Chicken Marrakesh

For those of you who know I am not a big fan of goumet food, hold on to your hats for this one. This is one of the yummiest recipes I ever got out of the newspaper and I have since purchased the book from which it came. Totally yummy. I have to say though that this should be eaten the same day. It's awfully strong as a leftover (still good, but stuff kindof mushes together). This is a generous meal for Passover. One tip. It took me a long time to find dried figs as my grocery stores didn't carry it. If yours doesn't, check for a local natural foods grocery store. Should be a good selection of dried figs there.

Chicken Marrakesh

Roselle Cranford, Hadassah, NJ

4 whole chickens (2.5 pounds each), each cut into eighths
12 large cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tablespoons dried thyme
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup best quality olive oil
8 teaspoons green peppercorns, soaked in water and drained
2 cups whole pitted black olives
3 cups dried apricots
2 cups dried small figs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup good red wine
2 cups large pecan pieces
grated zest of 4 lemons

1. The day before, combine the chicken, garlic, thyme, cumin, ginger, salt, wine vinegar, oil, peppercorns, olives, apricots and figs in 2 large bowls, dividing the ingredients equally; marinate covered in the refrigerator overnight. Mix several times during the day. Remove the bowls from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Arrange chicken in single layer in 2 large, heavy, shallow baking pans. Spoon marinade evenly over both pans. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and pecans and pour the wine evenly between the pieces in both pans.
4. Cover the pans with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake, basting frequently with the pan juices, 50 minutes.
5. Using a fork and slotted spoon, transfer the chicken, olives, dried fruit and pecans to a large serving platter. Drizzle with a few large spoonfuls of the pan juices. Serves about 8.

Spanish Noodles 'n Ground Beef

Ordinarily, I'm not actually big on ground beef recipes because, since I lost my sense of smell, the flavor isn't all it could be. This particular recipe was not only fast and easy, but yummy as well. While the original recipe does call for green pepper, let me suggest to you to spend the extra and use a red pepper. The flavor is outstanding! Also, if you use spiral noodles, like I did, the noodles come out al dente instead of mushy - quite a change from many skillet dishes. Also, I used low fat ground beef, so didn't bother to drain. This recipe is from Taste of Home Winning Recipes.

Spanish Noodles ' Ground Beef

Kelli Jones, Peris, CA

1 pound ground beef
1 small green pepper, chopped
1/3 cup chopped onion
3 1/4 cups uncooked medium egg noodles (I used spirals)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup water
1/4 cup chili sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

In a large skillet, cook the beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain. Stir in the noodles, tomatoes, water; chili sauce, salt and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the noodles are tender, stirring frequently. Top with bacon. Yield: 5 servings.

Orange-Pineapple Chicken with Walnuts

Made this again recently and I had forgotten how good it is! I recommend mixing the sauce ingredients together and letting them stand an hour before starting to cook. Roma tomatoes work better than other kinds in this recipe, but if all you have is diced, canned tomatoes, they work as well. It comes from Betty Crocker's Complete Chicken Cookbook (c 1994).

Orange-Pineapple Chicken with Walnuts

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 chicken drumsticks (about 2 pounds)
1 can (15.25 oz) pineapple tidbits, undrained
3/4 cup orange juice
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1/3 cup raisins or currants
1/4 cup rum or orange juice
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp. cornstarch
1 cup coarsely chopped tomatoes (about 1 medium)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat until hot. Cook drumsticks in oil about 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides; remove from skillet. Drain drippings from skillet.

Mix pineapple, orange juice, onion, currants, rum, coriander, allspice, salt and pepper in skillet. Return chicken to skillet. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

Remove chicken from skillet, using tongs; keep warm. Mix water and cornstarch; stir into mixture in skillet. heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in tomato and walnuts; heat through. Serve sauce with chicken. Serve over hot cooked rice, if desired. 4 services.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake

Here's an easy chicken dish from Campbell's ad in one of my magazines. Yes, it has Campbell's soup in it. I used chicken thighs with skin removed. I cannot taste the onion powder, but as you know, my sense of smell doesn't work. Next time, I will add some minced onion for that reason. When you need a brainless day, this works. I served it with cornbread and salad. I've noticed that I've been on a real casserole bent of late for posting recipes. I haven't had a lot of recipes lately that I ever cared to have again. I am also trying to cut back on the baked goods. While my cholesterol is not too bad, my weight is suffering. I've been having a great time trying out different recipes for stir fry. We have a new Oriental grocery store that opened up blocks from here. Yum. But just like in regular supermarkets, most of the canned stuff has a lot of salt.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake

1 can (10 3/4 oz) Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup (regular or 98% fat free)
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (4-6)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz).

Mix soup, water, rice, onion powder and black pepper in 2 qt. shallow baking dish. Top with chicken. Sprinkle chicken with additional pepper. Cover and bake at 375 F for 45 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and rice is done. Uncover. Sprinkle cheese over chicken. Serves 4.

Pineapple Chicken

I'm not shy about where I get my recipes. One of the best additives I have for soup (baby spinach) came from a recipe in one of the grocery store magazine grabs. The recipe below also comes from Women's World - a weekly that has diet of the week as well as occasional useful health tips and fairly often, some pretty good recipes.

Yep, made some substitutions mostly to use what was on hand, so I'm going to give you the recipe the way I did it. The original recipe did not include a thickener; I opted to add a little cornstarch. Add very little (no more than 2 tsp) as it thickens quickly. If you use fresh pineapple, it will have an even better flavor. I used frozen, prechopped red/yellow pepper. Thaw it first and it works great!

Now, you might ask, frozen pepper? Red, yellow and orange peppers are very sweet, but only really affordable when in season. So, when they are on special, buy 10, chop them neatly and stick them in freezer Ziplocs. This is especially useful if you have family members who don't like green peppers as these taste quite differently. Use them in any kind of casserole or sauce. If you thaw first, they will brown nicely as well.

Pineapple Chicken

1 1/2 lbs. skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp. curry seasoning blend
1 red or yellow sweet pepper, chopped
1 can chunk pineapple, drained
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1 tbsp. packed brown sugar
thickener, arrowroot or corn starch (optional)
1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced (optional)

1. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 tsp. salt and curry seasoning. In 12 inch skillet, quickly brown chicken on both sides in 1 tablespoon hot olive oil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high; cook 12 minutes, until tender and no longer pink.
2. For sauce, in another skillet, cook sweet pepper in 1 tablespoon hot olive oil over medium-high heat 3 minutes; set aside. Add pineapple; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add serrano pepper; cook 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk, brown sugar and thickener; heat through. Serve sauce over chicken.

Almond Turkey Casserole

Been a while since I've tried some new recipes. Needed new things to do with turkey and tried this casserole which was yummy and easy to make. If you start the rice, you'll get everything else done by the time the rice is cooked. I discovered after I had already chopped vegetables that I didn't have enough mayonnaise, so made half the recipe in a 9x9 Corning casserole. I used The extra celery, onion and water chestnuts (used the whole can) worked extremely well. I did not add the salt required in the recipe because I'm serving some folks who can't have the salt. I didn't miss it.

Almond Turkey Casserole

Jill Black, Troy Ontario from Taste of Home's Best of Country Casseroles

2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
5 cups cubed cooked turkey
3 cups cooked rice
4 celery ribs, chopped
1 can (8 oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 cup sliced almonds

Topping:
1 1/2 cups crushed butter-flavored crackers (about 38 crackers)
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sliced almonds

In a large bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir in the turkey, rice, celery, water chestnuts and almonds. Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 x 2 in baking dish. Combine topping ingredients, sprinkle over turkey mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Yield 8-10 servings.

Note: Do not substitute reduced-fat or fat free mayonnaise in this recipe.

Apple Coffee Cake - Bundt Cake

Been a while since I posted. Sorry about that. I bought "The Church Supper Cookbook" edited by David Joachim off Ebay for my Mom and this was the first recipe she tried. She followed the recipe exactly the first time and there just wasn't a strong enough apple flavor. She used more apple and that resolved the problem. I recommend always using Minute Maid orange juice. It's the only brand that I know for certain doesn't add sugar; never sickly sweet and plenty of orange flavor.

Apple Coffee Cake

Laura Goodenough, The Congretional Church, Winchester Center, CT

5 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup orange juice (use Minute Maid)
2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

Combine sugar and cinnamon and set aside. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, oil, eggs, orange juice, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Beat well. Grease 10 inch tube pan. Pour in one-third of the batter, half the apples, and one-third of the cinnamon and sugar alternatively until all ingredients are used. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour and 10 minutes.