You will need:

3 lbs boneless chicken breast, trimmed
1 1/2 cups rice (I used Uncle Ben’s)
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
2 1/4 – 2/1/2 cups water
1 pkg. Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix
1 tsp. desired seasonings (I use a spicy basil/garlic mix from a place in New York)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix soups, rice, water and seasonings together.
Pour into a large buttered glass casserole dish or pan.
Lay chicken pieces on top of the rice and sprinkle with Lipton’s Onion Soup.
Cover with aluminum foil and seal.
Bake 2 hours and do not peek.
This dish never fails.

Enjoy,

Dad

I have been ridiculously absent lately.
I dearly apologize.
My main blog has been calling and I am very sorry.
Can you ever forgive me?
Maybe after making this you will . . .

You will need:

A crockpot!
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
4lb. rump roast
2 tsp. salt (*1 1/2 Kosher)
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2tsp, ground thyme, rosemary (one or the other is fine)
3/4 cup red wine (or marsala, I prefer the latter)
3 tbls. flour
1/8 cup water, 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce or A-1)

Do this:

Chop the onion and garlic, put in the pot and place the roast on top.
We good?
Season with salt, pepper, rosemary & thyme
Pour in the wine (take a sip, if you’d like)
Cover and cook on the High setting for about 5 hours, or until tender
Remove roast to a serving plate and wrap in aluminum foil.
Measure 2 cups of cooking liquid into a saucepan.
Stir together the flour and water and stir it into the cooking liquid.
Bring to a boil, stirring, reduce the heat and simmer for @10 minutes.
Slice the pot roast and serve with gravy.
Be sure to make some MASHED!
Go New Orleans!

Dad

I made this the other night on a whim and it was very tasty.
And easy!

You will need:

2-3 lbs boneless chicken breast
1 pkg Good Seasons Basil Vinaigrette (prepared)
1 bag  Stacy’s Pita Chips
(put in a processor and finely crumbled)

Marinate the chix for as long as possible in the Good Seasons dressing.
Dredge in the crushed Pita chips.
Place in a glass baking dish (sprayed with PAM)
and bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
Remove and toss 1/2 cup of the cheese of your choice on top and
broil until browned.
Serve to smiling, hungry guests.
(serves 6)

Enjoy, folks

~Dad

_____________________________________________________________________

1 lb. boneless chicken

1/4 cup melted butter

1 clove garlic.minced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (not 13 like originally posted!)

1/4 tsp salt

pepper

In a skillet melt butter and add garlic
Cook 2-3 minutes (Don’t burn the butter-Low heat)

Discard garlic

Combine bread crumbs, cheese, salt and pepper mixture in a bowl
Dip chicken pieces in mixture
Place in shallow baking pan
Pour butter over chicken pieces

Bake @ 350 for about 40 minutes or until fork tender

Sweet baked potatoes are best when they are cooked @ 400 for 1 hour or so
You could put those in 1st @ 400 for  about 45 min.
Then lower the oven temperature to 350 and put in the chicken for about 40 minutes
Check a piece of chicken (cut it) to make sure it’s done (White-no pink)
Feel the potatoes -they should feel kind of soft. (Don’t burn yourself)
I usually make more chicken than this-all the measurements are approximate
If you like more cheese then put more.
I usually don’t throw away the garlic because I like it.
If you are throwing it out , leave it in larger pieces-
if you want to use it ,
then chop it really small.(Watch your fingers)

Good luck!  Love, Pamd  Panm  Pamnd  Mom

(Sorry, Pamd, the other video didn’t allow embedding.)

I’m beginning to realize there are 1,000 ways to make Cinci Chili.
Scour the net and you will find 10X that many recipes.
That said, I’m putting my own up here culled from years of recipe tasting.
This one is requested often by the girls and Pamela.
If you’re visiting from Texas you may want to go elsewhere as I use kidney beans.
Sorry, folks.
The recipe I’m posting yields 8 servings.
I usually double it.
And let me tell you, it’s usually gone in two days.
A few tablespoons of this stuff with a slathering of mustard on a grilled hot dog is
the foodstuff of the Gods.
Trust me.

You will need:

1 – tbls vegetable oil
3/4 cup of chopped onion (Vidalia, preferably)
2 lbs of decent ground beef
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ground clove
2 bay leaves
1 tbls. cocoa
2 (10.5 oz) cans Beef Consomme
1 (15oz.) can of tomato sauce (not flavored with basil or oregano!)
2 tbls. cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2 tbls. good habanero hot sauce
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Diced Vidalia onions
1 lb. Linguine

Here’s the deal:
*Heat oil in a large saucepan over Medium heat.
Add onion and minced garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 6 minutes.
*Add beef and cook, breaking up if necessary with a wooden spoon, until browned.
*Add  remaining ingredients (except for the Cheddar cheese, Vidalias & kidney beans!) and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
(if you want to thicken this thing up, mix 2 tbls of flour with 4 tbls of warm water and add to the mix)
*Add kidney beans and simmer on low for another 30 – 45 minutes.
*It’s best if you refrigerate this overnight . . .  if not . . .
*Remove bay leaves and reheat gently over a medium heat.
*Serve over hot, drained linguine.
*Top with shredded cheddar and diced Vidalia onions.
Enjoy!

~Dad

Maureen has been on my ass to post this sucker ever since I put up
Pamela’s Baked Bay Potato recipe last week.
FYI- I tend to make this a bit differently everytime
but for some reason it always comes out the same way.
I’ll never figure that one out.
Just know that this behemoth of a loaf is usually gone in two days.
I know, that’s just wrong.
Hot or cold, this stuff is just ridiculously tasty.
Make sure you have some crusty Italian bread for sandwiches the next day.

You will need:

1 lb – decent ground beef
2 lbs. – fresh ground pork (the fresher, the better)
1 (+) cup of bread crumbs (may need to add more depending on the consistency)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (plus 1/2 cup more for a bit later!)
3 – eggs
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tbls. decent Italian salad dressing
1 healthy splash of Worcestershire sauce (steak sauce)
3/4 cup of Pastene crushed tomatoes (any quality tomato will do) (+ 1/2 cup for later)
2 tbls. Italian Seasoning (combo of  dried basil, dried oregano, dried garlic & dried parsley)
4 cloves, fresh garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt
1, maybe 2, tsp. fresh cracked pepper ( I always go for two)
2 cups Shredded Mozzarella (save for recipe instructions)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (@205 Celsius)

Mix all ingredients, except for the Mozzarella cheese, in a bigass bowl.
Don’t mix for too long,  just combine the ingredients.
Take a sip of vino or beer and get out the biggest glass baking dish that you have.
(It has to be sizeable)
Place half of the meat mixture in the dish and pat down until it’s even.
Spread half of the shredded mozzarella cheese on top.
Take a sip of vino or beer.
Add the other half of the meat mixture and press down lightly
so the surface is flat and all the cheese is covered.
Spread the other 1/2 cup or so of crushed tomatoes on the top of said meatloaf
and sprinkle with the 1/2 cup of Parmesan/Romano cheese.
I usually sprinkle a bit of Italian seasoning on the top of that.
Place in pre-heated oven and bake, uncovered  for @ 1 hour. (be sure to check that it doesn’t burn!)
The loaf should be bubbling in the middle and all around.
Remove from oven and cover with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
Place in oven for 5 minutes to melt cheese.
Turn on broiler and broil until cheese is browned and bubbly.
Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
Serve with mashed potatoes or THIS.
A simple tossed salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
will round out the meal.
Pour more vino or beer and enjoy.
Here’s lookin’ at you kid . . .

~Dad

From the island of Bermuda comes this recipe I weaseled out of the chef from the Swizzle Inn in Bermuda.
When I was working there in ’86 he came to see me play at Rum Runners.
He was a bit tipsy one night and I was able to get this incredible recipe.
To this day, it’s Pamela’s favorite burger.
It has to be grilled also, a broiler just won’t do it justice.
This recipe serves 6

You will need:

• 2lbs. ground beef (nothing too lean as lean beef sucks for good burgers)
• 3/4 lb of bacon, cooked (microwave works wonders because the bacon stays crispy)
• 1/2 cup of V-8 or tomato juice
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 Tbls Lawrey’s Seasoned Salt
• 1 Tbls Dried Parsley
• 6 fresh bulkies or oversized hamburger rolls
• 6 slices of thick American cheese (Land O’ Lakes works best)

Combine hamburger, tomato juice, egg and seasonings with a fork.
Be careful not to take too long mixing it.
The longer you mix, the tougher the burger.
Form into patties, once again, the longer you form it, the tougher they get.
Fire up the grill and heat for 5 minutes.
Throw those puppies on and grill until desired doneness.
I go about 4-5 mins and flip for another 4 mins.
Turn grill to Low.
Place bacon slices and cheese on burgers and close grill cover for @1 minute.
Grilling buns is optional.
One word to the wise; these tasty bastards are so juicy they almost explode when you take a bite.
Exercise caution.
Serve with a decent coleslaw.
(I promise to post my coleslaw recipe later this week.)
Enjoy!

~Dad

This is a very simple recipe.
So simple, in fact,  it was given the above name.

You will need:

*Boneless Chicken Breast
*Ken’s Italian Salad Dressing
*Trader Joe’s Corn Flakes (they work the best)
*Spices (oregano, basil, red pepper flake . . . )
*Salt & fresh ground pepper

Marinate chicken for at least 4 hours in the fridge.
Crush Corn Flakes and add spices.
Roll chicken in flakes and place in a non-stick baking pan.
Bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes.
Goes great with mashed sweet potatoes & fresh steamed green beans.

~Dad

Here’s a recipe from a dear friend from Spur, Texas.
My wife made it last weekend and let me tell you it was incredible.

*Pork Roast (any size will do, depending on how much pork you want)
*Vidalia Onions (1 large or two small will be fine. Slice them up)
*One CrockPot
*Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce

*Put roast in crock and toss in onions.
Add enough water to almost cover the roast.
Cook on Low for 6 hours.
Remove roast and onions and drain water.
‘Pull’ meat off the roast (should fall off) and dice onions.
Add meat and onions to crockpot and add several tbls. of water.
Add enough BBQ sauce of choice to cover meat (Sweet Baby Ray’s is preferred)
and simmer for an additional 2 hours on Low.

Grill some fresh buns with butter and serve with fresh coleslaw.
(Add some coleslaw to the sandwich for a Carolina garnish)
Enjoy!

*awesome with coleslaw

~m

This is a dish that has gone through a few transitions over the years.
I now call this recipe my own and it is a year-round favorite.
I omit mushrooms because my daughters hate them.
Talk about true love, huh?
This recipe is based off of a ‘diet’ recipe but doesn’t taste anything remotely associated to a diet.
Most of my ingredients are added using my eye as a gauge.
My recipes are meant to be transformed into something you and your family truly love.
Want more oregano?
Go for it.

(serves 6)

2lbs. boneless breast of chicken
1- container of mushrooms, sliced (if you like them as much as I do)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 to 3/4 cup of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/8 to 1/2 tsp. crushed oregano
3/4 tsp. paprika (all paprika is not created equal. And DO NOT USE Smoked Paprika on this recipe!)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
Virgin olive oil
A decent Marsala wine (I use Pastene and have had good luck with it)

Instructions:

• Trim any fat off the chicken breasts and cut into thinner slices as they cook faster.
• Dredge pieces in the grated Parmesan and set aside.
• Heat a large, non-stick frying pan on medium high for 1 -2 minutes and add one tbls. of olive oil.
• When you can smell the olive oil, add chicken pieces and fry until a nice golden brown on each side.
• When chicken is browned, add minced garlic and mix being careful not to burn the garlic.
• Add salt, pepper, paprika, oregano and crushed red pepper.
• (if using mushrooms, add fresh sliced ‘shrooms now)
• Grab that bottle of Marsala and douse the chicken liberally
• (and enjoy the aromatic cloud now forming in your kitchen)

I tend to use approximately 1/2 a cup of Marsala, sometimes more all depending on how happy I want my chicken to be.
Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for @20 minutes or until the Marsala has reduced to a consistency that you like.
I like mine to be fairly rich and thick.
Serve immediately.
This dish is exceptional when served with a basic creamy risotto, Parmesan toast and a fresh spinach salad.
Enjoy!

Dad