Sunday, June 19, 2011

Val's Lemon Mushroom Herb Chicken

One of my friends from the Family Corner forums invented this recipe. I make enough of the flour mixture to do about 5 batches of the chicken, and just keep it in a jar. You only need 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mix per batch. Here's the recipe with my changes.

Find the recipe and nutrition information at Cook and Count!

June 2011 Menu Plan

May 30: Memorial Day: burgers and hot dogs on the grill, pasta salad

May 31: Chicken pitas

June 1: Calzones. I made Buffalo Chicken and Barbecue Chicken with Caramelized Onions. The barbecue was the biggest hit.

June 2: Spaghetti

June 3: Shrimp tacos

June 4: Fajitas

June 5: Hoagies

June 6: Lemon Mushroom Herb Chicken

June 7: Shredded Chicken Tacos (these tasted great--but were very drippy.  I want to find another way to use the meat from this dish.)

June 8: Takeout

June 9: Spaghetti

June 10: Shrimp tacos (again! By popular demand!  Yes, it is that good)

June 11: Not home

June 12: Not home

June 13: Beef Skillet

June 14: Balsamic chicken with thyme (now with picture!)

June 15: Tacos

June 16: Ravioli with marinara

June 17: Carnival

June 18: Chicken on the grill

June 19: Ate out for Father's Day

June 20:  Chicken barley soup

June 21:  Chicken francese

June 22:  Cheesesteak sloppy joes

June 23:  Meatball calzones (using the Once a Month Mom pizza dough)

June 24:  pizza

June 25:  at a family party

June 26:  Chicken piccata bites, farfalle with mixed vegetables

June 27:  ate out

June 28:  Hawaiian chicken, rice, green beans with almonds

June 29: ate out

June 30: Chicken Pitas. I discovered that you can make this in a skillet just as easily as you can on a griddle pan--but any spatters are much better contained. So there were no "grill marks." So what? As soon as you fold the pita, you don't see any grill marks anyway. I'm all about keeping it easy AND delicious.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate-Chip Cookies

One of the big hits at the cast-and-crew Tech Week dinners that the parents hosted at my daughter's high school this year was a plate of Oreo-stuffed chocolate-chip cookies that appeared every night.  No one could figure out who brought it--and we all wanted the recipe.  Only a lucky few kids even got to taste those cookies, because the platter was emptied in a flash every single night.

I found the original recipe at Picky Palate, but I wanted to make a few changes. First of all, I saw how huge those cookies were. I figured a mini Oreo would be easier to work with and would result in a smaller cookie. Also, I have my own favorite chocolate-chip cookie recipe, so I used that for the dough.

Here's the procedure:

1. Refrigerate your cookie dough for at least an hour before starting.

2. Use a teaspoon to remove balls of dough. Flatten on a sheet of waxed paper.

3.  Place a mini Oreo on half the flattened disks of dough.

4.  Place another disk on top of the disk with the Oreo, then carefully mold the dough around the cookie so no Oreo is showing.  (Pardon the poor photo; I was baking with one hand and photographing with the other since the kids weren't home to help me!)


5.  Place on baking sheet (I like to line my baking sheets with a silicone liner).  Bake about 1 minute longer than you usually would for chocolate-chip cookies.  Your mileage may vary, but this timing worked for me.

6.  Cool on wire rack before enjoying them!



Thanks again for the inspiration, Picky Palate!

My Favorite Chocolate-Chip Cookies

One of my friends brought a plate of these cookies to some event or other.  We all praised her baking and she let us know that her husband had made them.  We have since designated Bob the Official Baker for all our events.  (I don't think he minds.  He feeds us cookies; we feed his ego.  Everyone's happy.)

Big Brother likes these cookies so much that he once told me that he'd be willing to steal Bob's recipe box so I could get the recipe.  Bob thought that was funny and offered me the recipe.  No one had to break into Bob's kitchen to get it.


These are a little different from your everyday chocolate-chip cookies since there's a touch of cinnamon in them.  They're delicious--and addictive.  Here's the recipe:

BOB'S CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIES

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened (in summer 15 minutes at room temp is plenty.  Do not melt or heat the butter)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I've been known to add up to 2 tsp)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 package chocolate chips, whatever kind you like best (I like mini chips in these, but any kind works)

Cream butter, sugars, vanilla and egg with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add dry ingredients, excluding chips.  Stir in chips by hand or use the mixer on very low speed.  If dough is very soft, chill for a little while before baking to make it easier to handle.

Roll 1 tsp-sized balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake 9 minutes at 375.  Cool on a wire rack.  Makes 6 to 7 dozen.


Monday, June 13, 2011

Secret Recipe Club: Shrimp Tacos

I could get carried away trying new desserts, thanks to the Secret Recipe Club, but I decided that when possible I'd make a new-to-me main dish recipe instead. We don't eat dessert very often (except for ice cream) and we do eat dinner every single night.

This recipe turned out to be great for those nights when it's just too hot to cook--because there's only 5 minutes of cook time involved!

My assigned blog this month was Every Little Thing. This blog emphasizes the use of fresh ingredients, and it's full of photos that will make you drool!  Stacy's recipe for Shrimp Tacos was truly simple to make and everybody here loved it! In fact, we had it twice in two weeks--by popular demand :)

I doubled the original shrimp recipe to feed my crew and used a different salsa recipe, so here it is as I made it:

SHRIMP TACOS

Get the recipe and nutrition facts at Cook and Count.


MY OWN PICO DE GALLO

Get the recipe and nutrition facts at Cook and Count.



Join the club! It's lots of fun. And visit the other participating Secret Recipe Club blogs:

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