Food Exchange - April 19th

What I sent
Chicken Tetrazzini
It is still not warm enough to send homemade potato salad with burgers, so the vote was made for chicken tetrazzini instead. I used the recipe from the Joy of Cooking, which starts with a creamed chicken base that can be used for a number of dishes including one of my favorites, chicken pot-pie.

For the creamed chicken
3 1/2 lbs. chicken parts or 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 stick unsalted butter (I use less than this)
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
2-3 tablespoons sherry
salt and ground white pepper

Place the chicken in a Dutch oven. Add the chicken stock. Add water to cover. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then reduce until liquid barely bubbles. Partially cover and cook until the meat releases clear juices when pierced with a fork, 8-12 minutes for boneless, skinless chicken breast, 25-30 minutes for chicken parts. Remove the meat from the stock, allow to cool until it can be handled and shred. Skim the fat from the stock.

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly for 1 minute. Add 2 cups of the chicken stock and whisk until smooth. Add half-and-half and again whisk until smooth. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking constantly. Remove the pan from the heat, scrape the insides of the pan with a rubber spatula and whisk vigorously to remove lumps. Stir in the cooked poultry along with the sherry. Season with salt and white pepper.

To turn in to Tetrazzini
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
8 ounces spaghetti or fettuccini (I used slightly more since I had a lot of sauce and extra chicken)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

The original recipe also calls for 1/2 cup of slivered, toasted almonds, which my sister swears are great, but I did not add this time.

Saute the mushrooms in the butter, cook pasta according to package instructions, stir chicken mixture, pasta and mushrooms together. (Add almonds now, if desired.) Pour the mixture into a shallow, buttered baking dish, top with Parmesan cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 25-35 minutes.


What I Received
Tomato and Broccoli Quiche with Spicy Sausage and Potato Soup
Pork Chops Yum-Yum

Food Exchange - April 5 - Easter=easy

What I Sent
Rachael Ray's My Mama's Baked Fish from the Racheal Ray's 30-Minute Meals Comfort Foods cookbook
1 1/2 pounds cod fillets
cooking spray or a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
A few grinds fresh black pepper
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs (Panko is best)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
A palmful chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preheat over to 425 degrees F.
Spray a baking dish with cooking spray or wipe with a little olive oil. Rinse and dry fish and sprinkle with a little coarse salt. Combine lemon juice, mayonnaise, Old Bay seasoning and black pepper. Spread a very thin layer of mayonnaise over fish fillets. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and drizzle with butter (if you are feeling healthful, you can spray with a little Pam instead). Bake 20 minutes, until fish is opaque and flaky. Sprinkle with parsley.

I bought a big box of frozen cod, which ended up being cut in to long, thin pieces in the fashion of fish and chip shops. It worked out OK. The cod itself was really good. I have two-thirds of the box left and am trying to determine what to do with the rest. Have any good cod recipes that will support some strangely shaped fish?

Potatoes with Lemon and Parsley
I totally made this up, so don't really have any measurements. Chop some parsley and chives. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and capers. Melt some butter and add some olive oil. Boil some whole baby red potatoes and smash each once with a fork. While hot, toss potatoes with butter, olive oil and lemon/parsley mixture. Serve warm.

Lesson learned - do not add lemon juice to parsley before it is sent. It totally cooks the parsley and turns it into yucky brown limpness.

What I Received
Macaroni Grill Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken and Pasta - Hey, don't judge, it was Easter weekend. It was pretty good. The kids ate it up.
Chicken Divan