Chicken and mushroom Goulash with Gnocchi

It was a beautiful day which derved a tasty dinner. Tried this recipe for the first time and it is really good. Plus I love gnocchi.



Ingredients:
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs butter
1 1/2 pounds of ground chicken
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1 package gnocchi

Heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the ground chicken. Brown for 3-4 minutes. Push to the side and add mushrooms, garlic, onion and bell pepper. Cook 5 minutes, then mix chicken and vegetables together and add paprika, salt and pepper. Stir in stock and tomato sauce, bring to a bubble and reduce to simmer for 5 minutes.

After adding the sauce, in seperate pan of boiling water add the gnocchi and cook until it floats, 2-5 minutes.

Add sour cream to chicken mixture and turn off heat. Add drained gnocchi to the pan.

Serve in a shallow bowl.

Enjoy!!

Valentine's Cookies - Glittering Key Lime Cookies

I altered the recipe from The Gourmet Cookie Book for their Glittering Lemon Sandwich Cookies. I love Key Lime. So I alternated key lime zest and juice for the lemon

yield: Makes about 50 sandwich cookies

active time: 1 1/2 hr

total time: 2 1/2 hr

Ingredients For cookies:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
White or colored sanding sugars

For filling:
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh key lime juice
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened


Equipment: a heavy-duty sealable bag
print a shopping list for this recipe
PreparationPreheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt.

Beat together butter and confectioners sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in zest and vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture just until a soft dough forms.

Put sanding sugars in different bowls. Roll a scant teaspoon of dough into a ball and drop into sugar, turning to coat. Reshape if necessary and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat, spacing balls 3/4 inch apart, until baking sheet is filled.

Bake until tops are slightly cracked but still pale (bottoms will be pale golden), 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to a rack to cool completely.

Form and bake more cookies on second baking sheet.

Make filling and sandwich cookies:
Beat together all filling ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until combined well. Transfer to sealable bag and snip off a corner.

Turn over half of cookies and pipe about 1/2 teaspoon filling on flat side of each. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently.


Enjoy!!

Slow Cooker Reuben Dip

Okay, it's the Super Bowl. Last game of the year. What shall we do until August gets here? All my friends call this the funeral dip , since it is what their mothers would take to people's house when someone died. But it's all the ingredients of a great reuben, just in a dip.


Slow Cooker Reuben Dip

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) jar sauerkraut, drained
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups shredded cooked corned beef
1/4 cup thousand island dressing

Directions
In a slow cooker, combine the sauerkraut, cream cheese, Swiss cheese, corned beef and thousand island dressing. Cover, and cook on high for 45 minutes if you're in a hurry, low for longer if you're not, or just until hot and cheese is melted. Stir occasionally while cooking. Serve with cocktail rye or crackers. Those rye crisps from Gordetto work great too.

Enjoy!

Occasionally Made

Found this great website yesterday! They have super cute gear for tailgating!! They are based in Richmond and have a store finder on their website. They have gear for Hoos, Hokies, Tarheels and many more.

www.occasionallymade.com

I was the Most Martha

Every Monday morning on Martha Stewart radio on Sirius, they have a contest for how Martha you were over the weekend. I shared some of our tailgating recipes and photos and I got this email back from the program.

Hi Angela,

Love it! Thanks for sending this in! You were indeed very Martha. I think that deserves a prize! Please send us your address and we’ll send you a Martha Stewart Living Radio spatula. Keep listening to Morning Living!

-Morning Living


It's just a spatula but at least it's a prize.

Chili Cookoff

Everyone decided to fix chili for the Miami game. And amzingly enough UVA actually won the game!! Trick on Miami and a trat for us.

Here is our award winning Chili Recipe. I've never fixed chili with pork and with chunks of meats. It was Yummy!!

Chili Con Carne




Ingredients
• 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat or beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 1/2 pounds pork stew meat or shoulder, cut into 1- inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup corn oil
• 2 large Spanish onions, chopped
• 10 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup chili powder, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• Serving suggestions: White rice, chopped cilantro, shredded Cheddar, chopped tomatoes, minced fresh or pickled jalapeno peppers
Directions
Pat the meat dry with a paper towel and season with the salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large stew pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the meat, in small batches, until well browned, adding more oil to the pan as needed. Transfer meat to a bowl and reserve.
Discard all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the pan. Saute the onions over medium heat for 10 minutes, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon from the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes more. Stir in the 1/3 cup chili powder, cumin, and oregano and cook for 2 minutes. Add the canned diced tomatoes and whisk in 4 cups of the stock. Add the meat and any accumulated juices back to the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer. Season the chili with the salt and pepper, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.
In a food processor or blender puree half of the beans with the remaining 1 cup of stock. Add the bean mixture to the chili along with the whole beans. Let simmer, uncovered, 1 hour more or until the meat is tender. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons chili powder and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with rice and suggested condiments.

I also added a can of corn drained to this recipe!

Blue Crab Bay Co. Shrimp Dip

Blue Crab Bay Co. is based on the eastern shore of Virginia. They have great spice mixes, snacks and bloody mary mixes. I'm not a fan of bloody marys but I've always been told they are fantastic. You can find their website here.

Here is their recipe using their Blue Crab Bay Shrimp Dix Mix. You can also get this as a kit which is alos very tasty.



Shrimp Dip
8oz. cream cheese
1 Tbsp. Blue Crab Bay Co. Shrimp Dip Blend
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Dash Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 6 oz. tin Blue Crab Bay Co. Tiny Wild Cocktail Shrimp

Soften cream cheese and add mayo, lemon juice, Worchestershire Sauce, and Shrimp Dip Blend. Stri until creamy. Add shrimp and mix until well blended. Serve chilled with crackers, bread, whatever suits you.

Happy eating!