"Just Like Your Mama Made"

     One thing that I find difficult about sharing family recipes, is that they don't exist. While my dad is here, I'm trying to cook things for him that he might not fix for himself. He is cooking and of course he has access to every restaurant you can imagine, but there is something nice about old family comfort foods. One of my mom's go to recipes was Chicken Tetrazzini. Of course I don't have her "recipe" written down anywhere. This is one of those foods that we both tend to make using what we have on hand at the time. Yesterday as I prepared dinner, I took notes as I went along so that I could share it here. One thing to remember about this recipe is you can tweek it based on what you have on hand. Use turkey if you don't have chicken, use more or less veggies, you could change the pasta shape if necessary...you get the idea.

Chicken Tetrazzini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease 1 or 2 casserole dishes.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups celery (chopped)
1/2 cup chopped green pepper (or any color)
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced (canned would be fine)
2 T. butter
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can chicken broth
1 lb. thin spaghetti
3 cups cooked chicken (in bite size pieces)
3-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

This recipe will make one large 9 x 13 pan with a little left over or 2 smaller casseroles. It freezes beautifully.

     For my chicken I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I boiled mine, cooled and cut them into pieces. You could use any cooked chicken, even the meat from a roasted chicken from the store. When  the chicken is almost done, you can prepare the sauce.

Melt the butter in a skillet. Sauté celery,

peppers and mushrooms until wilted.

Stir in 2 cans cream of mushroom soup and set aside.

     In large pan cook the spaghetti according to directions. Add the can of chicken broth to the water in which you are cooking the pasta. When the pasta is done, it is time to assemble the casserole.

Fold the 3 cups of chicken into the

veggies and mushroom soup mixture.

Stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese to the mixture and stir gently.

     Add the cooked spaghetti along with some of the pasta broth/water. I used all but 2 cups of the cooked pound of pasta and enough of the broth to create a slightly soupy mix. You don't want it to be too dry before baking as the pasta will swell as it bakes. Mine looked like the above picture, before baking.

     I decided to bake mine in 2 pans last night. The smaller pan went into the freezer for next month. Spoon mixture into prepared pan(s) and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or so, until cheese is melted and casserole is hot and bubbling around the edges.

Serve with a salad and hot bread...enjoy!

     My dad's comment last night after dinner was that it was "just like your mama made"! I really couldn't ask for a better compliment than that! I am joinging Michael @ Designs by Gollum today for Foodie Friday. It is the best place in all of Blogland to find wonderful recipes!

What Should I Do With This Chicken?

You have chicken in the freezer, but you don't know what to do with it. You know you want it to be fast and easy. Balsamic Chicken is a perfect option. It is also very low in fat, but it doesn't taste like it is.

Ingredients:

Chicken-8 frozen boneless, skinless chicken tenders or 4 boneless,skinless chicken breasts (I like to keep frozen chicken tenders for nights when I'm in a hurry, they cook faster)

2 tsp. Vegetable Oil

2 T. Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 tsp. Thyme

2 tsp. Dijon Mustard

1 cup Chicken Broth

In a skillet, saute the chicken on medium high heat in the oil until both sides are cooked and lightly browned. Stir in chicken broth, thyme, mustard and balsamic vinegar and cover. Allow the chicken to simmer in the sauce 30 minutes or until very tender. I shake the skillet ever 10 minutes or so to make sure the chicken stays coated in the sauce.

I like to serve the chicken with Orzo Pasta. I cook 4 oz. of Orzo in 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of water until the pasta is done and the liquid is almost gone (about 10-15 minutes). It would also be very good with rice. The night I made this dish, we had homemade applesauce. You could serve a green salad instead. Enjoy!

Rosemary Chicken with Red Potatoes-Easy & Perfect for Company

A favorite at our house is Rosemary Chicken. It is one of those dishes that my kids request and my husband loves. It is also one of those meals that I have taken to others when they have been sick or had a baby. It is easy to prepare and can be made ahead and put in the oven later in the day if that works best for you.

*Mom hint-we are once again working with raw chicken. Please remember to be very careful with cleanup. Scrub all work areas with hot, soapy water.

I like to make this using a whole cut-up chicken, with the skin on. I think it has more flavor with the skin, and the extra chicken can be reheated, or it wonderful in chicken salad or soups. However, if you prefer to use skinless chicken, it is still very good, it just won’t get as brown. You can also make this recipe with a smaller amount of chicken, just reduce the amount of the other ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken in pieces (2 wings, 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks)
6 small red potatoes (any potato will do, I prefer the red ones)
3 T. olive oil
3 tsp. dried rosemary (fresh rosemary is great for this dish, use about half as much as it is stronger)
Sprinkling of salt (I use kosher)

Rinse the chicken pieces and place in a 9x13 inch pan with the skin side up. Wash the potatoes, and slice them in half. Place them randomly in and around the chicken. Drizzle everything with the olive oil, sprinkle on the rosemary and a little bit of salt. Cover tightly with foil, and bake. Here is where it gets a little bit tricky as to the baking time. The chicken you see in the pictures had thick breasts and it was still frozen, so I had to bake it longer than I would have if my chicken pieces had been smaller and not frozen. You want the chicken to be completely done, no pink juices. So, I recommend if you have an average sized chicken and it isn‘t frozen, you bake covered with foil for 1 hour and remove the foil and bake it 30 minutes more until the skin browns. Mine I baked for 2 hours and had the foil off for another 40 minutes.

I served this with roasted brussel sprouts. If you think you hate brussel sprouts, you might try them like this. They taste entirely different. Simply wash the brussel sprouts and cut off the stems, cut them in half and toss them with olive oil and salt. Place them cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake until the cut side turns brown, about 20-25 minutes. I put them in while the chicken is browning with the foil off. Enjoy.