Pasta with Butternut Sauce, Sausage and Spinach

Recipe adapted from: 
Skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

• 11 oz (4 links) Italian sausage
• 1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1 tbsp light butter
• 1 lb any fun shaped pasta, I used trulli 
• 1/4 cup shallots, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh shaved Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add butternut squash and cook until soft. Remove squash with a slotted spoon and place in a blender, blend until smooth.

Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions for al dente, reserving at least 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.

Meanwhile, in a large deep non-stick skillet, sauté sausage over medium heat until browned, breaking up with a spoon as it cooks. When cooked through, set aside on a plate.

Reduce heat to medium-low and melt the butter, sauté the shallots and garlic until soft and golden, about 5 - 6 minutes. Add pureed butternut squash, season with with salt and fresh cracked pepper and add a little of the reserved pasta water (I used about 1 cup) to thin out the sauce to your liking. Add baby spinach and stir in Parmesan cheese and seasoning. 

Toss in cooked pasta and sausage and mix until well coated.

Tips & Notes:

I thought this turned out really good. You can certainly customize this to your preferences, but I really enjoyed that the sauce didn't have cream in it, yet was still super creamy.  I served this with a salad and bread.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Recipe adapted from: 

Heatovento350.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
   
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 bag frozen mixed veggies (I used Kroger brand)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
   
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. Cook chicken however you like. I steamed mine in my steamer from totally frozen with steak seasoning sprinkled on it for 30 mins.
2. Shred chicken. (I used my Kitchenaid mixer to shred mine, just make sure you put a towel over the mixer so you don't have flying chicken).
3. Add butter to a large pot, add celery, onion and carrots along with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add flour and spices. Cook and stir one minute.
4. Stir in broth and milks, cover the pot, and bring soup to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.
5. Stir in chicken and let simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
6. Divide soup among serving bowls.

Notes & Tips:

The original recipe called for parsnips, which sounds good to me, but as I didn't have any I added the frozen veggies to bulk it up. You can also lower the fat in this by subbing the cream for whole milk and the whole milk for skim. I wouldn't use all skim milk though, I feel it would make the soup kinda watery. I served this with biscuits. The original recipe called for puff pastry adornments, but honestly if I was going to go that far, I'd just make chicken pot pie.

Beef Bourguignon

Recipe adapted from: Julia Child's Joy of Cooking

Ingredients

One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon (or 6 slices of thick cut bacon)

3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons flour

3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

1/2 teaspoon thyme

A crumbled bay leaf

18 to 24 white onions, small

3 1/2 tablespoons butter

Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)

1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered

Cooking Directions

-Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). -Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.
-Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
-Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
-Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. -Add it to the lardons.
-In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
-Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
-Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.
-Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust).
-Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
-Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
-Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
-Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
-While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
-Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.
-Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.
-Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.
-Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
-Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.
-Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.
-When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.
-Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.
-Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
-If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.
-Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.
-Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley. 

Notes & Tips:

Ok... so where to start. I've always wanted to make this and have admittedly been a tad intimidated to make it. But I bought the ingredients because we thought we were going to have guests for dinner. That fell through and I almost backed out, but I figured I had all the good stuff so I'd go ahead and make tonight a special night anyway. I started this recipe at 11:50am, and we ate at 6pm. There was LOTS of hands on time, there was also a 3.5 hour period where it just simmered. It was very very good, you could taste the wine and the rich beef flavor. I'm not sure I will be making this anytime soon, but it is truly something every cook should attempt. I served this with roasted potatoes and crusty bread.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Recipe adapted from: Six Sisters Blog

Ingredients:
1 (6 oz) pkg. chicken flavored low sodium stuffing mix
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 tablespoon prepared, Dijon mustard
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces (I steamed mine)
3 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups cooked, chopped ham
6 slices of extra thin Swiss cheese

Preparation: Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Prepare stuffing as directed on package.  Mix soup and mustard in medium bowl; stir in chicken, broccoli and ham. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with cheese slices and stuffing.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through.

Notes & Tips:
The original recipe said to boil the chicken but I seasoned mine with garlic salt and pepper and steamed it. You could certainly use leftover chicken if you have it. Really any way you cook the chicken would be just fine. Also, I did not cover it while cooking so that the stuffing could get crispy. I served this with a chopped salad.
 

Pioneer Woman's Meatloaf

Recipe taken from:
Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:
1 cup Whole Milk
6 slices White Bread
2 pounds Ground Beef
1 cup (heaping) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
3/4 teaspoons Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/3 cup Minced Flat-leaf Parsley
4 whole Eggs Beaten
10 slices Thin/regular Bacon
Sauce:
1-1/2 cup Ketchup
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
Tabasco To Taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour milk over the bread slices. Allow it to soak in for several minutes.

Place the ground beef, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs.

With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat to drain. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil to avoid a big mess!)

Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.

Make the sauce: add ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir together. Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the top of the bacon. Spread with a spoon.

Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another 1/3 of the sauce over the top. Bake for another 15 minutes. Slice and serve with remaining sauce.

Serve with mashed potatoes. Yummy!

Notes & Tips:
Please don't be like me... please use a broiler pan. I don't own one so I "make-shifted" with a cookie pan and my metal cooling racks. The spaces in the cooling rack were WAY too big and my meatloaf fell down and cooked with a metal cooling rack inside. BUT other than all that the meatloaf was incredible! Who wraps bacon over meatloaf?!?! Man it's good.

Nutrition Facts:
No thanks!

Chicken Artichoke Casserole

Recipe Taken From:
Virgina Fare Cookbook

Ingredients:
8 chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed
1 stick of butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cups marinated artichoke hearts, drained and sliced

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in a large shallow baking dish. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour; mix well.
Whisk in milk. Season with salt and pepper. Heat mixture until thickened.
Add parmesan cheese and wine to cream sauce. Stir in enough chicken stock to make the sauce thick and creamy.
Gently fold in artichokes. Pour sauce over chicken. Cover and bake for 1 hour.

Notes & Tips:
Makes 8 servings. You can add chopped bell peppers and one jar sliced pimientos for a more colorful presentation. I used part whipping cream and part skim milk. Also, I made the mistake of putting raw chicken in, instead of cooked. It looked mine WAY longer to cook than it calls for I was at 1.5-2 hours instead...duh Danielle. Geez. You can also crumble Ritz cracker over the top and uncover for the last 5-10 minutes.

Swiss Steak

Recipe Taken From:
Kris Collier

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Cube Steaks or Tenderized Round Steak
• 2 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 Cup Chopped Onion
• 3/4 Cup Green Pepper Chopped
• 2 or 3 Ribs of Celery
• 1 14oz Can Diced Tomato, juice & all
• 3/4 cup Beef Broth
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

Preparation:
In a large skillet over medium heat, brown steak in oil on both sides. Remove steaks and set aside.
In the same skillet, saute onion, celery and green pepper until they begin to get soft. Sprinkle in pepper , garlic & onion powder. Add broth, soy sauce and tomatoes. Add steak, cover and simmer for 1 hour or until meat is tender. Enjoy!

Notes & Tips:
I thought this was great! The only thing I would change would be I think I would add red pepper flakes for a little kick. I served this with a salad. Next time I would serve it with rice or mashed potatoes.