Cast Iron Skillet Pizza Casserole

Yesterday I was watching the TV show The Chew and got inspired by a skillet pizza that Iron Chef Michael Symon made. I followed his template, but changed most ingredients. Made it tonight. Drool!

INGREDIENTS
1 12" cast iron skillet
2 Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough tubes
1 lb. extra lean hamburger, browned
1 large white onion, diced and sautéed
1 pkg. fresh mushrooms, sautéed and sliced in thirds
1 jumbo jar of Classico Four Cheese spaghetti sauce
2+ cups shredded parmesan cheese
8-10 slices deli-packaged Gouda cheese

PREPARE
1. Brown meat, sauté veggies and set aside til ready to cook pizza (this will take 30 min.)
2. Preheat oven to 400
3. In cast iron skillet, unfurl pizza dough to cover bottom, press into sides and let drape over edges
4. Layer parmesan, spaghetti sauce, meat, onions, mushrooms, gouda and repeat. End with more parmesan sprinkled on top
5. Twist dough to form a crust
6. Bake for 30 minutes and enjoy

Here is the salad I was planning to serve with the pizza, but never got around to it. Also, due to my excitement about this recipe, I put everything together and forgot the sauce so had to dig tunnels and infuse. Not to worry, this tastes amazing! Our son was sleeping over at a buddy's house and wanted to know "what food" he would miss. And if there would be some left tomorrow.

Spot hid upstairs I'm sure because of the onions, so alas, no paw rating

Mac N Cheese N Meat!

"Mom, this crap -- I mean stuff is really, really good," said our 16 year old son tonight. And it truly was a compliment.

Here's a variation on the traditional Mac N Cheese if you take just 20 more minutes. And dig Blue Cheese...

INGREDIENTS
1 box interesting open tube short pasta, cooked al dente
1 cup+ blue cheese, crumbled
2 TBSP unsalted butter
3 cups heavy cream
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
1 generous TBSP minced or squished garlic
1 petite top sirloin per person, salted, grilled and sliced in strips

COOKING
1. Melt butter and garlic in medium skillet, cook slightly about 2 minutes. Add cream, whisk. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Stir often.
2. Heat coals.
3. Bring 3 quart pot of water to boil, add pasta, cook al dente.
4. Season meat, go out and grill!
5. Add cheese to skillet, whisk til smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and keep warm til everything else is done.
6. Toss cheese mixture with pasta, serve with yummy meat!

The blue cheese gives this an unexpected nip. This recipe can serve 6 with 1-cup pasta servings...although my boys had more! In the past I have added fresh Italian parsley to the pasta, but it was the nasty Daylight Savings day so I rebelled.

Spot? She is so self-serving! She only gives this 4 paws because when we slice the meat, we toss tidbits into her bowl

Daylight Savings Luscious Meatloaf

This recipe is morphed from the Lost Summer, the one where I had two broken feet and had to learn to walk again, and my hub had emergency appendicitis surgery. It's a blur to us but we were well-fed by many church friends. This meatloaf recipe was from the famous "Cooks" recipe. At that time, we gobbled it up. De-lish! Haven't tried to make it since then, and that's back in the day when I thought lots of cooking was complicated.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs mixture of extra lean ground beef and low fat turkey
1 large red onion, casually diced
8 cloves of garlic, minced (less if you fear garlic breath)
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
2 large eggs
Up to 1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 - 6 TBSP whipped butter
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 cup fresh Cilantro flakes
1/3 cup mayonaise (Hellmanns!)
1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups Italian bread crumbs

COOKING:
1. In large skillet (to be be used later when you make your gravy), cook onion and garlic in olive oil with pinch of salt til soft. Cover and stir every once in awhile. Leave some of the onions to flavor your gravy...

2. Preheat oven to 350.

3. While onion mixture is cooking, set up large bowl with the following: Big smatter of Kosher salt, ground pepper to taste (we like lots), eggs, Dijon, Mayo, Worcestershire, Cilantro, 1/3 cup Whipping cream - whisk well

4. When onion mixture is cooked til soft, add contents to big bowl, whisk - then add the meat (This is where I ask my hubby to mash up the ingredients b/c his fingers hold less water than mine = ring comes off easier)

5. Hand-mix all to fit baking dish. Pat firmly. Bake until instant temp reads 160, approx 1 hour and 10 minutes.

6. While meatloaf is cooking, prepare side dishes. We like mashed potos and gravy. Tonite I made the potos with heavy cream and whipped butter. Very smooth!

Spinach-Cream Cheese Dijon Chicken AND Lemon Spinach Tomato Orzo

This recipe is from my daughter Anne who came home last weekend and prepared us this feast! It has gone on our short list, and takes just 25 minutes start to finish (unless you double it).

INGREDIENTS
For the Chicken
8 - 10 chicken tenderloins (we use the flash frozen ones, thawed. If you have a 75-lb-dog like our daughter does, thaw on top of fridge)
A few handfuls of fresh spinach
1 cup whipped cream cheese at room temp
Salt
Pepper
Grey Poupon Mustard
Toothpicks

For the Orzo
1.5 - 2 cups uncooked Orzo pasta
4-6 TBSP butter, to taste
1 full lemon juiced (do not use prepared juice, it makes a difference)
1 - 2 diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
A few handfuls of fresh spinach
Salt
Pepper

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat broiler to high. Move rack about 6" from top. Also put medium pot of water on high to boil for Orzo.

Cut tenderloins in half as if you are butterflying them. (8 tenderloins will make 16 pieces) Salt and pepper to taste.

Lay cut tenderloins on foil wrapped cookie sheets. Spread each with as much cream cheese as you like. Press 6-8 spinach leaves onto the cream cheese side of the tenderloins.

Roll up the tenderloins starting with the fat end, rolling toward skinny end and secure with a toothpick. Dollop each rolled tenderloin with Grey Poupon to taste. The rolled up chickens should be about 2" apart.

Broil about 8 - 10 minutes til tops are browned and chicken cooked all the way through. (Cut into one piece before removing from oven to be sure it is not pink)

Add Orzo to boiling water with 1 tsp salt.

While pasta is cooking, dice tomatoes.

When Orzo is cooked, drain and return to pot. Add butter, Parmesan and tomatoes and stir until cheese and butter are melted. Add salt and pepper and fresh squeezed lemon, mix.

Serve with chicken and enjoy! Big eaters will enjoy 6 tenderloins so plan accordingly.

Spot gave this 4 fat paws and sat under her big sister's chair the entire dinner

Lov'n Valentines Din-Din

It took a few days to recover from the flu, but we did it, we finally celebrated!

Our annual dinner is verrrry time-consuming but well worth it. I forgot that my recipe meant what I said tonight, so we did not eat til 10 p.m. Seriously, plan that your day is just about this meal and start after lunch. This menu is so good that we now cross Caesar Salad and French Onion Soup off our restaurant options. Bet you will, too.

Menu
The Best French Onion Soup
Caesar Salad
Bread of Garlic

Serves 6-8 depending on soup bowl size
Prep Time: 5 minutes the day ahead of time, and 5 hours the day of

CAESAR SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1 baguette, cubed and broiled til light brown (drizzle with Olive Oil first)
5 cloves of garlic, diced + ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil: place in Mason jar with lid and refrigerate at least 24 hours ahead of time
2 large heads (or 3 small) Romaine
½ tsp dry mustard
1 ½ tsp Kosher salt
Grated black pepper to taste
Place 3 TBSP red wine vinegar and 6 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil in another Mason jar with lid and chill while preparing meal
1 egg
¼ to ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese


FRENCH ONION SOUP INGREDIENTS:
10 large onions – 5 red and 5 white – sliced thin and separated into rings
1 cup unsalted butter
2 – 3 TBSP Wondra
2 ½ cans chicken broth
2 ½ cans beef broth
½ cup white wine
1 tsp pepper
6-8 slices of your choice of gourmet bread, sliced to fit oven-proof bowl
12 slices mozzarella cheese
Grated hard Parmesan cheese (almost entire block)
Grated Gruyere cheese (entire block)


BREAD OF GARLIC INGREDIENTS:
Loaf of choice, sliced (this works with Tuscan, Rosemary, 3 cheese & more)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 – 1 ½ cups shredded Parmesan
5 cloves minced garlic

DAY AHEAD:
Prepare garlic and olive oil for Caesar Salad, refrigerate.

DAY OF (Begin 5 hours before you want to serve, I’m not kidding):
Dice baguette and broil til lightly browned, set aside.

Prepare Garlic Bread: melt butter, mince garlic, mix with Parm. Spread each slice with mixture, wrap loaf in foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour (or longer).

Peal and slice the onions, place on a platter or bowl(s).

When almost done slicing onions, melt 2 sticks of butter on medium in large skillet. Add onions to skillet in about 4 batches, keeping onions in skillet, just rotate more cooked ones to the top. This will take the most amount of time – about 2 hours. Sauté til onions are clear, but don’t burn.

While onions are doing their thing, prepare romaine: wash and rip into bite-size pieces, chill. (I also like to chill my salad bowl)

Place 3 TBSP red wine vinegar and 6 TBSP extra virgin olive oil in covered Mason jar and chill til serving time.

When onions are clear, add Wondra and stir in both broths, wine and pepper. Bring to boil, then simmer 15 minutes.

While soup is simmering, prepare part of the salad: Place croutons on bottom of salad bowl, pour over them 2 TBSP of the overnight garlic/olive oil mixture and toss. On top of this, place romaine and toss with the salt and dry mustard and pepper.

Set oven-proof soup bowls on a jelly-roll type tray (rimmed). Place a piece of bread on the bottom of each bowl and sprinkle with shredded Gruyere and purchased shredded Parmesan. Ladle soup over bread. Top with fresh shaved/shredded Parm and 2 mozzarella slices per bowl. Remove your bread and keep it in the foil. Place soup tray under broiler and heat until cheese melts, remove immediately. Watch it carefully.

While soup is broiling, finish salad. Cook egg in gently simmering water for 90 seconds. Pour about 80% of the red wine vinegar/extra virgin oil over the romaine and toss with Parmesan. Crack the egg over the salad and toss once again.

Feast!

Spot gave no paws. At first she was excited to hear the chopping, but promptly left the room when she smelled onions. Besides that, cooking cut into her nap time...

Our Annual Valentine's Din-Din

Oh my gosh! All I was going to post tonight was the count down to our annual Valentine dinner (French Onion Soup and Caesar Salad)...

I record "The Nate Show" every day and today's playback featured a celebrity chef and her French Onion Soup and Salad --- suitable for Valentines! While I dig this show and the people, my recipe is heartier and just plain... uh... better.

Watch for my "Not So Famous Excellent Valentine Menu" coming in a few days. It's in queue after we try our daughter's Dijon-y Cream Cheese Chicken Tenders with Orzo.

We have a big week on our hands!

Parmesan Chicken

This is the reason why my husband won’t go to Italian restaurants anymore. It is absolutely wonderful and every time I make it, I add something new or give it a twist. Sometimes I miss going to restaurants, though.


Prep Time: 40 Min.
Cook Time: 50 min.


INGREDIENTS:
5 - 6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 medium red onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, squeezed
Sea salt
Ground pepper
Onion salt
½ bag fresh spinach
Extra virgin olive oil
1 – 1 ¼ cups Italian bread crumbs
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 can tomato paste (14 oz)
2 cans herb seasoned diced tomatoes (14 oz each)
1/2 - 1 pkg fettuccine


In large skillet, sauté onions and garlic in Extra Virgin Olive Oil til soft over medium heat. When nearly done, add the fresh spinach and cook til wilted. Remove and place on plate.

MULTITASK: While sautéing, prepare chicken. Set out two pie plates and another plate. In first pie plate, place beaten eggs. In second pie plate, place bread crumbs, adding salt and pepper. Dip each breast in egg, then cover with crumbs. Place coated breast on plate til ready to brown.

When skillet is empty of the onion mixture, add enough Extra Virgin Olive Oil to coat bottom, place all 5 breasts in pan and cook til brown on each side.

Using 10 x 13 baking pan, arrange browned breasts so that they do not touch. Dollop the onion/spinach mixture on each. Then add generous TBSPs of tomato paste. Sprinkle with onion salt. Cover breasts with the 2 cans of the diced tomatoes. Then add the Parmesan, followed by the mozzarella. Tent with foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Check doneness.
Pause and boil water for fettuccine and cook according to package directions.

Continue baking chicken for another 15-25 minutes, uncover last five minutes. You want the chicken cooked through and the cheese melted. Cooking time depends on how thick the breasts and how much you pile on.
Serve over fettuccine.

Spot gave this a NO PAW because she was upstairs mourning her boys who had the nerve to go to the other brother's house