Melissa and I invented this recipe. Monday nights my "guinea pig family" comes over, so called because I seem to make a lot of new recipes on Mondays, and they all end up being guinea pigs. Melissa always brings dessert (and Diet Pepsi woot). Sometimes she makes stuff, but sometimes she just buys something if she has been busy that day. We don't mind. She usually buys stuff the kids love, like ice cream or popsicles or cookies. So this past Monday she brought Oreos. Also Steve had this huge brush pile from when he pruned our plum trees. Pruned trees look awful, but that's a different story. He got a permit and we did a brush fire. He also wanted to do s'mores with the kiddos. Channeling the spirit of Jill, avid blog reader and very creative cook who I am not at all like (I always like to follow a recipe or I get nervous...) we invented this recipe. Our tenant came down to enjoy with us, too. She is very funny, in general. She said she is certain no one ever in the world has thought of this before. Not sure if she was being sarcastic...
S'MOreos
1 campfire, burned down to good coals
long sticks from plum trees, or any old sticks will do
marshmallows
Hershey bars
Oreos
graham crackers (for your picky children who don't want to try your new recipe)
Toast marshmallows on sticks. Put on Oreo down on a towel-covered card table your husband brought out for the purpose of s'more building. Put 2 squares of Hershey chocolate on top of Oreo. Place toasted marshmallow on top of chocolate, and then using a second Oreo, squish down a little while you take out the stick. Let it sit for a few seconds to melt the chocolate.
I think you can guess that these were pretty tasty. They were hard to eat. They were tall, and hard to take a bite of. When you did take a bite, some of the stuff spilled out the back. But that happens to me with regular smores too. I can't say if I will ever make these again, because I don't know if we'll have Oreos next time we want to make s'mores. But it was fun to invent something. Copyright 2012. =o)
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Beef Barbecue
Got my new Simple & Delicious in the mail. One thing they have started doing that I do not like is letting advertisers in the magazine give you recipes. This issue has contributions from Ortega, because they want you to buy Ortega products, and Emeril, because they want you to buy Emeril stuff. Well, joke's on them because I already have the Emeril ingredient, so ha. Steve likes it on goulash and meat for the grill. Also, Sam loves sloppy joes, which is essentially what these are, and I have a great sloppy joe recipe already, but since I had all the ingredients for this except the tomato sauce ($0.38), I decided to throw it into the meal plan for this week.
Beef Barbecue
1 lb ground beef
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp white or cider vinegar
1 tbsp Emeril's Original Essence
6 soft hamburger buns
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook beef, green pepper, and onion until beef is well browned. Stir in tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, and essence, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until mixture is desired thickness. Spoon onto buns.
This wasn't quite as soupy as my other sloppy joe recipe, and it was a tiny bit spicy. Steve loved it, and the kids all ate it, too. Nathan didn't have his on a bun, because "I don't want sandwiches." We had this with frozen french fries, which always remind me of school lunches, but in a good way (it's true), and mandarin oranges, which almost all the kids love. I hadn't planned on keeping this recipe, because I thought it was just a space-holder, but Steve liked it so well that I'm going to keep it. If you already have Emeril seasoning for whatever reason, you should make this. I don't know that I would specifically purchase it for this recipe. Okay, I know that I wouldn't. But you can make your own decision there.
Beef Barbecue
1 lb ground beef
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp white or cider vinegar
1 tbsp Emeril's Original Essence
6 soft hamburger buns
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook beef, green pepper, and onion until beef is well browned. Stir in tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, and essence, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until mixture is desired thickness. Spoon onto buns.
This wasn't quite as soupy as my other sloppy joe recipe, and it was a tiny bit spicy. Steve loved it, and the kids all ate it, too. Nathan didn't have his on a bun, because "I don't want sandwiches." We had this with frozen french fries, which always remind me of school lunches, but in a good way (it's true), and mandarin oranges, which almost all the kids love. I hadn't planned on keeping this recipe, because I thought it was just a space-holder, but Steve liked it so well that I'm going to keep it. If you already have Emeril seasoning for whatever reason, you should make this. I don't know that I would specifically purchase it for this recipe. Okay, I know that I wouldn't. But you can make your own decision there.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Poulet Fasi
Translation: Stuffed Chicken. I have made many a chicken in my day, but I never stuff them. I like Stove Top stuffing, or the yummy Thanksgiving stuffing, but I never put it in the bird. Yesterday I did. Everybody here likes chicken, and I think that almost no matter what you do to chicken (except coat it in mayo) I will like it. This is from A Taste of Haiti, which I have been working through.
Poulet Fasi
Chicken:
1 roasting chicken
1 lime, cut in half
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 scallion sprig, minced
1/4 green bell pepper, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp pikliz vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
Stuffing:
1/2 lb ground beef
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp pikliz vinegar
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
Rinse the chicken with cold water. Clean chicken all over with lime halves, inside and out, removing any blood clots out of the cavity of the chicken (I must say I did not do the inside...maybe this is more necessary when you kill and pluck your own chicken). Rinse with water again. In a blender, or with a mortar and pestle (or with your small Tupperware choppy thing), crush the garlic, onion, shallot, scallions, green pepper, salt, pepper, and pikliz vinegar. Rub mixture into chicken, inside and out. Glaze chicken with mustard all over. Let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.
For the stuffing, combine ground beef, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and pikliz vinegar (now that I'm typing this I see that it doesn't say to cook the ground beef first, but mine was cooked). Boil the potatoes. Let cool. Mix potatoes with ground beef mixture. Stuff the chicken right before baking. Bake, covered, at 400 for 2 hours, basting every 15 minutes after the first half hour.
Five minutes after putting this in the oven, the kitchen smelled fabulous. It smelled great the whole time it was baking. Steve thought so too. Melissa came in close to when it was done, and she also thought it smelled great. She was relieved because when I told her that morning that we were having Haitian Stuffed Chicken, she was skeptical, but like a good, trusting guinea pig, she came anyway, and was going to eat whatever it was. She was pleasantly surprised that it was this. There weren't too many pan drippings (in retrospect maybe because the beef in the stuffing was precooked?) but I probably wouldn't have made gravy anyway because I don't think that's how they do it there. What few drippings there were I did spoon over mine & Steve's chicken. This tasted really good, really Haitian, I think. Very happy with what I have made from this book so far.
Poulet Fasi
Chicken:
1 roasting chicken
1 lime, cut in half
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 scallion sprig, minced
1/4 green bell pepper, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp pikliz vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
Stuffing:
1/2 lb ground beef
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp pikliz vinegar
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
Rinse the chicken with cold water. Clean chicken all over with lime halves, inside and out, removing any blood clots out of the cavity of the chicken (I must say I did not do the inside...maybe this is more necessary when you kill and pluck your own chicken). Rinse with water again. In a blender, or with a mortar and pestle (or with your small Tupperware choppy thing), crush the garlic, onion, shallot, scallions, green pepper, salt, pepper, and pikliz vinegar. Rub mixture into chicken, inside and out. Glaze chicken with mustard all over. Let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.
For the stuffing, combine ground beef, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and pikliz vinegar (now that I'm typing this I see that it doesn't say to cook the ground beef first, but mine was cooked). Boil the potatoes. Let cool. Mix potatoes with ground beef mixture. Stuff the chicken right before baking. Bake, covered, at 400 for 2 hours, basting every 15 minutes after the first half hour.
Five minutes after putting this in the oven, the kitchen smelled fabulous. It smelled great the whole time it was baking. Steve thought so too. Melissa came in close to when it was done, and she also thought it smelled great. She was relieved because when I told her that morning that we were having Haitian Stuffed Chicken, she was skeptical, but like a good, trusting guinea pig, she came anyway, and was going to eat whatever it was. She was pleasantly surprised that it was this. There weren't too many pan drippings (in retrospect maybe because the beef in the stuffing was precooked?) but I probably wouldn't have made gravy anyway because I don't think that's how they do it there. What few drippings there were I did spoon over mine & Steve's chicken. This tasted really good, really Haitian, I think. Very happy with what I have made from this book so far.
Boulet Pomdete ak Bef
Okay a literal translation of that is "pellets of potatoes with beef" which does not sound at all appetizing. What they are actually is kind of like beef-stuffed mashed potato balls. Our Kreyol teacher Gessie says this is something Haitians will have for a special occasion, like Christmas. The average (poor) Haitian has meat only once or twice a year, the rest of the time they rock the beans and rice. The author of this cookbook (A Taste of Haiti) married into a Haitian family and has collected these recipes from her in-laws. There is a little bit of everything here, including things I would never ever eat. But some of the recipes are definitely doable. This one sounded like it would take a while to make, and it did, but it was fun, and it had pretty standard ingredients, except for the pikliz, which I posted separately. Emma made it with me and we had fun wondering how Haitian women would make it differently, since their ovens and utensils are all different than ours.
Boulet Pomdete ak Bef
Beef filling:
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2-3 tbsp pikliz vinegar (see previous post)
1 tbsp pikliz vegetables
1 tsp minced parsley
1 shallot, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
Potato mix:
6 large potatoes
1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten (I used 2)
1 cup bread crumbs
2 cups vegetable oil
Mix all beef filling ingredients in a pot with 1/4 cup water and cook over low heat until water fully evaporates while using a fork to break up the beef (I used a skillet and cooked over med-high). Let cool.
Peel, cut, and boil the potatoes in salted water. Drain water; mix with the milk, mash and let cool. (Here comes the fun part) Take a handful of the potatoes and place in the palm of your hand. Flatten with the fingers of your other hand and add 1 tbsp of the beef filling in the middle of the potatoes. Cover the meat with the potatoes, forming a ball. Form small or large balls as desired (I could only seem to make mine baseball-sized). Dip into flour, egg, and then in the breadcrumbs. Heat oil in frying pan. Place balls in the hot oil and fry on each side until golden brown. Serve with additional pikliz if desired (we didn't).
We had this with one of those bag salads for a side dish. This recipe is actually in the "appetizers" section of the cookbook, but I can't imagine doing this much work just for an appetizer and then still having to make a main meal. But if it's only for special occasions, then maybe. Nathan only ate the beef filling out of his, but the rest of us ate them all. Very hearty and filling. Since mine were so big, I only got 9 "pellets" out of this recipe. But we had 3 leftover after we all had all we wanted. I thought they tasted very good, but I have never eaten anything like that in Haiti so I don't know if it tasted authentically Haitian or not. But I felt pretty Haitian while I was making it...
Boulet Pomdete ak Bef
Beef filling:
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2-3 tbsp pikliz vinegar (see previous post)
1 tbsp pikliz vegetables
1 tsp minced parsley
1 shallot, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
Potato mix:
6 large potatoes
1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten (I used 2)
1 cup bread crumbs
2 cups vegetable oil
Mix all beef filling ingredients in a pot with 1/4 cup water and cook over low heat until water fully evaporates while using a fork to break up the beef (I used a skillet and cooked over med-high). Let cool.
Peel, cut, and boil the potatoes in salted water. Drain water; mix with the milk, mash and let cool. (Here comes the fun part) Take a handful of the potatoes and place in the palm of your hand. Flatten with the fingers of your other hand and add 1 tbsp of the beef filling in the middle of the potatoes. Cover the meat with the potatoes, forming a ball. Form small or large balls as desired (I could only seem to make mine baseball-sized). Dip into flour, egg, and then in the breadcrumbs. Heat oil in frying pan. Place balls in the hot oil and fry on each side until golden brown. Serve with additional pikliz if desired (we didn't).
We had this with one of those bag salads for a side dish. This recipe is actually in the "appetizers" section of the cookbook, but I can't imagine doing this much work just for an appetizer and then still having to make a main meal. But if it's only for special occasions, then maybe. Nathan only ate the beef filling out of his, but the rest of us ate them all. Very hearty and filling. Since mine were so big, I only got 9 "pellets" out of this recipe. But we had 3 leftover after we all had all we wanted. I thought they tasted very good, but I have never eaten anything like that in Haiti so I don't know if it tasted authentically Haitian or not. But I felt pretty Haitian while I was making it...
Pikliz
I got a new cookbook from Amazon.com called A Taste of Haiti. I have been wanting a Haitian cookbook for a while, but if you try to get one in the airport at Port au Prince, it costs like $50, and you have already given all your money away by then. Plus that is way too much for a cookbook. I have looked at a couple in bookstores here, too, but they seem to use ingredients that are not readily available in Maine. One did include the helpful hint that if you can't find an ingredient here, try the Haitian markets in New York City or Toronto. Yes, let me run right over. This cookbook is one that Amazon recommended to me; you know how they do that if they think you will like something? And I am glad I got it. I am going to try several recipes out of it (I will NOT be trying Pig's Feet or Goat Bits) and a lot of the recipes have Pikliz in them, so I had to make this first before I could make any of the actual recipes. This is basically pickled vegetables, which sounds gross when I type it. But read it and you'll see. I realize probably nobody is going to make these Haitian recipes, but I include them because you might like to read about them, and feel more international.
Pikliz
6 scotch bonnet peppers (according to google, these are crazy hot...I used jalapenos instead. Also, I wore gloves)
2 cups thinly sliced or shredded cabbage
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
1/4 cup frozen green peas
4 whole cloves (crazy expensive so I used whole Jamaican allspice, because that's caribbean too)
1 tsp salt
8-10 peppercorns
3 cups vinegar
Snip off the stems of the peppers, cut each into 4 pieces, and keep the seeds. Place them and all dry ingredients into quart-sized jar, then add the vinegar. Close jar tightly and let sit 24-48 hours before using. Once you commence using (their phrasing), store in the refrigerator. Lasts for months.
See, nothing too weird there for ingredients, so I made it. It looked very pretty in the jar. Some recipes will call for just the vinegar from the jar, and others will call for some of the vegetables, but never the peppers. I can't really say if I liked this recipe or not, because it's not like I had a big spoonful of this to sample it. But I am going to add it to my subsequent Haitian dishes.
Pikliz
6 scotch bonnet peppers (according to google, these are crazy hot...I used jalapenos instead. Also, I wore gloves)
2 cups thinly sliced or shredded cabbage
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
1/4 cup frozen green peas
4 whole cloves (crazy expensive so I used whole Jamaican allspice, because that's caribbean too)
1 tsp salt
8-10 peppercorns
3 cups vinegar
Snip off the stems of the peppers, cut each into 4 pieces, and keep the seeds. Place them and all dry ingredients into quart-sized jar, then add the vinegar. Close jar tightly and let sit 24-48 hours before using. Once you commence using (their phrasing), store in the refrigerator. Lasts for months.
See, nothing too weird there for ingredients, so I made it. It looked very pretty in the jar. Some recipes will call for just the vinegar from the jar, and others will call for some of the vegetables, but never the peppers. I can't really say if I liked this recipe or not, because it's not like I had a big spoonful of this to sample it. But I am going to add it to my subsequent Haitian dishes.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Light and Easy Caribbean Chicken
Have you ever had this happen to you? You read (or hear) a warning so many times that you get desensitized to it. Things like "no running with scissors" or "no swimming right after you eat." You hear the warning so many times you just tune it out and forget what the whole reason was behind the warning in the first place. My mom always told me to tie my shoes if they came untied. In one ear and out the other. Once in college (I remember this vividly) I noticed that my shoe was untied. For whatever reason (laziness or lateness being the top two most likely) I did not stop to retie. A minute later I was on the ground. I thought to myself, "mom was right." How many times have I read the warning about wearing gloves when you chop hot peppers? Probably 50. Today, did I put on gloves prior to chopping a hot pepper? No, I did not. In my defense: A) I worked last night and wasn't thinking clearly B) I hadn't planned to make this recipe when in a zombie state, but I had to rearrange my meal plan because Sam's birthday meal was on Monday, when this recipe was originally slated. Do you SEE why my meal plan is (or should be) unflinchingly rigid? Bad things happen when the order is disturbed. C) This is the first time I have ever bought or used jalapenos, and I was being naive and didn't really know what I was getting into. D) On Man v. Food, and through my own google research, I learned that jalapenos aren't even that hot, as far as hot peppers go. There is a whole scale of hotness and jalapenos are at the low end, and something scary called a "ghost chili" is at the high end. I (again, naively) thought it was no big deal. E) I was talking to my sister on the phone while I was making this, and somehow I am going to make this her fault. So. It's not even like I didn't have gloves. I always keep some in a drawer because I really can't stand touching raw meat. So I can't use that as an excuse.
I promise that I will get to the recipe. But first, my incident report. I placed chunks of pineapple and red pepper into my Tupperware food chopper thing that is good for making salsa. I then cut and seeded one little jalapeno and put strips of it into the chopper. Then, I chopped it all up with the easy turning motion my Tupperware product provides. I want to stress at this point that I do not hold Tupperware at fault for what happened. It was my sister's fault because I was talking to her on the phone from step #1 of this process. Maybe if I hadn't been on the phone with her I would have remembered and heeded the glove warning. Maybe she should have said to me "Hey! Put some gloves on before you chop that up." But neither of those things happened, and I just willy nilly chopped the jalapeno with my bare hands and put the strips into the bowl. I ate a chunk of the pineapple after all three things had been chopped into the consistency you would want for salsa. It was H O T (I am such a wimp about spice). It burned my tongue, and then my lips. Sting-y needle-y type burning. I proceeded with the recipe. Washed my hands several times through the next hour, knowing in the back of my mind I had just cut a hot pepper. Then. Before I started cooking the chicken, I decided to put my contacts in, which had been out since this morning when I got home from work and then went to bed. The detective types among you can probably figure out what happened next. One contact in. Crazy horrible burning in my eye. Me saying "ah ah ah ah ah" and thinking, in rapid succession, takeitoutican'ttakeitoutihaveitonmyfingerstootakeitouticanttakeitouttakeitouttakeitout. I wrenched it out of my eye just as Steve came to see what the heck was wrong with me. I don't know what you guys have in your houses, but here we do not have an emergency eye wash station. So Steve was holding my eye open while he poured in multi purpose contact solution, and saying helpfully, "open your eye." The children looked on, fascinated. After what seemed like a really long time, he stopped. I put my glasses back on and he threw away the tainted contact lens. I decided not to go anywhere tonight after all. And I went back to cooking. This recipe is from the Sam's Club cookbook. I am undecided at this point if some of my anger should be directed toward them, as well.
Light and Easy Caribbean Chicken
Grilled chicken:
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Island salsa:
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 of 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained (I put the other half in the freezer to throw in the next time I make spaghetti sauce...that was my sister's idea. So you can see she helps me when it's convenient for her)
1 cup medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 cup fresh pineapple, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 tbsp dried basil (that seemed like way too much and I only used 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp lime juice
Combine ketchup, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, honey, soy sauce, and garlic in a large ziploc bag (I did this last night before I went to work). Add chicken to bag and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight (I put the chicken in this morning when I got home from work). Combine salsa ingredients in a medium bowl and cover. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend (I did this at 4 pm. For any of you wondering, yes I drank a cup of coffee when I woke up). Grill chicken about 5 minutes on each side (or use a Foreman grill), until no longer pink in the center. Serve each chicken breast with salsa.
So for all my trouble, this did turn out very good. Everyone liked the chicken. The little ones had no salsa on theirs. This made a huge amount of salsa. We only used about 1/4 of what I made, so we will be eating this with tortilla chips for several days. I will be making this again, more wisely, and substituting cilantro for the basil, because it tasted like it wanted cilantro to be in it.
In closing I would like to remind you to wear gloves if you chop jalapenos. As an alternative, you could not use jalapenos at all. If you decide to use them, do not talk to my sister on the phone while you cook with them. This has been a safety briefing brought to you by New Recipe Night.
I promise that I will get to the recipe. But first, my incident report. I placed chunks of pineapple and red pepper into my Tupperware food chopper thing that is good for making salsa. I then cut and seeded one little jalapeno and put strips of it into the chopper. Then, I chopped it all up with the easy turning motion my Tupperware product provides. I want to stress at this point that I do not hold Tupperware at fault for what happened. It was my sister's fault because I was talking to her on the phone from step #1 of this process. Maybe if I hadn't been on the phone with her I would have remembered and heeded the glove warning. Maybe she should have said to me "Hey! Put some gloves on before you chop that up." But neither of those things happened, and I just willy nilly chopped the jalapeno with my bare hands and put the strips into the bowl. I ate a chunk of the pineapple after all three things had been chopped into the consistency you would want for salsa. It was H O T (I am such a wimp about spice). It burned my tongue, and then my lips. Sting-y needle-y type burning. I proceeded with the recipe. Washed my hands several times through the next hour, knowing in the back of my mind I had just cut a hot pepper. Then. Before I started cooking the chicken, I decided to put my contacts in, which had been out since this morning when I got home from work and then went to bed. The detective types among you can probably figure out what happened next. One contact in. Crazy horrible burning in my eye. Me saying "ah ah ah ah ah" and thinking, in rapid succession, takeitoutican'ttakeitoutihaveitonmyfingerstootakeitouticanttakeitouttakeitouttakeitout. I wrenched it out of my eye just as Steve came to see what the heck was wrong with me. I don't know what you guys have in your houses, but here we do not have an emergency eye wash station. So Steve was holding my eye open while he poured in multi purpose contact solution, and saying helpfully, "open your eye." The children looked on, fascinated. After what seemed like a really long time, he stopped. I put my glasses back on and he threw away the tainted contact lens. I decided not to go anywhere tonight after all. And I went back to cooking. This recipe is from the Sam's Club cookbook. I am undecided at this point if some of my anger should be directed toward them, as well.
Light and Easy Caribbean Chicken
Grilled chicken:
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Island salsa:
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 of 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained (I put the other half in the freezer to throw in the next time I make spaghetti sauce...that was my sister's idea. So you can see she helps me when it's convenient for her)
1 cup medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 cup fresh pineapple, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 tbsp dried basil (that seemed like way too much and I only used 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp lime juice
Combine ketchup, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, honey, soy sauce, and garlic in a large ziploc bag (I did this last night before I went to work). Add chicken to bag and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight (I put the chicken in this morning when I got home from work). Combine salsa ingredients in a medium bowl and cover. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend (I did this at 4 pm. For any of you wondering, yes I drank a cup of coffee when I woke up). Grill chicken about 5 minutes on each side (or use a Foreman grill), until no longer pink in the center. Serve each chicken breast with salsa.
So for all my trouble, this did turn out very good. Everyone liked the chicken. The little ones had no salsa on theirs. This made a huge amount of salsa. We only used about 1/4 of what I made, so we will be eating this with tortilla chips for several days. I will be making this again, more wisely, and substituting cilantro for the basil, because it tasted like it wanted cilantro to be in it.
In closing I would like to remind you to wear gloves if you chop jalapenos. As an alternative, you could not use jalapenos at all. If you decide to use them, do not talk to my sister on the phone while you cook with them. This has been a safety briefing brought to you by New Recipe Night.
Apricot Chicken
My friend posted this on her facebook a very long time ago, and I remember thinking then that I wanted to try it. But (does this happen to you?) I got distracted by something shiny and then forgot all about it. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when another friend Nina (avid blog reader) told my first friend that she was making it that night, reminding me that I wanted to try it. Fast forward to yesterday, and I made it. The friend who posted the recipe also recommended that Beefy Rice be made with it at the same time, so I did and posted that recipe separately. To further mix this up, if you're even still following me, these two recipes are my friend's mother's.
Apricot Chicken
12 oz apricot jelly/jam
4 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 envelope dried onion soup mix
chicken
Mix the first 3 ingredients. Put the chicken in a 9x13 pan (I asked my friend to clarify: chicken pieces, and not skinned. We had two breasts, two thighs, and two drumsticks. Nobody ever eats the wings at this house, so I saved them to make chicken broth). Pour the mixture over the chicken. Bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes (mine took the full 60).
Between this and the rice, the kitchen smelled great by the time Steve got home. He was playing that great game Name That Smell and he guessed "barbecue?" But he was wrong. He couldn't guess. The chicken came out moist and great, and didn't taste very apricot-y. More like sweet and sour. The skin was crisp, and the sugar from the jam made some of it brown up very yummily (I did not eat all the skin from my piece, just those yummy crispy parts). There was a lot of sauce left over, so I put it in with the leftover rice, hoping that the leftover rice will absorb some of that liquid and be less chewy (see the rice recipe to see what I mean). So this recipe was very easy to make, and everyone liked their chicken.
Apricot Chicken
12 oz apricot jelly/jam
4 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 envelope dried onion soup mix
chicken
Mix the first 3 ingredients. Put the chicken in a 9x13 pan (I asked my friend to clarify: chicken pieces, and not skinned. We had two breasts, two thighs, and two drumsticks. Nobody ever eats the wings at this house, so I saved them to make chicken broth). Pour the mixture over the chicken. Bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes (mine took the full 60).
Between this and the rice, the kitchen smelled great by the time Steve got home. He was playing that great game Name That Smell and he guessed "barbecue?" But he was wrong. He couldn't guess. The chicken came out moist and great, and didn't taste very apricot-y. More like sweet and sour. The skin was crisp, and the sugar from the jam made some of it brown up very yummily (I did not eat all the skin from my piece, just those yummy crispy parts). There was a lot of sauce left over, so I put it in with the leftover rice, hoping that the leftover rice will absorb some of that liquid and be less chewy (see the rice recipe to see what I mean). So this recipe was very easy to make, and everyone liked their chicken.
Beefy Rice
This is the rice that my friend recommended be served with the apricot chicken.
Beefy Rice
1 cup rice (she recommended white rice but I only had brown so I used that)
1 can beef consomme (Campbell's, near all their other soups)
1 chicken bouillon
1 small can sliced mushrooms (save the juice)(I didn't use these at all)
fill the mushroom can (with its juice in it) to the top with water and add it
1/4 tsp marjoram
3/4 cube butter (now this was interesting. I never heard of a cube of butter. But I googled it, and apparently it is a common unit of measurement in other countries. My friend said she thinks it is 8 tbsp. I used 6 tbsp)
Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes covered, then 30 more minutes uncovered (I read a comment on the fb post that said it usually takes longer, so I did 45 minutes each, especially since I used brown rice to begin with).
The chicken says 375, and the rice says 350. So the rice got 350 until I put the chicken in, and then it got 375 for the rest of the time. I definitely should have used white rice. Even after 1 1/2 hours of cooking time it was a bit chewy. We could still eat it, but I wished I had added more liquid at the beginning. We had this with the sauce from the chicken over the top of it, as recommended. The two littlest children didn't care for that, but Sam liked his. If I was making this again, it would definitely be with white rice. That makes it less healthy, but when you make a comfort-meal food like this, it's not like you're going for health. So once in a while...except you can't just buy 1 cup of white rice, you have to buy a whole package. And then you have to use the rest of the rice in other recipes. And then your kids get used to white rice and then when you try to serve brown again...oh dear.
Also, this is not a vegetable, but I didn't think it fit well into any of the categories. And since vegetables and rice are usually served as side dishes, I stuck it with vegetables. It's my blog and I can do what I want.
Beefy Rice
1 cup rice (she recommended white rice but I only had brown so I used that)
1 can beef consomme (Campbell's, near all their other soups)
1 chicken bouillon
1 small can sliced mushrooms (save the juice)(I didn't use these at all)
fill the mushroom can (with its juice in it) to the top with water and add it
1/4 tsp marjoram
3/4 cube butter (now this was interesting. I never heard of a cube of butter. But I googled it, and apparently it is a common unit of measurement in other countries. My friend said she thinks it is 8 tbsp. I used 6 tbsp)
Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes covered, then 30 more minutes uncovered (I read a comment on the fb post that said it usually takes longer, so I did 45 minutes each, especially since I used brown rice to begin with).
The chicken says 375, and the rice says 350. So the rice got 350 until I put the chicken in, and then it got 375 for the rest of the time. I definitely should have used white rice. Even after 1 1/2 hours of cooking time it was a bit chewy. We could still eat it, but I wished I had added more liquid at the beginning. We had this with the sauce from the chicken over the top of it, as recommended. The two littlest children didn't care for that, but Sam liked his. If I was making this again, it would definitely be with white rice. That makes it less healthy, but when you make a comfort-meal food like this, it's not like you're going for health. So once in a while...except you can't just buy 1 cup of white rice, you have to buy a whole package. And then you have to use the rest of the rice in other recipes. And then your kids get used to white rice and then when you try to serve brown again...oh dear.
Also, this is not a vegetable, but I didn't think it fit well into any of the categories. And since vegetables and rice are usually served as side dishes, I stuck it with vegetables. It's my blog and I can do what I want.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Baked Potatoes
My kids always get to have their pick of a meal on their birthday. It's something my mom started a long time ago with my sister and I. The last few years my kids have really lucked out, because we have a big family dinner with my parents and my sister's family, but it hardly ever falls on their actual birthday. So they get to pick the main course that we will have at my mom's, and then of course on the day of their birthday I want it to be special for them, so I let them pick the meal that day, too. This year Sam picked chicken pot pie to have at my mom's (for the second year in a row) and baked potatoes to have on his birthday. But yesterday was Mother's Day. We like to spread out the holiday cheer here, so we had these tonight, when our Guinea Pig family was here as well. I looked up a recipe, because I knew vaguely what to do, like "throw the potatoes in the oven for a really long time" but I have had baked potatoes at restaurants that were SO good that had salt on the skin and I wanted to do that. So I went to the internet and found a website called (and I am not making this up) howtobakeapotato.com. So this is what I did, according to their instructions. The website has nice pictures if you want to go see their illustrations.
Baked Potatoes
baking potatoes
olive or canola oil
sea salt (you could use regular salt I bet, if you don't have any from the sea)
Preheat oven to 350. Scrub potatoes with a scrub brush. Pierce each potato 6-12 times (depending on the size), deeply with a standard fork. Put a small amount of oil in a bowl (1-2 tbsp). Get a little bit of oil on a potato and then rub it in with your hands (yes, I did feel weird massaging potatoes...one slipped right out of my hands just like what happened to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when she was trying to eat escargot: "Slippery little suckers"). Sprinkle generously with sea salt. Place directly on oven rack and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on the size.
These came out PERFECT! We had a potato bar, with toppings to choose from: butter, chives, sour cream (for Melissa and crew, none of us like that, blech), chili, cheese, bacon, and french fried onions. Very very good. The skins were great (I will not say that I didn't lick mine). Definitely the way to bake potatoes.
Baked Potatoes
baking potatoes
olive or canola oil
sea salt (you could use regular salt I bet, if you don't have any from the sea)
Preheat oven to 350. Scrub potatoes with a scrub brush. Pierce each potato 6-12 times (depending on the size), deeply with a standard fork. Put a small amount of oil in a bowl (1-2 tbsp). Get a little bit of oil on a potato and then rub it in with your hands (yes, I did feel weird massaging potatoes...one slipped right out of my hands just like what happened to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when she was trying to eat escargot: "Slippery little suckers"). Sprinkle generously with sea salt. Place directly on oven rack and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on the size.
These came out PERFECT! We had a potato bar, with toppings to choose from: butter, chives, sour cream (for Melissa and crew, none of us like that, blech), chili, cheese, bacon, and french fried onions. Very very good. The skins were great (I will not say that I didn't lick mine). Definitely the way to bake potatoes.
BBQ Beef Skewers
We had this yesterday, on Mother's Day. I didn't mind cooking on Mother's Day, because I like cooking! As we were eating, one of the kids said "we should have cooked everything today." But I assured them I didn't mind because cooking is fun for me. Most of the time, anyway. This is from a cookbook that came from Sam's Club.
BBQ Beef Skewers
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 lb flank or sirloin steak
3 tbsp minced shallots or green onions
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
4 cloves garlic, minced
16 skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak for 30 minutes)
Cut beef diagonally into thin strips about 1" wide. Thread onto the skewers. In a small bowl, combine all remaining ingredients. Coat meat generously with the sauce mixture. Place skewers on grill and grill 2-3 minutes on each side.
So good. It took some time to cut and then thread the meat. A lot of the sauce spilled off while it was grilling, so I think next time I will reserve at least a bit of the sauce to add on at the end. Also, I made these on my George Foreman grill, which I enjoy very much. However, the skewers made it so the lid wouldn't close right, and I had to turn them over halfway through, which normally you don't have to do because it grills top and bottom simultaneously. But everyone liked this, even Nathan who was adamant that he would NOT when he saw me making them, and then saw them on his plate. The kids thought it was fun to eat the meat off the sticks. Oh and also I only ended up using 10 skewers, definitely not the 16 it called for. This made just enough food for the 5 of us, so if you are having people over, definitely double it.
BBQ Beef Skewers
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 lb flank or sirloin steak
3 tbsp minced shallots or green onions
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
4 cloves garlic, minced
16 skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak for 30 minutes)
Cut beef diagonally into thin strips about 1" wide. Thread onto the skewers. In a small bowl, combine all remaining ingredients. Coat meat generously with the sauce mixture. Place skewers on grill and grill 2-3 minutes on each side.
So good. It took some time to cut and then thread the meat. A lot of the sauce spilled off while it was grilling, so I think next time I will reserve at least a bit of the sauce to add on at the end. Also, I made these on my George Foreman grill, which I enjoy very much. However, the skewers made it so the lid wouldn't close right, and I had to turn them over halfway through, which normally you don't have to do because it grills top and bottom simultaneously. But everyone liked this, even Nathan who was adamant that he would NOT when he saw me making them, and then saw them on his plate. The kids thought it was fun to eat the meat off the sticks. Oh and also I only ended up using 10 skewers, definitely not the 16 it called for. This made just enough food for the 5 of us, so if you are having people over, definitely double it.
Honey Smoked Pork Tenderloin
We had this last week but I haven't had time to post it until now. It is the last recipe I have marked from the Land O Lakes cookbook I've been going through.
Honey Smoked Pork Tenderloin
3 tbsp butter
1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced into 2" thick slices (I used a 1.6 lb Hormel tenderloin and didn't adjust anything and it was still fine)
4 carrots, cut into 1" slices
3 stalks celery, cut into 1" slices
1 small onion, cut into 1/8" slices
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sage
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 clove garlic, minced
In large skillet melt butter over med-high heat. Add pork and carrots. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until meat is browned. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 10-12 minutes.
So easy. And very good. The kids didn't really care for the vegetables. I thought the carrots were fabulous. I will make more carrots with it the next time. We had enough of this leftover that 3 people had another meal with it the next day.
Honey Smoked Pork Tenderloin
3 tbsp butter
1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced into 2" thick slices (I used a 1.6 lb Hormel tenderloin and didn't adjust anything and it was still fine)
4 carrots, cut into 1" slices
3 stalks celery, cut into 1" slices
1 small onion, cut into 1/8" slices
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sage
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 clove garlic, minced
In large skillet melt butter over med-high heat. Add pork and carrots. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until meat is browned. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 10-12 minutes.
So easy. And very good. The kids didn't really care for the vegetables. I thought the carrots were fabulous. I will make more carrots with it the next time. We had enough of this leftover that 3 people had another meal with it the next day.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Cheesy BBQ Beef Sandwiches
This is the last recipe I wanted to try from the Kraft Food & Family. This one sounded good and easy. And you have to fry onions and green peppers, which I always enjoy. It makes me feel like I could work at the fair, you know how they always have those people in the big yellow and white tent that fry onions and peppers to put on cheesesteaks? That could totally be me.
Cheesy BBQ Beef Sandwiches
1 tbsp oil
1/2 cup thin onion slices
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1 pkg (7 oz) roast beef, chopped (in the lunch meat section)
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
4 kaiser rolls, split
4 slices Colby/Jack cheese
Heat oil in large skillet on medium high heat. Add vegetables; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet; set aside. Add meat and barbecue sauce to same skillet; cook on med heat 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Spoon mixture onto bottom halves of rolls; top with cheese and vegetables. Microwave on high 30 seconds to melt the cheese (I didn't do this, my cheese melted by itself). Cover sandwiches with top halves of rolls.
We had this with french fries baked in the oven, which always makes me remember school lunches. But in a good way. These were very very good, and easy to throw together after church. Emma had her meat on the side with no vegetables. Nathan didn't have any of this at all. But the rest of us really liked these. The only thing is that it barely served the 4 of us. Emma didn't even have a whole sandwich-sized portion. So if you want to make this, and perhaps you should, you should double it if you have more than 3 people (if they're grown ups or big eaters). Yum yum yum.
Cheesy BBQ Beef Sandwiches
1 tbsp oil
1/2 cup thin onion slices
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1 pkg (7 oz) roast beef, chopped (in the lunch meat section)
1/3 cup barbecue sauce
4 kaiser rolls, split
4 slices Colby/Jack cheese
Heat oil in large skillet on medium high heat. Add vegetables; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet; set aside. Add meat and barbecue sauce to same skillet; cook on med heat 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Spoon mixture onto bottom halves of rolls; top with cheese and vegetables. Microwave on high 30 seconds to melt the cheese (I didn't do this, my cheese melted by itself). Cover sandwiches with top halves of rolls.
We had this with french fries baked in the oven, which always makes me remember school lunches. But in a good way. These were very very good, and easy to throw together after church. Emma had her meat on the side with no vegetables. Nathan didn't have any of this at all. But the rest of us really liked these. The only thing is that it barely served the 4 of us. Emma didn't even have a whole sandwich-sized portion. So if you want to make this, and perhaps you should, you should double it if you have more than 3 people (if they're grown ups or big eaters). Yum yum yum.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Peanut Butter-Polka Dot Crispy Treats
This is another recipe from the Kraft Food & Family I took from my sister's house. Kraft must not own whoever makes real Rice Krispies, because they would have called them Krispy Treats if they did. Sam had a few friends over for a sleepover tonight and Nathan and I made these for their bedtime snack.
Peanut Butter-Polka Dot Crispy Treats
10 1/2 oz pkg mini marshmallows
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
6 cups crisp rice cereal (see? Not Rice Krispies)
2 squares white bakers chocolate, melted (they used to not have this at Walmart but now they do)
1/2 cup M&Ms (I left these out. I didn't have any, and there is plenty of sweetness in this without them)
Microwave marshmallows, peanut butter, and butter in large microwavable bowl on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 45 seconds (I did this on the stovetop, melting over medium-low heat until well blended...I heard an urban legend about marshmallows in the microwave that made me too afraid to put them in there). Add cereal; mix well (my arm hurt after, these were harder to stir than your usual RK treats). Press onto bottom of 13x9 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Decorate with M&Ms. Cool completely. Cut into desired shape (square).
Of course these were well liked. You can't really go wrong with any of the above things. As a variation you could use semisweet bakers chocolate instead of the white chocolate, or you could sprinkle them with mini chocolate chips. Easy and fast, definitely saving this one.
Peanut Butter-Polka Dot Crispy Treats
10 1/2 oz pkg mini marshmallows
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
6 cups crisp rice cereal (see? Not Rice Krispies)
2 squares white bakers chocolate, melted (they used to not have this at Walmart but now they do)
1/2 cup M&Ms (I left these out. I didn't have any, and there is plenty of sweetness in this without them)
Microwave marshmallows, peanut butter, and butter in large microwavable bowl on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 45 seconds (I did this on the stovetop, melting over medium-low heat until well blended...I heard an urban legend about marshmallows in the microwave that made me too afraid to put them in there). Add cereal; mix well (my arm hurt after, these were harder to stir than your usual RK treats). Press onto bottom of 13x9 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Decorate with M&Ms. Cool completely. Cut into desired shape (square).
Of course these were well liked. You can't really go wrong with any of the above things. As a variation you could use semisweet bakers chocolate instead of the white chocolate, or you could sprinkle them with mini chocolate chips. Easy and fast, definitely saving this one.
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Crumble Bars
We love peanut butter. And chocolate. If I had to choose one, it would depend on the day. Most days I would choose a good dark chocolate. But some days I would choose a creamy yummy peanut butter. My hubby loves desserts that have both. I think he would choose peanut butter every day. We had this for home fellowship tonight, it's from the Kraft Food & Family I took from my sister's house.
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Crumble Bars
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 pkg (8 squares) Baker's Semi-Sweet chocolate
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Heat oven to 350. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add combined oats, flour, and baking soda; mix well. Press 3 cups onto bottom of 13x9 pan sprayed with cooking spray.
Microwave chocolate on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring after 45 seconds. Stir in peanut butter. Carefully spread over crust; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
While this was in the oven, Emma came in the kitchen and said "it smells like Sonic's food in here." Sonic is our dear departed, gone but not forgotten, hamster. I said, "well, that's not very encouraging." She took a deep breath and said "now it doesn't." It didn't taste or smell like hamster food to me. These were quite good, and well received by kids and grown ups at home fellowship. They were extremely crumbly, which is a point against them. But they tasted good.
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Crumble Bars
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 pkg (8 squares) Baker's Semi-Sweet chocolate
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Heat oven to 350. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add combined oats, flour, and baking soda; mix well. Press 3 cups onto bottom of 13x9 pan sprayed with cooking spray.
Microwave chocolate on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring after 45 seconds. Stir in peanut butter. Carefully spread over crust; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
While this was in the oven, Emma came in the kitchen and said "it smells like Sonic's food in here." Sonic is our dear departed, gone but not forgotten, hamster. I said, "well, that's not very encouraging." She took a deep breath and said "now it doesn't." It didn't taste or smell like hamster food to me. These were quite good, and well received by kids and grown ups at home fellowship. They were extremely crumbly, which is a point against them. But they tasted good.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Chicken & Roasted Red Potatoes
Stole my sister's Kraft Food & Family when I was there a couple of weekends ago. She still gets it, but she says this is the last year, she's not going to keep paying for it. The cover price on this is $5.99. As if. Like I have said in other posts, I would not pay for this magazine, which is really just a glorified commercial meant to make you think that you have to buy Kraft's newest products. But I digress, because I will (obviously) read it for free, and make recipes from it, with slight modifications so I don't buy the new product.
Chicken & Roasted Red Potatoes
1/4 cup Kraft Ranch dressing (I used Great Value)
6 large bone-in chicken thighs, skin and visible fat removed
4 slices Oscar Mayer bacon (I used Hormel Black Label)
1 1/2 lb red potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 onion, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup Kraft Shredded Triple Cheddar Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia (this is the new thing they want you to buy...I just used 1 cup of shredded cheddar I had in my freezer)
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Pour dressing over chicken in shallow dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes (I put mine in a gallon size ziploc bag).
Heat oven to 400. Cook bacon in large skillet on medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet, reserving 1 tbsp drippings in skillet. Drain bacon on paper towels.
Add potatoes and onions to reserved drippings; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Crumble bacon and add to potato mixture; mix lightly. Spoon in 9x13 baking dish. Remove chicken from dressing; discard dressing. Place chicken over potato mixture.
Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour or until potatoes are tender and chicken is 165. Top with cheese and parsley.
Of course this was very good. But also very fatty, what with the bacon and the chicken thighs. Oh, and the ranch dressing. The onions in it tasted great. All the kids liked it, too. Even though this was great, this is not the kind of thing you could make very often. But it was very tasty, and I am going to keep the recipe.
Chicken & Roasted Red Potatoes
1/4 cup Kraft Ranch dressing (I used Great Value)
6 large bone-in chicken thighs, skin and visible fat removed
4 slices Oscar Mayer bacon (I used Hormel Black Label)
1 1/2 lb red potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 onion, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup Kraft Shredded Triple Cheddar Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia (this is the new thing they want you to buy...I just used 1 cup of shredded cheddar I had in my freezer)
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Pour dressing over chicken in shallow dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes (I put mine in a gallon size ziploc bag).
Heat oven to 400. Cook bacon in large skillet on medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet, reserving 1 tbsp drippings in skillet. Drain bacon on paper towels.
Add potatoes and onions to reserved drippings; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Crumble bacon and add to potato mixture; mix lightly. Spoon in 9x13 baking dish. Remove chicken from dressing; discard dressing. Place chicken over potato mixture.
Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour or until potatoes are tender and chicken is 165. Top with cheese and parsley.
Of course this was very good. But also very fatty, what with the bacon and the chicken thighs. Oh, and the ranch dressing. The onions in it tasted great. All the kids liked it, too. Even though this was great, this is not the kind of thing you could make very often. But it was very tasty, and I am going to keep the recipe.
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