Sweet & Savory ~~ Creamy Chicken Penne Pasta

Here's another full guest table entree pleaser for your holiday meal planning which will serve a dozen people, if need be.

INGREDIENTS & INSTRUCTIONS FOR STEP 1:

• 4 large chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp. diced garlic
• Olive oil
• Garlic Pepper
• Parmesan cheese

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• Saute garlic in olive oil until tender. 
• Lightly brown chicken breasts on both sides, sprinkling with Garlic Pepper during process.  
• Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on both sides.
•  Let chicken rest and cool for 10 minutes.
• Cut into bite size pieces.

INGREDIENTS & INSTRUCTIONS FOR STEP 2:

• 2 cans Cream of Celery Soup
• Milk or water
• 1 Tbsp. diced garlic
• 1 small jar diced Pimentos
• 2 Tbsp. hot sauce (I used Cajun Sunsine)
• 2  small cans sliced water chestnuts
• Garlic Herb bread crumbs or flavor of your choice
• 2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese
• 2 cups dried Penne pasta noodles, cooked according to package directions, and thoroughly drained

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the soup with 2 soup cans of milk or water, whatever you choose to use.
• Add the garlic, hot sauce, pimentos, and water chestnuts.
• Stir until combined.

ASSEMBLY & COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

• Place one-half of cooked chicken into bottom of greased 9 x 13 baking pan.  (I prefer to use a glass pan for this recipe).
• Add one half of cooked Penne pasta noodles
• Pour one half of soup mixture over top.
• Sprinkle one cup of Cheddar cheese on top.
• Sprinkle bread crumbs over mixture.
• Repeat above steps.
• Place sheet of aluminum foil lightly over entree, but do not fold foil down onto the sides of the baking pan. This will prevent noodles from drying out during the initial baking stage.
• Bake for 35-35 minutes in 350 degree oven.
• Remove foil for the last 10-15 minutes.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• Serve with bread, rolls, or crackers.
• A garden salad is a nice accompaniment.
• Consider pairing this recipe with a little cup of soup.  My Broccoli Cheddar Soup would be a great suggestion. Stay tuned as I plan on floating out this recipe later in the month.

Bravo to all of my fellow cooks and chefs out there in Holiday Land.  Cook on! Your friends, family, and comrades will love you all the more.  

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Sweet & Savory Thursday - Holiday Baked Spaghetti

This is a great entree to serve to your holiday guests.  You can prepare it ahead of time, freeze it, and heat and serve, if necessary.  

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. garlic, diced
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 bottle - 28 oz. to 30 oz. diced tomatoes, liquid included
• 1  - 4 oz. can sliced black olives
• 2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
• 1 tsp. freshly ground salt, optional
• 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
• 12 ounces spaghetti noodles, cooked in 1/2 tsp. olive oil, and drained
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 - 10.75 oz. can Cream of Mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup grated or shredded Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

• In a large skillet or saucepan, lightly saute onion and garlic in olive oil.
• Add ground beef and brown until meat is cooked thoroughly, drain, and return to skillet or saucepan.
• Add tomatoes, olives, oregano flakes, salt (optional) and pepper.
• Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
• Place 1/2 of the cooked noodles in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
• Top with half of the ground beef and tomato mixture.
• Sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheddar cheese.
• Repeat the above three layers.
• Mix the soup and water until thoroughly blended and pour over the top of the casserole mixture.
• Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.
• Garnish with sliced olives.
• Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until heated thoroughly.
• Serves 12.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• Serve with green salad & garlic french bread.
• Follow up with your favorite dessert or browse my Sweet & Savory Blog Page for some great suggestions!

Happy Holiday Dining!

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Sweet & Savory Thursday ~~ Mexi-Chili Casserole

Savoring the last of the tomato crop from another successful season of gardening, I decided to garnish one of my long standing casserole recipes which dishes up a most delightful combination.  So, here goes:

STEP ONE:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Brown 1 pound of hamburger in skillet with one Tbsp. minced garlic, drain.
• Rinse and drain one 15. oz. can of red kidney beans in colander.

STEP TWO:

• Stir together in large bowl:
• Drained and rinsed red kidney beans
• Browned and drained hamburger and minced garlic
• one 15 oz. can of enchilada sauce (either mild or hot)
• one 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• one Tbsp. dehydrated minced onion
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup corn chips (I used the Chili Cheese Variety)
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 Tbsp. hot sauce (I used Cajun Sunshine)

STEP THREE:

• Pour mixture into a two quart casserole baking dish.
• Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until mixture is bubbly.
• Remove from oven and sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese on top.
• Garnish with corn chips.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• Place mixture inside tortillas and garnish with sour cream, diced green onions, guacamole, & fresh lime slices.
• Serve as a regular entree with rice and/or corn.

Happy Dining!

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Sweet & Savory Friday ~~~ Retro 50's Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

• 6-8 pork chops or thin loin chops
• 2 cups rice
• 3 3/4 cups water
• 1 - 4 oz. jar diced pimentos
• 1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
• Seasoned pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Lightly brown pork chops and sprinkle with seasoned pepper, optional
• Place rice in bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking pan
• Heat water to boiling and pour in baking pan
• Add package of onion soup mix
• Add jar of diced pimentos
• Mix thoroughly
• Place pork chops on top
• Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• Since I just harvested fresh tomatoes from my horse trough gardening receptacle yesterday, I sliced some of those to serve with the pork chop and rice casserole.

• No pork chop dish is complete without a little applesauce.  Pork chops and applesauce. That's sort of a tongue twister along the lines of Sufferin' Succotash!
• A nice summer salad is a tasty compliment with any dinner.

When I was a young girl being raised on Sage Creek Farms, I have fond memories of my sweet mother, Rita, preparing this dish which is a family favorite. A variation of it first appeared in some type of farming magazine in the 1950's; ergo, I have titled my blog post Retro 50's Casserole.  I just thought that wording would add a little extra pizzazz.  What say you?

Happy Dining & Retroing!

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Sweet & Savory Thursday ~~ Busy Day Casserole

                                                    BUSY DAY CASSEROLE


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• Seasonings of your choice such as garlic powder, seasoned pepper, Worcestershire Sauce, seasoned salt, dehydrated onion, etc.
• 1 - 14 oz. can of cut green beans
• 1 - 10.5 oz can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 -  24 oz. bag of frozen tater tots

Directions:

• Place uncooked ground beef in bottom of 9 x 9 inch square bake ware.
• Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice.
• Drain liquid from can of green beans and spread evenly over top of seasoned meat.
• Spread cream soup evenly over top of green beans.
• Layer tater tots on top.
• Bake one hour at 350 degrees or until tots are golden brown.

Helpful hints:

• The very best part about this recipe is that it can be assembled in about 10 minutes flat, and you do not need to brown the ground beef before placing it inside the bake ware!  This is a huge time saver to say the least.
• It's fun to experiment using different seasonings in this recipe.  I would start out using the seasonings that your family likes the best, and then add some additional ones the next time you make it.
• This is a great dish to take to someone who has just experienced a death in the family; to the mother of a newborn baby; to a potluck dinner, and so forth.
• The recipe can be made ahead of time and placed in the freezer to be cooked at a later time.
• Some people like to put Ketchup on top before eating their serving of it.
• This recipe has continued to be one of our family favorites for generations. 
• I have made this dish in a crock pot and cooked it on a low setting for about 6 hours and it turned out very well!

Living in the west, it puts a big smile on my face to be using beef and potatoes when preparing meals for my family.  

Happy Eating & Happy Reading!

This recipe is taken from the official Sheila Fabulous Collection.

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