Maple Dijon Chicken in the crock pot

Last night's dinner was Maple Dijon chicken in the crock pot. It turned out great excpet I made one mistake. I thawed out the wrong chicken pieces. Yup, instead of grabbing the bag of breast tenderloins, I grabbed the bag of wings. This dish would have been 10 times better had I used the right chicken. It was easy to make and I will make this again, only with the breasts instead. And I think I will double the amount of mustard for more flavor. Since I only feed Nick and I, I cut the recipe in half. Plus he doesnt eat onions or sweet potatoes.

1 lb chicken pieces, breast tenderloins work best. 1 cup chicken broth, 2 sweet potatoes peeled, chopped, 1 onion chopped, 2 tbs dijon mustard, 3 tbs maple syrup, 3 cloves garlic chopped, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp thyme

Put chicken in crock pot, toss with thyme, syrup, mustard. Add sweet potatoes. Add onion, garlic. Pour in broth. Add bay leaf.
Cook low 6-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.

Since I used wings instead, when this meal was done the meat just fell right off the bones. It was so juicy and tender. But the skin of the wings wasnt good at all. Please use the tenderloins for this!!

I forgot to take pictures. Sorry.

Today Im going to try to make Cadum Pak'ju. It's a local dish here on Guam.

Lost my touch

The last 2 recipes I have made didnt turn out. I think party because I was sick so I really wasnt in the mood to cook.
I did the Orange Glazed Wings, they didnt turn out good. Nick didnt even eat his wings. And the Thin Mints I did, except I forgot to put the peppermint extract into the chocolate so that defeated the whole purpose of Thin 'Mints'.
Oh well...
Im going to make Dijon Chicken today in the crock pot. I'll let you know how it goes.

Simply Sensational Truffles

So, a couple of you want to make this recipe for the holiday coming up, as well as I do. I have never made these before so I dont have pictures (besides this one I stole) and I dont have an opinion of them yet since I havent made them. But, they do sound evil. Too evil. Evil meaning...cant stay away from them.

Here is the recipe. Taken from Kraft Foods.

Prep Time:
15 minTotal Time:
1 hr 15 minMakes:
18 servings, 2 truffles each


2-1/2 pkg. (20 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
decorations: chopped PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts, multi-colored sprinkles

MELT 8 chocolate squares. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Blend in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm.

SHAPE into 36 balls. Place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet.

MELT remaining chocolate. Use fork to dip truffles; return to baking sheet. Decorate, then refrigerate 1 hour.

Sprinkle truffles with crushed peppermint candies in addition to, or instead of, the chopped peanuts and colored sprinkles


Hmmm, now that I've gotten to see this picture and read the recipe AGAIN, maybe I will make them in the next few days and let you all know how they turn out.

Thin Mint recipe coming soon! These, I HAVE made before!

Roasted Cornish Hen

This is so simple. Its nothing special just a good easy simple meal.

You need 1 cornish hen, butter or olive oil and whatever seasonings you like. I used McCormick's Grill Mates Chicken Rub, fresh ground black pepper and McCormick's minced garlic. This is the first time I used the minced garlic instead of using fresh garlic. I must say, I like the fresh garlic better. I think you can taste it much more and the smell through the house is amazing.

Rub the hen all over with butter or olive oil. I used butter since I was low on olive oil. Then sprinkle generous amounts of seasonings all over hen.

Bake about an hour on 450.

Another idea which I have done a few times is to put chicken broth in the roasting pan. Then when the hen is all cooked add a little flour salt and pepper to the juices to make gravy.

Crispy Chicken Wings

I WILL make these wings again. In fact, I will make this a regular dish in the Alessi household. These wings turned out better than I would have ever imagined had I not eaten them. Nick loved them too.

Crispy Chicken Wings, serves 4. However, for just Nick and I, I only made servings for 2.
1 tsp olive oil for baking sheets, 1 8oz package salted corn tortilla chips, 2 large eggs, recipe calls for 1 tsp paprika but I used McCormick's original chicken seasoning. Salt, Pepper, 12 whole wings

Preheat oven to 450. Line 2 baking sheets with foil paper, brush with oil. Set aside. In food processor pulse chips until finely ground. (Should be about 2 cups)
Transfer chips to shallow dish.

In separate bowl wish eggs and seasonings. Working in 2 batches, place wings in egg mixture. Remove wings one by one letting excess egg mixture to drop off. Transfer to ground chips. Toss to coat patting mixture with hands onto wing. Arrange on baking sheet. Bake switching pans 1.2 way through, 45 minutes.

Again, DELICIOUS! This was like eating Popeye's or KFC without the guilt and grease!
Go ahead...try it! If you do, let me know how you like it.

Parmesan Bow Tie Skillet

Parmesan Bow Tie Skillet
3 cups bow tie pasta, cooked, drained, 14 oz spaghetti sauce, 1.2 cup ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Combine pasta, sauce, ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 2 tbs Parmesan in large skillet. Cook on medium for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

If your looking for a dinner that is fast and easy, this is a great one to go for. My husband loved this dinner. I thought it was good but I'm not the pasta fan I once was. If Nick weren't such the picky eater, I would have added some veggies to this. Ground beef added would be good too. It reminded me of and easier version of baked ziti. I will makes this dinner again.

Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms

This is my very first recipe post! Since Im not sure if this blog will last, Im going to start out simple and not put too much time and effort into this just yet.
Last night I made Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms. Its very simple, very easy. I scaled the recipe down quite a bit since Nick doesnt eat any veggies. You need
1 bunch of asparagus and 1/2 lb mushrooms. The recipe calls for 2 sprigs of rosemary but instead I used McCormic's vegetable supreme seasoning. You also need about 2 tbs of olive oil, and salt and peper.

Preheat oven to 450. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place veggies in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and seasonings. Toss. Lay flat on cookie sheet. Roast 15 minutes.

I only roasted for 10 minutes and it turned out perfect. I like a little bit of crunch left in my asparagus.

ALso, I got a comment from Tina.
Tina said...
I love it.. maybe you could do a featured recipe once a month from one of your fellow bloggers :) that would be fun..im excited

I just want to let her know that I like this idea. Anyone else agree or disagree? Im not even sure I have enough readers to do this.