Hobby Stash

February 6th, 2009

Mexican Chicken and Rice

One of the problems with having a recipe database, is that an old time favorite occasionally get lost in the shuffle.  I made this one again last week and served it with Mexican Bread Pudding. It’s wonderfully cheesy (well yeah look at the amount of cheese…). But I did it slightly different from the original recipe. I no longer use whole chickens…no time, I’m lazy, you pick the reason. I used boneless chicken breasts (thighs would be great as well).  It is important to cook rice for about half the normal time you would use. Otherwise it will be overcooked in the finished casserole.

Ingredients:

1 3-lb chicken
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup Uncle Ben’s rice
2 cups water
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 (2 oz) jar pimientos
1 (4 oz) can green chillies
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated
8 oz Cheddar cheese, grated

Cooking Instructions:

Stew chicken with bouillon cubes; remove bones and chop into bite-size pieces. Cook rice in water just until tender.

Saute onions in margarine; then add garlic, cumin, chili powder, pimientos, and green chilies. Set aside.

In saucepan, heat chicken soup, broth, and sour cream; then add Monterrey Jack cheese. Stir until cheese melts and add onion mixture.

Spray 3-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Put rice in bottom of dish, add chopped chicken and top with soup mixture.

Bake at 350° for about 20 minutes until heated through. Add grated Cheddar chees and return to oven for 5 minutes until cheese melts.

Posted in Casseroles, Poultry
By Linda

January 7th, 2009

Linda’s Lasagna

Okay, I’ll admit it, I cheat! I used to make my spaghetti sauce from scratch and use it in a variety of Italian dishes. I tried Prego instead one day and discovered it worked just as well when I’m running low on my spaghetti sauce supply.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 lb pork sausage
1-4 lb 2 oz jar Prego
2 lbs Ricotta, drained
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Kraft grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 lbs lasagna noodles
2 tbsp olive oil
16 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 lb mozzarella, thinly sliced

Cooking Instructions:

Reserve 2 cups of Prego sauce and set aside. Brown together beef and pork. Drain. Mix remaining Prego sauce with meat. Set aside.

Mix together ricotta cheese, eggs, and kraft parmesan. Set aside.

Cook lasagna noodles with olive oil in boiling water for 8 minutes (al dente). Drain and immediate spray with cold water until noodles have cooled and stopped cooking.

Arrange in layers (see below). Cover loosely with foil and bake 65 minutes at 375°.

Remove from oven and let stand 30 minutes to 3 hours before cutting. To rewarm cover and cook at 325° for 15-45 minutes depending on how long it has been standing.

Layers:

–3/4 cup meat sauce
–Noodles lengthwise to cover bottom and overhang short ends of dish 2 inches
–2 cups meat sauce
–1/2 cup fresh parmesan
–Noodles crosswise to cover bottom and overhang long ends of dish 2 inches
–Ricotta mixture
–Noodles lengthwise to cover
–Mozzarella
–1 cup meat sauce
–1 cup fresh parmesan
–Noodles lengthwise to cover
–2 cups meat sauce
–1/2 cup fresh parmesan
–Turn over ends of lasagna; cover with remaining meat sauce, reserved Prego sauce, and remaining fresh parmesan

Additional Comments:

I adapted the layer process from a recipe I saw on the Today show. I really like overlapping the noodles. Care must be taken, however, to cover the overlaps with sauce so they do not dry out. Also, I make a variety of substitutions to this recipe depending on my mood and what I have on hand. Cottage cheese works for the Ricotta. Italian sausage (I like the sweet) works for pork sausage as does turkey sausage. And you can certainly use your own special sauce.

Posted in Casseroles
By Linda

December 31st, 2008

Chicken Casserole

This one is a favorite of ours. I made it last night using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. I use the Penne Regata pasta noodles.

Ingredients:
1 (6 to 8 oz) package noodles 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 tablespoons margarine 1 can cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup 1 can cream of chicken soup	salt and pepper to taste 2 cups diced, cooked chicken or turkey 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 stack Ritz crackers 1 stick butter or margarine
Cooking Instructions:
Heat oven to 350°. Cook noodles as directed and drain. In large skillet, cook and stir onion in 2 tablespoons margarine until tender. Stir in 2 cans soup, salt and pepper. In greased casserole, layer 1/2 noodles and 1/2 chicken. Top with 1/2 soup mixture and 1/2 cheese. Repeat layers. Melt stick of margarine; finely crumble crackers and mix together. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncovered about 45 minutes.

Posted in Casseroles, Poultry
By Linda