Cordon Bleu - Rosemary Garlic Maple Bacon wrapped chicken tenders

I watched this food network show, where the person mentioned that they always brine their poultry chicken breasts and such. So, today I decided I would try it, I was thinking of making an easy version of chicken cordon bleu. I decided that I would brine my chicken tenders before I put together the dish. Mind you this is not your typical cordon bleu. It's my mashed up version using what I have at home. ;) I only have chicken tenders right now, so no splitting the chicken stuffing it with swiss cheese and ham. Here is what I did for the chicken.

Ingredients:

8-10 boneless skinless chicken tenders

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

4 TBSP rosemary garlic seasoning

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

4 cups of warm water

In a bowl, mix the salt, sugar and water together so the salt and sugar dissolve in the water. I just used my hand to stir it. Then I added the apple cider vinegar and rosemary seasoning to the water. Once that was in the water I placed my chicken tenders in the brine, covered it with saran wrap and placed in the fridge for 1 and 1/2 hours. Next I removed the chicken tenders one at a time patting dry with a paper towel, wrapped the chicken tender with a strip or two of bacon and placed on a parchment lined jelly roll pan. I then sprinkled some smokehouse maple seasoning on top of the bacon wrapped chicken tenders. I placed in a preheated 350F oven for 45 minutes to cook the chicken and the bacon together.

Once those come out of the oven I will pour some cream of mushroom soup over top, then place some swiss cheese on top of the cream of mushroom soup bacon wrapped chicken, Next I will sprinkle with some italian bread crumbs and bake in the oven until cheese is melted.

This will be served with scalloped potatoes and green beans.

Chicken Fried Chicken with chicken gravy and Country Green Beans with Bacon

I have been on vacation for quite a while. My kids started school yesterday and I wanted to treat them to a nice home cooked dinner. That being said. I have only been home a week, and I'm trying to clean up the house from traveling, and my wonderful husband didn't even do dishes while I was away for two weeks. So, I've been trying to dig out of the mess that was and is my house. I don't like having a messy kitchen, it just makes it so hard to get anything done. Especially in my small kitchen. My counter tops have been taken up with mail, dishes, trash, and just stuff... It's been fend for yourself for a few days, while I have been trying to motivate myself to get it cleaned up so I can cook again. I'm back to using plastic and paper for eating off of while I'm trying to dig my way back to normal. I think it also doesn't help that since I sold my kitchen table, I haven't replaced it yet. While I have more room, I have no space. Does that make sense? It does to me. Well. I finally broke down and made a home cooked meal. It was so tasty! I made chicken fried chicken (using chicken breast cutlets) and country green beans with bacon. mmmmm I made extra so I could have seconds and leftovers for lunch today. My husband had two pieces of the chicken. One son had two pieces too... I had one and a half. I made a total of 9 chicken fried chicken's and can I just say, some of the best yet! I think part of what helps them be so tasty is that I brined them for 1 hour before I breaded and fried/baked them. I have a recipe for brining here.

Ingredients for Chicken Fried Chicken

9 chicken breast cutlets

1 brine (can be found here)

2 1/2 cups self rising flour

1 cup corn meal

4 Tbsp seasoning of choice 

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

10 shakes of tabasco sauce

3 tbsp salt (kosher)

3 tbsp black pepper

5 shakes of the cayenne pepper

oil for frying

Directions for Chicken Fried Chicken

Brine chicken cutlets in brine in refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove chicken from brine. Set aside. 

Heat oil in skillet, while dredging chicken cutlets:

Flour Dredge: combine corn meal, self rising flour, seasoning of choice, salt, cayenne, and black pepper. 

Buttermilk dredge: combing buttermilk, egg and tabasco sauce, mix well.

After chicken has been removed from brine, dredge in flour, then buttermilk, then flour again. Set aside. 

repeat until all the chicken cutlets have been dredged. 

check oil to see if it's hot enough by sprinkling a little water in the pan to see if it dances. if it dances then it's hot enough.

*My pan holds three chicken cutlets at a time. 

Preheat oven to 400F. 

While the chicken cutlets are frying about 3 minutes on each side. Until browned. Place foil on a cookie sheet and set aside. After removing browned chicken cutlets from oil. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Once all chicken cutlets are browned from frying. Place cookie sheet with cutlets in the oven to finish cooking for 23 minutes (depending on oven). My cutlets were moist and crispy. 

In a different skillet combine 4 tbsp butter (melt) and 4 Tbsp flour, whisk and then add milk consistently mixing with a whisk until boiling and desired thickness. Add salt, pepper and seasoning to taste. Set aside until chicken cutlets are cooked through. 

Remove cutlets from oven. Serve Warm/Hot. Top with gravy. Enjoy! :)

Country Green Beans with Bacon

Ingredients:

3 cans cut green beans (do not drain)

5-6 pieces cut cooked bacon

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp butter

Combine all ingredients and simmer 10 minutes. (the longer the simmer, the better the flavor)

This is so tasty, I love the slight tang and flavor of bacon that are present in this dish. 

Fetteccini with carbonara and peas

I wanted to make a quick and easy dinner. I also needed to have all the ingredients, isn't that always the way, wanting to make something yummy, but limited on ingredients. I don't have chicken tenders or chicken breasts. The kids wanted bacon wrapped teriyaki chicken skewers. That sounded so yummy, but since i'm out of the chicken, i couldn't make it. So I found this recipe and it was so yummy! I found this in my Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook. I know I use it a lot, but it has some GREAT recipes.

Ingredients:

12 slices of bacon cut into 1-inch pieces
12 oz dried fettuccini or linguine or pasta of choice I kept thinking bow tie noodles would be fun.
2 beaten eggs
1 cup half-and-half, light cream, or milk
4 Tbsp margarine or butter
1 cup grated parmesan or Romano cheese
1 bag frozen peas
salt and pepper

Directions:
First put the pot of water to boil, for the pasta. Then start cooking the bacon and cook until crisp, drain on paper towels. Add the fettuccini to the boiling water  cook for 8-10 minutes or until desired tenderness. Remember to salt your water after you add the fettuccini to add flavor to the pasta. This is the only time you can flavor your pasta. You can test the water to see if it's salty enough. If it's not salty enough add more salt, if too salty, add a extra water. While the pasta cooks, start the sauce.

For the sauce in a medium sauce pan combine egg, milk, and margarine. cook and stir over medium heat till egg mixture just coats a metal spoon (about 6 minutes). Immediately add the bacon and peas, cook a little longer to cook the peas.

When sauce is finished, the pasta should be finished and drained.  Immediately pour sauce over fettuccini, toss gently to coat.

Add Parmesan cheese and parsley; toss gently to mix. Season with pepper. Serve immediately.

Sprinkle with fresh parsley. Enjoy!

Potato, Corn, Bacon and Cheese Chowder

Today I made a yummy chowder. It is so cold here.. like 13 degrees. The whole country seems to be in the same freezer I'm in today. Therefore, it called for a delicious soup or chowder. I was going to make fish again tonight, but since we had that last night I wanted to shake things up. This is a fairly easy recipe, it's got a few parts more than normal. But still yummy. I didn't want to dirty too many pans when making this. I made the bacon last, but you could always have mad the bacon a different day, or even used packaged bacon bits so no other pan needs dirtied when making this. Less mess, makes me happy. :)

I have been snitching this since it's been done. almost 2 hours of a bite here and there... so I hope I'm hungry for dinner. This is SO good.

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 cups potato flakes

8 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cans corn (DO NOT DRAIN)

2-3 cans Swansons Chicken Broth (or homemade equivalent)

1 medium onion-diced

1 can evaporated milk

3 Tbsp corn starch (disolved in water) to help thicken the soup

1 - 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 lb bacon diced and browned

1 tsp thyme

1 1/2 dried basil

1 dash cumin

salt and pepper to taste

In the slow cooker - set on high. Add 2 Tbsp butter or margarine and onions. Place lid on and cook until onions are translucent aprox 5-10 min. While the onions are cooking, peel and dice potatoes. To keep them from turning brown, once cut place in a bowl with cold water to keep them from oxidizing. Drain the potatoes before you add them to the onions. Once the onions are translucent add the potatoes, corn with water, chicken stock, salt/pepper and crushed thyme, basil and cumin. (Use a mortar and pestle to crush the thyme, basil, and cumin together). Heat on high 4 hours til potatoes are just slightly firm. Then add the evaporated milk, corn starch, potato flakes, 3/4 of the bacon and cheese. Stir well and it will thicken and turn a slight yellow from the cheese. - Serve warm with reserved bacon bits, sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

YUMMINESS and DELICIOUSNESS is all I can say. Try it and become a believer... mmmmm warms ya' all over!

Cheddar Bacon Burgers

Now, this one I'm sure you all know how to make Cheese Burgers. My husband said I needed to put this on here because he loved the one's I made the other night so much he wanted me to share. I season my hamburger patties before I pan fry them. And I'll share my other secrets too... I could also do this on the grill I'm sure, but I haven't braved the cold and wet yet for the grill. One of these days I will conquer my fear of the grill, just not right now.

Ingredients:

8 hamburger patties

Worcestershire sauce

smokehouse maple seasoning

sea salt and pepper

1 lb bacon cut in half

1/2 lb cheese slices - depending on thickness and if you like two slices of cheese per burger.

Directions:

Place bacon on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven 450F for 20-25 min for desired doneness. While bacon is cooking in the oven, on a platter lay out all hamburger patties - at room temperature. Then sprinkle the maple seasoning, salt and pepper on both sides of the burger patties. Heat a medium to large skillet on the stove. Place the burger patties in the skillet only those that fit, sprinkle/dash the Worcestershire sauce about 2-3 on each burger patty, once browned on one side, flip and repeat the Worcestershire

sprinkle/dash on the other side. When the bacon is done remove from oven and set aside. While the burger is cooking cover the pan with a lid. Once the burger is done on both sides. place cheese on top of the burger and cover pan with lid, until cheese is slightly melted down all sides of the burger.

remove and place on a hamburger bun with your favorite toppings. Layer the bacon on top of the cheese. Enjoy!

** Baking the bacon in the oven heats the bacon evenly limiting the curves of the bacon to create a nice flat piece of bacon for the burger. :)

Pasta Carbonara with peas

My favorite pasta sauce is carbonara... what's not to love, creamy white sauce with bacon (or bacon substitute) and cheesy goodness... I know dreaming of yummy sauciness right now! ah... ok little drooling over,... maybe. As I dream in cheesy, creamy bacon filled pasta sauce.... I decided to do a little semi-homemade from scratch dinner, quick and easy while still being full of yummy flavor. Such a simple easy recipe... it's fool proof... well practically. So, After a HUGE thanksgiving meal, I wanted something quick, easy and delicious. I wanted pasta...I checked the cupboard for what I had on hand... luckily for me... I almost always have on hand spaghetti sauce, pasta noodles, and some kind of additive to make it just a little more special... I looked through my stash of goodies... and found a hidden bottle of garlic parmesan cheese sauce... (white sauce to my kids). And then I had a genius moment.... I know rare for me... I haven't had carbonara sauce in a long time... I thought, it can't be that hard,... can it... especially since the pasta sauce is practically finished... I had cooked up bacon during lunch thinking it would be good for BLT's or added to a turkey sandwich (yes I'm still eating leftover turkey)... I bake my bacon in the oven for 400F for about 15-20 min, turning over about half way through. This keeps the shape of the bacon pretty well, and less splatter on me and my counters. It is a trick I learned on the FoodNetwork channel. So with the already cooked, drained bacon, a jar of pasta sauce... a pound of noodles and a can of sweet peas... Dinner was done :)

Ingredients

1 lb pasta of choice cooked al dente

1 jar of Ragu garlic parmesan cheese sauce

3/4 lb bacon - cooked, drained and chopped

1 bag of frozen sweet peas (thawed and drained) or 1 can sweet peas

In a small sauce pan, while the pasta is cooking in salted water, add the pasta sauce, bacon and peas. Simmer until the bacon becomes pliable again. (if your bacon was cooked to crunchy as my son calls it) The bacon will infuse the sauce with a bacon flavor... about 5-7 min... about that time the pasta should be done cooking. Once the pasta is drained, add the pasta sauce to the pasta and mix well, incorporating the bacon and peas throughout the pasta, then serve and sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese or dig right in... That quick and easy. leftovers are good the next day too... I had them for lunch and even shared with a friend, who said it was amazing! :)

Verdict... Delicious... but don't just take my word for it... try it and share what you think... I'll be making this again... Gotta love bacon, cheesy sauce and mmmm pasta... drooling again... not good.... I think I have a problem... Too yummy!*** sorry no pictures, this was eaten and made too fast for pictures. :)

Sausage, Bacon, Apple Stuffing

Since I was going all out this thanksgiving with 9 pies, turkey, homemade rolls, creamed peas with pearl onions, green been casserole, mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows, mashed potatoes... That I would not just do a box mix stuffing, but a "fancy" stuffing. One with yumminess in it to make it over the top! I wanted to stuff my turkey with flavor. So here is the stuffing I used. It as good. :)

Ingredients:

1 - 16oz bag of cubed stuffing - white and wheat blend

1 box cornbread stuffing

3 cans chicken broth

2 granny smith apples - cored, peeled, and diced

1 lb bulk ground sausage

3/4 lb chopped bacon

1/2 onion diced

1 cup celery diced

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Brown and drain the sausage, set aside. Brown and remove the bacon - keeping the bacon grease. cook the chopped onion and celery til translucent in the bacon grease. In a large bowl, put the stuffing mixes in, the drained sausage, the browned bacon, mushrooms, apples, cumin, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Add the onions and celery and mix well. Add the cans of chicken broth one at a time, once the stuffing is as moist as you want, then stuff the turkey, or place in a 13X9 prepared baking dish. If using the baking dish, bake in a 350F oven for 30-35 min.

The turkey stuffed will help cook the stuffing further.

This is a delicious stuffing mix. My husband said he could tell the added flavor helped the turkey taste even better. With the aroma of bacon and sausage, and the sweetness from the apples. MMM so yummy. I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think of this stuffing mix. :)

Buttery, Cheddar, Bacon, Garlic Biscuits

Our family was invited to a friends house for dinner tonight. I asked if I could bring anything, they said no. But I asked if I could bring some rolls or biscuits to share. They said I'm not obligated to but if I felt so inclined by all means. So, I thought it would be a nice gesture and a way of saying thanks for the free meal, that I decided to make some buttery, cheddar, bacon, garlic biscuits. We are having BBQ chicken. This would be a nice side. :) Here is the recipe I used. The base mix is from the Better Homes and Garden's cookbook, Biscuits supreme. I then doctored the base recipe to have this yumminess in it. :) mmm smelling good.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup milk

ADDITIVES:

1/3 pack of bacon chopped and browned

2 cups shredded cheddar

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

TOPPING:

1/2 stick of butter - melted

1 tsp powdered garlic - to taste

Stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Once stirred together cut in 1/2 cup of butter until it resembles course crumbs. Make a well in the middle and add the milk all at once, then add in the bacon, cheddar and garlic. Mix well incorporating all of the cheese, bacon, flour mixture and everything.

Drop by spoonful 1 inch apart on to a baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper). Bake in a 450F oven for 10-12 minutes.

While baking biscuits melt the butter in the microwave and mix in the powdered garlic. with a pastry brush, brush the mixture on the biscuits once the biscuits are removed from the oven. Remove from pan and enjoy warm.