Spicy Romano Chicken

Here is an easy copycat recipe of Johnny Carino's Spicy Romano Chicken. Really, I can't tell the difference between my version and the real thing. Serve it with crusty bread dipped in olive oil and roasted garlic, and you've got yourself a great stay-in date night!

This is a very versatile recipe. If you don't care for some of these vegetables, feel free to substitute others that sound good to you.

printable recipe

Spicy Romano Chicken

serves 4

8 oz bowtie (farfalle) pasta, other kinds work too
1 Tbsp butter
1 can quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup chopped raw mushrooms
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 pint prepared alfredo sauce (we like to use Olive Garden's alfredo, available for about $5 per pint for takeout, but you can use a store-bought jar if you prefer)
cayenne pepper, to taste

To begin, chop the mushrooms and green onions and set aside.

Next, slice your chicken into thin strips diagonally against the grain. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet or dutch oven, melt 1 Tbsp of butter over medium high heat. Meanwhile, begin cooking the pasta according to package directions.

As soon as the butter is melted, add the chicken to the pot or skillet.

Cook several minutes per side, until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

Add the mushrooms, green onions, artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes, cooking and stirring until mushrooms are cooked, about 3 minutes.

Add the cooked (and drained) pasta and alfredo sauce. Season with cayenne pepper, to taste. Cook and stir until sauce is hot, then remove from heat and serve.

Glazed Pork Chops

Have I converted you to the diversity and deliciousness that is the bone-in pork chop yet? If not, then click here to view all of my pork chop recipes. They can be prepared many different ways and are cheap! My tip for getting the best deal on bone-in pork chops (and pretty much any meat): buy the large packages when they are on-sale. Around here we can get the big packages (about 8-10 pork chops) for as low as a dollar per pound. That doesn't mean you need to be eating pork for a week straight. Freeze each chop in individual plastic bags and just pull them out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge a day or two before you want use them.

 

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare pork chops, it is so flavorful and easy! Serve it with butter rolls or your favorite potato dish. This recipe is slightly adapted from one on the Taste of Home website.

printable recipe

Glazed Pork Chops

1/3 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup apricot or peach preserves
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/4 tsp ground cloves
bone-in pork chops, 1 per person, double the first five ingredients if you are preparing more than 6 pork chops
salt and pepper

Measure out the first five ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Stir until well blended.

Place the pork chops on a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill over medium heat for 6-8 minutes per side or until a meat thermometer reads 160F, basting frequently with sauce mixture.

Remove pork chops from heat and serve.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

One of the benefits of having a mom who grew up in Jamaica and lived all over the United States in her adult life is enjoying all the fabulous meals she learned how to cook along the way. For example, from her 6 years in Louisiana she became an expert in cooking Red Beans and Rice, Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, and Crawfish Etouffee.

Those other recipes will make it to the blog someday, but today we are going to learn how to make Gumbo. Now, my dad jokes that pretty much any meat "makes the best Gumbo" to a native Louisianan. We're talking dove, turtle, miscellaneous roadkill - "Just eat around the tire tracks, honey!" Don't worry though, we will be making our gumbo with a little more orthodox meat: chicken and sausage.

A few notes before we get started:

1) My mom recommends using Andouille Sausage. If you can't find that, then spicy italian sausage (not ground) works great, too. If you have young children who can't handle spicy foods, use regular italian sausage, but you will need to add lots of creole seasoning (I recommend Tony Chachere's) to your bowl to compensate for the lack of spice in the sausage.

2) This is Cajun Gumbo, which starts with a dark roux. This means you should get the roux darker than what I have pictured. It was my first time preparing gumbo by myself and my mom says it should have been darker. It tasted great, but just wasn't quite as good as hers! My mom swears by cooking the roux in the microwave. You can do it on the stove in a skillet, but it takes twice as long and requires much more stirring that way.

3) Gumbo is even better on the second or third day. I'm not sure why this is, but since this recipe makes at least 8 servings, plan to have it on leftover night as well. You'll see what I mean!

4) Gumbo needs to cook in the pot for several hours after you prepare it, so plan ahead! If you work, this may be a better weekend meal, so adjust the menu plan accordingly.

printable recipe

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 lb Andouille sausage
3 onions
3 celery stalks
salt
cayenne pepper
creole seasoning (Tony Chachere's)
1/2 green pepper
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh parsley
4 green onions
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup flour
rice

Fill a stock pot with water and add the raw chicken, 1 sliced onion, 1 celery stalk with leaves, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for 45-60 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Strain out chicken and vegetables, placing chicken on a plate to cool and tossing out the veggies, but retaining the liquid. This liquid is your stock and should look like this picture.

While the stock is cooking, chop the remaining 2 onions, 2 stalks of celery and the green pepper and set aside.

Also mince the garlic, parley and chop the green onion and set aside in a separate bowl.

After the chicken cools a little, shred it with a fork.

To prepare the roux, combine 2/3 cup each of oil and flour in a large, microwaveable bowl.

Microwave on high for 6-8 minutes, stirring every few minutes until the mixture is brown: darker than golden but not dark brown. Darker than this picture, I chickened out right at 6 minutes, it should have gone for another minute or so, but your microwave may vary so watch it.

Add your chopped onion, celery and green peppers and microwave for 3 more minutes. The color in this picture is closer to what it should have looked like before I added the vegetables.

Add your garlic, parsley and green onion and microwave for 2 more minutes. At this point it should be dark brown, see how mine never quite got there? This is a classic example of "do as I say, not as I do."

Measure the stock in your stock pot. Add water so that there is 8 cups of liquid total. Once you have the correct amount of liquid, throw in 2 tsp salt, your vegetable roux, and the chicken.

Cut your sausage into 1/2" slices and cook in a skillet over medium heat until it is slightly browned and has given up its fat. This will keep your gumbo from getting too oily.

Add your sausage to the pot and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours.










Serve over rice with extra Creole seasoning and gumbo filé seasoning (optional). We like to serve gumbo alongside a salad and buttered french bread.

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 12.

Wontons and Fried Rice

This Wonton recipe is from my friend Julie's cooking blog, Real (Good) Cooking.  To learn how Julie and I are almost related, check out the guest post she did for me back in December. 

 

I have been wanting to try Julie's Wonton recipe for awhile, but I have to admit, I was a little intimidated. I mean, I have never made wontons or anything like that myself, and I have never even thought of purchasing tofu before! Fortunately, she blogged about the recipe and added some great step-by-step pictures. Funny how pictures work, isn't it? I immediately added the wonton recipe to this week's menu plan, and look how great they turned out!

 

 

Note: this recipe makes 30-40 wontons, way more than my family could eat in one sitting, so I froze some uncooked wontons to fry up on leftover night.

 

printable recipe

Wontons 

 

3/4 lb. lean ground beef  (or if you're feeling frisky, use chopped, raw shrimp)
1/2 package tofu (firm works best)
3-4 scallions, chopped
1/2-3/4 cup chopped bean sprouts
1/4 tsp. each of salt, pepper, garlic powder

2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 package wonton wrappers (found in the produce section by the tofu and refrigerated salad dressing)
canola oil

 

Place the raw ground beef, tofu (cut into chunks), scallions, sprouts, seasonings, and soy sauce in a large bowl and mix with (clean) hands.

 

Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom of large pot over medium heat.

 

 

To assemble the wontons: Spoon a small lump of the filling onto the middle of each wrapper.

 

Using your finger dipped in water, wet the edges of the wrapper and fold in half to make a triangle shape. Make sure they are sealed all the way around. If you get a hole in the wrapper, tear off a small piece in the corner to patch it.

Once you have several wontons prepared, gently put one in the oil. You know the oil is ready when the wonton starts to bubble and sizzle. Once the oil is ready, cook 4-5 wontons at a time. Cook until golden brown (3-4 minutes on each side). 

 

Watch your oil carefully. If it starts to sizzle a lot and the wontons are browning quickly, turn down the heat. If the wontons brown too quickly, the filling will not be cooked. You probably want to cut open the first couple right away to make sure the filling is cooking through all the way.
 

 

Put wontons on paper towel lined plate to cool.

Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
apricot jam
soy sauce
 

Heat jam in microwave in 30 second intervals until runny enough to push through a fine mesh strainer. Strain out the chunks and add soy sauce to taste (a couple of Tbsp soy sauce per cup of jam).

 

Fried Rice

serves 3-4

1 cup rice

sesame oil (or canola oil)

4 scallions (green onions), chopped

2 eggs

soy sauce, powdered ginger, and pepper, to taste

Cook the rice and let cool for a few minutes.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (be conservative if you use sesame oil, it has a strong flavor).

Add the onions and saute for a minute.

Dump in the rice. I do have a way with words, don't I?

Add some soy sauce, ginger and pepper.

Cook and stir for a few minutes until heated through.

Push rice to the side, add eggs and scramble.

Mix scrambled egg into rice, cook and stir for a minute or two more and serve alongside Fried Wontons or Thai Honey Peanut Chicken.

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 12.

Texas Sheet Cake

Hi everybody. Today I would like to introduce you to my dear friend, Texas Sheet Cake. This is an easy recipe from my mother-in-law, Kelly.

Do not be fooled by its plain appearance. What it lacks in looks, Texas Sheet Cake makes up in fudgy, moist deliciousness. The rich chocolate frosting is poured on while the cake is still hot, so it seeps into the cake and seals in the moisture. Texas Sheet Cake is like the best, most fudgy brownie you have ever had, only better.

Serve it with ice cream, I know you'll love it.

printable recipe

Texas Sheet Cake

1 cup butter

1 cup water

1/4 cup cocoa

2 cups flour (add an extra 2 Tbsp flour for high altitude)

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda (scant tsp for high altitude)

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 Tbsp vinegar that I let sit for a few minutes)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter in the water and cocoa powder.

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and whisk in the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.

Once the dry ingredients are mixed in, add the eggs and buttermilk.

Whisk until combined.

Spray an 11x13 inch sheet pan (the kind that has a 1 inch lip). Pour cake batter into the pan.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the cake springs back when you lightly press it with your finger.

When the cake is almost finished baking, start making the frosting:

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup cocoa

1/3 cup milk

2-3 cups powdered sugar

In the same (now clean) saucepan, bring the butter, cocoa and milk to a boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, and gradually whisk in the powdered sugar until the mixture reaches glaze consistency. You want it to be slightly thickened but still pourable.

Pour over the hot chocolate cake and let cool on counter for 30 minutes at least. Serve or cover to be served later - this cake stays moist for days!

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 12.