Chicken Parmigiana - Cooking With Amore

I love Chicken Parmesan. I put more mozzarella cheese in it than parmigiana so I'm not sure why I still call it Chicken Parmesan but that's what it's known as and here's my version:

Make your favourite tomato sauce.
*Feel free to dig through my archives for my ten minute homemade tomato sauce*

Dip boneless / skinless chicken breasts in egg and milk batter and then drench in bread crumbs. I put italian seasoning, parmigiano, romano and as well as seasalt and cracked black pepper in my breadcrumbs to give extra flavour (even when using Italian breadcrumbs).

Then lightly fry the breaded chicken in olive oil just to brown the outside (a few minutes each side). Before putting the chicken in a baking dish, put the semi-cooked chicken back into a large bowl of bread crumbs and redredge. Italian breadcrumbs work great and I always make sure I add some spice and grated parmasean and romano cheese.

In a baking dish, line with tomato sauce and then place your semi-cooked chicken breasts on top. Layer more sauce and plenty of shredded mozzarella.

Bake at 350 for an hour covered with tin foil. Make sure chicken is cooked all the way through. An hour generally does it for me if the breasts are thick. If I filet or pound them flat, the time is reduced.

For a double duty meal, make extra because on the next day you can make a great meal with warmed up leftover chicken parm and serve on hot garlic bread or submarine sandwich rolls with extra sauce for dipping. Sometimes I even put it in a wrap with some lettuce and tomato.

All the above meals go well with pasta of your choice, lasagna, risotto or salad.
Bon Apetito...This dish is Cooking With Amore!

Cooking a Ham? Glazes and Leftover Ham Ideas

A ham is a beautiful thing. Cooking a ham doesn't take a lot of work as they're typically smoked so heat and serve. Here are a few options for ways to bake your ham so it turns out juicy with a nice glaze.

Brown Sugar Glazed Ham
Cover your ham with a mixture of: 1 cup brown sugar, 1-2 table spoons of vinegar, 1 table spoon of dry mustard. Bake at low heat in a covered roasting pan according to pkg directions. 2-3 hours at 300 is usually a safe bet being sure it doesn't dry out. I often make a second batch of the glaze to pour in as it's cooking.

Cherry & Pineapple glaze
Cover your ham with cherries and pineapples 9either place them on top or use tooth picks to hold in place) and add some brewed black tea to cover the bottom of the pot as well as a bit of juice from the can/jar of fruit. Remove the fruit when the ham is cooked and most probably won't want to eat it but the flavour that seeps through the meat and the juice left in the bottom makes it delicious!

What to do with leftover ham

If you have the chance to buy a big one, it's a great idea. There are plenty of things you can do with leftover ham.

Leftover ham can go in the freezer or other uses or use right away. Here are some tips:
-Toasted Western Omelette
-Eggs and Ham
-Ham and Scalloped Potato Bake
-Pea Soup With Ham
-Quiche

How To Cook A Roast with Yorkshire Pudding Popovers

I most often slow cook my roast in the oven at 250 or in my crockpot all day with plenty of brewed tea and Beef Bovril plus my trusty Mrs. Dash. A roast can be cooked on its own or with all your vegetables. It's up to you. I have a roast in the oven now cooking at a higher temp for a shorter time though and will throw the sweet potatoes and baked potatoes in an hour before we're ready to eat.

If your roast has a layer of fat, keep the fat right side up because it'll help make the roast juicy as the fat melts into the meat instead of into the bottom of the pan. You can also throw in other spices, tuck in cloves of garlic, roast some onions and make wonderful gravies with some mushroom soup or onion soup mix for various flavours.

A bbq is a great way to cook a roast but my favourite way is in the oven on low, in a roasting pan and then making gravy with some of the drippings. For my roast beef gravy, I use a pot of brewed tea, some beef bovril, Horne's Gravee mix, roast drippings and thicken with Bisquick mixed with milk. It makes an awesome gravy.

If you want to make Yorkshire pudding on the side, you mix: 1 cup of flour, 2 eggs, 1 cup of milk and a pinch of salt. Pour into preheated muffin tins with hot oil (about a teaspoon of oil in each tin) and cook at 375 ofr about 20 minutes keeping a close eye. Sometimes I make big ones in a pie plate or loaf pan instead of individual popovers.

Yorkshires taste awesome with butter and gravy. Did you know they were intended to trick the belly into getting full when there wasn't enough meat and potatoes to go round? Coulda fooled me...I an eat four of them on my own. LOL.

Enjoy your roast beef dinner and turn it into one of those double duty meals too by making them into lunch or dinner for a few days. Make submarine sandwiches with mozzarella and mustard, stews, hot roast beef open faced sandwiches or soup.

Stew Up Some Love in a Pot

My homemade beef stew and dumplings is something I’m sure will be the taste of home to my eleven year old son when he grows up. Here’s how I make it.

Brown small chunks of stewing beef on med-high in a big stock pot with 2tbsps oil, a few cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, meat tenderizer and some Beef Bovril. Once it’s good and brown (only about 5-10 mins) pour in 4 cups of brewed hot (or lukewarm) tea and bring to a boil. Scrape the bottom to bring the flavour back into the meat.

Once it’s boiling turn to low and put the lid on. Let the meat get happy in the juices for at least an hour before you add some vegetables. I add carrots first and let them cook for half an hour before turning up to med-low and adding potatoes and dry quick cooking pearl barley. After the potatoes have been in about ten minutes I add other vegetables such as either canned or frozen such as peas, beans and corn and get ready to thicken the stew and add dumplings.

Dumplings: Mix up my dumplings (2 cups of bisquick mix and 2/3 cup of milk)
Thickener: mix up a cup of milk with ½ a cup of bisquick and add in a few glugs of beef Bovril.

I turn up the heat again to bring it all to a boil and then put in my thickener and stir. Once it’s good and thick I start adding dumplings by the spoonful onto the top. I put the lid on for ten minutes. Then, I separate the dumplings with a wooden spoon and stir the pot slowly, carefully not to sink the dumplings too much and then turn on low for ten minutes with the lid on.

This is a great double duty meal as well because you can help it morph into a different meal for leftovers. In this case, Beef Pot Pies! If you have loads of leftover stew, it freezes well. I love to put it into pie shells and freeze. It makes a great beef pot pie!

Enjoy!