Green beans, chicken and cream of mushroom in one dish…

Hope everyone’s New year is coming along great. It’s indeed a great start for me, however after 10 days holiday I feel way too lazy to get back to work. Holidays are never long enough!

Making green bean casserole had been in my mind for so long, so I decided to make it for last night’s dinner. Before I started to cook I had to refill my refrigerator with veggies and meat, so I headed out for a grocery shopping. It was all fine when I entered the store, when I came out after about two hours of shopping I was welcomed by a surprise blizzard. It was crazy out there and driving through the blizzard was little scary. The mighty blizzard continued till this morning and we had heaps of snow on our drive way. Hubby had a great workout snow blowing. Here is the picture of our frozen grill sitting on our deck. I’ve been seeing snow for so many years, yet I can’t get over with it.

I first thought of making the casserole just with green beans, then after a second thought added chicken to it. Poured cream of mushroom which I made from scratch over the green beans, chicken and baked it. It was creamy, had veggies and chicken in it, a great dish to whip up on a blizzard night

Green Bean Chicken Casserole

Ingredients

• Chicken boneless, cubed- 2 chicken breasts
• Green Beans, whole or halved- 1 huge bowl or depending on your needs
• Cream of mushroom-  I made it from scratch or use canned cream of mushroom- 1 can
• Ground pepper- to taste
• Salt- to taste
• Oregano, or any dried herbs- 2 tsp

Making cream of mushroom: (or use canned cream of mushroom)

• Mushroom, white or brown sliced- 1 packet
• Half-half cream- 1 1/2 cups
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Dried Oregano- 1 tsp
• Salt- little
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp

Preparation:

For making cream of mushroom

1. Place a large pan over medium heat, add oil and add mushrooms, saute till it turns tender.
2. Add cream, ground pepper, salt and oregano to it.
3. Let it slightly heat up.
4. Puree the mushroom along with the cream in a blender to a smooth constituency.
5. Return to the pan and heat for a couple of minutes, keep aside.

Making the green bean chicken casserole

1. In a pan, cook the cubed chicken seasoned with little ground pepper, dried oregano and salt.
2. When the chicken has almost cooked, add the green beans and cook till beans turn just tender, remove from the heat.
3. Don’t over cook the beans.
4. Add the cooked chicken and green beans to the cream of mushroom and combine well.
5. Pour the  mixture into a casserole or oven proof glass dish.
6. Preheat oven to 350F.
7. Bake the mixture for 20 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and serve hot with your choice of bread or veggies.

Tips:

• You could even add fried onions to this dish and bake it.
• You could even add cooked pasta to this dish.
• If you are using canned cream of mushroom, don’t add too much salt to the chicken as the cream of mushroom has salt in it.

If you are looking for a dish that’s easy to whip up and can be saved for the next day without compromising on taste and flavor, then here is it. Go ahead and make a huge batch of this baked pasta with chicken and mushrooms, refrigerate the leftovers and it will taste mighty delicious the next day. I adore the combination of pasta and mushrooms, if it has chicken and if it’s baked and is made in a creamy white sauce, then don’t ask me how much I love this. I lack words to express it, I can definitely show you by finishing up the whole platter.

Baked Pasta with Chicken and mushrooms:

Ingredients:

• Pasta, fusilli or penne- 1/2 lb or 1/2 packet
• Chicken breasts, boneless- 3 breasts
• All purpose flour or gluten free flour- 1/2 cup
• Garlic, minced- 3 cloves
• Milk, skim or whole- 4 cups
• White Mushrooms, sliced- 1 packet
• Parmesan cheese- 1 1/2 cups + 1/2 cup for topping
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp/chicken breast and more to add to the mixture
• Dried Oregano(optional)- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Butter- 2 tbsp
• Olive oil- 3 tbsp to cook chicken

Preparation:

• Cook pasta in boiling water along with little salt till it turns tender.
• Drain the water and keep aside.
• Heat a non-stick cooking pan over low medium flame, add olive oil.
• Place chicken breasts on the oil, sprinkle with ground pepper and salt.
• Cook uncovered till the chicken has almost cooked and outside turns light golden in color.
• Slice the cooked chicken breasts into long strips and keep aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• Place a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter in it.
• Add the flour and garlic, whisk constantly breaking the lumps till the flour turns light golden in color.
• Now, slowly add the milk and whisk it constantly, let the flour dissolve in the milk.
• Add the dried oregano to the milk and simmer for a few minutes.
• Now, add the sliced mushrooms to the milk, cook for a couple of minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese to it.
• Add the cooked chicken and pasta to the mixture.
• Sprinkle some ground pepper and salt over it.
• Combine the pasta and chicken well.
• Grease a large glass baking dish with butter or you could use two medium sized dishes.
• Pour the mixture onto the baking dish.
• Sprinkle 1/2 cup parmesan cheese on the top and bake it uncovered for 25 minutes.
• The cheese will turn golden in color and the mixture will be bubbling.
• Remove from the oven and let stand for a few mintes.
• Serve warm on a plate.
• Refrigerate the leftovers and it will taste delicious the next day.

Tips:

• For making it gluten free: Use gluten free flour instead of all purpose flour.
• You could adjust the amount of cheese accordingly.

I’ve always been a pasta lover as pasta dishes usually don’t demand any ingredients out of the ordinary. Any veggie or meat in the refrigerator would work and any herbs in the pantry would go well with pasta. If I don’t have any of these, then a simple tomato sauce topped with grated parmesan cheese, it couldn’t get any better than this. On lazy days a bowl of warm home made pasta is good enough to satisfy my stomach and to make my taste buds dance. I always have pasta in fact all kinds including the gluten free ones stored in my pantry as I know it will come in handy any time. I often throw them in salads, soups, stews and I even went a little over board and made pasta pudding. Do I need more reasons to stack up pasta?

The other day when I was planning to make pasta, I felt like trying something different and that day I even had brown mushrooms. So, I decided to skip the meat and combine the pasta with veggies like mushrooms and yellow peppers. I adopted this recipe from All recipes.com. I loved the addition of sour cream to the sauce which gave this dish a creamy texture and it tasted better than the restaurant style pasta dishes.

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Ingredients:

• Pasta, fusilli or any type- 1/2 packet or according to your needs
• Mushroom, brown large, cut into stripes- 3 no’s
• Yellow peppers, cut into stripes (optional)- 2
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Butter- 1/2 tbsp
• Garlic, minced- 1 tbsp
• Italian seasoning- 1 tbsp
• Chicken stock- 1 cup (or use 1/2 bouillon cube mixed with 1 cup water)
• Sour cream- 1/2 cup
• Cornstarch- 1 tbsp combined with little cold water
• Parmesan cheese, grated- 1/4 cup or according to your needs
• Salt- to taste

Brown Mushrooms:

Preparation:

• Cook the pasta in boiling water along with little salt till it turns tender, drain water and keep aside. To prevent from sticking sprinkle some olive oil.
• Heat a skillet, add olive oil and melt butter to it.
• Add the mushrooms and saute till it turns slightly tender.
• Add yellow peppers and saute for 2 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic and Italian seasoning.
• Pour the chicken stock, let it come to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to low and add the sour cream, combine it well.
• Now, add the corn starch combined in little cold water, gently combine everything well.
• Since chicken stock has salt, you don’t have to add more salt, so taste the sauce and add salt if needed.
• Pour the creamy mushroom sauce over the cooked pasta and gently combine well.
• Serve pasta in a bowl and sprinkle generously with grated parmesan cheese.

Towards my strenuous effort to cut down on poultry consumption and including more veggies in my diet, I’v been experimenting with different veggies lately. I am glad that we have potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms and lentils which make a good substitute for meat in many recipes. All of them are quite healthy and gives you a full feeling.

When it comes to mushrooms, there are a bunch of varieties to try out. I love almost all kinds of mushrooms, each one has its own characteristics and a distinct flavor. I love the incredibly soft texture of oyster mushrooms, the crisp texture of oyster mushrooms, the wild and tough texture of the shitake mushrooms, the subtle and gentle flavor of the white mushrooms. It’s hard for me to pick a least favorite among mushrooms.

I love cutlets and often make with chicken and tuna, so this time I tried with mushrooms. It was really delicious and while eating it I didn’t get the feeling that I am actually eating a veggie cutlet. It had the meaty texture and after enjoying I had a healthy feeling.

Mushroom Cutlet

Ingredients:

• Mushrooms, button or white- 1 packet
• Potatoes, cooked large- 2 no’s
• Oil- 1 tbsp for cooking and more for pan frying the patties
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Onion, chopped- 1 large
• Salt- to taste
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
• Chilly powder- 3/4 tsp
• Fennel powder- 1 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful
• Semolina or bread crumbs- to coat the mushroom patties

Preparation:

• Cook the mushrooms in boiling water for 5 minutes till it starts to turn tender, drain the water and coarsely chop the mushrooms, keep aside.
• Cook the potatoes in boiling water or in the microwave, keep aside.
• Place a pan over medium heat, add oil, cumin seeds and saute for a second.
• Add onions and little salt, let the onions turn tender.
• Add ginger-garlic paste, saute for a minute.
• Add the cooked chopped mushrooms followed by garam masala, chilly powder, fennel powder and coriander powder.
• Combine everything well, and let cook for sometime. Let all the water dry out.
• Sprinkle the cilantro over it and give it a mix.
• Add the cooked potatoes and mash it using a wooden spoon and combine well into the mixture.
• Taste and add salt if needed. Remove the pan from the heat.
• Let the mixture cool down for sometime.
• Make medium sized patties out of the mixture, keep aside.
• Heat a frying pan, add 4-5 tbsp of oil in it.
• Coat the mushroom patties with semolina or bread crumbs.
• Place it on the oil and pan fry it till both sides turn golden brown.
• When you flip over, be very gentle so that the patties won’t fall apart.
• Transfer on a paper towel, serve with tomato ketchup.
• You could even make sandwich or burgers using these patties.

Today was a sunny day and as the day turned to dusk it started to rain and got colder. To make myself warm I had to whip up a soup. I had broccoli and mushroom in my refrigerator and so I turned them into a creamy delicious soup.

Broccoli Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

• Butter- 1 tbsp
• Onion, chopped- 1
• Broccoli florets- 1/2 of the broccoli
• Button mushroom, chopped- 1 box
• Chicken Stock- 2 cups
• Basil, dried leaves- 1tsp
• Ground Pepper- 1/2 tsp

For thickening the soup:

• Butter- 1 tbsp
• All purpose flour-3 tbsp,
• Milk or Heavy cream- 1/2 cup

Preparation:

• Place a wide non-stick cooking pan over medium heat, add the butter.
• Add onion and let it turn translucent.
• Add the broccoli, mushroom and let it cook for few minutes.
• Pour the chicken stock over the veggies and cook for 10 minutes.

• After the veggies have cooked well, puree the mixture in a blender.
• Transfer the pureed veggies back to the pan and place it over low heat.
• Add the dried basil leaves and ground pepper to it, give it a stir.
• Heat a different pan over medium heat.
• Add the butter, when it melts add the all purpose flour and keep stirring it, avoid burning the flour.
• Add milk to it, combine it and break any lumps present using a wooden spoon.
• Pour the milk combined with all purpose flour and butter over the pureed veggies, combine well.

• Let the soup come to a slight boil and remove from the stove.
• Pour the soup into a soup bowl and have it along with pita bread or sprinkle with croutons.

Tips:

• You could use chicken Bouillon cubes.
• To make it vegetarian, add veggie stock instead of chicken stock.

When button mushrooms got glazed..

Lately, whenever I get a chance to cook, I have been quick fixing everything, from appetizers to desserts. It’s not that I have lost my passion for cooking, it’s just I have moved to a different state and in the process of settling down. It’s hard to move out of a place where you have good friends and family always around, but what I feel is, this separation helps our relationship with them grow even more healthier and stronger. No matter where you are true friendship lasts forever.

Apart from getting yet another chance to meet new people and to explore new places, the part I love the most is that I could explore new restaurants and new kinds of food. New place didn’t disappoint me in this matter, it is incredibly packed with many restaurants which I have never dined before. Hoping for more fun and food, I hereby start a new life in this new place..

Glazed Stir Fried Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• Button Mushrooms- 1 pack
• Minced garlic- 1tsp
• Red pepper flakes- 1/2 tsp
• Fresh Rosemary sprigs- 1
• Thyme sprig- 1
• Pepper powder-1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Balsamic Vinegar- 1 tbsp
• Butter or olive oil- 1-2 tsp

Preparation:

• In  a wide skillet, add  olive oil, add garlic and saute.
• When the garlic starts to turn golden, add red pepper flakes, give it a stir and add mushrooms to this.
• Add fresh herbs to this, rosemary and thyme, along with salt and pepper powder.
• In medium high heat, stir fry the mushrooms until it turns brown.
• Finally, glaze the mushrooms with 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar.
• Stir fry in the vinegar for a second and remove from the stove.
• Serve hot as a side dish or spread the glazed mushrooms over baked chicken or steak.