Easter Celebration - Part 2: Chicken & Artichoke Casserole, Homemade Macaroni & Cheese, and Roasted Asparagus

I posted the recipe for my Fresh Strawberry Cake yesterday. Now, here is Part 2 of my Easter celebration: the rest of our festive bounty!

My mom found a chicken and artichoke casserole recipe in an old church cookbook she was perusing and wanted to try it. It looked good, but I tweaked it and made a few changes here and there. The end result was fantastic! This is a very hearty and flavorful casserole that would be a definite crowd-pleaser. 

Chicken & Artichoke Casserole

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tbs. lemon juice

1 small container French fried onions

To prepare the chicken, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and greased. Coat liberally with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, shred or cube the chicken as desired.

Combine the prepared chicken with artichokes, onion, garlic, soup, mayonnaise, and lemon juice, and mix evenly. Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the mixture becomes bubbly. Top with French fried onions and allow to bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven, cool, and serve.

This casserole would also be excellent with spinach or mushrooms added! 

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I’ve posted other macaroni and cheese recipes before, but this is my recipe for the traditional, basic version. Homemade mac-n-cheese is VASTLY superior to anything out of a box, and once you get the hang of it, really isn’t all that hard to prepare. If you’re a fan of this classic comfort food, give this recipe a try! It’s easier than it looks, and it’s so, so good.

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

8 oz. package pasta, cooked and drained*

2 tbs. butter

2 tbs. flour

2 cups milk

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

2 ½ cups grated cheese*

*You can use any type of pasta you like. I usually prefer cavatappi, campanelle, penne, or rigatoni, but if you want to be traditional, just go with elbow macaroni.

*You can also use just about any kind of cheese you like, but you’ll want something very flavorful like sharp cheddar because the flavor of the cheese will be less intense once added to the sauce. However, never use a really cheap, oily cheese, as it will give the sauce an odd, unpleasant texture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan, on medium-high heat, melt the butter and stir in the flour until the mixture forms a paste. Add the salt and pepper and cook for two to three minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook the sauce for 5-10 minutes until it becomes thick. Remove from the heat and gently stir in 2 cups of the cheese until it melts.

Combine the sauce and cooked pasta, and pour the mixture into a greased baking dish. Top the mixture with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese topping becomes bubbly and slightly browned. Remove from oven, cool, and serve.

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I adore roasted vegetables because they’re so easy to prepare and are so much more flavorful than when they’re boiled! You can roast just about any vegetable by following these steps, and you can also add whatever herbs or spices you like. I’m particularly fond of adding dill, thyme, or curry powder. My favorite vegetables for roasting are asparagus, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and parsnips.

Roasted Asparagus

1 lb. asparagus

2 tbs. olive oil

1 ½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the woody ends from the asparagus and discard them. Evenly coat the asparagus with the olive oil and seasonings. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet and roast them for 20-30 minutes or until they have reached desired doneness. Cool and serve.

(So much better than an Easter basket!)

Enjoy, and Happy Easter!

Easter Celebration - Part 1: Fresh Strawberry Cake

Before you prepare the meal, you always have to ready the dessert – which is why Part 1 of my Easter celebration features our Fresh Strawberry Cake. I prepared the cake today in advance for tomorrow’s lunch, but my mom and I couldn’t help but sample it a little early.

Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for the recipe. I found it in the February/March 2013 issue of eat. drink. Mississippi magazine, and it was created by a lady named Annie Massingale Crimm.

It’s an absolutely marvelous cake, much like a decadent version of the classic strawberry shortcake. Also, it’s surprisingly much lighter than you would imagine it to be.

Fresh Strawberry Cake (a.k.a. "Miss Annie's Strawberry Cake")

Cake:

1 box white cake mix

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix

1 2/3 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

4 eggs, separated

2/3 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the egg whites until fluffy and reserve. Combine the other ingredients and gently fold in the egg whites. Bake in two greased 9-inch round pans for 30 minutes or until done. Cool and reserve.

Icing:

8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

16 oz. whipped topping

2 tbs. butter (room temperature)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

Sliced strawberries

Combine all ingredients (except strawberries) until evenly blended. Spread between the layers of the cake and add the desired amount of sliced strawberries. Then spread the icing on top of the cake and on the sides. Add more strawberries to the cake as desired. Make sure to store the cake in the refrigerator. 

(I apologize in advance for the sub-par quality of the photos. I'm at home, and the only camera I have on me at present is my cell phone camera. And no, I don't have a fancy, newfangled iPhone, so just deal with it!) 

(Berry good! ...Sorry... I watched far too much Strawberry Shortcake as a child...)

Enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day Dinner: Corned Beef, Colcannon, and Irish Cream Ice Cream

Being of strong Anglo-Irish stock, I can never let St. Patrick’s Day pass without preparing some sort of traditional celebratory meal. I know, I know, corned beef and cabbage is more of an American institution, but it’s also good, hearty comfort food that’s usually only consumed in great quantities around this time of year, so let’s just run with it.

Now, you could very well make your own corned beef from scratch (which I have done before), but if you don’t want to bother with the task of brining, check the meat department at your local grocery store. On multiple occasions, I’ve purchased pre-brined corned beef brisket from Kroger that comes ready to cook with its own seasoning kit, and it’s just as good as any I’ve ever tried.

I must also admit that I had planned on providing you with a completely-100%-from-scratch recipe for homemade corned beef. However, I waited too late. The beef has to brine for a pretty extensive amount of time, and I wanted to post this blog entry in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Though, let’s be frank – if the grocery store is willing to do most of the work for you, then why not take advantage of their generosity? Not to mention, corned beef briskets are a great investment. They’re perfect for feeding a large crowd, and chances are you’ll have plenty of leftovers for reubens or stuffed cabbage!

Most corned beef recipes instruct cooks to boil the meat. However, I personally take issue with boiled beef (I don’t care how “traditional” it is), so I prefer to roast my corned beef. The best method for roasting a pre-brined brisket is to wrap it in aluminum foil, place it on a baking sheet, and allow it to roast at 300 degrees, one hour for each pound or until the meat is fork-tender.

As for the second part of my Irish meal, what could possibly be more Irish than potatoes and cabbage? But who wants plain old boring boiled vegetables? No one, right? So that’s why I decided to go with colcannon. For those who are unfamiliar with this dish, colcannon is essentially mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage or kale. For many years, it was a cheap staple dish in the Irish culinary scene, but because of its heartiness and unpretentiousness, many modern recipes “jazz it up” a bit. For my version of the dish, I add bacon (because, I mean, why not?) and sautee the cabbage and onions to develop their flavor before adding them to the potatoes.

This is such an easy and affordable recipe to prepare, and it can be served as a side dish or as a complete meal on its own.

2 ½ - 3 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

½ head of cabbage, chopped or julienned

1 large onion, chopped

5 strips thick bacon, chopped

½ cup butter

½ cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until tender, then drain. With an electric mixer, beat the potatoes with the butter and heavy cream until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.

 In a heavy-bottomed skillet, brown the bacon on medium-high heat, then remove it from the pot and place it on a plate covered with paper towels to absorb the excess fat. Add the cabbage and onion to the rendered bacon fat, and sautee the vegetables until tender. Gently fold the reserved bacon and cooked vegetables into the mashed potatoes until thoroughly incorporated.

(Corned beef and colcannon, the finished product! And to think that this used to be "poverty food." REALLY?)

For Christmas, my mom bought me a fantastic Cuisinart ice cream freezer, and it’s become my new favorite kitchen gadget. It’s so much more user-friendly than those noisy models that require copious amounts of ice and rock salt, and I’ve made several batches of ice cream with it. Being a big fan of liqueur-flavored ice creams, I decided to concoct a special recipe in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. I must admit, I’m pretty proud of this recipe. The flavor of the Irish cream fuses nicely with the subtle additions of brown sugar and chocolate while still remaining prominent.

Irish Cream Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup Irish cream liqueur

In a saucepan, bring the heavy cream, milk, brown sugar, and chocolate chips to medium heat. Stir gently until the chocolate has melted and all ingredients are blended together. Remove from heat and add vanilla and liqueur. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 4 hours or until chilled.

Once chilled, pour the mixture into an ice cream freezer and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure to store the ice cream in a freezer-proof container with a tight lid.

Because this ice cream contains alcohol, it takes a bit longer to freeze than other ice cream recipes. I recommend freezing it in your ice cream freezer until it reaches the consistency of a thick milkshake, then pouring it in an airtight container and freezing it overnight. 

(Enjoying my ice cream in my authentic Irish coffee cup! Seriously, it's legit. Imported from Ireland. Marcus Notley. Look it up.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! May the wind always be at your back, and all that!