Cooking with KP: September 2010

Big Momma's Crockpot Chicken Spaghetti

There are hundreds of chicken spaghetti recipes around. I was given this recipe by a friend and made a few adjustments of my own. It is very tasty and it's what's for dinner often at the Palombo house.

16 oz. dry spaghetti or linguine, cooked and drained Cook the pasta al dente so that it doesn’t get mushy in crockpot (Reduce the boiling time recommended on the package by 3 minutes)
1.5 lb. Velveeta cheese, grated or cut into small cubes or (I rarely use Velveeta, so I use 2.5 cups of Fiesta, Mexican, or Taco blend Shredded Cheese
2 cups of cooked chicken, deboned and cut into small pieces (I use about 4 pieces of leftover baked chicken)
10 3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
10 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken, undiluted
10 oz. can diced tomatoes and green chilies (Rotel—you choose hot or mild version)
4 oz. can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 T parsley flakes

1 T garlic powder

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

1 small onion, diced
1 medium green pepper, diced

Cook and drain pasta Spray inside of crock pot with cooking spray. Add all ingredients and stir until mixed well. Cook on low heat for three hours. Simple and tasty.

NOTE: If you don't have precooked chicken, you simply spray the crockpot, put in the onions and bell peppers. Put chicken on top. Sprinkle with garlic powder, pepper and parsley. Mix soups and Rotel in small bowl and pour over the top. Cook 3-4 hours until chicken is done. Remove chicken and shred. Stir in mushrooms and cheeses. Return chicken to crock and cook 1 hour. Add cooked pasta. Cook for 30 minutes. (You won't need broth because the cooking of the chicken will provide liquid.)

NOTE: I occasionally add a can of diced green chilis to this. Yes!

Easy Enchilada Bake

Here is a recipe that I have adapted from one from Kraft Foods. It is very tasty and easy.
You will need:
1-1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 cups salsa
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed and drained
12 corn tortilla (6 inch)
1 cup sour cream
2 cups Mexican style finely shredded four cheese
two green onions, finely diced
dash of black pepper
dash of garlic powder

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place 1 T. olive oil in large skillet and heat to meat. add onions, peppers and chicken. Cook on medium heat 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Add black pepper and garlic powder. Remove from heat and stir in salsa and corn. Mix thoroughly.
Spray the bottom of a 13 x9 baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange 6 tortilla on bottom of pan. Cover with 1/2 of chicken mixture, 1/2 c. sour cream and 1 c. cheese. Repeat layers; cover with foil.
Bake 30 minutes or until heated through. Remove foil and bake 10 additional minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Top with green onions. Sliced black olivers are a great topping too.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Here is a recipe that I enjoy making each fall.

6 medium bell peppers, red, yellow, orange or green
2 teaspoons salt

Filling and Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tsp. sugar (always use a little sugar when using tomato paste to cut the acidity)
1/3 cup water
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or 1 pound ground beef and 1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup cooked long-grain rice
1/2 cup whole kernel corn (optional)
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, about 1/2 cup

Preparation:
Rinse bell peppers in cold water. Cut tops off peppers; remove seeds and membranes. Chop edible part of tops and set aside. Place peppers in a large pot; cover with salted water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain peppers and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Sauté chopped peppers (from tops), chopped onion, and chopped celery for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, crushed garlic, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg with remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Gently stir to blend; add ground beef, cooked rice, corn, and 1 cup of the tomato mixture. Mix well. Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place in a 3-quart baking dish. Pour remaining tomato mixture over the stuffed peppers. Cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 55 to 60 minutes. Remove foil. Top stuffed peppers with a little shredded cheese just before peppers are done; bake until cheese is melted.

I also like to put tomato sauce on top of my peppers. I mix one 16 ounce can of tomato sauce, 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. I heat the mixture on the stove top and pour some over each pepper. You could also just pour the peppers with the sauce instead of cheese and the last 20 minutes of baking.

Recipe for stuffed peppers serves 6.

SPECIAL NOTE: I always use female peppers instead of male peppers. They stand better in the dish. Female peppers have 4 bumps/sections at the bottom. Male peppers have 3 bumps/sections at the bottom.

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Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.