Posted in - Poultry, Meal Planning, Tips and Tricks

Meal Planning Mondays: Recipes to Try for the Week of April 15-22

Cook Once Eat Twice…

Rotisserie Style Sticky Chicken

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Ingredients
1 (3 to 4 pound) whole chicken
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
4 teaspoons of kosher salt
20 turns of the pepper grinder
1 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), see recipe below…
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of white pepper
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of dried thyme, crushed

Prep Day: Make…

Copycat Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning

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table salt, 26 oz
cayenne pepper, 5 T
black pepper, 3 T
onion powder, 3 T
garlic powder, 3 T
chili powder, 3 T
thyme, 1 T
sweet basil, 1 T
bay leaf, 1 T

Mix Seasoning. Add all the seasoning, except salt, in a blender. Cover and blend to a fine consistency. Don’t breath the dust – it throws me into a sneezing frenzy ! Mix the blended spices with the salt until you achieve a uniform color. Use as you would salt. Store in air tight container.

In a small bowl, mix together thoroughly the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, paprika and thyme and rub this mixture all over the inside and outside of two chickens. Cover each loosely and freeze, when thawing it will marinate.

Serve Day: Thaw chickens. Roughly chop the onions and stuff into the cavities of the chickens. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Remove giblets from chicken if it has them. Place the chicken into a roasting pan.

Roast uncovered at 250 degrees for 5 hours. After the first hour passes, begin basting the chicken with the pan juices periodically. The chicken is ready when the internal temperature is between 175/180 degrees when an instant read thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of the thigh.

Tip: Roast two chickens at a time and reserve one for use in other dishes.

I will make two chicken and use the second to make…

Smothered Chicken

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2 chicken skinless breasts, previously cooked
2 chicken skin less thighs with legs attached, previously cooked
4 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
4-8 slices of Provolone cheese, or enough to cover each piece of chicken
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Garlic salt

Prep Day: make a Rotisserie Style Sticky Chicken. Once cooled, package whole to use later in the week.

Serve Day: Get chicken out and bring to room temp. Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, remove and drain on a paper towel; set aside and crumble when cooled. Add the butter to the bacon fat, and saute the onion, cooking until caramelized. Using a slotted spoon, remove the onion and set aside; add the mushrooms and cook, remove and set aside. You’ll be layering these ingredients on the chicken. The put chicken in pan to heat up. Once done continue on.

Preheat the broiler. Place the cooked chicken into a shallow baking dish or better, into mini bakers . If using mini serving dishes, just place them all on a baking sheet to cook and finish. Brush each piece of chicken with some of the Olive oil/balsamic vinegar and sprinkle lightly with garlic salt, then top with the crumbled bacon, then mushrooms and last onion. Stick under the broiler for just long enough to warm the onions and mushrooms. Remove and top each piece of chicken with provolone slices to cover, return to the broiler long enough to melt the cheese. Serve immediately.

Posted in Meal Planning

Meal Swap: Wednesday’s May 2013 Menu

Your Choice:

Nicole – Creamy Lemon Shrimp Pasta
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Ashley – Roast Sticky Chicken
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North American/European:

Kristine – Saucy Chicken Thighs

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Kellie – Ranch House Parmesan Pork Chops

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Italian/Mediterranean:

Erin – Spaghetti with Cheese-stuffed Bacon Meatballs

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Emily – Greek Meatballs with Mint

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Asian/Indian:

Heather – Korean BBQ Strip Steak

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Southwestern/Latin American:

Bridget – Santa Fe Chicken

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Andi – Crunchy Taco Casserole

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BBQ/Grilling:

Kirsten – Southwestern Hamburgers

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Lisa – Jerk Pork Tenderloin

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Posted in - Poultry, - Seafood/Fish, Meal Planning

Meal Planning Mondays: Recipes to Try for the Week of 4/8 – 4/14/13

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Meal Planning Mondays are an experiment to see what works for my family. I like trying new recipes. I have too many copycat Minneapolis/St. Paul restaurant recipes that are not being utilized. This week I committ to making these recipes… Bachelor Farmer’s Gravlax and Hell’ Kitchen Chicken. These recipes will continue to be made ahead time and frozen.

Bachelor Farmer’s Gravlax

1 (3lbs.) small salmon, filleted, deboned
2/5 cup sugar
3/5 cup kosher salt
2 bunches of dill, roughly chopped

Mix the salt and sugar. In a metal, glass, or enameled container that is long enough to hold a side of salmon, sprinkle 1/3 of the salt and sugar and 1/3 of the dill.

Place one half of the salmon, skin side down, on the bed of dill and seasonings. Sprinkle 1/3 of the dill over the salmon, then another 1/3 of the salt and sugar mixture, applying it more liberally in the thicker part of the fish.

Place the other half of the salmon, skin side up, directly on top of the first half. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of dill and 1/3 of the salt and sugar mixture onto the top salmon filet.

Cover with plastic. Rest another container of the same length directly on the top salmon fillet. Weigh with two cans of beans or tomatoes and refrigerate.

Flip the fish upside down, every 12 hours for 48 hours. The gravlax is ready at that time. Thinly slice the salmon, leaving the skin behind.

Hell’s Kitchen Chicken

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Serves 4

1 1/2 Pounds Chicken Breasts
3 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning
3 Tablespoons Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Green Pepper, sliced
1/2 Cup Red Pepper, sliced
1/4 Cup Onion, chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1 Handful Mushrooms
1 Package Spaghetti
1 Sprinkling Parmesan Cheese

Prep Day: Pound chicken until 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick. Wrap for freezing. Mix cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes and all purpose flour. Place in a zipper bag for the pantry. Place chopped onions and garlic in a freezer bag. Place in another freezer bag peppers. Place chicken, peppers, and onions/garlic mix bags in a 1 gallon freezer bag. And freeze.

Preheat large frying pan with Olive Oil.

Dredge chicken breasts in seasoning mixture insuring an even coating. Brown chicken breasts 4-5 minutes both sides. Remove chicken breasts.

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add Onion and garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add green and red pepper saute for an additional 3-4 minutes.

Return chicken, add tomato, and mushrooms allow to simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add pasta to water. Drain the pasta when ready, and serve with the chicken on top. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on for extra flavor!