CB Deconstructed

Cordon Bleu Casserole

Made: February 28, 2013

Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 6 oz spreadable creamy Swiss cheese wedges
- 1 cup fat-dree half-and-half
- 1 teaspoon butter-flavored granules
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3/4 cups cooked chicken breast, diced
- 1/2 cup cooked ham, diced
- 1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- 1/8 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

Directions
- Cook pasta as directed on package, drain & set aside
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, combine cheese wedges, half-and-half, butter-flavored granules, garlic salt & pepper
- Cook, stirring often, until cheese is melted and smooth
- Add chicken, ham and cooked pasta
- Stir until well blended and heated through
- Top with shredded cheese and bread crumbs at serving time

I did a couple things differently. I used slices of Swiss cheese, cut up instead of the spreadable wedge as I couldn't find any. They melted quite nicely. I did add in 2 wedges of the Garlic and herb cheese to add a punch more flavor along with some cream cheese and a couple splashes of milk so it wasn't too thick. I used Butter Buds as my "butter-flavored granules".

(Recipe used: Gooseberry Patch; Mom's very best recipes)

Buttered rice with Fish

Parleyed Rice Pilaf + Marinated Cod

Made: February 23, 2013

Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1/3 cup dried minced onion
- 4 teaspoons butter
- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
- 2 cups instant rice
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions
- In a small saucepan, bring the water, onion, butter and bouillon to a boil
- Stir in rice and parsley
- Remove from heat
- Cover and let stand for 5 minutes
- Fluff with fork

I only had bullion cubes; so I used two for this recipe. I paired this with marinated Cod filets (the marinate was a ginger soy sauce) instead of the pairing recipe from our book. Since they were pre-marinated, I wanted to find a suitable side to match.

If interested in the fish recipe: read on below! (I cooked the fish as directed for time estimation, but I did not make the sauce)

Asian Snapper with Capers
Ingredients
- 4 red snapper fillets (6 oz each)
- 4 1/2 teaspoons Mongolian Fire oil or Sesame oil
- 1/4 cup apple jelly
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger-root

Directions
- In a large skillet, cook fillets in oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork
- Remove from pan and keep warm
- Stir the jelly, ketchup, capers, lemon juice, soy sauce and ginger into the skillet
- Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened
- Serve with red snapper

(Recipe used: Taste of Home Quick Cooking Annual Recipes 2013)

Mexcio meets Pie

Mexican Sheppard's Pie

Made: February 19, 2013

Directions
- 1 lb extra lean (at least 93%) ground beef
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions
- 1 cup Old El Paso® Thick ‘n Chunky Salsa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 can Green Giant® SteamCrisp® Mexicorn® corn, drained
- 1 pouch Betty Crocker® loaded mashed potatoes
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 oz)
- 1 medium tomato, sliced into thin wedges
- Tortilla chips, if desired

Ingredients
- In 10-inch skillet, cook ground beef and 1/4 cup of the green onions over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain
- Stir in salsa, chili powder and cumin
- Spoon corn evenly over beef mixture in skillet
- Cover and cook over low heat until mixture is thoroughly heated
- Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, heat water and butter to boiling
- Remove from heat
- Stir in milk and 1 pouch potatoes with seasoning just until blended
- Let stand about 1 minute or until liquid is absorbed; beat with fork until smooth
- Spoon potatoes over corn in skillet; spread evenly
- Sprinkle with cheese and remaining 1/4 cup green onions
- Cover; cook over low heat about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted
- Arrange tomato wedges in spoke fashion over potatoes
- Garnish with tortilla chips around outside edge of skillet



I didn't use those exact brands, I had Gaint Mexicorn, Chi-Chi's Thick & Chunky Mild salsa & Velveeta cheesy Potatoes. I opted against the green onions and tomato. I topped mine with some sour cream, extra salsa and shredded cheese. I also used a little more salsa in with my beef to fully coat and mix around the spices so you didn't get one bite of nothing but chili powder. The extra cheese in the potatoes really kicked it up a notch

(Recipe used: Betty Crocker)

Sweet Southern Oven Frying

Baked Chicken and Pineapple Casserole

Made: February 18, 2013

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2-2 1/2 pounds whole chicken legs (thigh & drumstick)
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 2 cans crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce
- 1 cup crushed Ritz or Saltine crackers
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 F
- Grease a 13x9 baking dish or coat with cooking spray
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat
- Lightly season the chicken all over with salt and pepper
- In batches (if necessary), place the chicken in the hot oil and cook, turning once, until golden brown (about 8 minutes)
- Transfer the chicken to a paper towel-lined plate to drain
- In a small bowl, toss toghet the pineapple and hot sauce
- Spread evenly on the bottom of the prepared baking dish
- Place the chicken on top of the pineapple
- In a small bowl, combine the ccrackers, butter anc cheese
- Scatter the mixture over time the chicken and pineapple
- Bake until topping is melted and golden and the chicken is just cooked through (about 45 minutes)

I only made a small portion, so I used 1 can of pineapple and I didn't drain so the juice could soak into the chicken. I made 2 quarters total and opted against the hot sauce. I also served this with spinach & a pasta side. It was quite flavorful, but I cooked the chicken for about an hour since my chicken wasn't done in 45 minutes.

(Recipe used: Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible)

Mardi Gras

King Cake Cupcakes

Made: February 12, 2013

Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons soft butter
- 2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia; OR 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1/8 teaspoon lemon oil
- 2 large eggs

Icing
- 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (half of an 8-ounce package) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon lemon oil
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, enough to make a spreadable icing
- colored sugars, preferably purple, yellow, and green

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 FL
- Lightly grease and flour a muffin tin, or line the muffin tins with papers, and spray the insides of the papers

Cupcakes
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt
- Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer at low speed, until the mixture looks sandy
- Combine the milk and vanilla and add, all at once
- Mix at low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl
- With the mixer running at low speed, add 1 egg
- Increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds
- Add the second egg, again beating for 30 seconds
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat briefly, just till smooth
- Scoop the batter by heaping 1/4-cupfuls into the prepared muffin tin (A muffin scoop works well here)
- Bake the cupcakes for 23 to 25 minutes, until they've domed, and are a light golden brown around the edges
- They'll spring back when pressed gently on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven, and place on a rack to cool completely before icing

Icing
- Combine the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and lemon oil in a medium-sized bowl, and beat them together until light and fluffy
- Add the sugar gradually, beating well
- Beat in the milk a little at a time, until the frosting is a spreadable consistency
- Spread each cake with icing, and immediately dip in gold, purple, and green sparkling sugars, covering about 1/3 of the cupcake with each color sugar

I followed this one really close to the recipe; only a couple of changes. I couldn't find lemon oil anywhere. So I used lemon juice in the batter with the vanilla and extract in the icing. Also, I didn't use a full 2 cups of powdered sugar. It was getting a nice consistency, so I used 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk. I also didn't have or could find yellow sugars, so I just used green and purple I had. I never had King Cake before, but these cupcakes were quite delicious!

(Recipe used: King Aurthur Flour)

Beany Chicken

Chicken with Black Beans and Rice

Made: February 7, 2013

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 1/2 - 3 pounds meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks)
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can diced tomatoes with onion and green pepper, undrained
- 1 cup tomato juice
- 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
- 2/3 cup long grain rice
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions
- In a large resealable plastic bag combine flour, 1 teaspoon of the chili powder, the salt, and pepper
- Add chicken pieces, half at a time
- Seal bag; shake to coat
- In a very large skillet brown chicken on all sides in hot oil over medium heat about 10 mintues, turning occasionally
- Remove chicken from skillet and set aside; discard drippings
- Add beans, tomatoes, tomato juice, corn, uncooked rice, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, the cayenne pepper, and garlic to the skillet
- Bring to boiling
- Transfer rice mixture to a baking dish
- Arrange chicken pieces on top of rice mixture
- Bake, covered, in a 375 F oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and rice is tender

I did a couple of things differently. I didn't put the chicken in a bag or use boned chicken. I used what we had; which was boneless breast tenderloins. I think it worked just fine coating them by hand in a bowl. I used a can of corn (drained) and a little more than 2/3 cup rice, since the box was almost empty, I just poured the rest in and added an extra 1/2 cup tomato juice (low sodium V8). Overall, I thought it was very good. Although I could've used more tomato juice as the rice sucked up more than I thought!

(Recipe used: Better Homes & Gardens)

Fruity cake

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

Made: February 1, 2013

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 9 slices pineapple in juice, drained
- 9 maraschino cherries without stems
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg

Directions
- Heat oven to 350 F
- In 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven
- Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter
- Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar
- Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice
- In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly
- Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally
- Pour batter over pineapple and cherries
- Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
- Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over
- Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan
- Serve cake warm
- Store loosely covered

It's a little darker than I expected, but my pan only fit 6 pineapple slices instead of 9, but the taste is really good! Even though the batter tasted odd before I baked it.

(Recipe used: Pillsbury)