Made Chicken Stew from the Cookin Canuck

Another great discovery on Pinterest, the Cooking Canuck and her unique Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa.  The stew is not a quick weeknight meal but if you get home early or can start prepping late afternoon you can pull off this great meal.  I found that the leftovers are even better!!

  

Start with some great, healthy ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

3 1/2 c. chicken broth

1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 can (14 oz.) petite diced tomatoes

2/3 c. uncooked quinoa

3/4 c. pitted and quartered kalamata olives

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/4 c. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes.  Remove half of the squash pieces, set aside.  Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes.  Mash this squash with the back of a fork.  Set aside.  (I mashed all of the squash since B does not like the chunks)

In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring the chicken broth to a simmer.  Add chicken, cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Transfer the chicken thighs to a plate and allow to cool.  Pour broth into a medium-sized bowl.

Return the saucepan to the stovetop and lower heat to medium.  Add olive oil.  Add onion and cook stirring occasionally, until onion is starting turn brown, 8 to 10 minutes.  Add minced garlic and oregano.  Cook stirring for 1 additional minute.

To the saucepan, add tomatoes, butternut squash, pieces and mashed.  Stir to combine.

Stir in reserved chicken broth and quinoa.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.

Shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork.  Stir the shredded chicken, olives and pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat, about 5 minutes.

What I would do next time:

Double the kalamata olives or slice olives in half so more bites have the great taste

Simmer for longer with olives so the flavors have more time to soak in

Invite girls over to enjoy - sadly, not B's favorite

Made Cajun Stuffed Chicken from Pinterest

Well now I really did it…I had to go and join Pinterest!  Not only can I wish for the latest looks and get ideas for the house but I have found some great new recipes.  So fun but such a time sucker!!!  I have also discovered that prior to Pinterest I was very naive to the amount of blogs out there, not just cooking but literally there is a blog for everything under the sun.  This Cajun Chicken recipe was my first to try and it really was good.  A few changes next time but overall a positive and surprisingly easy dish to assemble. 

For our side dish I chose one of our favorites that I don't cook that often, Artichokes with Hollandaise Sauce.  Mmm….Mmm good!!

Cajun Chicken with Pepper Jack Cheese & Spinach

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 oz. pepper jack cheese, shredded

1 c. frozen spinach, thawed and drained

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning

1 tbsp. breadcrumbs

Sea salt to taste

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Flatten chicken to about 1/4-inch thickness using a meat tenderizer.  In a medium bowl, combine pepper jack cheese, spinach, salt and pepper.  Spoon about 1/4 c. of the spinach mixture onto the chicken breasts.  Roll the chicken breast tightly and fasten the toothpicks.  Brush each chicken breast with oil.  Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning mix evenly over all.  Sprinkle any remaining spinach and cheese on top o the chicken (optional).  Place chicken, seam-side down onto a tin foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.  Remove the toothpicks before serving.

What I would do next time:

Half the cajun rub - a bit on the salty side.

When using the meat tenderizer to flatten out the chicken, place meat in papertowl or parchment paper

No added salt, cajun seasoning is sufficient

Use natural-colored toothpicks

Made Creamy Pheasant from South Dakota

My friend, Elizabeth of Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box, and I were able to celebrate a sweet friend this weekend in West Texas.  I am thankful to have gotten to know this sweet Chef over the past year!  Elizabeth is the queen of cooking game and so this post is dedicated to her as she is an inspiration to all the wives out there cooking up what our men bring home from the fields.  Dove was the first game meat that I cooked with a few months ago and I tried something out of the box that did not turn out so great.  Next time I will go with the whole bacon, jalapeno and cheese popper.  I have redeemed myself with this tasty Creamy Pheasant dish and it was a huge success.  I know success when B asks, "can we have this every week?".

6 pheasant breast halves
Butter and vegetable oil
Flour with salt and pepper
1/2 c. onion
1/2 c. celery (optional)
1/2 c. mushrooms (optional)
Garlic seasoning to taste
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. chicken broth
2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. white wine

Dredge pheasant in flour mixture.  Brown in skillet with oil and butter.  Be sure to use vegetable oil as EVOO does not work as well.  Put aside in baking dish.  Saute onion and mushrooms in same skillet that you used to brown the pheasant.  I left the celery out since it is not a favorite in our house unless served with peanut butter.

 After the vegetables are cooked through, add soup, chicken broth and simmer.

Add sour cream, yes 2 cups!!!  I have NEVER used a 16 oz. container of sour cream in anything….maybe this is why it has been requested as a weekly dish.

 Pour over pheasant - cover and bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.  

 Add wine to sauce and return to oven for 15 minutes.  

Please serve with some sort of vegetable so you can mentally feel better about all of the sour cream!!

What I would do next time:

Saute minced garlic with the onions and mushrooms vs. garlic "seasoning"

A special thanks to my favorite hunters, my FAVORITE pictured in the middle, that braved the South Dakota temperatures to bring home tasty birds!!

Made an English Breakfast, Toad In The Hole

I was 9 years old in this picture and it looks like not much has changed with my love for "big hair" and cooking a skillet breakfast.  Pretty sure it was just scrambled eggs back then and today, Toad in the Hole.  This is the second breakfast skillet dish that I have found and loved from Williams Sonoma.  As B and I talk about family traditions this is one I hope to keep each Christmas morning.  This 2nd annual B&L Madeley Christmas tradition was another success!  It was extra fun cooking in my mother-in-law's kitchen…she has a Viking and I fell in love!

3/4 c. milk

2 whole eggs plus 1 egg white

2 tsp. whole-grain mustard

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste

3 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 lb. mild pork breakfast sausage links

1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1/2" strips

4 oz. spinach

Freshly group pepper, to taste

1/2 c. grated Gruyere cheese

2 tbsp. chopped fresh chives

In a bowl the night before if you are making for breakfast, using immersion blender, blend milk, eggs, egg white and mustard 1 minutes.  Add flour and 1 tsp. salt; blend 30-60 seconds.  Refrigerate batter 2 hours or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In 10' fry pan over medium heat, warm 1 tsp. oil.  Brown sausages 8-10 minutes.  Transfer to plate.  As you can see I chose a different meat and went for venison from sweet friends and Dallas photography.  I highly recommend this option!!

 

Wipe out pan.  Warm 1 tsp. oil in pan.  Cook bell pepper 8-10 minutes.  Transfer to plate.  Warm 1 tbsp. oil in pan.  Add spinach, salt and pepper; cook 1-2 minutes.  Transfer to plate.  Pour 2 tbsp. oil into 12" fry pan; place in oven 10-15 minutes.   

Stir cheese into batter.

 

Remove pan from oven.  Add sausage, bell pepper and spinach to pan; pour in batter.  Bake 25-30 minutes; do not open oven door early.

 Garnish with chives.  Serves 4-6.

Made Mom's Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

Another great recipe from growing up.  I used to think these took my Mom forever to make…but everything seems to have taken much longer as a little girl "waiting".  Enjoy this simple, healthy and homemade recipe for Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins.

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg slightly beaten
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 c. blueberries, drained

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside.  In small bowl, mix egg, water and oil.  Add to dry mixture and stir until moistened.  Stir in blueberries.  Spoon into greased muffin tins.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Made Chocolate Chip-Toffee Scones

While dating, B gifted me with a Central Marketing cooking class for Breakfast Breads & Muffins.  It was a fun date to experience together and this is my favorite recipe out of what we baked.  As I think through traditional dishes this might just be one that makes an appearance each Christmas Eve to share with special friends.  One sad thing to note is the iphone pictures below…I decided to bake remotely, outside of the Madeley kitchen, and forgot to bring the camera.  Maybe next year I will post again with better shots but the steps are the same no matter he lens you are looking through.  Hope you had a very Merry Christmas preparing meals and eating with the ones you loved!!

3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

1/2 c. chocolate-covered English toffee bits

2 c. chilled whipping cream

2 tbsp. (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Additional sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets.  Combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt in large bowl.  Stir in chocolate chips, toffee bits.  If you decide to use nuts, also add in this step.  The toffee bits are not the chocolate-covered but Heath pieces out of a package.  I think it is best to use the chunks of chocolate you buy in bulk at Central Market.

Beat cream in another large bowl until stiff peaks form.  Yes…that is a hand-held whisk not beaters which is definitely the easier way.  I wanted the full "homemade" experience…my arm hurt the next day.

 Fold whipped cream into dry ingredients.

 

Turn dough out only lightly floured surface.  Knead gently until soft dough forms, about 2 minutes.  Don't over manipulate the dough…does not have to be perfect.  Form dough into ball; pat down to for 1 1/4-inch thick round. 

 Cut dough into 12 wedges.

Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheets, spacing apart.  Brush with melted butter.  Sprinkle additional sugar.  Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Serve warm.

Made Herb & Tomato Salad

I found myself searching for a recipe for this salad last week and then I thought it is really just tomatoes, an herb mixture of my choosing and homemade balsamic dressing.  It was a freeing experience!!  If you really want a recipe here is a good start and feel free to alter as your heart so desires…

6 medium tomatoes, quartered

1-2 bunches of green onions, white and green parts

Fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Fresh dill, roughly chopped

Fresh basil chiffonade (Pretty sure this was the last basil from the Madeley garden until the Spring)

Your favorite homemade balsamic dressing

Combine all your red and green veggies and pour over with the balsamic dressing.  

And easy side dish for a weeknight dinner, shower or Christmas party with friends!!