Country Club Chicken

This is a really good chicken recipe from Kayotic Kitchen. In the past I never would have made something like this because of the white wine in it  (Randal really disliked wine sauces, but ever since making the beef bourguignon that uses a whole bottle of wine he's come around to the idea!).  In fact, he liked this so much that we have already made it a second time!

1 lb spaghetti
4 chicken breasts
1 onion
8 oz mushrooms
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 slices bacon
1/4 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1 apple
olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook the bacon in a large frying pan. Remove cooked bacon, season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and brown in the bacon fat. Remove chicken to a casserole dish.

Add the diced onion to the pan and cook for a few minutes, add the sliced muchrooms and diced apple and cook for 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and pour in the white wine.  Add in the soup and cheddar cheese and stir into the sauce.  Cover the chicken with the sauce and bake for 30 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, cook the spaghetti according to package directions.

Serve the chicken over the spaghetti and top with the bacon.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Pepperoni and mozzarella stuffed chicken, corn on the cob and salad

Tuesday:  Coronation chicken salad sandwiches, zuppa toscana soup

Wednesday: Stuffed cabbage casserole, salald

Thursday:  Herb roasted turkey breast, roast parsnips, rosemary potatoes and green beans

Friday:  Spag bol and salad

See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Raspberry Meringue Parfait

I saw these parfaits over at Eat Live Run while I was looking around for a dessert to make for our anniversary.  I didn't follow her recipe exactly as I wanted to make the raspberry sauce I've made before but I used her meringue recipe.

Meringues:
3 egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Raspberry Sauce:
6oz fresh raspberries
1.5 tablespoons superfine sugar
Seeds from a 1/4 of a plumped vanilla bean

Preheat oven to 200 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To make the meringues, in the bowl of an electric mixer beast the egg whites on medium speed until foamy.  Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until the egg whites form soft peaks.  Add the sugar slowly and continue to beat on high until the meringues hold stiff peaks, then beat in the vanilla.

Spoon mounds of meringue onto the parchment paper and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Turn off the oven and leave the meringues to dry out in the oven for 2 hours.

To make the raspberry sauce, combine the raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar, until the berries have given off some juices and they come to a boil. Transfer to a sieve set over a bowl. Using a spatula rub the berries and juices through the sieve.

To make the parfaits, spoon some raspberry sauce in the bottom of the glass, add crumbled meringue and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Repeat until glass if full and finish with the raspberry sauce.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  Chicken tikka, jasmine rice, naan bread

Tuesday:  Armenian beef kebabs, fatoosh salad (didn't make this last week)

Wednesday:  Roast chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans

Thursday:  Pepper steak, jasmine rice

Friday:  Eating Out

See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Eight Layer Casserole

Randal was a little concerned when I told him I was going to make this because of the spinach, but even though the picture doesn't make this look so great, it was actually quite good and Randal even managed to look past the spinach!

1 pound ground beef
16 oz tomato sauce
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup sour cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp onion, chopped
3 cups dried noodles
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, cooked and well-drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease a baking dish and set aside.

Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and set aside.

Brown the beef in a large skillet, drain and stir in tomato sauce, basil, sugar, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into skillet. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl stir together the sour cream and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Stir in milk and onion. In prepared baking dish, layer half of the noodles, half of the meat mixture, half of the cream cheese mixture, and all of the spinach. Top with the remaining meat mixture and noodles.

Cover casserole with lightly greased foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and top with remaining cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.  

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  Spag bol and salad

Tuesday:  Country club chicken (we liked this so much last week, I am making it again)

Wednesday:  Armenian beef kebabs, fatoosh salad

Thursday:  Mulligatawny soup, salad

Friday:  Chicken tikka masala and jasmine rice

See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Biscuit Donuts

I have seen donuts made out of biscuits so many times, but I never made them because I could not imagine that they tasted good or anything like a donut at all. I can admit though that I was wrong, they are incredibly quick and easy to make and they are so good.

1 can refrigerated biscuits (anything but flaky layers)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 stick butter, melted

Vegetable oil for frying

Pour half an inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan, and heat on medium-high heat

Melt the butter in a small bowl.

In a seperate bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar.

Cut out the center of each biscuit, drop each donut into the oil and turn over once golden brown.  Remove from oil when browned on both sides.  Dip each donut into the melted butter and then the cinnamon sugar.

Peanut Butter Truffle Mousse Cheesecake

I am so excited to join the crazy cooking challenge this month.  For those of you who do not know what that is, it's a group of food bloggers who are challenged every month to find the ultimate recipe for that month's theme, make that recipe and then all post them on the same day.  Previous months have included fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, chocolate chip cookies and fruit smoothies. 

 I was so happy when I found out that this month's theme was cheesecake, as I have never actually made a cheesecake before (my husband is the cheesecake maker in our house!) so I thought this would be the perfect challenge for my very first crazy cooking challenge.


As soon as I found out the theme I went searching through food blogs pinning all the cheesecakes I would love to make.  In the end I was torn between two - a cherry crumble cheesecake and a peanut butter truffle mousse cheesecake.  I couldn't decide between them so I sent the links to my husband and gave him the deciding vote.  So in the end the cheesecake I made was the Peanut Butter Truffle Mousse Cheesecake from In Katrina's Kitchen.

To put it simply, this cheesecake is amazing.  It starts out with a peanut butter Oreo crust, a fluffy cheesecake filling, topped off with peanut butter truffle mouse, and decorated with whipped cream and a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup, and if that wasn't enough it's finished with a warm peanut butter sauce.  Randal took this to his office and from what I hear everyone loved it.  I am already planning to make this again because I want to try it using Nutter Butter cookies for the crust instead of  Oreos, and as neither Randal or I are cool whip fans I want to make the mousse with real whipped cream (those would be the only changes I would make to this recipe).

Crust
2 cups crushed peanut butter Oreos
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake
4 (8oz) bricks of cream cheese, room temperature
1 cups sugar
4 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Truffle Mousse
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp milk
2 cups icing sugar
1 large tub Cool Whip
Reeses Cups

Peanut Butter Sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap a 9 inch springform pan with foil.

Mix together the crushed Oreos and melted butter and press into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Bake for 7 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.  Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the cream and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.

Pour the cheesecake filling into the prepared crust. Place the cheesecake into a roasting pan (or something large enough to fit the cheesecake pan) pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches half way up the cheesecake.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes until the edges are set, but the center still has a jiggle to it. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven for 1 hour.
Then remove the cheesecake from the water bath and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack before refrigerating overnight.

To make the peanut butter mousse, in the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter and milk until smooth. Beat in the icing sugar followed by the cool whip.  Cover the cheesecake with the mousse and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. 

To make the peanut butter sauce combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until melted and combined.

We topped the cheesecake with fresh whipped cream that my husband made, but you could also use any leftover peanut butter mouse, and peanut butter cups and a drizzle of the peanut butter sauce.

Below are the other cheesecakes from this Challenge. If you like the look of mine, please click my thumbnail (number 21) to vote. 

Linked to: Michelle's Tasty Creations, Mom On Timeout, A Little Nosh, Two Yellow Birds, Made In A Day, The Ease Of Freeze, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Five Little Chefs, Something Swanky, House Of Hepworths, Mandatory Mooch, Little Becky Homecky, Kitchen Fun, Blissful and Domestic, Craftionary, Rattlebridge Farm, Tutus and Tea Parties, Six Sisiters Stuff, Cheerios and Lattes, Addicted To Recipes, A Pinch of Joy, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, Pamela's Heavenly Treats, Create With Joy, Eye Heart, Flour Me With Love, Family Fresh Meals, Serendipity and Spice, Happy Homemaker, Skip To My Lou, Chef In Training

 

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  Chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cream gravy and green beans

Tuesday:  Beef bourguignon

Wednesday: Country club chicken

Thursday:  Mongolian beef, jasmine rice and garlic sugar snap peas

Friday:  Eating out

See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Mongolian Beef

One of the things that Randal and I really miss since we moved to League City is P.F. Changs. We are so predictable when it comes to Changs though, our order never changes, we always start with the ribs and share the sweet and sour pork and mongolian beef, and finish with their amazing banana spring rolls.

Since it's not as easy anymore to get our mongolian beef fix I am so happy to have found this copycat recipe over at Six Sisters. It really does taste like the real thing, it has so much flavour, it's sweet and salty with slightly crunchy beef, just delicious.

2 tsp vegetable oil
½ tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup water
¾ cup dark brown sugar
vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)
1 lb flank steak
¼ cup cornstarch
3 spring onions, green part only

Heat the 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then increase the heat and boil for 3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat

Slice the steak against the grain into thin slices. Dip the steak slices into the cornstarch  and let the beef sit for 10.

Heat the one cup of oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium heat. Add the beef and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.  Remove the beef from the oil, add the beef to the pan with the sauce, along with the spring onion slices and stir together. Serve over rice.