Chicken Parmesan

Posted by: Maggie

Source

What you'll need:

4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2" thickness
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
seasoned bread crumbs
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
8 slices mozzarella cheese, or more
1 16 oz jar marinara sauce
Parmesan cheese

Whisk together the egg and milk. Dip the chicken breasts in milk and egg mixture and then in bread crumbs. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in the hot oil on both sides until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Set chicken in a baking dish. Slice 8 pieces of mozzarella cheese and put two on each chicken breast. Pour 1 jar of marinara sauce over all. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and a little more mozzarella and bake at 350° for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly. I served with garlic bread, salad, and linguine tossed with olive oil, oregano, and garlic.

Barbeque Chicken Calzones

Posted by: Maggie

My boyfriend loves anything with barbeque sauce, and when we order takeout he typically gets a calzone, so I probably should have made this recipe a long time ago. As I expected, he loved it, and it was so easy to make that I'll definitely be preparing it again, and possibly experimenting with different fillings.


Here's what you'll need:

4 slices bacon
1/2 small red onion, chopped
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat (I used about 4 1/2 chicken breasts to get this amount)
2/3 c barbeque sauce
1 can refrigerated pizza dough (between a 10-13 oz size)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels, crumble, and set aside. Add the onion and shredded chicken to the hot bacon grease in the pan. Fry over medium heat until the onion is tender. Stir in 1/3 c of the barbeque sauce and remove from heat. Stir in the cooked bacon.

Roll the pizza crust dough out onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Press out to an even thickness, and cut in half. Divide the chicken mixture between the two pieces of dough, spreading on only half of each piece to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the filling.

Sprinkle the cheese and cilantro over the top. Fold over uncovered portion of dough, and pinch edges to seal. Bake for 20 minutes, or until browned to your liking.

I served these with extra barbeque sauce and ranch dressing for dipping.

Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Burger

Posted by: Maggie

I didn't eat red meat from approximately 2001-2008. Occasionally, I'll eat something now, and smack my forehead and ask myself...why??? Today was one of those times.

I slightly adapted The Pioneer Woman's recipe, and was rewarded with a flavorful, juicy burger that will probably keep me full for the rest of the week.

The original recipe suggests using two pounds of ground beef to make two burgers. I have a hearty appetite and cannot imagine consuming a one pound burger. I used a little over a pound of ground beef to form two burgers, and could still hardly finish one despite it's deliciousness.

Here's what you'll need for two burgers:

1 pound 85% lean ground beef
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 t Worcestershire sauce
2 T butter
1 sweet onion, sliced
1 T brown sugar
Blue cheese
Mayonnaise
Kaiser rolls (don't even try to use regular hamburger rolls, they're to weak for this burger)
Lettuce
Cooking spray (not pictured)

Place the ground beef into a mixing bowl. Using your hands, mix in salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Form into two patties, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in fridge.

Next, prepare the onions. Melt butter over low to medium low heat, and stir in onions and brown sugar. Stir to combine all ingredients, and allow onions to caramelize for about 40 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Now is where you might have to tweak your timing, depending on how well you like your burger cooked. I only had one large skillet, so I had to wait for the onions to be done before making the burgers. If you like your burgers well done, and happen to have an extra pan, I would suggest starting to cook the burgers when the onions are about halfway done.

Before making the burgers, preheat broiler for the buns.

To cook the burgers, spray skillet with cooking spray, and cook burgers over medium for about 12-14 minutes each side (trust me, these burgers were enormous) until burgers are done.

When the burgers are almost done, spray both sides of bun with cooking spray, and toast under the broiler until golden (about three minutes).

To assemble burger, spread mayonnaise on top bun, and layer burger, onions, blue cheese, and lettuce. Sandwich halves together, and enjoy!

Mom's Mac & Cheese

Posted by: Maggie

My lovely Mom's Macaroni and Cheese recipe was a favorite of Annie and I growing up, and still is to this day. Annie was particularly fond of it, and asked for it for nearly every birthday dinner until she was probably about 16. If we were at a restaurant she mixed things up a bit and got mozzarella sticks. How she emerged from adolescence skinny is a medical and scientific marvel.
Once you try this recipe you'll never want the boxed stuff again. I cut the recipe in half since it was just for me. I've posted the original recipe below, that could probably serve 2-3 as a main dish, and 5-6 as a side. There should have been a side of broccoli with this, but due to a freak broccoli-steam-bag explosion there are green beans instead. They're really just there to look pretty. Let's face it - this is not a healthy meal and veggies will not change that.

You will need:
1 1/2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
1/4 salted butter
1 small onion, chopped (I used yellow)
1/2 t salt (preferably out of a cat shaker with a lazy eye, like mine)
1/4 t pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 3/4 c milk (funny story: I googled 1 3/4 divided by 2 mid-cooking. Thanks for the edumacation OTHS math department. I'll go ahead and tell you that it's 3/4 c plus 2 tablespoons so you never have to google such a shameful thing yourself)
2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook macaroni per directions on box. Melt butter in pan, and saute onion with salt and pepper. Blend in flour, and cook over low heat until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in milk. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and cook until mixture is slightly thickened. Add cheese, remove from heat and stir until cheese is melted. Mix cheese sauce and macaroni together, and bake in ungreased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.