Creamy Mushroom Chicken Marsala

I just looked at the ingredients I had off hand last night, and ran across this one.  I sure am glad I did...it was one of the best things I have ever made.  The two things everyone needs to have in their house at all times is Marsala wine, and cooking sherry.  This dish doesn't call for sherry, but I have found it (along with Marsala) to give unique flavoring for my favorite basic dinners.

Creamy Mushroom Chicken Marsala  

2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
6 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup Marsala wine, divided
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup reduced fat milk (or half and half)
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon  thyme
1 (12 ounce) package uncooked linguine pasta
dash cayenne pepper (optional)




Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook until halfway done and golden brown on both sides, about 4 to 7 minutes each side. . Set chicken aside.

In skillet, scrape drippings, and add olive oil.  Saute mushrooms over medium high heat.  Add garlic and onion, and cook about 3-4 minutes until flavors blend.

Add 1/4 cup of the wine and stir; let reduce over low heat for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Add cream of chicken soup and cream of mushroom soup to skillet along with mushroom mixture. Mix soups well with drippings, making sure no lumps remain. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly, then add remaining 1/2 cup wine; season with rosemary and thyme. Adjust amount of wine as needed to make a nice, thick gravy consistency. Add cayenne pepper if desired.

Let mixture simmer over medium heat until bubbly. Pour soup/mushroom mixture over chicken in baking dish, cover and bake in preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes.

About 15 minutes before serving chicken, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Serve chicken breasts and sauce over the hot cooked pasta.

I about died when I tasted this dish.  Since I used milk, as well as the soups for the sauce...it wasn't as unhealthy as it could be.  I almost didn't use butter for the chicken, but I think you have to to compliment the other flavors.  Also the linguine pasta held the sauce really, really well.  I will definitely make this again, and my anti-chicken husband actually said it looked and smelled really good.  If I didn't make him an entire pot of spaghetti the hour before, I truly believe he would have tasted it.

Greek Garlic Lime Chicken

This is an old favorite.I stumbled across this recipe in the "escrow selling" days at the beginning of my sales career.  I used to work with a girl that loved to cook as well, and we frequently exchanged recipes.  This one is pretty easy and light, so I will throw it in the rotation again.  My husband hates chicken and Greek olives...so I will save this for company, or on those nights when it's just me.  :)

Greek Garlic Lime Chicken

Cooking spray
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
dash salt

dash pepper
1/2 cup pitted and sliced Greek olives (kalamata)

Heat a Teflon pan on medium high heat with cooking spray.  Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.  Cook on both sides, about 30 seconds to seal in flavor.  Remove chicken from pan and transfer to casserole dish or roasting pan.

Combine onion, garlic, lime juice, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, and oregano in pan.  Toss chicken with sauce to coat.  Arrange olives over chicken, and roast for 30-35 minutes until done and juices run clear.  Of course I threw it in with some mashed potatoes.  I used red potatoes, sour cream, and a little milk.  These potatoes were way better than any other ones I make...I think I am getting off the "Russet bus."

MGD

Olive Martini Chicken

I love my martini, that is no joke.  I made this one night on a whim, and it's become one of my favorite meals. I love to serve the rich sauce over the chicken and mashed potatoes.  You can also substitute vodka for gin, but I have an affinity for gin.

Olive Martini Chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup gin
1 tablespoon dry vermouth
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup sliced pimento-stuffed green olives
1/2 cup chicken broth
corn starch (as necessary)


Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Place chicken in the skillet, and cook until browned on each side, about 5 minutes per side.

Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.Reduce heat to medium, and add the butter and garlic. Saute for about 3 minutes. Pour in the gin, vermouth, lemon juice, and olives. Add chicken broth and corn starch. Whisk until sauce thickens. Add chicken and simmer with sauce, about 5 minutes.

Serve over mashed potatoes or over rice.  Always a big hit.  Delish!  

Mardi Gras Etouffee

I'm not sure how I stumbled across this dish, but my best friend make it every Mardi Gras to celebrate Fat Tuesday.  Being a die hard Catholic...we must celebrate these things.  This is a new recipe for me.  It takes  a lot of work because you have to chop everything up before making the roux.  Amy had some good tips for me on making the roux, as I was never really that good at it.  Just commit to the fact that it's going to take twenty minutes or so, and it's going to be as dark as peanut butter.  Once I got that in my head, I made a pretty darn good roux.

Mardi Gras Etouffee

1/3 cup vegetable oil (Amy uses butter- I just didn't have any)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 small green bell pepper, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons Louisiana-style hot sauce

1/3 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons seafood seasoning

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup clam juice

1 pound medium raw shrimp - peeled and deveined

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Gradually stir in flour, and stir constantly until the mixture turns 'peanut butter' brown or darker, at least 15 or 20 minutes. I use a wooden spoon and do figure 8's to make sure I get all the flour. This is your base sauce.  It is very important to stir this constantly. If by chance the roux burns, discard and start over.

Once the roux is browned, add the onions, garlic, celery and bell pepper to the skillet, and saute for about 5 minutes to soften. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and clam juice, and season with the seafood seasoning. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Season the sauce with hot pepper sauce and cayenne pepper and add the shrimp. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the shrimp are opaque. I covered this to make sure the shrimp cooked thoroughly, but make sure you keep an eye on it to not overcook the shrimp.  Serve over rice.

So I was impatient at the store, and couldn't for the life of me find "seafood seasoning."  I just figured I'd use Cajun seasoning, but then I got home and started looking at homemade recipes.  I realized that this seafood seasoning would be very flavorful, and I could blow it if I didn't use it.  I ran across a separate recipe online, and I just made my own.  It was delicious!  I would suggest though, if you make the seafood seasoning, only use one tablespoon.  It was very "seasony."  Possibly too much.

Seafood Seasoning

1 1/2 Tbsp Celery Seed
1 1/2 Tbsp Salt
2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Dry Mustard
1/2 tsp whole Thyme
1 Tbsp Paprika
1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp ground Ginger
2 Bay Leaves, crushed

I threw all this stuff in the "Magic Bullet," and got a delicious blend of flavor.  I had some left over, so I took this pic.  I think the celery seed gives it a nice flavor. 

All in all, the dinner was good.  I will definitely make again when I have about an hour to prepare, and you can bet on me making  my own seafood seasoining as well!  Enjoy!

MGD

Chocolate Bundt Cake

I am not much of a baker, I will be the first to admit that.  Baking is tough, you can't really improvise.  It's like if you make one mistake the whole thing is shot.  If I am able to have something come out right, it has to be easy.  :)  I made this for my sister in law's birthday, and it went over a big hit.

Chocolate Bundt Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix

1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate. Dust the cake with powdered sugar.

I had to actually bake this a but longer, it was about an 1 hour and 10 minutes.  It still was pretty moist and tasty though.  I have also seen pictures with melted chocolate over the top, but of course....I don't know how to do that.  I went with the less pretty powdered sugar.

Penne with Spinach and Bacon

I made this on a whim, and it was amazing.  It definitely tasted like the Amatriciana, but it was better because of the spinach.  I think I will replace the original Amatriciana recipe with this one.  I especially enjoyed the penne.  It was perfect with the sauce.

Penne with Spinach and Bacon

1 (12 ounce) package penne pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

6 slices bacon, chopped

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 small onion, chopped

2 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (with green chilies)

1/2 can tomato paste

1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces

1 dash cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 tablespoon basil

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne pasta, and cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile place bacon in the skillet, and cook until browned and crisp. Drain all grease except for two tablespoons. Add garlic and onion, and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook until heated through. Crumble bacon and add to sauce.  Stir in tomato paste. Add cayenne pepper, garlic salt, and basil. 
Add spinach, and put lid over sauce.  Simmer on low heated until spinach wilts.

Drain pasta, and rinse with cold water. Toss with sauce, and add fresh Parmesan cheese over the top.

It was a little spicy, but delicious!

MGD

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

My husband and I recently moved into a bigger place, and I finally pulled the crock pot out of a box two days ago.  When he saw it sitting on the counter full of food the next day he couldn't help but laugh.  He said, "I knew the second you pulled that thing out you would use it immediately.  You love that thing."  I do.  This is one of my top 5 recipes.

 

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff  

1 pound cubed beef stew meat

2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 packet onion soup mix

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup water

1 cup beef broth

salt and pepper

3-4 garlic cloves chopped

1/2 cup fresh mushrooms

4 oz cream cheese

1 dollop of sour cream (optional)

Salt and pepper stew meat.  Combine soup, onion, soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, water, broth, garlic in crock pot.  Cook on for 4-5 hours on low.

30 minutes before serving, add fresh mushrooms, cream cheese and sour cream.  Stir. Serve over egg noodles.

I hadn't made this in a long time, and I thought it would be good to cook it all day.  I left it for 8 hours, and I was sorry. I like my stroganoff with large chunks of meat.  While the flavor was great, the long cook time shredded the meat, and the pieces were too small.  Still tasty....just going to stick to my recipe for 4-5 hours on low.

Lemon Chicken with Fresh Spinach

I love cooking with soups.  It makes everything so easy, and I can always whip something up that tastes pretty good with stuff I have off hand.  I realized this weekend how much I love lemon flavor.  My husband hates it of course, so I don't really get to experiment as much as I would like to.  I am also going to always have a bag of spinach.  It's so easy to make, and it's pretty much the greatest vegetable ever.

Lemon Chicken with Fresh Spinach

3 table spoons olive oil divided

4 chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 bag washed fresh spinach
1/2 cup water

4-5 cloves chopped fresh garlic

garlic salt (coarse ground with fresh parsley)

salt and pepper

Salt and pepper both sides of chicken breast. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil medium high heat for 1 minute. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet, and set aside. I like to cut the chicken breasts in large chunks, but that's up to you.

Meanwhile, add 1/3 of spinach to a saucepan over water.  Layer with fresh garlic, garlic salt, olive oil. Continue layering until all spinach is in the sauce pan. Cover, and cook on medium until cooked down. Stir, and leave on low until ready to serve.

Whisk together soup and water till blended. Stir the soup, water, parsley, lemon juice, paprika and pepper in the skillet and heat to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Squirt a little lemon juice over spinach and serve with chicken.

I put this over rotini pasta because that's what I had. I also spooned some of the sauce over the pasta. You can make this with egg noodles or rice as well. Amazing!