Chicken Kinda Bleu

If you're like me, there is not always time to make exactly the dish you may be craving. So sometimes we need some shortcuts.

For example, Chicken Cordon Bleu is a tremendous treat, but it's a little labor intensive if you want to get it exactly right. So I came up with my own version I dubbed Chicken Kinda Bleu. It has all the basic elements of the original, just not some of the time-consuming assembly.

Ingredients
A boneless, skinless chicken breast for each person

Sliced deli ham
Swiss cheese (or whatever cheese you have/like)
Bread crumbs


DirectionsUse a filet knife to butterfly each chicken breast. That means cut a slit at its thickest part, but don't cut it all the way in half. Open the chicken up as if there was a hinge. On one side, place some ham and cheese. Close the other side back over. You may want to use two or three toothpicks to hold it closed. Just remember to take them all out before serving.


Put some bread crumbs in a shallow bowl or pan, and roll each filled chicken breast in it to get a light coating. Place the chicken in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350-375 for 30-45 minutes, or until the chicken is done and the cheese is melty.

We served it with some broccoli, rice and a roll (yes, a pretzel roll in this case).

Again, don't forget to take out all the toothpick before serving! You don't want anyone to get hurt.

Perfect for a Party: Pepperoni Rolls

A few years ago, my wife's college alumni group would gather on fall Saturdays to watch football games at a restaurant in Wilmington called Old Chicago. The organizer of the group had once worked there, and she introduced us to the restaurant's Pepperoni Rolls. They were UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE.

Sadly, Old Chicago closed a couple years ago and still sits empty. Happily, our friend not only knew the Pepperoni Rolls were delicious. She also knew how they were made, and gave us the simple recipe. Every so often, especially when we're watching football, we get a craving for these treats and make some ourselves. Once you see how easy this is and how good they taste, I'm sure you'll be making them for your next game.

Ingredients
 Pizza dough (You can use whatever you want. I often use the refrigerated canned kind, like Pillsbury, because its rectangular shape is perfect for this recipe)
Ranch dressing (optional)
Pizza sauce (or whatever spaghetti sauce you like)
Shredded mozzarella or Italian mix cheese
Sliced pepperoni (I often use turkey pepperoni to cut down on the fat content and greasiness)

Directions
Basically, you're just gonna make a pizza. Roll out the dough as best you can into a rectangle (again, this is why I use the canned kind). Brush a light layer of Ranch all over. Spread an even layer of sauce on top of that. Next, spread the shredded cheese all over and then evenly place pepperoni all over.

This is a great recipe to let the little ones help. My two-year-old loved helping put the pepperoni on.

Once your pizza is built, it's time to get rolling. Very carefully, roll one of the long sides up jellyroll style as tightly as possible without tearing the dough. This is not a skill I have mastered yet, which results in the final product being a little looser than what you might hope for, but it still tastes great! When it's all rolled up, cut the roll in half, then cut each half in half. Then each quarter in half, so you have eight equal pieces. Put another slice of pepperoni on each end of each piece of the roll.

In a baking dish coated with cooking spray, place the rolls on their end. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the dough is golden brown.

While the rolls are cooking, warm up some sauce, and serve it in on the side as a dipping sauce.

Crock Pot Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

Time to add some Far East flair to our Crock Pot cooking. This one is absolutely full of flavor, and incredibly easy to make.

 Ingredients
Pork tenderloin
1 can crushed pineapple
1 cup Teriyaki sauce






Directions
Place tenderloin in Crock Pot. The package I get has two in it. Just wrap them around the bottom and make them fit as best you can in a single layer. Top with the crushed pineapple and Teriyaki sauce. Cook. That's it. Seriously.

When it's done, you won't need a knife. The pork will just pull apart in chunks and shreds. It is marvelously tender and tasty. It's sweet, yet tangy.

I know this isn't a great photo. It was so yummy, I forgot to take it until I was almost done. As you may be able to see, we served it with some brown rice and broccoli. Everyone loved it.

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

If you haven't figured it out by now, the Crock Pot is perhaps the ultimate cooking vessel for easy-to-make comfort food. And by easy, I mean typically a one-pot meal. Thus is the case with the Crock Pot version of Chicken and Dumplings, which is based on a recipe I found doing a simple search online.

Ingredients
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1 (10 ounce) package refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Directions
Put all the ingredients except biscuits into the Crock Pot and cook. At least 30 minutes to an hour before serving, put torn up biscuits on top of everything. Replace lid and continue to cook until biscuits are cooked.

When the biscuits are cooked, use two forks to shred the chicken a bit and serve.

Crock Pot Chili

Is it ironic that when the weather gets cold, you can warm up with something called chili?

Anyway... here's another great Crock Pot classic that has dinner hot and ready as soon as you get home from a long day in the salt mines. And lemme tell you, there's something special about pulling into your garage and being able to smell your slow-cooked dinner wafting all the way from the kitchen.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef or 2 cans Mexican/chili seasoned diced or stewed tomatoes (based on your preference)
1 can chili beans (heat level to your preference)
1 can black beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
Cumin
Chili powder
Garlic powder
Red pepper
Cayenne pepper

Directions
Brown the meat in a skillet. While it cooks, turn on the Crock Pot, and drain all the cans of beans EXCEPT the chili beans. Dump all the beans and tomatoes in the Crock Pot, and add the spices to your preference. (I find that cumin, though, is key in getting a good, earthy flavor in my Mexican cooking, including chili) Stir the mixture. When the meat is browned, drain off the fat and stir the meat into the tomato and bean mixture. Put the lid on and let it cook.

Remember, if you're planning to let it cook all day, turn the Crock Pot on low. If you only have about four hours, use high.

We like to serve this up with hot corn bread or some crackers and shredded cheese. I add hot sauce. The wife likes sour cream. Add whatever you want.

Crock Pot Classic: Beef Stew

Fall has arrived, and the weather is starting to turn cool. That means it's time to break out the Crock Pot, which may be the single greatest kitchen gadget around.

If you have a Crock Pot (or slow cooker), and rarely use, I will teach you its versatility. If you don't have one, go get one. Seriously. I'll wait. You can get one for $15 or $20 at most stores, and it's worth every penny without a doubt. So go ahead.

OK. Now that we all have a Crock Pot, we'll start with a little education on what it is. Your slow cooker should have two main parts (though I have heard tell of a bizarre one-piece version that's a pain to clean, so stay away from that). First there's the base, which features a plug, a heating element and a knob. Some slow cookers have timers and various settings. Mine has a single knob that switches between Off, Low and High. Second there's the crock itself, which is a ceramic pot that sits inside the base. Of course, there is also the lid, which is very important, as I'll explain.

By the way, don't worry about what your Crock Pot looks like. Nowadays you can get them in all sorts of colors, but as you can see, mine looks like your Grandma's. It cooks just the same.

So the key to Crock Pot cooking is low and slow. The heating element in the base heats the crock evenly at a low temperature, which then allows the food to cook evenly, usually with the help of some liquid inside.

Now, you can make just about anything with a Crock Pot. I use it mainly for mains, but I've also made a great cheese dip for parties, I've seen it used to keep apple cider warm and there are even recipes for breakfasts and desserts.

As we start with Crock Pot cooking, I'll begin with a family favorite. If you asked me about a comfort food my Mom made when I was a kid, I would immediately think of her beef stew. It would have to be my favorite thing she made regularly, in part because when she did it in the Crock Pot, it would cook all day and fill the house with a delicious smell by the time you got home from school.

Beef stew is very simple, as you only need a few ingredients. First, of course, is the beef. I like to wait until the super market has stew beef on sale and buy a couple of packets at 1-1.5 pounds each. By the way, this recipe works for pot roast, too, with some slight derivations I'll explain later. You're just using a hunk of meat instead of the bite-sized pieces of stew meat.

Now, my Mom always browned the beef in a skillet, so that's what I do. While that cooks, I turn on the Crock Pot and add the vegetables to the Crock Pot. Now there are three must-have veggies for a good beef stew: potatoes, carrots and onions. A little celery is also good to add a little flavor. Now, at some grocery stores, though not the ones I shop at here in NC, you can sometimes find a frozen Stew Mix, which has all these essentials. If you can't, just buy each frozen or fresh. My Mom often uses or adds canned potatoes. I've used the frozen mix and then added a couple more fresh, peeled potatoes, which helps thicken the stew. When I made it most recently, I used fresh potatoes (halved), baby carrots and an onion cut into eight pieces, then added some frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, green beans, corn, peas) just to get some more veggies.

OK, so your veggies are in, and your beef is browned. Drain the fat from the meat and put the meat in the Crock Pot on top of the veggies. Now it's time to add a little flavor. Take an envelope of onion soup mix and add it to a cup of water. Pour it over the meat and veggies. Now put the lid on the Crock Pot. Remember, I said the lid is key. You have to make sure the lid is on well and not letting any steam out, as this will cause the Crock Pot to lose heat, which will hurt the cooking process.

You'll notice I didn't say what setting to put the Crock Pot on. Well, that's because it all depends how long you plan to cook. If you only have four hours or so, put it on high. If you have longer, put it on low. I typically, just as my Mom did, put this all together before I leave for work. I put it on low, and let it cook all day, so it's ready to eat when we get home, and the house smells so deliciously wonderful!

Believe me, this is a wonderfully simple and tasty dish that will not disappoint.

Now I mentioned that there are a few differences if you're making pot roast. I made some the other night with a kit I bought at the store. The directions on that did NOT call for browning the meat first, but it did call for putting the raw meat in the Crock Pot first, then topping it with the veggies and water. That's all. Talk about simple. When it's done, don't bother setting the table with knives, unless you need them to put butter on some bread, because everything else is fork tender!

In the coming days, I will share some more Crock Pot recipes, to prove what a wonderful tool it is, especially for busy families.