New Orleans BBQ Chicken - Home Cooked Recipe 63

It was Mardi Gras last week and it put me in the mood for some flavorful Louisiana cooking.  On Sunday the 15th I attended a birthday party where we had a crawfish boil, (I have posted about my friends and their delicious crawfish before).  By the time Tuesday rolled around I was looking for more delicious Southern dishes.  On my blog roll I have a blog listed called Closet Cooking.  I have followed Kevin and his food for years now, and have even made some of his dishes before, namely the Goat Cheese & Red Pepper Fettucine and a jalapeno popper dip.  A recipe for New Orleans BBQ shrimp popped up while I was perusing Closet Kitchen and I thought now I just HAVE to make that.  I had already cooked the shrimp I bought for groceries earlier, so I thought well I will just adapt the recipe for chicken.  It worked PERFECTLY!  Served with some rice, the sauce was flavorful and just what I had been looking for.  In fact, I cannot wait to make this recipe again.  You can check out the Closet Kitchen version HERE.

New Orleans BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts, cubed and cooked
• 2 tbs butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce - use your fav)
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup broth (I used seafood because that's what I had open, but you can use chicken broth, or beer, or even water)
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 tsp creole seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's)
• Fresh ground black pepper
• An additional 2 tbs butter, super cold, and diced in small pieces

Directions:
Melt 2 tbs butter over medium heat.  Add garlic and saute for a couple of minutes until soft and fragrant.  Add hot sauce, worcestershire, broth, lemon juice, seasoning and pepper.  Stir well, bring to a simmer, and let cook about 7 minutes until sauce is reduced by half.
*I started cooking my chicken right before making the sauce, I baked it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.
Add cooked chicken to sauce, stir well to coat chicken.  Add 2 tbs of the super cold butter.  Once melted and combined in the sauce, serve.  I served mine with white rice.
Enjoy!

3 Ingredient Banana Bread - Pinterest Pick #6

I love banana bread!  Made correctly it is moist and delicious, and great for breakfast, dessert, or a snack.  I have previously posted a recipe for banana bread, and you can find that recipe HERE.  But I was perusing Pinterest and came across a recipe for a banana bread that only has 3 ingredients.  No measuring??? Sign me up! I tried this recipe and it worked perfectly.  I didn't add or take away anything, and I don't think it needs anything.  Although, if you are a fan of walnuts you could always fold those in to the batter.  I just prefer not to have nuts in my food.  Try this recipe soon, it doesn't get much easier!  You can find the pin HERE, and the original recipe on this WEBSITE.  And follow me on Pinterest HERE if you haven't yet!


3 Ingredient Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas
• 2 large eggs
• 1 box yellow cake mix

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Mix all ingredients together well.  I divided the batter in half and made 2 small loaves.  Pour half the batter in a greased loaf pan and bake 40 minutes.  Let cool for 15 minutes and remove from pan.  Regrease the pan (unless you have two pans, then you can bake them at the same time - I do not).  Pour in remaining batter in and bake for 40 minutes.  Let cool.
Enjoy!

Meatball Stroganoff - Home Cooked Recipe 62

Today's post is a two part recipe.  One part is my own recipe for these delicious little meatballs that drown in a savory sauce and the other part is a Pinterest Pick (#5) for noodles cooked in broth and butter.  That's right, two recipes in one! You can find the pin for noodles HERE and the recipe on the original website HERE.

Stroganoff Meatballs

Ingredients:
Meatballs - 

• 1lb ground beef
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 slices white bread, torn in to tiny pieces
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbs dried parsley
• salt and pepper

Sauce - 

• 1 packet brown gravy mix
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 cups beef broth

Directions:
In small saute pan, cook onion over medium in olive oil.  After 5 minutes add garlic and saute 2 additional minutes.  Set aside to cool.
Place torn bread in to mixing bowl.  Add milk and let soak while onion and garlic are cooking.
Add beef, egg, and mustard in to soaked bread.  Mix well.  Add in cooled onion and garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.  Combine until everything is incorporated.  Refrigerate mixture for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Form meatballs into golfball sized balls.  Place on cooling rack set on a baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes.
While meatballs are baking, make sauce.
Heat 1 cup beef broth over medium high.  Cook for 5-7 minutes until broth is reduced by half.  Add in gravy packet, whisking well.  Add remaining cup of beef broth, constantly whisking.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Let simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn heat to low.  Whisk in sour cream.  When meatballs are done baking, place them in sauce.  Let flavors meld for at least 10 minutes.  Serve with noodles or your favorite side.
Enjoy!

Broth and Butter Noodles

Ingredients:

• 32 oz beef broth
• 1/2 stick butter
• 12 oz wide egg noodles
• 1 tsp salt
• garlic powder (optional, I did not use it)

Directions:
Bring all ingredients, except noodles, to a boil in a large pot.  Add noodles and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit (I make these while the meatballs are baking) for 20-25 minutes until the majority of the broth is absorbed.

Baked Eggrolls - Pinterest Pick #4

I love me some eggrolls!  Crispy outer skin, warm delicious filling... Sign me up.  I wanted to try a healthier versions at home, so when I came across a recipe for baked eggrolls on Pinterest I just had to try them. Now this is the first Pinterest Pick I've had that, while passable, is not something I will make again.  The filling is great, but the baked eggroll wrappers are just not as good as when you fry them, and therefore not as satisfying for me.  If you are looking for a healthier way to eat eggrolls, you should definitely try this, but I'll keep on eating mine fried.  Instead of shrimp I made my eggrolls with chicken, I just diced the chicken very finely.  The coleslaw mix was great to use, and definitely a time saver for the filling.  
Find the original pin HERE and the recipe on this WEBSITE.
And follow me on Pinterest HERE.

Baked Eggrolls


Ingredients:

• 10 eggroll wrappers (1/2 a package)
• 1 1/2 breasts boneless, skinless chicken, diced finely
• 1/2 package of coleslaw mix (8 oz)
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbs stir fry sauce
• vegetable oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400
Stir fry chicken in wok with vegetable oil over medium high heat until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add in coleslaw mix, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  Cook for a couple of minutes until coleslaw mix is tender.  Remove from heat.
Take an eggroll wrapper.  Place a line of cooled filling in the middle.  Fold both ends over.  Starting from one end, roll wrapper until closed.  Place on cooling rack placed on baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining wrappers.  Spray with cooking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Serve with soy sauce or duck sauce for dipping.
Enjoy!