Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli

Eureka! At last! Sweet sweet, blog-ready, macaroni perfection...

Time and time again my mac and cheese has come out too spongy, too dry, too crispy, too flour-y, too... something. We've "suffered" through it with the help of Frank's Red Hot, but we shall suffer no more! Finally I've nailed down a recipe for creamy, gooey, delicious macaroni and cheese, and here it is for your enjoyment :) I'm glad to report that Frank stayed in the cupboard during dinner this evening.

Total Cook Time: 1 hr
Active Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 small chicken breasts, chopped (I used some that were marinated in barbecue sauce... yummy!)
• 1 glug olive oil
• 2-3 c broccoli florets
• 1/2 of a large white onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 T four
• 1 c chicken stock (fat free, low sodium)
• 3 T unsalted butter
• 2/3 lb elbow macaroni
• 2 c milk
• 2 c finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese (dairy or soy cheese)
• 2 t salt

Directions:

1. Prepare macaroni according to directions on box. In the last 2 minutes of cooking the pasta, drop the broccoli into the boiling water and let it cook with the pasta.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and chicken. Saute 5-7 minutes until chicken is cooked and your whole house smells yummy...
3. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. It will thicken over 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the milk to the sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the cheddar cheese and remove from heat. It should turn into a nice creamy sauce instantly :) Stir in the salt for taste.
5. Combine the pasta/broccoli, chicken/onions/garlic, and cheese sauce in a large baking dish and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. (Honestly, you don't have to bake it... but I like the way baking it makes the cheese sauce set up).
6. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

Say Say's Enchiladas

Things that I love about this meal:

• it's easy to make
• it's well rounded
• it's healthy (until you slather it with cheese and sour cream)
• it makes great left overs

Sarah Mapel made delicious enchiladas for me a few years ago and they've been a staple at my house ever since I bogarted her recipe. Of course nothing survives long periods of time in my kitchen with out evolving a little, so I've made my own adjustments.

This is my first week in my new kitchen, and my old roommate's first week without me in her kitchen. Enchiladas were her first blog request :)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 6 large flour tortillas
• 1 large can of enchilada sauce, I use "mild" and Joe hots it up with hot pepper sauce at the table
• 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs OR 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 c long grain rice
• 1/2 of a chopped green pepper
• 1/4 of a thinly sliced vidalia onion

Directions:

1. Fill a medium sized sauce pan 2/3 of the way full with water and bring it to a boil. Carefully add the chicken (washed, whole) to the water. Let boil 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the pieces of chicken.
2. In a small saucepan, combine 1 c rice with 2 c water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it's fully boiling, cover it and drop the heat to super low for 15 minutes. Don't uncover it during this time, or I'll come to your kitchen and slap your hand with a spoon! When 15 minutes is up, turn it off and let is sit covered until you're ready to use it.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F.
4. When the chicken is cooked, dice it into small pieces or shred with with 2 forks.
5. Layer a small amount of chicken, onion, pepper, and rice onto a tortilla. Don't over do it or you'll have bulging enchiladas that are too big to eat. There are worse problems happening in the world.

6. Repeat step 5 with the remaining tortillas.
7. Add a splash of sauce to a casserole dish, then start laying the enchiladas in.

8. Pour the entire contents of the sauce can into the casserole dish, onto the enchiladas.

9. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
10. Add cheese to the top of the enchiladas and put it back in the oven with the heat turned off for another 5 minutes.
11. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
12. Top with sour cream if you so desire :)

Lasagna

Lasagna has always been a classic at my house. Sometimes I throw in the occasional surprise ingredient, but by and large I stick with the, "If it ain't broke," rule here. This is another one that I suspect my roommate will be checking the blog for once I move out, so I'm putting up detailed pictures :)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hr 15 min
Serves: 5-6 (or 1 and left overs!)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 lb ground sausage
• 2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 16 oz can of Hunt's Garlic and Onion red sauce
• 1 chopped onion (optional)
• 4 cloves chopped garlic (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 10 lasagna noodles prepared according to the directions on the box (I never use the ready to bake kind, I think they come out funny... so it's up to you but I prefer to boil them ahead of time)

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and heat a skillet on medium.

2. Cook noodles according to directions on the box. Simultaneously brown the sausage and beef combo in the skillet. Drain the excess fat off of the meat when it's all the way brown. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 F while you put the lasagna together. Slosh a few spoonfuls of sauce around in the bottom of a casserole dish. This will keep any noodles from sticking to the bottom.

4. Lay 3 noodles side by side in the bottom of the dish. The 10th noodle is in case any other noodles break... Usually they don't, but lasagna noodles come in boxes of 20, so I'm pretty sure you're supposed to make one extra and eat it.

5. Add 1/3 of the meat to the noodles, spread evenly.

6. Add about 1/3 of your remaining sauce to the mix.

7. Add 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. (This picture didn't come out... but you get the point)

8. Repeat 4-7 two more times.

9. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Then uncover and bake for 15 more minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Chicken Carbonara

This dish requires cardiac clearance prior to consumption. But it's so worth it after a long day of work (not to whine...).

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

• 3/4 lb. fettucini (I make the whole pound then set some aside for pasta salad or thai peanut noodles...)
• 4 oz. bacon, diced
• 1 med. onion, diced
• 1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 2 chicken breasts, cut in strips
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 c. grated cheese
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 egg yolks
• Some chopped parsley
*1/2 c peas (opt)
*1 c spinache (opt)

Directions:

Cook pasta in boiling water according to directions on box. Meanwhile, in large saucepan saute the bacon bits until golden. Drain off some drippings; add butter, chicken strips and onion, and cook until chicken is tender. Drain spaghetti and place into pan with chicken. Add cream, salt and pepper, stir well over heat until just boiling. Add the cheese and egg yolks. Turn off heat, stir well. Place on dish, top with chopped parsley; serve immediately.

Pepperoni Rolls

This year I've been living with my fiance's sister, Erin, and she's moving out soon. Having come to love many of the things that I make, without taking much of an interest in the "How To" portion of our time together, she'll be using this blog as her cook book. I make these pepperoni rolls for lunches on work days, and she's requested that I post the recipe. It's super straight forward and makes a yummy lunch!

Prep Time: 6 hours
Cook Time: 12-15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen bread loaf
• 1/8 lb sandwich pepperoni
• 1/2 c mozzarella cheese
• pinch garlic powder
• olive oil 

Directions:
Put the frozen dough on a cookie sheet and lather it with olive oil, then cover it with saran wrap, put it in the turned off oven and let it sit for 6 hours. The dough will thaw and just about double in this time. Cut the thawed, raised dough into 4 pieces. Stretch each piece by hand into a rectangle (about 4"x8") and layer 4 pieces of pepperoni, a pinch of cheese and a bit of garlic powder into it. Roll the whole thing up and set it back on the cookie sheet with the seam on the side. (I like the crusty bit of bread that the side-seam creates when it bakes. If you don't like that, put the seam on the bottom)

Repeat for the rest of the dough hunks.

Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes. Brush the rolls with butter or olive oil when the first come out of the oven for nice soft crust, or just let them cool for a crispier crust.

Casey's Chicken Parm

You can tell that Jolene and I must be friends if we made the exact same meal on the same night and didn't even plan it! My chicken parm is a little different than hers as I used jarred sauce, breaded my chicken, and baked it in the oven after browning it.

I think the secret to chicken parm lies in pounding out the breast meat, breading the chicken, and using a meat thermometer so it does not get over cooked. For the recipe below I used Bertolli Sauce from a jar and Kraft mozzarella cheese. The Kraft cheese I used has the "Touch of Philadelphia Cream Cheese" in it and it was FABULOUS, a little more expensive than the Kroger kind but so delicious and creamy. However, you can substitute for any type of sauce or cheese you prefer. I also mixed Italian breadcrumbs with the panko so the mixture was half and half, for texture reasons.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups all-purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

4 large eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons water and seasoned with salt and pepper

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 cup vegetable oil or pure olive oil

Tomato Sauce

1 pound mozzarella, shredded or thinly sliced if fresh

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Fresh basil or parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.

Dredge each breast in the flour and tap off excess, then dip in the egg and let excess drip off, then dredge on both sides in the bread crumbs. There is a certain way that I like to bread my chicken which I think really helps. When you are dredging it in the flour, egg, and bread crumbs, only use one hand on the chicken. Use your other hand to sprinkle the flour and bread crumbs onto the chicken if it dosen't stick. Do not use your "sprinkle hand" hand in the eggs at all. If you do and it gets gooey, wash your hand before proceeding. The dryer you keep your "sprinkle hand" the easier it will be to flour and bread the chicken completely.

Divide the oil between 2 large saute pans and heat over high heat until almost smoking. Add 2 chicken breasts to each pan and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking dish and top each breast with some tomato sauce, a handful of shredded mozzarella, and a tablespoon of Parmesan. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted, about 10 to 15 minutes or until your meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Remove from the oven and garnish with basil or parsley leaves.

Serve over pasta mixed with sauce, and garlic bread.