Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce

Apparently I am on the once a month blogging plan. :)

I still cook. Often. And I even try new recipes occasionally. I just rarely have time to sit down and write.

However, this is a recipe I want to remember. I have made it a couple times now.  It is fairly easy to make and is quite tasty.

Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce.  Yum.

Ingredients:
8 bone-in chicken thighs (I have also used boneless chicken breast or tenders, depending on what I have on hand)

1 Tbsp smoked paprika (optional...we don' use this)

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided (I have used salted without issue)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth


1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup grated Parmesan (fresh is best)

juice of 1 lemon (or a splash of lemon juice if you don't have any lemons on hand)

1 tsp dried thyme

2 cups baby spinach, chopped (optional...I leave out. We will eat spinach in a salad, not cooked)


Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400.

Season chicken with salt, pepper, and paprika to taste.

Melt 2 Tbsp butter in an oven-proof skillet (I highly recommend cast iron) on medium high heat.  Brown chicken on both sides for a few minutes.  Set chicken aside.

Add remaining Tbsp butter and garlic. Cook for a minute or two, browning garlic.  Then add heavy cream, chicken broth, Parmesan, lemon juice, and thyme.  Bring to a boil.

At this point, you may add spinach if you are using it.  Cook a few minutes until it is wilted and the sauce has thickened.

Add chicken back to skillet.

Bake in oven for about 25 minutes.

We ate ours with rice, bread, and salad.

It was delicious.

Enjoy!

Reba

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

I really need to make this again and take a better picture. I will just say it was a really hectic day when I made this and I was just happy we were finally sitting down to eat.  I didn't have time to do much photography...

So the other night I wanted to try a recipe I had pinned for chicken Alfredo roll ups.  I mean, it had Alfredo sauce, cheese, and pasta. How could I go wrong?

Except like I said, it was a bit of a hectic day.

And I started thinking, "Why do I have to roll up anything? That is more time than I have..."  So I decided to go for more of a lasagna instead.  And thought it wasn't beautiful (as noted above), it was well-received.  And almost all of it was gone before the night ended.

Best of all, it really was easy (especially since I didn't roll anything).

Ingredients:
9-12 lasagna noodles (I did 12)
2 1/2 cups Alfredo sauce (I make a homemade version...YUM)
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
oregano
garlic salt
2-3 cups shredded Mozzarella

Directions:
Boil lasagna noodles according to directions on package.

Spray a 9 x 12 inch pan with cooking spray or olive oil.

Heat oven to 350.

Spread a small amount of the Alfredo sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Lay 4 lasagna noodles down on top of the sauce.

Mix the chicken and the Alfredo sauce together.

Spread 1/2 of the chicken/Alfredo sauce over the noodles.

Lay down 4 more lasagna noodles.

Again, spread 1/2 the chicken/Alfredo sauce on top of the noodles.

Place the remaining four noodles on top.

Sprinkle the shredded Mozzarella on top.

Sprinkle the oregano and garlic salt over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

We ate ours with breadsticks.  I would have thrown in some corn or a salad but once again, it was a bit of a crazy night. So we just ate a simple meal.  And loved every bite!

More later,
Reba

Baked Pork Tenderloin

I just can't take pork pictures.

I know what you are thinking.

I just can't take food pictures at all.

And that is true.

But I really can't take pork pictures.

They just don't do the food justice.

So go to the original recipe site and ooh and ahh over their pictures.

Though my pictures didn't turn out quite right, I will say that this was delicious.

My kids LOVED it. 

And they aren't typically big pork eaters.

Even I horded the ONE small leftover piece for my lunch a couple days later, threatening anybody who suggested eating it.

And though it takes a little bit to cook (around 45 minutes), it was easy to assemble.  And worth every bite.

Ingredients:
1 package pork tenderloins (around 2 to 2 1/2 pounds).  I buy the Farmland which has two tenderloins together.

4 garlic cloves quartered/slivered/sliced

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp whole grain mustard (I used a spicy brown mustard because that is what I had...)

4 Tbsp honey (I HIGHLY recommend raw honey; I could eat it by the bowl full)

2 Tbsp fresh orange juice (with food sensitivities, we avoid orange so I used lemon juice)

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary or Herbs de Provence (I used rosemary)

3 Tbsp olive oil

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse and pat dry the pork tenderloins and place in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Use a paring knife to poke holes all over the pork.  Place the garlic slivers inside the holes.  I know, it looks funny but YUM, tastes really good.

Mix together the remaining ingredients for the marinade (add the olive oil last, whisking together). Pour over the top of the tenderloins.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.  Baste halfway through the baking process with the sauce.  I think I forgot that part.  Oops. :)

Let it rest about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Then enjoy.

The sauce/marinade is delicious.

We ate it with black eye peas, baked potato halves, and parkerhouse rolls.

Happy cooking!

Reba

Chicken Enchiladas in White Sauce

My family loves Bubble Up Enchiladas. And I love easy chicken enchiladas. 

However, about a year ago, we realized that one of our kiddos has some food sensitivities.  And unfortunately, one of those sensitivities includes tomatoes.  He/she can handle them in small doses but we really just steer clear for the most part. I have even learned how to make an "untomato" spaghetti/pizza sauce using pomegranate juice and carrots.

The other day I was cruising on Facebook and happened upon a recipe for chicken enchiladas in a white sauce. The recipe wasn't quite what I wanted (or had on hand) but it inspired me to do a little Googling to find others.

And finally I found one that worked for us.

So last night I made them.

And today they are gone.

They were a hit.

Actually, probably more than the easy chicken enchiladas I usually make...

I had one leftover enchilada for lunch today. I was actually counting down until lunch to eat it. And then I was sad when it was gone.

Ingredients:
10 tortillas (I used flour)
4 cups cooked, shredded chicken (I browned my chicken tenderloins in a skillet with just a little oil)
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend; Monterrey Jack would be good too)
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
4 oz can green chilies (my food sensitive kiddo doesn't eat chilies, so I just added a little cumin instead)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

I did not do this but I would start the sauce NOW.  It takes a little time to thicken.  You can thicken the sauce as you assemble the enchiladas.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Add the flour.  Stir.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add the chicken broth.  Whisk until smooth.  Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  Once it is thick and bubbly, remove from heat and whisk in the sour cream.

As the sauce thickens (before adding the sour cream), assemble the enchiladas.  Mix together the shredded chicken and half of the shredded cheese.  Put a couple spoonfuls in the middle of each tortilla and roll up.  Place in the baking dish.  (Mine were in there pretty tight)

Pour the sauce over the top and then add the remaining shredded cheese.

Bake for about 20 minutes.  Place under broiler for just a few minutes to brown the cheese a bit.

Enjoy!

We at ours with chips (and I added guacamole for me :).

Good stuff.

Reba

Hamburger Gravy

It isn't anything fancy.

And the picture doesn't help advertise it at all.

But it was good.

How do I know?

There was NOTHING left.

Nothing.

I try to do "breakfast for dinner" just about every week. But I don't want to do the same thing over and over again.

Recently on Facebook, someone posted about having "hamburger gravy".  I have had it on my mind ever since.

So last night I rolled out some buttermilk biscuits (a first for me...I need more practice in that department).  I fried up some hashbrown potatoes (need to practice that too).  And I made a little hamburger gravy. Basically it is a white sauce (very similar to the starts of baked potato soup) and I added in some browned hamburger meat.  Then we poured it over the biscuits and the potatoes.

Yum.

It was just right for a cool evening.

(Note: Sausage would be good too...just not everyone in my crew likes sausage)

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp butter (I use unsalted)
6 Tbsp flour (all purpose)
3/4 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
3 cups of milk
1 lb ground beef, browned

Directions:
Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan.

Add flour and salt and stir until smooth and bubbly.

Remove from heat temporarily and add in milk.

Return to heat (I upped it to medium) and stir continuously until thickened.

Add in ground beef when the sauce is thickened as wanted.

It took about 10 minutes for mine to get pretty thick.

The key is to keep stirring so it doesn't burn on the bottom.

Like I said, nothing fancy. But it was good.  Apparently.  Because now it is all gone. :)

Reba

Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp in a Cream Sauce

I have been in the mood for some shrimp. And angel hair pasta.  So when I perused Pinterest, this recipe caught my attention.  As a bonus, it has a cream sauce.  Seriously, how can you go wrong with cream, shrimp, and pasta?  (Well, unless you don't like shrimp...then you may want to skip this one :)

One thing I love about shrimp is that it cooks quickly. That and I love the taste.  The one thing I don't like about shrimp is the peeling and cleaning.  I mean, mine does come "easy peel" and has basically been de-veined but I still have to clean them up.  In the end, the anticipation wins me over and I just suck it up and clean away.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup chicken stock (I didn't have stock; I just used chicken broth)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 package angel hair pasta
1or 2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
 1/2 cup chopped parsley (I didn't use quite that much...I just chopped a handful)
1/4 cup chopped chives (honestly, I didn't use any :)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
zest of a lemon (totally forgot that...I even had a lemon for it!)
salt and pepper to taste

I also added a couple of minced cloves of garlic, mainly because I love garlic.


Directions:
Heat the cream, chicken stock/broth, and lemon juice to a low simmer.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the angel hair pasta in salted water according to package directions.

Add the shrimp to the simmering cream sauce.  Salt and pepper (lightly).  Cook the shrimp about 5 minutes (until it is a cooked pink).

Add the herbs and garlic to the sauce.  Add in the Parmesan cheese. 

Let simmer about 1 minute.

Remove from heat.

I did not mix the angel hair pasta (drained at this point :) with the sauce because not all of my kids are shrimp eaters.  Some prefer just the plain pasta.

Those who desired topped the pasta with the shrimp/sauce and added additional Parmesan...mainly because you can NEVER have too much Parmesan. :)

We ate this with a garlic and cheese breadstick and a salad.

And I loved every bite.

Reba

Meatball Sandwiches

I made Meatball Sub Casserole one night which was very good.  Yet when I saw a slightly different version (Meatball Sandwiches) on Pinterest, I thought I would try that too.  Because honestly, how could you not like something with meatballs, bread, and sauce? :)

So earlier this week, I decided to give it a try.

I did make my own meatballs but I am sure store bought meatballs would work too.

And due to the changes in diet for one of our kiddos, I made our own "tomato"/ spaghetti sauce (which actually has no tomatoes in it but you would never know...e-mail me if you want the recipe :).

I didn't make the buns though.

Ingredients:

Cooked Meatballs (Here is the recipe I use...I didn't make the gravy)

Pasta Sauce

Buns (The original recipe uses a bun split only on one side; I actually used a hoagie instead and would do that again...with a modification. I will share that in a minute :)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a cookie sheet. (Note:  I forgot to spray and really wished I had!)

Place meatballs in a sauce pan.  Cover with sauce.   Heat over low/medium heat, gently stirring.  Don't stir too much or you will break up the meatballs.

Here is my hint that I learned AFTER we ate this...it was SO good but the buns were a little soggy from the meatballs.  Take the buns, spread a little butter on them, and toast them on a skillet to make them crispy and better able to hold up against the meatballs/sauce.

Place a few meatballs on the buns, spooning an extra sauce over the top.

Sprinkle generously the mozzarella cheese over the top.

Top with the top part of the bun (if using a hoagie).

Bake until the cheese is hot, bubbly, and melted (not too long :).

Enjoy!

I will definitely make these again, making sure to toast the buns this next time.  Other than the soggy bread, it was YUMMY.

Reba

Pork Tenderloin With a Pan Sauce

I am behind on recipes.  :(  It has been a really hectic week.

Anywho...

Recently on Pinterest, I found a recipe that looked SOOOO good.  Or maybe it was the picture that looked so good. :)  Either way, I just had to try it.

Pork Tenderloin with Pan Sauce.

So a couple weeks ago, I decided to give it a try.

And it was just as good as I hoped it would be.

I followed the original recipe fairly closely with just a few minor changes after reading some of the comments.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

juice from one lemon

1 or 2 tbsp Worcestershire

1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, finally chopped

2 tsp dry mustard

freshly ground pepper (to taste)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (if your grocery store has herb "singles", it is a great place to get already peeled cloves)

1 lb pork tenderloin (okay, mine was more like two so I upped my ingredients)

Pan Sauce:
Scrapings from pork tenderloin

1/2 cup chicken broth

2-3 tbsp pork marinade

1-2 tsp butter

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients from the first list (minus the pork tenderloin).  Reserve 2-3 tbsp for later use.

Place the pork tenderloin in the marinade in a large ziplock bag and marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

In a hot skillet, sear the pork tenderloin on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes per side.

Place in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

After reading some comments, I put this in a large baking pan.  Then I poured the marinade over it so it cooked in the marinade.

I am not sure if that is considered safe or not.

My thinking was that if the pork is going to cook any bad germs out, the marinade will too.

My main goal was to keep the pork moist while it was cooking.  I removed the pork from the marinade before serving.

Like I said, I was going on the advice of some of the commenters.

Nobody got sick, so I would probably do it again that way. :)

Oh, latebreaking news...one commenter said that she had read to boil the marinade for about 5 minutes and it would be good to go.  Take that for what it is worth. :)

Or just cook it without the marinade and avoid all of these questions and concerns I have. That is what I may do next time if I don't want to live life on the edge. :)

Sorry for the rambling.  It is late and I am really tired.

So toward the end of the cooking time (start checking it around 30 minutes so it doesn't dry out), get the pan sauce ready. 

Add the chicken broth to the skillet, scraping up any pork tenderloin that might be left in the skillet from earlier.

Add the reserved marinade and bring to a boil.  Boil for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the butter. Remove from heat and stir the sauce, letting the butter melt.

Pour over the pork tenderloin.

Enjoy!

We ate ours with potatoes and black eye peas. Yum.

Reba

Chicken Pillow Pockets

Recently my friend Carol, a faithful reader and commenter as well as a fellow lover of food, shared a recipe with me. She had made it for her family and thought I might like to try it.  The funny thing is I had pinned it once upon a time on Pinterest which means I was definitely interested.  I just hadn't gotten around to making it.

This past week, I finally did.

They reminded me of a fancier version of the "hot pockets" I make on occasion.  And when I say fancier, I mean even tastier.

Yum.

The sauce was just yum.

I had only one child turn her nose up at it, yet it is the same child who totally shuns the hot pockets I make. So that wasn't a total surprise.

As for me, I loved it.

Ingredients:
 
1 package of 8 crescent rolls (I used light)

8 oz cream cheese (I used light)

1/4 cup butter (Guess what...I used light :)

2-3 cups cooked and shredded chicken (I just boiled some frozen tenderloins then shredded)

1 egg

1 sleeve Saltine crackers, crushed

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

2 spoonfuls of sour cream (I did use light but they were also heaping spoons :)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (yes, light again)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Soften butter and cream cheese (I just set out about half an hour before).  Stir together to a smooth consistency.  Add in cooked/shredded chicken.

Lay out the crescents and stretch out. Instead of triangles, I pinched the seams and rolled our rectangles, then I cut the rectangles in half to make squares. Does that make sense?

Spread two spoonfuls of the chicken mixture in the middle of the crescent roll squares.

Bring in the corners, pinching together any holes and seams.  It should look like a little pillow.

Take the egg and add a little bit of water (maybe 2 Tbsp) in a separate bowl.  Mix together.

Dip the pillows into the egg then into the Saltine crumbs.

Place on a cookie sheet or baking dish.

Cook the "pillows" for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

While the "pillows" cook, create the sauce by mixing together the cream of chicken soup and the milk to a desired consistency.  At the end, add in the sour cream and cheese.

Pour over the "pillows".

Then enjoy!

Reba

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

Yes, it is another Pinterest recipe. I have been craving PF Changs. And we actually have gift cards to go there. But it is a little bit of a drive, so we haven't gotten that way in a while. So when I saw a recipe for BAKED sweet and sour chicken (with a fried rice recipe on the same page), I was ready to cook.

Except then life got busy, and this kept getting pushed to the side.

Today I had in-service. The kids stayed home with Mark. There was no homework to mess with. The chores had been taken care of throughout the day. So it was a good night to try something new. And I happened to have all of the ingredients for this. Perfect. :)

This was fun to make. Especially when hubby came in and helped. I love cooking together. (Not that this was complicated and needed both of us, but I never turn down a helping hand :)

The chicken itself doesn't take long but it does require attention.

The end result though? Hubby thought it was BETTER than PF Changs. And we ended up with NO chicken leftovers. The kids devoured it. Bummer for me since I usually take leftovers for lunch. There is some rice left anyway...

Anyway, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts (of course, I rarely use breasts...I used tenderloins)

salt and pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs beaten

1/4 cup canola oil (I used a "smart balance" blend of canola, soy, and olive oils)

For the sauce:
3/4 cup sugar

4 tbsp ketchup

1/2 cup vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt (I didn't have any garlic salt so I used garlic powder)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325.

Rinse the chicken and then cut into cubes. (I can never get cubes, so mine was more like small chunks :)

Season with salt and pepper to taste. I just put the chicken in a gallon size ziplock, then I added a little sea salt and freshly ground peppercorn and shook the bag to distribute it.

Dip the chicken into the cornstarch. I just added the cup of cornstarch to the bag. Then I closed the bag and shook away.

Dip the covered chicken into the eggs.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook the chicken until browned...NOT cooked through.

We just had a little assembly line. I had the bag of chicken/cornstarch, the bowl of beaten eggs, the skillet, then the 9 x 13 glass baking dish ("greased" or in my case, sprayed with cooking spray).

We used tongs to remove the chicken from the bag, dipped it into the eggs, put it into the skillet, then moved it to the baking dish once browned.

It worked well.

Next, mix the sweet and sour sauce ingredients together.

Pour over the chicken.

Bake the chicken for one hour. Turn the chicken every 15 minutes.

I was tempted to skip the "turning" of the chicken but I am glad I did. The sauce would get really thick. I am pretty sure if I hadn't turned the chicken, it would have burned. I just set the timer and turned it in between working on the fried rice (recipe coming soon).

Delicious.

Really, it was.

The sauce was delicious.

And the chicken. Oh yum.

Like I said, there were no leftovers!

Reba

Dijon Chicken Linguine

Yes, another Pinterest recipe. This was just another photo (not mine, the one on the original site) that just made my mouth water. I was determined to try this. As usual, I made modifications to fit our family. The picture above is not that pretty but it really is good stuff. I only had a little bit left over. Only one child objected to it which I expected. It has a hint of "mustard" taste, which she can detect in trace amounts. :)

Dijon Chicken Linguine
Ingredients
Linguine (The original recipe called for fresh linguine cooked...I just used my usual boxed linguine made with whole grains cooked)

Chicken (original recipe called for 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts; I just used tenderloins, enough to fit my large skillet)

1 cup mushrooms (original recipe calls for chanterelle. I could NOT find these anywhere. So I just used some mushroom pieces/sliced out of a jar. I know, I know, not the same thing. But in a time crunch, I do what I can :)

3 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic minced

salt and pepper

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

For sauce:
4 oz white cooking wine

2 cups heavy whipping cream (which is the same as 1 pint)

3 Tbsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to season (I skipped that...I felt like we had enough already)

Directions:
Season the chicken breasts/tenderloins with salt and pepper. Of course, I used the freshly ground sea salt and the freshly ground peppercorn pepper.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken to pan along with garlic. Fry until the chicken is completely cooked.

Remove chicken from the pan and keep warm in the oven. (I just threw them in a glass dish and set the oven to a low temp to keep warm)

Add the white cooking wine to the pan. Simmer until it is reduced by half.

Then add the heavy whipping cream, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper.

Simmer until the sauce thickens. I don't think I did a very good job on this step. We were hungry and ready to eat. So mine was still pretty runny.

Add the mushrooms and the chicken to the sauce. Simmer for an additional 2 minutes.

Serve over hot linguine and top with slivered almonds which give it a little crunch.

Enjoy!

I served it with a salad and rolls.

Happy cooking!
Reba

Basic White Sauce

Not long ago, I posted a recipe for spicy bacon wrapped shrimp. I think I mentioned then that we eat potatoes in white sauce with them...it helps tone down the "spicy" part.

Here is the recipe for the basic white sauce; this recipe came from my mom. It is easy and quick...

Basic White Sauce
3 tbsp margarine, melted
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 1/2 cups milk

Stir ingredients together. I just stir them in a large glass measuring cup.

Microwave in 1 minute intervals. After a minute, whisk, then return to microwave. Continue until sauce has thickened.

The first three or four minutes it will still be very runny. You will think it will never thicken. It does. I promise. And it really doesn't take that long.

I cheat on the potatoes. I use canned new potatoes...the sliced are the best. (In the picture, I used whole that I cut apart) I microwave them for a few minutes then pour the sauce over them.

This sauce can be used with other vegetables too.

Very easy. Very quick. And yummy. My favorite combination!

Happy cooking!
Reba