Smashed New Potatoes

Tonight was a night inspired by The Pioneer Women and these turned out to be fabulous. The original recipe can be found here. Be careful when smashing these, I squished the first one too much and it ended up looking more like mashed potatoes - just press down until they pop open. These are wonderful because they turn out crispy and full of flavor... definitely one I'll be going back to again! Enjoy!!

Ingredients: 

12 whole new potatoes
3 Tablespoons olive oil 
Kosher salt to taste 
Black pepper to taste 
Rosemary (or other herbs of choice) to taste

Directions:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

 

Quick, easy, uses ingredients I always have on hand AND tastes amazing... keeper for sure!

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. pork tenderloins (2 tenderloins, about 2-2.5 lbs.)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 T. country dijon mustard (whole grain mustard)
• 4 T. honey
• 2 T. fresh orange juice
• 1 T. finely chopped fresh rosemary OR herbs de provence
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3 T. olive oil

Yield: 1 cup of marinade.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Directions:

Take tenderloins out of package. Rinse and pat dry. Place in a 9x13-inch Pyrex sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Take a paring knife and poke holes in the tenderloins (on the top side only) about an inch deep. Peel garlic cloves and quarter each clove of garlic-lengthwise. If they're really big, cut them a bit smaller- about the size of slivered almonds. Place the garlic slivers in each pocket. Set aside while making marinade.

In a measuring cup or in a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except for the olive oil. Then slowly drizzle the olive oil while still whisking.

Pour the mixture over the tenderloins and put into preheated oven. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes, basting once halfway through the baking process.

Once removed from the oven, allow the tenderloins to rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes before slicing. Spoon the pan sauce over the tenderloin medallions and enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Icing

Ingredients

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 4 teaspoons milk
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• assorted food coloring

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth [you may need to add additional milk to reach desired consistency]. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

Streusel Rhubarb Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or sliced frozen rhubarb
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

TOPPING:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon cold butter

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar and oil. Add egg, mix well. Beat in buttermilk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into brown sugar mixture just until combined. Fold in the rhubarb and nuts. Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans.
2. For topping, in a bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and butter until crumbly; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Cut with a serrated knife.  

Found at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Streusel-Rhubarb-Bread/Detail.aspx  

Chicken Piccata Re-Do...

I was trying to make Chicken Piccata the other night and after getting started I realized I was out of capers, which makes the whole meal for me. I wanted to try something that would give the meal some of the tangy flavor that the capers give off so here's what I ended up doing and it was AWESOME...

Breading Ingredients:

1 cup flour (seasoned with salt and pepper)
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. stone ground dijon mustard
2 cups Panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Mix eggs and mustard together (this is the FANTASTICAL part)
Dredge chicken breasts in flour, then egg and mustard mixture, then in Panko.
Fry in oil until cooked through. During the last few minutes off cooking, deglaze pan with white wine and add the zest and juice of one fresh lemon.

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 bag Fritos
1/2 can refried beans, heated through
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1/2 jar of your favorite salsa
3 flour tortillas, torn into bite sized pieces
3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1/4 cup ketchup
sour cream
prepared guacamole
shredded iceberg lettuce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In deep baking dish (9x12) layer Fritos and cover completely with refried beans.
In a medium bowl, mix chicken and salsa together and spread evenly over refried beans.
Layer tortilla pieces over chicken and drizzle with ketchup.
Top with cheese to cover.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Top with sour cream, guacamole, and shredded lettuce.

*This is my husbands creation, so all measurements are approximate but it's delish and you can't really mess this on up :) Add more cheese if you like or throw in tomatoes or onions...

All-American Chicken-Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:

For zucchini mixture:
1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup dry basmati rice
8 cups chopped zucchini
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced

For the Cheddar mixture:
3 large eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs, divided
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. hot sauce
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. EVOO
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into tenders

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray.

Bring broth to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Add rice, cover, and reduce heat to low simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Combine zucchini, onion, water, and garlic in a large saucepan; cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat until zucchini is tender, about 15 minutes.

Stir together eggs, Cheddar, sour cream, milk, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/4 cup bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, 1 tsp. salt, hot sauce, and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a large bowl.

Add the cooked rice along with the zucchini mixture to the Cheddar mixture in the bowl. Spoon the combined mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to skillet; saute until golden brown, 3-5 minutes on each side.

Arrange chicken on rice mixture in the baking dish. Combine remaining Parmesan and breadcrumbs - sprinkle over the chicken and rice in baking dish.

Bake casserole until bubbly, about 30 minutes. chicken is done with it reaches 165 degrees when tested with an instant read thermometer.