Sauteed Mushrooms

This is an Australian recipe from my team mate UmmBinat for April. Russell and I loved these! Well - we like mushrooms just about any way we can get them. These were no exception!

Sauteed Mushrooms
1/2 cube butter or margarine
3/4 tsp olive or vegetable oil
3/4 tsp balsamic or apple cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/16 tsp dried oregano
8 oz crimini button mushrooms, sliced or white mushrooms, sliced

Melt butter with oil in a frying pan over medium - low heat. Add remaining ingredients. Saute for 20-30 minutes or until tender.

Chicken with Parmesan Cream Sauce

This chicken was so easy to put together and so moist! The sauce was perfect for mixing with pasta to create an "Alfredo" kind of side dish. I chose this recipe from my teammate LifeIsGood from Michigan. This was part of the March 2010 Aussie/NZ recipe swap on recipezaar.com.

Chicken with Parmesan Cream Sauce
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used thigh/leg quarters - bone in since that's what I had)
1/2 cup flour
6 TBSP butter or margarine, divided
16 mushrooms, sliced (I used baby bellas - my favorite)
2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
paprika

Melt 3 TBSP butter. Coat chicken with flour then dip in butter. Arrange in 9x13 baking pan. Melt remaining butter. Saute mushrooms until softened. Spread mushrooms over chicken. Pour in cream. Season with salt and pepper. Top with parmesan cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight and all the next day until ready to make dinner.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle paprika over chicken. Bake uncovered 20-30 minutes if doing just boneless chicken breasts.
If you did bone-in like I did - I baked my chicken at 375 for 1 hour 15 minutes. I probably would have been fine doing less time but I like to make sure my chicken is cooked all the way.
When chicken was done....
I removed the chicken to a plate and had angel hair pasta already cooked and ready to add to the cream sauce in the pan. I added in some garlic salt, pepper and additional parmesan cheese to make an "Alfredo" pasta side dish.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

I was at WinCo yesterday stocking up on essentials in their bulk section. I love the bulk section! I came across a wild rice mixture so bought just enough to try. I knew I had saved this recipe and today was the time to make it! This recipe comes from recipezaar and the chef is Juenessa. This is a thick hearty soup and one we will be making often!
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, chopped (this was the only item left out)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules (I ended up with 4 tsp. Personal preference)
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
3 cups cooked wild rice
2 cups cubed cooked chicken

In a dutch oven melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in chicken broth. Add vegetables, bouillon and spices. Reduce heat and simmer until veggies are done. Add cream soup, rice and chicken. Heat through and serve with your favorite bread. We enjoyed this with homemade biscuits. It will be awesome in school lunches on Monday!

Cashew Chicken

Nephi saw this recipe in one of my books and asked for it for dinner. It's okay if he didn't actually want to EAT it! Russell and I absolutely loved it as it is chalk full of mushrooms. We love mushrooms.
We had this with the Shredded Beef and Pepper Stir-fry so everyone could have a choice. I chose both because a) hungry, b) wanted both or c) both of the above.

Cashew Chicken
Marinade:
1 egg white
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP rice vinegar
1 TBSP soy sauce

Vegetables:
1/2 cup cashews
8 oz white mushrooms
4 green onions
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 tsp powdered ginger OR 1 TBSP peeled, minced fresh gingerroot

Marinade:
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken. Mix well. Add chicken. Mix to thoroughly coat chicken and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Sauce:
Mix all ingredients in smallish bowl and set aside.

Clean mushrooms, trim stems. Cut into quarters. Trim green onions and thinly slice.

In a heavy skillet or wok, heat 1 TBSP oil over med-high heat. Drain chicken; discard marinade. (If you are like me and forgot to - it will make the finished dish very runny. I somehow overlooked this little detail until I was typing this up.) Oops. Cook chicken, stirring occasionally, until it turns white. Add mushrooms and green onions to the chicken. Cook just until mushrooms reach desired doneness. Add sauce. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened. Add cashews.
Serve over rice.