Grilled Chicken Shepherd's Pie with Low Carb Cauliflower Colcannon

That's a mighty big name for this recipe and the recipe is somewhat detailed, but it is worth every ounce of effort.  Especially if you love shepherd's pie and are on a low carb eating plan.

I have to show you my newest kitchen gadget that I bought at the class this past week.  It chops garlic and make pretty quick work of 4 cloves!  I love it!  It is so easy and you pop it right into the dishwasher (top shelf for cleanup).  It looks like a cute little robot.

Since the sneak peek photo has some of you anxious for the recipe, I'll not spend a lot of time on an intro, other than this is a low carb version of a recipe I received in an authentic Irish cooking class this past week.  It was a fun class with several tasty dishes, but hands down this one was my favorite.  So much so that I had to alter it for low carb.  The dish we sampled was made with smoked chicken thighs and the smoky flavor came through the dish.  I had grilled chicken breasts in the fridge from earlier in the week that I chopped up and put into this dish.  I also substituted the peas with asparagus and added celery.

This was my first go at making mashed cauliflower.  Up until today, I've not been fan, but this dish has won me over.  

I hope you enjoy the recipe!

Chicken and Dumplin's

Seems my blogging lately has been related to our food days at work.  This month's theme is our mother's best recipe. Unfortunately, the two recipes that I think are mom's best aren't suitable for the bus trip into the office.

I did my recipe prep over a couple of evenings.  First I cooked the chicken, cooled it and refrigerated the broth overnight.  I got a big ol' slab of fat from the top resulting from the night in the fridge.  I picked the chicken and then put everything together the night before taking it to work.

Of course, I had to do a sampling to make sure it as fit to take to work <grin>.  As luck would have it,  my eating a bowl reduced the quantity just enough for the remaining chicken and dumplings to fit into the Tupperware bowl for transporting.   I was thrilled to have kept myself from having seconds! 

I can't wait for our potluck tomorrow and having another serving of this comforting dish!

Mexican Casserole

This is a lovely casserole.  It has really nice robust flavors and is very filling.

Someone special in my life is vegetarian, but does eat dairy, so this is a perfect dish to serve for an easy supper with a side salad and there's enough leftovers for lunches too!

I'm sure many of you have heard of "meatless Mondays" as an option of cutting meat out of one supper a week to help relieve some pressure on the grocery bill!  Seriously, while we meat eaters love our steak, chops, etc. meat is getting more and more expensive!  This helps stretch your grocery dollar and gets a good supply of fresh, healthy veggies into your diet!

Baked Turkey Salad

It has been a while since I've posted an entry.  You see, I've been undergoing a cabinet refinishing project and unfortunately, I've neglected the blog as a result.  I'm really pleased with the results and I feel a great sense of accomplishment since I did all the work myself.  Not to mention I have a brand spanking new kitchen! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  Would I be wrong if I presumed that there are many of you, just like me, who have a lot of turkey leftovers and are wondering what you might do with them to add a little variety rather than nuking the remaining slices?   

Many years ago  a friend of mine gave me this recipe and it is always my "go-to" recipe for post holiday turkey leftovers and if you'll excuse the pun, this salad is delish and always gobbled up!
If you are among my low-carbing friends, this is also a good low carb recipe with only 7 net carbs per serving!

So you aren't a Turkey fan?  Chicken can easily be substituted for the turkey.

Dressing

I know we're past Thanksgiving now, but I wanted to share my dressing recipe.  When I grew up Thanksgiving dinner was usually ham or roast.  I don't recall ever having turkey.  I know, I know, before you write me off,  we did have all the other fixin's.

Although we didn't have a bird, we did have dressing.  Where I come from in southern Indiana, stuffing is prepared in the bird, dressing is prepared and baked in a pan independent from the bird.  Myself, I prefer the outside the bird method because I like all the crispy edges you get.

This is my mom's recipe, with a few minor adjustments.  Yep, can't leave a recipe alone, I have to tweak it just a bit.

You need to plan a bit ahead of time to dry the bread for this recipe.  I've never used croutons because I just don't see the need of trying to soften up rock hard bread cubes.  It's more inexpensive to dry your own bread anyway.

For this recipe you will need 2 loaves of white bread.  If you have time to poke holes in the bag and let it set and dry out, that's great.  If not, tear the pieces into hunks and let the bread set out overnight on a couple of cookie sheets or into a warm oven after baking your holiday pie.  If you prefer to make a 9x9 pan, just half the ingredients.  The bake time will be the same.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Friends have asked and I'm sharing  my "go-to" recipe for sweet potatoes.

For many years, I never really was a Sweet Potato Casserole fan until I found and tried this recipe and immediately fell in love.  It is awesomeness in a casserole dish!

Prior to finding the recipe, I relied on the ever popular candied sweet potatoes, minus the marshmallows. Gasp!  Yes, no marshmallows for me, it was just too sweet.

To change things up, give this recipe a try for your next holiday gathering.  Nah, don't wait, you really don't need a reason, just try it and you'll be hooked.

Breakfast Bake

I made a frittata last week and it was so good, I decided to make a similar version to pack for my breakfasts this week.  It is a good breakfast  dish or can be used for lunch or dinner, just add a tossed salad as a side.   

Substitute fresh vegetables to your liking.  I used what I had on hand.  Onions and bell peppers and carrots are  staples in my veggie drawer in the fridge so mixing this up is super quick and easy.

You can also change up the meat(s) in this recipe to fit your family's tastes as well. 
 I made sausage earlier this spring and have it in handy 1 pound packages in the freezer.  I also had some bacon remaining from another recipe so I chopped it up, cooked it until crispy and added it to the mixture. 

If you are not a meat eater, you can leave out the meat, add some chopped, sauted portabella mushrooms instead or just use more fresh veggies.  You can truly  "have it your way".  

Breakfast Bake
 Yield:  8 Servings

Ingredients:

1 pound sausage (breakfast, italian, turkey - you decide)
8 oz. bacon, diced and cooked
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1/2 sweet vidalia onion, diced
1 cup shredded carrots
12 eggs, beaten, or equivalent egg substitute (I used the substitute)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (again, use what you like or have on hand)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray a casserole dish with non stick spray.  This fit nicely in my "hand me down" pyrex dish that had been my mom's.  It measures 7 1/2 x 12 inches.
3. Preheat 12" skillet over medium heat, add the sausage, cook until brown and crumbly.  Remove sausage with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
4. Add the chopped bacon to the pan and cook until crispy.  Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling.
5. Chop the bell peppers and onions and shred the carrots (hint - buy the carrots already shredded, it is easier and saves your knuckles).
6. Place the meat in the greased casserole.
7. Layer on the vegetables.
8. Beat and pour the eggs over the top.  Sprinkle with black pepper.
9. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese.
10. Give everything a quick stir to evenly distribute the ingredients.
11. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes until set in the center.

Shipwreck Casserole

Shipwreck Casserole

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground turkey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 medium chopped onion
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
2 cups of sliced carrots
4 stalks of celery, sliced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 can of condensed tomato soup
1 soup can of warm water
1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning
Cajun Seasoning
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick spray, such as Pam and set aside.
Brown the ground beef and turkey and salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Drain if needed and set aside.

Layer the casserole dish with onions on the bottom, then potatoes; sprinkle lightly with seasoning salt or salt and pepper. 

Top with carrots, celery and bell pepper.  Sprinkle this layer lightly with salt and pepper or seasoning salt. 

Top with the browned meat. 

Whisk together the can of soup, the can of water and Italian seasoning until well blended. 

Pour the soup and seasoning evenly over the top.  Season the top with a light dash of Cajun seasoning. 


Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for around an hour. 

Test with a knife to make sure the potatoes are done (mine weren't and required another 30 minutes).
Remove the foil lover and sprinkle the cheese over the top. 

Return the dish to the oven until the cheese is melted.

 ...and that is What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Sausage Broccoli Bake

I was given this recipe by a lady I worked with many years ago at Citizens Bank in Evansville, IN.  When she first told me about it, I was very skeptical, I didn't think it sounded yummy at all.  I made it and from then on I was hooked! 

It is very easy, and I often have the ingredients on hand.

Give it a try and I hope you are as pleasantly surprised as I was!

Sausage Broccoli Bake

Ingredients:

1 pound bulk pork sausage
2 beaten eggs
2 cups soft bread crumbs
1 8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained
11 oz. package frozen broccoli, cooked and drained
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup salad dressing
2 teaspoons mustard
Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Brown and drain sausage.  You will notice oil in my photo and that is because I used sausage I made an it is leaner than what you buy in the store, so I needed a little olive oil.

Using fresh bread, using your food processor, make fresh bread crumbs.  I had some left over hamburger buns that I used.

Mix the sausage, eggs, bread crumbs, water chestnuts and cooked, drained broccoli together and turn the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake uncovered 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

While the casserole is baking, mix together the sour cream, salad dressing and mustard.
I would recommend using Miracle Whip, I didn't have any MW on hand so I used mayo and it wasn't as good.

Combine and spread over the top of the sausage mixture.  Return to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes until the topping is hot.

and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

Do you like comfort food?  Who doesn't?  I think we all have our favorite dishes that we consider comfort foods.  I find I gravitate to comfort foods, especially when the colder months of the year roll around. Today was one of those days and I am craving one of my favorites, Chicken Pot Pie.

I am a big fan of purchased pot pies, especially the brand by MC that you nuke in the microwave in the box for 6 minutes and presto, dinner!  The only problem is that there just doesn't seem to be much filling.  Don't get me wrong, I like crust as much as anyone, maybe even more than the average person, but come on, is it too much to ask to have more than 5 chunks of chicken in my pie?

I decided to try to do something I've never attempted..make chicken pot pie.  I  do most of my cooking on the weekend so meal prep during the work week isn't a chore that gets pushed to the back burner in favor of something quick and easy, like fast food, which we all know isn't good for us.

Armed with a list and determination, I head to my local grocery for ingredients.  Lucky for me,  they had bone in chicken breasts for 89 cents a pound.  I  bought a family pack that contained 4 huge chicken breasts.  Those were some mighty busty chickens, if you ask me (don't get me started about the hormones they give animals that we eat!).  Anyway,  I cooked all four of them and saved the meat from two of them to freeze and use later in some homemade chicken noodle soup (another cold weather comfort food).

I used frozen puff pastry for the top crust and I was satisfied with the results.  I was a little skeptical since "pie" in my book means top and bottom crusts, but I found that I didn't miss he bottom crust at all on these gems.  I will let you know in advance that you will need to taste and readjust seasonings because I found the basic recipe too bland for my liking. 

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

2 large bone in, skin on chicken breasts
1 large onion
6 stalks of celery, including tops, cut into 4" pieces
4 carrots cut into 4" pieces
1 32 oz. box of low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary

8 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
4 cups chicken stock
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 cup frozen peas
2 chopped cooked chicken breasts
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
1 package frozen puff pastry

Directions:

In a large pot, place the chicken breasts and next 8 ingredients.  Heat over medium heat until chicken is cooked through.  I let it simmer on the stove for about an hour, maybe a little longer. 
Remove chicken to a platter and set aside to cool.
Using a colander, strain the contents over a large bowl. Discard the veggies that have been cooked to mush.  They were there to enrich the broth, not to be eaten or incorporated.
Pour the strained liquid into a fat separator.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the puff pastry out to thaw.
In the large pot, over medium heat, melt the butter.

Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture smells fragrant and nutty.
Slowly pour in the stock, whisking until smooth and bubbly.
Bring mixture to a boil.
Add the onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf and thyme, cooking the vegetables until tender.  About 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, chicken, peas and salt and pepper and cook until the potatoes are tender, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

Remove from the heat and cool.  Remove the bay leaf and discard.
Taste (carefully, it is hot) and adjust the seasonings a little at a time to fit your taste. 
I ended up adding a teaspoon more salt and  pepper and  1/2 teaspoon more thyme.

Divide the mixture equally among oven proof bowls.  I used small ramekins (just the right size for lunch), my two small Emile Henry pie plates and a Corning petite pan that I had.  This makes quite a bit. 


Unfold the puff pastry and cut to fit the tops of your oven proof bowls. 
Moisten the rims of your bowls and stretch the pastry over the filling, pressing along the edges to seal. 

Line a cookie sheet with foil.
Move the bowls to the cookie sheet for baking.  These will very likely run over, so the foil will save you on cleanup!






Bake until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.  It should take about 20-25 minutes. 
Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Don't these look delish?

...and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Beef and Potato Loaf

As the weather shows hints of fall and turns cooler, I tend to pull out recipes that are "comfort" food, like this meatloaf with potatoes cooked beneath it.  You can easily half the recipe if you feel that this is too much, but if you like leftover meatloaf like I do, you'll want to have plenty for later.

Beef and Potato Loaf

Ingredients:

Potatoes:

6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Meatloaf:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground turkey
1 sleeve of saltine crackers, crushed
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup ketchup or chili sauce
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Glaze:

1/2 cup ketchup
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a large baking dish with non-stick spray.  I used my Le Cresuet oval pot.
Layer in the sliced potatoes, topping each layer with some of the onion, thyme, salt and pepper.

Crush the crackers finely, I used my food processor to quickly make the crumbs.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, turkey and remaining ingredients. 

Mix thoroughly (I use my hands) until combined and let stand for about 15-20 minutes for the liquid to absorb into the mixture.

Place meat mixture on top of the potato slices.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 60 minutes, adding additional time until done (depends on your pan and the thickness of the meatloaf).

15 minutes before removing the meatloaf from the oven, mix up the glaze and top the meatloaf.  Return to the oven and continue baking for 15 minutes.

....and That's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Good Stuff

I know, I know...you are probably saying to yourself what kind of name is that for a recipe.  Well, you are probably right.  We had this frequently when I was growing up, probably because it was inexpensive, simple ingredients, easy to fix and good.  I think the official name is Hamburger Casserole, but we called it "Good Stuff" and I think that is more appropriate because that is exactly what it is....Good Stuff and it is one of my "comfort foods".  I hope you give it a try and enjoy it!


Good Stuff (Hamburger Casserole)
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans of green beans, drained
1 can of cream of tomato soup
1/2 soup can of water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Brown ground beef along with chopped onion in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Drain any excess fat
Add drained green beans, tomato soup, water, salt and pepper.
Stir, mixing well.
Simmer covered for 15 minutes.


We always had biscuits with this recipe, so you might want to bake a pan while the Good Stuff is simmering on the stove.

That's What's Cooking at Cathy's!  Enjoy!