Cooking with KP: March 2020

Italian Pizza Pasta Bake

I found the idea for this dinner casserole online one evening when I forgot to take out meat for dinner but had some pepperoni. Since then I have adapted this recipe to include Italian sausage or ground pork and other things we like on our pizza.

3 cups of uncooked bow tie, wagon wheel or other sturdy larger pasta shape

1 pound of ground Italian sausage

1 6-ounce package of pepperoni, cut into quarters, except for 20 slices for topping

1 14-ounce jar of marinara sauce (I like Emeril’s)

1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

1 medium onion, diced

1 small bell pepper, diced

1 4-ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 4-ounce can sliced black olives, drained

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoons Italian seasonings

1 Tablespoon sugar

½ Tablespoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 ½ cups Italian blend shredded cheese

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray. In a large pot, boil pasta in lightly salted water. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add sausage, onions, and bell pepper. Cook until sausage is no longer pink and onions and pepper are softened. All diced tomatoes, marinara sauce, mushrooms, Italian seasonings, sugar, garlic powder, black pepper, and the quarter pepperoni slices. Bring to a boil and then simmer until pasta is done. Drain pasta and return to large pot. Add black olives to sauce and meat mixture. Pour sauce over pasta; mix. Add 1 cup of Italian blend cheese and ½ cup of parmesan cheese. Mix. Pour into casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of Italian blend cheese on the top and then arrange the whole pepperoni slice on the top of the cheese. Bake of 40-45 minutes.

Creamy Cheesy Chicken Bake

My daughter has always joked, “Give my mother a can of cream of something soup, and she will make you a great dinner.” It is true; I love to cook with cream soups. Here is a recipe that I threw together one night, and my husband loves it. It has become one of our go-to recipes. It is perfect with a side of rice or pasta. We enjoy putting some of the extra sauce on top of rice/pasta.

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs

1 small onion, diced

½ bell pepper, diced

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of cream of celery soup

1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 cup of shredded cheese, divided into ¾ cup and ¼ cup portions (I have use lots of varieties, but our favorites are Fiesta Blend or Colby Jack for this dish)

1 teaspoon garlic powder, plus some for chicken

½ teaspoon pepper, plus some for chicken

½ teaspoon seasoned salt, plus some for chicken

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly season both sides of chicken pieces with garlic powder, seasoned salt, and pepper. Place chicken in a casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. In a bowl, mix together onion, bell pepper, cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, mushrooms, 1 tsp of garlic powder, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon seasoned salt and ¾ cup of shredded cheese. Spoon mixture on top of each piece of chicken. Pour any remaining sauce around the pieces. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, check to make sure chicken is cooked through (170 degree/clear juices). Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup of cheese on top and return to over until cheese is melted and lightly browned—about 5 minutes.

Crockpot Sticky Chicken

I adapted this recipe from one I found online at https://blogghetti.com. It is wonderful as it is written
there, but I made a few changes based on my family's tastes. It is wonderful recipe to leave cooking while working. However, the longer it cooks the more likely it is for the chicken to fall apart, so if you want whole pieces of chicken to serve, I recommend no more than 7 hours on low, but if it does begin to fall apart, shredded chicken on buns!

4-6 pieces of boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1 cup of apricot preserves (peach and pineapple work as well)
1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (I like Kraft's honey or Sweet Baby Ray's)
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 packet of low sodium dry onion soup mix (do not mix with water)
2 Tablespoons of water
Salt, pepper and garlic powder
2 dashes of hot sauce (optional)

Spray the insides of the crockpot ( or use a disposable liner). Season the chicken pieces with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place in the crockpot.
In a medium bowl, mix apricot preserves, barbecue sauce, smoky paprika, and hot sauce (optional).
Pour over chicken.
Sprinkle dry onion soup mix on the tops of each piece of chicken. Sprinkle the soup mix with the two tablespoons of water.
Cover. Cook on low for 5-7 hours.

NOTE: You can also use drumsticks with skin and bones in the recipe.

Sweet and Savory Garlic Chicken

This is a quick and amazingly delicious way to cook chicken. The chicken turns out moist and well-seasoned. They will come back for seconds.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced (6 tsp. pre-minced)

4 Tablespoons of brown sugar

½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

¼ teaspoon of smoky paprika

1 Tablespoon butter
Seasoned salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle both sides of chicken pieces with seasoned salt. Use the tablespoon of butter to fully coat the bottom and sides of an oblong baking dish. In a small skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat and add garlic. Saute for 4-5 minutes or until garlic is just beginning to brown. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. Add brown sugar, paprika, and pepper. Mixture will be thick or paste-like Place chicken cut side down in baking dish and brush/spoon mixture on tops of chicken to fully coat the tops. Bake for 25-30 minutes until chicken reaches 165 degrees and juices run clean. Turn on broiler and broil for 2-4 minutes.

Yam Patties

When my daughter was younger, the only way she would eat sweet potatoes is if I prepared them this way. This a great side dish. It provided just enough sweetness to balance a savory meal.

8 frozen pre-made sweet potato patties

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper (yes, pepper)

2 Tablespoons honey

5 Tablespoons softened butter

¼ cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, pepper, honey, and butter in the bottom of a casserole pan or cask iron skillet. Lay sweet potato patties on top of the mixture. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn over the patties. (If using pecans, sprinkle the pecans on top of the patties and spoon a little of the buttery mixture at the bottom of the pan on the top of the pecans.) Return to oven and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Flaky Cheddar Biscuits

I found this recipe online at BAKERMAMA and it is wonderful. The key is the buttermilk!

With just 5 ingredients and 15 minutes you are going to bake the flakiest, butteriest, cheddar biscuits you'll ever eat!

This recipe makes 12 biscuits.

2 cups self-rising flour

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

½ cup + 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided

1 cup lowfat buttermilk

2 cups sharp cheddar shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter a large baking sheet or round baking pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar. Cut in ½ cup (1 stick or 8 tablespoons) cold butter with a pastry blender or two knives in opposite directions. Add the buttermilk and stir with a sturdy spoon until well combined. Add the cheese and fold it in with the spoon and then your hands until well distributed throughout the dough.

Flatten the dough out to ½-inch thickness on a floured surface. Fold in half and then in half again and flatten back out to ½-inch thickness. Repeat the folding process at least three times to help create all those flaky layers when the biscuits are baked.

Cut dough into rounds with a 2-1/2 inch round dough cutter. Place biscuits about an inch apart in the buttered baking pan/sheet. Gather, press out and cut any remaining dough until all the dough has been formed into biscuits. You should have about 12 biscuits total.

Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Brush each biscuit with the melted butter.

Bake for 15 minutes or until biscuits have risen and are starting to turn a light brown on top.

You can toss in some garlic powder, parsley flakes/finely chopped chives, and cracked pepper for a spicy biscuit that is amazing as well.

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.