Kentucky Hot Brown

Kentucky Hot Brown

Kentucky Hot Brown is one of my favorite things my momma has made throughout my life. Traditionally, it is an open-faced turkey type sandwich and has no broccoli or cauliflower.  My momma added them to the dish to get us to eat more veggies.  I think it makes the dish!  She also prepares this dish casserole style because it is more efficient for family style eating.  I think the tomato is usually baked on top as well… I like to add fresh tomato to the top of each serving:)

Ingredients:

6 slices of toasted and buttered bread

Cooked turkey breast, sliced 1/8 in. thick

8 slices, cooked bacon

2 cups broccoli florets, broken up

2 cups cauliflower, broken up

Sharpe cheddar cheese sauce, recipe follows

Sliced fresh tomatoes

Directions:

Butter a 13x9 dish.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Toast all the slices of bread and butter one side of each.  Place the bread butter side up covering the bottom of the dish. Layer slices or pieces of turkey breast over the toast.  Next, layer the bacon.  I like to slightly steam the broccoli and cauliflower before adding them the dish (it gives them a head start on cooking).  After layering the veggies, pour your cheese sauce over the top!  Bake for about 30 min, or until it is bubbly and the veggies are you desired doneness.  Serve with fresh slices of tomato on top.

Sharpe Cheddar Cheese Sauce:

I never measure when I make a cheese sauce, so these are guesses…

2-3 Tbsp. butter

2-3 Tbsp. Flour

2-3 cups milk

Salt and Pepper

A bit of dried mustard (optional)

2-3 cups sharpe cheddar cheese (grated)

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add flour to the melted butter and stir and let cook for a minute or so.  Slowly, whisk in the milk and stir over medium heat until it thickens.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Then, add the grated cheddar and stir until melted and smooth.

Recipe shared by Mandy.

Mandy's Lemon Chicken

Mandy’s Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

3 Tbsp. minced garlic

¼ cup EVOO

½ cup chicken stock

2 Tbsp. lemon zest

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

½  tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

Salt and Pepper

Shallow dish of flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (maybe ½ cup of flour).

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Butterfly each chicken breast and cut into 2 separate thin pieces of chicken (giving you 8 thin breasts).  Heat a large skillet with EVOO over med-high heat.  Lightly flour chicken and brown each side in the skillet, working in batches.  Transfer browned chicken to a 13x9 baking dish.  In the same skillet, over medium heat, add a little more EVOO (if needed) and cook the garlic for a couple minutes.  Add chicken stock, lemon zest, juice, and seasonings and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  It should thicken a bit.  Pour over chicken in the 13x9 dish.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

I love to serve this with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli… both taste so good with lemon.  When you serve it, spoon sauce over the chicken! I like to double the sauce.

Recipe shared by Mandy.

Spicy Baked Fries

We had turkey burgers tonight and I wanted to make oven fries with a spicy flavor. I found this recipe on a blog called Tastefully Julie. I doubled the recipe for our family of 5 using just regular to smallish-sized potatoes and we had some leftover, but we wouldn't have had enough if I hadn't doubled it. These fries are amazing! All of our children loved them. 

 Spicy Baked Fries

Photo from Tastefully Julie

Ingredients

• 3 medium russet potatoes 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (or double for a bolder flavor. Also try adding a pinch of cayenne for more of a bite)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Slice potatoes into “hand-cut” size fries as pictured.
3. Place sliced potatoes in a gallon size Ziploc bag and add the remaining ingredients. (edit: I just put them in a bowl and tossed everything together)
4. Coat potatoes with the spices and oil by shaking bag well.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread potatoes out in a single layer. (edit: no parchment paper here. I just sprayed the baking sheet with nonstick spray. Also, since I doubled it I used two trays and just rotated them)
6. Bake 20 minutes. Flip the fries over and crank oven up to 450.
7. Cook 10 minutes, flip again and cook 10 more minutes or until potatoes are crisp and not burnt. Watch carefully during the last 10 minutes.

Prep time:  10 minutes, Cook time:  40 minutes, Total time:  50 minutes, 

Recipe shared by Carolyn.

From The Pioneer Woman Blog

Monkey Muffins

Added by Ree on December 3, 2009 in Breads, Sweet Rolls
(Orange words are changes by Ree.)

Prep Time 10 Minutes Cook Time 15 Minutes

Servings 12

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• Leftover Bread Dough (or Refrigerated Biscuit Dough, Cut Into Thirds) (I used Rhodes, of course!)
• Butter
• Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
• Sweetened, Condensed Milk (I made a powdered sugar glaze.)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three into each muffin tin.

Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon.

Allow dough to rise, if applicable, or just go ahead and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. (I put the pan in the refrigerator overnight and allowed it to raise slowly while I slept. Then, in the morning, I put the pan in the cold oven and turned it on to 375 degrees and set the timer for 30 minutes. It turned out great!)

Remove from oven and immediately drizzle plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one. Be generous! (I made up a powdered sugar glaze and drizzled it over the tops.  We like the more traditional cinnamon roll taste.)

Allow rolls to sit for a little while to absorb sweet, sticky milk.

Scoop out with a spoon and serve to hungry humans.

We loved these rolls. They were muffin shaped but cinnamon roll delicious!

Recipe shared by Robin.

Oven Fajitas

We love fajitas, and I love this recipe because you just chop up everything, put it in a 9x13 pan, and bake it in the oven--no standing in front of a skillet. Yet the flavor is still smokey and delicious like they are from a skillet. The recipe comes from the blog budget bytes, which I've mentioned before as one of my favorite blogs.

Oven Fajitas (recipe from Budget Bytes)

Fajita Seasoning Ingredients:

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 Tbsp paprika

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Tbsp corn starch

Fajita Ingredients: 

2 small (or 1 lg.) onion

2 medium green bell peppers

1 medium red bell pepper

1 lb. chicken breast (to make it vegetarian replace with portobello mushrooms)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium lime

8 (6-inch) tortillas

1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

1/4 bunch cilantro (optional)
Cheddar cheese (optional)

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients for the fajita seasoning in a small bowl and set aside (chili powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, sugar, salt, and corn starch). 

STEP 2: Cut the onion and bell peppers into 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide strips. Place them in a large 9x13 inch casserole dish. Slice the chicken breast (or mushrooms) into very thin strips and add it to the casserole dish with the vegetables.

STEP 3: Sprinkle the seasoning over the meat and vegetables. Drizzle the vegetable oil over everything and then use your hands to toss the ingredients until everything is well coated in oil and seasoning. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, stirring once half way through. Squeeze the juice from half of the lime over top of the meat and vegetables after it comes out of the oven. 

STEP 4: Scoop a small amount of meat and vegetables into the center of each tortilla. Top with a few sprigs of cilantro, a dollop of sour cream, cheddar cheese and an extra squeeze of lime, if desired. 

Recipe shared by Carolyn.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Photo and recipe courtesy of Our Best Bites. Original post found here.

This is the best spaghetti and meatballs I've ever had. It's very fresh with lots of diced tomatoes and onions. Although we've never done this, we think it would be awesome if you want to make it meatless and just add sauteed mushrooms.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Recipe by Our Best Bites

Italian Meatballs:

1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 lb. Italian sausage (some of my kids don’t like this, so I now just use all ground beef)
1/4 c. dry bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. dehydrated onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or the canned stuff is fine, but of course not as good as fresh)
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. parsley
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt

Turn on the oven broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. 

Gently combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Shape the meat mixture into meatballs. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet. 

Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for 7-10 minutes or until the meatballs are becoming brown and fragrant. If you’re going to be simmering the meatballs in soup or sauce, it’s best to cook them until they’re just brown so they can finish cooking in the sauce or soup and release some of their flavor into the cooking liquid. 

Sauce:

1 large onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1-2 Tbs Olive oil
2 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
16 oz. tomato sauce
1-2 Tbsp. sugar (to taste)
2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of baking soda (to help neutralize the acid)

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add remaining sauce ingredients and combine well. Bring to a simmer and add meatballs. Simmer on low, uncovered, until desired consistency is reached–about 25-30 minutes for a sauce that’s of medium consistency. Serves 8-10. 

FREEZER MEAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Prepare meatballs as directed, but divide the meatballs among two freezer-safe containers. Prepare sauce through adding all ingredients to the pan, but don’t simmer; rather, divide the sauce among the two containers. Freeze until ready to use. When ready to use, place in slow cooker and cook on low for about 5-6 hours, although you’ll want to keep an eye on the sauce and make sure it’s not burning if you go for the whole 6 hours.

Recipe shared by Carolyn.