The Good Plate Latest Recipes - Page 44 of 73

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I love Chicken Cordon Bleu, but the problem with it is if you are not very careful, the cheese comes out while it is cooking and you wind up with a dried up piece of chicken with a remnant of cheese and some ham. If you’re lucky, they included sauce.

This casserole is so simple, and all the good things about the dish stay right where you want them, inside! Every bite has a little ham and a little cheese.

There is a little bit of backstory with this recipe, but, what recipes do I give without a backstory? When I was making this month’s menu, I wanted chicken and I wanted something that we would have leftovers. I made a note to make some kind of chicken casserole. Then, I was in one of my Facebook groups, and someone mentioned Anthony Bourdain’s book, Appetites. My friend, Chef John Farion CWC, introduced me to his show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. John really loved Bourdain, and they kind of reminded me of each other. John passed the day after Thanksgiving, 2017. Bourdain passed in June of 2018. I’m sure they are together in the big kitchen in the sky.

When John and I were roommates many moons ago at the Villa Carlotta in Hollywood, California, there was a lovely French café called La Poubelle, and the owner, Jacqueline, made the best chicken crepes I have ever had. Jacqueline was good friends with my neighbor, Wally Coover, and we often had crepes at her restaurant. Jacqueline and John did not get along at all. Her daughter, Francois, has now taken over the restaurant, and the crepes are no longer on the menu. When I was thinking about John, and living at the Villa, I thought of those crepes and how delicious they were. I thought I could incorporate some of those memories into my casserole.

Asian Cucumber Salad

Asian Cucumber Salad is spicy and refreshing, perfect for your Asian feast, or just by itself. Experience a burst of freshness with a delightful fusion of flavors that showcases the vibrant essence of Asian cuisine.

Stovetop Smoker Highway Chicken

Apartment dwellers, rejoice! Yes, you, too, can savor the magical taste of smoked food, right from your apartment, no need to go outside. Yup, that’s right, smoking food on top of your stove and not having the smoke alarm blaring. All you need is a stockpot with a pasta insert, some foil, some wood chips, some protein, and a little bit of patience.

The recipe I am referring to here is one I did a while ago on the Weber grill, indirect method and I was curious if this method would give me similar results. I am happy to say it did. Feel free to use the Weber version of Highway Chicken if you want to go this outdoors.

Seefood and Bows (Seafood and Farfalle)

That’s no misspelling when I made this dish the first time, I wanted to give it a catchy name, hence Seefood and Bows. It’s actually Seafood and Farfalle, an Italian bow-shaped pasta.

I use a light lemony dressing over this. What makes the dressing stand out is the
Sunny Paris seasoning blend from Penzey’s spices. You will find yourself using this wonderful spice in all kinds of foods. It stars shallots and chives, plus pepper and herbs.

You can use almost any shellfish, but I prefer shrimp and crab. No need to bust the bank, Krab works just fine in this, and you don’t need much. If you want to go fancy, you can add lobster or King crab.

Pork Burrito Salad

This was intended to be a Toastada with a beautiful shell, but, you know, you come home from work, you’re hungry, and that high falutin fiesta shell goes out the window. No problem, this was actually better because you could eat some, then pick it up and eat it like a burrito. Of course, you could put anything you want in here, chicken, beef, tongue, fish, or completely meatless.

I really like what I call Whole Meal Salads in the summer. It means usually not having to turn your oven on at all. If you want meat, you can get meat already cooked, like rotisserie chicken that I used in my Curried Chicken Salad. Have you noticed, it’s been a real summer of salads. That’s good, salads are healthy, depending on what you put in them. I try to keep high-end salads that have blue cheese dressing for special occasions, and keep everyone else with a little oil and vinegar, if anything.

Curried Chicken Salad with Mango Chutney

I have always loved curry, and to go with it, Major Grey’s Mango Chutney – I can eat that chutney right out of the jar. Curried chicken is often made in our house. My son loves the curry, but I have to be careful of the chutney, once he knows it’s in the fridge, I might not see it again. When I make curry at home, I put little bowls with garnishes, coconut, raisins, apple, and tomatoes.

Chutney is a condiment and comes in many varieties. I prefer Major Grey’s and it’s available in most stores. Find out more about chutney.

Sounds like a salad, doesn’t it? Yup, those ingredients make a very nice salad. Use a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket because if you don’t want to heat up your kitchen. Serve it on the bed of thinly sliced lettuce and you are good to go on a hot summer night. A tall, icy glass of beer, or iced tea for the younger set, is very good with this.

Chinese Lemon Chicken

I love Chinese Lemon Chicken. It is slightly sweet but tastes very fresh. The addition of a little cayenne makes this recipe sing. Baking is a great idea if you are averse to frying, but I prefer the crispness of the fried.

This couldn’t have been easier. I love Lemon Chicken and this turns out just lovely.

Beans in the Instant Pot

I couldn’t help myself. Everyone I knew had one of these new Instant Pots, and everyone was going on about how wonderful they were. Even my therapist had one! So, I looked up to see exactly what it was, and when I realized it was in fact an enhanced pressure cooker, I got kind of scared.

What’s for Dinner, Mom?

My mother was getting the cheese out of the refrigerator while the pressure cooker was happily bubbling on the stove. I walked in to ask my mother if I could have a glass of whatever (probably milk), when suddenly, there was a loud explosion, a red flash, and as we looked up, there was red spaghetti all over the kitchen walls. If my mother had been by the pot, she probably would have been seriously injured if not killed. I swear we picked spaghetti off that kitchen wall for days. It was kind of fun… but, that’s how you get a phobia about pressure cookers.

Times, They Are a Changin’

Despite being deathly afraid of the contraptions, I realized that technology must have made them safer. After all, if we could send a man to the moon in nothing more than a glorified tin can, then why couldn’t we have beans in an instant pot, and not perish. I got a little mini pot just so I could play around and get used to it. The 6 quart, I was thinking about getting is large, but it’s only two of us, and this little guy, just over a quart, makes more than enough for us.

Because I don’t have to heat up a lot of other pots or dirty a lot of dishes, I really appreciate this little pot. Just put this one on sauté, add the vegetables, sauté them, then add the beans, liquid, cover, and I’m good to go. Everything everyone said about how great these pressure cookers are was right. They are wonderful. But, we’re here to talk about Beans in the Instant Pot, so let’s do that.

Hackfleisch Salat (Meat Salad)

Hackfleisch Salat (Meat Salad) is was a salad I loved as a child when my family was stationed in Germany. It’s actually pretty simple, and very filling. It’s perfect for a hot day, or a nice picnic in the park.

My father was a Major in the U.S. Army. We were stationed in Kaiserslautern. My mother bought a lot of foods at the PX, but we didn’t go very often. The PX was similar to a Costco, where military members could get food and goods, shipped from America, in Germany. So, if you really wanted Cheez Whiz, you could get it at the PX, because your local corner store did not have it.

But, when we were living there in the 1960’s, we had a local department store called Seifenmeyer. Downstairs was the deli, upstairs was the perfume department, second floor was clothing, and the top had a fancy restaurant. In the deli, they had excellent bologna, and this is what my mother used to make her salad.