Havarti Chicken

This is a simple yet interesting chicken dinner that can easily be thrown together on a weeknight.  It's elegant, it's different, it's good.  A crunchy bread crumb crust combined with an ooey melty cheese center?  What's not to like?  Top it all off with some creamy avocado slices and you have a meal fit for company.


Be cautious about your cooking time - this is basically an extra thick piece of chicken after you roll it up, so you want to make sure it is completely cooked through, but not overcooked. 

Havarti Chicken

adapted from The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever

serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the dish

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

2 quarter inch thick slices Havarti cheese

1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup dry white wine

avocado slices for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Drizzle a little bit of olive oil in a baking dish and spread it around.

2.  After pounding chicken breasts to even thickness, sprinkle with seasoned salt.

3.  Combine the olive oil with oregano and parsley.  Drizzle about 1/2 tablespoon of the mixture over each chicken breast.  Top each with a strip of cheese at one end.  Roll up the chicken breast, starting at the end that has the cheese, adn tucking in the edges so the rolls are the same length.

4.  In a shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs with salt and pepper to taste.  Drizzle the chicken breast roll-ups with remaining oil/herb mixture, then dunk in the bread crumbs to coat all over.  Place in the baking dish, seam side down.  Drizzle with wine.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.  

5.  Serve topped with avocado slices.

Enjoy!

Italian Chicken Pie

Once in a while, we come upon a recipe that we want to mentally bookmark, dogear, put a gold star on, or somehow put a permanent reminder to come back to it.  Again, and again, and again.  This is one of those recipes.  It is easy, delicious, and would please just about anyone.  This is one that I want to remember to make for my kids some day.  It's going to be one of those go-to Friday night family dinner recipes. 

Okay, have I sold it enough?  My husband described this as a cross between chicken parmigiana and deep dish pizza.  Only guess what?  It's not nearly as unhealthy as either of those things.  It has all the yummy flavors you associate with Italian food - tomato, garlic, oregano, basil - plus cheese and chicken, and a tender crust.  Yum!

I reduced the recipe, as I often do, but if you double it for a larger group, make it in a 9-inch pie dish and get the whole pie experience. 

Italian Chicken Pie

adapted from The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever

serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 cup diced cooked chicken breast

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, divided

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 cup of canned diced tomatoes with their juice

1/4 cup whole wheat (or all-purpose) flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup nonfat milk

1 large egg

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Coat a small baking dish (size isn't that important - go with a fairly shallow rectangular one if you have it, or divide among ramekins) with cooking spray.  Sprinkle the parmesan cheese in the bottom of the dish.

2.  Scatter chicken over the parmesan.  Top with 1/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella, the oregano, and basil.  Mix garlic with diced tomatoes and juice, and spread evenly over all. 

3.  Make the topping: in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add oil, milk, and egg, and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth like pancake batter.  Pour over the chicken mixture in the pan.

4.  Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes, until set and golden brown.  Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella.  Let sit 10 minutes before serving. 

Enjoy!

Upside Down Apple Cobbler

On a cool fall day, there is nothing better than the smell of something baking. Particularly something that contains apples and cinnamon. This dessert seemed like the perfect thing to make on a holiday Monday, when we are under semi-house arrest due to illness. We had a few apples left from our trek out to orchard country last weekend, and I decided that I was going to make something homey and delicious with them.

Enter the ever-wise Beatrice Ojakangas. Her book, The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever, is just filled with treasures waiting to be discovered. This one is nothing short of fabulous. It takes an easy, traditional apple cobbler and literally turns it on its head. I have to say, I've always liked, but not loved, cobbler. On the plate the fruit juices run everywhere while the biscuit sits on top, minding its own business. Making an upside down cobbler just makes sense - the biscuity topping becomes a cakey base to absorb the fruit juices, and everyone is happy.

I would recommend using a variety of apple that is both sweet and tart, such as Jonagold, Braeburn, or McIntosh, so that your dessert is not too sweet. The biscuit/cake part is very sweet in its own right.

Upside Down Apple Cobbler
adapted from The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever
serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

cooking spray
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup white whole wheat (or all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup skim milk
2 cups sliced peeled apples
cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray a shallow 1 1/2 qt. baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, mix butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla, and milk to make a batter. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

3. Arrange apple slices over the top of the batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until nicely browned and no longer jiggly. Serve warm, preferably with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Cornbread Crusted Pie

I don't often cook for a large number of people, so when I do, I am all about the casseroles. When we decided to have a family birthday party for my husband at our place, I turned, appropriately, to The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever for ideas. This one practically jumped off the page. I changed a few things, most importantly the use of ground turkey instead of beef, and fresh corn instead of frozen (after all, I just got two beautiful ears in my CSA bag this week). The result is this tasty, shepherd's pie-esque casserole that everyone seemed very happy with.

The cornbread crust is fantastic. It's crisp on top and soft inside, and has a great balance of sweet and savory - everything that good cornbread should be. The meat filling is lovely, filled with spices and fresh vegetables that all marry together to form a united front. We had it with guacamole and chips, as well as a yellow bean salad my sister made. A very tasty lunch!

Cornbread Crusted Pie
adapted from The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever
serves 10

INGREDIENTS:

the filling:
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon whole wheat (or all-purpose) flour
kernels from 2 ears of sweet corn
2 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, with juice

cornbread topping:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat (or all-purpose) flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup canola oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until starting to soften. Add turkey and break it up as it cooks with a spatula or wooden spoon. Cook, stirring frequently, until turkey is browned and mostly cooked through.

3. Add garlic, spices, salt, flour, and corn, and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil. Let it boil for a couple of minutes to allow a cohesive sauce to form. Remove from heat and transfer the mixture to the baking dish.

4. Make the topping: In a large bowl, stir the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Whisk the egg, milk, and oil together in a medium bowl and then add to the dry ingredients, mixing until well blended. Pour the batter over the filling in the baking dish and spread evenly with a spatula or spoon.

5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned and a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean. Serve.

Enjoy!

Veggie Mac

I don't often discuss the true stars of this blog, the cookbooks. I recently spotted this cookbook in a Barnes & Noble and just knew I had to have it. Well, to be fair, I feel that way about most cookbooks. But this one really spoke to me. I've been wanting to expose myself to the wonderful world of casseroles - partially because a friend of mine just had a baby, and that seems like the perfect opportunity to flex my casserole muscle.

The cookbook is called The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever, and it's by Beatrice Ojakangas. This is the first recipe I've made from it, and it is appropriately simple and crowd-pleasing. I intend to get into the more complex ones in the near future.

This recipe is really a basic pasta and sauteed veggie dish, but there is something extra homey about it. Maybe because it's baked after cooking, or because it does have a roux-based sauce. Whatever the reason, with my tweaks, I can definitely report that it was tasty and a good go-to meal that doesn't take a whole lot of time or effort.

Veggie Mac
adapted from The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever
serves 3

INGREDIENTS:

Cooking spray
1/3 pound whole wheat elbow macaroni
1/2 tablespoon EVOO
3 scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 small bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch ground cumin
1 bunch thin asparagus, cut into 2-inch lengths
1 medium-sized tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon whole wheat flour
1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan
freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray a small-ish casserole dish (about 2 quarts) with cooking spray.

2. Cook macaroni according to package directions, until just al dente. Drain and transfer to the casserole.

3. Return the saucepan to the stove and heat EVOO over medium-high heat. Add chopped scallions, garlic, and bell pepper, and cook until soft but not browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in parsley, oregano, cumin, asparagus, and tomato. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until asparagus is just tender. Mix cooked veggies in with the pasta.

4. Return the saucepan to the stove again and melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk and cook, whisking until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan and pepper to taste. Stir the sauce into the pasta and veggies.

5. Bake, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, or until pasta is lightly browned and sauce is sizzling.

This is not a crazy cheesy macaroni dish; the sauce is delicate and the veggies play a major role. Enjoy!