Chicken Vino Bianco

Source: http://www.recipezaar.com/

We are suckers for anything that includes garlic, chicken, tomatoes, and pasta, so this recipe seemed like a win-win. After seeing it on http://simplebutdelicious.blogspot.com/, I made it with some of her changes. We both really enjoyed it! Very flavorful and the chicken was so tender!

Chicken Vino Bianco

4 tablespoons of olive oil
4 thin-cut chicken breasts (or pounded thin)
2 tablespoons of chopped green tomatoes
1/2 cup of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of red onion, sliced
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh garlic
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/2 cup of white wine

1/2 pound of pasta ( I used linguine)

For the seasoned flour:
1/2 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

I actually made this recipe off of http://lacucinadilauren.blogspot.com/, and I noticed she added about half of a large can of crushed tomatoes. I did, too. The recipe was yummy with it, but probably also good without!

1. Set large pot of water on the stove to boil.

2. Set a large skillet on the stove and heat the olive oil. Dredge the chicken in the flour. Place in the pan and cook until browned and internal temperature is 165. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

3. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in the skillet. Add green onion, diced tomato, onions, parsley, garlic, mushrooms, crushed red pepper, and salt and pepper to pan. Saute for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Add chicken back to pan. Add white wine, lemon juice, and the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter (and crushed tomatoes if you will). Bring to a boil and let simmer while the pasta finishes cooking. Drain pasta and toss with the chicken and sauce. Enjoy!

My Fly Stir Fry

Source: www.allrecipes.com

This is such a YUMMY dish. I'm a little sad for the dish, because it only has 18 reviews on All Recipes, and it deserves so much more! Let's make it happen, people! The combination of the pork with the veggies and soy/mirin/rice vinegar sauce is TO DIE FOR. I love the sauce so much, I'm sure you could omit the pork and it would be just as tasty with just the veggies, sauce, and egg noodles. The original recipe doesn't call for snow peas or egg noodles, but it's extremely versatile, so feel free to add to your taste!

My Fly Stir Fry
4 center cut pork chops, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of mirin (Japanese sweet wine, found in the Asian section)
1/4 cup of rice vinegar (also in the Asian section)
1/2 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 bunch of green onions
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
2 cups of snow peas (a couple of handfuls)
1/2 package of egg noodles

1. Set saucepan of water on stove to boil for the egg noodles. Slice pork as thinly as possible. In a medium bowl, mix pork with mirin, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Cover, and let marinate while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Slice mushrooms, green pepper, green part of green onions, and set aside. Mince white part of green onions, garlic, and ginger.

2. Heat wok or large skillet over medium heat, then coat with sesame oil. Saute minced green onion, garlic, and ginger for a couple of minutes. Increase heat to high. Squeeze marinade off pork, and place pork into wok. Reserve marinade. You should also place the egg noodles into the boiling water at this point so they're ready when the stir fry is ready.

3. Cook and stir until pork is no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, green pepper, and sliced green onion. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in reserved marinade, and cook about 2 minutes.

Penne and Italian Sausage with Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

Adapted from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

This is one of our all-time favorite dishes. It's also simple to make, which I love. As much as my middle-child self loves to attempt complex recipes, it's nice to have an easy one. And did I mention it's DELICIOUS??

Another note is that I always try to use turkey instead of ground beef, or in this case, Italian sausage links. I can never taste the difference and it's a bit healthier.

1 pound uncooked penne pasta (I never use a full pound, it's just too much pasta)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of vodka
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 links of spicy Italian sausage links--if you can't find spicy, buy sweet, and add a pinch of crushed red pepper

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.

2. While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil over in a skillet over medium heat. Remove casing from sausage and add to skillet. Cook, breaking up meat, until browned. Add garlic and cook, stirring until garlic is golden brown.

3. Add tomatoes and salt to skillet; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. (Another reason I love this recipe is you can actually start cleaning up before it's done. Really, there's nothing to do during those 15 minutes.)

4. Add vodka and cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add pasta, toss for 1 minute. Stir in fresh parsley and serve!

If you're trying to reduce the fat content, you could easily omit the heavy cream. Obviously it gives it a richer flavor, but it would be just as tasty without!

Almond Crusted Halibut Crystal Symphony

Source: http://www.allrecipes.com/


You may be thinking, "WTF is up with this recipe name?" Yes, this is by far the snobbiest-named dish I have ever made, but it is also, by far, THE BEST FISH DISH. Maybe that has something to do with the 12 tablespoons of butter and 1/3 cup of heavy cream, but the combination of the beurre blanc (I don't know what that means but it sure sounds FANCY!)cream and breadcrumb/almond topping is TO DIE FOR. It's a great company dish!

My suggestion would be to prepare as much as you can ahead of time. Chop the chives, slice the butter, and get out all the pans, measuring cups, spoons, and dishes that you'll need. I'm pretty slow in the kitchen, and this takes about an hour to put together. I used halibut today because it was available, but it IS expensive ($30 for 2 filets). Tilapia will do just fine.

Seriously, make this just for the sauce.

1/3 cup of dry white wine
2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of minced shallots 1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup heavy cream
10 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces and chilled
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
6 (6 ounce) filets of halibut (I used 2 big filets, I probably only needed one)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1/4 cup of fresh bread crumbs (I just use the boxed Progressive brand)
2/3 cup of minced blanched almonds (buy the slivered almonds and then pound with your mallet)
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten

To make the beurre blanc: in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine wine, vinegar, shallots, thyme, and bay leaf. Boil until liquid has evaporated--about 5 minutes. While the ingredients are boiling, now is a good time to chop the chives. Then, stir in cream, and boil until liquid is reduced by half; decrease heat to low. Whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time, adding each new piece before previous one has melted. Do not allow sauce to simmer, or it may separate.

Strain sauce through sieve into a glass bowl. Stir in chives, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. At this point, the recipe tells you to put the bowl in another bowl filled with hot water to keep warm. I just left it as is and microwaved in on low heat in 20 second intervals right before I served the dish. You'll have enough dishes to do by the time this is done without adding another.

Preheat oven on broiler setting. Pat fillets dry, and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute fillets for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned and just cooked through. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, stir together bread crumbs, almonds, and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Brush tops of fillets with egg, and spread with almond mixture. Broil fillets 1 to 2 minutes. Watch carefully so the topping does not burn.


Place fillets on individual plates, and spoon bleurre blanc around it. Prepare to have compliments lavished upon you, and resist spooning the bleurre blanc directly in your mouth without eating any of the fish.

Won Ton Soup

Source: My mom

I love this soup. Simple, filling, and pretty healthy. It's easy to make, as well. The only time consuming part is filling and sealing the won tons. The problem with this dish is if there's extra space between the seal of the won ton and the meat filling, when you eat the won tons, usually they fall apart. So it begs the question, why even MAKE the won tons? Why not just boil little meatballs and throw them in the soup? BECAUSE THEN IT'S NOT WON TON SOUP!

My mom had no real cookbooks. The only cookbooks I ever saw were the small ones where people would turn in their favorite recipes for an elementary school fundraiser or something like that. Anyway, I don't know if that's where this one comes from, but I love this soup! Plan to make about 10 won tons per person.

1/3 lb. ground lean pork
1/3 lb. ground veal
1 egg
Won ton wrappers (in the produce aisle)
1 bunch of boy chok, sliced

8 cups of chicken broth
1 can of sliced water chesnuts, drained (in the asian aisle)
1 can of bamboo shoots, drained (in the asian aisle)
Snow peas (about 2 handfuls)
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil. In a seperate pot, pour in the 8 cups of chicken broth, sliced bok choy, water chesnuts, bamboo shoots, and snow peas. Bring to a boil, and let simmer while you prepare the won tons.

To prepare the meat mixture, mix the pork and veal together. With your hands, most likely. Yuck. To fill the won-tons, put about a tablespoon-sized portion of the meat in the won ton, rub egg over the edges, fold in half so it's a triangle, and seal the edges.

Boil the won tons in the water for 5 minutes, then transfer to the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

I just realized the recipe I have doesn't have tofu...and I'm pretty sure I've had this with tofu before, in cubes. Feel free to add some!