Mission accomplished!

After (what seems like) 2 days in the kitchen I have officially finished my first minestrone soup!  Grammie Skilling would be so proud.  I know this is technically food for New Years Day, but I couldn't resist having a bowl for lunch today!  I wouldn't want to serve something that could possibly be poisonous, right?  My mom was so kind to give me Grammie's recipe and here goes:

homemade ham stock (made from boiling a ham bone....keep the little ham pieces that fall off the bone)
1 package of 16 bean soup
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 cups of chopped cabbage
salt & pepper
dried oregano
Ditalini pasta (little tube shaped pasta)
Parmesan cheese
3-4 celery stalks, chopped (optional)
1 carrot, chopped (optional)
*the celery and carrot are optional because they are actually not a part of her "original recipe"  I had that in the frig and added it in order to use up some stuff in my crisper. *

To make the ham stock:  Fill a large stock pot about 3/4 of the way full with water.  Place the ham bone in the pot and bring to a rolling boil.  Simmer for 3-4 hours.  Strain and pour into a large bowl, cover, and then refrigerate overnight.  Keep all of the little ham pieces that fall off the bone.  When ready to use take it out of the frig and skim off all of the fat on top.  You do not want to eat the fat!  ;) I measured and I had 9 cups of ham stock.

The ham stock.   Scrape off all of that white stuff! 

The next day:  Thoroughly rinse the beans and place in a stock pot.  (Mom says search through the beans for rocks...Melissa assured me that she has never found one and I could probably skip this step, but I didn't!)  Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes and then take it off the heat.  Let it stand for 1 hour.  Once that hour has passed, rinse the beans again.  In another large stock pot (preferably the one you used for the ham stock) add the butter and the veggies.  Saute until tender and then add the oregano, salt & pepper.  *Note:  I used 1 tsp of salt for this dish and I think it was plenty.  You don't want to over salt the dish since the ham is salty and it will only get more flavorful the longer it sits in the frig* 

The onion & celery

 
Now add the ham , tomatoes, and all of the little bits of ham.  Simmer for about 1-2 hours and then remove from the heat.  Place in tupperware and allow it to sit in the frig for at least 1 day.  When ready to eat serve it with some Ditalini pasta and fresh Parmesean on top! 

Almost done! 

Another important side note:  it appears to me that this will make enough food for a small army!  Plan on having guests over and/or freezing some of the soup for later!  I sure hope Frank is hungry...

Coming soon to a kitchen near you....

Just a few of the ingredients: s & p, onion, garlic, stewed tomatoes, butter, beans, ditalini & ciabatta bread! 

Tonight I started a new culinary adventure...Minestone soup!  I've already started making the stock from the Christmas ham bone and got my groceries bought today.  I will officially make the soup tomorrow and it needs a day to merry in the frig.  All of this so we can "Mangia" on Sunday!  More pics of the entire cooking process tomorrow... :)

Butternut Squash

Butternut goodness!

 

This Fall I got bored with my usual veggies and tried a butternut squash.  I wish I could say it was because I was feeling adventurous, but I wasn't!  I bought it on sale and figured that if I liked it I did, and if I didn't, oh well!  My friend, Sarah, is an amazing cook and dietician.  She gave me some pointers on how to prepare and cook the squash.  When she said that they were tough to peel she wasn't lying!  Peeling that thing brought new meaning to the phrase, "Will work for food"!  The skin on them was a beast!  After peeling the squash I scooped out the seeds with a spoon, cubed it into even pieces, and placed in a large mixing bowl.  Eyeball the rest of the ingredients:  olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, nutmeg (about 1/4 tsp), and cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp).  Toss it all together and place on a lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400 for about 30-40 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender.  Top with some generous sprinkles of brown sugar and bake for about 5-10 more minutes.  The result is perfection! 

Pre-cooking

Playing with a camera setting called "Toy Camera"

Christmas cheer!

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their loved ones!  Santa definitely heard my wishes for a new camera!  I have been using my old digital camera I got in 2005 and a replacement was long overdue!  I've been a bit jealous of my brother's cool camera and new lens he got for his birthday.  Santa's elf, Frank, was able to pull through and surprise me with a new prezzie!  I am especially excited to start using it for some of my posts!  Here's a few shots of me playing around on Christmas night.  Rachel and Melissa made us this AMAZING Italian creme cake with 2 icings!  Caramel icing on the top and in between the layers and then cream cheese icing on the sides...it was absolutely divine!  I'll have to ask her to post her recipe.  Matt took a bunch of Christmas dinner pictures and I can't wait for their Christmas blog. 

The finished product!

Minus the first slice!  Mmmmmm!!!

"Don't you ever make a Stouffer's?"

That's what my friend, Teresa, said to me a few years back!  I was just starting to cook regular dinners for Frank and myself and I felt a lot of pressure to make every meal extraordinary.  I guess that's because I remember having home cooked food each night at home growing up.  We rarely ate fast food and were ecstatic when Mom would take us to the grocery store and let us pick out a TV dinner.  That seemed like the biggest treat in the world!  Believe it or not, I got really frustrated with the effort and now I have resorted to some canned vegetables and boxed side dishes!  Well, tonight is going to be one of those nights!  With Frank working past 7:00 on Sunday now that the holidays are in full swing and today being my "catch-up" day, frozen Stouffer's lasagna is on the menu!  I cooked a LOT last week and somehow managed to never blog.  I wonder what my siblings have been cooking (since no one has offered up any recipes on the blog)? 

Along with the frozen entree I will throw together a salad and some bread.  Pretty basic!  I thought I'd share my sherry vinaigrette recipe today.  If you're brave then you can eye-ball it (that's what I do)!  This can be kept in the frig for a few days too in a jar! 

1 shallot, finely sliced
4 T EVOO
2 T sherry vinegar
dash of salt and pepper
a squirt of dijon mustard
a squirt of honey
some basil (fresh is better, but a few dashes of dried will do too)

Mix everything except the EVOO in a small bowl.  Slowly stream in the EVOO and emulsify with a whisk.  Taste and add more honey if it is too tart from the vinegar or add more vinegar if it is too sweet.  Add to your favorite mixed greens. 

A Thanksgiving Feast!

This year we spent Thanksgiving at the Skilling Farm surrounded by family and friends.  The Burrous, Crane, Carver, and Ewanowski families joined us as we gave thanks for all of life's blessings.  Our grand total for mouths to feed = 19!  We all missed Matt & Rachel (we actually missed Rachel and her corn pudding the most!) and Obi getting into all of the food that was left out on the counters!  Why have 1 turkey?  Well, we couldn't all agree on what kind of turkey to have so we decided to do 3!  Mom oven roasted her turkey, Frank smoked his turkey (injected with Cajun butter), and Melissa deep fried her turkey breast.

Our goodies for Turkey Day included:  3 different kinds of turkey, one ham, sweet potato suffle (one topped with marshmallows and one with pecans), mashed potatoes, squash casserole, green bean casserole, stuffing, gravy, homemade cranberry relish, canned cranberry sauce, and creamed onions.  Ali made 2 apple pies and Mom mad 2 pumpkin pies for dessert.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The dining room table

The feast!

Melissa's fried turkey breast

Frank supervising the Orion smoker and deep fryer

 

Sandy making her turkey gravy

Pumpkin Time

As Thanksgiving approaches I was inspired to make some sort of pumpkin creation in my kitchen.  I wanted to share some with our co-workers, a few neighbors, and a friend's family.  I give all of the credit for this recipe to my sis-in-law, Rachel.  She made these one year at the Farm and they were an instant hit!  I forgot how many muffins this recipe makes and I decided to double it.  What was I thinking?  Well, 140 muffins and 3 hours later I finally finished baking!  1 batch of these muffins will make about 24 regular sized muffins or 12 regular muffins and over 50 mini-muffins.  Today I made 25 regular muffins and 115 mini-muffins!  I'm sure a couple were eaten here and there for quality control purposes, but that was the final count!  I hope you try these and share some with your family and friends this Fall! 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 and 1/2 cups veg oil
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 bag of mini chocolate chips

Mix the first 4 ingredients in one bowl.  Mix the next four ingredients in another bowl.  Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients.  Fold in the bag of chocolate chips.

Bake at 375 for 20-23 minutes for regular muffins.  15 minutes for mini muffins.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

White Chili

The Fall makes you want to bundle up under a blanket on the couch, watch some TV (preferably football), and EAT!  I started out the day motivated and that has slowly dwindled.  Since I only cook 3-4 nights per week I thought I'd make something tonight that would stretch for a couple of days and also provide me with some good leftovers for lunch.  

1 pound of ground turkey (I used white turkey meat, but you could substitute ground turkey which has a little more fat)
4 cups of chicken broth
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 T ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cans of white beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans of diced green chiles
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 T EVOO
1-2 T cornstarch
sour cream
shredded white cheese (either monterey jack or pepper jack)

Brown the turkey in a large stock pot until no longer pink.  Add onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes.  Add the stock, beans, broth, cumin, cayenne, and oregano.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes on low.  In the last 5 minutes of cooking time add some of the chili broth to a bowl with the cornstarch.  Mix well and then pour the cornstarch/broth mixture back into the pot.  This will help thicken the chili.  Top with sour cream and shredded cheese. 

Surf N Turf

A few weeks ago we had a weekend at home with no plans and decided to clean out the frig and freezer for dinner.  Well, I was very surprised what we found stored in our home.  I usually buy meat/fish on sale and freeze it if I'm not cooking it within a few days.  We've recently taken to liking Chilean Seabass.  When it's on sale it is 1/2 off the usual price.  Other than the mushrooms and crab meat, we already had all our dinner "fixins" stored at home.  Here's what we did to pull off our very own Surf N Turf...

Filet: grilled with just salt, pepper, and garlic powder
Chilean Seabass:  place the 1/2 pound fish filet on a piece of foil that is sprayed with Pam.  Top it with some salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and lemon slices.  Put a small pat of butter and about 1/8 of white wine in the foil "pouch".  Seal up the pouch so the fish basically steams inside.  Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until the fish is completely cooked.
Mushrooms:  Bake the mushroom caps for about 20 minutes or until they start to get soft.  In a small bowl mix some crab meat, a little mayo, sour cream, diced bell pepper, onion, and cheddar cheese.  Top the softened mushrooms generously with the crab meat topping.  Back 10-15 minutes or until the topping is hot.
*You can cook the fish and mushrooms in the oven at the same temperature*

Since we had red meat and fish we were torn between red or white wine...Frank suggested BOTH, but we went with an Oregon Pinot Gris (the same wine we put on the fish).  :) 

ENJOY!

Italian Wedding Soup

This soup is simple and tastes great.  Over the years, the meatballs that we put in the soup have changed from just simple small balls of ground beef to Grammie's much better variety (see earlier post)...Either way, the soup is great, depending on how much time you have to spend making it.  The base of the soup is just chicken broth - either from the can, boullion cubes, or from some broth that you've saved - we've found that adding extra water to the broth extends the soup without changing the flavor too much.  We make about 2 cups of broth per person.

Bring the broth to a boil  and either add in precooked meatballs or cook them directly in the boiling broth.  If you cook them in the broth, you may have to skim off the fat later.  Once the meatballs are cooked, bring to a boil and add in about 1/3 cup of rice and 2/3 cup of water per person.  Keep the heat on and the rice will take about 15 minutes.  Once the rice is done, turn off the heat and add in a handful of fresh baby spinach for each person.  It is ready to serve in about 2 minutes.  This is soup can be as large or as small as you want.  Finally, add some Parmesan cheese and fresh pepper to each bowl ... enjoy!

Gator Po-boy!

In honor of a big win - Dawgs over the Gators - We decided to show the one thing that Gators are good for - dinner.  The gator cooks rather quickly; we just pan fried it after breading it lightly with a seasoning mix.  After draining, we put it on a sandwich with chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato, and American cheese.  Mmmm...

Seasoning mixture:
tsp garlic powder
tsp celery salt
2 T blackened seasoning
salt and pepper

Dredge the gator chunks in the mixture, pan fry for about 3 minutes and drain on paper towels.  The chipotle mayo is a mixture of equal parts mayo and sour cream blended with adobo sauce and chipotle peppers (to taste, it can get spicy!)  Admittedly, the sandwich ends up looking like a big hot sloppy mess (insert Gator joke here), but the flavor is excellent.

For further Gator themed entertainment - check out the link and picture below...

Gators wear jean shorts

Going Bananas!

Melissa was in Athens visiting so we could have our "hair-did" together at City Salon on Friday and have some much needed sister time!  We laughed so hard on Friday night that we both had tears in our eyes!  Mom always bakes for us when we are home and then sends us home with some of her goodies.  This weekend I wanted to surprise Mom and Dad with something from my house.  Melissa was sweet enough to deliver their surprise back to the Farm. 

I had banana bread on the brain all week!  Luckily I had 3 old bananas in the freezer that were ready to use.  (Yes, I keep bananas in the freezer!  I do not like bananas once they get freckles on them.  As soon as they start to turn brown on the outside I stick them in the freezer.)  This recpe is perfect for old, freckled bananas! 

3 mashed bananas
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup veg oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven at 325 degrees. 
Loaf:  Bake for 1 hour
Muffins:  Bake for 12-15 minutes (or until the center is cooked completely.  My oven took more like 15-18 for the larger muffins and 8-10 minutes for the little muffins.  Insert a toothpick to test if it's done).   Enjoy!

Parisian Inspiration

Guest blogger San here...after a recent trip to Paris, I was inspired to come to the farm and cook a traditional French dinner for Nan, Vin and Meliss, who was visiting as well.

Our dinner consisted of French Onion Soup, Caesar Salad, Stuffed Mushrooms as well as our appetizer of Naan flatbread with various toppings.

For the appetizer, we heated the Naan slightly and garnished it with each person's choice of goat cheese, roasted red pepper bruschetta, sun dried tomato bruschetta, black olive tapenade, and green olive tapenade.


The Caesar salad consisted of a store bought bagged Caesar, and below are the recipes for the stuffed mushrooms and traditional French onion soup:

Stuffed Mushrooms (18 large mushrooms)
(prep time 10 minutes; cook time: 25 minutes
1/2 cup Italian-style dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
18 large white mushrooms

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Scoop out the mushrooms and reserve the scoopings.
Stir the "scoopings", bread crumbs, Romano, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.
Add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and blend (I sometimes need more olive oil to "moisten" the stuffing).

Drizzle a heavy large baking sheet with about 1 tablespoon olive oil, to coat.
Spoon the filling into the mushroom caps and arrange on the baking sheet, stuffing side up.

Drizzle a little olive oil over the filling in each mushroom.

Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated through and golden on top, about 25 minutes.

French Onion Soup (recipe serves 2-multiply as needed)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (if making at the same time as the mushrooms, 400 will work)
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons margarine
1 10oz can beef broth
3/4 cup dry white wine
Crostini bread (or Holland Rusk if you can find it)
1/2 cup Swiss cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Saute onions, sliced thin, in margarine
Add beef broth and wine
Season with salt and pepper
Bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes
Pour into oven safe soup bowls (see picture above)
Lay Crostini on top (enough to cover soup)
Sprinkle Swiss (sliced and cut) and Parmesan
Bake 10 minutes
Broil 2-3 minutes until cheese is bubbly and slightly brown (WATCH carefully).

Easy Sunday supper

Whenever I see someone on the food network making pork chops and apples/applesauce I always look at it and think, "There's no way that can be good".  Seriously!  The whole "you eat with your eyes first" theory does not make me want to eat it.  That was until I discovered this recipe in my "Fast Fix Family Food" cookbook.  A friend borrowed it and then told me about some of the recipes she tried.  If someone wouldn't have convinced me to try it I probably would never have given it a another look.  Well, tonight was the second time I've made it, so I guess it's a hit!  This was really easy (took about 20 minutes start to finish) and delicious.  I altered the recipe slightly and used a Granny Smith apple instead of a red apple (last time I just used a McIntosh red apple).  The Granny Smith is the way to go!  This meal is surprisingly healthy with 250 calories per serving! 

Apple-Pecan Pork Chops
4 boneless pork loin chops (about 4 oz each)
2 T butter
1 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 T packed brown sugar
salt & pepper

Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper then set aside.  In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add apple and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.  Move the apple to the side of skillet.  Add pork chops and cook for 4 minutes.  Flip the chops and spoon the apple over the top of them.  Sprinkle with pecans and brown sugar.  Cover the pan and cook the chops another 4-8 minutes.  Serve the chops with the apples and cooking juices on top. 

I served it with Frank's favorite side dish...lima beans!  I swear, he'd eat them several nights a week if I'd cook them!  I just put a small bag of frozen lima beans in a stockpot and cook them in 4 cups of chicken broth, 1 clove of garlic, onion powder, salt, and pepper.  Boil them about 40 minutes or until tender. 

His second plate!

The #3463 dinner

Tonight we gathered in Athens to celebrate Frank's 34th birthday and Mom's 63rd birthday.  We asked Mom what she wanted to do and her special request was to stay at home and cook.  Dad gave us a recipe that he got from his friend, Lyriss, who was a police officer with him in Miami. 

Lobster Tacos with cabbage slaw and avocado cream
2 lobster tails, 6-8 oz each, cut into chunks
8 flour tortillas
1 jar of sliced jalapeno peppers
1/4 bunch of cilantro
1/4 head of white cabbage, shredded
1 avocado, smashed
3 T sour cream
3 key limes, juiced
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup of ice cold water
2-3 T EVOO
2-3 T apple cider vinegar
Vegetable or corn oil for frying

Prepare avocado cream by mixing avocado, sour cream, and 1 T lime juice.  Mix well until cream is smooth and refrigerate.  Toss white cabbage with EVOO, vinegar, remaining lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste.  Heat oil for frying. (~350 degrees).  Prepare tempura batter by mixing 1 cup flour and 1 cup ice cold water.  Mix well, but do not over beat.  Add 1 egg to batter and mix again.  Dredge lobster chunks in remaining flour, then into tempura batter.  Carefully place the lobster into frying oil and fry for 3-4 minutes until lobster chunks are white throughout.  Wrap tortillas in a clean damp kitchen towel and microwave for 20-30 seconds.  Remove lobster chunks from fryer and drain on paper towels.  Fill warm tortillas with cabbage slaw, lobster chunks, avocado cream, jalapenos, and fresh cilantro. 

Frank's third lobster taco! 

We served this with black beans and rice (topped with diced onions and sour cream) and some fresh Traders Joe's salsa.  =)

For dessert we made Frank's special request...Oreo truffles.  We had them at the Christie's house in August and he's been talking about them ever since!

1 bag of oreo cookies, smashed into little pieces
1 block of cream cheese
white chocolate

Mix the oreos with the cream cheese completely and then roll into little balls.  Dunk them through some melted white chocolate and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and place in frig until ready to eat. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!   WE LOVE YOU!
Mamby & Meliss'

Molee Molee Molee (Chicken mole that is)

We've always wanted to try making Mexican Mole' sauce and the entire time we were cooking, Matt couldn't stop quoting Austin Powers' reaction to Fred Savage's character - "Molee Molee Molee"...

Mole sauce has a ton of varieties and ton of different ingredients (onions, cocoa powder, cumin, cilantro, garlic, tomatoes, chile peppers), just to name a few...  Well, we cheated and used Dona Maria mole sauce...

  (add chicken broth instead of water to thin it)


We cooked chicken breasts (cut in strips) sprinkled with plenty of paprika and fresh pepper in a pan with a little olive oil on medium heat.  Once the chicken was  cooked through, we let it cool and then pulled the meat apart with forks.  Using the same pan, we added it back to the pan with fresh onion and chicken broth to cook down and tenderize.  Once the broth cooks off, the meat and onion are falling apart.


For a side, we made white rice and and added freshly roasted bell peppers.  Since we had a fresh avacado, we put it on the side in slices drizzled in olive oil, lime and salt and pepper.  Obviously, you can make the sauce but if you are pressed for time this is an easy way for a different kind of Mexican dinner!  

Old friends and new friends!

Since Wednesday we've been hosting one of Frank's best friends, Saylors, and his girlfriend, Mallory.  They're visiting Athens from Delaware and although Saylors is familiar with Athens, this was Mallory's first time meeting us and her first trip down south! 

Frank and Saylors at Porterhouse on Wednesday night

We wanted to show them a good time and I think we succeeded!  Saturday we were lucky enough to snag 4 UGA/Mississippi State tickets together in the lower level and watch the Dawgs play.  The weather here was absolutely beautiful and there wasn't a cloud in the sky as we cheered on our Dawgs. 

Sic Em!

The afternoon and night were spent on the patio watching football, enjoying the outside fire, and of course, eating!  Frank made us a delicious BBQ shrimp appetizer and he requested that I post this!  We managed to eat all of them between 4 adults, but with a little bit of self-control this could serve 6-8 people for an app!

2 pounds of large shrimp, raw with the tail on
2 tbsp melted butter
1/3 cup of BBQ sauce (we used Jot Em Down sauce from our favorite local BBQ joint)
2 tsp garlic powder
a dash of salt & pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (1 tsp if you want it hotter)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp white wine

Mix everything in a bowl, cover, and marinate for 2 hours.  Skewer shrimp, baste them with the any remaining marinade while grilling, and serve with a BBQ dipping sauce!  GO DAWGS!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Grammie's Meatballs

Sunday I wanted to have a big dinner at home...Italian style!  I made Grammie Skilling's homemade meatballs along with some slow cooked Italian sausages.  Grammie was my dad's mother and also an amazing cook!  She would come and stay with us for extended visits when we were young and I remember her always helping out in the kitchen.  We grew up eating her meatballs with dinner, during football games (with a mayo-horseradish dipping sauce), and also just by themselves! 

Meatballs:
1 pound of ground beef
2 eggs
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of milk
Italian breadcrumbs
salt & pepper

Preheat oven at 350.  Mix everything except the ground beef in a medium mixing bowl.  Then add the ground beef and mix this with a fork (not spoon!!!).  Mix until evenly combined, cover, and set in the frig for at least an hour before cooking.  Form into small little balls and place them on a non-stick baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes and then allow them to slighty cool before wiping off any excess fat. 
Italian Sausages:
Brown a package of Italian sausage links in a pan for about 15-20 minutes.  Place in a warm crock pot on high for an hour with a jar or 2 of marinara sauce.  Once bubbling turn it down to low heat.  They should be ready in about 3-4 hours!  Once the meatballs are done you can place them in the sauce and serve over pasta when you're ready to eat. 

Mangia!

Savory Chicken Pot Pie

This is a Rachel "Paula Deen" Skilling special...

Ingredients

• 3 whole carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 Vidalia onions, quartered
• 1 (5-pound) whole chicken
• 1/4 cup salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 sprigs fresh sage

Filling:

• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 4 red potatoes, sliced thin
• 3/4 cup corn
• 1/2 cup peas
• 2 1/2 fat free half and half

We started with a "best of the boneless" chicken - all the meat (white and dark) and none of the mess.  Bake the chicken at 350 for about 45 minutes, salt and pepper to taste and be sure to catch the drippings. Cut the chicken when it is done and allow it to cool.  Save the drippings and then reuse the catch pan to roast the onion, carrots and potatoes for the filling.  Season with salt and pepper.  Once well roasted, put the cut chicken and roasted vegetables in a large bowl lace with chicken juice from roasting pan along with potatoes, carrots, peas, corn, heavy cream and flour. Mix together well. Set aside.

We cheated on the top crust and just used from grand flaky biscuits, pressed flat and then drizzled in a little butter.  Put the filling mix in a large baking pan, add the crust topping, cover and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, covered.  For the last 20 minutes, uncover and allow the biscuits to get crispy and finished... when you take it out of the oven, let it cool and enjoy!  (we finished the meal with a wedge salad of blue cheese and bacon - mmm!!

One of our Favorite Restaurants!

It's no secret that the Farm kitchen is one of our favorite places to eat!  You can always find a good snack in the overflowing snack drawer or frig.  Sunday afternoon we gathered for some much needed sister and mother time in the kitchen together.  Speaking of mothers, our dinner recipe is a family favorite passed on to us from our good friend (and second mother), Sandy E!   

Mom cooking it up in her kitchen!

Chicken Florentine
Chicken:
10-12 chicken breast halves (flattened)
1/2 stick butter (melted)
1 1/2 cups of Parmesan

Line a cookie sheet with foil, spray with Pam, dip chicken in butter then in Parmesean.  Layer on cookie sheet and broil 2-3 minutes (on one side only).  Now heat the oven to 375 and start on the creamed spinach. 

Creamed Spinach: 
3 oz melted butter
2-3 medium onion, chopped
12 oz mushrooms, chopped
2 10 oz packages chopped frozen spinach, cooked and drained
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp cracked pepper
2 T Parmesan
2-3 T bread crumbs
2 T mayonnaise
8 oz cream cheese

Creamed Spinach

Saute onions in butter until transparent.  Saute mushrooms and add spinach, salt, soy, and pepper.  Mix and turn off the heat.  Add Parmesan and breadcrumbs (depending on how soupy).  Add mayo and cream cheese.  Cook until cream cheese is mixed in completely.

Everyone knows that George loves chicken! 

Top the breasts with the spinach and sprinkle with Parmesan.  Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.  Cooking time may vary depending on how thin you made the chicken breasts.     
*If desired, you can top the creamed spinach with fresh lemon juice when serving*

Mangia!
Momma Skilling, Melissa, & Mamby

Swiss Chard?

A friend, Erin, at work is 8 1/2 months pregnant.  Each week she gets an email/update on the size of her baby girl, Claire.  These updates compare the size of Claire to a fruit or vegetable.  I remember when Sandy E did this on her blog for Olivia before she was born.  Each week I've enjoyed seeing Claire grow right before my eyes.  This week Claire is the size of a leaf of swiss chard!  Interesting...

Before

Erin graciously offerd me the swiss chard since she'd never had it. I decided to cook the swiss chard since: a) I've never had it, b) I hate to see food thrown away, and c) I'm always up for a food challenge!  Over the past year I've been coaxing Erin into cooking her husband, Kyle, different recipes and encouraging her to try new things.  Well, tonight she returned the favor!  I have no recipe of my own to cook the swiss chard so I did a little research.  I settled on this recipe from the Food Network website since it had some good reviews and I had all of the ingredients already at home:

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/savory-swiss-chard-recipe/index.html

The verdict is still out and I'm interested to see what Frank says about the chard.  (He had some very colorful nicknames for swiss chard earlier today that I'll spare you from.)  I thought it was both interesting and different.  I'm neutral.  The green itself was a little bitter, but the flavor was good.  I used smoked paprika instead of the cumin.  I think I'll try it again with the cumin before giving it a "yay" or a "nay".  Anyone have any other swiss chard recipes to share?  I've always said there are 2 things I won't eat: Jell-O and beef stroganoff.  We'll see if I am adding a 3rd to the list!   

After:  All of that swiss chard made so little!

Gameday Grub

As most of you know, yesterday was a very important day for Dawg fans across the South.  It was the first homegame of the 2011 football season.  Although the game didn't end how we would have liked, the food and fun made up for the loss!  Frank and I hosted our good friends, Brian & Jennifer, for the weekend.  They were in town from Alabama for the game and also brought their children over for part of the morning.  We were later joined by Brent & Jordan and Byerly & Cole.  The boys had Stricklands for breakfast and I made a Tomato Tartlet for the ladies.  I actually forgot to take the picture when it first came out of the oven, so here it is minus my piece! I have served this at many baby and bridal showers and it's always a hit!  It's also a good addition to any brunch you might have.   

1 frozen unbaked pie crust

3 eggs

3-4 tomatoes, sliced

1 T of basil pesto (I like to use Classico)

4 oz of shredded mozzarella cheese

4 oz of feta

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

onion powder

pepper

Preheat the oven to 375.  Mix the eggs, pesto, mozzarella cheese, onion powder, parsley, and pepper in a small bowl.  Place 1/2 the tomatoes in a single layer in the pie shell.  Pour half of the egg/pesto mixture over the tomatoes and then top with 1/2 of the feta.  Repeat this for the second layer.  Bake 35-40 minutes.  *If you don't like parsley you can always substitute a few dashes of Italian seasoning*

Since it was an afternoon game Frank cooked up some 4 Star sausage and 3 racks of his delicious ribs.  You'll have to ask him to explain his method and grilling secrets!  I know that he used a rub made by Southern Way Groumet (in Whitesburg, GA) named "James Do All" and some fresh cracked pepper.  We used BBQ sauce from our favorite local BBQ place "Jot Em Down".