Weekly Surprise Recipes

Four Cheese Chicken Lasagna

2011-04-07T13:01:00.000-06:00

Information on the Dish:

-My main inspiration for this dish was my fiancee. I have never made lasagna before and I don't really care for over saucy lasagna. Anyhow! It was his birthday this passed week, which is why this is being posted late, I have just been really busy this week! I asked him if there was anything I could cook for him what would it be. It took him a while but he finally decided lasagna! So after much searching this is the best recipe I found that would suit both of our tastes, with a little modifications of course.
-Cost of this dish was roughly just 12$. With a price like that and you can serve 5-8 people depending on how big of a piece they want, this is a steal!
-We rated this one a 5 out of 5

What you will need:

- 3 cups of cooked chicken breast, that has been seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and has been chopped or shredded.

- 1 can of cream of chicken soup (10 ounces)

- 1 cup of chicken broth

- 1 cup of sour cream

- 6 ounces of softened cream cheese (one of those half tubs)

- 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

- 1/2 a cup of shredded swiss cheese

- 2 cups of ricotta cheese ( I just used a full tub)

- 1/4 cup of freshly chopped parsley

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 10-12 Lasagna noodles

What to do:

1. Cook your chicken, makes sure its seasoned well with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. After its cooked, let it cool off for a bit to the side. Then chop it up or shred it.

2. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. You want to make sure the noodles are not fully cooked all the way through. Your looking for a rubbery texture. Don't worry they will finish cooking in the oven. Drain them when they are almost all the way cooked but not fully.

3. In a bowl combine soup and broth. Stir until smooth, then set it off to the side for now.

4. In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, salt, swiss cheese, and parsley. Set aside.

5. In a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch dish, first layer noodles, then half of the cream cheese mixture, half of the cooked chicken, then spread out some of the ricotta, sprinkle some of the mozzarella cheese, then pour over half of the soup mixture. Repeat this process after the soup mixture again, starting with the noodles.

6. After the second layer of the soup mixture is poured finish it off with another layer of noodles on the top and then sprinkle the remaining of the mozzarella cheese to top it off.

7. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*We forgot to take a picture again. We were so hungry! I really must remember these things.

A Little behind!

2011-04-06T19:30:00.000-06:00

Sorry i'm late on this weeks post! Been very busy! I will be posting my next recipe in a day or two. The wait is worth it though! It will be a 4 cheese chicken lasagna! I hope your looking forward to it!

Crab Cakes

2011-03-31T13:21:00.000-06:00

Information on the dish

-I'm hoping seafood doesn't get old. I promise i'll do something with chicken next time! I picked this recipe cause its not only easy but you can also add a few things here and there to customize it to your liking!
-General cost of this dish is 22$. Crab is costly but has 3-6 servings.
- I rated this about a 4.5 out of 5.

What you will need

- 1 lb of fresh lump REAL crab meat
(Can also be canned, if canned use 2 cans.)

- 1 roll of Ritz crackers

- 1 beaten egg

-1 tablespoon of mayonnaise (lite preferably)

-1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce

-1 tablespoon of "Old Bay" Seasoning

-2 tablespoons of butter

Optional

-1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard

-1/4 of a shallot, finely chopped

-1/4 cup of cilantro

What to do

1. To begin with if you purchased fresh crab, make sure it has to hidden shell pieces. If you purchased canned, make sure you drain and rinse gently so it doesn't have any of the liquid from the can left on it. This will make the crab overly salty.

2. Crush your Ritz crackers so they are a nice bread crumb texture.

3. In a medium to large mixing bowl, mix all your ingredients except for the butter. Mix gently as to not crush the lumps. Lumpy crab cakes make for the best kind. After all is well mix, form them into patties. Not to big or they will take to long to cook.

4. In a medium saute pan, melt the butter over medium to medium-high heat. Place the cakes 3 at a time or more depending on the size. Don't crowd the pan or they wont cook properly. 4-5 minutes on each side until they on nice golden brown.

- Serve with a nice salad.

Sorry I do not have a photo for this. Was to eager to try it, I managed to forget to take one. Enjoy!

Smoked Salmon Cream Sauce with Angel Hair Pasta

2011-03-24T19:29:00.000-06:00

Information on the dish:

-I picked this dish because it seemed to be simple and a nice start to my blog. Also I was craving salmon at the time and I also love pasta, being half Italian :)
-This dish is not best suited for people who greatly dislike onions and salmon. I apologize dishes for you will come soon!
-General cost of this ranged about $15 and serves up to 4 people. Serving sizes can be easily adjust to accommodate for single livings or families of 2.
-We rated this about a 4 out of 5. In my personal opinion I didn't add the proper amount of salmon. The proper amount is what will be in the recipe, but also its all based on what you, yourself enjoy.

What you will need:

Make sure to get all your ingredients ahead of time. Chop your onions, measure out your cream and slice your salmon. It makes all this a whole lot simpler.

	8 ounces Whole Wheat Angel Hair Pasta. Regular Angel Hair Pasta works as well.
	3 tablespoons butter.
	1 tablespoon shallots, finely chopped.
	1 1/2 cups heavy cream.
	1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded.
	1/4 cup red onions, finely diced.
	4 ounces Smoked Sockeye Salmon, sliced in thin strips. Any smoked salmon will work as well.
	Fresh black pepper, to taste.

What to do:

Bring water to a boil for pasta. In small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, add shallots and saute for 1 minute. Add heavy cream, and Parmesan cheese. Bring to a low boil for 3 minutes.
Add pasta to boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Lower heat on cream sauce, add red onion and smoked salmon. Stir for 30 - 60 seconds.
Drain pasta, divide into 4 bowls and pour smoked salmon sauce over pasta.
Don't worry about the salmon it will cook fully in its 60 seconds of being in the pan.
Optional: Add a bit of parsley for a touch of color.

I'm working on my photography and plating skills!

My first blog post!

2011-03-24T18:04:00.000-06:00

Well here it is! My first ever blog post! I truly hope that this becomes an enjoyable weekly read for some people out there. If I influence just one person to make something new that they enjoy, than I have achieved my goal!

What my blog is about:

Once or twice a week I will pick at brand new recipe from random sources i.e the internet, television, family, friends, even my fellow blog readers, and I will cook it as the recipe details to and rate it! My rating will be based on my own tastes and how it came out when I made it. I by no means am a culinary critic. Along with photo's and maybe the occasional video, I will post the recipe I cooked for the week and write about little tweeks I made and possibly re-write a bit to make it easier to read for everyone. The recipes I pick will be easy with little technical abilities as I want everyone to be able to try them out. I will post how much all the ingredients cost me and portion sizes for all those that have families. Every little bit helps right?

Well thats about it! I hope you all enjoy reading my writings as much as I enjoy writing about them! Happy cooking!