Roasted Lemon Chicken with Tomatoes and Potatoes

Lemons seem to be a magical ingredient in cooking chicken.  

The aroma that fills the air while cooking is intoxicating!

This is a quick and easy meal to put together . . . your guests will think you slaved away in the kitchen for hours!  The oven does all the work.  

One of the success secrets of this meal is the use of various herbs and spices mixed in with the lemons and vegetables.  The presentation is awesome!

The recipe and photo source is The Comfort of Cooking, where you will find many more fresh and frugal comfort food recipes.  Link to the website follows the recipe. 

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 4 lbs. (10-12) skin-on, bone-in chicken parts (thighs, legs, wings)
• 1 lb. baby potatoes
• 1/2 onion (yellow or red), thinly sliced
• 2 lemons, 1 sliced and 1 juiced
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 10 oz. cherry tomatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray a rimmed 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish with cooking spray. Into the baking dish arrange chicken parts (skin side up), potatoes, sliced onion and lemon slices evenly in pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, paprika, salt and pepper. Pour mixture all over chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle all over generously with additional Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered for about 1 hour, or until chicken and potatoes are fully cooked. During last 20 minutes of cooking, add cherry tomatoes and continue cooking for the 20 remaining minutes.

Recipe and Photo Source: The Comfort of Cooking

Southern Fried Fish

Fried fish is one of my favorite foods.  Although I prefer grouper, it is very expensive in this area (even though we live right off the Gulf) and we usually settle for tilapia.  When we are lucky enough to have a great fishing adventure and actually come home with fish, we make fried fish every night until it is all gone.  

We have found that the frozen tilapia that comes in large bags is the best value . . . if it is available in your area.

I make a very simple tartar sauce to go with the fried fish.  Sorry, I don't measure, so taste as you go until it is the right combination for you.  Mix mayonnaise, dill, cayenne pepper, onion powder, dill pickle juice and finely minced dill pickle (optional) . . . chill.  A slightly different variation (especially if low on mayonnaise) is to add some sour cream.  It makes a great topping for baked potato instead of plain sour cream.

Ingredients

Fish fillets
1 cup yellow corn meal
⅓ cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (amount to taste for heat)
(or you can sprinkle directly on the fish before coating with dry ingredients)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
Cooking oil

Marinade:  milk and hot sauce (amount to taste for heat)



Directions

Add the fish and allow to marinate for a few hours.

Remove the fish and drain.

Coat the fish into mixed dry ingredients.  Shake off excess.

The fish is best deep fried (365 degrees), but may be pan fried (I love to pan fry the fish in some olive oil and butter).

Cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Alfredo Pot Pie - Chicken or Turkey

Great for leftovers!  

This is another semi-homemade recipe that utilizes alfredo sauce in a jar.  It is also adaptable to what you have on hand.  Although the recipe calls for turkey, I would use chicken.  Another change I would make is to use fresh vegetables (I really don't like the frozen veggies).  Love the idea of using refrigerator biscuits . . . we usually use puff pastry.

Quick and easy for those days that don't have enough hours in the day.

Ingredients

1 bag (12 oz) Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers® frozen broccoli, carrots, cauliflower & cheese sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 jar (15 oz) Alfredo sauce

2 cups cubed cooked turkey

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 can (12 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Jr. Golden Layers® refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 biscuits)

2 tablespoons shredded fresh Parmesan cheese


Steps

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cook frozen vegetables as directed on bag for minimum time.

Meanwhile, in 10-inch nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Cook onion and bell pepper in butter about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in Alfredo sauce, turkey or chicken, cooked vegetables with sauce, basil and black pepper. Cook until mixture is thoroughly heated and bubbly, stirring constantly. Spoon into baking dish.

Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit in half crosswise. Arrange around edge of baking dish, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Source:  Pillsbury

Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders

We had some hawaiian bread rolls left over from making the ham and cheese sliders the other day.  The Captain and I thought of making little bacon cheeseburgers with a special sauce and some onions.  After much discussion on what would make the best sauce and method of making these little burgers, the following recipe is what we came up with.

There are a few tweaks we would make for the next time we make them.  First of all, we used cheddar cheese and it was good, but we think swiss cheese would be an awesome compliment to the sauce instead. Next time I don't think we will use the broiler setting . . . it is difficult to keep anything from burning!  

They were delicious!!  We will make them again and again.

My apologies for the terrible photo . . . which is why I rarely share personal recipes!

Ingredients

(amounts used depend on how many sliders you are making . . . 
we made four sliders)

Hawaiian Bread Rolls
Small Hamburger Patties
Bacon (one piece cut in half per slider)
Cheddar cheese or cheese of your choice
Finely Minced Onion
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
3 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 or 2 pats of butter


Directions

Fry bacon and set aside.

Saute the minced onions in a tablespoon of bacon fat, butter, worcestershire sauce and dijon mustard.

Set sauce aside in a bowl, reserving some to cook the burgers in.

Pan fry the burgers in a bit of the sauce and onions.  Put a little sauce and some onion on the burgers before melting the cheese on top.

Slice rolls in half, put some sauce on the bottom inside of roll and also on the outside top of the roll (make sure you put a few pieces of onion on the top portion of the bun).

Broil in the oven . . . watch every carefully . . . ours almost burned.

Take out rolls and assemble the sliders.