Mushroom Marsala Smothered Steak & Polenta.

Mushroom Marsala Smothered Steak & Polenta

For the Steak:

1.5 lb Flank Steak (2-3)

2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp Minced Onion

1 tbsp EVOO

S&P to taste

Season your uncooked Steak with Garlic Powder, Minced Onion, and S&P.  Add Olive Oil and heat on Medium-High heat.  After your pan is hot, add your Steak and cook about 5 minutes per side or to desired 'doneness.'  I'm all about super well done, which makes me a rarity in the cooking world.

For the Polenta:

recipe by: Giada De Laurentis

6 cups Cold Water

2 tbsp Salt

1 3/4 cups Yellow Cornmeal

3 tbsp Unsalted Butter

My Polenta got a little bit chunky using this exact recipe.  What I would do is bring 5 cups of Cold Water to a boil and use the remaining cup to mix with the Yellow Cornmeal before slowly pouring it into the boiling water.  This will prevent chunking. 

For the Mushroom Marsala Sauce:

2 cups Cremini Mushrooms (or your fav kind)

1 cup Marsala Wine

1 tsp Thyme

1 tbsp EVOO

Heat your EVOO in a pan and add Mushrooms.  Cook until soft, then add your Thyme and allow to cook for about 1 minute.  Add your Marsala and simmer until the sauce reduces.

Pork w/ Marsala Sauce and Mushrooms

Pork w/ Marsala Sauce and Mushrooms

Recipe adapted from Rachel Ray's Look and Cook book

1- 1.5 lbs Pork Chops

1 box Spaghetti Noodles

1 small container Cremini Mushrooms (thinly sliced)

1 cup Marsala

1 cup Chicken Stock

1/2 cup Flour + 2 tbsp

4 tbsp Butter

4 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

1/2 cup Parsley

S&P to taste

EVOO

Boil water for Spaghetti and cook until al dente.

Coat frying pan with EVOO and turn to Med-High heat.  Allow the pan to get hot before adding your Pork.  Cut your Pork Chops into equal sized cubes and season with S & P generously.  Dredge the Pork Chops in the 1/2 cup Flour until evenly coated.  When pan is hot, add your Pork and allow to brown on all sides, cooking for 4-5 minutes.

When Pork has cooked, put in a bowl/on a dish and set aside.  Add your Butter to the skillet and your Mushrooms after they've been sliced.  Allow the Mushrooms to brown about 7-8 minutes.  Add your Garlic to the pan a few minutes after the Mushrooms.  Add Marsala and Chicken Stock and bring the sauce to a bubble.  Add your remaining 2 tbsp of Flour and mix itno sauce.  Add your Pork back into your sauce and mix evenly. 

Top with Parsley and Serve with your Spaghetti Noodles!

Totes delish!

Apricot Glazed Chicken w/ Cheesy Bacon Biscuits + FAIL.

I made Easy Peasy Beef Stroganoff and all was going well until...

...I used the wrong side of the pepper and put about 1/4 cup in the dish before I realized what I was doing.  What makes this even worse is that I already made this mistake just days before.  I am a self-proclaimed pepper lover, but the excess made the dish totally inedible to me.  Big Steven, however, chowed down because he can eat just about anything, which is great for my self-esteem.  He did be sure to write a big 'NO' in permanent marker on the large pepper side for future reference.  What a doll.  I managed to refill my pepper shaker to avoid any future issues.

Now to the good stuff:

Apricot Glazed Chicken

1.5 lbs Chicken Breast
1 jar Apricot Preserves (12 oz)
1/4 cup Water (cold)
2 tbsp Flour
S&P to taste
Poultry Seasoning to taste
EVOO

Drizzle a pan with EVOO and heat to Medium Heat.

Season your chicken with S&P and Poultry Seasoning.  Add to the heated pan and cook for about 5 minutes on each side.  Remove Chicken from the pan and transfer to a new pan (or rinse the old one) to avoid that yucky greasy chicken taste. 

Pour Apricot Preserves over Chicken and keep on Medium Heat.  Mix together the Flour and Water and slowly pour into Apricot and Chicken, wisking the whole time to avoid lumps.  This creates a sort of Apricot Gravy.

Reduce heat to Low and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Cheesy Bacon Biscuits

stole the idea from Rachel Ray, my bff;

The difference between my Cheesy Bacon Biscuits and Rachel's is that she used Jiffy boxed powder and I used refrigerated biscuit dough.

1 can Refrigerated Biscuit Dough (10 biscuits)

1-1.5 cups Shredded Cheese (your choice)

8 slices of bacon; cooked and chopped

Mix your Shredded Cheese with your cooked and chopped Bacon and fold into each Refrigerated Biscuit.  Cook according to package and VOILA!

Easy and delicious.  These were the star of the show!

Honey Mustard Baked Chicken. NOM NOM!



still working on learning all the cool settings on my camera...bear with me!

You Will Need:

1.5 lbs Boneless Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup Honey
1/2 cup Butter

I know what you're thinking - "that's a LOT of butter" - yes...yes it is.

Preheat the oven to 375.

I cheated because my Chicken wasn't thawed all the way, so I melted the Butter in a skillet and browned the Chicken on both sides - about 7 minutes each side because they were pretty thick Breasts.  Then, I transferred the Chicken into a baking dish and poured the Butter from the skillet over it.  In a bowl, stir the Honey & Dijon together and pour all over the Chicken.

Bake for 25 minutes, occasionally spooning or basting the sauce over the Chicken.

NOM NOM!