Blackened Chicken Alfredo and The Secret Recipe Club

It's that time once again!  The most anticipated day of the month: Reveal Day on The Secret Recipe Club!  Click on over HERE to learn more about the Secret Recipe Club.

My assigned blog this month was Plain Chicken and boy was I ever in for a treat!  I'm Steph's newest follower!!  Do you ever read blogs when you're hungry and end up bookmarking darn near everything you see?  That totally happened here.  There is a smorgasbord of delicious looking recipes over there, but given the name of the blog I decided to hunt down a chicken recipe.  Actually I'm featuring two of her recipes today!  I have two reasons for doing so: 1.) It's impossible to select only one recipe when faced with so many amazing choices, and 2.) I could never condone Alfredo sauce from a jar (sorry!!)  :)

First things first. This blackened chicken was really good!  I didn't have time to marinate the chicken for the full 8 hours (poor planning on my part) but since I was using thinly sliced chicken breasts it wasn't a problem at all.  They turned out plenty flavorful.  I've never made blackened chicken before, but I'd definitely make this one again.  The worcestershire flavor was a tad strong, so I'd back off of it just a little on the next go 'round. 

Secondly, the alfredo!  It's been years since I've tried the jarred sauce, but I wasn't a fan back then.  While looking through Steph's recipes, I ran across one for lite alfredo sauce that was so completely different than any I'd seen before so I knew I had to give it a try.  I'm a fairly die-hard alfredo fan and I could totally get on board with this lite recipe.  The ricotta cheese definitely gives it a slightly different taste, but definitely still good, and the texture is creamy and perfect. 

Try these two together! You'll be glad you did!!




Blackened Chicken
Recipe from Plain Chicken

1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp dried tarragon (I ended up using Italian Seasoning in place of thyme, oregano & tarragon)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 chicken breast, pounded to an even thickness

Directions
Combine first 11 ingredients in a heavy-duty ziplock bag; add chicken. Seal and marinate in refrigerator at least 8 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Remove chicken from bag and discard marinade. Cook chicken in skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes on each side or until well browned. Slice chicken diagonally and set aside.

Lite Alfredo Sauce
Recipe from Plain Chicken

Blend2 cups 1% or skim milk
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2/3 cup 2% Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Heat
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
black pepper
reserved pasta water

1 lb pasta, cooked and drained

Directions
Blend milk, ricotta, yogurt, onion, garlic, salt and nutmeg in a blender or food processor until smooth. At this point, the mixture may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Heat oil in large saute pan over medium heat.  Whisk in flour until smooth.  Whisk in blended mixture until smooth.  Simmer sauce until it thickens, about 8 minutes.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper.  If the sauce gets too thick, thin it out with a little pasta water.  Stir in cooked pasta. Top with the Blackened Chicken to serve.

Mandarin Orange Muffins

My boys are muffin fiends!  When I want to be the best mom in the whole world? I bake them muffins of course.  And lemme tell ya, a dozen muffins do not last long in this house.  I fear the day I have to feed two teenage boys! Anywho. When I came across the recipe for these muffins, I knew I had to make them.  Because my kids also love mandarin oranges.  Heck, who doesn't love mandarin oranges?  

The use of Bisquick in this recipes makes these muffins pretty easy to whip up.  No mixer required.  And this was the first time I've made muffins without the cupcake liners.  I've seen it done before, but I was always skeptical they'd never come out.  I was wrong; they popped right out beautifully!

The cinnamon-sugar topping stole the show.  The 2 yr old was particularly impressed.  He ate his from the top down.

Mandarin Orange Muffins

Recipe from Talking Dollars and Cents

1-1/2 cups all-purpose baking mix
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 11-oz can of mandarin oranges, drained and diced

Topping:
Spray butter (I didn't have this so I just used some melted butter and a pastry brush)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat muffin tins with non-stick spray.

Combine baking mix, sugar, nutmeg and allspice in a large bowl (Bowl #1).
Stir egg, butter, milk and mandarin oranges together in another bowl (Bowl #2).
Stir liquid ingredients (Bowl #2) into dry ingredients (Bowl #1).
Spoon batter into muffin tins filling each tin 3/4 full and making sure orange bits are evenly distributed.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Combine sugar and cinnamon in cereal-size bowl.
While muffins are still warm, spray tops with butter and roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture.
Makes 10-12 muffins.

Black pepper and lime fries

I've been drooling over a picture of these fries on Pinterest for a couple of months now.  Admittedly, the Pinterest picture of these fries is more appetizing than mine, but hey, I work with what I've got :) 

A potato recipe is never a hard sell for me, lover of all things potatoes, just so long as we're talking about the white ones.  (All bets are off when it comes to the sweet potato!)  And this recipe's an even easier sell because there's no hard work involved.  Unless you count washing the potatoes; that's a little tedious. 

Parmesan cheese? Lime?  Hello brilliant!  I served these fries with some Italian-seasoned baked chicken breasts.  They actually shared the oven; fries on bottom rack, chicken on top.  Happy campers at the homestead this evening.  Here's the roll call:  the 2 yr old ate a couple (Score!), the 7 yr old ate his with ketchup ::shrugs shoulders::, and I possibly ate two-ish potatoes (but who's counting?).

Black pepper and lime fries
Recipe from Framed Cooks

1 1/2 lbs small potatoes, cut into wedges
3 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
1 lime
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

In a medium bowl toss the potato wedges with the olive oil, a few big pinches of sea salt and five or six cranks of the pepper grinder. Arrange the potatoes cut side down on a baking sheet. Place in a 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, tossing the potatoes with a metal spatula half way through.

While the potatoes are baking, zest the lime and cut it into a few wedges.

When the potatoes are cooked through, remove them from the oven. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a big shallow bowl, or on a platter, drizzled with lime juice and dusted with the lime zest and Parmesan

Semi Wordless Wednesday

  Oh, even yes-er! 

photo from Pinterest

Green Chile Chicken

I have a thing for green chiles.  From whence it came, I do not know.  But if green chiles are in the ingredient list, then you've got my attention! 

The original recipe calls for a can of whole green chiles.  I'm not sure what the deal is around these parts, but whole green chiles are unheard of except in an institutional-sized can.  Umm, no, even I don't need that many.  I figured this recipe would work just as nicely with the chopped green chiles, which, mercifully, come in a small can. 

I know what you're thinking. I could have grabbed a couple of fresh chiles from the produce dept, broiled them in the oven to char the outside, then placed them in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for 15 minutes until the skins were ready to be removed.  Yeah, it crossed my mind.  Thanks, but no thanks :)

I scaled this recipe back to half (because I knew better than to expect my kids to eat it) and instead of splitting each breast into two pieces I just used two thin chicken breasts.

Green Chile Chicken

Recipe source: For the Love of Cooking

4 chicken breasts
2 eggs
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1-2 7 oz. cans whole mild green chiles halved (I went with the chopped green chiles)
1 2.25 oz. can of sliced black olives
1/2 cup of cheddar, shredded
1/4 cup of monterey jack or cotjia cheese, shredded
1-2 tbsp of mayonnaise (I use low fat)

Directions

Mix eggs & spices into a bowl. Trim chicken of any fat & slice each breast into 2 chunks. Dip chicken into egg mixture & add to a hot pan sprayed with cooking spray (or olive oil). Cook 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and place in a baking dish. Cover each chunk of chicken with a green chile half. Mix cheese and mayonnaise in bowl. Sprinkle on top of chicken and green chiles. Top with black olives. Cook for 25 minutes at 350 degrees

Nutella Cookies

Am I on the late train again?  Looks like everyone has blogged about a Nutella food creation except me.  (Well, unless you count my Nutella-banana Caterpillar!)  And it's no secret that I hate being left out  :)  I don't remember exactly what prompted me to purchase my first jar of Nutella, but I do remember falling in love with it!  I L.O.V.E it on Fuji apples or on a whole wheat Eggo waffle!  Yet, I had never baked with it.  Enter Nutella Cookies. 

This recipe is basically a chocolate chip cookie dough with the addition of some Nutella mixed in.  Great combo if you ask me.  The 7 yr old and 2 yr old were also in agreement. 

I found this recipe over at The Daily Smash and I learned something wonderful about freezing cookie dough.  And this excites me because most of you are aware of my well documented love affair with my freezer.  Rather than freeze any leftover cookies, she recommends freezing the dough into balls which can be baked fresh whenever you'd like.  Genius, right?  I used my cookie scoop to drop dough on a pan (that will fit in my freezer!) then, once frozen, transferred them over to a Ziploc bag.  Now they won't stick together and you can bake as few or as many as you'd like.



Nutella Cookies

Recipe from The Daily Smash

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup nutella
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375

Mix together flour baking soda and salt in large bowl. Set aside

In mixing bowl cream together butter , brown sugar and white sugar

Add eggs and vanilla mix well

Slowly add flour mixture until combined

Mix in nutella and then chocolate chips

Drop by large tablespoon fulls on to greased cookie sheet

Bake for 9 min and then let cool on sheet for one min then transfer to cooling rack.

Semi Wordless Wednesday

Just a little project my mom and I whipped up over the weekend.

If you are a perfectionist, do not try this at home :)

And, yes, every time a certain 7 yr old slams his door I need to straighten the frames a little :)



Banana Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

Miriam Barton has a new cookbook coming out called Meatless Meals for Meat Eaters.  I don't remember how I stumbled across her blog, but I've been fascinated by it ever since.  My kids absolutely adore muffins, so I thought these would be a great first recipe to try out.  And, as luck would have it, the blueberries at the store were humongous the day I went shopping.  The 7 yr old also adores humongous blueberries!

Check out the ingredient list going into these muffins. Nothing but good stuff!  Not to mention my house was smelling uh-mazing while these were cooking.   My kids literally scarfed these down as though they were eating cake or something. 

One small thing.  If any ingredient is even remotely exotic, the chances of finding it around these parts is zero, zilch, nil, nada.  You get the picture.  I had to make a couple of minor adjustments, but no biggie.  Also, the recipe is written as though the topping is optional.  Trust me, you want the topping!!  :)

Banana Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from Meatless Meals for Meat Eaters

3 mashed bananas

1 cup spelt flour* (I used All Purpose flour)

1 ¼ cup rolled oats

½ cup agave nectar (Couldn't find this)

¼ cup honey (I doubled the honey to make up for the agave nectar)

1 egg

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup blueberries

Optional topping:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

¼ cup flour

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 325.  Line a cupcake pan with muffin liners.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together all of the ingredients except the blueberries.  Gently fold in the blueberries at the last. 

Fill each liner until almost full with batter.

If you are making them with the topping, put the ingredients together in a small bowl and cut them together using two butter knives or a pastry blender.  Sprinkle and gently press the topping onto the tops of each muffin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean