Category Archives: Main Dish

by | January 31, 2011 · 8:15 am

Chicken & Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells

Less time-consuming than lasagna but sexier than plain ol’ spaghetti, stuffed shells are sometimes the forgotten stepsister of pasta dinners.  What I also like about them is that they’re easy enough for a weeknight dinner but can still be impressive enough for entertaining – my favorite type of recipe!

In this recipe I used chicken and spinach but the options for fillings are endless.  Get creative with different meats and vegetables and make up combinations that include italian sausage, beef, mushrooms, artichokes or even squash.
stuffed pasta shells

Chicken & Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells
1/2 box jumbo pasta shells
1 pkg chicken tenders or 2 chicken breasts
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and liquid drained
1 C shredded mozzarella
1/2 C grated parmesan
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 C low fat ricotta cheese (heaping)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
salt
pepper
1 jar spaghetti sauce

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water well and add 1/2 box of pasta shells. Reduce heat to medium and cook shells for 6-8 minutes. Shells should be al dente. Drain shells in a colander and rinse with cool water to stop further cooking. Preheat oven to 375.

Slice chicken into small chunks and transfer to a saute pan over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper and minced garlic. Saute until meat is just cooked. Add drained spinach, taking care to squeeze out as much water as possible before placing it in the pan. Warm spinach slightly, then transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Add 1/4 C parmesan, ricotta and 1/2 C mozzarella cheese. Stir well.

Pasta Shell Filling

Place empty shells in an 9×13 baking dish. Spoon filling into each shell. Pour spaghetti sauce over filled shells and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Bake for 20-25 minutes so that cheese is melted and just golden.


Stuffed Pasta Shell recipe

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by | January 26, 2011 · 8:47 am

Apricot Chicken in a slow cooker

As a working mom, I love using my slow cooker to create simple and delicious meals.  This apricot chicken recipe is one of my family favorites.  The sweet apricot sauce is so tasty and the recipe uses chicken thighs which makes it budget friendly.

Apricot Chicken
1 small jar apricot preserves (11oz)
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tsp chili flakes (optional, if you like heat)
6-8 chicken thighs

Place chicken in your slow cooker.  In a separate bowl, mix the apricot preserves, mustard, soy sauce and chili flakes if you are using them.  Pour sauce over chicken.  Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-6 hours.

Remove chicken from the crock pot and shred, removing all bones.  Serve over rice.

Quick, delicious and budget friendly.  My kind of meal.

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by | January 25, 2011 · 8:09 am

Smoky “Wintervera” Mac ‘n Cheese

It’s a double serving of cheese this week!  Our friends at the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board have a mouth-watering project going on with their 30 Days, 30 Ways with Macaroni and Cheese blog. 30 days of Mac ‘n Cheese?!  Uh, count us in!

We’re sharing our recipe for Smoky Wintervera Mac ‘n Cheese, a savory blend of portabella mushrooms, carmelized onions, rosemary and two delicious Wisconsin cheeses.

mushroom and onion macaroni and cheese recipe

Smoky “Wintervera” Mac ‘n Cheese
1 box cavatappi noodles
6 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp butter
3 portabella mushroom caps, chopped & gills mostly removed
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 C flour
2 C skim milk
1 1/2 C half and half
3 C Applewood smoked gruyere cheese, shredded (or smoked Gouda)
2 C BellaVitano cheese, shredded
1 Tbps dijon mustard
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
3 sprigs rosemary, chopped
1/2+ C panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add cavatappi noodles and salt. Cook noodles for 8-10 minutes until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, chop onion into mid-size strips.  Wash mushrooms and use a knife to carefully remove most of the gills.  Slice mushroom caps into mid-size chunks.  Add 2 Tbsp butter to a large sauté pan and bring to medium heat.  Add onions and cook, stirring often, for 10-12 minutes, until onions soften and become golden brown. Add mushrooms and season with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and garlic salt. Cook until mushrooms begin to soften, approximately 3-5 minutes.

In a small sauce pot, combine milk and half and half. Warm over low heat. Then, in a large sauce pot, melt remaining butter and gradually whisk in flour until mixture thickens. Do NOT let it burn. Slowly whisk in warm milk mixture, working in small amounts and incorporating each pour in well to the roux. Gradually repeat process, adding shredded cheese in small amounts and whisking until each amount is melted and well incorporated. Whisk in mustard, salt and pepper. Let thicken slightly over low heat for 3-4 minutes.

In a ovenproof dish, pour noodles and top with onion-mushroom mixture. Pour cheese mixture over the noodles. Top with rosemary and panko. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden brown.

Serves 5-6.

smoky mac n cheese

Be sure to head over to 30 Days, 30 Ways with Macaroni and Cheese for oodles of other tasty mac ‘n cheese recipes.

Disclaimer: HAP was compensated by WMMB to share our recipe as a guest blog.

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by | January 19, 2011 · 9:02 am

Winter Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

I consider myself extremely lucky because we have good neighbors.    No, let me rephrase that, we have great neighbors.  The kind of neighbors who help you shovel snow, share their yard and have really sweet kids.  We often swap dinners or head to each others house with homemade food in hand just so we can share it with one another.

My neighbor Devenee brought over this divine Winter Fruit Salad the other day.  It was so good that I found my husband sneaking some from the refrigerator after we already had dessert.  You read that right, my husband was sneaking salad.

The combination of the sweet apples and pears with swiss cheese and dried cranberries makes this salad irresistible.  Add some cashews for a salty crunch and the sweet poppy seed dressing and you are in salad heaven.

Winter Fruit Salad

Dressing
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tsp onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Salad
1 large Romain lettuce, torn into pieces
4 oz freshly grated swiss cheese
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup crasins
1 apple, cubed
1 pear, cubed

In a blender or small food processes, blend all dressing ingredients except oil and poppy seeds.  Once well combined, continue  blending while adding the oil.  Add poppy seeds at the end and quickly blend until combined.

Mix salad ingredients together in a large bowl.  Pour dressing directly on top or serve on the side.

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by | January 14, 2011 · 8:08 am

{Haute Pie} Chorizo Cheeseburger Pie

Move over cupcakes, move over macaroons, move over cake balls, we’ve got pie. Here at HAP we like to believe that pies will be all the rage in 2011. Pies don’t have to be sweet, they can be spicy, savory, rich, creamy or whatever your palette desires. Today I am bringing you the first installment of Haute Pie of the Month with my Cheeseburger Chorizo Pie. As a child, my mom used to make us Cheeseburger Pie, so a bite of this is automatic comfort for me. I spiced up the recipe a bit by adding a little bit of chorizo and spice. The recipe is simple, quick and a crowd pleaser.

Chorizo Cheeseburger Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 lb. chorizo, casing removed, chopped
1/c C chopped yellow onion
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 package Pillsbury crescent dough
2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Brown ground beef and chorizo in large skillet. Remove grease and return meat to skillet.* Add onion and cook through until translucent. Mix in tomato paste, chili powder, garlic salt and pepper. Heat thoroughly, approximately 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Open and unroll crescent dough. In a pie dish, lay crescent dough, pressing to create a pie crust. Pour meat mixture into pie crust. Top with cheddar cheese.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

*A quick tip for draining grease from your beef. When I buy the lean ground beef, I find there is not too much grease in the pan, so I used the butt of my bread to soak up the grease. This way you do not have to deal with draining the beef and returning it to the pan. Who likes the butt of the bread anyway?

We hope you like pie as much as we do! Have you indulged in any innovative pies?

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by | January 10, 2011 · 8:13 am

Panfish Chowder & Cheddar-Bacon Biscuits

At my house, it’s currently ice fishing season, which for me equals panfish cooking season. And as much as I love having locally, sustainably caught fish delivered fresh to my table, there are only so many ways to cook the bite-sized perch, blue gills and crappies.

Yesterday with a free Sunday on my hands and nothing to do but watch the playoffs (Go Pack!), I detoured from our frequent fish fry and tested out a fish chowder. I based it on the tastes of a traditional New England Clam Chowder and was delighted with the results.

If you don’t have a fishing obsessed person in your house, you can easily substitute a variety of other white fishes such as tilapia, walleye, pike or even cod. Try to use whatever is local to your area to get the freshest catch and best flavor.
Fish Chowder

Panfish Chowder
6 strips bacon, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
4 Tbsp butter
3 large Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
1 lb panfish (see substitutions*)
2 bay leaves
thyme
2 C clam juice
2 C chicken broth
2 C half & half
2 tsp corn starch
kosher salt
pepper
* Ideal substitutes would be other white lake fish, such as perch or walleye, but you could also use a mild white fish such as tilapia.

Chop bacon into small pieces and place a large stockpot. Cook for 4-5 minutes, then add butter, onions and celery. Add bay leaves and season with thyme, salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables soften, about 5-7 minutes. Whisk in corn starch. Add clam juice, broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until potatoes cook.

Remove bay leaves. Add fish and half & half and cook for another 8-10 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed to bring out flavors.

Panfish Chowder

I served my chowder with some tasty homemade buttermilk biscuits that I gussied up with some bacon and cheddar because, well, who doesn’t love bacon and cheddar!

Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits


Cheddar-Bacon Biscuits
adapted from America’s Test Kitchen
3 3/4 C flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp shortening, chilled
1 1/2 sticks butter, chilled & diced into small pieces
1 1/4 C buttermilk
1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar
4 strips bacon; cooked, cooled and diced

In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, soda and powder. Pulse 4-5 times to combine. Add shortening and butter chunks, distributing evenly over flour. Pulse 15 or so times until mixture is slightly crumbly. Add bacon and cheddar and pulse 3-4 times. Transfer to a large both and slowly add buttermilk, working mixture together with a spatula until dough is slightly sticky.

Transfer to a clean, floured surface. Flour your hands and knead for 30-45 seconds so that dough becomes smooth. Reflour surface and roll dough into a large circle, about 1/2 inch thick. Use a 2 1/2″ round biscuit (cookie) cutter to cut each biscuit, taking care not to twist the cutter as you cut. This will prevent uneven biscuits. Place on a baking sheet.

Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve warm.

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by | January 3, 2011 · 7:58 am

Tortellini Minestrone Soup

Woohoo! Another year is on the books and I have a feeling 2011 is going to be pretty great. I subscribe to the “everything in moderation” book of life but New Year’s always makes me want to focus on a more balanced diet. It can sometimes seem like a chore to plan and prep “healthy” meals so I’ve found that having easy go-to recipes in my arsenal is the key.

This minestrone soup is one of those kind of recipes. The tortellini makes it heartier than an everyday minestrone and it’s packed with healthy veggies that you can feel good about. It’s fast and easy enough for weeknight dinners and can easily be made vegetarian if that’s more your speed.

Tortellini Minestrone Soup

Tortellini Minestrone Soup
1/2 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped into coins
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 pkg frozen cheese tortellini
1 can cannellini beans
1 bunch kale, chopped
4-5 C broth (chicken or vegetable)
28 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 lb italian sausage (optional)

In a large stockpot, warm oil and add chopped onions, celery and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables soften and add garlic. Push vegetables to the side of the pot and add sausage (if using). Break sausage into large crumbles and cook until browned and mostly cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.

Add tomatoes and tomato paste and stir well. Add half of the broth and stir. Add cannellini beans, kale and remaining broth. Season well with salt and pepper. Add red pepper flakes if desired. Simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes and add in tortellini. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve with crusty french bread. Serves 6.

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by | November 12, 2010 · 8:48 am

Turkey for Me, Turkey for You

As stores deck the halls for Christmas this time of year, I can’t help but feel sorry for one of my favorite holidays: Thanksgiving! This noble holiday does not get the attention it deserves. That is why Haute Apple Pie will be celebrating next week with a Virtual Thanksgiving Potluck. We’ve invited five of our favorite foodies to bring a dish to the table in preparation for the main event.

Rachel, Kendra, Alison, Michael and Lauren will be dishing up sides, desserts and tasty beverages as well as sharing a few of their Thanksgiving thoughts with us.

But a Thanksgiving meal wouldn’t be complete without the bird, would it? While cooking up a turkey may seem simple, there are many ways to make it happen. You can roast, grill, deep fry, stuff, marinate, brine, slow-cook and heck, some even cook a turkey breast in the microwave (HAP does not condone this method). While I love you all, I’m not sure I have enough friends on hand to come eat a big bird right now and have not accumulated enough Turkey Perks at Pick N Save to save some cash, so I am dishing up some recipes from around the web that have been certified as solid ways to get the bird ready for the big day.

Photo courtesy of Butterball

Deep Fry: Deep frying a turkey requires some skill, an open outdoor space and lots of care, because it is quite dangerous. However, it taste delicious. Check out this video with some help from Paula Deen on how to deep fry a turkey.

Brined and Roasted: My friend Erin from Hot Dinner Happy Home recently posted her recipe for homemade brine and roasted turkey. Far less dangerous than deep frying, juicy and delicious and you can roast your veggies at the same time!

Grilled: Grilling a turkey may not have the inside of your house wafting with turkey delight, but your neighbors will thank you. This simple grilling method gets five stars on allrecipes.com and better yet, it frees up your oven so you can have more space for those sides!

Stuffed: Now some say you shouldn’t stuff a turkey for contaminating reasons. I throw that advice out the window as I’ve been eating my Grandma’s stuffed turkey my whole life and never once felt sick (well…maybe from over eating). Alton Brown from The Food Network provides this classic recipe for a stuffed turkey. If you are wary, you can always use a bag for the stuffing.

Slow Cooked: It is not advised to slow cook an entire turkey, and it would be difficult to find a slow cooker large enough. However, slow cooking a turkey breast is a great option for a smaller thanksgiving meal. If you are only hosting a small amount of people or if you are all by yourself for Thanksgiving, this is a simple way to get that great Thanksgiving turkey taste without all of the fuss. And again, your oven is open for other dishes. I made a similar recipe a few years ago and it was delicious!

Join the Party!
Join us next week for our Virtual Thanskgiving Potluck!  Feel free to bring a dish to the party by posting a recipe in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

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by | November 1, 2010 · 8:23 am

“Feel Better” Chicken Noodle Soup

Between business travel, crazy barometric pressure systems and cold season kicking in, I was feeling under the weather all week. So much for all the things I was going to get done.

It’s weeks like these where you wish your mom still lived with you to rub your back, give you Sprite and make you chicken noodle soup.  Unfortunately, my mom lives in another state so I played “mom” to myself by making her tried-and-true chicken noodle soup….the perfect dish to make you feel all better.

homemade chicken noodle soup

Even though I’ve watched my mom make this soup a thousand times, I’ve been totally intimidated by making my own stock. As it turns out, her way was really easy. After you get it going it just kinda does its thing…but it takes awhile. For me, making stock will be a weekend kind of meal.

how to make chicken stock

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
20 C water
4 heaping Tbsp chicken stock base
2-3 split chicken breasts (bone in)*
5 green onions, chopped
3-4 celery stalks, chopped
4-5 carrots, chopped
1 1/2 C corn
3-4 bay leaves
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
handful parsley, minced
1 pkg Reames egg noodles

optional:
1 C mushrooms, chopped
1/2 tsp dill

In a large stock pot, bring water to a boil. Add chicken stock base, onions, celery, poultry seasoning, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Remove skin and excess fat from chicken breasts and add to water. Reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 hours to build your stock.

Remove chicken breasts and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove meat from the bones and cut into bite sized pieces. Add meat, carrots, corn and mushrooms back to stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook Reames noodles (found in the freezer aisle) in boiling water according to directions on package.

* NOTES: This is a GREAT recipe to use up Thanksgiving leftovers. Just save your turkey carcass and substitute it for the chicken breasts.

When I freeze leftover soup, I also prefer to make fresh noodles for the leftovers so that they hold their al dente feel. My family likes the Reames noodles because the thick style just makes the soup a little more hearty and special. However, regular egg noodles or other dry noodles will work just fine!

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by | October 29, 2010 · 8:22 am

{Chili Week} Southwestern Steak Chili

Rounding out chili week is my latest chili creation: Southwestern Steak Chili! I embarked on this new steak chili journey in anticipation for the chili-off, trying to stray from my tradition ground beef chili. To my surprise, everyone else brought chicken chili – so I could have just stuck with my staple. However, adding steak to chili gives it a hearty umpf that you just can’t get from ground beef.

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs round steak or flank steak, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 TBSP olive oil
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can black beans
2 lbs diced tomatoes
1 green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 TBSP chili powder
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
dash of Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C cornmeal
1/4 C water

In large skillet, heat olive oil. Add steak and garlic, cook until meat is seared on all sides, 8-10 minutes. Add meat to slow cooker. Add all other ingredients (except cornmeal and water) to slow cooker. Stir and set to low for 8-10 hours. About halfway through the cooking process. Whisk together cornmeal and water and stir into chili. The longer this chili cooks, the better it tastes!

I tweaked this recipe a little bit from the chili-off. Added a little more spice and fixed the cornmeal so that it would thicken the way I wanted it to.

This is a great dish to warm the tummy after a long night of trick-or-treating. Happy Halloween everyone!

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