Super Stuffed Cheddar & Sausage Twice Baked Potatoes

I'm back after a brief hiatus! Wish I could say I was taking a luxurious vacation, but one day smoke started coming out the side of my laptop and it's taken my husband this long to diagnose, find the part, and get it installed.

I've been cooking yummy things this summer! You know that Kelis song, "Milkshakes"? Well, my twice baked potatoes bring all the boys to our backyard.  Truly.  When my husband's friends find out I'm making these, people start inviting themselves over.  When I'm showing off, I make this as a side when we're grilling steaks.  But honestly, this could easily be a main dish.  When we reheat it for leftovers, it is our main dish. And it is just as awesome the next day!  I adapted this from a slightly more fancy Emeril recipe that uses Andouille sausage and white cheddar, but I think my version is better.  Naturally.  

Ready to bring some boys to the yard? 

(forgive my phone picture!!)

Ingredients:

8 large baking potatoes (bigger the better!)

Extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

1 large onion, very thinly sliced

1/2 lb. Italian sausage

1 stick butter

1 C. sour cream

2 C. sharp cheddar, shredded

Parsley (optional - it's just for color)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash, scrub, and dry the potatoes.  Drizzle potatoes with olive oil.  Season all sides of the potatoes with salt and pepper - don't be skimpy!  Place on baking sheet and bake for about an hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely - you'll be sorry later if you don't!  While the potatoes are baking, slowly caramelize the onions.  In a pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Once the oil is hot, add the onions. Season with salt and pepper.  Stir occasionally until onions are browned but not burned, about 10-15 minutes.  Don't rush it by turning the heat up! Remove onions to a plate.  Then brown the Italian sausage and drain.  Once the potatoes are cooled, cut just the top 1/4th of each potato.  Use a spoon to scoop the potato flesh into a bowl.  It's better to leave a little bit of flesh in there - if you get too close to the skin you'll inevitably dig too far and have a hole for the filling to seep out of.  To the bowl with the potato filling, add the onions, sausage, softened butter, sour cream, and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the cheese.  Add the parsley if you're using it.  Mix well, add salt and pepper to taste.  Scoop that deliciousness into the potato skins, piling it nice and high! Remember, we're making super stuffed potatoes.  Heap the remaining cheddar cheese on top of that. Place back on the baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until potatoes are warmed and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.  Serve hot and enjoy the praise.  

By the way, I really hope you saved the tops of the potatoes! There will be filling left, and while the stuffed potatoes are baking you should reward your hard work by piling some of that leftover filling onto the tops and devouring at least one...maybe two.  If you love your family members, offer them one too. If you don't offer, they'll steal them anyways. 

Second Chance Italian Chicken Bake

I have had my fair share of failures in the kitchen.  My husband loves telling the story of the first meal I made for him - it's pretty damn funny.  For my first cooking endeavor, I may have overestimated my ability in the kitchen and tried to make several things at once, all of which were pretty complicated. The kitchen was a war zone.  Some things were burned, other things underdone. In my defense, I tried making it in a 24 year old bachelor's kitchen, only to discover he had about 3 pans total and was living on pizza, Chinese takeout, and Chicken Voila.  I made it my mission to learn how to cook after that endeavor.

Last night, I had another failure, though less spectacular.  I made this Crockpot Chicken Parmesan recipe with pretty high expectations, only to be completely underwhelmed.  It was fine, but not sure I'll ever make it again.  And it made a TON.  I couldn't throw it all away, I knew I could save it somehow.  I found a photo on Pinterest with a link that didn't work, but it inspired me to salvage all of the tomatoey chicken goodness.  When life gives you sub-par Crockpot Chicken Parmesan, make this instead:

These are NOT my photos - these are from the broken link on Pinterest.  My cooked chicken was already swimming in a tomato sauce, so I improvised.  So my sauce was more pink-tinged rather than white.  If you're making this and don't have last night's tomatoey chicken rejects to use, I would half a bunch of cherry tomatoes and toss those in instead.  But I really liked it this way, so maybe I'll do it like this the next time too?  Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz. cream cheese

1 C. sour cream

1 C. whole milk

1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, shredded

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 C. cooked chicken (from last night's failed recipe)

10 oz. pasta, whatever shape you have in your cupboard, cooked al dente per package

2 C. fresh spinach, stems removed and roughly chopped

2 C. mozzarella cheese, shredded

fresh basil for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter in large pan.  Add onion and garlic, cook for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.  Add cream cheese, stir until it's pretty much melted down.  Add sour cream, stir to combine.  Add milk, stir to combine.  Add Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, stir to combine.  In a large mixing bowl, add cooked pasta, cooked chicken, spinach, white sauce, and 1 C. mozzarella cheese.  Stir to combine and transfer to baking pan. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over top.  Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted.  Serve garnished with fresh basil and a little extra Parmesan. 

We enjoyed this way more than the original chicken recipe from last night, that's for sure - everything is made better with pasta and cheese, right? 

Spinach, Chicken, and Bean Quesadillas

Found another winner on Pinterest! While this is a little labor intensive, you can make the filling ahead of time and then grill up a quesadilla when you're ready.  This is super filling and extremely tasty.  I can get several quesadillas out of this, so I'm very happy that the filling keeps in the fridge.

Many thanks to the Other Side of Fifty for sharing this gem!!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 -2 cups seasoned, cooked and diced chicken breast meat
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 C. diced onion
1 C. diced red bell pepper
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 heaping Tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed, coarsely chopped
1 (15.5 ounce) can of cannellini beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Cooking spray
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheddar cheese
Avocados, diced
Sour cream

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and red bell pepper. Season with the crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Saute until veggies have softened, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir to combine. Cook while stirring for several minutes so that the flour loses its raw taste. Whisk in the chicken broth and stir until bubbly and smooth. Add the baby spinach and continue cooking for another minute or two or until spinach has wilted. Stir in the cooked chicken and beans and remove from heat.

Spray a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray. Heat over medium to medium-high heat. Place one tortilla on griddle and spread cheese over tortilla. Spread chicken, bean and spinach mixture over one half of the tortilla. Check underside of tortilla and when browned a bit, flip the half with just cheese over the half with the chicken. Remove from heat and cut into slices. Top with diced avocado and sour cream.  (Sometimes I put a little taco sauce on, too)

Spicy Sausage Pasta

Who's ready for another awesome weeknight meal?  ALL IN ONE PAN!  We love this one enough that it's in our regular rotation, so we have it at least once a month.  The hubs loves it because it's meaty and cheesy, I like it because it's fast, easy, and tastes great.  This is another recipe that's perfect for your cast iron skillet.

Brought to you by Kevin & Amanda:

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb smoked sausage (I use reduced-fat kielbasa)
1.5 cups diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz penne pasta
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir.  Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.  Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.

Chicken Gloria

I am pretty excited to share this one - it's my new favorite meal! Even the husband and kids gobbled it up.  I didn't bother mentioning it has a funny sounding cheese in it, knowing full well they would turn up their noses before taking a bite.  It is goooood.  Warmed my soul.  It made a decent mess in my kitchen, but I can't wait to make it again and again.

I can't take credit for it, though - another awesome Pinterest find, this time thanks to Cooking with Sugar.

Ingredients:

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/3 C. all purpose flour

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. butter

8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 C. sherry

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 C. whole milk (don't you go using skim, you hear?)

Slices of Muenster cheese

fresh parsley, for garnish

salt and pepper, to taste

Trim and filet the chicken breasts in half.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season both sides of the chicken with salt & pepper and then dredge lightly in flour to coat both sides.  Add oil to frying pan (I love my cast iron skillet for this one) and brown chicken in batches on both sides.  Don't worry too much about cooking all the way through - it will finish in the oven. Transfer chicken to a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Add the butter to the frying pan and let it melt over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper.  Brown mushrooms until golden.  Add sherry and cook for another minute or so.  Add the cream of mushroom soup and milk; mix well.  Pour sauce over the chicken breasts.  Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Crank up the broiler and top each piece of chicken with a slice of cheese.  Broil for 1-2 minutes to melt and just barely brown the cheese.  Top with fresh parsley and serve.  

You're going to have a bunch of leftover sauce.  It's delicious.  You may consider eating it as soup.  I have a better suggestion - make the Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes and put the sauce on top of that.  

You will wish you made more.  Just warning ya!