Hawaiian Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Mike's favorite dish thus far! The stuffing with a twist of the Hawaiian Islands is tasty and somehow makes stuffing even better!

Give it a try, it's actually super easy. 

Also, if anyone makes a dish out of the book and wants me to post it, write it up and email me!!! Send me photos too. I'd love to hear how others do with these recipes. Now get cooking!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup hot water
2 Tsp margarine
2 cups Stove Top chicken stuffing in a canister (I used a 1 pkg box)
1 - 8 1/4 oz crushed pineapple in syrup
1 green pepper, chopped
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
4 boneless chicken breast halves, pounded 1/4 inch thick


Procedure:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees

• Mix hot water and margarine in a bowl. I put it in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the butter. 

• Stir in stuffing mix, pepper, half the pineapple and  half the syrup.

• Spoon stuffing evenly on chicken, roll tightly. Secure with toothpicks.

• Place in 9 inch square pan with any remaining stuffing in the center. 

• Mix remaining pineapple and syrup, sugar, vinegar and ginger. Spoon over chicken.

• Bake 30 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ok, so I'm cheating here. Red Velvet cupcakes are not in the recipe book. But, they are one of my favorite things to make and eat. And I make really awesome red velvet!! So in honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow, I felt I would post my recipe for those who want to make them for their sweetie! Who wouldn't want cupcakes? Now get to baking...

Ingredients:

Batter

1 1/2 (3/4 cup) butter - USE BUTTER!!! Not margarine.
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp (1 oz) liquid red food coloring
2 tsp white vinegar
2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

Frosting

1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)  *
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

*I'm not a fan of cream cheese so I use more powdered sugar than cream cheese. I mix the two until I like the taste so feel free to experiment with the taste of the frosting.

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. You'll need 24 regular size muffin cups lined with cupcake liners.

Batter Directions:

• In a large bowl with mixer on medium-high speed (I use my Kitchen Aid... the best thing ever!) beat butter, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla 2 minutes until creamy.

• Beat in eggs one at a time, until blended. 

• In a 2 cup measuring cup, stir buttermilk, food coloring and vinegar until blended. 

• With mixer on low, beat in flour in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture in 2 additions, beating until blended. Simplified: Add 1 cup flour & mix. Pour in 1/2 buttermilk mixture & mix. Add 1 cup flour & mix. Pour the remaining buttermilk mixture & mix. Add 1/2 cup flour & mix. 

• Spoon 1/4 cup mixture into each cupcake liner.

• Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Frosting Directions:

• Beat cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. On low speed, add confectioner's sugar and vanilla. 
• Increase speed to high and beat until smooth and fluffy.
• Frost cupcakes when they are cool. 
• Refrigerate until serving.

New Orleans Skillet Pork Chops & Rice

Very good! I would make this again. The only point I would like to make about this one is that make sure you have about an hour in order to make this one.

Ingredients:

1 large celery stalk - chopped
2 tbs butter
1 medium onion - chopped
1/8 tsp salt
4 -  1/2 inch thick pork chops
1 1/2 cups water
2 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups tomato sauce


Procedure:

• Saute onion & celery in butter until slightly softened.
• Season pork chops with salt and pepper - brown on both sides - remove from pan.
• Add water, brown sugar and 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce in skillet.
• Stir in rice and fennel seeds.
• Return chops to skillet, spoon sauce and rice over them. Cover pan.
• Cook over medium to low heat for 30 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup tomato sauce - cook an additional 10 minutes (you may have to add more water, I did a few times.) 
• The goal is to make sure the rice is tender. If its still hard and not alot of liquid, keep adding liquid until rice is cooked. 

Mike and I buy our meat from Whittingham's in Alsip and the last time we went there, the 95 yr old man helped us so we ended up with very large pork chops!!!!... to the point where one pork chop will feed the both of us! They are awesome butchers though besides the mix up this time. So that's why in the picture there's only one pork chop in the pan.

Onion & Cheese Soup

Epic Fail! This soup did not turn out at all!! It was chunky coagulated bits of cheese and anyone who knows me, knows that I don't eat cheese unless it's melted so I had a huge problem with this. As it cooled in the bowl it got even chunkier. Gross. I think I didn't work this recipe right. Actually I know I messed up a few spots so I'm thinking it was more my fault than the recipe's fault!  I actually thought about not posting this and giving it a second go around, but I think some of you out there like to know that not every dish is going to be a winner. Sometime the chef has an off day and sometimes the recipe is just not good. Feel free to give this one a try and let me know your success. I'd love to hear it!

Ingredients:

4 tbs butter
2 cups sliced onions
2 tbs flour
1 12oz can evaporated milk
3 cups boiling water
1 tsp salt
1 cup grated American cheese

Procedure:

• Melt butter in a saucepan.

• Add thinly sliced onions. Cover & cook over low heat until tender but not browned. 

• Add flour and stir until well blended.

• Add Milnot gradually, stirring to keep mixture smooth. (Mine was not smooth so I had a problem at this point).

• Add boiling water and cook in top of double boiler over boiling water for at least 10 minutes. (I didn't use a double boiler, I had the soup on low heat.)

• Just before serving, add grated cheese, stir until melted and season to taste.