Category Archives: Main Course

Easy to make meals using regular ingredients. Stress free dishes!

Bourbon Street Chuck Roast

Marinated and slow cooked to perfection. It’ll keep them coming back for more!

1 1/2 cups water
2/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup good bourbon
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
4-5 pound beef chuck post roast

For the marinade, stir together all ingredients except for the beef. Transfer marinade to zip type bag. Trim fat from beef, then add the beef to the marinade. Seal bag and turn bag to completely coat. Refrigerate up to 24 hours, turning bag several times to redistribute the marinade.

Place beef roast and marinade in slow cooker and cook, on high, for 4 hours.

(Option: grill 1 1/4 hours on low for rare, 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours on low for medium, 1 3/4 to 2 hours for well done)

Take some of the marinade and bring to a boil. Thicken with corn starch to make a gravy.

Let roast stand 15 minutes before slicing.

Serves 5-6.

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Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

CHICKEN:

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (approximately 2 lbs)
  • 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • salt and pepper to season

SPINACH ARTICHOKE FILLING:

  • 8 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
  • 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese at room temp
  • 5 oz (I can) artichoke hearts in brine, drained, chopped
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic

CREAM SAUCE:

  • Remaining spinach and artichoke filling
  • 1 cup 2% milk

Instructions

Prepare The Chicken:

  1. Season both sides of each breast with the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Cut a slit in the side of the breast about 3/4 quarter of the way through, being careful not to cut all the way.

Make The Filling:

  1. Squeeze any and all excess liquid out of the spinach, discarding liquid. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the spinach, cream cheese, artichokes, mozzarella, Parmesan and garlic; mix well to combine. (You may use a food processor fitted with the blade for this process as well, making sure to not completely puree the filling.)
  2. Place 1-2 tablespoons of the spinach artichoke filling into each chicken breast, sealing with toothpicks or tie with butcher twine.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a cast iron skillet (or non stick pan) over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and fry until lightly golden. Turn and fry on the other side, covering pan with a lid, until cooked through, (this should be about 10 minutes each side. Transfer chicken to a warm plate.

For The Sauce:

  1. Pour milk into the skillet and bring to a simmer. Add in the remaining filling and stir until sauce is thickened.

To serve: Cut chicken breast in half and place on a dinner plate, spooning sauce overtop.

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Southern Fried Chicken

A sometimes treat as this isn’t something that can be made, successfully, in a lower-fat option. Spicy, savory, crunchy deliciousness!

6-8 pieces of chicken (skin on, bone in – I used thighs and drumsticks)

Marinade:
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup hot sauce
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp Hungarian paprika (for smoky flavour)

Breading:
2 cups all-purpose flower
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

3 large eggs

Peanut oil for frying

In a large zip type bag, place all marinade ingredients, zip, and mix well to combine. Add chicken pieces and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

Mix all breading ingredients in another zip type bag.  Take half and place in a third zip bag.  In a shallow bowl, whisk your eggs and set aside.

Using tongs, take a piece of chicken from the marinade and allow to drain. Place in first zip bag with breading and, repeat with several more pieces. Seal bag and shake to coat well. Remove pieces to wire rack and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

Place in egg mixture. Using tongs, turn over, drain off excess eggs, and place in second breading bag. Shake to coat well.  Return chicken to wire rack for at least another five minutes.

In a large semi-deep skillet (cast iron is best), fill 1/2 way with your peanut oil until it is hot, about 325 degrees (the oil should not boil or bubble before you add the chicken).

Using tongs, place as many chicken pieces as you can fit without overcrowding the skillet — you want to fry, not steam, the chicken.

Turn the chicken after 10-12 minutes. Cook for additional 10-12 minutes and juices run clear when cutting close to the bone.

Remove chicken and place on wire rack over paper towels to drain excess oil.

Enjoy!!!!

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Holiday Prime Rib

Sorry for the lateness of this recipe — we celebrated the Christmas Holiday with it, along with stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry congeal, and of course, horseradish.

(Must remember to NOT use the small plates when dishing this up, next time!!!)

5 pounds prime rib roast (see note)
1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
kosher salt

Place rib roast on a plate and allow to come to room temperature, approximately 4-4.5 hours.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Combine butter, pepper, garlic, and Italian seasoning in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture evenly over entire roast (top, bottom, and both sides). Season roast generously with kosher salt. It shouldn’t have a salt crust, but it should have enough for flavour. (As a variation, you can slice your garlic cloves into thin slices and, using the sharp point of a knife, insert them randomly over your roast’s top side — then using the butter, pepper, and Italian seasoning (omitting the minced garlic) to coat the roast.) Place roast in a roasting pan and cover with the lid.
Place the covered roasting pan in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Turn the oven off. Leave the roast in the pan, in the oven with the door closed, let the roast sit in the oven for 2 hours. Remove roast from the oven, slice, and serve.

To calculate the roast’s cooking time, multiply the exact weight of the roast by 5, and then round the resulting number to the nearest whole number.  Roast the prime rib at 500 degrees F for that precise amount of time (i.e., 6.5 pounds would be 6.5×5=32.5, so you’d roast for 33 minutes).  Remember to not open the oven door during the two hour cool down of the oven. In the event you have a convection oven that has a fan to automatically cool down the oven after you turn it off, you’ll either need to disable that function, or unplug your oven so that the cool down occurs naturally, unassisted by the fan.

One further note: Because of the fat content of the roast, and the additional fat provided by the butter coating, it is very important to have proper ventilation in your kitchen. Otherwise, your smoke detectors WILL go off, and you may be visited by your local Fire Department.

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Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken with Rice

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon ginger paste (or 1 teaspoon ground, dried ginger)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup scallions, diced

Place cubed chicken in bottom of the slow cooker.

Whisk together next five ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger paste). Pour over chicken and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for four hours.

Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken. Turn slow cooker to high. In another dish (or coffee mug) mix cornstarch with water until smooth with no lumps. Pour the cornstarch slurry into sauce, stirring to combine.

Add the chicken back to the sauce and allow to come back to bubble, which thickens the sauce and coats the chicken.

Serve over white rice and dress with scallions.

Serves 4-6.

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Chicken Asparagus Roll-Ups

chickasproll

An All-In-One dish, perfect served with fresh baked bread and a mandarin orange spinach salad .

4 six ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb lightly steamed asparagus
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 medium onion, minced
dried spices of your choice (or one of the Mrs. Dash blends)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place chicken breasts between layers of plastic wrap and using a rolling pin or meat mallet, pound until flattened out to about 1/4″ thick. Spread layer of minced onion on inside of chicken breast, then on one end, place 5-6 asparagus spears, and cheese. Roll chicken breast up like a jelly roll, and place in a 9″x13″ baking dish. Repeat with remaining breasts. Sprinkle tops lightly with dried spices.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink.

Serves: 4.

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