Amazing Skillet Potatoes

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is Adventures in All Things Food.  Andrea lives on a large fruit and vegetable farm in Oregon with her husband and their three adorable kids,  She and the kids grow some beautiful produce in their backyard garden, and she loves good food without a lot of fuss.  Because, obviously she is extremely busy, but still wants to feed her family well. 

Quite a few of Andrea's recipes caught my eye.  Here are just a few:

• Zucchini and Quinoa Salad - not the right time of year, but I will definitely have to try this when summer rolls around, and I start getting zucchini from the garden.
• Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
• Cherry-Apple Cobbler with Sweet Vanilla Custard
• Zucchini Spice Cookies 

When I saw these skillet potatoes, I knew I had to try them.   There is just something about the combination of mushrooms and spinach that I am a bit addicted to, and these just looked so good.  The only thing I changed about this recipe was to add an onion, because everything needs an onion!  But really, I think these potatoes would be wonderful with or without the onion.

Amazing Skillet Potatoes
adapted from Adventures in All Things Food

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 4 russet potatoes, cubed (pre-cooked and chilled overnight)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 2 T butter
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 grated cheddar cheese

 Directions:

1.  Heat cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Drizzle some olive oil into skillet and saute onions and mushrooms until tender and starting to brown.  Add spinach and allow to wilt.  Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. Drizzle a little more olive oil in skillet and add cold cubed potatoes to skillet.  Allow potatoes to brown on the bottom and then add the butter.  When butter starts to melt, turn potatoes and allow them to crisp up on the other side.  Once they are nice and golden, stir the mushroom mixture back in.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Turn the heat off; sprinkle cheddar on top, and cover with a lid until the cheese melts.  Serve immediately.

I've often relied on fried potatoes as an easy dinner when I don't know what else to fix.  Heat some oil in a pan and toss in some potatoes, onions, and sometimes peppers, and you've got a yummy and satisfying meal.  These particular potatoes don't quite work that way.  Oh, they're definitely yummy and satisfying, and they are awesome for dinner.  But they do take a little planning ahead because the potatoes need to be cooked ahead and refrigerated, so when they go into the skillet all they really need to do is warm and brown instead of cook completely.  That extra step is most definitely worth it.  The flavor is wonderful.

And when I added the butter to the skillet?  Over the top, heavenly smells in my kitchen!  These potatoes were just wonderful.  Even after I was stuffed from eating so much, I just could not stop picking individual pieces of potato out of the skillet and eating them.  So good.  And then the leftovers?  Just as good.  I heated them up and then scrambled some eggs with them, and added some additional cheese to the top.  They were perfect!

I will definitely be making these again.

An InLinkz Link-up

Chicken with Balsamic Mushroom Sauce

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Baking & Creating with Avril.  I love that her recipes are "Nothing too fancy but always made with love and happiness!"  A few of the recipes that caught my eye were her Pumpkies, Rustic Tomato Tart, and Skillet Granola. They all sound great, and the pictures that go along with Avril's recipes are mouth watering.  I finally decided that this Chicken with Balsamic Mushroom Sauce just really had to be made.

Chicken with Balsamic Mushroom Sauce
from baking & creating with Avril

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. pasta (I used Penne)
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp oil
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 Tbsp butter
• Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While pasta cooks, slice chicken breast into strips.  Mix flour and salt and add chicken slices; toss to coat.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat . Add coated chicken and cook until it begins to brown and meat is no longer pink in center.  Add mushrooms, diced onion and garlic and saute for 4 minutes or until lightly browned.
4.  Add broth, balsamic vinegar and thyme; bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes to thicken slightly and blend the flavors together.  Stir in butter until melted.
5.  Add a ladle of pasta water to the chicken and sauce; reserve additional pasta water before draining (add to leftovers, if there are any).  Stir drained pasta into skillet and stir to coat; simmer for a few minutes to bring it all together; add additional pasta water if necessary.  Serve with Parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper to sprinkle on top.

Avril's recipe involved a few more steps, but I like simple, so I just cooked everything together in one skillet.  (except the pasta)  It turned out really good.  My husband and I both really liked it.  He even ranked it up alongside his favorite pasta dish from The Olive Garden - just with chicken.  I'd say that is high praise.

Any leftovers heat up really well, and this is just as good, if not better, the second time.  You'll want to add some reserved pasta water to your leftovers to keep the pasta from soaking up all the moisture in the sauce.

An InLinkz Link-up

Mushroom Florentine Pasta

We had this for dinner recently. Yum!  Seriously, all these flavors are so good together.  There's just something about mushrooms and spinach, and creamy pasta sauce.

Mushroom Florentine Pasta
from she wears many hats

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces linguine pasta (or equal amount of another pasta)
• 3 T flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 3 T olive oil
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 ounces smoked Gouda cheese, shredded (if you don't have smoke Gouda, plain will be fine, or use Gruyere)
• 4 cups (or more) spinach leaves

Directions:

1. Begin cooking pasta according to package instructions.
2. Whisk together flour, chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 6 minutes. Add minced garlic and sauté for 2 more minutes, until garlic just begins to brown.
4. Whisk flour, chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper mixture into mushrooms and garlic. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
5. Add shredded cheese and stir until cheese has melted.
6. Mix in spinach; stir and cook until wilted.
7. Add a ladle or two of pasta water to skillet, then drain pasta and add to skillet; toss to coat.

We had some grilled chicken with this and topped it with some fresh ground pepper. It was absolutely perfect. I will definitely be making this again.

A Couple of Pizzas

I made a couple pizzas for dinner this week.  They both turned out pretty good!

 And we have a whole pizza - some pieces from each - left over for another meal!  Here are the toppings for both pizzas.  No measurements really, because pizza is just like that.  You pile on the toppings until it looks right to you.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

• Barbecue sauce
• 1 boneless chicken thigh, grilled
• Sliced onion
• Sliced mushrooms
• Cheese - Mozzarella and Cheddar

Roast Beef Pizza

• Garlic Ranch Sauce - Ranch dressing mixed with minced garlic
• Parmesan cheese
• Leftover roast beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Sliced onion
• Sliced mushrooms
• Asparagus pieces
• Cheese - Mozzarella and Cheddar, crumbled Queso Fresco

1. Spread sauce on crust, sprinkle Parmesan on the Garlic Ranch sauce.  Add toppings and cheese. 
2. Bake pizzas at 450° F for 15 minutes or until crust is done and cheese is melted and browned.  
3. Remove from oven and let sit for at least 5 minutes before cutting.

I am still trying to find the perfect Pizza crust recipe or technique or whatever the secret is to that perfect crust.  This one wasn't too bad, but there's definitely room for improvement.  The toppings, on the other hand, were very yummy!

Easy Fettuccine Cacciatore

This recipe was on the same page of the Kraft Food & Family magazine with the Beef Noodle Bowl, which I now make quite regularly.  And this week I finally got around to trying this one.  I had mushrooms that needed used and a green pepper in the fridge, too, so it was the perfect time.

This is a very simple recipe and very tasty.

Easy Fettuccine Cacciatore
adapted from Kraft Recipes

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. fettuccine
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 T dried basil
• 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup Italian Dressing

Directions:

1. Cook fettuccine as directed on package.
2. While fettuccine is cooking, heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 to 6 min. or until no longer pink. Add sliced peppers, onions, and mushrooms; cook 3 min., stirring occasionally. Add basil and cook for a minute or two, until fragrant.  Stir in tomatoes and dressing; simmer on medium-low heat 5 minutes or until chicken is done.
3. When pasta is cooked, add some of the pasta water to the chicken and vegetable mix.  Drain pasta and toss with chicken mixture; simmer a couple minutes to blend flavors.

I added the sliced onion, because the original recipe didn't call for any onion - and it just needed some onion.  (doesn't everything?)

Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese, serve with a vegetable and some crusty bread, and you have a very delicious meal.   I think I'll be making this one on a regular basis, too.

Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Pasta

I know there's a site that lets you enter the ingredients you have in your fridge/pantry to come up with recipes that use those ingredients.  In fact, I think I might have even posted something about it on this blog.   Somewhere.  But I don't use that site - or any site like it.  I just type the ingredients I have, plus the word 'recipe' into search in my browser, and I end up with a whole list of recipes to choose from.

Yesterday I typed in 'chicken spinach mushroom recipe' - because I had cooked chicken, spinach, and mushrooms in the fridge that needed used, of course -  and found this one from the Betty Crocker website.  So, of course I pinned it to Pinterest!  And made it for dinner tonight.  Except that I forgot to add the chicken - didn't even think about it until I was eating!  But, you know what?  It was really good even without the chicken.

Source: bettycrocker.com via Anna on Pinterest

Here's the recipe:

Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Pasta

Ingredients:

• 8 oz spaghetti, cooked, reserving 1/3 cup pasta water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1-1/2 cups loosely packed spinach
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 cup cubed, cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken works great)
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
• Salt
• Pepper 
• 1/3 cup reserved pasta water

Directions:

1. In large skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Cook mushrooms, onions and spinach in butter until vegetables are softened and spinach is wilted, about 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Stir in garlic. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute until the pasty taste cooks off. Add the half-and-half and stir slowly as sauce thickens. Add the chicken to skillet; cook until hot, stirring occasionally. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add cooked spaghetti and reserved pasta water. Stir to combine.

I used Angel Hair pasta, because that's what I had.  I didn't measure the mushrooms or spinach, just used a little more than half an 8-oz. package of mushrooms - that would be 5 ounces, right? -  and washed a bunch of spinach.  It looked like more than the 1-1/2 cups the recipe called for.  I think I could have used more - spinach cooks way down, so I think it would be hard to use too much. 

And, I forgot the chicken.  But, like I said, it was good even without the chicken.  I did not measure the pasta water that I added, but it was definitely more than 1/3 cup, so do not drain the pasta and pour the water down the drain until you're sure the sauce and pasta are the right consistency - and then save some more because it will thicken up.  I think it's better with a little extra liquid and not too thick, at least that's my preference.

We had some leftovers, so I'm planning to add the chicken then, or at least some chicken.  I'm also thinking of adding a can of diced tomatoes to change it up a bit.  I got some diced tomatoes with rosemary and oregano that ought to be just the thing.

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