Paula Deen has been a longtime favorite of mine. Let's face it. The woman knows good home cooking and she leaves all the good stuff in. The taste is simply divine!
Here is one of my favorite things to cook and eat... FAJITAS!
Pair it with a margarita and some fresh homemade salsa and chips and you've got yourself a fiesta party! Add music and friends and ENJOY!
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder Dash hot sauce Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 pounds meat (boneless, skinless chicken breast, skirt steak or peeled and deveined shrimp) 1 medium onion, halved and sliced lengthwise 1 green bell pepper, sliced 1 red bell pepper, sliced 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas 1 lime, juiced, for topping Sour cream, for topping Salsa, for topping Guacamole, for topping Cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping In a heavy duty resealable plastic bag, combine 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, salt, pepper and your choice of meat. Seal and toss the bag around to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator. *Cook's Note: 15 minutes for shrimp, 20 minutes for chicken and 1 hour for skirt steak.
Preheat your cast iron servers in a preheated 400 degree F oven for at least 20 minutes, to get a good sizzle when you plate the fajitas.
Heat the outside grill or a large indoor grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and place it on the hot grill, discard the marinade. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, skirt steak about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare and about 2 minutes for shrimp. Slice the chicken and steak into strips if you are using.
In a large skillet heat up the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and fry the onions and bell peppers until crisp-tender with some salt and pepper.
Wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them in the oven with the servers for 15 minutes.
When you are ready to serve, remove the cast iron servers from the oven and quickly arrange the meat and peppers and onions on it. It will immediately start to sizzle from their fat and moisture. Serve sizzling immediately with the warm tortillas and other accompaniments.
"I love the simple flavor of this dish that my friend created. Sugar snap peas make a great side dish." -
Ingredients
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces) 2 teaspoons olive oil 2 teaspoons butter 1/2 cup white wine 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)
Preparation
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound each piece to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with salt and pepper; dredge chicken in flour.
Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook for 1 minute or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken; slice thinly, and keep warm. Add wine and juice to pan; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 4 minutes). Serve sauce over chicken.
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 261(22% from fat); FAT 6.4g (sat 2.1g,mono 2.7g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 40.2g; CHOLESTEROL 104mg; CALCIUM 26mg; SODIUM 274mg; FIBER 0.3g; IRON 1.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 8.2g
Vegetable lasagna is a crowd-pleaser and a classic make-ahead dish. You can use precut onions, matchstick-cut carrots, and broccoli, in addition to precooked noodles, to speed up preparation. If you make it ahead, let it cool completely, then cover and chill. The next day, heat single servings in the microwave. Freeze leftovers for dinner.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Spoon onion mixture into a large bowl.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and yellow squash; sauté 4 minutes or until tender and just beginning to brown. Add to onion mixture.
Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced carrot; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add chopped broccoli; sauté 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add to onion mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt; toss well to combine.
Place flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg; stir until smooth. Stir in spinach.
Combine cottage cheese and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella; stir well. Spread 1/2 cup spinach mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over spinach mixture in dish; top with half of cottage cheese mixture (about 1 1/2 cups), half of vegetable mixture (about 2 1/2 cups), and about 1 cup spinach mixture. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining spinach mixture over noodles; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.
Cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 272(27% from fat); FAT 8.3g (sat 4.4g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 18.5g; CHOLESTEROL 20mg; CALCIUM 456mg; SODIUM 589mg; FIBER 3.6g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31.2g
Topping:* 1 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 can (20 oz) of pineapple slices
Cake: 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 6 Tbsp cake flour 6 Tbsp of ground almonds (from about 2 oz of whole almonds) 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 3/4 cups of sugar 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature 4 large eggs 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cup sour cream
1 Start by making the caramel topping. Take brown sugar and butter and combine and melt in a saucepan on medium heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbly, this should take several minutes. Pour mixture into a 10 inch diameter stick-free cake pan with 2 inch high sides. Arrange pineapple slices in a single layer ontop of the caramel mixture.
2 Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk the flours, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter together until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream in 2 additions each, beating well after each addition. Pour cake batter over caramel and pineapple in pan.
3 Bake cake until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 12 to 14 servings.
* Note an alternative topping I am favoring these days. 2 cups granulated sugar, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup butter. Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium until all sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Boil until syrup becomes warm amber in color (about 10 minutes). Add 1/4 cup butter, carefully as it will foam up a bit. Swirl the pan so that the butter is all incorporated, stirring with a wooden spoon if necessary. Remove from heat and pour out into cake pan. Continue with recipe as noted.
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Paula Deen has been a longtime favorite of mine. Let's face it. The woman knows good home cooking and she leaves all the good stuff in. The taste is simply divine!
