Key Lime Bars

 We love key lime pie.  I found this recipe in the April/May issue of Taste of Home.  It will be a nice addition to some of our spring and summer parties.

1 1/4 C. all purpose flour

30 vanilla wafers, broken into pieces

1/2 C. confectioners sugar

1/2 C. chopped pecans

3/4 C. cold butter, cubed

Cream cheese layer

1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/4 C. sugar

2 tbsp. 2% milk

1 tsp. vanila

Key lime layer

1 1/2 C. sugar

1/4 C. all purpose flour

4 large eggs

1/2 C. Key lime juice

Additional confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a food processor, combine flour, wafers, confectioners sugar and pecans; cover and process until nuts are fine.  Add butter; cover and pulse until crumbly.

Press into an ungreased 13x9in baking dish.  Bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, milk, and vanilla until blended; spread over crust to edges of pan.  In another small bowl, combine sugar and flour; whixk in eggs and Key lime juice.  Gently pour mixture over cream cheese layer.

Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until filling is set.  Cool on a wire rack.  Refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled.  Cut into bars.  Just before serving, sprinkle with additiona confectioners sugar.

Chicken Scarpariello

 Every so often Chris gives me a cooking "challenge".  I was laid off from my job a few weeks ago so I have some spare time and have been doing some cooking.  He saw this dish on one of the Beat Bobby Flay episodes on Food Network and thought it would be something we would both like.  I scoured the internet to find a recipe I liked and was close to what he saw on the show.  I could have gone straight to foodnetwork.com but I rarely do things the easy way.

This recipe came from a website called Serious Eats.  I made a few tweaks along the way and will note them in the recipe.  I also completely forgot to take any photos so I guess I will have to make it again!

2 1/2lbs. bone in skin on chicken thighs (6 to 8 thighs)-->I used 2 large chicken breasts, each piece cut into 3 smaller pieces

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 to 4 links sweet or hot Italian sausage--> I used sweet

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 larged red bell pepper, thinly sliced

2 tbsp. finely minced fresh sage leaves-->use fresh, the aroma is amazing!

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced-->did I mention the aroma?

8 hot or sweet pickled cherry peppers, thinly sliced along with 1/4 C. of the pickling liquid from the jar-->I used sweet here too.

1 C. dry white wine-->all I had was Prosecco, so in it went!

1 C. homemade or store bought low sodium chicken stock

2 tbsp. sugar

Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Season chicken generously with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat until shimmering.  Add chicken skin side down, and cook without moving until well browned and crisp.  I browned the chicken breasts until they were golden; about 8 minutes total, lowering the heat if pan starts to smoke.  Flip chicken and brown lightly on second side, about 3 minutes.  Transfer chicken to a large plate and set aside.

Return skillet to heat without draining it and add sausage.  Cook until well browned on the first side, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Flip sausage and cook on second side until browned, about 1 1/2 minutes longer.  I cut the sausage on the bias into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces when it was done.

Return pan to heat, add onion and bell pepper and cook stirring and scraping up the brown bits with a wooden spoon until veggies are softened and starting to brown, about 4 minutes.  Add sage and garlic, stir to combine, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add pickled cherry peppers and their liquid stirring and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon.  Add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.  Add chicken stock and sugar, and stir to combine.  Return sausage to pan, toss to combine then return chicken pieces to pan skin side up unless you are using boneless/skinless; nestling them down among sauce vegetables and sausage.

Transfer to oven and cook until chicken is done; about 30 minutes.  Serve immediately, spooning sauce, vegetables and sausage around chicken pieces.  I served this with roasted potatoes.

Chicken Parmesan Slider Bake

 This is another recipe from Taste of Home Feb/Mar 2024 issue.  I did my own spin on it.  I’ll note where I made changes.

24oz. frozen breaded chicken tenders—> Instead of tenders, I put 4 chicken breasts in my Instapot with a cup of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of marinara sauce, 1/2 tsp. ea. onion powder and garlic powder, and 1 tsp. Italian seasoning.  Set the instapot to poultry and let it go.  When it was finished the chicken was easily shredded

2 pkg. Hawaiian rolls 

14 slices provolone cheese—>I added in shredded mozzarella as well

1 jar marinara sauce

Topping 

1/2 C. butter, melted 

1 tsp. garlic powder 

1 tsp. red pepper flakes 

1/2 C. Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp. minced fresh basil

I also added a tbsp. of parsley flakes 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If you are using the chicken tenders, prepare them according to package directions. Meanwhile without separating the rolls, cut them horizontally in half. Arrange bottom half in a greased 13x9 pan.  Place 8 cheese slices over roll bottoms, overlapping as needed.  Bake until cheese is melted, 3-5 minutes.

Layer rolls with half the sauce, chicken, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese.  Replace the top half of rolls.

For topping, microwave butter, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes, covered on high, stirring occasionally until butter is melted.  Pour over rolls, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Bake uncovered until golden brown and heated through, 20-25 minutes.  Sprinkle with basil and parsley flakes before serving.

Shortcut Minstrone

 I found this recipe in the February/March 2024 issue of Taste of Home. I’ve never made minestrone with bacon before and I think this will become a fan favorite in my house.

4 bacon strips, diced

1 large onion, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 32oz. carton beef broth

1 can kidney beans 

1 can chickpeas 

2/3 C. uncooked small shell pasta

2 tsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano 

1 C. cut green beans

Grated Parmesan cheese

In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels.  Drain and reserve 2 tbsp bacon drippings. Cook onion and carrots in the drippings until tender, 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic, cook 2 minutes longer.

Stir in spaghetti sauce, broth and both beans. Bring to a boil.  Add pasta, brown sugar, basil and oregano. Cook, uncovered until pasta is tender, 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add green beans, cook until heated through, about 5 minutes longer.  Garnish with reserved bacon and Parmesan cheese.

1cup serving- 188 calories, 3g. fat, 2mg. cholesterol, 560mg. sodium, 31g. carbohydrates, 10g. protein 

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

 I found this recipe on a site called Barefoot in the Kitchen and I made my own spin on it for Thanksgiving this year.  It was a huge hit!  

Salad:

1 lb. Brussels sprouts, shaved or sliced thin-->I used 2+ lbs, not quite 2.25lbs and I sliced them

2 medium Fuji, Pink Lady or Honeycrisp apples, thinly sliced and chopped--> I used 1 Pink Lady and 1 LARGE Honey Crisp, only sliced them and gave them a lemon juice bath before putting them in the salad.

1/3 C. golden raisins or Craisins--> I used Craisins, about 1/2 C.

1/3 C chopped pecans--> I toasted my pecans and used 2/3 C.

2 tbsp. red onion, thinly sliced and chopped--> I used 1/2 of a shallot, chopped fine

1/4 extra sharp cheddar cheese or Parmesan, shaved, shredded or crumbled--> I used orange and white extra sharp cheddar that was shredded about 1/2 C.

Dressing:

1/2 C. lightly flavored olive oil

1/4 C. apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste

I added together the dressing ingredients and felt it needed something; so I added 1/4 C. stone ground mustard and whisked everything together.

I tossed the salad ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerated until time to serve.  Just before serving I drizzled the recently shaken dressing over the bowl.

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

 I love soup.  Soup season is just beginning.  I am going to try this an I don’t think I will wait until Thanksgiving.

8 C. unsalted turkey broth (or chicken broth)

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces 

1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped 

1 large celery stalk, sliced crosswise into 1/4 inch thick pieces 

2 tsp. minced garlic 

1/2 tsp. kosher salt 

1/2 tsp. black pepper, plus more for garnish 

3 thyme sprigs, plus chopped for garnish 

1 bay leaf 

4 C. cooked turkey, torn into 1 inch pieces 

1 C. uncooked wild rice

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Stir together broth, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until vegetables are tender and mixture is fragrant, about 3 hours.

Uncover cooker and stir in turkey and wild rice. Cover and continue cooking on low until rice is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Uncover cooker and stir in lemon juice.  Ladle into bowls and garnish with thyme and black pepper.

Classic Braised Beef

 This recipe called for a chuck roast.  I am going to try it using short ribs.  We’re supposed to get the first real cold weather of the season next week.  This might be on the menu.

3 1/2 pound boneless beef chuck roast 

1 tbsp. kosher salt

2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

4 tsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. butter

1 onion, chopped 

1lb. cremini mushrooms, halved

1 head garlic, peeled and halved

1 C. red wine

3 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves 

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 C. low sodium beef broth, plus more as needed 

3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces 

Chopped fresh parsley for garnish 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Season beef roast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Heat oil in a 5-6 quart Dutch oven over high heat; add beef. Reduce heat to medium high and cook until beef releases easily from bottom of pot and a golden brown crust has formed, about 4 minutes. Turn meat and repeat, cooking until brown on all sides. Transfer meat to a plate.

Add butter, and mushrooms to drippings.  Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook stirring constantly, about 1 minute.  Add wine, then use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from bottom of pot. Return meat and any accumulated juices to pot.  Add thyme, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce.

Pour in beef broth. Bring mixture to a simmer. Remove from heat and bake, covered, 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Add carrots to pot.  Cook until meat is very tender and carrots are tender, about 45 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaves before serving. Garnish with parsley.