Chicken Tetrazzini

Billy informed me that he no longer likes chicken thighs. What's a father to do with the leftover thighs from Roy's?  Chicken tetrazzini!

Now, some of you will cry blasphemy.  I am not a mushroom fan, so I leave out the mushrooms. Here are the ingredients I used:

3 chicken thighs from Roy's

1 pound spaghetti

4 teaspoons butter

4 teaspoons flour

Salt and pepper

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 cup white wine

1 cup chicken broth

The juice of 1 lemon

2 cups milk

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded cheese

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

Set the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook up the spaghetti.

Dice the onion and garlic into small pieces. I poured the wine into a measuring cup and added the juice of the lemon. 

In a very large pot, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the onion and garlic. After letting the onion cook a little, add the flour to make a roux. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Slowly add the milk. Then the wine and lemon juice. Slowly add the Parmesan cheese. Slowly add the chicken broth while, then the shredded cheese.  Once you have a nice creamy sauce, add the chicken and vegetables. By this time, the spaghetti should be done. Add the spaghetti. Pour the mix into a large Pyrex pan. Top with a thin layer of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Mango Peach Applesauce Pork Chops

Yesterday I wrote about using Mott's blueberry applesauce to make a vinaigrette. Well, blueberry wasn't the only flavor I bought. I also bought mango peach applesauce. 

Now, I'm sure the Mott's people don't want to hear this, but alone this stuff is horrid. But like a frugal dad, I hate wasting food. Then I thought, mangos are sweet like oranges. Maybe I can modify the orange sauce by adding the mango peach applesauce. 

First, cook up your meat. In this case, I had pork chops defrosted. I cooked them in olive oil with garlic and peppers. I also cooked up some spaghetti, but rice is a good substitute. 

Then, take 2 cups (the little tubs they come in, not a measurement) of mango peach applesauce, 1/4 cup white wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon ginger and salt and pepper to taste. I also added some orange pepper. I mixed all of this in a glass and set aside.   

In a sauce pan over low medium heat, I started a roux, 2 teaspoons butter, 2 teaspoons flour and salt and pepper. Once I had the roux, I slowly added the mango peach applesauce mix. I stirred and let the mix boil down a little. 

I put the spaghetti on a plate, then a pork chop and covered with the sauce. 

The taste is very similar to the orange sauce. But there was a definite mango kick. All in all, I was pleased and happy I had an alternate use for this applesauce. 

Blueberry Applesauce Vinaigrette

Ever buy something at the grocery store for all the right reasons, but still regret it? Giant had a sale on Mott's applesauce, including mixed flavors. I wanted the kids to have more fruits and vegetables in their diet. Plus, I knew that they like things like blueberries, mangos and peaches. So I bought the exotic flavors. Well, we got the groceries home, and nobody liked them. So what's a dad to do?  Throw them out and waste food and money?  No. Taking a lesson from Food Network's Chopped, I decided to transform them. The first experiment: blueberry applesauce vinaigrette. 

Start with a container of blueberry applesauce. Add 1/4 cup vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar, but you can use any type), 1/4 cup oil, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. 

And that's it. Spread it over your favorite garden salad. And now you have not wasted a bad food purchase. 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Our loyal readers will notice that you get a two-for tonight. After dinner, our evening project, just in time for Valentine's Day, was chocolate covered strawberries. 

Normally, when I'm working with chocolate, I use the Wilton's meltable chocolate. But tonight, we went for taste, so we used the best: Hershey's. We bought Hershey's milk chocolate chips and melted them. 

There are two melting methods: (1) double boiler; and (2) microwave. In all honesty, I never learned how to do the double boiler method right. So we went with the microwave. 

We used a microwave safe bowl, and poured in the chocolate chips. Set a high, we cooked for a minute, then stirred. Note that you need to be very careful not to burn the chocolate. If you don't know your microwave, start with less time and repeat until melted. 

Once melted, dip the strawberries into the chocolate, place on a flat surface and let the chocolate harden. We put them on a plate and then in the refrigerator. 

Billy wanted to do something special, so he put colored sprinkles on top. 

Fried Chicken Breast Sandwich

Take a chicken breast. Slice lengthwise. Then slice both pieces in half. Scramble an egg in one bowl. Put bread crumbs with salt and pepper in another. 

On the stove, take a frying pan, coat the bottom with olive oil. Put on low medium heat. 

Take a chicken piece, coat with egg. Then coat with the bread crumb mix. Gently place in the heated oil. Cook approximately six minutes on each side. 

Toast a hamburger bun. Place chicken in the bun. Add onions, cheese, and condiments to your liking. 

Orange Beef

If you are one of those cooks who needs exact recipes, this blog may not be for you. I do a lot of my cooking by eye. This meal of orange beef is one of those times. I will do my best to reproduce quantities here. 

Start with the sauce mix. Juice an orange. Add orange zest. Add a tablespoon of vinegar, a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of soy sauce. To that add a teaspoon of ginger.

Rib eye steaks, sliced thin. Here, I had about ten slices. Grease a pan over medium heat. I used butter, but olive oil works too. Fry the meat. Add salt and pepper. 

On another burner and in a small sauce pan, start with a roux. About a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of flour. Add salt and pepper. Melt and mix over medium low heat. Then add the sauce mix from above. 

When the beef is brown, turn down the heat as low as you can. Wait for the sauce to reduce down a bit. Then, when thickened, add the sauce to the pan with the beef. Mix the beef and sauce. 

I like this served over a bed of rice. 

To add heat and a hearty flavor, you can include chili peppers, diced onions and garlic. I would add the onions and garlic to the beef when you start cooking. 

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

 Macaroni and cheese is a great dish.  One of the reasons I like it is because it is a casserole.  I think of casseroles as the tabula rasa, or clean slate, of cooking.  Casseroles are the starting point.  You can take the base recipe, and modify it to your tastes or add ingredients to make it pop.  I like casseroles in particular when you have leftover meat that you have to use before it goes bad.  Add the meat to the casserole, and you can make a whole meal, while avoiding throwing good food away.

The basic recipe for baked macaroni and cheese is as follows:  1 pound of pasta, 4 teaspoons butter, 4 teaspoons flour, some salt, some pepper, 2 cups of milk, 4 cups of cheese and breadcrumbs.

Notice how I don't specify the amount of salt and pepper.  I believe in seasoning to taste.  Sometimes, you need to adjust the level of salt and pepper to account for other ingredients.

I also don't specify what kind of cheese.  This is another area where you can get creative.  Sharp cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, whatever you're in the mood for.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

First, you boil the pasta.  In my mind, it doesn't matter what kind of pasta.  Macaronis, shells, whatever shape you like.  The important thing is to put some oil and salt in the water before boiling it.  Oil to keep the pasta from sticking.  Salt to season.

Then, while the pasta is cooking, you take the butter and flour to make a roux.  You melt the butter in a large sauce pan over low medium heat.  Slowly add the flour and stir.  Add salt and pepper.  Once you have the roux, you slowly pour in the milk.  Be careful not to burn the milk.  This is followed by the cheese.  I like to buy the packages of shredded cheese.  It makes the cooking go faster.  It also makes measuring easier.

At this point, you can add other ingredients as you see fit.  Do you want a heartier flavor?  Add minced onions.  Do you want to add meat?  Diced ham is very complimentary.  Of course, with ham, you need to adjust the salt so you don't have too much.

By this time, the pasta should be done.  Drain it and rinse it.  Then add the pasta to the cheese sauce.  This is why you need a large sauce pan.

When thoroughly mixed, pour the mixture into a baking pan.  Make sure the macaroni and cheese is spread flat.  Then, sprinkle a thin layer of breadcrumbs over the mix.  You can also sprinkle some parmesan cheese over top of it.  For that matter, you can sprinkle any kind of cheese you want over it.

Bake for about 35 minutes.  In the end, you should have a good looking casserole that bring your cheese lover back for more.