Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup wild rice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup half and half*
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Place chicken into a 6-qt slow cooker.
2. Stir in chicken stock, wild rice, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Add mushrooms during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
3. Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred, using two forks.
4. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and half and half, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Stir chicken and milk mixture into the slow cooker. If the soup is too thick, add more half and half as needed until desired consistency is reached.
6. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

NOTES:

*Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half, you can substitute 3/4 cup whole milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2/3 cup skim or low-fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.

White Chicken Lasagna

 9 lasagna noodles

4 tablespoons salted butter

4 tablespoons flour

¾ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

4 ½ cups whole milk

8 ounces cream cheese sliced

4 cups jack cheese shredded and divided

4 to 5 cups baby spinach leaves

1 cup ricotta

1 egg lightly beaten

½ teaspoon parsley dried or fresh

2 cups cooked chicken diced or shredded

3 cups mozzarella cheese shredded

Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cook the lasagna noodles in salted water until they reach al dente (follow the package instructions to cook). Drain and set aside.

In a 4-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the flour, pepper, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder to the melted butter and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until mixture is browned and bubbly.

Whisk the mixture while slowly pouring in milk until smooth and combined. Continue cooking over medium heat until mixture reaches a low boil and begins to thicken (6 to 8 minutes).

Add cream cheese and ½ cup shredded jack cheese to the white sauce. Stir, still cooking over medium heat, until cheese is melted and sauce is thoroughly combined. Remove from heat.

Stir the spinach leaves into the white sauce and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, parsley, and another ½ cup of jack cheese.

In a greased 9×13-inch glass baking dish, spoon a bit of the sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Place three lasagna noodles side by side into the pan. Spread ½ of the ricotta mixture over the noodles and top with ½ of the chicken. Spoon ⅓ of the sauce over the chicken and ricotta and top with 1 cup each of mozzarella and jack cheese.

Place another layer of noodles, the remaining ricotta, the remaining chicken, and another cup of both mozzarella and jack cheese.

Top with the remaining noodles, the remaining sauce, and finally, with the remaining cheeses.

Bake lasagna 30 to 35 minutes or until sauce is bubbling up and cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Remove from the oven and garnish with more parsley, if desired.

Big Chocolate Chips Cookies

 Ingredients

Refrigerated

1 Egg, large

1 Egg yolk

Baking & Spices

1 1/4 cup All-purpose flour

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Baking soda

1/2 cup Brown sugar, light

3/4 cup Cake flour

1 tsp Corn starch

1/4 cup Granulated sugar, white

2 cups Milk chocolate chips** (you can always use less chocolate if you want)

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Dairy

1/2 cup Butter, unsalted

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Whisk together the All-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Place the cubed butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and secure the paddle attachment. Add the sugars and cream the butter and sugar together.
4. Then add in the egg and the egg yolk and blend until mixed. If any of the butter gets stuck on the paddle attachment use a rubber spatula to knock it off.
5. On low speed, gradually add in the flour mixture.
6. Then add in the chocolate chips and mix just until the chocolate chips are incorporated.
7. Measure out ~6, 5.7 oz. cookies. I like to use a food scale for this but if you don’t have one, simply eye-ball it. Cookies will be a little smaller than a fist, huge I know! Keep the cookies nice and tall and don’t flatten them.
8. Bake all 6 cookies on a cookie sheet at a time.
9. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. The tops will be golden brown and the secret is to pull them out before you think they are done. Barley baked is best!
10. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for at least 15 minutes. It’s hard to wait. Trust me, I’ve been there.
11. Transfer the cookies on a cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Cameron likes the cookies 15 minutes after they have come out of the oven and I like the cookies best 45 min-1 hour later! Enjoy with a big tall glass of milk!

• Use a mix of both All-Purpose flour and cake flour: I’ve tested without cake flour and the cookie is more dense. It’s still delicious, but I just love the cake-y center when using a combination of both flours.
• Optional step to double up the cookie sheets: Double panning is a tip to slow the heat to the bottom of the cookie. To do so, simply flip a cookie sheet upside down. Then, place another cookie sheet on top of it (so the bottoms are touching). Place your cookies on top of the top sheet and bake your cookies!

• Pull the cookies out before you think they are done (10-12 min for most ovens): The cookies will continue to cook a little once you pull them out of the oven and let them cool. Plus, I personally want a super gooey and soft center and if you do too please do not over bake these beauties!
• Let the cookies rest: If your cookies are turning out too gooey, let them rest longer. I recommend at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. They are even better if you let them sit and enjoy the next day. Your cookies aren’t ruined, just let them rest!
• No need to chill the dough: Many cookie recipes out there say it’s key to chill the dough, but not for this recipe. We don’t have time for that, haha!
• Add an extra egg yolk: It’s just science. Adding in 1 whole egg (egg + white), plus an extra egg yolk (with no white) results in a chewy, delicious, amazing cookie.
• Make each cookie GIANT: 6 oz. to be exact. Using a food scale is easiest but you can also eyeball it. I like to pinch the tops of the cookies to keep them nice and tall. Do not flatten them or use a cookie scoop or disher to scoop out onto your cookie sheet.
• You can make the cookies smaller. Adjust baking time as needed.
• No cake flour? No problem. I tested this recipe using a “homemade cake flour” recipe. It resulted in a very similar product and I thought it was better than the 100% All-Purpose cookie.

To make homemade cake flour, you’ll need 14 Tbsp. All-purpose flour and 2 Tbsp. corn starch. Mix these together and sift them twice to get them fully mixed and aerated. This will make ~1 cup flour. You only need 3/4 cup for this recipe.

Crab Dip

 

Fresh jumbo lump crap

Mayo

Green onion chopped

Capers

Lemon

Salt and pepper 

Hot sauce

Serve with table crackers

Cynthia's Artichoke Dip