Spaghetti Puttanesca has always fascinated me. It has many ingredients that I use in my spaghetti sauce. And several that are not. One of those I don’t use, anchovies, has always had a bad connotation in my mind. I remember a joke from my childhood when some of us talked about what toppings a pizza should have. Someone would always …
You can’t go wrong with a casserole that contains cheese. That’s what I thought after viewing this recipe recently on a Facebook friend’s news feed. I had all the ingredients on hand except for the sour cream, so it was a no-brainer. The only substitution was six Gray (Hungarian) Partridge breasts in pl the chicken. I couldn’t have been more …
Skillet meals are great for people who are pressed for time or those who don’t care to put a lot of time into a meal. I’m retired, so the former isn’t an issue, but a lot of times its just nice to put an entree together in a short amount of time. The following recipe fits the latter category. I …
Sometimes I like to try recipes that are posted on my Facebook feed. One such is for Hunter’s Chicken. It came from the website Les Repas de Mon Enance, which translates to “Meals from my Childhood. The author of the recipe is Daniel Parenteau, who describes himself the child of French-Canadian parents who was raised a small town called Biddeford …
Those who grew up in the 1950s and ’60s probably ate their share of hotdish and casserole. Not only were they standard fare of many a stay-at-home moms but also of school lunch programs. We always had hamburger and macaroni hotdish at least once a week at home and occasionally one made with leftover chicken paired with rice. School hot …
Many people think of Italian cooking when they ponder delicious sauces served over pasta, lots of vegetables, olive oil and cheesy pizzas topped with a variety of meats. Ancient Etruscan, Greek and Roman cultures contributed to an Italian cuisine rich in all of those and more. Like all Italian cuisine, Tuscan food is rich in those attributes. Tuscany is also …
Among the favorite entrees at many Chinese buffets are the chicken dishes. Some of them combine chicken with vegetables such as broccoli, snow peas and water chestnuts. Still others are cooked a variety of ways and are mostly chicken, with names such as Coconut Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, Sesame Chicken and Kung Pao Chicken. I’m kind …
Another day, another blizzard and below-zero wind chills. That’s the way it’s been this winter. So, there’s no better place to be than in the warmth of the kitchen, where you can create something that will make you forget about the weather, albeit for the time being. And nothing says warm and fuzzy better than a pot of soup. This …
If you are in search of a healthy and nutritious wholemeal pasta recipe, you can stop looking. Mediterranean Chicken, Mushroom and Rice meets meets both the aforementioned requirements — it’s loaded with vitamins and low-fat ingredients as well as being an entree that can stand alone as a main course. Combining this dish with a nice salad and vegetable such …
What do you do when you have an overabundance of tomatoes and have already made juice, canned whole ones as well as freezing 20 to 30 pounds of the juicy orbs? That’s been the dilemma I’ve been facing the past three weeks or so. Before frost put the damper on my gardens, I picked almost all of my tomatoes that …
Most recipes usually serve four people at the minimum and often are meant for eight. So that means if you are cooking for two, be prepared for a lot of leftovers. That’s the case with preparing an entire chicken. Whether the bird is cut up for frying or left whole for roasting, if you’re only serving two, there is going …
Nothing is better on a cold winter day than a big bowl of stew. And while most people think of beef at the mention of stew, chicken is a great substitute for those looking to cut back a little on their red meat consumption. The following recipe, which I came up with after contemplating what to do with leftovers from …
Hunters who are cooks are always on the lookout for new recipes. After all, variety is the spice of life. While perusing the internet recently for pheasant recipes, I came across one for creamed pheasant that piqued my interest. The recipe has the usual suspects — half-and-half, cream of mushroom soup and butter, i.e. — but I made a few additions …
Stir-fry dishes can be some of the easiest to prepare yet the tastiest. And you can often make a good stir-fry with just the ingredients that you have on hand. There is no better time than summer or early fall for stir-fry, when vegetables are readily available in your own garden or at farmers markets. Among my favorite ingredients in …
Curry and paprika are an interesting combination in the preparation of food and are often used together in many Indian and Caribbean dishes such as chicken curry and jerk chicken. We do a fare amount of cooking with chicken and other types of poultry. Our freezers generally have an ample supply of Hutterite chickens as well as a turkey or …
Potatoes and tomatoes. Many people might think that’s an unlikely pairing — you could probably count me in that group unless you were referring to french fries and ketchup — but there are some days when you just want to try something new. So when I came across the following recipe, even though my food radar didn’t exactly light up, …
Exactly what constitutes a good stew? The vast majority of people will say theirs usually consists of some tender meat, usually beef, hearty vegetables (potatoes and carrots) and a delicious, thick sauce. But beyond this, there many options when it comes to stew. Some cooks like to lighten things up a bit and substitute chicken or turkey (I like pheasant). And …
Comforting, affordable, versatile. Those are three attributes of chicken breast that make it a great go-to meat for many people. Plus, there’s something about golden-brown chicken breasts that make them hard to resist. A new favorite of mine is preparing the breasts on the stovetop. And more often than not, I like to substitute pheasant for chicken, a perk of …
If there was ever a food that lends itself to leftovers, it is chicken. From casseroles to salads to enchiladas to pizza to sandwiches, the list goes on and on and on. Once every week or two, we roast a regular or smoked chicken, which we get from the Hutterites of the Forest River Colony, in a Dutch oven. This …
Skillet entrees have a lot of appeal. Not only do they cut back on the cleanup, they are also quick and easy. There are some foods that are just conducive to being cooked on the stovetop. Two of those are peppers and onions. Many a tasty dish starts off with that duo being sautéed in a little butter or olive …
Okra isn’t a vegetable kids who grew up in northern Minnesota would hear much about in their formative years. In fact, many of them probably never had an inkling about the flowering plant in the mallow family. I can attest to that. My first exposure to the plant known in many English-speaking countries as ladies’ fingers or ochro was probably in the …
Pesto is often associated with pasta. So it stands to reason that the basil-based sauce would be a nice fit for chicken noodle soup or the like. I recently came across the following recipe, which was adapted from one in “Better Homes and Gardens Quick Homemade: Fast, Fresh Meals in 30 Minutes” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019). It’s not your mother’s …
Dietary fiber is essential for healthy living. Found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, dietary fiber offers a variety of health benefits. They include relief from constipation; lowering the risk of diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer; lowering cholesterol levels; and helping to maintain a healthy weight. Most healthy eating plans such as the U.S. Department of …
Chicken is the most popular meat in the United States, more well-liked than beef or pork. That’s according to 2018 statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But why is it so? Versatility is probably the No. 1 reason. The U.S. is a very diverse country, so chicken’s mild taste and uniform texture is easily assimilated into many cuisines. But …
Some people are calling kale the new spinach. (Pound for pound kale has up to 120 percent more vitamin C and 150 percent more vitamin A than spinach.) Others are calling it the new beef. (Kale is richer in iron, fiber and omega fatty acids than beef.) And still more are calling it the new bread and milk. (Kale is …
Comfort food is most often associated with winter, when the wind is blowing and the snow is flying and the temperature is on the nippy side, usually below zero. But there can be times when the weather is nice, perhaps with temps in the 70s or 80s, that a hearty meal really hits the spot. That’s where I found myself …
Chicken and rice is a popular combination. In fact, some people would say it’s unbeatable. This simple pairing has been around for ages. After all, rice is a staple in many countries around the world, and chicken is probably more widely available than any other meat. The two go together like spaghetti and meatballs, or peanut butter and jelly. Recently, we …
Mushrooms are one of those vegetables that you either love or hate. For those who dislike mushrooms, it’s usually texture that puts people off more than the taste, while it’s those same qualities that attracts those on the other side of the aisle. One of the reasons I like mushrooms so much is that they often absorb the flavor of the …
A couple of weeks ago, I was wondering what to do with some leftover chicken, and with the temps in the teens, throwing together a stew came to mind. After all, stew has been known as a comfort food a long time. The following recipe is the result. I didn’t have to venture out to buy any of the ingredients, …
Chicken ala king is one of those dishes that’s not only been a staple of many families over the years but also one that can be made with a variety of ingredients. As the name implies, chicken is the star of the creamy entree, which also features vegetables. But which ones complement the chicken can vary from recipe to recipe. Generally, …
Hunting season has arrived in the Northland. For many cooks, that means it’s time to start digging through their recipe boxes for some tasty wild game dishes. Over the years, I’ve listened to some of my readers complain about wild game recipes because they can’t “bear” the thought of eating magnificent Canada geese, which mate for life, or a Bambi, with whom they …
Pasta and broccoli is a winning combination. And no matter what you complement those two with, the outcome is sure to be a palate pleaser. I have several favorite recipes that feature broccoli and pasta. One is Broccoli with Rigatoni, which comes from a cookbook by the late Dom DeLuise, “Eat This … It’ll Make You Feel Better!” DeLuise describes broccoli and rigatoni …
Anyone looking to save some serious money when shopping for chicken would be well-advised to buy whole instead of cut-up. That’s because the cost difference is somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 to $5 a pound. But there is also another good reason to buy your chickens whole. When cutting up an entire bird, you have a neck and backbone available that can …
Just about every time you turn on a TV set these days, it isn’t very long before an advertisement pops up for some diet program or plan that promises weigh loss and touts certain types of food ― for a hefty price. I don’t often pay much attention to them. That’s because long ago I came to the conclusion that any advice given …
There’s no better reason to make a pot of soup than when you discover a new recipe that looks like a sure-fire winner. An even better one is when a winter storm is imminent. The newest recipe that I’ve added to my soup repertoire, Chicken, Bean and Spinach, comes from a Twitter contact, Coach Mindy (@mycoachmindy), who shares post after post of …
Undoubtedly, many gardeners who grow tomatoes have more than they can handle — unless they do some canning. Even those who put up whole tomatoes, tomato juice, salsa or the like might have their hands full if they were overzealous and plotted too many plants, especially this summer in which there have been ideal growing conditions for those who have …
There’s no doubt that the cuisines of most countries are influenced by those of others. These days, when the culinary tastes of two or more cultures are combined, it is called fusion cooking. In this country, that is no more evident than in Tex-Mex food, which is a combination of Southwestern U.S. and Mexican cuisines. Another example of fusion cooking …
Many thoughts can dance across your mind when you celebrate a birthday. And the older we get — this includes me — the more we think about how long we will live. But if you are like some of the people who live in Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; the Nicoya Penisula of Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, Calif., it might …
There’s nothing better than some comfort food on a day that’s cold and windy. And today is one of those days! (Well, actually, you could say that about a lot of days if you live in the Northland, especially North Dakota and Minnesota.) Many dishes fit that bill, but one that does it for me is creamed chicken (in my case, …
One thing was for sure when I was growing up: We could always count on having a noodle hotdish at least once a week, whether it was at home or for school hot lunch. And a lot of people I know share the same experience. The reasoning was twofold: It was inexpensive and you were able to put one together in a hurry, …
Do you know anybody who doesn’t like barbecued chicken? Of the many ways to prepare chicken, it’s probably the most popular of all. It’s the centerpiece of most summertime grilling events, perhaps even more so than hamburgers and hot dogs. But when the temperature is between 10 below and 20 below zero and it’s the last thing even avid grillers have on their minds, …