Mike's Polish Smothered Chicken

I have had this recipe for two years, almost to the date, sitting in my pantry with ALL the other recipes that I have accumulated over the years. I found it on The Food Network and it seemed really good, but I was always too "chicken" to try it. Now that I have gotten a little more gutsy with my flavors and difficulty level I decided to give it a whirl.

We were very pleased with this recipe. Vince got to do his manly thing and man the grill. That is what he does best after all and I did what I did best which was supervise and give orders as to what to do next. This was a fun meal because it was virtually all done on the grill, with the exception of the bacon which I will discuss later.
 The Recipe

Recipe courtesy Mike Knapik

Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Emeril's Chicken Contest

·  Cook Time: 35 min

·  Level: Easy

·  Yield: 4 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min

Inactive Prep: 8 hr 0 min

Cook: 35 min

Total: 9 hr 5 min

Ingredients

• Italian dressing or marinade, to taste
• Garlic powder, to taste
• Oregano, to taste
• Basil, to taste
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 medium red onion, sliced
• Butter
• 1 package sliced mushrooms
• 4 large Portobello mushroom caps
• Olive oil
• Cajun seasoning (Didn't have so left it out)
• 4 strips bacon
• Garden vegetable cream cheese
• Sliced mozzarella cheese
• Shredded Monterey Jack
• Cooked dirty rice, for serving

Combine Italian dressing, garlic powder, oregano, and basil into a plastic bag. Add the chicken breasts and mix well. Marinate in refrigerator overnight.

Preheat grill over medium heat.
Make foil pouches of sliced red onion with butter and another pouch of sliced mushrooms with butter. Place onto hot grill and cook until tender. Drizzle Portobello caps with olive oil and place on hot grill to soften. Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade. Grill chicken breasts until cooked throughout, sprinkling with Cajun seasoning and garlic powder, set to side of grill to keep warm. At same time, grill 4 strips of bacon.
Spread the cooked Portobellos with a thick layer of cream cheese. Place 1 cooked chicken breast onto each, spoon on some of the sliced mushrooms, and finally some of the sliced onions. Place a strip of bacon onto that, and then cover with sliced mozzarella and shredded Monterey Jack cheese, put back on grill to melt cheese, and serve with a side of dirty rice

The Outcome
The recipes was definitely fantastic. The girls likes the chicken and Vince and I really enjoyed everything that was going on in this recipe.  Looking at this recipe, you might think there is a lot going on, but it's all worth it in the end. Mmmmm

Changes:
Assembling the chicken onto the mushrooms was a bit of a chore. I suggest that when you make this meal you actually make sure the "nub" of a stem is completely cut off to make the mushroom cap more level. We used some pretty big chicken breast. They could have been cut in half. The extra mushrooms on top were a little bit of mushroom overload. Many people don't like mushrooms, but give this recipe a try. It may surprise you. Again, just omit the extra mushrooms that go on top.  The onions that were in the pouch with the butter were good but I think if they would have been carmelized with a little whsurprite wine for extra flavor. Vince and I even threw around the idea of cooking the bacon in small pieces in the onions and topping on the chicken. Then like the recipe stated add the cheese and let melt. I know you have read this recipe and saw that you spread cream cheese on the Portobello Mushroom Caps and you may have thought to yourself.... "What? Cream Cheese?" Yes Cream Cheese.... It definitely made the meal complete. Very very good. I think I may even need to use this idea on future chicken dishes.

So back to talking about the bacon... Cooking it on the grill was a disaster because we decided to walk away from the grill. BIG mistake. We came back just 5 minutes laters to find the bacon on fire!!!!! Well bacon is very fatty as we all know, so if you decide to cook it on te grill you have to watch it. I simpy suggest cooking indoors like you always do. Or if you decide to go the carmelized onion with bacon pieces chop it up and throw it in the pan and saute.


Thie versatile dish is a good one for entertaining. I think a dinner party with friends is a great reason to make this scrumsious meal. One tihng I want all my readers to understand is.... Don't be afraid to go out of the norm and try something new. You may surprise yourself. Doing these new recipes week afer week has heped me to learn new ideas and flavors to incorporate. I find that I am happiest in the kitchen cooking away for my family and thinking about their thoughts for the meal ahead. It's a great feeling. I think sitting around the dinner table (TV off) and enjoying each other's time only brings the ones you love closer. With the busy lives that we all lead, on night at  the dinner table makes a world of difference. Sharing your time together with good food and conversation on a Sunday evening is so great that words just can't describe it. So, give it a try and let me know what you made and how everything was.

As always I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and sharing this experience with me. We are just in month 3 everyone. We got a lot of meals to go.... So stay tuned. Mmmmmmmmm

 

Cowboy Spaghetti

Like stated in my last post I also made Cowboy Spaghetti. I was fortunate enough to have a day off during the week so I made another Rachael Ray recipe for the family. The cowboy spaghetti is another kid friendly meal that you can really play up. Just tell your little one "You get to eat Cowboy/girl Spaghetti. My daughter Tatum was really excited for this one.

A good co-worker pointed this recipe to me and since the start of my Rachael Ray challenge I have been told I MUST make this one... Thanks for the tip Sara :-)

Ingredients

• 1 pound spaghetti
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 3 slices smoky bacon, chopped
• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce, eyeball it
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
• 1/2 cup beer (Original recipe did not have this, but I sure wish I would have looked online instead of the book.)
• 1 (14-ounce) can, chopped or crushed fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounces) can, tomato sauce
• 8 ounces sharp Cheddar
• 4 scallions, chopped (I left out)

Directions

Heat a pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and salt the water. Cook to al dente or with a bite to it.
Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and bacon. Brown and crisp bacon, 5 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon. Drain off a little excess fat if necessary. Leave just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add beef and crumble it as it browns, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions, garlic and stir into meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper, hot sauce and Worcestershire. Add 1/2 cup beer and deglaze the pan. Cook 5 to 6 minutes more then (I didn't know about this part so I left this out but I suggest you do this because Beer adds a great flavor.)  stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce.
Add hot spaghetti to meat and sauce and combine. Adjust seasonings and serve up pasta in shallow bowls. Grate some cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with scallions. Garnish with crisp bacon

This was good I think I should have added more seasoning though. Also if you are a bacon fan then add a few more slices of bacon. I sure wish I had. I really enjoyed this and so did the kiddos. This makes quite a bit so I had leftovers to take to work. The co-workers enjoyed it too. I want to thank them for their kind words about my cooking. So... hats off to you gang!!

Again I hope you continue to enjoy my updates. Comments are always welcome. I would love to hear from you if/ when you try these yummy meals.

Thanks for reading
-Rachel

Fried Ravioli and Caesar Salad with added Outback Steakhouse Croutons

Got a little behind. Since my last post I have actually made 2 new meals that are all super easy and super good. I am even happy to say they are kid friendly. The first was Fried Ravioli and Caesar Salad. The other was Cowboy Spaghetti. These meals were quick and took not too much effort to create.

Last Sunday I had the Aunt and Uncle over for dinner. Made them Fried Ravioli and Caesar Salad. This recipe is created to take replace the croutons with fried ravioli.... But being the crouton lover that I am I made homemade croutons that tasted just like Outback's croutons and still used the Ravioli. I will also post the steps for making the croutons as well.

Caesar Salad With Fried Ravioli

Ingredients

• 1 pound large ravioli, fresh or frozen (For a heartier meal find Ravioli with meat or mushrooms stuffed inside)
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano for coating ravioli, plus a handful for salad dressing
• Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (Found at Fry's by the Tuna- Do Not Omit!!!)
• A few shots of hot sauce, such as Tabasco
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it)
• 3 hearts of romaine, chopped (Or Bag too)

Preparation

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for ravioli. Salt water and cook a minute less than package directions for either fresh or frozen pasta, then drain thoroughly.

Heat about 3 tablespoons EVOO in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Combine cornmeal, 1/2 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano and lots of black pepper on a plate. Coat the drained ravioli in the cornmeal and cheese mixture. Shake off excess and fry the ravioli until golden on each side, 4-5 minutes total. Remove them to a paper-towel lined plate and season with some salt.

For the salad, whisk together the lemon zest and juice, grated garlic, mustard, anchovy paste, hot sauce and Worcestershire then stream in the EVOO, about 5 tablespoons. Coat the romaine in dressing then season with pepper and a handful of grated cheese. Top salad with crispy ravioli and serve.

Thoughts...
When I was frying the Ravioli it got a bit smokey in the house. Be sure to watch out for too high of heat and make sure you put your fan or open a door when cooking. I followed the recipe down to the last word and it came out great. Aunt Leslie and Uncle Johnny enjoyed this on3. Even had seconds.

I was a bit concerned when making the Ravioli because I was concerned it would be too dry but in the salad it was fine and biting into the cheesiness was heaven. MMMmmmm. For added measure I also had some jarred marinara sauce for dipping. That was good too. Vince and Uncle Johnny even added some of the sauce onto the salad and that looked good too. A great summer meal that takes little effort.

As for the croutons.... Very addicting.
Outback Steakhouse Crouton Recipe
Ingredients

• 2 full loafs of bread (remember: just get the cheap stuff)
• 1 lb of real butter (no margarine on this one, sorry)
• 2 ½ Tbsp Cajun seasoning bled
• ½ Cup finely chopped garlic (yes, that’s really the amount) Get the jarred Garlic it makes for easy prep!!

Instructions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350°
2. Cube the bread into about 1 inch square pieces
3. Cut the butter into smaller chunks and place in the microwave for 10 seconds. Stir and return to the microwave for another 5 seconds.  It should have the consistency of mayonnaise.
4. Mix the Cajun seasoning and chopped garlic into the butter blend and let sit while you toast the croutons the first time.
5. Spread the cubes of bread onto a cookie sheet and put into the oven for 10 minutes and then remove and let cool completely before moving on to the next step.
6. Gently mix the cool croutons into the butter mix until completely coated.
7. Place the croutons back onto the cookie sheet and bake for an additional 10 minutes at 350°.
8. Check for desired crunchiness and, if needed, toss and return to the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes.
9. Let cool and add to your favorite salad recipe.

Making the croutons did take a bit because you have to keep an eye to get them to the right crunchiness. Some of the bread pieces were either coated more than others or were bigger than others so took longer to cook that others. So as the crunched up I took them out and put them on a plate to cool gradually. Definitely make these when you are having a super salad night. You can't go wrong.