It’s time for this week’s recipe challenge!  The cupboard is a bit bare this week so this week’s challenge may be a bit more difficult.  While I have a family recipe for the cream of mushroom and chicken, appropriately name "Chicken and Saucy Stuff", I’m wondering what else is out there in the realm of chick and soup.

This week’s ingredients are:

• Free Range Chicken Thighs
• 1 Can Amy’s Organic Cream Of Mushroom Soup
• Yams
• Badger Mountain Organic Chardonnay

So what would you do with these ingredients?  Feel free to add up to two ingredients of your own and as many of the Herb & Spices listed here.  Post your answer to this week’s challenge in the comments section below.  If you’re wondering how all this works, check out this link.

Thanks!

Week #14 was a blast as I traveled to American Fork, Utah to visit friends and relax a bit.  My hosts, Tambee and Russ graciously let me film a family favorite backyard BBQ.  Russ cooks to my liking, simple and no recipe.  And very tasty too!  Below is my attempt at his recipe, for the first time put down on paper….errrr…internet.  It’s easy and will be a regular for me this summer.

Ingredients

• Chicken breasts
• Red and Green Peppers
• Couscous
• Bacon
• Fresh Herbs
• Olive Oil, lots of it
• Salt and Pepper

Direction

1. Heat up grill on high
2. Coat chicken breasts with olive oil.  Then salt and pepper both sides.
3. Next use fresh herbs to taste.  In this case we used rosemary, chives and thyme.
4. Place on grill for just a bit on high.  Turn heat to medium.
5. Cut up peppers into halves and coat with olive oil and salt/pepper.
6. Bring water to boil in pot for couscous (or cook to instructions)
7. Flip over chicken before it gets burnt.
8. After water boils, shut off and add in couscous and cover. It’ll be ready in a bit.
9. Add peppers to grill.
10. Flip peppers.
11. Add bacon, chives and any other likings to couscous.  It’s done.
12. Remove Chicken and Peppers from grill before they burn.

I know, it sounds too easy and the video will go into more instruction.  It’s easy and tastes wonderful!  Video coming soon.

This week there is no winning recipe. Insert frowny face here.  But that’s ok, I whipped something up anyhow!  I didn’t have enough time to film and cook as I had a hungry 7 year old and she took precedent over the filming this week.  I’m still getting down this whole process and appreciate those who have subscribed to the blog and are hopefully learning along with me.

Now then, with the previously mentioned ingredients in mind, this is what I whipped up.

Ingredients

• 2 Free Range Chicken Breasts
• 2 Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Fettuccine Rice Pasta
• Carrots.  Well, actually, I skipped the carrots.  So ignore this!
• Olive Oil
• Pasta Sauce
• Rosemary
• Basil
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Thyme
• Dijon Mustard

Recipe

1. Boil up the pasta
2. Cube up the potatoes so they are the size of dice.  The six sided kind, not the Dungeons and Dragons 20 sided monsters.
3. Place the cubed potatoes in a 13×9 backing dish.
4. Douse potatoes with olive oil, rosemary, basil and garlic powder
5. Set in oven at 375F for about 25 minutes.  Or until your kid complains a lot.
6. Heat up the pasta sauce to your liking.  I actually just put the pasta in a Pyrex bowl on the burner I used to boil the noodles with it off.  It worked well and didn’t require nuking it.
7. In a medium fry pan, preheat some olive oil (have I mentioned I love olive oil?).  Then cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and place them in.
8. Sprinkle with thyme, basil and rosemary.
9. Goose about a tablespoon of dijon mustard over this yummy goodness.
10. Cook on a low-medium heat until just about done, stirring occasionally, or lots, whichever you like.
11. Then throw your fry pan in the oven with the potatoes.  I’d suggest something that can take the heat, like a nice All-Clad Stainless-Steel Fry Pan.  Put it in when the potatoes have about 15 minutes left to cook.
12. Remove everything from the stove and serve the chicken over the pasta and top with pasta sauce.  Add the potatoes on the side.

I know what you’re thinking.  Huh?  You’ve got two starches in there!  And mustard with pasta sauce?   But it worked!  And further, it worked for my daughter who loved it.  If you’d like, leave out the pasta sauce and maybe add some honey to the mustard chicken over the noodles.

Either way, don’t stop cooking!  Until next week, have fun in the kitchen!