Takeout Chicken with Green Beans

 Chicken and marinade:

• 12 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

The rest:

• 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 - 4 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 1 pound green beans (trimmed and cut in half)
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

Mix together marinade ingredients and toss with chicken, set aside.

Mix together stock, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, and cornstarch to make the sauce.

Preheat wok or large frying pan to nearly smoking hot and add 2 tablespoons of oil followed by the chicken and marinade. Cook stirring until chicken is cooked through, remove chicken.  Add additional 2 tablespoons oil if needed followed by the green beans. Sauté the beans for 2 minutes and add 1/3 cup of water and cover the pan for a minute and a half so they steam. Remove lid and stir in garlic, wine, and the sauce mixture. Add the chicken back in and stir, cooking until the sauce has thickened to your liking.

Notes:

I used all regular soy sauce instead of two kinds

I used mirin instead of Shaoxing

I added a tablespoon of MSG to the sauce mix

Fiesta Chicken Tater Tot Hotdish

 

• 1 lb chicken breast (or hamburger, ground turkey, etc.)
• Envelope of taco seasoning OR , 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper, 1 tsp each of cumin, dried cilantro, onion powder, 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 can corn drained
• 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chiles not drained
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Tater Tots or Crispy Crowns

Cook meat, add spices, canned stuff, sour cream and 1 cup of cheese. Mix it all together in a cast iron skillet or other baking dish, cover with remaining cheese and then tater tots.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until tots are browned. (Mine took longer.)

NOTES:

Use whatever taco stuff your kids like. I added a couple cups of leftover rice and it was good. It’s a one-dish, comfort food. 

Tourtiere

4 pounds ground pork butts 

1 ½ cups water 

1 medium onion, ground or finely chopped 

2 tsp salt 

1 to 2 tsp cinnamon, start low and adjust to taste 

1 to 1.5 tsp cloves, start low and adjust to taste 

1 cup bread crumbs 

Your favorite pie crust 

Put meat in large pot.  Break it up and add water. Mix in onions and salt. Adjust heat to keep meat cooking at a low boil; stir at intervals to keep from scorching.  Add more water if necessary. Cook with cover on for about 45 minutes, adding the spices halfway through. 

Near the end of cooking time, add the bread crumbs.  Adjust the amount of crumbs according to the amount of fat.  The mixture shouldn’t become too dry. 

This amount makes filling for 2 large pies or 9-11 small ones.   Fill uncooked pie crusts.  Top with either a second crust or mashed potatoes. May freeze at this point. 

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes 

Note: this is Grant’s great-great grandmother’s recipe 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

 Quick and easy comfort food.

• 1 tbsp canola oil 
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce, divided
• 1 1/4 cups water, divided
• 1 pkg (0.75 oz) powdered Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 cup Minute® White Rice
• 4 bell peppers
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• Preheat oven to 400˚F.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown meat with onion until almost cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of tomato sauce, 1 cup of water and salad dressing mix. Bring to a boil.
• Stir in rice; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cut tops off peppers. Scoop out seeds and discard. Mix remaining tomato sauce and remaining water in bottom of a 9-inch baking dish.
• Place peppers in baking dish. Spoon meat mixture into peppers; cover with foil.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until peppers are tender. Spoon sauce from the bottom of the dish over peppers just before serving. 

Notes:

Mine baked for 30 minutes on the convection setting.

I used my cookie scoop to get the stuff into the peppers.

Minute Rice is pretty perfect for this use. 

Slow Cooker Beef Tips

 1/2 pound sliced baby portobello mushrooms1 small onion, halved and sliced

1 beef top sirloin steak (1 pound), cubed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/3 cup dry red wine or beef broth

2 cups beef broth

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

Hot cooked mashed potatoes

1. Place mushrooms and onion in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat; brown meat in batches, adding more oil as needed. Transfer meat to slow cooker.

2. Add wine to skillet, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Stir in broth and Worcestershire sauce; pour over meat. Cook, covered, on low 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.

3. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and cold water until smooth; gradually stir into slow cooker. Cook, covered, on high until gravy is thickened, 15-30 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes.

NOTES:

Easy and yummy!

I used a cheaper cut of beef roast and cremini mushrooms.

The red wine and Worcestershire sauce are essential flavors.

May not need the added salt so maybe wait until the end to see.

We ate it over spaetzel, but potatoes or rice would both be great.

Pesto Cavatappi

 An awesome copycat of my Noodles and Company favorite.

• ▢ 1 tablespoon Salt
• ▢ 1 pound cavatappi pasta
• ▢ 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 large tomato cored and diced
• ▢ 4 ounces mushrooms sliced (optional, see note 2)
• ▢ 1/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
• ▢ 1/4 cup dry white wine (see note 3)
• ▢ ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• ▢ 1 cup homemade pesto or store-bought (see note 4)
• ▢ 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese




• In a large saucepan or stock pot, bring 4 quarts of water and salt to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain well.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add tomatoes and mushrooms (if using) and cook for about 5 minutes, until some of the liquid has been released and the tomatoes are heated through.
• Stir in the broth, wine, and cream and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 2 minutes.
• Add pesto and stir until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add pasta and toss until uniformly coated in the sauce. Transfer to a serving dish or individual plates and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

• NOTES
  Excellent! 
  I didn’t have mushrooms but did have peppers.
  Didn’t have white wine on hand but that would be good.
  I added a bunch of rotisserie chicken. Shrimp would also be good.

Steak Marinade

 Marinade steaks between 2 hours and overnight.

• ▢ 1/3 cup soy sauce
• ▢ 1/3 cup lemon juice
• ▢ 1/2 cup olive oil
• ▢ 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ pinch of red pepper

Pizza crust - Gerardi method

 5 stars!

I used the Sallys Baking Addiction recipe - https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-pizza-crust-recipe/#tasty-recipes-66436

• I mixed it at lunch time so it had lots of time for the yeasty taste to develop. (Probably not essential)
• To bake, I preheated the oven to 475 with a baking sheet inside to heat up.
• I rolled out the crust on a silicone mat.
• Brush it with olive oil where the sauce will be to keep it from getting soggy.
• Add sauce and toppings and slid it onto another inverted baking sheet to make it easier to transfer to the hot pan.
• When the oven was hot I pulled out the pan and butted up against my inverted baking sheet so I could easily slide it all onto the hot pan. An extra set of hands would probably make all that unnecessary.
• Bake 10 minutes on the bottom rack and maybe 4 more on the top.

It slid onto a cutting board easily.

NOTES: 

• Holly uses parchment paper at 450.
• Johnny uses a silpat and 500 degrees.
• They both use TJs crust
• Sallys recipe filled the baking sheet with a thicker crust than I usually make. Next time I’ll probably try 2 thinner crusts.
• Fwiw, I added Italian seasoning and garlic powder to the crust. It was good.

Juicy Pork Chops

• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons EACH: onion powder and garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon EACH: salt, pepper, and oregano
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 4 – (1 ¼ inch thick) boneless pork chops

INSTRUCTIONS

• Turn your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a small bowl, mix together the paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and oregano.
• Drizzle the 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over both sides of the pork chops. Sprinkle the spice mix evenly over both sides of the pork chops and place them in a baking dish. (see notes) Drizzle them with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
• Bake the pork chops for 18 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you remove them from the oven, let them rest in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.

NOTES

• Try to choose a baking dish that is just the right size for the pork chops. You don't want there to be too much room between the chops or the juices will evaporate in the oven.
• Bake your pork chops for 7 minutes per ½ inch of thickness. Add an extra minute for each ½ inch if you're using bone-in pork chops.

MY NOTES

• This is going to turn into my go-to recipe for thicker chops.  They were very not-dry!
• I put 6 chops in a square glass baking dish - a pretty snug fit. They were about 1.25" thick.
• Instead of this spice blend, I just used some pre-mixed thing (something free I got at the State Fair supplemented with a little Famous Dave's chicken blend)
• I poured a little olive oil on a plate, dipped the chop on both sides, sprinkled seasoning on one side and put it face down in the baking dish, sprinkle more seasoning on top and bake.
• The method (highlighted above) is the key to this recipe.

Very Easy Tortellini Bake

2 lbs. italian sausage, cooked, crumbled, and cooled

4 lbs. frozen cheese tortellini

3 jars marinara sauce(or an equivalent of nice homemade sauce)

6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In a very large bowl, stir together sausage, tortellini, sauce, and half of the cheese.  Divide into 3 disposable 1/3 steam table pans or 4 - 8"x8" pans and top with remaining cheese.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until warm and bubble.  Freezes well unbaked.

*Hardly a recipe, mostly just proportions for future reference.

Copycat Costco Chicken Packets

Ingredients

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 cup shredded provolone

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

2 cups skinless chopped rotisserie chicken meat

4 slices cooked and crumbled bacon

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1/3 cup good-quality prepared creamy Caesar dressing

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound pizza dough, at room temperature

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine the mozzarella, provolone and Parmesan in a large bowl and toss to combine. Transfer 1/2 cup of the cheese mixture to a small bowl and reserve.
• Add the chicken, bacon and chives to the large bowl with the cheese. Drizzle with the Caesar dressing and season with several grinds of black pepper. Toss until everything is combined and well coated.  
• Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll one piece into a 7-by-9-inch rectangle. With one of the long sides closest to you, arrange a quarter of the filling in a log across the center of the rectangle, leaving an inch of space at each side edge. Fold in the sides, then fold the bottom piece of dough over the filling and roll up to enclose it, trimming away any excess dough. Pinch the seams together to seal well. Place the roll seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, leaving about 2 inches between each on the baking sheet.  
• Brush the rolls all over with the melted butter and sprinkle with the reserved cheese mixture. Bake until the rolls are golden and the cheese topping is crusty and browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. 

Notes

• I didn't have provolone so I just doubled the mozzarrella
• I used precooked, crumbled bacon  (pantry staple around here)
• I used this pizza dough recipe, but if there were a TJ's around here, I'd probably buy it.
• It says "good quality Caesar, but I used a cheap-o bottled dressing and it was good.  I saw other versions of this recipe that used ranch.
• These get a LOT of filling, but it melts down as it bakes, so go for it.  Also, they looked like lumpy messes but I soon figured out that once I placed them on the baking sheet it was easy to mold them into nice rectangles.
• They are a pretty big serving, but it might be good kid food if it were divided into 6 portions instead of 8.  Or just cut the big ones in half.  
• Nick declared the filling to be "just like the Costco" version.  The crust is a little different, but it was still good.

Greek Chicken Kebobs

• 
  
• 
  
• 1 3/4 lbs bonless skinless chicken breasts , diced into 1 1/4-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp olive oil , divided, plus more for grill
• 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic , minced
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large red bell peppers , diced into 1 1/4-inch pieces
• 3 small zucchini (nearly 1 lb), sliced into rounds slightly under 1/2-inch thick
• 1 large red onion , diced into 1 1/4-inch wedges

1. In a bowl whisk together 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, coriander and season with salt and pepper to taste (I used 3/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper). 
2. Place chicken in a gallon size resealable bag, pour olive oil mixture over chicken and press chicken into marinade. Seal bag and refrigerate 45 minutes to 2 hours (no longer than 2 hours or the chicken will start to get mealy because of the acidic ingredients). If using wooden skewers soak them in water for 30 minutes.
3. Drizzle and toss veggies with 2 Tbsp of the olive oil (I just left them on the cutting board and tossed them) and season lightly with salt.
4. Preheat a grill over medium-high heat. Thread a red bell pepper, red onion, zucchini, 2 chicken pieces on to skewer and repeat twice. Brush grill lightly with olive oil, place skewers on grill and grill until chicken registers 165°F (73°C) in center, about 7 - 9 minutes, rotating once halfway through cooking. Garnish with parsley, serve warm with Tzatziki sauce.

   
   

   NOTES - I didn’t have coriander 

   
   

   https://www.cookingclassy.com/greek-chicken-kebabs-with-tzatziki-sauce/#jump-to-recipe