially the elderly during this harsh weather.
I have a few recipes that I want to share with you today to hopefully make life a little easier during this weather. It’s brutal to go outside to shovel snow for hours in this blustery weather and then come in and have too start a meal for the family when you are exhausted.
The first recipe is one that I have been using for years and it is fantastic. It is …
Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker
You season your chicken with a dry rub, into the crock pot with some veggies and you are free for 8 hours to do your other errands(like shoveling). I highly recommend you try this…
Cooks note- In the photo below, I roasted additional vegetables in the oven because I am saving the vegetables in the crock pot for chicken stock.
(I roasted potatoes, parsnips, carrots, red onions, garlic and brussel sprouts)
Here is the recipe. I found it on Thelittlekitchen.net
WHOLE CHICKEN IN A SLOW COOKER RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
RUB INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN…
4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
FOR THE CROCKPOT
1 cup chopped onion, approx. 1 medium to large onion
4 to 5 carrots, scrubbed, no need to peel, chopped in halves or thirds (I peeled them)
4 celery stalks, cut in thirds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 whole lemon quartered
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lbs. roasting or fryer chicken
DIRECTIONS:
Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Prep the vegetables and place inside the slow cooker (I use a 7-quart oval).
Remove chicken from packaging and remove neck and pouch with organs. Discard or reserve for later use in another recipe. Rinse chicken with water and pat dry with paper towels.
Rub garlic all over outside of the chicken. Put garlic inside the chicken. Put the rub all over the outside and inside the chicken. Add quartered lemon to the inside of the chicken. (I also added parsley inside the chicken).
Place chicken on top of the vegetables. Cover slow cooker and cook chicken on low for 4-8 hours. (When I used a 4 lb chicken, it took about 6 hours. The time will depend on the size of the chicken and your slow cooker.) Cook until the internal temperature of the leg is at 160 degrees F or use a pop-up thermometer as the original recipe calls for.
Remove chicken and place in a 9×13 glass or ceramic baking dish. Place baking dish in the oven under the broiler for about 4-5 minutes. Allow chicken to rest after removing it from the broiler for 5-10 minutes.
I make chicken stock with the veggies and juices in the crock pot.
Chicken Stock in the Crock Pot
Ingredients
Leftover chicken bones or carcass roughly equivalent to one small or medium sized chicken
1 onion, peeled and loosely chopped
1 rib of celery, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped (no need to peel)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
Salt, to taste Note: If you are missing any of these ingredients I wouldn’t let that stop you from making it anyway.
Instructions
After removing all edible meat from the chicken put/leave the bones, skin, cooking juices, etc. in the crock pot. If you are using the chicken carcass from the “Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot” recipe just leave every single thing that’s leftover (except the good meat of course) in the crock pot including the original onion and spices you used when making the chicken.
Add the onion, celery, carrot and spices on top of the bones and fill the crock pot almost to the top with tap water (leaving about ½” at the top).
Turn the slow cooker onto “low” after dinner and cook all night long or alternatively you could start it in the morning and cook on “low” for 8 – 10 hours during the day.
After the stock is done cooking turn off the heat and, using a soup ladle, pass the stock through a fine sieve to remove all herbs/bones/etc.
Since cold weather calls for hot soup, here is another favorite recipe of mine.
This is a soup that my mother made for us all the time and it hits the spot.
Best part, it’s quick.
Having this soup and the crock pot chicken is a perfect combination.
Stracciatella Soup with Spinach (rice or pasta -optional)
Cooks Note: I add mini cheese ravioli to the soup whenever I can find them in the store, instead of rice. Lately, I have been lucky to find bags in Trader Joe’s. I think they look much cuter than rice.
Ingredients:
1 ½ quarts of chicken broth (6 cups), homemade is best. Low sodium boxed chicken broth is fine too. Be sure it’s MSG free.
3 large eggs
Grated cheese (½ cup)
1 tbsp. of semolina or fine breadcrumbs
Pinch of nutmeg
2 cups fresh spinach (stems removed)
Black pepper to taste.
Directions:
Heat broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.
Add 2 cups spinach to the broth to wilt
In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, grated cheese, nutmeg and semolina
With a wooden spoon, swirl the soup in a circular motion while slowly pouring the egg mixture. Simmer for 1 minute
(optional- 1 ½ cups of cooked rice or pasta of your choice can also be added)
Serve the soup with some additional grated cheese and black pepper.
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I hope you enjoy these recipes and stay safe and warm during the BIG CHILL.
Until my next post, make every day a celebration!
Stay well,
Diane
Thank you for visiting my blog.
If you enjoy the posts, please spread the word and ask your family and friends to subscribe to DishingwithDiane.com.
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