Chicken Marsala

Ingredients
* 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
* 1 cup Italian salad dressing
* 1 tbsp flour
* 1 tsp Italian seasoning
* 1/2 tsp garlic powder
* 1/4 tsp paprika
* 1/4 tsp pepper
* 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
* 1 tbsp butter
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1/2 cup Marsala wine
* 1 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
* 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions
1. Flatten the chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. Place it in a container or resealable bag with the salad dressing. Marinate for 6+ hours or overnight.
2. Drain and discard the marinade. Combine the flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika and pepper.  Sprinkle the seasoned flour on both sides of the chicken pieces.
3. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, melt 1 tbsp of the oil and the butter.  Cook the chicken on each side until browned, approximately 2 minutes each side.  Transfer to a 13x9 baking dish coated with cooking spray.
4. Gradually add the chicken broth and wine with the skillet to loosen the browned bits.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes.  Pour the sauce into a bowl and set aside.
5. Add the remaining oil to the skillet, and cook the mushrooms in the oil for 2 minutes.  Stir the sauce back into the skillet to combine with the mushrooms.  Pour the mushrooms and sauce over the chicken.
6. Sprinkle the chicken and mushrooms with the parsley,.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.

Notes
We served this with egg noddles, but will work well with mashed potatoes or rice, or even just fine without a starchy side dish.  25 minutes was the correct time for me in my oven, but keep an eye on your chicken.  When it is pounded thinly and already browned, you may fund a few minutes less is the appropriate amount of time for your oven.  One last note - even my non-mushroom eaters enjoyed the flavor of this chicken and sauce; they simply pushed the mushrooms to the side of the plate.

February 1, 2013

Okay - I am back...but still catching up from the trip!  I am getting used to having two classes a week, and on back to back nights.  Plus all the usual family and life stuff.  I didn't even get home until Monday, so I only have one keeper for you this week.  But - it is great, and you likely have everything on hand to make it!  Fajita seasoning mix. - no longer will you need to buy it pre-packaged.  You can control the ingredients; if you are sodium-restricted, sugar-restricted, or a heat seeker, you can alter this recipe to suit your requirements.  I made it as directed, and we loved it!  I don't think I will buy fajita seasoning again, but I do think the next time I make this I will double the batch just to have it on hand!

A busy weekend ahead, and of course it involves the Superbowl! I have a tried and true dip you might want to include as part of your Superbowl spread - chili dip.  It couldn't be easier with only three ingredients - and if you make it, I can almost guarantee it will be gone quickly after it hits the cocktail table!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipe
Fajita Seasoning Mix

Tried and True
Chili Dip

Fajita Seasoning Mix

Ingredients
* 1 tbsp cornstarch
* 2 tsp chili powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp paprika
* 1 tsp sugar
* 1 crushed chicken bullion cube
* 1/2 tsp onion powder
* 1/4 tsp garlic powder
* 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
* 1/4 tsp cumin

Directions
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  Approximately 2 tbsp replace a pre-packaged seasoning mix.  This recipe makes about 4 tbsp of mix, so enough to use it twice.

Notes
We love chicken fajitas, and it would be unusual for me to not have the basic ingredients (peppers, onion,s chicken, tortillas) on hand to make them any night of the week...except for the fajita seasoning.  But now that I have found this recipe, I would never go back to store bought seasoning packets.  We make chicken fajitas, but if we were going to make beef ones I would replace the chicken bullion with beef bullion.  My guess is that you will have all these seasonings on hand as I did, so it was a cinch to throw together.  While the chicken and veggies were cooking both big kids told me it smelled fabulous, and then when we all ate it, it was even better!  This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Chili Dip

Ingredients
* 1 can chili (we prefer no without beans, but you can use with it that is what you like)
* 8 oz brick cream cheese (we use the Neufchatel, but you can use regular if you prefer)
* A few dashes of hot sauce (we use Frank's, but tobasco works, as would any other hot sauce you like and have on hand)

Directions
1. Mix this chili and cream cheese together either on the stove over low or in the microwave. If using the microwave, heat it for about 45 seconds, then stir, and repeat until the cream cheese is fully melted and incorporated into the chili.
2. Once the chili and cream cheese and well combined, add a few sdashes of hot sauce, and mix.  Taste and adjust to your preferred level of heat.
3. Serve with tortilla chips or celery, or both!

January 18, 2013

Happy Friday!  I am heading out of town and won't be in a position to cook any new recipes next week, so I won't be publishing - but don't worry, hopefully I'll have recipes to share the following week.

But let's not worry about next week...this week two recipes qualified as keepers!  A vegetable rice medley and citrus crunch chicken.  Every now and then I do serve a pre-packaged side dish, but when I found this rice recipe I had to try it!  It was extremely quick and easy, and everyone at the table loved it!  My family is split over peas - some love them, some do not.  I did add the peas because those who don't completely enjoy them could easily pick them out.  The recipe didn't call for salt or pepper, but this could easily be added while cooking or each individual can season their dish as desired. 

We served the rice with the citrus chicken which was also enjoyed by everyone!  It had a light and bright flavor, and tasted summery here in the dead of winter.  This is another very quick and easy dinner to put together and serve on a busy weeknight.

This week I also made some dinner rolls - but oh my, were they a disaster!  I thought I had the temperature right on my liquids, but I think I must have had it too hot and killed the yeast! The rolls didn't rise during the resting time, and even when I baked them in the oven they barely rose.  I definitely still have a lot of work to do on my bread baking skills!

Happy cooking!

Easy Vegetable Rice Medley

Ingredients
* 1 tbsp canola oil
* 1 each small onion, carrot and stalk of celery, diced
* 1/2 to 1 pepper (red, yellow, green or a mix)
* 14.5 oz chicken broth
* 1 1/2 cups instant rice, uncooked
* 1 cup frozen peas, optional

Directions
1. Heat oil in a skillet. Add all the vegetables except the peas, cook for 5 minutes or until tender.
2. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
3. Stir in the rice and peas if desired. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. 
4. Remove from the heat but keep covered for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Notes
Wow! Do you see those rice medley packages that you can buy in the frozen food section and microwave for a few minutes?  This dish is exactly that but so much better!  It even uses instant rice so it is almost as fast!  We loved this, and cooked it twice this week.  The first time I used up the Uncle Ben's instant rice I had on hand, and we finished every vegetable and grain of rice in the serving bowl.  The second time we made it I had to buy new instant rice and I picked up Minute Rice.  We definitely didn't enjoy it as much the second time, so we will be sticking with Uncle Ben's in the future.  I am sure this recipe could be altered to use regular rice, but I haven't tried that yet.

Citrus Crunch Chicken

Ingredients
* 1 each - lemon, lime, orange
* 1 to 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 lb chicken breasts

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. 
2. Grate the peel from about half of each of the fruits. Mix the zest into the panko bread crumbs.
3. Cut the fruit into thin slices and overlap them into a greased or parchment lined 9 x 13 pan.
4. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.  Dip each into the bread crumbs and then lay on the fruit slices.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Notes
This was a nice change to the usual Italian inspired coated chicken!  Easy and tasty!