Comfort Food

We had a cloudy weekend and that always makes me want to eat that good old comfort food!  This week's menu consisted of a family favorite that I grew up with, Chicken Broccoli Casserole and I threw in a new recipe from Ann Romney's cookbook, The Romney Family Table.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole (Recipe below)

Spiced Broiled Peaches

Warm rolls

Dessert:  Chocolate Macadamia Nut Torte (Recipe below)

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

I loved Chicken Broccoli Casserole when I was little.  The creamy, warm Parmesan sauce smothering the chicken, rice and broccoli was delicious.  I never really had a written recipe from my mom and I'm not even sure if she had one.  I just learned how to make it by watching her.

You will need to boil 3-4 chicken breasts and set aside when cooked.

 In a medium saucepan make a white sauce:

3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP flour
a couple dashes of garlic powder
salt and pepper

Add 2 1/2 cups milk.  Stir until thickens.  It will not be a thick sauce.

Add:
1/2 package cream cheese (8 oz)

When cream cheese is all mixed in add:

1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese (Out of the green can)
1 TBSP lemon juice

Remove from heat and set sauce aside.

Line the bottom of a 13 x 9 with cooked broccoli.  I like to just use the broccoli tops.  I zap it in the microwave.  Drizzle with a stick of melted butter.

Layer 1-1 1/2 Cups cooked rice on top of broccoli.

On top of the rice layer add the cooked chicken breasts that have been sliced horizontally.

Pour white sauce on top of chicken layer.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.  (The kind in the green can)  Pop it in a 350 oven for 30 minutes or until top is a little browned and bubbly.

Chocolate Macadamia Nut Torte

In a mixing bowl combine:

1 Cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 Cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

Beat all ingredients until well blended.  Pour into greased 9 inch round cake pan lined with parchment paper.  (I didn't use it because I don't have that and my cake kind of stuck to the pan when trying to get it out.  I'm assuming the parchment paper would help with that problem.)  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cake tests done.  Cool.  Invert onto serving plate and top with Fudge Topping (below).

Fudge Topping

1 Cup heavy cream
1/2 Cup sugar
2 TBSP butter
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (7 ounce) jar macadamia nuts

In a 2 quart saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream, sugar, butter, and chocolate and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes more, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Put water and ice in a large mixing bowl.  Place pan in bowl and stir until mixture is of spreadable consistency.  Stir in nuts.  (I used a bag of chopped macadamia nuts)  Pour topping evenly over cake, allowing some to run down the sides.  The trick is to make sure it is not too runny; let cool to desired consistency before spreading on cake.  Sprinkle more nuts on top for decoration if desired.

Everyone loved this new cake recipe and said it was a keeper.  Stephen wanted to try pecans on it next time instead of macadamia nuts.

Spiced Broiled Peaches

The easiest recipe on the planet...seriously!  These warm peaches were such a treat when we were little.  I remember so well the little puddle of melted butter in the center of the peach and trying so hard not to tip the peach while I was serving it on my plate.  The aroma of nutmeg today still brings back the memory of eating these peaches.

You will need canned peach halves.  Place peaches in flat cooking dish.  Place a pat of butter in center of each peach.  Add a couple of sprinkles of nutmeg to each peach.  Place in 350 oven until butter is melted and peaches are warmed.  I will also place it under the broiler when I'm in a hurry.  This is a perfect recipe for the little helpers in the kitchen to do.  Just make sure they don't overdo the nutmeg!  I did it when I was little.

A little side story:  In our first Georgia house back on Grand Teton Parkway about 18 years ago I had prepared a beautiful Sunday serving platter with Lemon chicken and had outlined the chicken with the broiled peaches.  We were about to enjoy Sunday dinner at our brand new dining room table in the dining room for the first time.  This was the first house that we had a dining room and it was going to be special. Everyone was sitting at the table in the dining room waiting for the food to be served. I handed the platter to Stephen at the head of the table.  As he grabbed it he tilted the platter and all the peaches and chicken slid right off the tray and onto the floor, upside down no less!  It was a buttery, greasy mess all over our new carpet and our Sunday dinner had carpet fuzzies all over it.  None of the children said a word...it was shocking!  Stephen cleaned the carpet while I tried to rescue our dinner.  Oh the memories!  We still laugh at that now when we have broiled peaches.

Viva Italian!

My house is a mess right now because we are kind of in a transition in our decorating.  The dining room got dumped on literally so we had to eat our Sunday dinner at the kitchen table and that was just  OK.  It doesn't matter if you have a grandiose dining room, fancy china and crystal, and the finest silver place settings.  What matters is that you are gathering together as a family around the dinner table to create memories, become closer and eat some fabulous food!  We had a great Sunday dinner menu today which included one of Stephen's favorites, Chicken Parmesan.

Parmesan Chicken (recipe below)

Buttered Noodles

Fresh Garden Salad

Warm rolls

Dessert: Strawberry Freeze (recipe below)

Chicken Parmesan

This recipe came from.....ME!  I just made it up because Chicken Parmesan sounded really good one day.  It was a hit and we've been eating it ever since in our home.  This is one of Stephen's favorites and he usually will request this on his birthdays and other special occasions.

You will need 3 chicken breasts cut into filets.

Combine and pour into flat dish:

1 cup cornflake crumbs (You can sometimes buy it at the grocery store but I usually just grind it in my blender and it works perfectly.)

1/4 grated Parmesan cheese (The kind that comes in the green shaker style container)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

In a separate dish beat 1 egg.

Pour olive oil in heated frying pan.  Dip chicken into beaten egg and then into cornflake crumbs.  Make sure chicken is completely coated.  Place in frying pan and cook on both sides until nicely browned.

Remove chicken from frying pan and place on cookie sheet.  Pour spaghetti sauce of your choice (I use Prego Mushroom) on each filet.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of sauce (You can use grated) and pop it under the broiler until melted and bubbly.

Buttered Noodles

This is a pretty darn easy dish to prepare.  I use the homemade noodles that come in a cellophane bag in the pasta section.  It boils for three minutes and then it's done!  That's it!  So fast and easy.  I melt butter and add it to the drained noodles and sprinkle with a little parsley for color.

Fresh Garden Salad

I love making fresh garden salads to accompany my main dish.  This salad needed to be tossed with a savory Italian dressing to compliment the Chicken Parmesan....nothing sweet needed this time.  For this salad I combined romaine lettuce and spinach, tomatoes from my garden (woohoo), cucumbers, pepperoni slices, cornbread croutons (I love those way better than the basic seasoned bread crumbs), and some shredded Parmesan cheese.  My favorite Italian dressing is Ken's Three Cheese Italian, but I haven't been able to find it lately so it's probably been discontinued...just my luck!

Strawberry Freeze

This has to be one of my all time favorite desserts.  My mother made this for us when I was little and it was seriously always my requested birthday "cake".  We didn't like cake in my family so we just always did birthday desserts!  My daughter, Ashton always picked this as her brithday cake too!  I still love this frozen treat to this day.  I have to say that this dessert got rave reviews from my father-in-law today.  He said it was the best dessert he's ever had and he helped himself to a second serving.  That never happens so we know it must be good!  It's a great dessert for Sunday dinner because you can prepare it the night before, leaving more time for you to get dinner ready on Sunday.

Don't you just love my cute little typed recipe card that I made when I probably 13 as I started gleaning recipes from my Mother to add to my collection.

Of course I have tweaked the recipe just a little throughout the years but it's basically the same.

Combine in a bowl:

1 Cup flour

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Cup chopped walnuts ( I use pecans)

1/2 Cup butter, melted

Pour in a flat pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let cool.  Pour 2/3 of crumbs in bottom of 13x9.  Reserve the rest.

Blend together:

2 egg whites
1 Cup sugar*
2 Cup sliced strawberries*
2 TBSP lemon juice

*I used a 16 ounce container of frozen, sliced strawberries (thawed) and cut the sugar to 1/2 Cup

In a separate bowl beat 1 Cup whipping cream until thickened.

Gently fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture.  Pour over crumbs in the 13x9 pan.

Place reserved crumbs on top of strawberry mixture.  Place in freezer overnight.