Friday FUNdamentals: Chicken and Rice

The two Test Kitchens were talking about upcoming blog ideas, and we both agreed that one Friday FUNdamental we had to include was chicken and rice. It's an easy, fairly inexpensive recipe that will feed the whole family and please everyone. This recipe is a staple in the Arkansas Test Kitchen.
 

Chicken and Rice

1 cup rice (I like Riceland rice, because it is packaged here in Arkansas)
2 1/2 cups water
1 can cream of chicken soup (I use Campbell's, some store brands will have too much sodium and make the dish overly salty)
2 packets French onion soup mix
1 package boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (I used 9 chicken cutlets in my dish)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray a 10" X 13" dish with non-stick cooking spray
3. Place 1 cup rice in the bottom of the dish

4. In a bowl mix together water, cream of chicken soup, and French onion soup

5. Pour mixture over the rice and combine
6. Place the chicken cutlets on top of the rice mixture

7. Cook at 350 degrees for one hour and check the temperature of the chicken (it should hit 165 - 175 degrees on an instant read thermometer), and most of the liquid should been absorbed by the rice

Ways to turn this recipe up a notch:

1. You could coat the chicken with parmesan, or a poultry seasoning to give the chicken added flavor
2. Add cut up mushrooms, or other whole vegetables to the recipe
3. Instead of using cream of chicken soup, you could use cream of mushroom soup instead

We hope you enjoy this comfort dish as much as we do!

 

Stay Cool,

The Cool Dads Crew

Monday Meals: Green Chile Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese... it's hard to read those two words and not think of something that comes out of a blue and yellow box. But lets face it: that's kids stuff.

The Wisconsin Test Kitchen stumbled upon a recipe for Green Chile Macaroni and Cheese; and thought it would be the perfect compliment to some tasty bone-in rib eye steaks we had picked up from the butcher shop. The thought of tasty grilled meat, partnered with creamy, slightly spicy macaroni and cheese had our mouths watering.

Green Chile Mac and Cheese
Recipe courtesy of www.aspicyperspective.com


1 lb. macaroni noodles
3 Tb. butter
8oz chopped green chiles (we used mild, but would have loved more heat) 
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 Tb. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
8 oz. cream cheese
1 lb. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Additional Toppings:
1 cup chopped tomatoes
2 chopped avocados
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup sour cream


Place a large pot of salted water over high heat. Once boiling cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

In the same pot, add the butter, chiles, and onions and saute over medium-high heat until the onions are softened.

Whisk in the flour, followed by the milk. Once the mixture starts to simmer cut the cream cheese into cubes and stir in.

 Stir continuously, adding the shredded cheddar to the pot. Once the cheese sauce is smooth, add in the macaroni and turn the heat off. Stir to coat and salt and pepper to taste.

To Serve: Scoop the spicy mac and cheese into bowls and top with chopped tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.

Notes from the Test Kitchen:

-We were slightly skeptical of adding creamy avocado to the top of already creamy macaroni and cheese; but trust us on this one: it was a delicious addition! The tomato also added a nice acidic note to off-set the creaminess of the pasta.

-Like we mentioned above, we used mild chiles (in an attempt to make it more child friendly); but the next time we make this; we're going to use spicier peppers.

We hope you try this soon as a side dish for your next grilling adventure!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Friday FUNdamentals: Pork Belly

There was much discussion amongst the test kitchens as to whether or not cooking pork belly was a 'fundamental' or not. Here was our final verdict: it's delicious (think: bacon on delicious, yummy steroids), easy to prepare, inexpensive ($6.00 a pound) and a really impressive appetizer to serve guests. That puts the 'fun' in fundamentals for us!

Last weekend the Wisconsin Test Kitchen went to the local butcher shop to pick up some steaks to grill (yay for warm weather!)- and found pork belly at the meat counter. We couldn't resist. After a little investigating via Pinterest, we found an easy recipe we had all the ingredients for.

Honey Pork Belly
Recipe inspired by http://justonecookbook.com/recipes/honey-pork-belly/

3/4 lb. pork belly

Oil

2 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. fish sauce

2 garlic cloves

 

Slice pork belly into 1/4" pieces.

 

 

 

Chop garlic finely.

 

Heat oil in a large frying pan and start cooking pork belly on high heat when the frying pan is hot. The oil might splatter, so be careful.

 

 

 

When both sides of the pork belly are brown, turn off the heat. Remove pork belly from pan. Once the pan has cooled slightly, completely wipe any oil or residue from the pan.

 

 

 

Add pork belly back to the pan, and turn the heat to medium. Add the honey, soy and fish sauces, and garlic to the pan. Cook over medium heat until the ingredients start to glaze the meat.  Try not to burn the sauce.

 

 

 

Once sauce is warmed through, your pork belly is complete!

 

 

This was an appetizer the Wisconsin Test Kitchen devoured in record time. Considering a comparable appetizer in a nice restaurant would run at least $12; we were pretty happy with the end result. While pork belly might not be an ingredient you cook with all the time; it's an easy ingredient (remember: bacon on yummy steroids) and it's guaranteed to impress dinner guests. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

 

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

 

 

 

Kids in the Kitchen Wednesday: MONSTER Cookie Bars

The youngest sous chef in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen is in four year-old Kindergarten and is fortunate enough to have one of the most patient, creative, kind teachers we've ever seen. Seriously... she has two classes of twenty, four year-olds a day, and she doesn't lose her sanity. I don't know how she does it.

Anyway, when we were asked to contribute a dessert to a dinner the PTA was hosting for the teachers during parent teacher conferences, we couldn't say no. And once we saw a delicious recipe for Monster Cookie Bars from Bakerella; we were all over it.

Monster Cookie Bars
Recipe courtesy of Bakerella.com

2⅔ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
⅔ cup butter, softened
1½ cups light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup dark chocolate morsels
1 cup white chocolate morsels
1 cup M&M’s
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. In a medium bowl, use a wire whisk to mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar together until blended. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Then add vanilla and mix.

4. Slowly add the flour and mix until combined. Stir in dark and white chocolate morsels, M&M’s, dried cranberries and coconut.

5. Spread into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes until done. If the top starts to get too brown, you can cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.

6. Once cool, cut into 20 bars.

This recipe was incredibly easy to make, and the finished product was delicious. We're hoping these delicious treats take some of the stress out of parent teacher conferences this week.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Monday Budget Meals: Hawaiian Chicken

It's the start of a new week; which inevitably means there's going to be one of those, "Oh shoot; I forgot to take something out of the freezer/bribe the delivery guy to show up with dinner in a timely fashion/we're out of milk which means cereal for dinner is out of the question" type moments. Breathe. Cool Dads Cook has your back. We have a dinner so easy, you don't even need to defrost anything. And you only need 4 ingredients.

Hawaiian Chicken

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's Vidalia Onion Barbecue Sauce (or any sweeter style barbecue sauce)

1 20oz. can crushed pineapple
Minute rice

Put chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker, top them with the pineapple and the barbecue sauce. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Once chicken is done, use two forks and shred the meat. Stir all ingredients to combine well. Serve over rice.

Cost Breakdown

Barbecue sauce: $5.12
Crushed pineapple: $2.62
Chicken: $3.98 per pound, we used approximately 2.5 pounds: $9.96
Rice: $1.05 for 6 cups cooked

Total Cost: $18.75

Yield: 6 servings

Cost Per Serving: $3.13


This recipe is great if you're craving some Chinese food, or sweet and sour chicken- and at $3.00 a serving, it's a lot less expensive than take out! We hope this helps to take some of the stress out of your weekday meal planning!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Friday FUNdamentals: A most egg-cellent post

So here's a fun fact. Rebecca in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen can cook just about anything: a full Italian dinner with homemade gnocchi, some of her authentic Mexican favorites, the perfect batch of cupcakes for the PTA bake sale, and her pot roast could have been the reason Kevin proposed marriage (we'll never know for sure).

But there's one notable egg-ception.

She can't fry an egg.

It's true. When it comes to breakfast time in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen, that's Cool Dad's domain all the way. Rebecca ends up with either slimy, undercooked eggs, or brown, hard scrambled eggs. Not great. We realized Rebecca couldn't be the only one unable to make eggs; there have to be others out there wondering the secret to the perfect fried or scrambled egg. So, let us break (ha!) it down for you. Yeah, we love puns almost as much as we love food.

Fried Eggs

Take a small frying pan (also known as an omelet pan) and spray it with non-stick cooking spray- eggs stick to everything!

Crack your eggs into the pan.

Cook over medium to medium low heat. Eggs are done when the middle is no longer slimy or translucent. This is a matter of personal preference; some people like their eggs softer, while others like them harder.

If you like sunny side up eggs, remove the eggs from the pan: you're done! If you're like the smallest sous chef in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen, you like your eggs over easy. Flip the egg over in the pan, and let it cook for a few minutes until it reaches your desired level of done-ness.

Scrambled Eggs

If fried eggs scare you a little bit, scrambled eggs might be a better place to start. Crack five eggs into a bowl. Add1/4 cup milk and a few shakes of seasonings. We like Penzy's Sunny Paris seasoning, but any salt free seasoning will work well too. Use a whisk (or fork) and combine all ingredients. Once well combined, you can add 1/4 cup shredded cheese or finely chopped vegetables of your choice. We recommend mushrooms, and/or red and green peppers.

Set your burner to medium- low heat, and pour the egg mixture into a frying pan.

 

After a few minutes, the eggs will start to set. Use a spatula to turn them gently. Note: the more you move your eggs around, the smaller your scrambled egg pieces will be. If you like your eggs in bigger pieces, turn them less often. But be careful- eggs do burn easily!

The eggs are done when they're light and fluffy, and all liquid is absorbed.

In the Wisconsin Test Kitchen, we literally go through at least a dozen eggs a week. We even have a guy that delivers us a few dozen organic, farm fresh eggs a week (shout out to Norm!). Eggs are delicious, and a great way to get protein into your diet. And they aren't just for breakfast anymore: this week alone we had eggs twice for dinner. It's one of those few meals the entire family can agree on. To quote our Wisconsin Cool Dad, "Eggs take some practice, but once you perfect them, you'll be glad you put in the time and effort."

We look forward to hearing all about your egg-ventures!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Kids in the Kitchen Wednesday: Fruit Roll Ups

It's no secret the Wisconsin Test Kitchen is obsessed with Pinterest. We've found some of our favorite recipes there; and we constantly turn to Pinterest for cooking inspiration. Yeah, it's that good. We recently saw a pin for homemade fruit roll ups that only called for two ingredients, and we had to give it a try.

Cool Dads Warning: this recipe literally takes all day. You're dehydrating fruit- it's going to take a while. Don't plan to use your oven for anything else for at least 5-6 hours.

Fruit Roll Ups

3 cups sliced strawberries
Sweetener of your choice (we went with honey, but white sugar or Steevia would work well too)

Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan (a cookie sheet with edges) with plastic wrap. Sounds crazy, but trust us on this one.

Take 3 cups of sliced strawberries and add them to your food processor until they are pureed. Add sweetener until you get your desired level of um, sweetness. We just added a quick dollop of honey, and that worked fine for us.

Pour the strawberry puree onto the lined cookie sheet and carefully spread it out until it's about an 1/8th of an inch thick.

Now comes the time consuming process. Let the fruit bake for 5-6 hours on the lower-middle rack of your oven, or until the middle is set, and no longer "gooey". Here was our mistake: we let the fruit cook too long, and it ended up turning into "chips" instead of soft, pliable fruit roll ups. To quote one Cool Dad, "Fruit roll ups are not supposed to crunch in your mouth, unless you forgot to take the wrapper off".

Here's what our end product turned out like:

The final product was still delicious, it's just not a fruit roll up. It's more of a fruit tortilla chip. Our little sous chef still enjoyed them, and it's a quick way to get fruit into her diet, so I'm not complaining. We'll give this one another try soon, and hopefully end up with the desired finished product.

Any exciting recipes in your kitchen lately?

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew