Easy Chicken with Onions and Mushrooms

Last night I had mushrooms that I needed to use and we are overrun with onions from a botched attempt and having a produce stand last week.  (Don't even ask, it isn't worth the tell).  AND I had some chicken.  So what do you do with those three items.

Chicken with Onions and Mushrooms of course!

I didn't have a recipe but went on what I knew and came up with a pretty good dinner that everyone enjoyed.

First I cut the chicken breasts in half long ways to make chicken cutlets.  I had three chicken breasts to I ended up with 6 cutlets.

Next in a large non-stick pan I put about two TBS of veggie oil in the pan and heated it up on medium high heat.  I added a whole Vidalia onion, sliced into the pan and sauteed.  When they were about half way done I added the sliced mushrooms, about 2 cups. Maybe more. I put a top on them to begin to cook them down. When things began to get nice and caramelized I added about  1/2 a can of chicken stock to the pan.  At that point I turned off the heat for a few minutes.  I wasn't ready to finish the sauce yet.

In a cast iron pan I heated the pan and about 2 TBS of veggie oil and cooked the chicken about 4-5 minutes on each side until the cutlets were done and had a nice brown color on them.  I then took them out of the pan and let the sit for a minute on a plate.

Back to the sauce.  I heated the onions and mushrooms back up with the chicken broth.  I stirred together 1 1/2 TBS of cornstarch with about 1/4 cup of broth and stirred it up until it was nicely blended and had no lumps.  Then I added this to the pan with the onions and mushrooms.  I stirred letting it thicken a bit.  For me it was a bit thick and I added a bit more chicken broth to the pan until it was a bit thinner but not watery.  At this point I also added about 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper and about 1/2 tsp of salt.

I put the chicken in a serving dish and poured the onions and mushroom sauce on top and served it over penne pasta.  Next time I will put the penne on the bottom of the serving dish, then the chicken and then the onions and mushrooms sauce.  It was really yummy and the kids even ate it well.

Recipe:

Chicken with Onions and Mushrooms

6 chicken cutlets
3 TBS vegetable oil, divided
1 can chicken stock or broth (about two cups), divided
1 large onion sliced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS cornstarch
1 lb Penne pasta, cooked
1/2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

In a cast iron pan (or non-stick)over med-high heat 2 TBS of vegetable oil and cook chicken cutlets about 5 minutes on each side until done.  Set aside on a plate.  In same pan (or different pan if you choose) add additional TBS of oil and saute the onions until about half way done, then add the mushrooms and continue until all are caramelized (about 15 to 20 minutes).  They will be a medium brown color. Add 1/2 the can of chicken broth and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer.  In a dish add 2 TBS of cornstarch to about 1/4 cup of chicken broth and stir until smooth and no lumps.  Add this mixture to the onions and mushrooms pan and stir until all is medium brown and thick like sauce.  Adjust the sauce thickness with the remaining chicken broth until desired consistency. (not too runny) Sprinkle ground black pepper and salt to taste.

In a serving dish cover the bottom with cooked Penne pasta, then add the chicken and pour the onions and mushrooms sauce over the entire dish.  Sprinkle with fresh parsley for color.

For a fun variation add a cup of thawed frozen peas at the end. Heat until hot in the sauce and serve as above.  The peas will add some much needed color.

Additional side dishes can include fresh bread and garden salad or fresh green beans or peas on the side.

Fresh Peaches "Dump Cake" Cobbler

Last night I made a peach "dump cake" cobbler.  I went out on the internet, like I do many recipes and scanned several recipes and read the reviews. Most of them were pretty much the same thing. So here is what I did.

I had fresh peaches instead of canned peaches.  I put sugar on the cut peaches and let them sit for a couple hours to let them macerate.  They got good and juicy.  I put them in the bottom of a baking dish.  Then I poured a box of cake mix on top.  The dry cake mix.  I used Spice Cake mix because 1. that is what I had and 2. I thought it would be good with peaches. (spiced peachy right??)  Then I cut butter into bits and put it all over the top of the cake mix.  I baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  It looked done and I pulled it out and let it sit for about 30 minutes to cool slightly before busting into this.

The top was crusty and the peaches were soft and juicy underneath.  I topped it with some vanilla ice cream, sat down and dug in.  Peaches, yummy and tangy, not too sweet at all (note to self - put a bit more sugar in it next time).  The cake part was crusty like you would think peach cobbler would be.  I couldn't really taste the spice part. It was more like just the crusty crumbs of a topping. The taste I tasted though was strongly tainted with baking powder.  I was a bit disappointed.  I was expecting some sugary, buttery, crunchy taste or even a spicy(cinnamon and nutmeg perhaps).  I just got a strong baking powder taste. Hmm....

Freezing and Putting Up

Yesterday we had a bunch of peaches that were starting to get soft, like too soft for eating.  I cut them up and peeled them and tossed them in a ziploc bag to freeze.  I plan to use these eventually to make peach jam.  I just don't have time right now.  So in the freezer they go.

I also cut and froze onions and red peppers too.  I will take some of these out to put in recipes, spaghetti sauces, and meat loaf.


Just a reminder that we can still salvage veggies and fruits that get a bit past their prime by freezing.

Stuffed Peppers - Red Pepper Style

I am not a pepper person.  I just want to make that clear.  We had ground beef and red peppers in the house and it is just my husband and I so I thought I would try something different for dinner tonight.

I thought I would share my recipe.  I scanned the internet and took some basic ideas from the several recipes I saw and then ad libbed the rest.

Stuffed Red Peppers

1 lb ground beef
1 cup cooked rice (brown or white)
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced red pepper
6 oz crushed tomatoes
2 tbs bread crumbs
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt (or less to taste)
4 red peppers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook the rice.
Cut peppers about a third of the way down the pepper.  Scoop out any white veins and rinse out any seeds. Dice up the tops of the peppers for the meat stuffing.
In a skillet brown the ground beef, onions and diced red peppers.
In a large pot boil some water to par boil the pepper bottoms. Just a few minutes until they are just soft. Take them out of the water and set aside to cool slightly.
Once the meat, onions and peppers are cooked drain off any extra fluid then add rice, tomatoes, black pepper and salt.
Stuff the pepper bottoms with the meat stuffing and set in an oven safe dish.  Pour water in the bottom of the dish until it is about 1/8 inch from the bottom. Top the peppers with bread crumbs and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool slightly before serving.

Yum!