Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Oh Pinterest, you post recipes that look and sound delicious....and then you make me do something that completely ruins the hope for the deliciousness to live up to my expectations, like cook chicken breast at 500 degrees. sigh.

Well, I knew this recipe was flawed when I read through it, but for the sake of keeping the test kitchen true to it's roots, I decided to give the recipe the benefit of the doubt and assume that whoever wrote it knew something I didn't (not too hard to imagine that would be true, right?).   The result was some well flavored rubber chicken that was, literally, hard to swallow.

So, here you go pinterest world. I made this mistake so you don't have to!

Link to Pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/103793966383043581/
Link to Actual Recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-garlic-chicken-5478

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons olive oil

HERE's WHERE IS ALL WENT WRONG:
Directions
Preheat oven to 500 degrees and lightly grease a casserole dish
WARNING- if you cook chicken at 500 degrees it actually turns into a rubber chicken! DO NOT serve rubber chicken... PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 350 DEGREES.

In a small saute pan, saute garlic with the oil until tender, remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.

Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.

Add salt and pepper to taste, bake uncovered  for 25-30 mins  (original recipe said 15-30 minutes, a 15 min. cook time window is pretty catastrophic for people who like to follow a recipe exactly!)

It's hard to review this one since I cooked it with the 500 degree method but I will say the flavor was great and if I made it again following my revised recipe above, I think it would be a great weeknight chicken dish!! If you make it, let me know your thoughts!!

Sausage Rolls

Another Saturday morning standing hungrily in my kitchen and rummaging through the fridge led me to whip up these easy sausage rolls. Seriously all you need is crescent rolls, cooked sausage and some cream cheese and this is done!

Link to Pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/103793966383181877/
Link to Recipe: http://abiteofmylife.blogspot.com/2009/02/cream-cheese-sausage-pinwheels.html (use this link for the recipe, she's got great step by step instructions with photos.

Cream Cheese Sausage Pinwheels

1 Roll Breakfast Sausage

1 Tube Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

1 Pkg Softened Cream Cheese

Brown sausage and drain.

In a large bowl, combine cooked sausage with softened cream cheese. Remove crescent roll dough from packaging do not separate sections, and roll out into a rectangle, sealing the perforated areas with your fingers.

(the only pic I remembered to take...oops)

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the dough in a thin even layer. Roll the dough lengthwise (if you roll from the short side- the pinwheels will be fatter- but you wont get as many!)

Once rolled up- refrigerate for at least 20 mins- or if you are in a hurry like I usually am, put it in the freezer til' firm... this will help the dough keep shape while cutting

Cut in about 1/4" sections and lay on baking sheet. Bake for about 15 mins or until crescent roll is cooked.

Ingredient Availability-10
 I keep crescent rolls on hand at all times, and who doesn't stock cream cheese and sausage??
Ease on the Waist Line-5

Enjoy in moderation :)
Prep Mess-8

very little mess
Overall Difficulty-EASY
Overall Taste- 8
My friend made a different version of the same thing for a brunch at MOPS and it was better...I'll try and figure out which pinterest recipe she used!
Hubby Rates It-8
Great little brunch food item, and it's got sausage...man food.
Ease of Clean Up-8

No "Cream of"Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Well, hello blog world. Let me start by apologizing for my delay in posting yummy recipes lately. I have been a little absent from posting due to sick babies, surprise parties, trips to Dallas etc., but have no fear, people in my family still have to eat so I have been cooking!! Hopefully I'll be all caught up by Sunday so check back for updates.

Last week, I decided to try the chicken and wild rice casserole which claimed to have no "cream of whatever"soups in it, thus giving the impression that it was a healthy casserole. Let me assure you, this puppy is still loaded with cheese saucy good-ness, so really I'm not sure it's any healthier, but maybe just a little messier to make since you can't just pop a can of cream of chicken soup for the sauce :)

Here's the rundown.
Link to Pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/103793966383258210/
Link to Actual Recipe: http://picky-palate.com/2010/09/13/cheesy-chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole/

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 stalks celery, finely diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 Tablespoons fresh minced garlic

2 Cups shredded, cooked chicken breast*

2 Cups steamed white rice*

16 oz prepared wild rice *

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

** Please note that all three of these ingredients are pre-cooked...so you've got to cook the chicken and the 2 rices before you can make this recipe. If you don't this the day before, your stove top and your kitchen timer can get pretty messy!!!

______

Cheese Sauce

4 Tablespoons butter

1/4 Cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 Cups chicken broth

2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese

Top with 1 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat oil into a medium dutch oven or pot over medium heat.  Saute onion, celery and carrots until softened, about 10 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in chicken, both rices, salt, pepper and garlic salt.  Reduce heat to low.

2.  To prepare cheese sauce melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Whisk in flour, salt and pepper then slowly pour in chicken broth whisking continuously.  Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in cheese until melted.  Pour cheese sauce into rice mixture then transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Top with additional cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.  Serve.

cheese sauce in progress

Right before it went into the casserole dish

Ingredient Availability-7
I did have to go the grocery store (I don't have wild rice in my pantry) but everything was pretty straight forward and easy to find.
Ease on the Waist Line- 3

Two words...CHEESE SAUCE!
Prep Mess-1

seriously, like 12 pots and my crockpot and a casserole dish were required to cook all of this!
Overall Difficulty-Medium

Just because of the labor intense prep process...it's hard to juggle all of that at once...oh and I consider making a sauce a medium level difficulty cooking skill!

Overall Taste- 8
Despite the frustration of making this casserole, it was pretty good! I actually looked forward to eating the left-overs the next few days which is really the measure of a good recipe for me!
Hubby Rates It-8

As far as man food goes, he loves cheese, rice and chicken so this was a winner with the hubs.
Ease of Clean Up-2

See this giant mess.... zero fun to clean up!