Chicken Divan

My favorite professor in college used to make Chicken Divan for us when we'd have Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society dinners. It was his specialty - a Southern comfort food recipe that was one of his all-time favorites and probably the thing he made best. Anyway, this isn't his recipe. Actually, I think it's better - but that's because my version is a little more jazzed-up with seasonings etc. And it uses fresh steamed broccoli rather than frozen, which is CRUCIAL. So thank you, Dr. Borders, for the inspiration...and the introduction to a delightful wintertime (or anytime) treat.

CHICKEN DIVAN
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 small onion, finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
Seasonings for chicken that you like (ex. garlic salt, lemon pepper, thyme, oregano, marojam, etc.)
1 T olive oil (for sauteeing)
1 lb fresh broccoli florets
1 10.75oz can Chicken & Herbs condensed soup
1/3 C milk
1/3 C lite sour cream
At least 1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar (really as much as you want)
2 T butter
4-5 T breadcrumbs

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450.

Saute onions and garlic for a few minutes before adding chicken. After you add the chicken, season the chicken with whatever you think sounds good. Saute chicken for 8-10 minutes or until done.

While chicken is sauteeing, steam broccoli until just crisp-tender. Do NOT overcook!

Mix soup, milk, and sour cream together in a small bowl.

Melt butter. Mix breadcrumbs and butter together until the mixture has a nice crumbly consistency. If you need to add more breadcrumbs, do so.

Add broccoli to an oval-shaped casserole dish (or whatever dish you want). Add chicken on top of the broccoli. At this point, you can sprinkle a little of the shredded cheddar on top of the chicken/broccoli. Next, layer the soup mixture on top of the chicken and broccoli. Add the shredded cheddar cheese to the top, and then sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the top is brown and the mixture is bubbling. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve with some kind of rolls to soak up the creamy sauce.

YUMMY COMFORT FOOD GOODNESS!

butternut squash soup

i've been craving a bowl of squash soup for a few weeks now that the temperatures have been dropping, but i didn't get a chance to try to make some until today.  although i'm pretty happy with the way it came out, i might play around a bit with the seasonings next time to get a richer flavor.

butternut squash soup

20 oz cubed butternut squash (i bought a 2 lb squash and roasted it in buttery/salted/peppered chunks for 40 min at 400 degrees)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 carton chicken or vegetable broth

1 medium onion, chopped (half an onion in my case so that mike will eat it)

3-4 cloves garlic, minced (i used 8 cloves of roasted garlic since i had extra from something i made earlier in the week and i always double the amount of garlic in recipes to make up for the lack of onion)

1 bay leaf

1/4 c sour cream

pinch of thyme

pumpkin pie spice to taste (i decided there was enough after about a teaspoon and a half)

pinch of sugar to taste (i used two pinches)

salt and pepper to taste (geez, can this recipe writer be more specific already?)

heat olive oil in soup pot.  add onion and garlic and sauté until soft.  add squash and sauté for a few minutes.  add broth, seasonings and bay leaf.  if your squash isn't already cooked, cover and cook until squash is tender, about 30 min.  take the bay leaf out and purée it in batches in a blender (or use an immersion blender right in the pot).  let simmer until desired consistency and then remove from heat and mix in sour cream.  enjoy!

better than MCL sauteed apples

I've never been to MCL, but from the way Kira describes it, I can imagine it would be a place where they might offer cinnamon-y apples as an option for dessert. I'm also imagining that their apples might resemble the usual institutional apple-pie filling type served at buffets, and that they'd be kinda thick in consistency and super sweet. Ick.

A few weeks ago, I was looking for a recipe for sauteed apples to use on top of a dutch pancake I was making. When I googled sauteed apples, this was the first recipe that came up (thank you, allrecipes.com!) and I'm so very glad it did! I absolutely loved the way these turned out in texture, in consistency and in flavor! They were so delicious and perfect that they even inspired me to wake up 15 min earlier every day so I could make oatmeal w/these apples and raisins. Impressive!

There's not much to this recipe, but if you're like me and haven't ever sauteed apples before, it's a great first-timer recipe. I had an idea of how sauteeing apples might go, but I would have never been able to guess the proportions of sugar/cinnamon/butter or the need to boil the apples toward the end to achieve the best texture!

Without further adieu, I give you allrecipes.com's recipe for sauteed apples...

1/4 cup butter
4 large tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 teaspoons cornstarch (I used flour because I couldn't find my cornstarch and it worked fine, you just have to make a roux with the butter and flour in order to cook the flour before the apples are added so that you don't end up with a flour-y taste)
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; add apples. Cook, stirring constantly, until apples are almost tender, about 6 to 7 minutes.
Dissolve cornstarch in water; add to skillet. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Smoky Sweet Potato Chicken Stoup

Rachael Ray always wins me back eventually. I just happened to catch an episode of 30-Minute Meals last Friday and she made Smoky Sweet Potato Chicken Stoup - it looked so amazing that I wanted to lick the TV. So I looked it up this week on foodnetwork.com and here we are! It looks kind of tricky because there are a lot of ingredients but it really isn't too hard to make. I still think that Rachael relies on her superhuman chopping and dicing abilities to get these recipes done in 30 minutes. However, us mere mortals will still be able to make this "stoup" in 45! I served this with pepperjack grilled cheese sandwiches...quesadillas would be fun too!

SMOKY SWEET POTATO CHICKEN STOUP
Rachael Ray, foodnetwork.com
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

2 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 ribs celery
1 large onion, peeled and halved
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus a spoonful of sauce from the can
Salt and black pepper
1 t dry thyme
1 bay leaf
1 C dry white wine
5 C chicken stock
1 large sweet potato
3/4-1lb chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1/4 C cilantro leaves, a generous handful, roughly chopped
1/2 C sour cream for garnish, optional

DIRECTIONS:

Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat with 2 T of extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 turns of the pan.

While soup pot heats, chop carrots in half lengthwise and then slice into thin half-moons. Add the carrots to the pot while it heats, stirring to coat the carrots in the oil. Chop and drop in celery and onion, chopping them as small as you can without driving yourself crazy. Add the garlic, chipotle, and adobo sauce and stir to combine. Season the veggies with salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook the veggies together for 1 minute. Add the wine and reduce 1 minute. Add the stock to the pot, cover the pot, and raise the heat to high. Bring the stoup to a boil, remove the cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into quarters lengthwise, then thinly slice into bite size pieces, Add the cut chicken and sweet potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through. Turn the heat off, add scallions and cilantro. Serve each portion of stoup with a dollop of sour cream on top.