Chicken Curry Divine

This one of those great dishes that you can slop on plastic plates for a Tuesday night family dinner or proudly serve at your Staurday night dinner party.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can of chicken broth
1 bag of pre-cut broccoli
1 lg. can of cream of chicken soup
¼ cup of mayonnaise
¼ cup of sour cream
2 TBSP lemon juice
Curry powder (as much or as little as you like).
1/8 cup of white wine (optional)

Low Carb Topping:
Parmesan Cheese (dry, grated)

Regular Topping:
1 cup dry breadcrumbs stirred into 1 cube of melted butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In large pan simmer chicken broth and add chicken, turn chicken until meat is just barely cooked through. Drain and put aside.

Place bag of broccoli in microwave for approximately 5 minutes. Let stand. You can also mix the broccoli with cauliflower for a completely different flavor!

In medium sauce pan, combine a can of condensed cream of chicken, 1/4 cup of sour cream and ¼ cup of mayonnaise. Bring to simmer. Add curry (to taste or go by color - yellowish for a little curry and dark green for more flavor, my fav.), add lemon juice and wine.

Layer broccoli in bottom of clear Pyrex, place chicken breasts in single layer and pour sauce evenly over chicken. Liberally sprinkle with parmesan cheese for low-carb version of this dish or spread bread crumbs w/ butter for the original recipe.

Place dish in middle of oven rack and cook until golden brown on top (about 30 minutes). Best served over homemade mashed potatoes or white rice. 8 servings per recipe or 4 hungry Browns.

Grandma's Great Meatloaf

It has been a long time since our last post and for that we apologize. With it being Wild Card Wednesday and since we are in the fall season, what better thing to post than a great meatloaf recipe! This is comfort food at its best! This is my grandma's recipe and while I am partial, it is honestly one of the best meatloaf recipes I have had. My mom and I recently made this for dinner and my husband's response was, "A meatloaf I don't have to put ketchup on is a good meatloaf." He has asked for it again so it must be good! With a side of some great mashed potatoes, you can't go wrong with this meal!

Grandma's Great Meatloaf
1 egg beaten
2/3 cup milk
3 slices bread crumbled (I use seasoned bread crumbs)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 medium onion finely chopped
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Mix the first eight ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into a loaf. Place in a greased 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, ketchup and mustard. Spread over meatloaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 - 70 minutes or until no pink remains. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!!!!!

Orange Chicken with a Twist

It always feels good to try a new recipe and have it turn out right the first time. Especially when you decide you don't like the way it sounds and change it. Although cooking, unlike baking, is much more forgiving when it comes to improvising. If you leave the yeast out of your bread you'll wind up with something more like a pita. But if you forget the salt in your soup you can just add it afterwards. That being said, I found a recipe in my new Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2007 that I got for Christmas. Orange Chicken. Boring name really yummy. Since I've tweeked it slightly I feel I have the right to change the name so...



Mothers Old Fashion Country Fried Chicken
with a Delightfully Tangy Orange Wine Sauce:
(my variation my name)

For Country Fried Chicken:

4 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Flour
Montreal Chicken Seasoning
Bread Crumbs
Olive Oil
Butter

For Tangy Orange Wine Sauce:

1/2 cup White Cooking Wine
1/2 cup Orange Juice (no pulp)

and some White Rice

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap; pound each piece to 1/2 inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Mix equal parts flour and montreal seasoning along with a small amount of bread crumbs. Dredge chicken in flour mixture.

Heat oil and butter (cover just the bottom of deep pan) over medium-high heat; about 1 minute, stirring occasionally to mix butter and oil. Add chicken to pan; cook about 4-5 minutes on each side or until crispy and done. Slice chicken into strips place on oven safe dish and place in warm oven while you make the sauce.
Add wine and juice to pan; cook until slightly reduce (about 4 minutes).

Serve chicken over white rice with plenty of sauce.

From the Kitchen of Taffata Tadpoles

Baked Potato Soup

On a recent trip I made back to Missouri, I was blessed to be able to attend a dinner hosted by a couple that attend church with my parents. The dinner was for the International students who attend the local college there. It was a great evening of fellowship, learning about students from other cultures, and of course - GREAT FOOD. One of the dishes served was Baked Potato Soup. I loved this soup and am excited to share this recipe with you! It comes to you from Tracy in Missouri. Enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup

4 large baking potatoes
2/3 c. butter
2/3 c. flour
6 c. milk
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
4 green onions, chopped*
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled*
1 ¼ c. shredded cheddar cheese*
8 oz. sour cream

*These 3 items will be divided – part to be used in soup & part as garnish

Wash potatoes and prick several times with fork; bake at 400º for 1 hour or until done (you may microwave if time warrants). Let cool, cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out potato pulp and set aside; discard skins. Melt butter in heavy soup pan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. (Note: A heavy, thick-bottomed soup pan or dutch oven is best, otherwise you may have trouble with the soup sticking and scorching in the bottom of the pan!) Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Add potato pulp, salt, pepper and 2 T. green onions, ½ cup bacon and 1 cup cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated and stir in sour cream. Add extra milk if desired for thinner consistency. Serve with remaining green onions, bacon and cheese for garnish. Makes about 10 cups.

Chicken- Chili Enchiladas

For all you Mexican food lovers out there here is a great enchilada recipe. It's fairly quick and easy to make. Enjoy with a little salsa on top and you're good to go. - Esther

6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (1 1/2 cups shredded)
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese (2 cups shredded)
1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup chopped onion
12 tortillas (6 inches)
2 cups warm chicken broth
1 can chili without beans
1 can green (or red) enchilada sauce

Toppings:
sour cream
chopped tomatoes
olives

1. Grease 3 qt. dish. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix cheddar cheese, half of Monterey Jack cheese, chicken and onion. Set aside.
3.Dip tortillas, one at a time in broth to soften. Fill with about 1/4 cup chicken mixture, roll and place seam down in baking dish in 2 rows of six.
4. In sauce pan over medium heat, stir chili, enchilada sauce and 1/2 cupe chicken broth until bubbly. Pour over tortillas. Sprinkle tortillas with remaining Monterey Jack cheese.
5. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.
6. Serve with toppings if desired.

Italian Chicken Salad

This is a great fix-ahead main dish. It is great served in pita pockets.

Italian Chicken Salad

Dressing:

1 T Olive Oil
1 T Fresh Lemon Juice
1 T Red Wine Vinegar
½ t minced fresh garlic
½ t sugar
¼ t fresh ground pepper
1/8 t salt

Salad:

3 cups cubed chicken breast cooked
1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 t dried oregano
½ t dried basil
10 pitted ripe olives, halved
1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts marinated, drained

1. To prepare dressing, combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

2. To prepare salad, combine chicken and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over salad, and toss gently to combine.

Yield 4 servings

1 serving = 1 ¼ cups
5 pts. Per serving


***On the dressing, I added a little more olive oil and sugar as I thought it was a little tart – add what you need to for you ☺

***When I did the chicken, I baked 3 chicken breasts, which was 3 cups exactly. I also rubbed some seasoning on the chicken before I baked it. I think it would also be good with baked or grilled chicken that had been marinated in Italian dressing.