If you have been following along with the recipes we cook week to week from our book  A Taste of Utica, you might be looking for Chicken Riggies. Don’t lose hope.  We posted all the Riggie recipes back in April. Here is the LINK for Chicken Riggies..

This week, we have a dish that is just as good, Chicken and Potatoes posted by Rainie Piccione and found on page 84.

Rainie doesn’t list the ingredient quantities as we are used to seeing in a recipe so I’ve taken some liberties.   The following is how the recipe is written in the book and underneath, you will find the Apple Crumbles version.

My mother-in-law made a dish called “Chicken and Potatoes”.

She peeled and placed potatoes in the bottom of a roasting pan.  Seasoned them with salt and pepper.  Layered the chicken over the potatoes.  She used chicken thighs and legs and sometimes adding Dino’s sausage cut into single serve size.  She would then season again with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Drizzle with olive oil and Heinz tomato ketchup.  She would then add 1 can of chicken broth to the bottom of the pan.  Cover and bake at 350 F for an hour.  Remove the cover and cook an additional 15 minutes. 

If you like onion, I sometimes add a few whole or quartered.  Sometimes I also add poultry seasoning along with the salt and pepper and garlic powder.

Chicken and Potatoes – rewritten by Apple Crumbles

• 6 Yukon Gold Potatoes – peeled and cut in half. The large ones, I quartered.
• salt and pepper just to flavor *NOT TOO MUCH! Remember you will add the broth and ketchup which both contain salt.
• 3 1/2 lbs Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 lb Dino’s Medium Italian Sausage – cut into 1 1/2 “ pieces
• salt and pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 can (15 oz) Chicken Broth
• *I didn’t use the onion because this dish is all for Ted and he doesn’t like onions. However, if you enjoy onions, they add a lot of flavor and might try adding 1 onion, peeled and quartered to the roasting pan.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Make sure rack is positioned low enough in the oven so you can get a roasting pan with a cover in there without touching the top.

In the bottom of the pan, add the prepared potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper as recommended above.  Top with the chicken thighs then add the sausage.

Sprinkle again, very slightly with salt and pepper.  Add the garlic powder evenly over the top of the meats. 

Pour on the olive oil and then the ketchup.  Pour the chicken broth into the roasting pan and cover. 

Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes then uncover and continue to cook for an additional 15 or 20 minutes. *Note: The Apple Crumbles version did take a little more time than Rainie’s.  The meats were cooked but the potatoes needed a little more time. 

It just amazes me that a lot of these Utica recipes are so basic, so easy and turn out SO GOOD! I watched Ted enjoy this dish as if he were eating 5 Star restaurant food.  We both get excited every Sunday when it’s time for the Taste of Utica recipe.

Hope you enjoy this one as well.

Next week is another chicken recipe:  Beer Can Chicken. I may need Ted’s help on that one.

First things first:  No critter in the live trap this morning.  I didn’t check the peanut butter bait and can only hope it’s still there.  If not, the situation is worse than anticipated:  we could have a “smart mouse”.   Stay tuned for more updates…..

Second:  This is a warning.  Socks can be dangerous!   It has happened again. Another family member has been injured by their sock.  The first was my Uncle years ago as he was putting on his sock with his middle finger.  Personally, the last finger I would injure pulling on my sock would be my middle finger but we are all different.  This particular Uncle sprained a tendon in his middle finger and suffered agonizing pain for quite a few days.

Just this morning, Ted put his back out while putting on his sock.  Another wonder for us all, but it happened. Poor Ted is gingerly walking around the house finding that if he sits, he almost can’t get back up.   He has his hand on his back and puts on the occasional ice pack.  He can’t get into the massage chair because he gets stuck.  It’s a bad and ugly situation. 

 I don’t like socks at all and, if I can get away with it, won’t wear them. My preference is to go barefoot whenever possible.  I can only hope this reduces my chance of “Sock-itis”. 

Next up:  The first eggs! 

Donna the “dog sitter”, better known as Shane’s best friend, found her first 3 chicken eggs.  Two little round ones and one large one.  How exciting!   The real thing by way of “FRESH EGGS”. 

Speaking of yolks….

Donna's First Eggs....well her chickens eggs that is.

I made cupcakes using simply egg whites.  Dilemma..what to do with the yolks?  This is what I came up with for a quick dinner.

Baked Eggs and Crab

• 5 Egg yolks
• 1 cup “Egg Beaters Whites”  *You can certainly just use 5 whole eggs
• 2 6 oz can Lump Crab Meat * I’d use fresh if it were available.
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 2 TBS chopped red onion
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/3 cup grated/shredded/ chopped Gouda Cheese
• 1 acorn squash – cooked in the microwave (about 8 – 10 minutes), and mashed.

Preheat oven to 375 F

Mix the Egg Yolks, Whites, crab, peppers, Old Bay, onion and garlic.  

Peel and mash your cooked squash and spread into 9″ round baking pan (with high sides such as a cake pan) that has been sprayed with non stick spray.  This will form your base.  *NOTE:  If you want a dryer base, put the squash base into the oven for 10 – 12 minutes at 375 F before adding egg mixture. 

Now pour the egg mixture over the squash “crust”.  Top with the Gouda Cheese. 

Bake 30  minutes or until set.

“THE UGLY TRUTH” – A Movie Review

Starring Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, this movie is deserving of its “R” Rating, so beware.   We enjoyed this “cookie cutter” romance movie.  It had some really funny dialogue and scenes.  Katherine Heigl stars as a News Producer whose program suffers from low ratings. Her manager hires a hard core “tell it like it is” personality (Gerard Butler) to up the ratings.  Of course you know what happens in the end, but its what happens in the middle that is hilarious.  Good movie.  I really liked Gerard Butler’s character. Guess I’m a sucker for the bad boy.

Shane and I enjoyed a 6.25 mile run this beautiful Fall morning.  It was cool out side but I forgot to check the temperature before leaving.  Since I didn’t want to run alone and Shane wasn’t eating well this week, I didn’t want to make him go too far.  So I thought…”Okay.  We’ll run for 60 minutes and what ever that turns out to be mileage wise will do for today.   Jokes on me because when we got home, Shane wanted to go outside again and play Frisbee! 

About 10 minutes after getting back from our run, the side door opens.  It was Ted, who was suppose to be at breakfast with his buds.  A deer hit the car. Bummer!  Bummer for the poor deer and bummer for our car!    It was a crappy start to hiso/ur morning.

It seemed like a long day today and mid way through, when I began to plan for dinner, I had no imagination, no idea what to make.  When you can’t think of anything gourmet-ish or fancy for dinner, and you want something easy and  quick, think GOULASH!  It’s fun to make because it’s a “through it all in” dish.  Traditionally, it is a stew.  We are all familiar with “Hungarian Goulash”.  That classic version offers beef mixed with paprika, tomatoes, and green peppers.   My version omitted the green peppers and I used a homemade Marinara based on my special Mrs.. K’s Spaghetti Sauce Recipe  less the meat in the Marinara.

Grab It Goulash – serves 10 – 12

• 2 lb Hamburger
• 8 oz Elbow Macaroni
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 onion – chopped
• 3 cloves garlic – fine chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 14 oz can green beans – drained
• 11 oz can corn – drained (I used Mexican Corn…probably not available in Budapest?!  )
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups Marinara Sauce (you can add canned diced tomatoes if preferred)
• 1 to 2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

NOTE:  You can make this in one large pot.  Since I was making a lot and Ted is the only one (unless Teddy comes over) who eats meat, I made it to separate into 2 containers so one could be frozen for a later date. Yes, it does freeze well for up to 1 month.

Follow directions on the box of Elbow Macaroni to cook al dente.  

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Add the beans and corn to a large casserole dish.

Heat a skillet over medium high and cook your hamburger until just browned.  Drain all fat and add to the casserole dish holding the beans and corn.

Mix in the cooked macaroni, the paprika, salt and pepper to taste, the Marinara sauce and the Worcestershire sauce.

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat and add the onions.  Cook 4 minutes then add the garlic. 

Remove and add to the mixture in your casserole dish.  Mix all together really well. 

Cover and place in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes to heat through.  * I covered the dish, put into the refrigerator and simply heated through (adding 10 more minutes) at dinner time.   Tasty, easy and satisfying.  Goulash is always a hit with adults and kids.

I served the Goulash with Rice Tortillas toasted with hummus spread and topped with cheese.  Ted enjoyed the Sharp Cheddar.  We also had a Parmesan topped hummus tortilla.  Finally, my favorite, a tortilla spread with hummus and topped with Feta.  I put them under the broiler for about 2 1/2 minutes just to melt the cheese and bring out the flavor of the hummus.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Great movie. Funny and classic Sandra Bullock.  I’m a fan!  She plays a hard core Publishing Executive threatened with a disciplinary action of being deported back to Canada.  A spur of the moment decision to save herself puts her assistant (Ryan Reynolds) in quite a tight spot.  He makes the best of it and ….well, you can guess the outcome but it’s all the fun stuff in the middle that makes this movie so good.