Comfort Food

Comfort food...Enough said.

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

Ingredients:

3 cooked chicken breasts, cubed or 2 12.5oz Chuck Chicken Breast in the cane.
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 can mushrooms
1 Tsp minced garlic
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Italian diced tomatoes, drained of all juices
1 box of Ziti noodles fully cooked
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

For top of casserole:

Parmesan cheese
Italian bread crumbs


Directions:

In pan combine your mushrooms, minced garlic, butter, Italian seasoning, olive oil and saute until everything is soft.

After your noodles are fully cooked, in large bowl add chicken and all other ingredients and mix well.

Place in 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and Italian bread crumbs and bake at 300º for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

YUM YUM!!!

Next up......Homemade Lasagna!

Empanadas

Recently, my neighbor and friend told me that I was making Empanadas all wrong.
She is Colombian so I figure she knows what she is talking about and OH BOY did she!
I took the Colombian Empanada recipe she gave me and added my own little twist to it.


Ingredients:

2 Packages of Goya Discos
Vegetable oil for frying
2 cups peeled and diced white potatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped white onions
1 cane of Mild Rotel, Drained of all juices
1 chopped garlic clove
1 Pound of Ground turkey meat
1 cup of rice, fully cooked
2 Tbsp Chilli powder
1 Tbsp cumin seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions to prepare the filling:

In large skillet combine olive oil, onion and the garlic. Cook on high until onion is caramelized.
Then combine your meat, Rotel and potatoes with the onion mixture in skillet and cook on high until meat is fully cooked and potatoes are tender.

Add your Chilli powder and Cumin to fully cooked rice.

When both the rice and the meat mixture are fully cooked combine both in large bowl and mix well.

Fill a large pot with vegetable oil and heat over medium heat to 360°

Remove the top plastic for Goya Disco and place 1 to 2 tablespoon of the filling in the center of each.

Then using the plastic underneath, fold the dough over to enclose the filling, forming a half circle. Tightly seal the edges by crimping with the tines of a fork.

Carefully place 3 or 4 empanadas at the time in the heated oil and fry for about 2 minutes until golden on all sides.

Transfer the fried empanadas to a plate lined with paper towels, cool and you are done!

CHEERS!

Here's a NEW and even YUMMIER twist on these Empanadas :)

Instead of Goya Discos...Try Nasoya egg roll wrappers for a sweeter twist!

Side Dishes

Here are some VERY tasty side dishes that go with any meal. Perfect for that pot luck dinner or a holiday meal with the family.

First up....

Broccoli & Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

2 bundles of fresh broccoli....Or, 2 (10 ounce) packages chopped frozen broccoli, thawed.
2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup.
2 12.5oz Chuck Chicken Breast in the cane.
2 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tsp. Minced Garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º
Mix all of your ingredients but save 1/2 cup of cheese to top off casserole when done.
After you mix everything up well, pour into casserole dish and bake, uncovered for 45 minutes.

When done baking, layer the rest of the cheese on top and cover.

Yum Yum!!

HINT....Sub 1 cup of Sour Cream for the Mayo and Yum Yum!!!

Next up!

A Cold Bow Tie Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 box of Bow Tie Pasta fully cooked
1 6 oz cane of whole black olives
Cherry tomatoes
1 large cucumber peeled and cut into chucks
1/2 cup of Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
4 Tbsp of Olive Oil
1 cup of Bacon bits
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients very well and refrigerate for a few hours or until cool.

YUMMY!!!

Nothin Say Lovin Like Chicken From The Oven

CheeZit And Ritz, Herb Encrusted Chicken

Nothin say lovin like some YUMMY chicken from the oven!

Chicken is comfort food! Whether it's backed, fried, broiled or grilled
chicken just warms my soul right up!
A friend/neighbor, back in our old neighborhood, told me about CheezIt Crusted Chicken and my heart melted at the thought of it!

Here is my take on it :)

Recipe serves 2 but can easily be doubled or tripled.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 - 2 cups cracker crumbs made from Cheezits
1 1/2 cups cracker crumbs made from Ritz crackers
1 tbsp minced fresh dill
1 tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tbsp minced fresh oregano
1/2 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
1 tbsp minced fresh thyme
1 clove minced garlic
2 eggs
1 cup flour, for dusting
1 cup of shredded cheese
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400º. In large bowl add the first 8 ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly.

Place the flour in a second plate. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, stir to combine.

To a wide bowl add the egg and whisk until the egg is frothy.

Season all sides of the chicken breast with salt and pepper.

Dredge the breasts in the flour, shaking off all excess. Dip the lightly floured breasts, on at a time, into the egg mixture, coating both sides.

Next, press each of the breasts into the cheezit/Ritz & herb mixture, making sure all sides are thoroughly coated.

Place the breasts into backing dish.Bake at 400ºfor about 20-25 minutes or until just cooked through. Removed the cooked breasts from the oven and sprinkle shredded cheese on top of each breast. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Baked Empanadas

The shells for this main course call for refrigerated pie crust,
two boxes, which are folded into pockets.
If you don't have refrigerated pie crust in your freezer
here is a fast and simple recipe for pie crust which I used today.

**Pie crust recipe**Double recipe**

4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
1 1/3 cup Vegetable oil

Mix and form into ball.


***Empanadas Recipe***

Ingredients:

1 package (5.6 or 6.8 ounces) Spanish rice and pasta mix, fully cooked
1 12.5 oz can of chuck chicken breast, drained.
1 10 oz can of Rotel, drained.
1 15.25 oz can of corn, drained.
2 cups of cheddar cheese

Mix the cooked rice and everything else in bowl.

Roll out dough and cut 6 inch circle out until you run out of dough.

Place about a spoon full of chicken/rice mix in center of each pastry.
Fold over and use fork to close the edges of pastry.

Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Monte Cristo

It might be Snowing outside, the roads may be closed
but tonight I'm bringing one of my restaurant favs home!

Monte Cristo......The Davis way.

Ingredients:

1 pound package of deli sliced roast beef...YES! I said roast beef!
8 slices of American cheese
9 slices of bread....or 3 slices of bread per sandwich.
***Batter***
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup water
1 large egg --beaten
Oil --for deep frying
Powdered sugar
Red raspberry jelly

Directions:

Assemble sandwiches: Bread,cheese, roast beef,cheese, bread, cheese, roast beef,cheese, bread, cut in half diagonally.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together to blend well. Add water to the egg and add to the flour mixture mixing well. Dip each sandwich half into the batter and deep-fry in oil pre-heated to 360 degrees until golden brown.

Remove from oil to paper towels. Sprinkle with the powdered sugar. Serve with warm or room temperature jelly, if desired.

CHEERS to my good friend Brenda for making some AWESOME homemade jellies that go PERFECT with this, well done!

Spanakopita Done My Way

It's a snowy Monday and what could possible be better then a slice
of my homemade Spanakopita and a nice hot cup of coffee!

Spanakopita done my way ;)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Olive oil
1 cup of Ricotta Cheese
1 1/2 cup of Feta cheese, crumbled
1 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp salt or just salt to taste ;)
1 pound of spinach, you can use the frozen bags.
1 box of Filo pastry
1 Tsp of minced garlic
1 Tbsp Dill
1/2 cup a butter melted

Preheat oven to 375º.

Sauté the spinach, garlic, dill in the Olive oil with salt and pepper until becomes limp.
Mix the spinach mixture in a bowl with both cheese.

Lay out a few sheets of filo in the baking dish (it will overlap the sides). Brush with butter as you lay the sheets down.
Once the entire baking dish is covered with Filo place the spinach mixture in baking dish. Cover with the rest of your Filo, bushing the filo with butter as you lay it over, then fold all the side of the filo under and brush again with butter.

Bake for 45 minutes or until filo in golden brown, CHEERS!