Million Dollar Spaghetti, Copy Cat Olive Garden Dressing

The pasta was good,  my family thought it was fantastic.  I am still going with it was good.  Now the dressing on the other hand was FANTASTIC!  I only made half of the recipe which fed all 4 of us with left overs.  I also made garlic knots using Rhodes bread dough.  YUM!  I will post the original recipe below and put my changes in red.  You decide which way you would like to try.

Million Dollar Spaghetti

Ingredients
1 lb. of Ground Beef
1 can of Spaghetti Sauce
8 oz of Cream Cheese (I used fat Free)
1/4 cup of Sour Cream (I used light)
1/2 lb. of Cottage Cheese (I used greek Yogurt)
Whole Stick of Butter (I used half this amount)
2 Cloves of Garlic8 oz. of Noodles

Fry your hamburger, drain and rinse.  Boil noodles to al dente.  Mix sauce with hamburger meat.  Spray your baking pan with Pam and place enough of the sauce to coat the bottom of the pan.  Top with noodles.  Combine softened cream cheese, sour cream, greek yogurt and garlic.  Place butter in small pats around noodles and then spread cream mixture over noodles noodles.  Top with sauce and meat mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min.  

At this point you can top with durkee french fried onions or cheddar cheese.    I chose durkee onions.  Not sure how I feel about the taste, I think I liked it anyways I didn't hate it. 

Garlic Knots

Take Rhodes rolls from the freezer and place on a greased baking sheet, cover with saran wrap and let rise 3 hours.  Roll dough into ropes and then tie into a knot.  Let rise another 1 to 2 hours.  Melt butter and add garlic and a little salt and pepper.  Brush onto knots and bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown,

Copy Cat Olive Garden Dressing

1/4 Cup Olive Oil
3 Table spoons Dukes Light Mayo
2 Table spoons White Wine Vinegar
1 Table spoons Lemon Juice
2 Table spoons Parmesan Cheese
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1-2 Table spoons Water

Put all into a blender and voila!

Roasted Olive Chicken Thighs

At least once per week I try a new recipe.  Tonight I tried olive stuffed chicken thighs.  It was good but I veered from the original recipe.  Shhh don't tell but, it's because I screwed up and forgot to make it the way it was supposed to be made.  Oops!  Overall it was a good chicken recipe.  I will make this again.  I liked the changes I made to the recipe.  Here is what I did.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Light mayo
• 1/4 cup minced green olives
• 6 fresh basil leaves, minced
• 4 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
• Olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Salt and pepper
• 3 Tbsp. butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven 400°F.

Mix together Mayonnaise, olives and basil. Stuff mixture under skin of each chicken thigh.

In a large oven-proof sauté pan add oil and heat to medium. Season liberally with salt and pepper each stuffed chicken thigh. Season liberally with salt and pepper each stuffed chicken thigh. Saute in skillet skin side down until golden brown.  Flip and cook for 4 more minutes. Bake for 20 minutes or until temperature reaches 160 degrees.  Remove from oven place back onto stove on medium heat.

Add chicken broth and lemon juice.  bring to a boil.  Add approximately 1 to 2 tbsp of cornstarch to 1 to 2 tbsp.  Add to sauce, it will thicken quickly.  Whisk in butter and serve.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my favorite recipes.  I make it with left over diced chicken or turkey.  This recipe makes 2 pot pies, I usually freeze one for later

Chicken pot pie

3 celery stalks

3 medium carrots, peeled 

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 large onion

4 tbsp butter

2 cups chicken, cooked, diced or shredded

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 chicken bouillon cube

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp thyme

1 tsp kosher salt

black pepper to taste

2 pack of frozen pie shells 

2 pack of pie crust

Preheat the oven to 400.

Begin by finely dicing the fresh vegetables, celery, carrots and onions. Melt the butter in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the onion, carrots, celery and peas.  Saute until the vegetables start to soften, a few minutes. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables and chicken and stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring gently.

Pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Stir in the bouillon cube and wine, if using. The flour will combine with the chicken to create a delicious gravy. Pour in the cream and stir. Allow mixture to cook over low heat, thickening gradually, about 4 minutes. Season with sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. Be sure it's adequately salted!

Divide filling into 2 pie crusts that have been pressed into pie pan ( I use one that comes premade in a aluminum foil pan frozen, they sell them in a 2 pack).  Then unroll another pie crust and press onto top of pot pie.  Pinch edges to seal.  Cut off excess dough.  You can roll out the excess snd cut out cute shapes for decorating. 

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling in bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Chicken with potatoes and artichokes

This is one of my favorite go to meals!!!  In this photo I used a whole chicken to roast instead of pieces because that is what I had on hand.  My family loves this meal.  It's easy and tastes great.  You can always half the recipe.

Chicken with potatoes and artichokes

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken drumsticks
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
1 whole skin-on, bone-in chicken breast, quartered (separate the breast and then cut each piece in half crosswise)
EVOO, for liberal drizzling
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes
4 to 5 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped
2 small to medium onions, cut into thin wedges with the root ends attached
Handful fresh bay leaves
One 10-ounce box frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, drained and halved, or one 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and halved
1 head garlic, cloves separated and crushed
1 lemon, sliced
1 cup dry white wine

Directions
Drizzle the chicken with EVOO and liberally sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
In a roasting pan or baking dish, combine the potatoes, rosemary, onions, bay leaves, artichokes, garlic and lemons. Drizzle with about 1/4 cup EVOO, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Arrange the chicken on top of the vegetables.
Position the rack on the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Roast the chicken and vegetables for 45 minutes. Turn on the broiler and douse the pan with the wine. Broil until crispy and brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Beef Stew "Take" 1

The first audition for beef stew went exceptionally well. Although, I did make some minor changes to the recipe I posted yesterday.  http://lesliesculinarychronicles.blogspot.com/2013/02/auditions-now-open-for-beef-stew-recipes.html I did not use turnips (haven't convinced myself to try them yet), I used only half an onion and I added 1 tbsp of beef base just after adding the stock to the pot.  I also altered the mashed potatoes by using fat free cream cheese and 2% milk in place of heavy cream.  I am eating healthier nowadays since I have lost 113 lbs (yeah me!) so I will try and "lighten" up recipes as much as possible without losing great flavor.  This recipe was still a little more tomato based than I was looking for it was very good.  I would make this again. The bread sticks were pre-made and brushed with a little garlic flavored olive oil and sprinkled with coarse kosher salt.

Yep I made these! Yum!

 Chicken Piccata

 Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

 Baked "Fried" Chicken

 Valentines Day Dinner 2012

 Roasted Chicken with Artichokes & Potatoes

Jack Skellington Cookies

 Meatball Subs

 Crockpot Chocolate Chip Brownie Cake

 Teriyaki Beef Kabobs with Sesame Jasmine Rice

 Coq Au Vin

 Chicken Pot Pie

 Christmas Pies 2012

 Apple Cranberry Pie

 Peanut Butter frosted brownies

 Twinkie Cupcakes

 Christmas "Honey Baked" knock off Ham 2012

Left over Pot Roast Grill Cheese

Auditions now open for Beef Stew Recipes

I am going to be looking for a good beef stew recipe.  I truly do not like the ones using V8 juice.  I want a beefy decadent rich beef stew.  I think I am going to start with this recipe.  Ill let you know how it turns out.  I think instead of turnips and parsnips Ill use carrots and potatoes.

• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 2 pounds Beef Stew Meat (chuck Roast Cut Into Chunks)
• Salt And Pepper
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 4 ounces, weight Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Low Sodium Beef Stock Or Broth, More If Needed For Thinning
• Several Dashes Worcestershire
• 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
• 4 whole Carrots, Peeled And Diced
• 2 whole Turnips, Peeled And Diced
• 2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Parsley
• Mashed Potatoes
• 5 pounds Russet Potatoes (peeled)
• 1 package (8 Ounce) Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1 stick Butter, Softened
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Salt and pepper stew meat. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add butter, and as soon as it melts, brown half the stew meat until the outside gets nice and brown, about 2 minutes. (Turn it as it browns.) Remove the meat from the pot with a slotted spoon and put it on a plate. Add the rest of the meat to the pot and brown it, too. Remove it to the same plate. Set the meat aside.

Add the onion and garlic to the pot, stirring it to coat it in all the brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Cook for two minutes, then add the tomato paste to the pot. Stir it into the onions and let it cook for two more minutes.

Pour in the beef stock, stirring constantly. Add the Worcestershire and sugar. Add the beef back to the pot, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.

After 1 1/2 to 2 hours, add the diced turnips and carrots to the pot. Stir to combine, put the lid back on the pot, and let it simmer for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be very thick, but if it seems overly so, splash in some beef broth until it thins it up enough. Feel free to add beef broth as needed!

When the carrots and turnips are tender, stir in minced parsley. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve piping hot in a bowl with mashed potatoes, letting the juice run all over everything. Sprinkle with extra minced parsley at the end.

MASHED POTATOES

Cut the potatoes into quarters and cover with water in a large pot. Boil until potatoes are fork tender, about 25-30 minutes. Drain the potatoes, then put them back into the same pot. With the heat on low, mash the potatoes for 2 to 3 minutes to release as much steam as possible.

Turn off heat, then add cream cheese, butter, cream, seasoned salt, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve potatoes immediately or spread them into a buttered baking dish to be reheated later. To reheat, put them in a 375 degree oven, covered in foil, until hot.