Perfect Roast chicken

I know it sounds impossible, but up until last week, I had never roasted a whole chicken!!! So, I braved it! Can I just say, it turned out super scrumptious and juicy, and flavorful. The skin was perfectly seasoned and crisp!!

Ingredients:
1 chicken rinsed, dried.
1 packet of Slow Cooker Italian Chicken seasoning. (I know, sounds weird)
Butter
Potatoes, carrots, onion. Any other veggie you like. :)
water or chicken broth
salt and pepper

First, smear the butter all over the bird generously. Sprinkle the seasoning on and rub it in, with the butter all over the bird. It will look perfectly coated, and beatiful. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over it and the veggies too. I also put some butter under the skin on the breast, and extra butter to make it super moist and juicy!
Put the cut up veggies on bottom of roasting pan, and then sprinkly a little of the same seasoning on them. Add about 2/3 inch water or chicken broth to the bottom. Put a rack in the center for the chicken to sit on.
Bake 400 for about an hour and 45 min.. to 2 hours..until juices are clear. After about an hour, I put a few more pats of butter on the breast.. once the bird is nicely browned, turn it over to brown the underside..... let sit 10-15 minutes before cutting. You can use the pan juices to make fabulous gravy too by adding flour or cornstarch slurry and whisking until thick! Enjoy!

Red Chili Cheese Enchiladas

Red Chili Cheese Enchiladas
Recipe inspired by Suzanne Hammond

2 cans Hormel chili (or any brand you like)
2 regular size cans Red enchilada sauce
24-30 corn tortillas
Shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend about 5 cups) (save a cup or two for the top)
Cooking oil

Put both cans of chili and both cans of enchilada sauce in a sauce pan and heat through.

While this is warming you can start preparing the tortillas. Bring about 2” of oil up to temp in a small skillet and place each tortilla in the hot oil for about 3-5 seconds until it becomes tender. Do not leave longer than this, or the tortilla will become crisp. Do them one at a time, and layer them between paper towels to drain. Once all tortillas are done you can start preparing the enchiladas. Put some of the sauce on the bottom of the pan to avoid sticking. Next, one by one you will put a few TBLS of cheese into each tortilla and roll it. Place them side by side in the pan until the entire pan is full. You may need to add more or less depending on how big you make each one. Once the entire pan is full, then you can pour the rest of the chili sauce over the top, making sure it gets down in between the enchiladas and around the edges. Cover with remaining cheese. Bake covered at 400 for about 30-45 minutes. Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve with shredded lettuce, tomato and sour cream.

*** you can also add shredded chicken, beef and or onion to the mixture!

Enjoy!!

Creamy chicken and wild rice

MMM. nothing like some home cooking to sooth your soul. Take boneless chicken breast, cook them in a little olive oil in a skillet, nice and golden. Then add, a can of cream of mushroom soup. Salt and Pepper..simmer until nice and thick.. Meanwhile... cook some long grain wild rice medley.. with a chicken boullion cube, and bay leaf. Serve together. MMMM

Toffee Gooey Butter cake

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, I love Paula Deen! She introduced me to the Gooey Butter cake concept... and this one, is a killer!!

Cake/Crust:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 (18.2- ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling/top:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (1 pound) box confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup toffee bits (I found Heath Bar choc toffee bits)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.
In the bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and set aside.
In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, eggs, vanilla extract, confectioners’ sugar and butter. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Fold in the toffee bits with a spatula.
Pour the filling over the cake mixture and spread it evenly. Bake until the center is just a little bit gooey, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into pieces and serve.
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Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

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I had to make this cake for work.. for the April birthdays. WELL, I doubled the recipe, cuz we have 40 people.. and the thing did not cook right at all! The outside like got too dark, and the center was still liquid… ugh.. soooo. I had to improvise.. and I kinda mixed it up, and chopped it up. Lol. then finished cooking it, and now today will cover it with cool whip, and serve it as like a cobbler instead... I just snuck a taste, and its FANTASTIC! super chewy, and great flavor!! :) yeah! not a total bust!

Check out the Give-a-Way at Sweet Baby Cakes

Hey, my friend Heather has a great business -- Sweet Baby Cakes Diaper cakes. and, she has a blog herself! And, she has a wonderful give-a-way for Mother's day!! Check it out!!

http://sbcdiapercakes.blogspot.com/2010/04/giveaway.html

ANGEL LUSH

Wow, this stuff is from heaven for sure!!

1 (large) box vanilla pudding
1 (large) can crushed pineapple (WITH JUICE DO NOT DRAIN)
1 (large) tub Cool Whip

Mix the vanilla pudding powder with the crushed pineapple (and juice). Fold in the Cool Whip. HEAVENLY! Serve with Strawberries, and or angel food cake.

***this makes a HUGE batch, so you can certainly use the 'small' box of pudding, 'small' can of pineapple and 'small' tub of Cool whip. :)

WOWOWOWOW

Well, tomorrow my sister is (finally) throwing a party to celebrate her new house! And she has asked me to help he cook for it. There will be 50+ people coming! EEEK! So we have decided on the following items:

Meatballs - my island meatballs

Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese

Prosciutto and melon bites

Mini caprese bites

Mini potato pancakes with chive sour cream

Mini empanadas

Stuffed mushrooms

Cheese and breads/crackers

Nuts and olives

Some sort of dip and veggies

Fresh fruit and chocolate

Coconut Macaroons

Angel Lush


OK! Whew! I have already made macaroons, and the angel lush (will post recipe, its DIVINE!) Today I am making the meatball mixture and getting them into balls, ready to fry tomorrow..... I am also going to my sister's house later to help stuff dates, and put together the mini-caprese bites (cherry tomato sliced in half with mozzarella, and basil in the middle on a toothpick). My mother is making stuffed mushrooms (my recipe).I think my sis is making the empanadas and procciutto and melon bites.. . and tomorrow I will conquer the potato pancakes before the party. WHEW! I am tired just writing all this! Wish me luck!

Lefse

One of my favorite treats as a child was when my aunt Marcia would make homemade Lefse. If you don't know what Lefse is, its Norwegian potato bread. Sort of like a crepe, or a tortilla.. its made with potatoes, and rolled out very thin and cooked on a hot skillet.then eaten warm, with butter and sugar and rolled up.. I haven't had it since I was a child, but recently have been thinking of trying to make it.. So, I have searched online for recipes that seemed authentic, and easy enough for me to make for my first attempt.. My biggest fear is rolling out the dough.. I hear if the dough isnt perfect, that they'll fall apart. EEK! I found TWO recipes that seem perfect. One uses real potatoes, and the other uses potato flakes...

I will keep you updated if and When I take on the task of creating Norwegian LEFSE!

Onion rings and Chicken Fingers

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Ok, so we had a very unhealthy, fried feast last night! But, I just had to try the batter recipe with onions! And had a thought of cutting chicken breast into thin strips also, and just frying everything up! SOOOOOOO, we did it and -- OMG, yummmm what a treat!!

Ok, so I basically used the batter recipe from my sweet n sour chicken post.. But, I changed it up a little as I went.. and I doubled it, and also had to add about 1/2 cup more flour and about 1 Tsp of baking powder and maybe 1/4 more corn starch.. So, the totals are here:

Frying Batter:
2 cup cup water
1-1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup corn starch
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
salt, pepper and season salt. *(you can add any seasonings you like)

Next, slice a sweet yellow onion, and 4 chicken breasts into thin strips. Coat the chicken and the rings with flour. Salt and pepper them before adding to batter. Dip in batter and fry. Careful not to crowd the pan.. Salt immediately after removing from oil. I did all the chicken first, then all the onions based on different cooking times...

Enjoy!
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YUMM!

Spaghetti Sauce

(this is not my picture)

So, the other night.. I made eggplant parmesan... It was kind of impromptu, so I had to throw some sauce together real fast.. And, amazingly it turned out delicious!! This is just for a small batch, you can certianly add more.. but the ingredients are the important part!

I used:
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 TBLS sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Mrs. Dash garlic and herb
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper

MMMMM MMMMM!! I may never buy jar sauce again!!

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