Sunday's Soup

I have had a craving for soup lately.  As it turns out the Georgia weather has started to resemble Fall and the timing was perfect!  For lunch today I decided to make something that would last for a few days and give me some good leftovers for work.  This butternut squash soup was so easy and fabulous!  I searched the Internet and pieced a few recipes together and came up with this! 

1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
2 T butter
6 cups of chicken broth
dash of pepper
dash of nutmeg

Saute the onion for a couple of minutes and then throw in the butternut squash cubes.  Toss this mixture and allow the melted butter to coat all of the squash.  Cook for about 5 minutes on medium.  Add the stock and bring this to a boil.  Once boiling turn it to medium-low and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes.  Once the squash is soft (it should be tender and just falling apart) use a slotted spoon to pull out the squash and onions.  Place them in a food processor and puree.  Then place this puree back into the chicken broth.  Add the pepper and nutmeg.  Mix well and serve!  The color of this soup is so pretty...the picture doesn't do it justice! 

*I had to use my little tea/coffee cups and saucer just for fun!  My Aunt Karen also have me some embroidered napkins for a wedding shower present and I thought they were a cute addition to the picture! *

Tiffany's Salad

I'm baaaaaaaack!  You all see how my little experiment went---it took about 6 weeks to get a rise out of my brother!  :-D

About a year ago the girls were all together to celebrate our friend, Tiffany, and her upcoming 30th birthday.  For dinner she made us the most delicious and tasty salad...it was so good that I remember it a year later!  Saturday we were grocery shopping and picked up a 1/2 beef tenderloin so we could make "Frank steaks" and then have a little leftover.  (Believe it or not, buying a beef tenderloin is cheaper than buying individual steaks at the meat counter.  All you need is a man with a good knife and you are good to go!)  At any rate, I immediately thought about the salad that Tiffany made for us!  I called her to get the quick run-down of ingredients and viola----dinner was served!

There is really nothing to this salad.  First I seasoned the steak with McCormick's montreal steak seasoning.  I seared it and when it was medium rare I took it out of the pan and allowed it to rest while I prepped the rest of the salad.  I topped some baby spring mix (or she said you can use arugula if you like the "peppery" bite of the arugula) with sliced strawberries and crumbled goat cheese.  You can also add some candied walnuts if you like.  Top the salad with the sliced steak and then drizzle with poppy seed dressing.  Thanks, Tiff!    

Memaw's Chicken

We noticed that Amanda and Melissa have apparently taken a hiatus from posting while working on their latest book - the 7 habits of highly effective slackers.  So we decided to step in and keep this blog going!

This is a simple, hearty meal of baked chicken and gravy that Rachel's grandmother from Jasper, Alabama (affectionately known as "Memaw") showed us how to make this summer when we paid her a visit.  This is very easy and very tasty.

Ingredients:

6-8 bone-in or boneless chicken thighs
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
8oz sour cream
1/2 cup of milk
Fresh sauteed mushrooms
S&P to taste


Spray the pan with non stick spray.  Trim the chicken and season with some S&P.  Saute some fresh mushrooms a small bit of butter.  Mix the soup, sour cream, milk and sauteed mushrooms, and pour over the chicken.  Bake in the oven at about 350 uncovered for 45 minutes and then cover and continue cooking for another 30 minutes, or more/less until chicken is cooked through.  The chicken should be falling apart at this point.  When I made this for Memaw, I will always remember her wise advice (she said with a smirk and a wink) - Rachel, you never take it out until it's done... (that's what she said!)

Serve over rice and with a side, usually a green vegetable like green beans.

Enjoy!

Rach's potatoes

When Matt & Rachel lived with us I remember her making these potatoes.  They were a delicious twist on the usual (and sometimes boring) roasted potato.  I haven't found a protein that they don't compliment!  This is my version...give or take a few of her ingredients! 

In a small bowl mix: 
2 T EVOO
1 clove of minced garlic
1 T of dijon mustard
S & P
1 T fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Chop 5 small new potatoes into even chunks and place in gallon-sized ziploc bag.  Pour the above mixture over them and marinate for a couple of hours in the frig. 

Place the potatoes in a 9 x 13 pan.  Cook in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until fork tender.  Once they are fork tender sprinkle generously with crumbled feta cheese.  Stick them back in the oven for a couple of minutes to allow the cheese to get warm.  YUM! 

Cafe Rio Chicken

I hate to admit it, but I've started to use Pinterest and now I like it more and more!  As I stalk the pages/boards that my friends create I frequently come across some yummy ideas!  I saw this online last week and decided that if I was going to sit and salivate in front of my computer then I may as well try the recipes I pin!  Cafe Rio chicken (http://mandysrecipebox.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/cafe-rio-chicken.html) was really easy and to be honest, when it's almost 100 degrees outside the thought of turning on the HOT oven is not appealing!  Frank actually made this recipe for us while I was at work...shhhhh...

2 lbs chicken breasts

1 C. Zesty Italian dressing

1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)*

1/2 Tbsp. chili powder

1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

 

Place everything in the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5-6 hours.  

*Note: Frank is not a fan of Mexican food (unless he is in Mexico) and this has been a hit this week!  He gave it a 7 out of 10 and said it only needed to be spicier!  We've made pulled chicken tacos this week and I bet it would be tasty on a taco salad, enchilada casserole, or quesadillas.  It almost reminds me of Carla's Cuban turkey, minus the citrus.  

Esperamos que disfrute de!

(Healthier) Fried Chicken Salad

We have to give credit to Rocco Dispirito for this - we saw this on the Food Network and thought that it would be fun to try for lunch - the short version is that this was GREAT! 

Ingredients:

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 quarts Canola oil (we were supposed to use grape seed oil but it was too expensive)
1 TB diced feta cheese
4 TB olive oil
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Ground black pepper
2 1/4 tablespoons Goya Adobo seasoning
2 egg whites
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
2 cups rough cut green leaf lettuce
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 ripe Hass avocado

The salad is the easy part here -cut things up and mix the salad, without the olive oil and vinegar, and set aside.  The chicken should be trimmed and quartered then laid flat on a plate.  Cover with a paper towel and microwave for 1:30.  Remove from microwave, flip and rotate the chicken pieces so that the ones in the middle are placed on the edge of the plate (they should be the least cooked) and then re-cover and microwave for an additional 1:30.  Start heating the oil to 375.

Beat the egg whites until they are very foamy and mix the Adobo seasoning, paprika, and flour. Once the Canola oil is heated, toss the chicken in the egg whites and then in the flour / seasoning mix, drop in the hot oil for about 30 seconds - remove and drain on a paper towel.  The chicken will come out crispy and moist (nearly flash fried)... we were supposed to use grape seed oil and cook at 400 for about 12 seconds, but we didn't want to spend the $20 it would have cost to buy the oil!  FYI - we cooked the chicken in two batches. 

Once the chicken is ready, place on the salad and then mix the oil and balsamic dressing over it all.  We added some fresh ground pepper and this was REALLY TASTY!  (if you have lime, try some on this as well)

We hope you enjoy - Rach and Matt

Catch of the Day

One of the best restaurants in Athens, The Last Resort, has a daily feature they call the "Catch in parchment".  I decided to make my own version tonight wrapped in tin foil.  The grocery had some fresh grouper filets on sale this week and I quickly grabbed up 2 of them yesterday!  Here's what I did to them:

1 grouper filet (1/2 a pound)
fresh lemon slices
garlic powder
onion powder
salt & pepper
about 1/8 cup of chicken stock
Italian seasoning
1 tsp of butter

Tear off a large sheet of tin foil and spray with non-stick spray.  Place the filet in the center and top with all of the seasonings, butter, and 3 slices of lemon.  Pour in the chicken stock and seal it up on the sides and on the top.  (It will look like a little tin foil boat!)  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 for 20 minutes. 
*If you have a bottle of white wine open it would be great to add a splash of it to the fish rather than the stock*