Cooking with KP: December 2018

Big Momma's Creamy Chicken and Pasta Primavera

My favorite dishes is Chicken Alfredo, especially a primavera! For years, I was using jarred alfredo Although this recipe does not save on calories and fat, it is low sodium and very tasty.

sauces and many were very good, but the salt content was over the top.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 10-12 chicken tenders, chopped into 1-2 chunks

2 cups fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

2 bell peppers, chopped into large pieces

2 Roma tomatoes, remove seeds and cut into ½ inch pieces

1 cup of baby spinach leaves, stems removed and leaves broken into half

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon pepper

½ Tablespoon Italian seasoning blend (I use McCormick)

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley

½ cup butter

1 ½ cup heavy cream

½ Tablespoon minced garlic

2 cups of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (not the green can!)

½ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon paprika

16 ounces penne pasta or medium sea shell pasta, cooked and drained (I boil the pasta for 9-10 minutes so that it is a little al dente (firm not crunchy)

Season chicken pieces with garlic powder and pepper. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute chicken for 4-5 minutes. Add mushrooms and bell peppers. Continue to saute for 4-5 more minutes. You don’t want vegetables too soft. Add tomatoes, spinach, Italian seasoning and parsley and stir to all is coated. Reduce to lowest heat.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add minced garlic. Cook garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add heavy cream and whisk well and let simmer for about 40 seconds. Remove from heat and slowly add grated Parmesan cheese, whisking thoroughly. Stir in pepper and paprika. Pour over chicken and vegetables in skillet. Coat well. Add your pasta and toss. Sprinkle a little more parsley over the top and enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Dijonnaisse

If you are looking for a great condiment for sandwiches or to serve along side prime rib, with grilled chicken salads, or on top of grilled sausage and shrimp kebabs, or anything you like, look no farther. This is simply delightful.

10 cloves/toes of garlic, peeled
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 sprigs of rosemary or 2 tsp. dry rosemary

Place garlic in the center of a large square of foil. Add olive oil and rosemary. Tightly fold foil into a packet. Roast in over for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and let cool 15-20 minutes. Open foil packet and remove garlic and place in a bowl. Press roasted garlic with the back of a spoon until a fine mash. You can also use a mortar and pestle to mash the garlic.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. smoky paprika
dash of salt

Mix mayonnaise, mustard. lemon juice, pepper, salt, and paprika in a large bowl with pressed garlic. Refrigerate in tightly covered container if not serving immediately.

Kay's Cook All Day Crockpot Corn Chowder

I don't know many people who don't like corn, so when it is cold and dreary outside, warm and comfort yourself with this hardy and super easy corn chowder.

8 slices of bacon, fried

4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium bell pepper, diced

2 ribs of celery, diced

1 pound ham, cubed (you can use smoked sausage instead or no meat but bacon)

1 16-ounce package of frozen whole kernel corn or 1 can of whole kernel corn, drained

2 cans cream-style corn

2 Tablespoons parsley flakes

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika
1 bay leaf

2 cups chicken broth (more or less--see directions)

1 can 12-ounce can evaporated milk

1/2 stick butter

Shredded cheese, sour cream and green onions to top bowls with crumbled bacon (optional)

Spray large crock pot with cooking spray. Add potatoes, onion, bell pepper, celery, ham, all corn, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Pour in chicken broth until it covers and barely rises above ingredients. Cook on low for 5 hours. In the meantime, cook bacon and break 6 slices into 1/2 inch pieces and add to crock pot after 5 hours. The other two slices of bacon will be used to top the bowls of chowder. Cook 3 more hours on low. Add butter and evaporated milk 30 minutes prior to serving. Top bowls with crumbled bacon and/or cheese, green onions, and sour cream.

Christmas Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball

What’s a party without a cheese ball? Here is a wonderful one that is perfect for Christmas. I found

it the basic recipe online and made a few adjustments. It is tangy and nutty and great with white wine.

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (The original recipe called for goat cheese)

8 ounces sharp white cheddar, shredded

1 Tablespoon milk

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 green onions, finely diced

Dash of pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1 5-oz. bag dried cranberries (about a cup and a half)

Curly leaf lettuce to make a bed for the cheese ball

Rosemary springs for garnish (optional)

Mix cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add cheddar, milk, Worcestershire sauce, green onions, pepper and pecans then continue mixing until well combined. Line a small round bowl with plastic wrap then spoon cheese mixture into bowl. Press cheese firmly into bowl. Bring plastic up and over the top of cheese and gather to shape cheese into a ball. Seal ball with more plastic if necessary to completely cover then refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Don’t worry if the ball is not perfect at this point. Once it firms up you will be able to easily shape it into a perfect ball. Pour cranberries into a pie plate and separate any that might have stuck together; set aside. Remove cheese ball (in plastic) from the bowl. Keeping cheese ball wrapped in the plastic, use hands to shape into a ball. When the cheese ball is perfectly round, roll in cranberries. Press any loose cranberries in the open spots the cheese ball is nicely covered. Place on bed of curly leaf lettuce and cover with plastic or place in cheese dome and refrigerate until ready to serve. Remove from refrigerator about 20 minutes prior to serving.

Serve with savory crackers.

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.