Giving the gift of chicken parm

I told you before that it's tradition in our house, as it may be for you, to make "special request" dinners for birthdays, usually shared with all family available the Sunday before or after the big day.

This month we celebrated our daughter's special day. I asked the birthday girl what she'd like for her dinner. She gave me a wonderful compliment. She said she'd let me choose because she loves everything I make! How sweet she is! Sweet Melissa.

So I actually let hubby pick the birthday girl's dinner. Last I told you we enjoyed Birthday Lasagna for hubby's special day, so he was up for something different for daughter number one's family celebration. This time hubby chose chicken parmigiana. Good choice, hubby! It was time for CP in our rotation.

So the menu was simple and Italian. Mmmm, peasant food, my favorite. Antipasto (before the meal) included homemade lonzino (dry-cured pork loin), toscana cheese with rosemary and olive oil, blueberry chevre, assorted crackers, and the usual veggie mix. Some good wine accompanied the spread.

This family can eat and we do like to snack while we cook. It's always a good time standing around the kitchen table, chomping on some great bites while catching up, everyone laughing and being silly, loud family that we are.

So here's what I whipped up for my daughter's birthday while everyone noshed on the starters.



Classic birthday chicken parm hits the spot.



Piles of spaghetti with my favorite gravy.

Birthday Chicken Parmigiana 

8 chicken breasts, cut 1/2 inch thick
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese, grated
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 tblsp. olive oil
8 oz. blended tomatoes or My Favorite Gravy (what Italian-Americans call tomato sauce)
1/3 cup Asiago or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
8 1-oz. slices mozzarella cheese

First, I like to pound the chicken with a mallet to be sure all pieces are the same thickness to ensure even cooking. And it's fun to beat the chicken, too. Use wax paper to protect yourself from squirting chicken juices. And change the wax paper frequently to avoid splatters as you pound holes.

Now you're ready to assemble the cutlets. Dip chicken breasts in beaten egg mixture. Combine bread crumbs, grated cheese, salt, pepper, and oregano. Coat chicken with breading mixture. Sauté chicken slices until lightly browned in a pan with olive oil. Place chicken in a shallow baking dish or on a cookie sheet. Pour gravy (tomato sauce) over chicken cutlets and sprinkle with grated cheese. Top each cutlet with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Serve over lightly buttered spaghetti or drench in My Favorite Gravy.

Serves 8.

This is the basic recipe, but don't hesitate to double if you have more guests. I always make more anyway, so we have leftovers.

Mediterranean greens with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and pignoli, along with some crusty bread and good wine rounded out the meal.

And, of course, there was a birthday cake, recipe soon to follow.

For now, don't forget to check out My Favorite Gravy recipe. It's a keeper with a secret ingredient no one will guess.

So if there's a birthday or special dinner on the horizon, give the gift of chicken parm. It's a good thing. It's a gift your special birthday celebrant won't return. 

And let me know what birthday dinner traditions you share with your family. I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, yours in fun, family, and cooking...Therese

Spinach balls for all

I'm not kidding. This simple recipe is one of our family favorites. It's not a holiday or a party without spinach balls. Spinach balls are seasonless. They work all year long for us: spring, summer, fall, and winter. The kids, now all grown, have been downing these since they were wee ones. And even folks who may not care for spinach find they like these. Who wouldn't like stuffing, butter, and cheese mixed in with some veggie for a quick, delicious pop in the mouth?

My mom knows that everyone looks forward to her bringing the spinach balls. We've made them plenty of times ourselves, but it's very helpful when mom brings them for a family get-together, since we're usually preparing the bulk of the  meal and they do take some time to roll. Mom makes them in advance and dad helps mom to get the job done since four hands are better than two. I suggest enlisting your family to help with the task, as I did myself over the years. Young children will like them even more since they helped make them!

We like spinach balls hot or cold. They're an easy party appetizer and you can heat up just what you need at a time. Leftovers are great. It's always a contest to see who can get to them first the day after a party. Hey, we love leftovers. What can I say?

My Aunt Betty Jane gave this recipe to us more than thirty years ago. And I still have a copy cut from the Philadelphia Bulletin back in the day. You can find this recipe online, but I'll share it here for you.

Grandmom Mary's Hot Spinach Balls

2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach
2 1/2 cups herb stuffing mix (can use 1 box of Stove Top)
3/4 cup butter or margarine
4 eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large onion, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Nutmeg to taste
Thyme to taste

Cook spinach according to package directions; press out all the water. Combine remaining ingredients with spinach and roll into bite-size balls. Bake at 350° F. for 20 minutes on a cookie sheet. Serve hot.

Note: These can be frozen after cooking. Freeze on a cookie sheet and then drop them in a freezer bag. You can take out just what you need then. Reheat in microwave or at 400° F. in conventional oven until hot.

We certainly will be eating these ourselves this Thursday. We nibble all day and always have spinach balls on the table while we're cooking. Hope you try these for your Thanksgiving meal this year. Let me know if you and yours like them.

Enjoy!

Until next time, yours in food and fun...Therese

Never met a turkey I didn't like

I'm such a turkey lover. That's me. I've told you before that a turkey on a magazine cover never fails to call my name. Magazine editors surely know turkeys have that hold over me.

"Therese, Therese, take me home. You need me! You know you want another holiday cooking magazine."


Oh, the shame of it all. I can't stop myself. Yes, there's something about a turkey that makes me want to bring home fall and holiday issues of every magazine I see. I justify the compulsion and tell myself it's my treat for working hard and I deserve it. Ha! Yes, I'll admit it is an addiction!

The routine is simple and repeatable from year to year. I start collecting the magazines when they hit the shelves in early September. First I try to steer clear of the magazine aisle in any store I'm in, telling myself I have enough recipes to cover every day until the end of time, but the reality is that as I get closer, the urge is stronger and I feel a pull toward that section. I tell myself I'll just look.

And then I see Tom Turkey. I succumb. He could be alive on a farm in all his gobbling feathered glory or lying roasted brown and juicy on a platter, no matter, and I will want to take him home. So attractive, Tom's compelling stature holds for me the promise of a wonderful family gathering and all things delicious. I have no issue, pun intended, with bringing home four fall foodie magazines at a time to savor and review.

Yes, sounds like overkill, but these magazine issues bring me joy and are certainly treasured, playing an important role in planning my favorite holiday meals: Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I save them year to year and when it's time each fall, I pull them all out for my perusal. I pore over every issue I've ever brought into the house, and study intently all the recipes and options for the perfect turkey-time dinner.

I'm fair, as always, and don't play favorites with my old and new issues. Every one's got a chance to hold a recipe featured on my holiday menu. I'll consider carefully timeless recipes from older issues, repeaters that will be expected by my guests. But I'll also contemplate which newbie recipes could be the next big family hit. And the planning extravaganza begins.

That's the fun of reading all the magazines. Studying the recipes and ingredients, considering all the potential tasty combos, and imagining already what changes I'd try to make the recipes my own. Yes, I can get recipes online (I certainly go that way too), but call me old-fashioned, I like to hold the print magazine in my hand, studying the pictures of the finished recipes. And there are always nice spreads with table settings, decorations, tips, and suggestions that make owning the issue a special treat to add to my collection.

Now that my girls are older, they are in on the process, too. A few weeks ago already, my youngest texted me and asked when we were going to start planning our Thanksgiving menu. Music to my ears since I know the planning together is just as much fun as the big day. It warms my heart that this process has now become our family tradition.

The kids like to help cook also. When they were little, they were always good for decorating some turkey sugar cookies. And then later both daughters graduated to making our pineapple bread stuffing, spinach balls, or pitching in as needed. Now, as adults, they're just as interested as me in cooking and cookbooks and finding the most delicious recipes to try. Only problem is that we don't want to give up any of our tried-and-true standbys.

So that's why we have at least three kinds of sweet potatoes every Thanksgiving. Ha! Call me crazy, but everyone has a different favorite and who wants to disappoint? Not me. And really I don't mind. My parents and children and any other guests are always glad to take home some leftovers. We all appreciate revisiting the special meal and are happy to eat Thanksgiving dinner as leftovers for just about a week after. On Black Friday, the leftovers will even be pulled out for breakfast─okay, we'll call it brunch─so we know we have to make enough holiday fare to last for this crew!

With all this talk of sweet potatoes, I'm getting hungry, but I'll take some time to share two favorite contenders for turkey days in our household. Yes, we love the recipes with marshmallows, but these two have been a family tradition and a mainstay of our sumptuous spread for almost thirty years now, since I first made them.

At our house, Thanksgiving means turkey...
and sweet potatoes

Sweet Potatoes with Pineapple and Coconut

2 cups boiled sweet potato, sliced very thin or mashed (Can also use a large can of yams)
1 1/2 cups crushed pineapple

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup grated coconut

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, honey, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a casserole dish,  place layers of sweet potatoes, pineapple, and then the flour mixture; repeat layers until finished. Top with grated coconut and bake at  350° for 30 minutes.

Sweet Potatoes with Applesauce and Raisins

3 cups mashed sweet potato (Can also use a large can of yams)
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup honey
1 tblsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375°.  Combine last seven ingredients and pour over the mashed potatoes in a casserole dish. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes.

Then, enjoy!

Even though the family loves these two sweet potato recipes, I'm still always in search of something new to try. Yet we need to make our old faithfuls to mitigate any risk that a new recipe could disappoint.

So if you see me in the magazine aisle, you'll know I'm checking out the seasonal cooking magazines and dreaming about my favorite meal of the year. And if you see Tom Turkey, let him know I'll be by soon.

Until next time, yours in fun and recipe hunting...Therese

P.S. Let me know your favorites for turkey day. I'd love to hear about your menu!