Kitchen Adventures 11.4

Easter is a little different now than it used to be, at least for me. When at home, it was always a big family time when we went to church, then ate lunch with the extended family and hunting eggs. Now, with being three hours away from home and no long weekend, it makes it hard to go home, so now I celebrate with my "family" here. We have had big dinners, gone out to dinner, and everything in between. This year, I got to celebrate with my boyfriend, his roommate, and some friends. It was a nice, though rainy, day, and a wonderful time celebrating Resurrection Sunday.
Mr. boyfriend had the main dish with some delicious ham. He also provided the macaroni and cheese. Our friend Shaye came with roils and fruit salad. I provided scalloped potatoes, a lemon (aka Easter) cake and sauteed asparagus and peas. Overall, way too much food for us, but it was delicious!

I looked around the Web for a couple different recipes to fit these needs. I found several through Foodgawker and other websites. I also turned to my hand Triple T cookbook and combined a few recipes to make the potatoes. It all turned out pretty well, all things considered. Lots of cooking in a short amount of time, but lots of fun in the end.

Sauteed Asparagus and Peas

Ingredients

2 T. unsalted butter
1/4 c. minced shallots
1 bunch thin asparagus spears, ends trimmed and cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces on a diagonal*
1 c. thawed frozen peas
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. honey

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add in the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

2. Add the asparagus, 1/4 teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring frequently so the shallots don't burn, for about 5 minutes or until al dente. Add the peas and honey and cook about one minute more or until the peas are warmed through. Add in more salt and pepper to taste and serve.

*To trim asparagus, bend one spear near its base to see where it naturally snaps off. Use a knife to trim remaining spears to the same length.



The scalloped potatoes were the best of the three, I think. It took a little ingenuity, but they turned out very well. I was a little nervous at first, but it turned out well in the end. It was a combination of two separate recipes that overall became a good new one.

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 lbs. potatoes, or 6 medium ones
3 T. margarine
3 T. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 c. milk
1 sm. onion, chopped
2 c. cheddar cheese

Directions:

Peel and cube the potatoes. Melt the margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in the flour, salt and pepper. Cook and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Stir in the milk and heat to boiling. Boil for one minute, still stirring. Arrange the potatoes in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish with a layer of white sauce on top and then another layer of potatoes and sauce. Top with the cheddar cheese. Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and bake for 60-70 minutes. Let stand before serving.



The final recipe is the lemon cake. I think it would have been better if it wasn't so dry, but I think that was because I made it the day before and it just got a little dry. It still had good flavor, though.

Lemon Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

1 c. butter, room temperature
1 1/4 c. sugar ( 1.25 c.)
zest of 1 large lemon
4 eggs, room temperature
2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup buttermilk
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a bundt pan. Mix the sugar and lemon zest together in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. In a third bowl, mix the lemon juice and vanilla extract into the milk.
Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until very white and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping the bowl as needed. Turn the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients mixture, alternating with milk in 3 separate additions. Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake on the middle rack for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar and serve. *I only baked it for 35 minutes before a toothpick came out clean. I also made a lemon glaze instead of dusting with powdered sugar.

Here is a link to the original posting for this recipe.

Kitchen Adventures 11.3

Do you ever really think about why you don't like a certain dish? Sometimes a scarring experience from childhood turns you off a dish for the rest of your life. Other times, you just THINK you don't like something without ever trying it. That was how I felt about chicken pot pie. I just had it in my head that I didn't like it for the longest time. People would rave about how delicious it was, which restaurant had the best one (Cheddar's is pretty great) or whose grandma had the best recipe. When I finally tried it, I realized just how good it is. And when I found a recipe for it that looked pretty easy, I couldn't resist trying it.

This is another dish from the PHILADELPHIA cooking creme cookbook. Those smart people really put together a good marketing plan with their new product and accompanying cookbooklet (it's a tiny recipe book and that sounds like a good name for it!). Again, something nice and easy that doesn't take too much time or effort to make and is absolutely delicious. My boyfriend was a little wary and swore I was making it wrong when I didn't use a bottom crust, but it turned out fine. That must be the hot pot pie debate question: to use or not to use a bottom crust? I'm sure the bottom crust is just as good, but this top crust-only version was pretty yummy. Though it is more of a fall/winter comfort food item, it's just light enough to work for the summertime, too. Give it a try!

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 c. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained
1 tub PHILADELPHIA Savory Garlic Cooking Creme
1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of a two crust package)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook and stir chicken in nonstick skillet on medium heat for five or six minutes, or until the chicken is lightly browned (Tremayne would say season your chicken while cooking, so sprinkle some salt, pepper, and garlic powder on there if you feel like it.) Add the vegetables to the chicken in the skillet and cook for one or two minutes, or until the veggies are heated through. Stir in the cooking creme, and then spoon this mixture into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Cover this with the crust, then seal and flute the edges. Cut several slits into the crust as steam vents and then place the pie on a baking sheet. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Kitchen Adventures 11.2

Life has been busy this past month! Still, that is no reason for me to have a month-long break in posting. I have no excuses, that's just how it happened. So, here's a posting to start back up again and do some catching up. Thank goodness there's no work Monday; it should give me plenty of time to get all caught up.

At many grocery stores, samples are provided while you are shopping. This especially is true when you are shopping during the lunch hour. It's good advertising, really, because they get you when you're hungry and such you in to try something new. If you like it, you are much more likely to buy that unplanned product than you would be with just seeing the new product. I will admit, every now and then I get sucked in. With this particular instance that led to this recipe, I tried the product one week but did not buy it until several weeks later. I must say, it was well worth the wait.

The PHILADELPHIA cream cheese people have introduced a new cooking creme product. So, instead of mixing in spices and herbs with your cream cheese, it comes mixed in for you. Plus, it is not as thick as a regular block of cheese. I have tried two of the four cooking creme flavors and liked them both. PHILADELPHIA also made the smart move of putting out a recipe book using these products. This is one of those recipes.

I liked this because it was quick and easy to make, yet filling and delicious. It was also pretty light, which was nice with warmer weather approaching. I would definitely recommend checking out these products!

Creamy Italian Chicken & Orzo Skillet

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small zucchini, chopped (I omitted this as zucchini were just too expensive when I made this)
1 tub PHILADELPHIA Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking Creme
1/2 c. chopped tomatoes ( I also omitted this as I'm not a big tomato fan)
2 c. hot cooked orzo pasta

Directions:

Cook the chicken and zucchini in a large skillet over medium heat for 6 to 7 minutes or until the chicken is done. Add the cooking creme and tomatoes to the skillet and cook and stir for 2 minutes. Serve the chicken mixture over the cooked orzo.
* substitute 2 cups frozen cut green beans for the zucchini (this is what I did).