Breakfast w/ Potatoes, Mushrooms and Onions…

I love breakfast ~ early morning ~ the aroma of that first cup of coffee...  It’s my favorite meal of the day, that I would gladly eat, any meal of the day!

It’s about crispy bacon, fried eggs over-easy, home fries, whole-wheat toast with cherry preserves, and a cup of strong steaming black coffee. But then, I’ve been known to eat a slice of apple pie for breakfast also…

This morning, I had fresh mushrooms and leftover baked potatoes on hand --- diced the potatoes with the skin on, tossed them into the skillet, added a chopped onion, and fried it all to a crispy-deep-golden-brown.  I used to fry them in bacon grease, but those days are gone, using as little oil as possible now.

                                                                                                                                               

It’s a delicious savory side dish for breakfast ~ it’s heaven to me!                           

I always have to have breakfast before I can leave the house…

How about you, are you a breakfast lover? 

Home fries with Mushrooms and Onions

Ingredients:

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

3 baked potatoes, diced with skin on

1 onion, diced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Oil

Method:

In a large skillet, over high heat, pour enough oil to coat bottom of pan.

When a slight amount of smoke appears, add mushrooms to skillet.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cook and stir until they develop a dark golden sear.

Remove from pan, set aside.

Add enough oil again, to coat bottom of skillet.

When hot, add potatoes, reduce heat to medium-high.

Fry potatoes until crispy and they start to stick together.

Add onions.

Season with salt and pepper, and combine.

Reduce heat and simmer until onions are soft and golden.

Add mushrooms to the mixture, heat through.

Serves 4-5

 

Simply perfect!

Burgundy Chicken with Mushrooms

This is a great chicken dish that’s good enough for company!

The chicken is smothered in mushrooms, garlic and onions with a splash of burgundy.  We were pleasantly surprised how juicy delicious it turned out, thanks to this recipe from the American Heart Association Cookbook.

The National Chicken Council states Americans eat around 80 pounds of chicken per year.  That’s a lot of chicken, and there must be a ton of recipes for it, so shake things up a bit and try this good one!

Burgundy Chicken with Mushrooms

Adapted

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breast halves

8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup finely chopped onions

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 tablespoons burgundy wine

½ cup chicken broth, low sodium

Method:

Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray over medium-high heat.

Cook the chicken for 5 minutes, turn and cook for 5 minutes long, until seared and no longer pink in the center.

Transfer to a plate.

Scrape the skillet to dislodge any browned bits.

Put mushrooms, onion, garlic, burgundy, and broth in the skillet.

Stir together.

Cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and its juices.

Cook for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms just begin to brown slightly.

Place chicken on a platter.

Spoon mushroom mixture over the chicken.

Serve

ENJOY!!!

Savory Chicken Meatballs over Spaghetti

Often, the simplest foods are the best!

 

In other words, comfort food ~ that’s just what we need now with this cold, windy (45 mph gusts last night and today), snowy weather!

These meatballs are healthier, with chicken instead of beef, and egg beaters substituting for eggs.  The sauce is a basic tomato sauce.

It’s a comforting delicious dish, requiring little explanation!

Savory Chicken Meatballs over Spaghetti

For the meatballs:

1 pound ground chicken

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup egg beaters

6 saltine crackers, crushed

3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

½ cup onion, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Method:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients well.

Form into 1½” meatballs (about 20) and place on a baking sheet.

Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes, until no longer pink in center.  Set aside.

For the sauce:

2 cans (15-ounce) diced tomatoes

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1-2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon basil

½ teaspoon seasoned pepper

½ - 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Method:

Combine ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes.

Lower heat and add meatballs, combine well and cook for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, drain.

Divide all onto plates and sprinkle with Parmesan.

ENJOY!

Skillet Pork Chops with Roasted Apples

Here’s a hearty dish with the meat and side all-in-one!  Well, actually, you would've been able to see it plated, if only I had remembered to take a photo, instead of eat it!!!

Seared and sauced!

 

All it takes is a quick sear for the chops; just be sure to brown them well, then follow up with oven roasting, rendering them juicy and tender.

Finish by topping the pork chops with sweet savory apples and a creamy sauce including mustard, and the “secret” ingredient ~ a splash of bourbon ~ for one of the best possible tastes. 

Oven ready

Pork and apples go together like “rock and roll.”  If that’s a new combo for you, you must try this ~ it’s a homey dish that I bet you’ll love as much as we do!

Ring the dinner bell!

Skillet Pork Chops with Roasted Apples

Ingredients:

4 bone-in pork chops

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon seasoned pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/3 cup vegetable broth

1 cup evaporated low-fat milk

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons bourbon

3 Honeycrisp apples, cut into large wedges

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In an oven-safe skillet, heat oil over medium heat.

Sear pork chops on both sides until well browned.

Remove from skillet.

Add broth to skillet and loosen browned bits from bottom of skillet.

Whisk together milk and mustard.

Add to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, 1-2 minutes until bubbly.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in bourbon.

Add pork chops, turning to coat and top with the apples.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, covered, depending upon thickness of pork chops, and until apples are tender, uncovering for the last 5 minutes.

Let stand in skillet 5 minutes before serving. 

ENJOY!

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!  It is snowing yet again, "they're" predicting anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of the stuff before it ends late afternoon.  That will make a total of 70" so far.  Yikes!!!

Heart-of-My-Heart Cookies for Valentine’s Day

No doubt about it, I love Valentine’s Day!

Maybe because it’s a fun diversion in mid-winter, or maybe because of goodies like these cookies!

I’ve tried countless sugar cookie recipes and this one, from Betty Crocker, is about the best I’ve made. It’s a simple recipe, I will be using again, for a great crunchy cookie.

The dough is easy to work with after being refrigerated a couple of hours.  If you refrigerate it over-nite like I do, let it set at room temperature an hour to warm up before shaping into hearts.

Oven-ready!

The best part of the cookie is the great flavor  ~~~  

I just wish I had the patience and the knack of decorating them that my MIL had!

You know the saying:  “Betcha can’t eat just one!”

Here’s wishing you all

the

Happiest Valentine’s Day!

Heart-of-My-Heart Cookies

Adapted

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1½ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

¼ teaspoon salt

Method:

In large bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon.

Stir in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.

Cover, refrigerate for 2 hours or overnite.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Divide dough in half.

On lightly floured surface, roll each half ¼” thick.

Cut with 3½” heart-shaped cookie cutter.

On ungreased cookie sheet, place cutouts 2” apart.

If desired, sprinkle with colored sugars.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly golden.

Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack and cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Decorate with vanilla frosting, if desired and sprinkles.

Simple Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:

¼ cup butter, softened

Dash salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons milk

2 cups powdered sugar

Method:

In a medium size bowl, combine all of the ingredients.

Mix by hand or electric mixer until smooth and spreadable.
Makes 2 to 2½ dozen cookies

ENJOY!

Red Velvet Muffins w/Cream Cheese Swirls for Your Honey

First of all:  my blog was shut down for a few days because Google detected malware on it.  I finally determined that it was connected to the “archives” page, which I then deleted.  I have no idea what happened ~ I’m just happy to be up and running ~ and, may it never, ever happen again!!! 

Now for the muffins:

I love the deep red color of red velvet baked goods; the color is awesome and needs little in the way of decoration.  So, I was happy and surprised to find a flyer with this red velvet muffin recipe in the mail the other day. Red velvet cupcake recipes are a dime a dozen, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one for muffins…

The muffins turned out perfectly.  They have a more dense texture than a cupcake ~ they’re savory, not too sweet ~ not “cupcakey,” with 3-inches of buttercream frosting, and thanks to the swirling cream cheese, these muffins went over the edge, being moist and delicious!

They have just the right amount of sweetness for me; you add more sugar, if you like them sweeter. I think they’re absolutely divine just the way there are!

Your Valentines will love them for breakfast or a treat on Valentine’s Day! 


Red Velvet Muffins w/Cream Cheese Swirls 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s Cocoa Special Dark)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup buttermilk
1 (1¼ ounce) bottle red food coloring

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, or coat with non-stick spray, set aside.
In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter, buttermilk and food coloring until combined well.
Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in large bowl, stirring well with a wooden spoon.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin tins.
Place a dollop or two of cream cheese mixture onto each muffin.
Swirl once or twice into batter with a toothpick.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out dry.
Let sit in pans to cool for a minute or two, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Swirl

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

Beat cream cheese by hand, or electric mixer, until smooth, about a minute.  
Add sugar and beat together another minute.
Add egg and vanilla; mix together until smooth and creamy.
Do not over-mix, or it will be grainy.
Set aside.

Yum!!!