Browned Butter Ravioli with Chicken, Toasted Walnuts, and Crispy Sage

I should've had your attention at the mention of browned butter. At least, that's my hope anyway. I feel comfortable telling you that I think all food should be smothered in some version of browned butter. I know it sounds a little crazy, but browned butter is just that magical. It made this quick and easy recipe really special with not a lot of effort. Hooray browned butter!

Browned Butter Ravioli with Chicken,Toasted Walnuts, and Crispy Sage
From: kevinandamanda.com via Pinterest

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breast with rib meat
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp vegetable oil
9 oz fresh mini ravioli
2 oz (1/2 cup) walnuts
4 tbsp butter
1/3 cup fresh sage leaves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and thyme and rub over both sides of the chicken. In a dutch oven or large, oven-safe pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for 2 minutes until golden brown. Flip and cook for two more minutes. Move the pot to the oven and continue cooking for 25-30 minutes. Allow the chicken to cool for 5 minutes, then chop into bite-sized pieces.

Boil and drain the ravioli according the to package directions. Set aside.

Place the walnuts in a large skillet over medium heat and toast for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove and chop. Wipe the skillet clean, and melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. When the butter just starts to turn brown, add the sage and stir constantly for one minute. Immediately add the ravioli and stir to combine. Add the chicken and most of the chopped walnuts and stir. Plate the pasta and top with remaining walnuts.



The Result:
I did some adapting for my family. First, I couldn't find fresh sage so I used ground...probably about a teaspoon. Then, my chicken was already cooked from last night (I made extra...how smart of me, I know!) so I skipped the chicken cooking step entirely. I basically boiled the ravioli, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, toasted the walnuts, and made the sauce. I combined everything in the same pan and--BOOM!--dinner was ready. This ended up coming together very quickly...SCORE!

On another note, I used a whole stick of butter for the sauce, closer to a cup of walnuts, and three packages of spinach/cheese ravioli. We needed to feed five people and have enough for two lunches the next day. I cook for a big family, so I always adjusted the quantities accordingly.

Another note on top of the previous note, This would be a fabulous vegetarian dinner, by omitting the chicken. Honestly, the chicken just added bulk and not much else. I would have been happy with just the ravioli, walnuts and browned butter sauce. Either version gets a solid thumbs up from me!

Chicken Broccoli Supreme Casserole

Although the title may sound boring, this casserole was very captivating for my family. We all loved it, and it was especially kid-friendly. I just love a peaceful dinner where everyone enjoys the meal that I put in front of them. This casserole produced that desired effect. It's not fancy, but it sure was yummy!

Chicken Broccoli Supreme Casserole
Adapted from: Get Off Your Butt and Bake blog via Pinterest

Ingredients:
1 lb. broccoli (steamed slightly if fresh, thawed if frozen)
3 cups cooked chicken breasts – Break up in small pieces
3 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese, divided
1 tube Ritz Crackers (35-38 crackers total)
1/2 stick melted butter
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

SAUCE:
1/3 C. Butter melted
1/4 C. Cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 C. COLD Water
1/3 C. Chicken Broth
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
2 Cups skim milk
1 1/2 cups of the above Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
In greased 13×9 pan, layer the broccoli and chicken, then set aside. In saucepan over medium heat, combine the sauce ingredients--melted butter, cornstarch dissolved in water, chicken broth, seasonings, and milk. Stir well, and continue stirring until sauce has thickened. Turn heat down to low, and add 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese. Stir until melted. Pour over the chicken and broccoli. Top with 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Melt the half stick butter, and add the poppy seeds, garlic and onion powders, and stir well. Crush Ritz crackers in large zip-lock bag with a rolling pin. Don’t crush too small. Add crumbs to the melted butter. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the grated cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.



The Result:
This was a darn near perfect casserole...homey, comforting, and thoroughly enjoyable!

Bacon Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

This. was. awesome. Seriously, you should try this sandwich immediately; if not sooner. Thank you. Over and out. Ten-four, good buddy.

Bacon Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Adapted From: Three Many Cooks website

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter, softened (use more or less if needed, depending on the number of sandwiches)
sour dough bread slices
ripe tomatoes, sliced (I used heirlooms)
8-10 pieces of crispy, cooked bacon (use more or less, if needed)
jarred pesto
fresh mozzarella, sliced

Directions:
Cook bacon and set aside. On inside of bread, spread pesto on both halves. Top with cheese slices, tomato slices, and a few slices of bacon. Put top piece of bread on sandwich. Slather butter on outside of both ends of the bread. Cook in a dry skillet over medium high heat until cheese is melted and bread is crisp and golden brown. Flip and repeat on the other side. Remove sandwich to a cutting board, cut in half, and serve immediately. Repeat with additional sandwiches.



The Result:
Nom, nom, nom. (Insert lip-smacking noises here.)

Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers with Smoky Paprika Glaze (or Not)

We are in the middle of moving and I realized--much too late--that I packed up my skewers along with some of my other kitchen stuff. EEK! I quickly had to adapt this recipe and what I got was more of a skillet stir-fry, than actual grilled skewers. I literally just tossed everything in a pan with the glaze and served it over brown rice. It was still delicious, but I would like to make this the right way someday.

Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers with Smoky Paprika Glaze
Source: Bon Appetit, June 2010

Ingredients:
3/4 cup olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, pressed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
5 teaspoons smoked paprika
4 teaspoons Sherry wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
12 uncooked extra-large shrimp (13 to 15 per pound), peeled, deveined
12 1-inch-long pieces andouille or other fully cooked smoked sausages (such as linguiça; about 16 ounces)
12 cherry tomatoes
12 2-layer sections of red onion wedges
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Directions:
Whisk oil, garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, Sherry wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper in medium bowl to blend for glaze. Transfer half of glaze to small bowl and reserve for serving.

Alternately thread shrimp, sausage pieces, cherry tomatoes, and sections of onion wedges on each of 6 long metal skewers. Arrange skewers on large rimmed baking sheet. DO AHEAD Can be made up to 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill skewers and bowls of glaze separately.

Coat grill rack with nonstick spray and prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush skewers on both sides with glaze from 1 bowl. Grill until shrimp are opaque in center, turning and brushing occasionally with more glaze, 6 to 8 minutes.

Arrange skewers on platter. Serve with remaining bowl of glaze.



The Result:
Very yummy, but I would like to try the actual skewers. I decided to just post the actual recipe, instead of the mess that I made. (It was good, but not too visually appealing.) My way was really all about survival, man...not anything that is worth duplicating. The flavors were so tasty, and I would recommend this recipe either way. Yum!

Hominy-Pinto Burgers with Roasted Green Chiles

I have a lot of blog recipes to catch up on, so I think I will just get down to the "nitty gritty" by posting meals that we recently tried and liked. These vegetarian burgers were a hit with the adults, but not so much for the kids in my family. All in all, we liked them...the kids will just have to deal with it!

Hominy-Pinto Burgers with Roasted Green Chiles
From: Lorrie Hulston Corvin, Cooking Light August 2006

Ingredients:
2 poblano chiles (I used my roasted Hatch chiles)
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (15.5-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can hominy, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup masa harina, divided
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers
2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons low-sodium salsa
4 (1 1/2-ounce) whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted

Directions:
Preheat broiler. Place chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 3 inches from heat 8 minutes or until blackened and charred, turning after 6 minutes. Place in a heavy-duty plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and discard skins. Cut each chile lengthwise into 4 strips; discard seeds.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Place onion mixture, salt, beans, and hominy in a food processor; pulse until coarsely ground. Combine bean mixture and 1/2 cup masa in a medium bowl. Divide bean mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Place remaining 1/4 cup masa in a shallow dish; dredge patties in masa.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add patties to pan; cook 4 minutes. Turn patties over. Top each patty with 3 tablespoons cheese; cook 4 minutes.

Combine sour cream and salsa in a small bowl. Spread 1 tablespoon sour cream mixture on top half of each bun. Place patties on bottom halves of buns; top each serving with 2 pepper strips. Cover with tops of buns.



The Result:
Easy and good. I used some roasted hatch green chiles, so ours were spicy. (I omitted the chiles for my little rugrats.) Baked sweet potato fries were a quick and yummy side dish that went well with these burgers. This was a solid recipe for vegetarian bean burgers with an interesting twist.

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I love when I find a phenomenal grilled cheese recipe! As the title promises, this sandwich had all the yummy goodness of jalapeno poppers, plus a little extra. This was soooo tasty; and because I removed the seeds, stem, and ribs from the peppers, it was not that spicy either. My 5 year old declared it was the best grilled cheese ever!

The original website that this recipe was published on had shaky directions. So, I'm just going to adapt the recipe from that and tell you what I did below. Enjoy!

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Adapted From: closetcooking.com via Pinterest

Ingredients:
8 slices of sour dough bread
1 stick of butter, softened
8-10 large jalapenos, seeds, stems, and ribs removed; cut in halves
1 package of cream cheese, softened
1 (8oz) bar sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
1 bag of your favorite tortilla chips

Directions:
Preheat broiler. Place jalapeno halves on a baking sheet, cut side down. Place baking sheet on the top rack of the oven, close to the heating element. Broil peppers for 8-14 minutes, or until skin turns black and charred. Place peppers in a gallon zip top bag and seal. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, or until peppers are cool enough to be handled. Peel peppers, discard the plastic-like skin. Set aside peppers.

Spread cream cheese on both inside halves of the bread. Top both sides with crushed tortilla chips. On one side, place cheddar cheese slices over the chips and cream cheese. On the other side, place 4-5 pepper strips on top of the chips/cream cheese. Assemble the sandwich. Butter the top slice of bread. Warm a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place sandwich, butter side down into skillet. While sandwich is cooking, butter the other side of the sandwich bread (the naked slice should be facing up in the skillet). Flip once bottom slice is golden browned and cheese is melted. Remove from skillet once other side is golden browned. Assemble and repeat cooking with additional sandwiches. Cut in half and serve immediately.

NOTE: Recipe should yield 4 grilled cheese sandwiches.



The Result:
Fantastic and pretty easy to put together. Hooray for yummy grilled cheese sandwiches!

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine

I am quite the casserole maven lately! Speaking of which, here is another casserole recipe that I have had saved in the vault for awhile. (By vault, I mean I had it saved in a desktop computer folder.)

This turned out super yummy and was a big hit with 'the fam'. Really, what's not to like about cheese, chicken, and pasta??? At least that's what my brood is into, anyway. Best of all, this seemed way more decadent and splurgy than it really was, thanks to Cooking Light.

(Sidenote: I love, love, LOVE it when my kids gobble up a dinner that I make, without complaint. It warms the cockles of my heart! Not to mention it's quite the ego boost...I feel all Suzy Homemaker-ish.)

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine
From: Cooking Light, March 2006

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
Cooking spray
3 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (16-ounce) carton 2% low-fat cottage cheese
4 cups hot cooked penne (about 8 ounces uncooked tube-shaped pasta)
2 cups shredded roasted skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach, oregano, and black pepper; sauté 3 minutes or just until spinach wilts.

Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process until very smooth. Combine spinach mixture, cottage cheese, pasta, chicken, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, milk, and soup in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Note: You can cook the pasta mixture in individual eight-ounce ramekins; bake for 15 minutes.



The Result:
In re-reading this recipe, I realized that I left out some key ingredients. DOH! Seriously!!! I left out the condensed soup and milk. I used 1% cottage cheese and cooked the whole box of penne, instead of measuring out the right quantity. I didn't even use the right kind of oregano (I used dried, not fresh). I totally goofed this up...AND it was still delicious! I must have been really distracted when I was making dinner tonight; that's all I can say about that. Ugh. Anyway, our version was tasty; but I'm sure if you made this dish correctly it would be even better. Oh well, I guess I just have an excuse to make it again to see how it is supposed to taste. Apparently, this "casserole maven" needs to learn how to read a recipe properly...yeesh.

World's Greatest Sandwich (aka The "Spanglish" Sandwich)

Have you discovered Pinterest yet? I'm addicted; it's fantastic! It is so addicting, I literally need to limit my time on it, and use perusing it as a reward system for myself so I can get other chores done. For instance, if I clean the kitchen I get 15 minutes on Pinterest, if I do a load of laundry I get a half hour on Pinterest. You get the idea. Anyway, among the cornucopia of stuff on Pinterest, they have recipes. As a matter of fact, I found the link to this recipe on Pinterest. The recipe is entitled World's Greatest Sandwich, developed by chef Thomas Keller for the movie "Spanglish". That is a bold claim, but I must confess...this sandwich was pretty darn close to perfection.

World's Greatest Sandwich (aka The "Spanglish" Sandwich)
From: Thomas Keller, via thekitchn.com

NOTE: Ingredients yield 1 sandwich. Adjust quantities as needed, for additional sandwiches.

Ingredients:
3-4 slices of bacon
2 slices of Monterey Jack cheese
2 slices of toasted rustic country loaf (pain de campagne)
1 tbsp of mayo
4 tomato slices
2 leaves of butter lettuce (yes, it's called butter lettuce)
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg

Directions:
1. Cook the bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels,

2. Place slices of cheese on one side of toasted bread. Place in toaster oven or under broiler to melt.

3. Spread mayo on other slice of bread top with bacon, sliced tomato, and lettuce
4. On non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Fry egg, turning over briefly when the bottom is set (keep yolk runny).

5. Slide finished egg on top of lettuce, top with other slice of bread (cheese-side down).

6. Place sandwich on plate and slice in half, letting yolk run down sandwich.



The Result:
This sandwich rocked!!! I used heirloom tomatoes, applewood smoked bacon, and ciabiatta bread; which really put this beauty over the top.

The website I found this recipe on adjusted the sandwich to include avocado. I agree that would have been a delicious addition, but I didn't have any on hand. Maybe next time...yum.