white wine | Mommie Cooks!

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Mushroom Sauce

April 13, 2011 By Julie 30 Comments

The voting over at the Rice Krispies Facebook page is officially up and running! If you have a minute head over and cast a vote for Team Asheville’s entries. We’re the top four pictures listed. Thanks so much and I’ll let you know the results as soon as they’re announced.

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Cordon Bleu is one of those dishes that instantly takes me back to my childhood days. My family spent all their vacations up in Northern Wisconsin at my grandparents cottage on Rest Lake. We enjoyed summers frolicking in the water and digging never-ending holes to China, and winters planting our tip-ups on the iced over lake in the hopes of catching that one lucky fish. I still remember venturing out on the boat one warm summer morning with my grandfather on a hunt for muskies; one of the biggest and baddest lake fish there is, and the exact moment that one actually started to follow my line towards the boat. I began to reel faster and faster; there was no way I was going to let that fish actually catch my line!

When we arrived home from our fishing expedition, my grandmother had put together a lunch for us of cordon bleu with mushroom sauce. She was a big fan of the Schwan man (still is) and would always have a pack of their cordon bleu on hand. Oh how I loved those chicken filled treats. I used to look forward to visiting my grandma Mimi just so I could get my hands on one of them.

Today my grandmother lives in Arizona and we don’t get out to visit her and my grandfather nearly as much as we’d like. My grandfather’s 87th birthday was a few weeks back and it reminded me of those younger times up at the cottage. This dish is a way to bring back those cherished moments and to say thank you to my grandparents for all the wonderful memories and love they continue to pour over me to this day.

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Veggie Ricotta Pasta

March 30, 2011 By Julie 36 Comments

Whether the temperature outside registers it or not, it’s officially springtime across the country. Down here in the South the beginnings of foliage are starting to show and the first flowers of the season are in full bloom.

Spring is my favorite time of year. I love watching life blossom back into view and bring the promise of warmer days. Leaves make themselves visible, flowers open their petals to drink in the springtime sunshine and birds start to look for the perfect nesting area to expand their family. I feel as though we wake up a bit too. We shed our extra layers, spend more time outside enjoying the warming days, and begin to put away our hearty soups and stews in exchange for lighter fare.

This dish was inspired by my adoration of the changing season. With fresh basil, spinach, and tomatoes all present and swirled around the pleasurable taste of ricotta cheese, a bite of this meal makes me instantly blithe to say goodbye to winter and hello to the warmer months ahead.

There are only a few steps involved in making this pasta; another reason I find a smile creeping onto my face when I make it. Start off by dropping in a smattering of ingredients and spices. Think garlic, white wine, lemon juice, and chicken broth to name a few.

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Simply Bean Soup

March 16, 2011 By Julie 25 Comments

When I was a child I hated beans. No wait, let me rephrase that. Not just hated, despised. On nights when beans were served, my mom would make my brother and me sit at the table until we finished every last bean on our plates and sometimes we’d sit there for hours. We didn’t have a dog to help in our demise and the cat was as turned off by the whole ordeal as we were so she was no assistance in the bean disposal department. My brother eventually developed this ingenious idea to declare an “emergency bathroom break” immediately after taking a huge bite of said round nuggets and would magically come back with a cleansed palate. I still owe my brother one for his shrewd method of bean extraction.

I’m not sure what happened between childhood and today, but at some point in time, unbeknownst to me, my palate adapted, ate a bean, and declared it good. Now I suddenly find myself cooking with beans on a weekly basis and dare I say, enjoying it. Fortunately two of my three kiddos enjoy the beans with me. One, Nicholas, does not. Life experience has taught me that forcing a bean ~~despiser~~ hater to eat beans does absolutely nothing for expanding the palate and only causes said child to have a sore bum from spending too much time seated at the table with no dog for assistance. So, for now, I allow Nicholas to bypass the beans in the hopes that one day, he too will declare beans good.

And so, this soup is in honor of beans. Plain and simple. There aren’t many bells and whistles in the recipe. Just what it takes to highlight my gratitude for a sometimes under acknowledged, non-meat, healthy as all get out, protein source that with time and appreciation, I have truly come to enjoy.

Grab your bowl and let’s cook up some Simply Bean Soup.

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Greek Inspired Slow Cooker Chicken

March 7, 2011 By Julie 59 Comments

As my kids get older, the amount of time I have to cook dinner seems to be less and less. Ok, who am I kidding. It doesn’t seem to be less. It actually is less. A whole lot less. Between Spanish classes, Y-Guides and Faith formation, our afternoons are filled with the kids and me shuttling around in the car, racing to make the next destination on time. Dinner is a far thought in the back of my mind.

I remember the days when I had all afternoon to think about and prepare a tasty meal. I would plan and orchestrate without interruption and the result was usually a masterpiece fit for a king (or at least a family of five). Today I’m lucky if I walk in the door at 5pm and have even had the foresight to pull out a package of meat for that night’s meal. Enter in my trusty slow cooker.

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