Smothered Chicken

This is a great chicken recipe and it looks fancy too :)

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts, split in halves
1 onion, sliced
1 package of mushrooms
3 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of brown sugar
Mozzarella Cheese
Salt
Lemon Pepper
Black Pepper
Cayenne









Directions

1. Season the chicken cutlets with salt and lemon pepper. Add 3 tbsp of oil to a pan and bring to medium high heat. Cook the cutlets 5 minutes on each side.
2. Remove chicken from the pan, and add in onions and mushrooms. Lower heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, cayenne, and brown sugar to the onions and mushrooms. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Turn on broiler in your oven, put chicken in a casserole dish cover with onion and mushroom mixture. Top with Mozzarella (or your choice of cheese), broil in the oven for about 2 minutes (be sure to watch to make sure you don't burn the cheese)
4. Plate the chicken and enjoy!

This meal went great with a small side salad!  Hope everyone has a nice weekend!!

Baked Potato Meal

This is a Cole Family Classic (My wife's side of the family)! Katie always tells me stories about her and her siblings eating this when they were kids. It is a terrific tubular feast!

Ingredients

2 baking potatoes
1 pound of ground beef
1 onion 
1 package of baby bella mushrooms
1/2 pound of bacon
1/4 cup of white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 soup can of milk
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
Salt
Pepper
Everglades Seasoning
Mozzarella Cheese






Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400, and bake potatoes for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
2. In a frying pan, cook bacon over medium heat.
3. In a skillet, season ground beef with salt, pepper, and everglades seasoning. Brown the meat over medium high heat. Plate meat for later and drain skillet.
4. Add oil to the skillet, and cook onions and mushrooms. Add some salt, cook for about 5-6 minutes over medium high heat. Deglaze with white wine.
5. Add mushroom soup and milk to the skillet, lower to medium heat. Cook for 2 minutes and then add in the meat mixture. Stir well. 
6. Spilt the potatoes, and mash the insides a bit. Spoon sauce mixture over the potatoes. Sprinkle crumbled bacon and mozzarella cheese.

This meal is awesome!

Barley and Carrots

Got a delicious side dish coming at 'cha tonight! Barley and Carrots, nice and simple, good flavor!

Ingredients 

1 cup of Instant Barley (Quaker)
2 cups of Chicken Broth
1 cup of cooked Carrots
1 pinch of salt














Directions

1. Bring 2 cups of chicken broth to a boil, add a pinch of salt, and mix in instant barley. Cover, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Carrots can be pan fried with some oil, salt, and pepper for 8-10 minutes over medium heat. Another method if making a cornish hen is to let carrots cook with the hen (this gives them excellent flavor)
3. Take barley off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes. Fork through the barley.
4. Spoon barley into a bowl and top with the carrots. If served with a Cornish Hen be sure to spoon some of the Hen Drippings over the top.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Since I've already did a Cornish Hen recipe I decided to feature the side dish. 

Dragon Pasta

Guess who's back, back again! Sorry I had to do it!

This is a favourite in my house! Simple enough for the average meatball but just complex enough to be cool! This recipe is a Boil Original!

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 cup of beef broth
2 cups of Marinara Sauce
2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar 
1 tbsp olive oil
Corkscrew Pasta
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Cayenne Pepper
Sugar






Directions

1. In a deep frying pan, brown ground beef over medium-high heat, season beef with salt and pepper. Add half of the diced onions to the beef and continue browning. Drain and put meat and onion mixture in a large bowl.
2. Clean off the pan, add tablespoon of oil and heat on medium. Add the rest of the diced onions to the pan. Season with salt and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add Balsamic Vinegar to the onions and mix well. Allow vinegar to really saturate the onions (about 30 seconds), add Beef Broth and mix well.
4. Allow to heat through, then add Marinara (add more if you want a thicker sauce), be sure to mix well, the sauce should have a brownish color. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
5. At this point, boil a pot of water and cook pasta according to box directions.
6. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and cayenne pepper (light if you want it wimpy or more if you want a bite). Be sure to taste and adjust your seasonings. 
7. When the pasta is ready, add the meat and onion mixture into the sauce. Mix well. Drain the pasta and mix the sauce and pasta.
8. Plate and sprinkle a small amount of sugar on top. Enjoy!

I named this dish "Dragon Pasta" because of the spice and shape of the noodles. A good side is a small salad, or a slice of pizza! If your more of sauce person don't mix all the sauce with the pasta and save some for topping the dish. Be sure to let me know what you think!

Under The....weather

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I caught a nasty case of the flu and that kept me in bed for the majority of the week. The good news is I'm back on my feet and ready to get back in the kitchen. Look forward to some new recipes soon!

Upgrading the Kitchen

Thanks to everyone who has checked out my blog! Today, I made some changes to the layout. The main upgrade is my awesome banner, which was created by my good friend, Chavez. He is a wizard when it comes to graphics!

Next, I've had many friends ask how they can subscribe to Boil's Kitchen. I did some research and now by using the bar above you can provide an email address and you will be notified when updates appear. Pretty cool stuff!

Also added subscribtion options for NetVibes and MyYahoo. I've never used those before so your guess is as good as mine...

Thanks again for everyone who checks my blog regularly, get ready for the next recipe!!

Souper Sunday Series: Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup

For the fifth instalment in my soup series we are going vegetarian! Katie found a good looking soup out of our Soup Bible which contained two core ingredients: Garlic and Potato, how can it go wrong? It can't, because it was delicious and the house still smells great!

 Ingredients

4 white potatoes, diced
2 small bulbs of garlic (or about 20 cloves)
8 cups of vegetable stock (or broth)
Salt 
Pepper
Parsley












Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Place unpeeled garlic bulbs in a roasting pan and roast them in the oven for 30 minutes.
2. In a sauce pan, lightly boil the diced potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes. Drain and then add the potatoes to bowl with cold water.
3. In a soup pot, bring the vegetable stock to a simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Drain potatoes and add them to the simmering stock, when garlic is done (soft) lightly peel and add garlic pulp/juice to the stock.
5. Simmer the stock for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally and taste for seasoning 
6. When serving top with a sprinkle of parsley and enjoy!

This is a perfect soup for the winter, it's very clear but has a ton of flavor. The potatoes gives it enough starch to be filling. This is also a great base broth for a fully loaded vegetable soup.

 

Chicken, Ham, and Swiss Rolls

It's been a really busy week, sorry for the lack of posts. Here's a new recipe we decided to try tonight (sorry for bad picture quality):

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breast, cut into cutlets
4 slices of Ham
4 slices of Swiss Cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Toothpicks











Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Cut the breasts in half (butterfly), if too thick be sure to pound them down. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
3. Place Ham and Swiss slices on the cutlet and roll it tight. Use toothpicks to keep it together.
4. In a frying pan, bring oil to medium-heat, fry one side of the chicken for 3 minutes (or until golden brown), and then flip over to the other side and fry for another 3 minutes.
5. Place Chicken Rolls in a greased casserole dish and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
6. Serve and enjoy!

We had ours with a side of brown rice. Serve the rolls with BBQ Sauce or Mustard for dipping!

Souper Sunday Series: French Onion Soup

It's that time again...it's Sunday so that means soup is on my menu! This time around it's the classic French Onion Soup, a soup that's just as much about presentation as it is about flavor. Last weekend we had a out of town friend visiting, and she challenged me to make a bomb-tastic French Onion Soup, so I've accepted the challenge and here it is!!

Similar to the mushroom soup we made a few weeks back, this soup starts with butter and the core ingredient: Onions! I used large yellow onions cause I find sweet onions give it too much sweetness...who would have thought!

Rather than cutting in thin strips, which actually gives the dish it's name, I did large chunk cut...so maybe it's American Onion Soup, but we'll keep it simple.

In the soup pot, with 1/4 cup of butter melted, along with a good sprinkle of kosher salt (it gets the water out), this should sweat on medium-low heat for about 45 minutes.

After that is done, the onions should be soft and golden in color. Next, black pepper, thyme (about 4 sprigs), and a 1-2 bay leaves are added. Then a secret I learned from Chef John's instructional video, you add 1/4 cup of sherry wine and 1 tbsp of sherry vinegar (this is very important don't skip that ingredient!).

Then 2 cups of chicken broth, 3 cups of beef broth, and 1 cup of water. Bring to simmer and reduce to medium-low again, allow to simmer for 1 hour.
   

 

Season with salt and pepper, using a high heat crock, add soup, a piece of toast, and shredded Gruyere cheese to the top. Set oven to broil setting, and broil until cheese is well melted. BE VERY CAREFUL! the crocks will be extremely hot!! 

Gruyere cheese can be very expensive but it's the finishing touch that makes the dish so good! You could probably get away with using just swiss, but it won't be the same...trust me!

Be sure to check out Chef John's Recipe for French Onion Soup!

Creamy Mushroom and Garlic Chicken

Not sure if you've figured this out yet, but I love to cook food with mushrooms! I'm def. down with the fungus :) My wife used to hate mushrooms but she's grown to like them, but they have to be Baby Bellas...yes, she can taste the difference. Tonight's meal was a new recipe, I'll add what I plan to try next time after instructions.

Ingredients 

4 Chicken Cutlets
Salt
Pepper
Everglades Seasoning
3 tbsp olive oil
10 mushrooms, quartered
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup of chopped parsley








Directions

1. Season cutlets on both sides with salt, pepper, and everglades seasoning.
2. In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat, cook each side of cutlet 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan.
3. Lower heat to medium, add 1 tbsp oil to pan, add mushrooms, and a sprinkle of salt. Cook mushrooms for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add cream, cheese, and parsley then mix well. Continue mixing and cooking for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Plate chicken and pour a good amount of sauce over each piece. Serve and enjoy!

I think in the future I will add some white wine to deglaze the pan while cooking the mushrooms. Marinating the meat might give the chicken more flavor. Also I may saute some carrots and onions to give some more consistency. 

Moose Steak

Ready for some Moose Steak?! Ok, so we didn't really use moose, but you can! This meal has a pot roast kinda feel to it but it's very flavorful and makes great leftovers!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of top round steak (or moose), cut into cubes
1/4 cup of corn starch
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp canola oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped 
1 can (14.5oz) of diced tomatoes
1 mini-can of V-8 Vegetable Juice (optional)
Sprinkle of Everglades Seasoning (optional)
1 cup of cooked egg noddles






Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In bowl, combine corn starch, mustard, salt, pepper. Use a meat tenderizer and pound the meat.
3. In a frying pan, over medium-high heat, brown the steak cubes and plate on the side.
4. In a casserole dish, spray a layer of cooking spray, add steak, onions, and carrots. Pour tomatoes over everything, add V-8m, and seasoning.
5. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Cook egg noodles to package instructions.
6. Make a bed of egg noodles, mix the steak and veggies really good, and serve over noodles.

Since I had a Dentist Visit today I kept it simple and just made this, no sides. It was very filling, a great meal to bring in the Fall!

Seven Point Pork Cacciatore

This is a recipe that Katie found out of one of those weight watcher books. It's only 7 points, which I'm told is evqualent to 350 calories per serving.

Ingredients

12oz of Pork Tenderloin, cubed
3-4 Yukon Gold Potatoes, quartered
1 Onion, sliced thin 
1 Bell Pepper, medium chopped
10 Baby Bella Whole Mushrooms, quartered
Salt 
Pepper
1/4 tbsp Rosemary
1 cup of Marinara Sauce
Water, about 1 cup
Cooking Spray







Directions

1. In a large frying pan (with tight fitting lid), spray generiously with cooking spray and heat over medium
2. Season pork with salt and pepper. Put pork in frying pan, and raise heat to medium-high, and brown for 7 minutes. Plate the pork, and add alittle more spray to the pan.
3. Lower heat to medium, add onions, potatoes, 1/2 cup of water, and rosemary. Cover and heat for 5 minutes. (Stir halfway through)
4. Add Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Salt, and Pepper to the pan, mix well. Raise heat to medium-high and saute for 7 minutes. Be sure to stir and if the veggies start to stick add a small amount of water.
5. Add Pork, Marinara, and a 1/4 cup Water to the pan, mix well. Bring mixture to a good simmer, lower to medium, and cover. Continue cooking for 7 minutes. 
6. Mix well, plate, and serve!

This goes great with a side of toast and a small side salad. 

Souper Sunday Series: ABC Soup

I've been told this is one of the best soups I can make, and I think it's pretty good too! Not too hard and only takes about an hour including prep and cook time.

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef
1/4 butter
1 medium sized onion, diced
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup of mushrooms, quartered
2 Potatoes, quartered
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 quart of V-8 Vegatable Juice
2 cubes of Beef Bullion 
1 cup of Water
1 cup of alphabet pasta
Salt 
Pepper
Cayenne
Oregano




Directions

1. Chop all vegetables before hand, store potatoes in a bowl of water to avoid browning
2. In a frying pan, brown ground beef with half of the onions. Drain and reserve.
3. In a soup pot, melt 1/4 stick of butter over medium heat, add onions, carrots, and a pinch of salt. Sweat for 4 minutes.
4. Add mushrooms and continue sweating for 3 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
5. Add V-8 Juice, Bullion Cubes, and 1 cup of water. Bring soup to a good boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir well.
6. Drain water from potatoes and add to the soup, continue simmering for another 15 minutes. Stir well.
7. Check veggies for softness, add salt, pepper, cayenne, and oregano to taste.
8. Stir in beef and onion mixture, in another pot boil salted water and cook alphabet pasta till done (follow package instructions)
9. Drain pasta and add to the soup mixture, bring heat down to low and cook for 5 more minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Tonight we had our soup with Katie's special Chicken Salad Sandwiches, it was an awesome combination! Tomorrow we will share the recipe for the delicious Chicken Salad! Hope everyone has a great Labor Day!!!