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Club Chicken - a casserole

A few days ago one of my friends gave me several cookbooks. One of them was Better Homes and Gardens Meat Cook Book from 1966. I love older cookbooks. I've been trying to eat lighter these days and most of the recipes in this cookbook screamed HIGH Cholesterol and FAT. I'm not quite sure if the recipe I made today is less in Cholesterol, but I did try to Healty it up a bit.

The orginal recipe.

Club Chicken
1/4 cup butter, margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth or 1 1/2 chicken bouillon cubes in 1 c. hot water
1 14 1/2 oz can evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
3 cups cooked rice
1 3oz can (2/3 cup) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/4 cup chopped pimiento
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds, toasted

Melt butter; blend in flour. Gradually add broth, milk and 1/2 cup water; cook and stir over low heat till thick. Add salt. Add chicken, rice and vegetables. Pour into greased 11 1/2x7 1/2x1 1/2-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Here's how I made it:
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Fat Free, Low Sodium chicken broth
1 12 oz. can No Fat evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups diced cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups cooked Minuite brand Brown Rice
1 8oz. pkg sliced fresh mushrooms
1 2oz. jar chopped pimientos

First I put the rice in a medium pan to cook. While it was cooking I cut up two boneless, skinless, chicken breasts into bite size pieces. I placed them in a skillet with no oil and cooked them just till done; no browning. In the same skillet with the chicken I added the flour; over to one side. I poured in some Low Sodium chicken broth; enough to make a thick paste and then poured in the rest; stirring it well into the chicken. I didn't add the 1/2 c. water that the orginal recipe suggested. I didn't see how it would effect the taste much if I just used the rest of my can of chicken broth. Next I added the rest of the ingredients: salt, No Fat evaporated milk, pimientos, and fresh mushrooms. Mixed all that together. I then placed the rice in the baking dish and poured the chicken mixture in; stirring it all together. Baked at 350 degrees, per orginal recipe, for 30 mins.
Delicious! I am thinking that next time I make this a few sauted onions and a larger pkg of fresh mushrooms would be good. Hum, just had an idea... what about adding some chopped fresh spinach also?  I think there's a lot you can do with this recipe.

I couldn't help but notice as I was comparing and changing ingredients that the size of the can of evaporated milk has shrunk since the 1960's. I've noticed this happening alot with other products lately. The price remains the same, but the product has shrunk; less in the can or container. For example, if you're like me you save your butter tubs to use; find an old one and compare the amounts (lbs or ozs).

Craving meatloaf last weekend

I was craving meatloaf, probably because a friend of mine mentioned it; strange how suggestive thinking works. Anyway, I’ve always loved the Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup meatloaf my Mom used to make so I decided to make it a bit healthier by using turkey meat. I didn’t follow any recipe, this is my invention. The meatloaf was delicious. You may notice I didn’t put any eggs in, I forgot, but it didn’t make any difference. The meatloaf held together well and I lowered the cholesterol level of the dish by leaving them out. The recipe made a large meatloaf; would serve up to 6 people. It made great meatloaf sandwiches for lunch.

1 lb. ground Turkey
1 (1 lb.) roll of Honeysuckle White (turkey) Breakfast Sausage
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 to 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup quick oats (More if you think it needs it)
1 med. onion, finely chopped

Mix the ground turkey and breakfast sausage together in a large bowl. Add 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup, Worcestershire sauce, onion and oats. Mix together well. Place in large baking dish and shape into loaf. 350 degree oven for 1 hour and about 20 mins. depending on your oven.

Batter Bread

     I found this recipe on the Web in 2007 and I've made it four times. I love to make this when I don't have any bread in the house on a weekend.
     About the bread itself: Easy to mix together and if you have yeast and flour on hand you have bread. The only thing I have a problem with is the amount of salt in the bread. I've made this per the recipe instructions and it was too salty for me. I suggest using just 1 tsp. of salt. The dough is forgiving and can be made into rolls or a loaf. Today I felt like experimenting. I made a few of each; cloverleaf rolls, dinner rolls and just regular rolls. I also made a loaf. The loaf has a soft crumb and a crunchy crust.

NOTE: I'm not understanding why this blog editor is stretching my pics "Up".  This bread is tall, but not this tall.

Batter Bread
From the kitchen of Gretchen Grant.
Makes 1 loaf

1 1/4 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. dry yeast (1 packet) regular or rapid rise
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 tsp. salt
3 c. flour

Measure the warm water into a mixing bowl. (The warm water should be about body temperature - test a few drops on your wrist as you would a baby's bottle.) Sprinkle the yeast into the water and stir to dissolve. Add the sugar. Let stand a minute or two if using regular yeast. If using rapid rise continue to next step.

Add the butter, salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth.

Add the last cup of flour. The dough will be a bit sticker and wetter than other bread dough.

Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl and spray the top of the dough. Cover the bowl and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).

Grease a loaf pan. Punch down the dough and gently form into a loaf shape. Place in the greased pan. Let rise again in a warm oplace proctected from drafts, about 40 minutes, until doubled in size.

Toward the end of rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 40 minutes, until tapping on the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow.

These are the rolls I made.  Please understand that I made two seprate recipes so I could make rolls also.  The recipe does make more than shown; hot rolls are so good with butter fresh from the oven. *smile

Creamy Rice, Chicken and Spinach Dinner

     In all honesty I have to say that I made this last Monday. I ate it for 4 nights and enjoyed every bit of it. The recipe comes from Kraft Food and Family magazine, winter 2007. Three of my fave ingredients in one dish how could I not make it.

     I made only one change in the recipe; I didn't have the Kraft Roasted Pepper Italian dressing that the recipe suggested so instead I poured 2 Tbsp. canola oil in the skillet and sprinkled in about 1 tsp. of Cavenders; stirred them together and then added the chicken. Aside from the preping, the dish went together fast. The presentation was quite pretty with the red of the tomatoes and the green from the spinach.
Below is the orginal recipe:

Creamy Rice, Chicken and Spinach

1/4 c. Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thick strips
1 1/2 c. fat-free reduced sodium Chicken broth
2 c. Minute Brown Rice, uncooked
4 oz (1/2 of 8-oz pkg) Philadelphia Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, cubed
1 pkg. (8 oz) baby or torn spinach leaves (8 cups packed leaves)
1 med tomato, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 Tbsp. Kraft 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese

Heat dressing in large deep skillet on medium high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 min. Add broth, bring to boil. Stir in rice; return to boil. Cover. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 5 mins.

Stir Neufchatel cheese into rice mixture until melted. Add spinach (skillet will be full); cover. Cook 1 min. or until spinach is wilted. Stir rice mixture gently to mix in spinach. Cover.

Remove from heat; let stand 5 min. Stir in tomatoes; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Serve.

Last weekends bread baking

     I've only tried 2 Focaccia recipes so far, but this one is the best of the two. I often find myself changing or adding ingredients to a recipe and with this one it was no exception. I didn't have any unbleached flour so I used bread flour. I replaced the olive oil with canola oil and the sea salt with Coarse Kosher Salt. These too, were done because I didn't have the called for ingredients.
Adapting...a wonderful word. Thinking that the focaccia would be completely covered in onion if I used the entire small onion I only used about a quarter of my yellow onion. When I was looking for the rosemary in the spice cabinet I found some sesame seeds so I threw some of them on the top before baking. I think that you could add almost anything to the top of this bread. I considered it would make a fine thick crust pizza dough or perhaps something sweet like sugar and cinnamon with a touch of butter. Either way you make it I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I served it with Creamy Rice, Chicken and Spinach Dinner (recipe to follow).
This recipe is adapted from The Italian Kitchen by Gabriella Mariotti, 1998.

Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia

3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. lukewarm water
1 packette of Rapid Rise Yeast
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Rosemary leaves
1 small red onion (any color will do), halved and sliced thin
1 tsp. coarse sea salt

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the yeast. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the water and 2 Tbsp. oil. Mix well. Add more water if dry.
Knead for 10 minutes. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap or a towel.
Punch down dough. Knead for 2 to 3 minutes. The dough will be bubbly with gas. You are kneading some of that out.
Roll the dough into a circle and place on a baking sheet. Place the onion, rosemary leaves and salt on top of the focaccia; pressing them in lightly. Using your fingers make deep indentions in the dough.
Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap or a towel.
Remove plastic wrap or towel and bake in a 425 degree F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden.

     While the focaccia was rising I decided to make another bread. I needed some bread for lunch the following week. Looking through my recipes I found this one for Finnish Bread. I had all the ingredients on hand so...

Finnish Bread
Printed in Country magazine Feb/Mar 1996
Recipe by Arthur Luama, Red Lodge, Montana. He says, "This recipe was brought over from Finland by pioneers who settled the area. We make this bread for a local festival that features foods from different countries.
Makes 2 loaves

1 pkg. active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 c. butter, melted, divided
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add whole wheat flour, 2 Tbsp of butter, brown sugar, salt and 2 cups of flour; beat till smooth. Add enough flour to form a soft dough.
2. Turn onto a floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place till doubled, about 1 hour.

3. Punch down dough. Shape into two 6-inch rounds; place on a greased baking sheet. Cut slashes in top with a knife. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.

4. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with remaining butter.

     This bread went together well. I did have one period where I had to stop and tend to the Focaccia I was also making. I had to leave the mixture from Step 1 (yeast, water, whole wheat flour, butter, brown sugar, and salt) sitting for about 10 mins. I thought it was like making a "sponge" so I didn't worry. The rises went well and both loaves baked just fine. I did want a larger higher loaf and I probley would have achieved that if I hadn't made two loaves per the recipe.