Monday, March 18, 2013

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients
  • 4 cups cubed Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Place the cubed potatoes into a baking dish. (The cubes of potatoes should be about 3/4 of an inch on all sides) You can spray the baking dish with a baking spray too to eliminate anything possibly sticking
  3. Pile on the olive oil, garlic salt, salt, paprika, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Using your fingers, or a spoon if you feel inclined, get in to the potatoes and carefully mix everything around until the seasonings coat each potato.
  4. Transfer the baking dish into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss the potatoes with a pair of tongs. Put the baking dish back into the oven and bake for about 15 - 25 minutes more until they are golden and crispy.
  5. Season with an little dusting of sea salt if desired and serve.

Chicken Scallopini with Lemon Butter Pasta

Ingredients:
  • 4 chicken breasts, fileted
  • Salt
  • Olive oil
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound of angel hair pasta
  • 1 large onion
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 pound apple wood bacon
  • 10 strings fresh thyme
  • 12 mushrooms, chopped
  • 20 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Freshly ground black pepper
1.  Pound the chicken tenders with meat pounder to flatten them. Season them with salt and pepper. Dice onion and bacon into small pieces and slice garlic.

2.  In a large frying pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Fry the chicken on both sides until slightly browned. Transfer into a baking dish with a few spoonfuls of the onions and olive oil.
 
3.  In the same frying pan, sauté the onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes.

4.  Add the bacon and cook until onions become translucent.

5.  Add the thyme and mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms become soft.
 
6.  Add the tomatoes, cream, butter, and lemon juice. Bring it to a simmer and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you add bacon, it’s already salty so be careful not to make it too salty (keep in mind the pasta will make the sauce more bland). Remove from heat.

7.  Add the cooked angel hair (reserving pasta water) to the pan and toss it in the creamy sauce. Slowly stir in a ladleful or so of pasta water to loosen up and thin out the sauce.
 
8.  Add the chicken to the pan and toss lightly. Serve the pasta on the serving plates, top with the chicken and sauce. Garnish with arugula and sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients
  • 2 (14-ounce each) cans petite diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 cup finely diced celery
  • 1 cup finely diced carrots
  • 1 cup finely diced onions
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/4 (4 tablespoons) butter
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups fat free half-and-half, warm
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • Croutons for serving (homemade version here)
Directions
  1. In a 5-quart slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, celery, carrots, onions, oregano, basil, broth, and bay leaf. Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours until the vegetables are tender.
  2. About 45 minutes before serving, melt the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is golden, about 3 minutes. The mixture will be crumbly, but that's ok.
  3. Whisking constantly, slowly ladle in 1 cup (or a ladleful) of the hot soup from the slow cooker. Whisk until smooth and bubbly. Add another cup or ladleful and stir again until smooth. Add another cup or two and stir until smooth.
  4. Stir the creamy, hot mixture back into the slow cooker. Add the Parmesan cheese, half-and-half, salt and pepper, adding more salt and pepper if needed.
  5. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes until ready to serve. Serve with homemade croutons, if desired (and trust me, you'll want to desire it).

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Cox Family Roast

Ingredients:

Roast
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of golden mushroom soup
1 lipton beefy onion soup packet
1-2 cans water
hot sauce
rice
seasonings for roast

Directions:

Season roast (I used garlic salt, Montreal Steak Seasoning and cajun seasoning).  Place in crockpot and cover with soups and water.  Cook on low for 10-12 hours.  If gravy is runny, remove roast and whisk in some flour to thicken.  Serve over rice with a dash of hot sauce, if desired.