What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

I was reading an old journal recently about a time when my husband and I were on a vacation getaway. I wrote that we’d spent a leisure afternoon reading – he was reading a book for a seminary class he was taking at the time, and I spent the afternoon reading cookbooks! I love them!

My favorite cookbooks are my Southern Living collection. Not only do they all contain delicious recipes, but also helpful hints, substitution charts, pictures of many of the recipes, and entertaining ideas. They inspire me to cook!

Last week before writing up my weekly menu, I pulled out the 1995 issue of Southern Living and found several new recipes to try. This one for Oregano Chicken was very good and would make a great Sunday dinner. You could bake it at a low temperature while at church and it would be moist and perfect for your meal.

Oregano Chicken:

1/4 Cup butter or margarine, melted

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 T Worcestershire sauce

2 T soy sauce

2 t dried oregano

1 t garlic powder

6 skinned chicken breast halves – I used a cut up fryer

Combine first 6 ingredients. Place chicken in an ungreased oblong baking dish. Pour half of butter mixture over chicken.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, and pour remaining butter mixture over chicken.

Bake 15 more minutes or until no longer pink.

Remove excess fat from pan drippings with a fat separator, and serve the pan drippings over hot cooked rice, if desired.

Here was another new recipe – Burger Boats. This is good for a quick, easy supper or lunch.

Burger Boats

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 16 oz. loaf French bread

1/2 C shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef, green peppers, and onions in large nonstick skillet, stirring until beef crumbles; drain fat.

Add soup and next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium high heat; simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally; set aside.

Cut a wedge of bread from the top of the bread loaf. Remove pieces of bread from inside of loaf, leaving a 1-inch shell.

Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add bread pieces and wedge. Process until crumbs are fine and uniform in size; spread evenly on a baking sheet.

Bake bread shell and crumbs at 350 degrees until lightly toasted; cool.

Stir 1 1/2 cups toasted breadcrumbs into ground beef mixture; reserve any extra breadcrumbs for other uses.

Spoon meat mixture into bread shell; top with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees until cheese melts. (For a softer loaf, wrap in aluminum foil before baking) Yield: 4 servings

I made our Valentine Dinner on Saturday because we have plans to be away for “V”Day. =)

Menu

Marinated Steaks

Onion Rings –

I used ginger ale instead of beer, since we don’t drink it or buy it, and they didn’t turn out as great as the reviews! Oh, well, live and learn!

Asparagus Gremolata**

Toasted Parmesan Bread

When I made the asparagus, I did NOT boil it. I simply added it to the pan that the breadcrumbs had been cooked in, added a little olive oil and cooked for about 3 minutes. I like my asparagus on the crisp side. This was a good side dish.

And for the Grand Finale’… Chocolate Cherry Cake

So, now tell me, what’s been cookin’ in your kitchen?

Happy Valentine’s Day,