Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Easy Chicken And Noodles

This is a take on a Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe.

Easy chicken and noodles
By David Huston

3 boneless chicken breasts
2 cups flour
1/8 cup seasoning salt
2 eggs (beaten)
2 cups Panko breading
2 cups vegetable oil
3 slices honey ham
3 slices provolone cheese
8 oz. extra wide egg noodles
4 oz. frozen peas and carrots
1 16 oz jar Ragu 4 cheese sauce
Salt and pepper

Preheat your oil to 350 degrees in a frying pan, dredge your chicken in the flour and seasoning salt mixture , then your eggs, then your panko breading, fry 4 minutes on each side until crisp and chicken is 165 degrees internal temperature. Place on paper towels to drain. While draining boil noodles as instructed on package, mix the cheese sauce and frozen peas and carrots together in a microwaveable dish, add salt and pepper to taste and microwave until veggies are done. Drain your cooked noodles and add cheese sauce mixture. Place on plate to serve. Place ham slice and provolone slice on each chicken breast and melt cheese until melted. Place on ¼ side of noodles and serve. Serves 3 portions.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Easy Chicken Pockets



When I saw a roll on my plate, I thought it was just a simple. I was surprised to find it stuffed with chicken.  It was a pleasant surprise and very delicious. . 













So here is the recipe.

Easy Chicken Pockets
By David Huston
3 boneless chicken breasts (grilled and diced)
4 strips bacon (cooked crisp and diced)
1 Green pepper (diced)
1 yellow onion (diced)
Salt and Pepper
4 cups shredded Colby cheese
4 Table spoons butter
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Grated Parmesan cheese
2 cans of “grand’s” biscuits

Grill your chicken and dice, place in mixing bowl. Fry your bacon and save bacon grease, pat dry your bacon and dice, add to the chicken. Place onion and pepper in bacon grease and sauté till transparent, drain and add to chicken. Let mixture cool. In a small bowl melt your butter and stir in the garlic, set aside. Open the biscuit canisters and roll out an individual biscuit to ¼ inch thin place 3 tablespoons chicken mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese on biscuit. Fold sides in and then fold over corners, making sure there are no holes. Place folded side down on greased cookie sheet and repeat until all biscuits and mixture are gone. Paint your pockets with butter and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 12 chicken pockets.

This post is going to be shared with, Inspire Me Monday/Friendship FridayCreative Friday, Friday FindsMaking Your Home Sing Monday, Masterpiece MondayWhat'd Do This WeekendTOO Cute Tuesday Tuesday TableThe Gathering SpotWednesday's Adorned From AboveFull Plate Thursday, Best Of The Weekend,  Welcome To The WeekendSharing Saturday, and Link Party Palooza.

Monday, March 23, 2015

How To Survive A Large Function You Cook For

How to survive a large function you cook for.
By David Huston

The key word here is organization and planning; follow these easy steps and you will have great success in executing your next function.
1. Make your menu. Sit down and write out your menu taking into account allergies your guests may have, any vegetarians, easy and hard dishes, and well rounded menu.
2. Make grocery list. Start shopping for sales and store specials to save you the big bucks.
3. Make a “to do” list. Start a check list of all errands and tasks that need to be completed to execute service
a. Menu
b. Grocery list
c. When to shop
d. When to start prepping items
e. When to start cooking each dish
f. How to set up your service
g. What to put each dish into for serving.
h. How to serve each dish.
4. Make a prep list to make things easier at crunch time; cutting fruits and vegetables ahead of time, Making the desert, and cleaning potatoes and other cooking veggies.
5. Plan out how and in what each item will be served. Will mashed potatoes be served in a large dish and passed or will this be buffet style where you need to keep them hot in a warmer? Make sure you have all utensils and serving dishes/warmers you need on hand.
6. Set up your service table as early as possible, this will just eliminate one less thing to do last minute. Turn on all warmers at least ½ hour before placing food in the warmers.
7. Cook your food trying to get all items to service at about the same time. At this point all cold trays and condiments should be dished and ready to serve. All you have left is the hot food.
8. Cook food place in warmers and enjoy the evening/ function.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Twisted Green Beans



This will make a great side dish for any meal. This dish was a side dish to the Chicken And Hash Browns recipe


1 can cut green beans
½ yellow onion cut into small strips
¼ cup slivered almonds
¼ cup Fried onions
½ teaspoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

In a sauce pan heat green beans, garlic. Salt, pepper and yellow onion strips until hot and onions are tender. Drain liquid and add almonds and fried onions. Salt and pepper again If needed serve immediately.

This post is going to be shared with, Inspire Me Monday/Friendship FridayCreative Friday, Friday FindsMaking Your Home Sing Monday, Masterpiece MondayWhat'd Do This WeekendTOO Cute Tuesday Tuesday TableThe Gathering SpotWednesday's Adorned From AboveFull Plate Thursday, Best Of The Weekend,  Welcome To The WeekendSharing Saturday, and Link Party Palooza.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Chicken And Hashbrowns


My husband made this yesterday and it was delicious.
So here is the recipe.

Chicken and hash browns with gravy by David Huston


2 Chicken breasts (boneless)
3 cups hash browns
1 yellow onion
1 green pepper
Vegetable oil
Flour
1 egg (beaten)
Panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chicken broth
Grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Pound thin your chicken breasts, then salt and pepper your breasts, dredge breasts in flour, then in the egg wash, then into the bread crumbs. Place breasts in preheated vegetable oil (350 degrees) and fry for 3 minutes then flip and cook for additional 3 minutes or until golden brown. Place cooked chicken on paper towels to rest and drain. In a different pan preheat pan with 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, add onion, peppers, hash browns, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until hash browns are golden brown and crisp. Place hash browns onto serving plates and place chicken breast on top of hash browns. ?In same pan as hash browns melt the butter and add the flour, stir until paste (making sure you scrap all the “goodies” from the bottom of the pan, and your chicken stock and simmer until reduced, stirring frequently, salt and pepper to taste. Ladle over chicken and serve with grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Grilling Vegetables And Fruit.

Grilling Vegetables and Fruit.
By David Huston

Want to give a dish a smoked flavor? Try grilling your peppers, onions and fruit on the grill. It’s simple and easy, and the results are just mouth watering.
Let’s start with peppers, any kind you want, get your grill hot and ready, rub olive oil on peppers, salt and pepper to taste, then place on grill until the outside of pepper is charred. Remove from grill and drop into ice bath. Then just peel and discard charred outside, the ice water should make it so the black charred portion will just rub off, then cut and add your peppers to your favorite dish.
When you are doing fruit or other fragile veggies like egg plant you still want your grill hot and ready and you want to oil your fruit or veggie, but place on cooler spots on your grill and cook for doneness and grill marks, do not char. Nothing better than a grilled pineapple on a grilled ham steak, a grilled burger with grilled onions and peppers, how about a grilled apples and pears for a desert?
One more idea grill some egg plant, onions, peppers, and mushrooms and make a great egg plant lasagna. Let me give you the recipe:
1 lb. lasagna sheets par boiled and cooled
1 egg plant grilled and sliced length wise
8 oz. mushrooms grilled and diced
1 yellow onion grilled and diced
1 red pepper grilled and diced
1 qt. of your favorite spaghetti sauce
4 oz. ricotta cheese
8 oz. shredded Italian cheese blend
After all is prepped and grilled, get a 2 quart casserole dish and place a small amount of spaghetti sauce on bottom of dish. Place ½ of lasagna sheets layered next in dish then your egg plant, onions, peppers, and mushrooms mixed with more spaghetti sauce, then place dollops of ricotta cheese evenly in dish. Then place rest of lasagna sheets layered on top, then rest of spaghetti sauce and cheese spread evenly on top. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes then uncovered for 15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes then serve with grated parmesanF

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Grilled Burgers and Grilled Corn On The Cob

So for the past week my husband has been putting out articles on grilling, in case you missed it, here are the articles:

Getting Ready For Grilling Season
Don't Limit Yourself
Rubs Marinades And Spices
More Grilling Tips


So now my husband has some recipes to share.

Best Grilled Hamburgers Ever


1.5 lbs. ground beef
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Place all spices, onion, and garlic in food processor, blend until creamy. In a large mixing bowl combine hamburger and mixture, mix until well blended. Form your hamburger patties (I usually do ¼ lb patties). Place in refrigerator for 2-4 hours covered to let burgers firm up. Grill to your liking. Makes 6 burgers.


Grilled Corn On The Cob

6 ears of sweet corn
1 stick butter, softened
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
Peel the husks back from the ear of corn but do not detach. Clean all the “silk” from the corn and fold husks back over corn. Repeat for all 6 ears. Soak ears of corn in water, then place on grill and cook until charred. While corn is cooking, place butter in mixing bowl and spices and mix well. When corn is done, paint the ears of corn with butter mixture and serve hot.


This post is going to be shared with, Inspire Me Monday/Friendship FridayCreative Friday, Friday FindsMaking Your Home Sing Monday, Masterpiece MonayWhat'd Do This WeekendTOO Cute Tuesday Tuesday TableThe Gathering SpotWednesday's Adorned From AboveFull Plate Thursday, Best Of The Weekend,  Welcome To The WeekendSharing Saturday, and Link Party Palooza.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

More Grilling Tips

Last grill tip before recipes

By David Huston


 Anything you can do on a stove top or oven can be done on the grill. It’s all in how you handle your food and handle your grill. Be smart experiment and have fun. Remember when lighting your grill DO NOT leave it unattended until the flames go down and the charcoal is getting ready.

 First let’s talk about heat and regulating the grill. Most grills have adjustable heights, meaning you can adjust the distance between the coals and the cooking surface, the closer the flame the hotter it burns. You also will have hot spots on your grill (usually in the middle and back of your grill) and the outsides will be cooler temperatures. Use this to your advantage, If you want to put a pot on the grill use the middle for high heat and the edges for low heat.

 As a stove top you can do anything you wish with simple cookware or just on the grates. Add different types of wood chips to enhance and give your dishes a smoke flavor; different types of chips (applewood, mesquite, or even oak will all be a different flavor added) soak the wood chips in water first, this will allow for longer burning and less flare ups.

 If you want to use your grill as an oven use the correct amount of charcoal to get the internal temperature of the grill where you want it (the more coals the hotter the oven will be.) then place your food inside of grill (I usually place items to the outside edges for even cooking) and close the lid. You can also adjust the heat by the smoke valves located on your grill (open for a hotter cooking, and closed for a lesser heat). Again use and experiment will wood chips for that smoke flavor.

 Coming up the recipes you have been looking for.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Rubs, Marinades, and Spices

Rubs, Marinades, and Spices
By David Huston

When it comes to marinating your meat you have 3 options; dry rub, paste, or liquid. A dry rub are spices blended together then hand rubbed onto your meat, then placed in refrigerator to marinate. A paste is a combination of fresh herbs and spices with a small amount of oil added, then placed in a food processor to form a paste substance. Then you spread paste on meat and let rest for a few hours before cooking. A liquid is usually a water and oil base with coarsely chopped spices that are mixed with a whisk then poured over the meat to marinate for a couple of hours.
I highly recommend you marinate all pork, chicken and some of the cheaper cuts of beef. Not only will it add flavor but it will help make the meat tender and lock in the juices. I do not recommend marinating fish, it is too delicate and the extra liquid will break down the fish and make it soggy and broken.
Experiment with your spices, know which ones go with others, and play to your taste buds. If you like Italian try oregano, parsley, and garlic. If your want that Middle Eastern flare try cumin, turmeric, and curry powder. If you want that western BBQ flavor try smoked paprika, sage, and tarragon. For heat add jalapenos, red pepper, or a chili paste. Try and compliment the meat you are working with and not try and over power and hide the natural flavor of the meat. Remember to always salt and pepper your meat before you start cooking process, this will help to bring out the natural flavor of the meat. The only caution I will give you is to watch your salt when working with pork, pork has a higher natural salt content then the other meats.
The bottom line is to have fun creating new and exciting dishes that you and your family can enjoy. Do not be afraid to fail; after 35 years in the food industry I still experiment and end up at a restaurant due to bad preparation. It’s called plan B. Enjoy and stay tuned grilling recipes are on their way.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Don’t Limit Yourself by David Huston


Now that your grill is set up and ready for action, what to cook? Do you stay with the tried and true hamburgers and hot dogs or try to expand your horizons with chicken, pork, or fish. How about some roasted Veggies to go with that meat? Remember anything you can do on a stove top or in your oven you should be able to do on your grill. Not only will this save on your utility bills but will give you a whole different experience in flavor.
As with any cooking you have a few rules to follow. When working with pork or chicken make sure you reserve a spot on the grill just for the meat and do not use for any other purpose, this will avoid cross-contamination. Also pork must be cooked to 160 degrees internal temperature and chicken 165 degrees. Fish may only be 140 degrees but fish is also the most delicate of all the meats to work with. When cooking the Chicken and pork I like to marinade the meat for at least 3-4 hours, not only will it enhance flavor but will also help with the meat sticking on the grill. Still the secret to not having your meat stick to the grill is to rub grates with oil before starting to cook and not to flip your meat too soon or too often. Let the meat completely cook on one side before flipping; remember every time you flip the meat you start the cooking process over again. Same with the fish a freshly oiled grill and a patient griller will come out with a perfect piece of meat every time.
Tomorrow I will give you ideas for more than meat on the grill. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Getting Ready For Grilling Season

Mexican Steak and Stuffed Mushrooms
Getting Ready For Grilling Season 
by David Huston

Spring is here, the temperature is on the rise, and people are starting to go outside to enjoy the weather. But, before you grill you should do a couple of chores that will ensure your safety and make grilling fun and tasty.

First of all clean your grill, if it has not been used since last fall you my have some move in friends (spiders, birds, or rodents) so be careful opening the lid to avoid surprises. 

Then remove the grill grates and clean them completely. If you have a stainless steel grate or metal grate you may soak in soap and water them use a scratch pad to scrub with. If you have cast iron or iron grates DO NOT USE SOAP. Use a grill brush to scrap the grill, then use plain warm water to clean the grill, then use olive, vegetable, or canola oil to re-season the grates, turn the grill on and burn for 15 minutes, then wipe with water towel again and your ready to use the grates.

While you have the grates off, if you have a charcoal grill, now is a great time to clean out all the old ashes from last year and to do a general wipe down of the grill inside and out. If you own a propane or gas grill, check you connection at the gas line for leaks (use soap and water mix around the connection and if no bubbles appear your good to go), repair any leaks or problems you may find. Then check your heating elements, making sure there are no clogs or plug ups. Clean with soap and water. Check your auto-light button to make sure operational, if not these are cheap and easy to replace. Wipe down inside and outside of grill.
Once you have inspected, cleaned, and reassembled your grill you are ready to take on the world and BBQ for the months to come. Follow this blog and I will have some great BBQ recipes as well as some easy summer favorites.

Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Ruben Potato Salad

I am going to have try this recipe some day....



Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Ruben Potato Salad: I have been going through some of my older family recipes and saw this favorite. This potato salad is just filled with flavor and is a great...