Mexi Chicken

I forgot to take pictures of this meal but it turned out really well. We ate it for dinner once and then I divided the rest into 6 freezer bags for later.

Mexi Chicken - modified from Frozen Assets
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water
2 cups pearl barley
2 16 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups tomato sauce
One small can Mexican sauce
3 cups chicken broth
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
4 cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 cups kidney beans

1. Cook onion, pepper and garlic in a bit of oil until tender in a large stock pot.

2. Add all remaining ingredients except chicken and beans.

3. Bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often, until barley is tender.

5. Add chicken and beans and simmer an additional 10 minutes until heated through.

6. Cool, spoon into freezer bags, label and freeze.

TO SERVE:

Thaw in refrigerator. Heat mixture in skillet. Serve over multi-grain tortilla chips or in flour tortillas with a side salad.

Makes 18 servings.

Swiss Chard and Bacon Potatoes

As I mentioned on my other blog, I've started doing some freezer cooking to have things stored away for when the baby arrives. Over the next little while, I'll be sharing some of the recipes. I checked the book "Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month" out from the library at my midwife clinic and I've been using it from inspiration on some of the recipes to cook.

One of the ideas in there was for 'potato shells' or what I refer to as twice baked potatoes. Twice baked potatoes are a favorite in our home so it was fun to try a different variation.

Swiss Chard and Bacon Potatoes - inspired by Frozen Assets
10-12 large potatoes
Salt
Pepper
1/8 cup butter
1/8 cup milk
1 red onion, chopped
Large bunch of swiss chard, steamed and chopped finely*
6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups Colby cheese

*You can also use spinach. Fresh or frozen

Bake potatoes for 1 hour at 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, cook bacon and swiss chard and prepare remaining ingredients.

When potatoes are done, although them to cool for about 20 minutes, then slice them in half lengthwise.

Allow them to cool a bit more until they are just cool enough to touch. Scoop the pulp out into a bowl of mixer. (Because I used fresh potatoes from the garden, I needed to leave more pulp in than usual because the skins were so thin - try to scoop out as much as possible while leaving skins in tact).

Mash potatoes with salt, pepper, butter, and milk.

Add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.

Scoop mixture back into potato shells.

Bake the refilled potatoes at 400 for 20 minutes

OR for freezer cooking ...

Place potatoes on a cookie sheet and flash freeze for 20-30 minutes.

Arrange potatoes in a single layer in a large freezer bag.

Label and freeze.

To serve, remove the number of potatoes you need and allow to thaw in the fridge. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 until golden brown.

Makes 12 main servings or 24 side servings.

For me, having two halves with a salad would make an excellent meal. But they would also be paired well as a side dish accompanying steak, chicken or any other type of meat.

Shrimp and Zucchini Couscous

A while back, I saw this delicious looking recipe that Kendra posted on her blog. Immediately, I bookmarked it in anticipation of zucchini season. So, now that we have zucchini coming out of our eyes, ears, and noses, it was one of the first meals I made. I was kind of afraid that the Dude would not love it but I was pleasantly surprised. He even cracked open the leftovers later in the evening to take a few bites and exclaimed that it was "so freakin' good". The meal is vibrant, colourful and oh so summery!

Shrimp and Zucchini Couscous -modified from Kendra
1 cup of couscous
1 1/2 cups water or broth
1 lb. of shrimp, peeled and tails removed
1 large** zucchini, diced
1 small red onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large tomato, diced
A few leaves of basil, chopped**
Salt
Pepper
EVOO

*Please note: large is a relative term - the zucchini I used was large in comparison to what you might find in the grocery store but small in comparison to what I found in my garden upon returning from a week's holidays.

**Please, please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE use fresh basil.

Begin cooking couscous according to package instructions. For mine, I brought 1 1/2 cups of broth to a boil and then added a bit of salt and the couscous. I stirred, put a lid on, removed the pot from the heat and timed it for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, fluff with a fork and you're good to go.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat.

Add shrimp to the pan, spreading out as much as possible. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook for 1-2 minutes, until beginning to turn pink and then turn. Season the second side with salt and pepper.

Cook for another 1-2 minutes until shrimp are pink and curled and then set aside on a plate. Do not be tempted to overcook the shrimp, they do not need long at all.

Add another bit of oil to the pan along with the zucchini and onion. Cook for 4-5 minutes until they are beginning to soften. You don't want them to be mushy.

Add the garlic, and stir for a few seconds to let the garlic soften.

Add the tomatoes, another pinch of salt and pepper, and cook just long enough for the tomatoes to get warm and juicy.

Remove from heat and stir in the basil and shrimp.

Add couscous to a large serving bowl and top with shrimp mixture. Stir it all together and top with a few more sprigs of basil for some visual appeal.

Makes 4-6 servings

Isn't it beautiful?

P.S. It is 9:58 am and after writing this post, I am feeling ever so tempted to go heat up the leftovers and eat my lunch right now. It is that delicious.

Roasted Red Pepper Spaghetti

I had a jar of roasted red peppers in the fridge that I had opened to use one or two of, and needed to find a way to use the rest. I also had a jar of red pepper pasta sauce in the fridge so I decided to put a spin on our normal spaghetti. It worked out quite well!

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
1 onion
2 T minced garlic
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 jar roasted red peppers, chopped
1 jar roasted red pepper pasta sauce (I used this one)
Whole wheat spaghetti

1. Scramble fry sausage in a large stock pot with onion and garlic until cooked. Drain, if necessary.

2. Add mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 30 minutes to one hour until mushrooms are cooked and flavors are blended.

3. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions.

4. Serve sauce over spaghetti with a nice dose of Parmesan cheese.

Makes 6 servings.

Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Mayo

Roasted Red Pepper Burgers
1.5-2 lbs ground meat (can use beef, venison, or turkey)
2 roasted red peppers, finely chopped
1 T minced onion
1 T minced garlic
2 eggs
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (oats would probably be better - the dude always uses oats, but when I used crumbs he told me they fell apart on the grill and I cried)
A good dose of Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper

Combine all ingredients until well mixed.

Using your hands, or your trusty patty maker, form into patties. Refrigerate until ready to grill. I find refrigerating them for a few hours helps them to stay together better on the grill.

Grill burgers until cooked through. (My instructions here are vague because I am not the griller in our family)

Makes 6-8 good sized burgers.

Roasted Red Pepper Mayo
3 roasted red peppers, chopped very finely
1/3 cup low fat mayo
A pinch of salt
1/2 T minced garlic
A few drops of each lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco sauce

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to blend flavors before serving. Spread on the top of toasted burger buns and enjoy!

Top burgers with mozzarella cheese, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and some leafy green lettuce.

Wild Turkey Pot Pie

I'm sure most of you know by now that my hubby is an avid hunter. As such, over our married years, I have learned how to cook with a variety of types of wild game. Most often, we eat venison as our red meat and so when I post a recipe that calls for beef, you can assume it was cooked in my home with venison.

This spring, the dude harvested his first wild turkey of his hunting career. Because it was the first one, I didn't really know what to do with it. You see, wild turkey differs from domestic turkeys in that it is much much tougher so you can't just cook it the same as you would cook a normal turkey.

The dude cook some of it by breading with a bread crumb/herb/parm coating and fried it like chicken nuggets. I wasn't too pumped about it. They were dry and somewhat tasteless and well, fried in oil. Not my ideal meal.

With the rest of the turkey, I decided to try to tenderize it a bit by cooking it in the slow cooker, covered with broth. This helped a bit, but the meat still wasn't 'fall off the bone' like it is when you normally cook meat in the slow cooker.

So, I have been trying to find recipes to use the pre-cooked turkey that would help with the toughness.

One of the recipes I tried was a pot pie which was delicious. The veggies and the gravy base really worked well to help make the turkey taste much much much more tender than it would have on its own. The recipe I used is similar to one I have made in the past using wild duck (see, I told you we are wild game eaters around here), but I made a few changes this time. Overall, we were very impressed with the results as was our company! (Don't worry - if I have you over, I promise I will not feed you wild game if you unaware!)

This recipe works really well to tenderize the wild game but would also be fine for domestic turkey as well, I would assume.

Wild Turkey Pot Pie
2 cups potato, finely chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup frozen green beans
2 cups cooked and chopped wild turkey
1 package turkey gravy mix (or make your own)
2 packages multi-grain crescent rolls**

**This pie would also be yummy with a traditional pie crust, I just used the crescent rolls because I had them. If you use a traditional pie crust, follow the same instructions except do not bother pre-boiling the veggies and increase cooking time to about 1 hr to cook the crust.

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Place carrots, potatoes, onion, and celery in a medium stock pot. Cover with water. Boil for 5-6 minutes until veggies are beginning to soften. Drain and remove from heat.

2. Meanwhile, prepare gravy following package instructions.

3. Grease a large pie plate and spread one package of crescent rolls along the bottom. Smoosh to blend them together.

4. Place chopped turkey in the crust.

5. Top with boiled veggies and frozen green beans.

6. Pour gravy over entire surface.

7. Form second package of crescent rolls over the pie to completely cover.

8. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, cover and continue baking for 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken

I was looking at the goat cheese in my fridge last week and I got a hankering to cook up some yummy goodness with it. After a little bit of thought, I decided to make some stuffed chicken breasts. This recipe requires a moderate amount of work but not as much as you might think. It will give you a gourmet looking meal right at home.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/4 red pepper, finely diced
4 oz fresh mushrooms, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 package frozen spinach, thawed
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup goat cheese**
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 T Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

**If for some absurd reason you are not a fan of goat cheese, you could substitute cream cheese.

Saute mushrooms, onions, red pepper and garlic until soft.

Add spinach, salt and pepper. Continue saute for 2-3 minutes.

Transfer to small bowl and add goat cheese.

Mix until goat cheese is melted and well combined. Set aside.

Place chicken breasts, one at a time in between plastic wrap or in a ziploc bag and flatten. I need to take a course in flattening chicken. I mutilated these poor guys.

Add a heaping spoonful of the mixture along the center of the chicken breast.

Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Don't worry if some filling leaks out (like in the photo below). The breading will help keep it in.

Prepare your breading station. Place beaten egg in one bowl and combine bread crumbs, parm, and pepper in another bowl.

Dip chicken breast in the egg and then into the bread crumbs. Coat completely. Place in glass baking dish.

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until chicken is no longer pink and an internal temperature of 165 is reached.

Makes 4 servings.