August 2011 – A Recipe A Day (2024)

On Saturday, during the hurricane, we still had power at lunchtime so I decided I would make our big meal and we would have one good meal. Mr. Meat Eater thought I was nuts but was very happy with the results.

This is a really easy recipe that takes all the great flavor of chicken cordon bleu without all the work. Time was of the essence since I had no idea when the power would go. With the chicken we had mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and garlic bread.

I put the leftovers in the fridge until the power went out and then I put them in the cooler. The next day I heated one side of the grill and put the chicken (wrapped in foil) on the unlit side and let it warm up. Very good leftovers!

Cheater’s Chicken Cordon Bleu

salt and pepper to taste
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (5.5 oz) box or bag of seasoned croutons, crushed
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten and mixed with 2 tbsps water
6 thinly sliced ham slices (I used Virgina Ham)
6 Swiss cheese slices

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and set aside.

Mix crushed croutons and Parmesan cheese in a large ziplock bag.

Dip chicken in egg mixture and then place chicken in the ziplock and shake to coat. Remove to a lightly greased aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Bake at 450º for 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Top each breast half with a slice of cheese and a slice of ham. Bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Makes 6 servings.

Happy Cooking!

As we are preparing for Hurricane Irene, just a quick note to let my readers know that I will be back as soon as the power goes back on ~ I am assuming it will go out since it always does during hurricanes. Last hurricane, it was out for 10 days.

This is all contingent on the hope we have no damage to the house.

My whole extended family except my son in Florida (and even he had the outer bands) is going to feel the effects of the hurricane in one form or another.

Be safe!!!

Happy Cooking!

A recipe that combines my two favorite things ~ potatoes and horseradish! This is a very simple recipe that goes well with just about any main dish. I served them with grilled strip steaks and sauteed onions and mushrooms.

The recipe comes from the Land O’Lakes website ~ if you haven’t visited, please do since there are loads of delicious recipes!

Roast Potatoes with Lemon and Horseradish

1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp prepared horseradish (I used more)
2 tsps fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
12 small new red potatoes, peel a small strip around center of potato
1 small lemon, cut into 6 slices (I didn’t do this)
2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley (I used dried as my store had none)

Heat oven to 350º.

Melt butter in 2 quart casserole. Stir in the horseradish, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir in the potatoes until well coated. I melted the butter in the microwave, added the ingredients and mixed, then added the potatoes and poured all into the baking dish.

Cover and bake for 55-65 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Garnish with lemon slices and sprinkle with the parsley.

Makes 6 servings

Happy Cooking!

Make sure you check out out the Recipe Index up in the top bar ~ it makes it much easier to find what you are looking for. If I have missed anything, let me know!

Awhile back we went to brunch at Hanover Tavern where our soon to be son-in-law is the assistant director. Mr. Meat Eater went crazy for the cheese grits. Not being from the south, I have never been a fan of grits but after he asked me a million times, I finally found a recipe and made them. He LOVED them. I used the wrong kind of grits ~ old-fashioned instead of quick and I have no idea if that made any difference at all.

I would suggest that you eat them the same day they are made ~ DH said the texture was like cake when I reheated them the next day.

Cheese Grits

4 cups milk
1/4 cup butter
1 cup uncooked quick grits
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350º.

Bring milk just to a boil in a large pan over medium-high heat and gradually whisk in the butter and grits. Reduce the heat and simmer, whisking constantly, 5-7 minutes until the grits are done. Remove the pan from heat.

Stir in the egg and the next 3 ingredients.

Pour into a lightly greased 11×7 baking pan. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top.

Bake, covered, for 35-40 minutes or until set.

Serve immediately.

Makes 6-8 servings

Happy Cooking!

The recipe index is done and you can find it up in the top bar. Please take a look when you get a chance!

I may have missed a recipe or two so if you notice something missing, please drop me a line at a_recipe_a_day at yahoo dot com or comment here and I will add it asap.

I will also be indexing a little further as we go along to include holidays, grilling, etc.

Also, please take a look at how to print, also in the upper bar ~ for those who are having trouble and don’t want all 15 pages to get one recipe.

Happy Cooking!

Before I go any further, Black Forest Cherry Cake is my all-time favorite cake. In fact, we had one for our wedding cake. That’s how much I love it.

A few weeks ago, I was reading The Disney Food Blog (one of my very favorite blogs) and came across this post ~ Black Forest Cupcake. I could NOT stop thinking about it and since I won’t be going back to WDW for a few months, I sent my son (who lives in Orlando) to check it out. He ate at the Contempo and said the cupcake was one of the best things he had ever eaten.

That was all it took to send me on a mission to recreate it. As luck would have it, I did a google search and came up with a copycat recipe for regular sized cupcakes. Being diabetic, I should NOT be eating these at all so I saved up some carbs so I could try it. I wish I hadn’t. They are VERY good. I am looking forward to trying the real thing when I get back to the World. And I ate more than one.

Black Forest Cherry Cupcakes

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened (I used lite)
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar
1 (19 ounce) can cherry pie filling (I used lite)
1 1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip (I used sugar free)

Heat oven to 350º. Prepare cake batter as directed on package and set aside.

Mix cream cheese, egg and sugar until well blended.

Remove 3/4 cup of the cherry pie filling for garnish; set aside.

Spoon 2 tablespoons cake batter into each of 24 paper-lined medium muffin cups. Top each with 1 tablespoon each of the cream cheese mixture and the remaining cherry pie filling. Cover evenly with remaining cake batter.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan to wire racks. Cool completely.

Top with whipped topping and reserved cherry pie filling just before serving. Keep in refrigerator.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Happy Cooking!

The first time I had sweet potato muffins was in Colonial Williamsburg years ago. I loved them and when I came across this recipe in a cookbook from Bruton Parish Church (located in the historic area), I knew I had to try them. If you don’t tell anyone they are sweet potato, they will think they are pumpkin. I had to do that with Mr. Meat Eater to get him to even try one and he ended up eating at least 4 or 5 in one sitting. They are really good! I did confess later on that he had been eating sweet potato and he was shocked, LOL!

I did, as usual, change them to suit me but really very little. I used less sugar ~ 1 cup as opposed to 1 1/4 and I used currants instead of raisins because I think they taste better in muffins since they are smaller so there is no need to chop them. I also used 1 1/4 tsps of cinnamon since I don’t like nutmeg and didn’t have any. The recipe said it makes 12 but I made 15.

The cookbook is called Beyond Loaves and Fishes and it is one of my favorites.

Sweet Potato Muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (I used canned)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shopped raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Cream butter and sugar together and add eggs and mix well. Blend in the sweet potatoes.

In another bowl, mix the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients. Add this mixture alternately with the milk to the sweet potato mixture. Be careful not to over mix.

Fold in the pecans and raisins.

Spoon batter into greased muffin cups filling about 2/3rds full. Sprinkle with sugar if desired (I didn’t do this).

Bake for 25 minutes. Cool and remove from tins.

Makes 12-15 muffins.

Happy Cooking!

Key Lime Pie is Mr. Meat Eater’s favorite pie. I do not like it at all. So, being the nice wife that I am, I made him one for his first day back at work. I did taste it and it’s very lime-y and the crust is a great contrast to the pie. It’s super easy to make.

I wanted to show the crust in the picture since everyone knows what a Key lime pie looks like.

The recipe came from a cookbook called More Recipes Worth Sharing.

Key Lime Pie with Gingersnap Crust

Crust:
1 1/2 cup gingersnap cookies, crushed (about 18 cookies)
3/4 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
4 tbsps butter, melted

Filling:
1 (15 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Key lime juice (I used Nellie and Joe’s)
grated rind of 1 lime
4 egg yolks

For the crust: In a food processor, pulse the cookies until fine crumbs; add coconut and pulse; add melted butter and pulse. Press into a pie pan. Bake at 350º for 8-10 minutes. Cool before filling.

For the filling: Mix all the ingredients and fill cooled pie shell. Bake at 350º for 7-10 minutes.

Makes 8 servings

Happy Cooking!

Don’t faint ~ it’s actually a NEW post!!!! I needed a long break from thinking about food ~ as much as I love to cook, I do need a break from even thinking about it once in awhile.

Quite a bit has happened since I’ve been gone from the blog. The most important being my daughter got engaged and Mr. Meat Eater was out of work and is now back at work. The wedding date is June 9, 2012, and we are very excited and I’m sure you will get sick of me talking about it in the months to come. As for Mr. Meat Eater ~ he can never fully retire or we will kill each other.

I loved this recipe ~ it’s a bit spicy but not bad and you can always make it spicier if you prefer by adding hot sauce before eating. It’s easy to make but it needs to simmer on the stove for about an hour so keep that in mind.

Easy Chicken Chili

2 poblano chili peppers, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsps olive oil
2 (14.5 oz) cans zesty chili style dice tomatoes (I used Del Monte)
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
1 (16 oz) can navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (12 oz) can beer or 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I used beer)
1 envelope white chicken chili seasoning (I used McCormick brand)

Put the olive oil in a Dutch oven and heat. Saute the first 4 ingredients over medium-high heat for 8 minutes or so or until tender.

Add the diced tomatoes and the next 5 ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 1 hour.

Serve with desired toppings.

Makes 4-6 servings

Happy Cooking!