Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken

I made this dish again this weekend. I slightly modified it, and it was awesome. So I've reposted it, complete with pictures and modifications :) Enjoy! It's so delicious!

Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken
Honey Mustard Marinade:
1 cup Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Chicken:
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cups sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
salt, pepper, paprika to taste
8 slices bacon, COOKED
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/8 cup fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:
Combine 1/2 cup mustard, 1/2 cup honey, oil and 1 tbs lemon juice in small bowl. Whip mixture for about 30 seconds. Pour as marinade over the chicken breasts and marinate them in the refrigerator, for about 2 hours.

After the chicken has marinated, preheat oven to 375 F and heat up frying pan with 1 teaspoon of oil over medium heat. Sear chicken in pan for 4-5 minutes per side, depending on the size of the breast, or until golden brown. **This is the majority of the cooking time, so don't skimp on time. You don't want raw chicken! Remove the pan from heat, and transfer chicken into a baking dish.

As the chicken is cooking, sauté the sliced mushrooms in butter in a separate pan. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and a dash of paprika. Mix 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and pour the entire mixture over the chicken.

Stack two pieces of cooked bacon, crosswise, on each chicken breast. Spoon the sautéed mushrooms on the bacon, being sure to coat each breast evenly. Spread 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese onto each breast, followed by 1/4 cup of Cheddar. Bake the pan of chicken for 15-30 minutes, or until the cheese is thoroughly melted and starting to bubble. Sprinkle each chicken breast with 1/2 teaspoon parsley before serving.

Capellini Pomodoro

This was a good vegetarian dish I made last week. Tanner liked it, Justin liked it, but said it would have been perfect with a lot more chicken (there was none) and far fewer tomatoes (the "pomodoro" part). Kinley just hung her head in exasperation of all the tomatoes. I, for one, thought it was really good just the way it was :) Maybe a little more basil.Capellini Pomodoro
Ingredients
2 and 1/2 pounds roma or plum tomatoes
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 ounce fresh basil leaves, minced
1/3 cup virgin olive oil
3-5 ounces fresh parmesan cheese
12 oz dry angel hair pasta, cooked
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon black pepper.

Directions
Heat olive oil and add garlic; cook until it turns white. Add tomatoes and pepper and heat through, stirring constantly, about 2 to 3 minutes. Tomatoes should not lose their shape. Remove from heat. Transfer hot, cooked pasta to large bowl. Toss pasta gently with tomato mixture, basil and half of Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately and pass remaining Parmesan.

Recipe modified from Olive Garden's recipe.

Snow Ice Cream

a big bucket of fresh clean snow
enough cream to make it the texture of soft ice cream
sugar to taste
a bit of vanilla

fruit puree if desired (I like strawberry)

Thanksgiving Dressing

I love dressing. I love making dressing. I love eating it. I love improving (at least in my own mind) the dressing recipe from year to year. The following was this year's Thanksgiving stuffing.

Ingredients
2 loaves bread (I used Granny's)
4 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onion
½ cup butter
2 cups chicken broth
1 and 1/2 cups evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons rubbed sage
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 ½ cups dried cranberries (craisins, on 12 oz bag)
3 cups peeled, chopped apples

Directions
Break bread into small pieces and allow to dry out, overnight is preferable.

Simmer onions and celery in saucepan with butter and broth until tender. Remove from heat, add evaporated milk, salt, and dried cranberries. Allow to cool. When mixture has cooled (about room temperature or so), beat eggs and add them to mixture. Add apples to mixture.

When bread is dry, add sage and poultry seasoning, toss to mix well in a large bowl. Slowly add wet mixture to bread and mix gently until well moistened.

Pile high in the largest pan you’ve got, cover with foil and bake for APPROXIMATELY 90 minutes on 350. Remove the cover for the final 30 minutes. Serve warm.

If you bake it in two 9 x 13 pans, change cooking time to 60 minutes, removing cover for final 15 minutes.

It turned out great! At least I think so :)

Philly Sandwich

I made these last night. They turned out better than I had even hoped. I've never thought to mix everything together so completely and it made a huge difference. Philly Sandwich

Ingredients
1 and 1/2 pounds shredded beef, cooked in a crock pot in advance. I used thin steaks, but a roast will do. Other people use ground beef, which is supposedly very delicious as well.
1 green pepper
Entire large package of fresh mushrooms (what is that, 8 oz? 16 oz?)
1 cup diced onion
3 tbs butter
1/2 block of cream cheese (I used fat-free)
1 cup mozzarella cheese.
2 tbs worchestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Use the butter to saute green pepper, onion, mushrooms, and garlic together. Add worchestershire sauce, beef, salt, and pepper. Slowly stir in cream cheese, then mozzarella cheese. Serve immediately on toasted deli rolls.

Notes: This made a SURPRISINGLY large amount of food. We had plenty of leftovers for today. I think one of the keys to success is not having too much beef in the mixture. I prefer it heavy on the toppings, lighter on the beef (strange, since I'm generally a rabid carnivore). But it seemed more flavorful that way. It turned out to be a good thing that I didn't have as much beef as I had hoped to work with :)

Anna Banana Dogs :)

Annabelle actually did this recipe :) She found it in a Friend Magazine and she made it yesterday. It was fabulous, and really fixed that sweet tooth I had :)

-Put peanut butter and jam on the two sides of a hot dog bun, then lay a banana in the middle like a wiener :)
-Enjoy!