Meat Muffins and Sloppy Joe Bowls on Fox

Here are some super fast and easy meal ideas that you'll love if you like meat and good taste. Try  'em and let me know what you think.

Thanks for Chef John at Foodwishes for inspiring the Stuffed corm muffin idea. He truly is a great one.

cook well,
Rob Barrett, Jr.

Chicken, Jalapeño and Cashew Wraps

Here's a fun recipe that's easy to make in around 5 minutes and will keep all week if you want to pull some out and have it for a snack or a quick meal.

Here's the written version.

Chicken, Jalapeno and Cashew wraps

3 boneless chicken thighs

cut in small pieces

1 small handful chopped onions

2 garlic cloves chopped

1 inch jalapeno chopped

1 handful cashews, preferrably raw

italian dressing

lettuce leaves or tortillas

in  small bowl combine chicken, onion, garlic, jalapeno with a little bit of salt, pepper and 1/2 spoonful sugar. add 2 or 3 spoonfuls italian dressing. Stir and set aside for around 30 minutes.

Heat frying pan and add cashews, stirring until they are just browned, about 2 minutes, then add chicken mixture. Cook over high heat until chicken is cooked through, stirring often. Turn off heat and add just enough italian dressing to make the mixture wet, around 3 or 4 spoonfuls. Continue to stir as dressing cooks off.

Place in tortilla, fold together and eat or put in lettuce leaf for a lo carb treat. Enjoy.

© 2013 Cooking for Dads

Cook well,

Rob Barrett, Jr.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches and Adventure

Here's a simple straightforward recipe for chicken salad sandwiches. Nothing special.

Cook well, Rob B

Peanut Sauce, Nectar of the Gods, (do not make this at home)

Sorry, this is just too addicting.
I shouldn't be sharing this recipe.
Please don't make it.
I don't want to be responsible.

Grilled Chicken Pizza - low carbs but great taste

Here's a fun idea I came up with for the ABC station here in town.  It's making a pizza while using chicken for the crust.

Take one breast of chicken per person, place them between sheets of plastic wrap and flatten to 1/4 inch with a meat hammer or a rubber mallet.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on grill for 1 minute or until meat starts to turn white.

Flip meat over and add a think layer of pasta sauce, some mozzarela cheese and your favorite pizza toppings. Close the lid to the grill and let it cook for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.

Serve hot!

© 2012 Cooking for Dads

Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu with White Wine and Lemon Cream Sauce

Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu with White Wine and lemon Cream Sauce

for chicken:
2-4 thawed Chicken Breasts
honey
Dijon Mustard
salt and pepper
thinly sliced honey ham
sliced Swiss Cheese

Butterfly chicken breasts by slicing longways but not completely through (see video). Open up chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a small dollop of honey on each side of the breasts and spread with a knife. Do the same with the Dijon mustard. Place a small slice of Swiss cheese and a small slice of ham on each side of the breast and close breast by folding over. Place a toothpick to hold breast closed while cooking.

Grill over high heat (400 degrees) for 3-4 minutes a side or until completely cooked.

for white wine and lemon Cream Sauce
3 spoonfuls of white wine
1 inch of butter
the juice of one lemon
1 spoonful grated lemon peel (lemon zest)
1 spoonful finely chopped onion

Combine in pan and cook for 3-4 minutes over medium low heat until butter is melted, onions are softened and the combination starts to thicken slightly.

Add 1 cup heavy cream while stirring to combine. Continue to simmer for 3-4 minutes. don't let it boil.

Pour over chicken.

© 2011 Cooking for Dads

Cook well, it's worth it.

Rob Barrett
Cooking for Dads

Super Easy Chicken Parmesan

There's a time for everything: a time to cook and a time to go out; a time to fry and a time to bake; a time to make something complex and time for a super easy one.

While there are many recipes for chicken parmesan, I think I've found the easiest possible one.  (Don't confuse easy with not tasting great.) You can look other recipes up on the web and choose the one that's won the most awards or, by the time you've found it, you you could be done cooking this one.

So here goes. give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breats

1 bottle pasta sauce

1 block parmesan cheese

1 egg scrambled

salt and pepper

olive oil

 

Directions:

Cut chicken breast in half and flatten to about 1/2 inch.

add salt and pepper

Beat one egg and pour into plate

grate parmesan cheese and place on separate plate.

dip in chicken in egg, and then in parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in pan on high heat

cook chicken 1 minute each side or until done.

Heat pasta sauce in microwave and spread on plate.

Place chicken on top and serve.

Cook well, 

Rob Barrett

Cooking for Dads

How To Please Fans of Rival Teams, or Chicken Roll Ups As Peacemakers.

Are you a house divided? Did you marry a fan of the rival team from yours?  My friends the Petersons tell me they had huge fights early in their marriage every time the Packers played the Vikings.  (I think they worked it out, they're still married with 4 kids)

But tonight should be a doozy. The Packers come to Minneapolis to take on the Vikings with Bret Farve now as a Viking.  I will keep them in my prayers.

If you are having  a party with rival fans here's a fun way to make everyone happy.

First follow the recipe for Chicken Roll Ups on my website but use the Pillsbury Baking Sheet. (just like the Crescent Roll Dough but with out the perforations)  

Once the filling is made, cut the dough in to large squares and then cut off the 4 corners.  Place a big pile of the filling mixture in the middle and form up into a football form.  Place seam down on a cookie sheet with parchment paper on it. Take some of the excess dough and twist in to thin strips to make the laces. Press down on to the top of the football.

Beat one egg and brush over top of roll up.  Put in preheated oven at 375 for 12 minutes or until just browned.

Make the sauce with 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup (I recommend Campbell's low fat, I've tried some grocery store brands and they come out lumpy.) and a half of a can of milk.

Then the fun part.  Separate the sauce in to two parts.  In my case one for the Vikings and one for the Packers.  Add 3 drops of red food coloring and 2 of blue to the Vikings sauce

 and 3 drops of green to the Packers sauce.  (adjust as needed)

Add some to bottom of plate and place baked roll up in the middle.

Super fun, and if the Packer Fan won't eat the green sauce give them grief and shame for not being a real fan.

Go Vikes!

Rob Barrett

Cooking for Dads

Satay, Saturdays, and The Weekend's Looking Up

It's friday night, and I'm getting gas at Costco.

That's the start of an exciting weekend, I tell you. I can foresee a trip to Home Depot and maybe a nap on Sunday afternoon. Living the dream.

So I call my wife, tell her I'm at Costco, and ask if she needs me to pick up something for dinner.  She says she has no plans so I offer to make something.  Luckily Costco has packet of only 2 flank steaks so i get those (normally they come in packs of like 20.).  Of course, I have no plan, but now I have steaks.

On the way home I'm reminded of a Peanut Satay recipe I made about a year ago.  These flank steaks would be perfect. 

We end up having everything I need.  1/2 can coconut milk, 2 spoonfuls curry powder, 1 sp salt, 1 sp sugar, a little pepper and 1/2 sp coriander seeds, ground in a mortar and pestle. 

The freshly ground coriander smells so amazing.  It makes the dish.

I cut the steak in strips and throw them in the marinade.  It is at that time I realize we have way, way too much food.  So I tell my wife (who is a saint, a saint I tell you.) to hit the phones and see who wants to come over. It's 6:30 already.

I make some sticky rice, a quick homegrown tomato salad, and then an easy Thai Peanut Sauce (click here for the recipe). I fire up the grill, put the steak satay on skewers and await our guests.

What a fun night.  Everyone likes eating satay off the skewers and the tomato salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar goes over well. Everyone spreads the peanut sauce over their sticky rice because it makes such a great combination. 

Later, we ended up making some more sticky rice, Jan ran and got a mango so we could have Sticky Rice with Mango, one of our favorites. Recipe below.

Maybe the weekend won't be so bad after all.(See video and all recipes here)

Cook well,

Rob Barrett

www.cookingfordads.net

Sticky Rice with Mango.

In a rice cooker or bamboo steamer make 3 cups sticky rice.

In a small pan heat 1 can of coconut milk, 1/3 cup sugar and a t of salt.  Bring to a boil and stir until combined.  Turn off heat.

Cut up a mango into small pieces.  

Add coconut mixture to rice and stir to coat.

Scoop rice mixture into small bowl add mango pieces and enjoy.

Listening to my body, the first quarter

So I'm reading this new book about eating raw and listening to your body. It sounds really interesting and has lots of nice, pretty pictures. There was a lot of stuff like, "your body knows what it needs, just listen to it, it will crave what nutrients are appropriate and necessary."

I've been trying to incorporate a few of the eating raw tips over the last couple of days.  Just some little things here and there, a carrot here, an apple there.

On Saturday, I'm in the middle of a tough 26 mile bike ride and it hits me around mile 20 I haven't eaten anything in since breakfast.  So I stop at Byerly's, one of our great grocery stores in MN, and decide I'm going to walk around and "listen" to my body, let my body tell me what it wants. 

As I walk by the deli aisle, my body already knows what it wants.  Fried Chicken! 

I decide to keep going and walk by the sushi section. Nothing

How about some fruit or veggies? Mmm, apples.  My body is silent.

Even in the salty snack aisle my body only says one thing and now it's shouting. Fried chicken or maybe some Wings!. Rats, this isn't working. 

So I head over to the deli window full of hot, juicy, crispy pieces of wonderful.

I pull out my wallet.

I take a deep breath.

I grit my teeth, close my eyes and say, "I'll have the sushi with the brown rice."  :-(

Soggy, tasteless, mush. Maybe my body was right.

Mind over matter, Mind - 1, Body - 0. End of the first quarter.

Rob Barrett

Cooking for Dads

A quick tour of the Culinary highlight of the Minnesota year.

Peaches, Chicken And A Little Thyme

We were where I have been many times before, alone, at home (my daughter and I) and no plan for dinner.  Open come the cupboards, the fridge and the scanning begins.  There is some cold grilled chicken, we have mayo, peaches, there are some baby carrots in the bottom drawer. We feel an idea coming on.  Since we're in Pennsylvania we have the delightful and ubiquitous  Martin's Potato Rolls (the best bread product in the world, and I've been a few places) and since we're at my mom's house we have every spice known to man.

We chop the chicken (2 handfuls), the peaches grown in the yard (1 large peach), a handful of finely chopped baby carrots, we add one large spoonful of mayo, salt and pepper.  A quick scan of the spice rack yields crushed thyme and paprika, a half spoonful of each. We stir together.  Rats, no fresh lemons for a spritz. On to the potato rolls with a piece of lettuce. 

A tentative first bite ...

And a new favorite was found - Barrett Chicken and Peach Salad sandwiches. Sweet yet spicy from the paprika, interesting from the thyme and crunchy from the carrots.  

Try it and let me know what you think.

If only we could get Martin's Potato Rolls in Minnesota.  Mr Martin, what do you think?