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Showing posts from March, 2014

Cheesy Picnic Pasta Salad

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  Tomorrow is National Grilled Cheese Month, YES, I will be making numerous grilled cheeses to post on the blog all month. In honor of such a wonderful month I wanted to start off with something real cheesy! My Picnic Pasta Salad is loaded with four cheeses, yes four. I added Swiss, Cheddar, Jack and Parmesan. These are my favorites, remember we're cooking people, make this recipe your own and add whatever cheeses you prefer.   Next, for the veggies, I went with sliced black olives, dill pickles, bell peppers, red onion, garlic and celery.  I've made this dish with zucchini, tomatoes, asparagus, artichokes and any other vegetables I had on hand before.  I've also added Genoa Salami, talking about delicious! Once you get all the prep work done, toss all the ingredients, along with the pasta into a large bowl, add the mayo and mix well.  Chill this baby for about 3 hours or overnight if you prefer.  If it appears dry the next morning, you got it, add more may...

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

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Enchiladas, no matter what's in them is my favorite! Well, actually, Mexican food is my favorite! But there's nothing better than a hot, cheesy, creamy, enchilada. With the addition of buffalo wing sauce you really take enchiladas to a whole other level of food goodness! This is a really simple dish of chicken mixed with creamy ranch dressing, Greek yogurt, hot sauce and a little enchilada sauce. Next, I sauteed the well seasoned chicken in olive oil with onion, celery, and garlic. Lastly, I assembled the enchiladas by softening the tortilla shells, dipping them in the buffalo sauce, then placing chicken and cheese inside the shell and rolling these babies up! Bake the enchiladas covered with foil for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake about 10 minutes more. All done and ready to eat. Pass me a fork! Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 50 minutes Total Time: 55 minutes Servings: 4 Ingredients: 1 1/2 lb chicken breast, boneless, skinless 16 corn tortilla she...

French feast: chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

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There is something so wonderfully cosy and traditional about serving chicken for a Sunday lunch. The idea can sometimes be a bit intimidating, when all you want to do is relax with family and friends. However, there are so many recipes which are seriously easy - and this is one of them. I first learnt to make this dish in the French town of Ceret. At the Saturday morning at the market, I was completely seduced by the huge displays of creamy, white garlic with its soft papery skin. Although the 40 cloves in this dish sounds rather overpowering, the final result is not. The garlic is slowly caramelised in its skin as it cooks and becomes sweet and creamy, with no fiery pungency. As the chicken is pot roasted, the chicken is also wonderful juicy - with none of the worries of dryness, that often come with straight out roasting. The added bonus of the dish is also that it will leave your kitchen smelling amazing! Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic 2 celery stalks, with leaves, chopped 1 carr...

Fried Bologna and Cheese Sandwich

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People, you have not lived until you've eaten a Fried Bologna and Cheese Sandwich! Here's a little background on this sandwich. This is a family favorite, my mother made this for me when I was a kid and I make it for my daughter. Well, actually my daughter makes it for me now, she's a pro at sandwich making, especially if it includes cheese! Make sure you purchase some high quality bologna from your deli and have them slice it, deli thin. Although I must admit, my mother used thick slices, so slice it how you like it! Put a little olive oil in the pan, fry the bologna, you need to look for a crispy underside with a little blackness too it! Yes, that crust brings out the flavor, not burnt, but just a little black. Now, top the bologna with grated cheese and cover with a lid so the cheese melts. Place the bologna on some sandwich bread with a little mayo, and bite into food goodness! Look at the cheese people, it's so good! You gotta make this, it only takes minutes, and ...

SHRIMPS (PRAWNS) SAGANAKI

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SHRIMPS (PRAWNS) SAGANAKI HOME COOKING   STEP BY STEP: Saganaki is actually a shallow, two-handled skillet that is one of the most   traditional cooking vessels in  Greece . Saganaki is also the fried cheese  (all kind of   cheeses), made in the pan, which is one of  Greece 's most popular  appetizers the   feta cheese with tomato, pepper (sweet or chilli), oregano  and olive oil, Saganaki is just  Greece For shrimp  saganaki , we sauté the scrimps in a pan with tomatoes, chopped   onion,  a little of wine, a little of caper, a little of parsley  and feta cheese,  then serve it right out of the skillet with bread to soak up all the delicious  juices. Ingredients 4  tablespoon olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 16 medium shrimp or half a pound of prawns 1/4 cup dry white wine 3 medium size red grated tomatoes 1 table spoon of caper 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 1/...

Pasta Romano with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli

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I prepared one of my favorite dishes today. Pasta Romano with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli. This is one of those quick, don't know what to cook meals, that my family loves. Whenever they don't know what they want to eat, I make this dish! You can add smoked mozzarella to this dish and really make it extra special.  I start off by sauteing onion and tomato with a little garlic in extra virgin olive oil. Then I add the chicken sausage to the pan and season everything well. I used Italian chicken sausage, but use whatever sausage you prefer. Next, while the sausage cooked, I cooked pasta in a big pot of salted water. I added the broccoli to the pasta cooking water the last three minutes of cooking. Don't forget to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water for the sauce. I tossed everything together, added a little broth and pasta cooking water to make the sauce. Lastly, I added lots of Romano cheese to the pan. All done and ready to eat! Enjoy. Pasta Romano with Chicken Sausage a...

Best of Slow Cooker Recipes with a Cuisinart Slow Cooker Giveaway!

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It's live people, enter to win the Cuisinart Slow Cooker in the All-Stars eCookbook and blogger contest. Now make sure you read through this whole post before you start clicking links!   First things first, you gotta vote people! You see these Smothered Creole Slow Cooker Pork Chops , yep, they look good and will taste even better in your new Cuisinart Slow Cooker! So click this link and/or picture to vote! Now that we have the voting out the way, let's get down to step 2. How do you win that Cuisinart Slow Cooker? Click the link and/or picture above to take you over to the contest page to enter. Step 1: Vote for my Slow Cooker Creole Pork Chops Step 2: Enter to win All done! Top Slow Cooker Recipes: Slow Cooker Pot Roast Slow Cooker Sticky Ribs Slow Cooker Chili Fries Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese Slow Cooker Yucatan Chicken Slow Cooker Smothered Chicken and Okra Slow Cooker Pulled Buffalo Chicken