California Chicken Casserole

This is one of my favorite things my mom makes - it's pretty easy if you use the canned chicken (and just as good)!

California Chicken Casserole

1 whole chicken, cooked & cut up or 2 10 oz cans of chicken
1 12 oz package of egg noodles, cooked
6 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 small can button mushrooms
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
Parsley flakes

In a 9x13 inch pan or two smaller pans, layer noodles, then chicken, then eggs, then cheese, then mushrooms. Blend milk and soup and pour over all. On top, put remaining cheese and sprinkle with parsley flakes. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Makes a HUGE casserole or two medium-sized ones. Make only half the recipe for one casserole.

This is definition of "comfort food"!!!

Chicken Saltimbocca (no, not THAT Saltimbocca)

Hi, Derk here--posting the Chicken Saltimbocca recipe Christine found. We're all sad that the "real" Saltimbocca closed, and are busy trying to find the recipe for their amazing chocolate pudding. In the meantime, here's some good chicken to make and eat.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

4-8 thin, boneless chicken breast cutlets (we only made four, but used two boneless chicken breasts and cut them in half (I'd say "lengthwise," but that's too imprecise--take your chef's or santoku knife and cut the breast in half with your knife parallel to the cutting board. You're trying to make the breast thinner, not skinnier.)

1 Tbsp minced fresh sage leaves, plus one large fresh sage leaf per cutlet

4-8 thin slices prosciutto (again, as many slices as you have cutlets)

4 Tbsps olive oil

1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine (we use "Ariel," a wine that's been de-alcohol-ed--we buy it at Emigration Market)

2 tsps lemon juice

4 Tbsps unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces and chilled

1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves (we used dry parsley flakes and it seemed okay)

Table salt

Fresh ground pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Combine flour and 1 tsp pepper in shallow dish or paper plate.

2. After cutting breasts into cutlets, pat cutlets dry with a paper towel. Dredge chicken in flour. Lay cutlets flat and sprinkle evenly with minced sage. Place one slice prosciutto on top of each cutlet, pressing lightly to adhere. Set aside.

3. Heat 2 Tbsps of olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. If using whole sage leaves, add these to the oil and cook until the leaves begin to change color and are fragrant, about 15-20 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, remove the sage to a paper towel-covered plate, set aside. Add cutlets to pan (as many as will fit--four at a time is usually okay), prosciutto side down, and cook until light golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until light golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack on a baking sheet (or a roasting pan, as we did), and keep warm in oven. If you have more cutlets, add the rest of the oil and repeat this step with the remaining cutlets. Place remaining cutlets in oven and prepare sauce.

4. Deglaze pan with vermouth or wine, scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until reduced to about 1/3 cup, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Reduce heat to low. Whisk in butter one piece at a time. Remove from heat, stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper. At this point, I wasn't sure if the chicken was completely done, so I returned it to the pan, turned the heat back to medium, and let it cook for 5 more minutes. Plate chicken, place one cooked sage leaf on top of each cutlet, and pour a little of the sauce over the cutlet, and serve.

Orange Piccata Chicken

This is a different take on the traditional Chicken Piccata, and is extremely easy and SO tasty. We make it all the time. The recipe is from Cuisine At Home, one of my favorite food magazines. And one tip: good non-alcoholic wines are available at Emigration Market, they're called Arial, and work really well. Their non-alcoholic wines have even won awards. Here's a picture of the chicken the last time we made it:

Makes 4 cutlets, about 35 minutes

Ingredients:

Cut and pound out:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves, (4-6 oz. each)

Dredge; saute in 2 T. olive oil:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Deglaze; reduce:

3/4 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Whisk in; add:

4 T cold unsalted butter, cubed

4 thin orange slices, halved

Garnish with:

1/4 cup silvered almonds, toasted (we have these as optional and usually don't use them)

1 T minced fresh parsley (dried is OK too)

Directions:

Cut each breast in half lengthwise. Cover with plastic wrap and pound to 1/4 inch thickness. Remove plastic and season with salt and pepper.

Dredge chicken in flour. Saute cutlets in oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip and saute for 2 more minutes. Remove cutlets from pan and keep warm.
Deglaze pan with juice, wine and mustard. Simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low.

Whisk in butter until melted. Add orange slices and return cutlets to pan to heat through.

Garnish with almonds and parsley. Yummy!