Paprika Chicken Casserole

Happy Friday everybody!  How was everyone's first week of 2013?!

We're still on the up and up over here!  We've been having a lot of comfort foods in our house lately, and this casserole ranks up near the top.  It's dead simple, absolutely delicious, and the leftovers make amazing lunches!

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup mirepoix (small diced carrot, celery, and onion)
 1 & 1/2 tablespoons paprika
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
3 parsley stems
1 bay leaf
pinch of dried thyme
 1 onion, julienned
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 lb. egg noodles, cooked
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

In a large pot or casserole dish, melt butter under medium heat.  Add mirepoix and saute for about 3-4 minutes.  Push mirepoix aside and add chicken breasts in an even layer.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes, flipping once.  Sprinkle paprika over chicken and turn heat down to medium low.  Cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Add flour to the chicken and stir into mirepoix and cooking juices to make a paste.  Bring heat to medium and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes over medium heat.

Add stock, wine, parsley stems, bay leaf, and thyme to the pot.  Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a low simmer.  Cover and cook for about 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked throughout.  Remove chicken from pot and set aside.

In a medium saute pan, add olive oil.  Add the onions and mushrooms and saute until they are caramelized and softened.  Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper, to taste, and set aside.

Bring the cooking liquid for the chicken to a boil and reduce mixture by half and slightly thickened.  Stir in heavy cream and continue to reduce sauce until it is at desired consistency.

Stir in cooked egg noodles and season sauce to taste.

Slice the chicken breasts into 1/2 inch thick pieces.  Layer in a casserole dish and top with onions and mushrooms.  Pour sauce and noodles over top of chicken and garnish with fresh parsley.

This definitely is enough to feed a family of 4.  It's filling and definitely delicious!  I could definitely drink the sauce like a glass of water.  It's too good not to make!  Warm up with a nice plate of this and have a great weekend, guys!

Smoked Paprika Rubbed Salmon

Okay, I have a new obsession.  True Blood.  I love it.  I can't get enough of it.  And I'm thankful that Netflix has consistently been delivering Season 2 to my mailbox for the past week or so.  Just sayin'.

Remember all that salmon we got a few weeks ago?  And the promise of me posting salmon recipes?  Yeah, I know.  I've slacked.  I haven't posted any since we got the salmon.  That doesn't mean we haven't cooked it.  Boy have we been eating salmon!  I've just gotten caught up with all the other things going on, that those recipes weren't in the spotlight to post.  Just yet, anyway.

But this baby.  This was great.  This... was my very UN-Superbowl-themed dinner that we had on Sunday.  Instead of gorging on wings, dips, and all those other Superbowl-related artery-clogging goodies... I settled (well, preferred) to have this beautiful (and slightly healthier!) salmon.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Mccormick's website

Juice and zest from 1 minneola orange
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 6 oz. salmon fillets
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon hot smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
salt and pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, combine orange juice, olive oil, and thyme.  Place salmon fillets in plastic Ziploc bag and carefully pour in marinade.  Seal tightly, getting rid of as much air as possible from the bag.  Let sit in fridge for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In another small bowl, combine brown sugar, paprika, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, and orange zest.

Remove salmon from bags and place on foil lined baking sheet.  Rub paprika mixture atop salmon and bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until salmon is pink throughout. 

We served this salmon with some freshly sauteed spinach, corn, & carrots.  It was a match made in heaven.  There was a great contrast of sweetness from the brown sugar and a little kick of spice with the hot paprika.  Definitely a great flavor! 

I chose the healthy route on such a gluttonous day, but only because I was too lazy to make anything too crazy.  This is definitely one of those quick weeknight dinners that will make you feel good about yourself afterwards!  Enjoy guys!

Baked Tilapia

Well, so far the week has been great. It's going by quickly, that's for sure. Had an organic test (got a B!) and tomorrow a Microbiology test (not looking forward to this one). I'm still in "engagement fever", and I don't see it slowing down. I probably have to tell the story 3-5 times daily, but I don't get sick thinking about it, or our future life! Enough about me, it's about the food! This tilapia was great! Fast, easy, gone in a flash!

Ingredients:

2 Tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons butter, melted
juice from 1 lemon
1 & 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Preheat oven to 425 F and put tiliapia fillets in a glass baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together butter, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano, and paprika. Pour mixture over tilapia fillets.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until fish is white and flaky. Serve with a side of roasted veggies (I did roasted fingerling potatoes) and enjoy!

This was seriously gone in minutes. It was so juicy and delicious! The fish was done perfectly and the flavor was just jam packed! The only thing wrong with it was it was gone so quickly! I may make double the fish next time I do this!