I needed to switch up my breakfast during the week so I decided to make a Quiche. Who doesn’t love Quiche? It’s a breakfast pie. And I love pie. So why not make one of the breakfast variety? I had all of the ingredients – Pie crust? Check. Eggs? Check. Cheese? Check. BACON?! Check. So I was all set. All I needed to do was look for the BEST Quiche Lorraine recipe that I could get my hands on. And since I was on my iPhone it was a little more difficult to really peruse all that the interwebs had to offer, but I landed on Allrecipes. There always seems to be a lot of comments to support the recipe in one way or the other. That’s where I found the “Quiche Lorraine I” recipe that I used. I’m sure there was also a Quiche Lorraine II, Quiche Lorraine III, Quiche Lorraine IV, Quiche Lorraine V, and Quiche Lorraine VI recipe as well. Because that’s how Allrecipes rolls. [Read more...]
It’s Like Pie…for Breakfast.
Country Club Chicken
Whenever I see a recipe that involves bacon, I immediately know that I need to make it. Bacon is one of my favorite foods. I don’t think I’ve ever come across something with bacon in it (aside from a Bacon Martini) that I didn’t like. So when I came across Country Club Chicken I immediately put it on our menu. It has chicken, bacon, cheese, and it’s creamy. What’s not to like?
[adapted from the original recipe located here]
INGREDIENTS
- spaghetti or another kind of pasta
- boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 5)
- salt & pepper
- 1 large onion
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 package mushrooms (about 10 medium)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 4 or 5 slices bacon
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup sharp cheddar
- 1 apple (I used a gala apple)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Cook the bacon in your favorite cast iron skillet. After the bacon is done cooking, don’t clean out the pan. Drain the bacon on a paper towel and set aside.
Season the chicken breasts with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Brown the chicken on both sides in the cast iron skillet. You may or may not have to take out some of the bacon grease. It all depends on what kind of bacon you used (Center Cut?) and how much grease accumulated in there.
Transfer them to a plate and set aside.
Cook the onion for about 4-5 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and the garlic. After about 4 minutes or so add in your minced apple and cook it for another 4-5 minutes.
Season everything with some salt & pepper, if desired. Pour in the white wine and make sure all of the flavorful bits come off the bottom of the pan. Add in the cream of mushroom soup and the sour cream. Add in all but ¼ cup of the cheese. Mix it altogether and let it cook for a few minutes.
While that’s cooking, place the chicken in a casserole dish. Crumble up the bacon and place some bacon on top of each piece of chicken. I did it this way so that everyone was sure to get some bacon!
After the soup mixture cooks for a few minutes, pour it over the chicken.
Put the casserole dish in your preheated oven for about 30 minutes. While the casserole is in the oven you can cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the package.
Serve!
I have to say this was pretty delicious! It was packed full of flavor and I loved the creaminess of it. The apple gave it some sweetness and it really added to the dish. I loved the apple in it so much that the next time I may add in some more.
I know some people don’t like cooking with wine, but I think the wine is a key ingredient here. You could substitute chicken broth for the wine, but I don’t think you’d end up with the same flavor. The wine took it up a notch, if you ask me.
I made a few changes from the original recipe, and I’m glad I did. Although the next time I make it I think I’m going to omit the cheese that’s inside the dish and just put 1/2 cup of cheese on top before baking. That would cut the calories a bit, which is always good. This would also be very good with some boneless pork chops! I think I’m going to try to turn this into a crock pot meal!
Hashbrown Crusted Breakfast Casserole
Sometimes I get tired of the same old things for breakfast: a banana, yogurt, raspberries, strawberries, a granola bar, etc. So I wanted to find something I could make ahead of time and have ready so I could grab & go while heading out the door to work. Now it doesn’t have to be something to eat on the go, because I like sitting at my desk to eat. I’m not a fan of walking down the street eating a breakfast burrito. If that’s your thing, that’s fine! It’s just not how I roll.
So I was browsing online and I came across a Hashbrown Crusted Brunch Casserole from Just A Pinch. I thought it looked pretty good so I figured I’d give it a try. I wanted to change a few things in it though, so what I put below includes my changes. You can see the original recipe here.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 package Simply Potatoes Shredded Hashbrowns
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- 2 Shallots, chopped
- 1 cup Bacon
- 3 Scallions, diced
- 1 cup New York Sharp Cheddar
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 cup Milk
- Salt & Pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes until top is golden.
Pizza Dough with Debi Mazar & Gabriele Corcos
We were in Hurricane Irene’s path this past weekend, so everything was closed. So that meant it was a weekend spent at home, which is very rare. We’re usually out and about doing something, somewhere. So I decided to take advantage of the time spent at home. Since I knew that no local places would be delivering pizza, I figured it would be a good day to make some Homemade Pizza Dough! I always feel like I accomplished so much when I make my own dough. Silly, I know.
I have a stand-by dough that I make, but I wanted to try something different. I came across a Pizza Dough recipe from Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos, hosts of Cooking Channel’s show Extra Virgin. I had a chance to meet them at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival back in February and they are very nice! I’ve never made any of their recipes, so I figured this would be the perfect one to try!
- 1 (.25-ounce) package dry active yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water (about 105 to 115 degrees F)
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 cup cold water
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for bowl
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the yeast, lukewarm water, and 1/2 cup bread flour. Mix well and let sit until bubbly, about 30 minutes.
Yeast, lukewarm water & 1/2 cup flour
Let it sit for at least 30 minutes and there should be bubbles
Whisk together the remaining 3 1/2 cups bread flour and salt in another bowl so it will be evenly distributed.
Once the yeast mixture is nice and bubbly and looks like foamy beer (like the above picture), add 3/4 cup cold water and olive oil. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on and add the flour in increments.
Mix the dough for about 5 minutes, until the dough starts creeping up the dough hook and comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Place the dough in a large bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Turn to coat all sides of the dough with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a clean tea towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Punch dough down, and let rise another hour.
I didn’t follow the rest of the recipe – I wish I had a wood-fired pizza oven, lol! So here’s what I did…
I decided to make two pizzas. I did one in a larger pizza pan that had holes in it so the air can circulate and make the dough crispy. I did the other pizza in a smaller pan that was more for a deep dish type of pizza (not quite like Pizzeria Uno’s though).
First: Thinner Crust
Thinner crust pizza
Add some Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella and a little Sharp Provolone
Close up of all of that Cheese…yum!
Baked at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes
Second: Thicker Crust
Thicker crust pizza
Add Sauce, Mozzarella, Sharp Provolone and BACON!
Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes
I really enjoy this Pizza. I thought the dough was very good. Instead of regular salt I add in Sarah’s Tuscan Sea Salt (this stuff is my favorite!) and it gives it extra flavor. I coated the bowl in Garlic Olive Oil and that gives it a little extra garlic punch as well. So be sure to play around with the pizza dough recipe! Add in whatever seasonings you want (fresh garlic, oregano, parsley, etc) and you can even switch up the liquid. I LOVE using beer in place of water in pizza dough. It gives it a really good flavor. Try it sometime!
5 Ingredient Friday: The 3 B’s Beans (Bacon, Brown Sugar and Bourbon)
This week’s 5 Ingredient Friday recipe is something totally new for me. It’s my first time ever attempting to make beans that weren’t in a can! I came across Claire Robinson’s recipe for The 3 B’s – Beans (Bacon, Brown Sugar and Bourbon). I love baked beans and honestly all I’ve ever had were Campbell’s Beans. I usually open the can, doctor them up, heat and serve! But I wanted to try something new and I saw this recipe so I figured it would be perfect to try.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried navy beans, soaked overnight in a large bowl of water
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup stone-ground or spicy Dijon mustard
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 2/3 cup bourbon
- 4 ounces slab bacon, rind removed and diced
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Put dry beans in a bowl
Soak the beans overnight
Cook bacon in dutch oven; drain and set aside
Drain beans and add to the Dutch Oven
Whisk together brown sugar, mustard, water and bourbon
Add the liquid mixture to the beans
Directions
Drain the beans and set aside. In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, mustard, water, and bourbon until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
Cook the bacon until crisp in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Remove the bacon and all but a couple of tablespoons of the bacon grease. Add the drained beans to the pot and stir in the bourbon sauce mixture. Bring the beans to a boil, then reduce the heat to low to maintain a gentle simmer. Cover and cook the beans, stirring every 20 minutes, until the beans are soft and the sauce is very thick, about 4 hours. Once the beans are cooked, season them with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the cooked bacon and cook, covered, an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the beans to a serving bowl and serve warm.
Notes
If the beans get too dry, add water, 1/4 cup at a time. If the beans are too wet and runny, remove the lid and cook, stirring often, until desired consistency is reached.
My thoughts…
Eh. I was kind of disappointed with how these turned out. Not that I was expecting that much. They weren’t horrible, but they weren’t great. I was hoping these would be out of this world so that I had something new and exciting to take to picnics this summer…but this will not be that recipe.
As others said in the review, the beans were not done in the 4 – 4 1/2 hours that the recipe says. They weren’t even close to being done. I soaked those bad boys for 24 hours as well. After 4 hours, I knew that we were going to be going somewhere, so I transferred everything to a small crockpot and let them continue to cook in there for another 3 hours. I tasted them and they just kind of bland. I added a little bit of ketchup and a little more brown sugar hoping to help them out a bit. I added in the bacon and stirred and let those flavors mingle for a bit. I think the recipe was a bit heavy on the mustard. If I were to make this again, I’d knock that down a bit and add in some ketchup. I know, it won’t be 5 ingredients anymore, but I think it would definitely help the dish.
Recipe courtesy Claire Robinson, 2010 Show: 5 Ingredient Fix Episode: Big State BBQ
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