Teak Dog Tuesday!

Savory Slow Cooker Chicken

If you were a fan of the Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken, a.k.a. the easiest chicken in the world, you'll also like this recipe.  It has only a few more ingredients (but that's understandable, as the salsa chicken's only ingredients were salsa and chicken) and is just as easy to throw together.

After it was finished in the crock pot, I shredded it with two forks, and we ate it on sandwiches, which were very good.  What was even better, though, was warming it in a skillet with a spoonful of Santa Fe Blend of Philadelphia Cooking Creme.  That gave the chicken a little southwest flair, so we naturally had some chicken nachos that night--our favorite. 

Thanks, Amanda, for sharing this recipe! 

Savory Crock Pot Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1.5oz package onion soup mix
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 cup Italian dressing
1/4 cup water

Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Sprinkle soup mix and garlic salt on top of chicken, and then pour dressing and water on top.  Cover with lid, and cook on low for 8-9 hours or high for 4 hours.  Shred chicken with two forks, and serve.

Teak Dog Tuesday!

We made Teak one happy puppy over the weekend.  On Friday morning, I finished the jar of peanut butter for my PB&J sandwich.  We saved the mostly empty jar for Teak's enjoyment that night.  Oh, how he enjoyed it.  He LOVES peanut butter.  

 

Gloria Joy's Chocolate Pie

This is my aunt Gloria Joy's recipe for chocolate pie.   She's quite the chef, and my dad suggested that I make her recipe for this pie (she has several great ones).  He knew it was too good not to try, and he was right!  When Aunt Gloria Joy sent me the recipe, the last line of her recipe said, "This makes an ugly pie, so I serve it with whipped cream and toasted nuts."  I did serve it that way, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it that way, so you're seeing the ugliness but not tasting the goodness.  It's runny, and I worried the pie wasn't done all the way, but it got high compliments.  It was easy to put together, and it's great!  Try it!

Gloria Joy's Chocolate Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
5/8 cup fat free canned milk
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 frozen deep dish pie crust, defrosted

Preheat oven to 350.  Beat eggs slightly.  Add sugar and cocoa, and mix well.  Add milk, butter, and vanilla, and mix well.  Pour into the pie crust, and bake 45-50 minutes.  After 20 minutes, cover loosely with a foil canopy.  This makes an ugly pie, so serve it with whipped cream and toasted nuts. 

Sweet-Hot Pecan Sauce

This will be your new go-to sauce for everything.  This recipe is from a Southern Living cookbook, and it was originally served with fish fillets; however, when I made it over the weekend, it was fantastic over the green beans with goat cheese and bacon.  It was also delicious with the grilled doves we had that night.  You just can't go wrong serving this sauce.  Plus, you can make it ahead of time, and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.  A new favorite!

Sweet-Hot Pecan Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/4 chopped red onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup pecan pieces, chopped
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp hot sauce

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, and saute 3 minutes or until tender.  Add garlic, and cook 1 minute.  Stir in pecans and next 4 ingredients.  Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. 

Teak Dog Tuesday!

Pepper Jack Potato Casserole

Cheese and potatoes are both so delicious.  This is not at all a healthy recipe, but it is very tasty.  It's great as a side at a casual dinner or an excellent addition to a brunch.  If you can't find the Monterey Jack cheese with the peppers, just chop up some pickled jalapenos and add them--that's what I did.  Enjoy!

Pepper Jack Potato Casserole

1 (30 oz) package frozen shredded hash browns
1 (8 oz) package Monterey Jack cheese with peppers, shredded
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine hash browns and cheese in a large bowl.  Stir together milk and next 4 ingredients; pour over hash brown mixture.  Pour into a lightly greased 9"x13" baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly.

Green Beans with Goat Cheese and Bacon

Holy cow!  These are the best green beans I've ever had.  I could eat these every night and be happy. 

As Biz's favorite vegetable, we're usually willing to try new ways of preparing them, and these were incredible.  I'm sure they're even better if you use fresh haricots verts, but I used good ol' canned green beans.  The goat cheese is what really dressed these up.  (The real truth is that I could eat goat cheese every day and be happy.)  And what isn't better with bacon?

This is delicious enough to serve on a special occasion or on a weeknight.  The goat cheese is a little bit of a splurge, but the canned green beans save you some money, so it all evens out, right?

Green Beans with Goat Cheese and Bacon

1 (14.5 oz) can green beans (I used Italian cut)
3 strips bacon
2 oz goat cheese

In a small skillet, fry the bacon strips over medium heat.  Remove when finished, and set aside.  Pour out all but one teaspoon of bacon grease. 

In a microwaveable bowl, heat green beans for 3 minutes.  In pan with bacon grease, combine goat cheese and green beans until cheese melts.  Transfer to serving dish, and crumble bacon on top.  Serve hot. 

Teak Dog Tuesday!



Teak did an AWESOME job retreiving doves on Saturday morning.  Buck was so proud of him.  He did a great job listening to commands, picking up all the doves, and bringing them back to Buck.  Well done, Teak! 

Sweet Onion Potatoes au Gratin

The picture doesn't really do this justice.  It was really delicious.  We used fingerling potatoes, so that's why it looks pink/purple--because it is.  You can't see the caramelized onions (which are delicious) because they're hidden under that layer of cheese (yes please).  Tell me--what's not to love here?  So don't judge the recipe by the picture; try it yourself.  It's easy enough to make on a weeknight but decadent enough to serve for a special occasion.  You'll love it.  (I adapted this recipe from Rachael Ray's.)

Sweet Onion Potatoes au Gratin

2 Tbsp butter
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
2 pounds fingerling potatoes (or Baby Yukon Golds)
1/3 - 1/2 cup half and half
1/4 - 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
8 oz Swiss cheese

Heat a small skillet with the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt and the bay leaf, and cook until very soft and sweet and lightly caramelized, 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and discard the bay leaf.

While the onions cook, put the potatoes in a medium size pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then salt the water and cook until tender, 12-15 minutes. Drain and return the potatoes to the hot pot. Mash the potatoes with the half and half and Paremesan cheese.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 Preheat the broiler.  Arrange the mashed potatoes in a shallow casserole dish (I used 8"x8"). Top the potatoes with the onions and Swiss cheese. Place the dish under a hot broiler until bubbly, about 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve hot.

Chicken and Peaches

This is a dish Rachael Ray made on her show last week, and once I saw it, I couldn't wait to try it.  It's definitely a strange combination, but it worked nicely together.  It also looks beautiful on a platter.  

Her original recipe uses chicken breasts and thighs, but I just used chicken breasts and it was fine.  Also, don't skip out on the hot sauce.  It's really not spicy, and it would be bland without it.  Serve this with rice or at least some bread or biscuits to soak up the sauce.

Chicken and Peaches

1 Tbsp butter
2 peaches, pitted and sliced thickly
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 onion, chopped
1/3 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup peach preserves
1 tsp hot sauce (I used Louisiana Hot Sauce)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat a medium skillet with the butter over medium heat.  Add the peaches and lemon juice, and cook until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. 

While the peaches cook, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high to high heat.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and cook until the chicken is cooked through.  When finished, remove to a plate and cover with foil. 

In the skillet that had the chicken, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and chopped onion; cook for 1-2 minutes.  Stir in chicken stock, peach preserves, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, and season with black pepper to taste.  Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes to thicken.  Arrange chicken and peaches on a platter, and douse with peach sauce. 

Fackler Cake

Today is Buck's birthday--YAY!!  For his birthday cake, he requested this yellow cake with chocolate frosting, which he dubbed the Fackler Cake for the family who gave us the recipe.  Mrs. Fackler was kind enough to share her recipe with us, and Buck couldn't have been happier that she was willing to let me have it.  He has long loves this cake--especially the icing--and he's thrilled to celebrate his birthday with it.  

Fackler Cake

Cake:
1 box Duncan Hines Butter Cake Mix (and the ingredients it requires--water, 3 eggs, amd 1 stick butter)

Icing:
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
5 Tbsp cocoa

Cook cake in two 9" pans according to package directions.  For icing, mix butter, sugar, and cocoa in a heavy pan.  Bring mixture to a boil and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring often with a whisk.  Remove from heat and cool.  Icing will thicken as it cools.  Frost the cooled cakes and serve.