Posts filed under 'Dinners'
Recipe of the Week – Southern Baked Chicken Legs
(From The Cooking For the Kids Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Southern Baked Chicken Leg
They have done a number on us, well maybe me; you my still be a holdout. On the rare occasion when I break out the frying pan and oil a huge wave of guilt sweeps over me. We have been trained that frying is bad and sautéing is good. Anyway I don’t like how frying smells up my house so it was time to come up with a chicken recipe that was better for us and actually smelled good cooking.
I thought after the dessert trays last week I might come back down to earth and provide a recipe that your kids would love and even more importantly is easy to cook. Anyone who cooks has tried to come up with an alternative to the bucket of chicken. Not that there is anything wrong with an occasional stop in the fast food chicken huts, except that you can probably run a diesel truck off the oil you can wring from the napkins when you are done. We try and try to get just the right flavor and crunchiness and still have that great taste; all while baking instead for frying.
Here is my recipe for Southern Baked Chicken; this recipe works well for a nice dinner or served cold at a picnic. Picnic? You know when you take a plastic container of the chicken to the soccer game and have the rest of the kids, those not playing, eat on the side of the field.
Southern Baked Chicken Legs
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Cooking for the Kids |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 6 | medium | chicken legs |
| 0.5 | cup | flour |
| 1 | tsp | garlic powder |
| 1 | tsp | paprika, sweet |
| 0.5 | tsp | salt, table |
| 0.5 | tsp | pepper, fresh ground |
| 2 | medium | egg |
| 0.125 | tsp | salt, table |
| 0.125 | tsp | pepper, fresh ground |
| 0.75 | cup | breadcrumbs |
| 0.125 | tsp | salt, table |
| 0.125 | tsp | pepper, fresh ground |
Put flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper into a shallow bowl and mix. Beat eggs and add salt and pepper into another shallow bowl. In a third bowl mix breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Dip the chicken legs into the flour mixture, making sure to cover the whole leg with flour. Shake off any loose flour. Dip the leg into the eggs and make sure to cover. Dip the legs in the breadcrumbs, place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until the juices run clear when poked with a knife.
3 comments May 11, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Chicken Breasts with Garlic Butter
(From The Chicken Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Chicken Breasts with Garlic Butter
Last week I posted about moving on from Mac and Cheese and trying something a little more (adult); so why not go the same route with plain old grilled chicken. Taking your normal grilled dinner and adding a simple and easy touch will have your family smiling. This recipe requires about 5 extra minutes of prep time and is well worth it.
Also let’s take a minute to discuss the finer details. This recipe calls for boneless chicken breasts, so if you have bone-on chicken breasts no big deal. The garlic butter recipe calls for cilantro, many don’t like the taste of cilantro, so don’t put it in or substitute parsley or rosemary of just go without the “green stuff”. As I have stated in the past, make these recipes your recipes, change or don’t change them to adjust for your taste. The important thing is to try different methods and ingredients; get out of the same old grind and live a little.
Chicken Breasts with Garlic Butter
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Chicken Entrée |
| Meal: | Other (General) |
| 4 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1 | tsp | cilantro |
| 1 | cloves | garlic, minced |
| 4 | medium | chicken , breast, boned with skin on |
| 1 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
Allow butter to soften; mince garlic and cilantro and blend into the softened butter. Place the butter in plastic wrap, roll into a log and set in the refrigerator to firm up. Cut a pouch into the chicken breast on a diagonal about 11/2 inches wide and 11/ inches ‘deep. Stuff a Tb of the butter into each pouch. Pour a little of the olive oil over the breasts and salt and pepper them to taste. Heat grill to high temperature then cook the breast 10 -15 minutes, until juices run clear.
Note: garlic butter is also great on steaks and burgers.
Add comment April 20, 2009
Extra Recipe of the Week – Pasta – Beyond Mac and Cheese
(From The Fish Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
When we don’t know what to prepare for dinner we usually fall back on the usual suspects. For many of us this means Mac and cheese, from the blue box, maybe with chicken or a hot dog or something and maybe just by itself. While this makes sense for the kids, the kids would eat this 7 days a week, it may not be what your significant other expects after a hard day at work. Even foregoing this guilt trip don’t you deserve more?
This recipe is very easy, and with the exception of the shrimp requires ingredients you should have on hand. The shrimp, while it seems to be an extravagance, is pretty inexpensive if you buy it on sale. You only need about 6 medium shrimp per person to make this a special meal. Seriously, by the time the pasta cooks you will have everything else done… add a salad and you have a meal that is equal to any you would get at a good Italian restaurant.
So, dim the lights, light a candle on the table and dream of Rome.
Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Fish Entrée |
| Meal: | Happy Birthday (Celebration Meal Plans) |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 2 | Tb | lemon zest, finely chopped |
| 4 | medium | scallions, sliced |
| 3 | cloves | garlic, minced |
| 1 | lb | shrimp, deveined, shelled |
| 1 | medium | lemon, juice of |
| 0.75 | cup | tomatoes, diced |
| 0.25 | cup | milk, 2 % |
| 1 | lb | pasta, angel hair |
| 4 | Tb | cheese, Romano, grated |
| 1 | Tb | parsley, flakes |
| 0.5 | tsp | pepper, fresh ground |
| 1 | pinch | salt to taste |
Heat oil in pan; add 1/2 the zest, all the scallions, garlic, and shrimp. Reduce heat and simmer until shrimp are done,( about 3-4 minutes) add lemon juice, tomato, and milk. Simmer 3 more minutes. Cook pasta in boiling water with 2 Tb salt. Add pasta to pan, mix well, plate. Sprinkle top with parsley flakes, black pepper, remaining lemon zest and romano.
Serve with garlic bread.
Note : If your pasta is too dry add a little of the pasta water.
1 comment April 16, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Comfort Food
hoagie
They go by different names, depending on what part of the country you are from. They are the foods you turn to when you just want something good; something familiar. It may be a hoagie (northeast); po’boy (New Orleans) or sub sandwich (west coast) and let’s not forget grinder, hero and Italian sandwich. You may choose to go with mayo, oil and vinegar or just plain; hot banana peppers or not… With the advent of the national chains they all blend together, taking with them some of what I think makes the sandwich special in my mind. Maybe I am different but I can’t wait to get back to Jersey and pick up a hoagie from the Varsity deli shop, no Subway for me.
pencil points
So now that we have taken care of lunch let’s look at dinner. For me it’s “pencil points”; the penne pasta that has a pointed shape at the ends, covered with some thick and rich tomato sauce. Where I grew up; in the east, the small independent restaurants always had a side of pencil points on the menu. We showed you our spaghetti sauce recipe back in June of 2008, Meal Planning – Winning the Trifecta. I like to serve mine with the chicken cacciatore found on emealsforyou.com.
So, go make yourself something “comfortable”; make enough for the whole family.
Add comment April 7, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Philly Cheesesteak – Really
(From The Beef Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Pat's Philly Cheesesteak
Talk to anyone from the New Jersey/ Philadelphia area about cheesesteaks and Pat’s at 9th and Passyunk in south Philly will come up. This is where cheesesteaks were born; (Gino’s cheesesteak people can stop reading now) right on the south end of Philly’s Italian Market. Every politician for decades has made the tradition treak to Pat’s and ordered a cheesesteak, wid or widout; onions that is. Don’t even think about any cheese but melted cheesewiz.
So it is with fond memories that I try “cheesesteaks” around the country, looking for one that comes close. The secret you see is just simple: paper thin sliced steak, fresh onions, melted cheesewiz and a good Italian torpedo roll. Everyone else tries too hard. Mushrooms, fancy cheeses, peppers, terrible rolls ( why can’t you get a decent roll anywhere but the East Coast?) all things someone decided makes their steak sandwich an original Philly cheesesteak; not even close.
So, keeping in mind nobody does it like Pat’s, here is as close as I can get to the Philly cheesesteak.
Philly Cheesesteak
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Beef Entrée |
| Meal: | Do you hear Sinatra? (Quick Meals Planner) |
| 1.5 | lb | London Broil |
| 1 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 1 | large | onions, sliced |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
| 4 | oz | cheese, Velveeta |
| 1 | large | baguette |
Slice the London broil as thinly as possible, cross grain. Heat oil in a sauté pan, add beef slices and onions. Sauté until the steak is cooked and the onions begin to color, a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut baguette lengthwise and place steak, onions and melted cheese in bread.
Note: to aid in cutting the London broil thinly place in freezer for 2 hours prior to cutting. May be stored in a baggie in the freezer once sliced.
1 comment March 16, 2009
First Step to a Family Meal Night – A Semi-Rant
It’s time! It’s time that you establish family meal times. Real family gatherings around a real table, with real food, not fast food in the car. Pick one night. set a time and stick to it. Make it seem like a game, not a mandatory function, although you need to make sure that everyone attends.
The easiest way, and many of you are probably already doing this, is pizza night. Pick one night each week, gather around the table and talk with your kids; and more importantly get them to talk to you. Start off buying the pizza and gradually begin to make the pizza with the kids. Let each kid make his own pizza; you will be surprised at how fast the kids take to this. They get to show their individuality, tease each other and generally COMMUNICATE. Once you get the hang of this start letting them bring their friends. This gives you a chance to show you approve of their friends, set some rules but try to go with the flow.
We did pizza night for years, it became a neighborhood thing; exchanging conversations with the neighbors, our kids and their friends. Our oldest son has a friend who was a Russian immigrant, 6 foot tall about 130 lbs, stark white skin. This kid, looking to find his place in our nation, had adopted the affect of the hip-hop movement; complete with dreadlocks, piercings and pants down around his knees. He would show up every Friday night (pizza night) and we would just look at him. We were looking to try to understand him and see what new “things” he had attached, as it were. He would see us and think we were making judgments and that we didn’t like him. It wasn’t until we told him we just wanted to understand him, that he realized he was welcomed into our world. We now, 15 years down the line, are good friends and laugh about the old times.
Here is an easy pizza recipe, fire up the oven, add some toppings and get to know your kids.
Pizza Dough
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 10 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 2 | package | yeast, dried |
| 0.66 | cup | water, hot |
| 7 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 2 | Tb | salt, kosher |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 2 | water, hot | |
Dissolve yeast in 2/3-cup hot water, (water should not exceed 105 degrees) in large mixer bowl. Mix in flour, salt, oil and remaining hot water until a ball forms. Place dough in greased pot, cover with plastic wrap, allow to double in size at room temperature. (approx. 2 hrs) Punch dough down and return to pot to rise a second time (1hr). Divide into equal circles and roll out for pizza.
Hint: The rounder your circles are the better the pizza will look.
Full recipes makes about 5 14 pizzas. For half recipe use 1/3-cup water with yeast.
Pizzas
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 10 |
| Category: | Vegetarian Entrée |
| Meal: | Pizza Party (Theme Meal Plans) |
| 1 | recipe | pizza dough |
| 1 | 15 oz can | tomato sauce |
| 1 | lb | cheese, mozzarella |
| 1 | lb | cheese, Mexican |
| 6 | Tb | cheese, Romano, grated |
| 5 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 0.25 | cup | corn meal, yellow |
For individual pizzas cut dough into 10 pieces. On floured surface, shape dough into a round disk. Work dough from middle to outside. You want it about 1/4 “ thick and thicker just around the edges. Place on flat board, (peel), upside down cookie sheet or cutting board, with some corn meal to allow the dough to slip off peel. Cover with thin layer of tomato sauce, leaving about 3/4” at edge. Sprinkle on cheeses. Sprinkle on 1 TB romano. Drizzle 1 tsp. of oil on top.
Optional toppings: sausage, mushrooms, onions, peppers. Add toppings, remember pizza will only be in the oven around 12 minutes, so cut thinly and if you are using saugage, makes sure you put it on last, so it will cook. Pre-heat oven to maximum temperature for at least 30 minutes. Cook pizza on a pizza stone or cookie sheet 8-12 minutes until done .
Hint: For parties make the pizza ahead of time and reheat.
Note: Be sure to add the pizza dough recipe to your shopping list.
Special Note: Use 1/5th of the dough for pizza donuts for dessert. See recipe under Pizza Donuts in the Cooking for the Kids category at emealsforyou.com)
Add comment March 12, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Penne Pasta in Vodka Sauce
(From The Vegetarian Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Penne Pasta in Vodka Sauce
Sometimes when I don’t know what I want to cook for dinner I fall back on some of the old standbys; those recipes that are easy to prepare and great tasting. My first choice is usually Chicken Piccata, but a close second is this recipe. So when I sat down to write a post today and didn’t know what to write about I thought why not share this great recipe with you.
I am a pasta freak, I like any and all pasta. I especially like a good, as they say on the east coast, red gravy sauce: tomato sauce. This recipe is so easy that I have been known to make it for my wife while having the “regular” spaghetti sauce for myself. Make it with your own homemade tomato sauce or buy one that you really like at the market and add the cream and vodka. The vodka sauce works well with ravioli too.
Penne Pasta in Vodka Sauce
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Vegetarian Entrée |
| Meal: | Veggie – Easy Italian Night (Theme Meal Plans) |
| 1 | qt | pasta sauce |
| 1 | lb | pasta, penne |
| 1 | pt | cream, heavy |
| 3 | oz | vodka |
| 4 | Tb | cheese, Romano, grated |
| 1 | Tb | basil, fresh chopped |
Cook penne pasta in salted water until al dente. Place pasta sauce in pan, add cream and vodka and simmer for 5 minutes. Plate and sprinkle with romano cheese and basil.
We teamed this with: Blue Cheese Stuffed Baby Portabellas, Chopped Salad, Penne Pasta in Vodka Sauce, and a Caramel Sundae on our Easy Italian Night Meal Plan on emealsforyou.com)
Add comment March 10, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Steak Diane
(From The Boss is Back, Distinctive Dinners Meal Plan at emealsforyou.com)
Steak Diane
I don’t like Valentine’s Day; well I don’t like any of the contrived “special” days brought to you by the flower and card companies of the world. It is not like I need an excuse to treat my wife nicely, buy flowers or candy or have a great meal for that matter. So I thought I would go with Steak Diane. I haven’t made it in a while and the steaks were on sale at Costco. Paired with a garlicky Caesar Salad, some crunchy bread and a good bottle of wine you won’t find a quicker, more satisfying meal.
For those of you who think this is too involved to make I can assure you that start to finish 15 minutes is all it took. For company or those “special” meals your guest will think you had Julia Child hidden in the kitchen. Give this great meal a try; it just may become your new favorite.
Steak Diane
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Beef Entrée |
| Meal: | The Boss is Back (Distinctive Dinners) |
| 4 | medium | steak, filet |
| 1 | Tb | soy sauce |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
| 1 | 10.5 oz can | beef consommé |
| 1 | Tb | mustard, dijon |
| 2 | tsp | cornstarch |
| 2 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 3 | small | shallots, sliced |
Flatten steaks to 3/4 thickness by placing in plastic bag and hitting them with a mallet or pan. Place on plate, drip soy sauce on them and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix consommé, Dijon mustard and cornstarch in bowl, set aside.
Add 1 Tb of butter to pan. Heat pan until butter bubbles, add steaks, cook 2-3 minutes per side, and remove from pan and cover.
Add consommé mixture to pan and remaining butter, stir, making sure to get all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add steaks back to the pan.
At this point if you are feeling adventuresome, remove pan from stove, add cognac ( no more than 2 oz) and light with a long match. Very impressive, be careful.
Plate drizzle gravy over steaks and serve.
From the Beef Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
2 comments February 16, 2009
Recipe of the Week – Roasted Cornish Hens with Cornbread Stuffing
(Look for more recipes like this at emealsforyou.com)
Roasted Cornish Hens with Cornbread Stuffing
Looking for a special meal that doesn’t break the bank? Cornish Hens may just be the answer. These little “devils” are usually available in the frozen food section of your grocery store. Watch for a sale and they can be about $2 per hen. I have served them for all kinds of occasions, even as the main course for 24 of us at our dinner club Christmas party. They are usually about a pound or so, and depending on what you stuff them with, the side dishes you serve and the appetite of your guests, you may cut them in half. Serving half works well as they will look good on the plate, and are easier to eat; plus they provide more than enough food.
The hens take well to all kinds of stuffing. I show them here with a cornbread stuffing but they are equally delicious stuffed with wild rice. Add a vegetable and a green salad ( served under the hens for appearance) and you have a meal that looks as good as it taste.
Here is a side story about the Christmas dinner club party. This was a combination of two neighborhood clubs getting together to celebrate the season. Everyone was responsible for a course or wine or dessert. We chose to do the main course and decided on the Cornish Hens stuffed with wild rice. The person in charge of the party was supposed to give us a total headcount on how much to prepare. We were told there would be 22 of us for dinner. We set up two tables, one in our dining room (for 12) and one in our eat-in kitchen (for 10). So everyone shows up and sits down; we begin to bring the food out to the tables. Suddenly my wife comes up to me and says, “We are two short; the headcount was off by two.” Apparently the party planner forgot to count us in the total. My wife was a little distraught about this, what to do? So we each grabbed a bottle of wine and one of us went into the dining room and the other into the kitchen and “circulated”; pouring wine and adding to the conversations. Giving my wife a nod we quietly switched rooms and performed the sommelier’s duties in the other room. I guess we did a pretty good job as to this day no one who attended the party realized the “cover-up”.
Roasted Cornish Hens with Cornbread Stuffing
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Chicken Entrée |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 4 | medium | cornish hens |
| 0.5 | tsp | salt and pepper to taste |
| 1 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 1 | medium | onions, chopped |
| 3 | cup | cornbread |
| 1 | cup | figs, chopped |
| 1 | medium | pears, fresh |
| 0.5 | tsp | sage, dried |
| 2 | cup | chicken broth |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
Makes sure the hens are completely thawed, dried and cleaned inside. Sprinkle salt, pepper inside, and all around the outside of the hens; sprinkle the hens with the oil. Heat the oil in a skillet; add onions and sauté until just translucent. Add cornbread broken into bite sized pieces. Add sage, figs, peeled pears and stir. Add chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Cool before stuffing the Cornish hens. Bake in a baking pan at 350° for about 40 – 45 minutes, until an internal thermometer registers 165°. Remove hens from pan, add additional broth to make a pan gravy and serve.
Note: any stuffing leftover after stuffing the hens put in a separate ovenproof container and bake for 20 minutes.
(Look for more recipes like this at emealsforyou.com)
Add comment February 10, 2009
Pantry Cooking – Trust Your Instincts
(Look for more recipes like this at emealsforyou.com)
It’s snowing to beat the band outside and my mind is working over the thought, “What’s for dinner?” I want something hardy but something that I can find the ingredients around the house. Pasta, okay pasta and what? Peeking in the fridge I see: grape tomatoes, spinach, figs, some Boursin cheese spread and (from the pantry) garlic, lots of garlic.
So here we go; take the tomatoes and roast them in the oven with some garlic. Cook the spinach, with some more garlic, add the figs, some cooked pasta, mix in the cheese. My wife likes shrimp, I like sausage, no problem. I cooked the sausage in a pan, and the shrimp in a separate pan: I am a purist after all. Divide the pasta into halves, add the appropriate protein, stir, pour the wine and there you have it.
All of us can learn to “throw” meals together. It is simply a matter of trusting your instincts, knowing what you like and trying it. If something doesn’t work; figure out why. Change things around, add something else, take something out, but at least try.
Pasta with Oven-roasted Grape Tomatoes
Pasta with Oven-roasted Grape Tomatoes
| Complexity: | Medium |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Starch |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 12 | oz | pasta, cooked |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 4 | cloves | garlic, chopped |
| 1 | lb | spinach, fresh |
| 0.5 | cup | figs, chopped |
| 0.5 | recipe | Oven-roasted Grape Tomatoes |
| 4 | Tb | Boursin Cheese Spread |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
Place oil in a large sauté pan, add garlic and bring heat up to high, immediately add the spinach and figs. When spinach is wilted add the oven-roasted grape tomatoes and pasta. Stir well, add the Boursin and mix, adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Note: You may add sausage (add with garlic) or shrimp (add with garlic). Shown here with shrimp.
Oven-roasted Grape Tomatoes
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Vegetables |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 1 | pt | tomatoes, grape |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 2 | cloves | garlic, chopped |
| 0.5 | tsp | sweet basil |
| 0.5 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 0.25 | tsp | pepper, fresh cracked |
Heat oven to 350°. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix and place in an oven-proof pan. Bake for 7 minutes.
(Look for more recipes like this at emealsforyou.com)
4 comments February 4, 2009
