Pollo Bianco

Caramelized onions create a glazed chicken with a mellowed bite. It is simple and tastes delicious! If desired, serve with roasted potatoes which have been coated with the sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 4 chicken thighs

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 large onion, diced

• 2 cups water

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the chicken, browning both sides of each piece. Saute for approximately 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Add the diced onion to the skillet and stir together with the chicken pieces for approximately 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of water and let simmer on medium high heat until the onions caramelize and create a sauce.

3. Simmer for approximately 30 minutes. You may need to add more water so that the sauce mixture doesn't dry out. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove and set on a plate.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Cajun cooking is a combination of French and Southern cuisine. It is robust, country style cookery - and so is this dish!

Ingredients

• 4 ounces linguine pasta

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced

• 1 green bell pepper, sliced

• 4 fresh mushrooms, sliced

• 1 green onion, chopped

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil

• 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

2. Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).

3. Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.

4. Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

In the depths of winter we need a little bit of summer flavor. This recipe will bring back memories of warm summer days. Yum!

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

• 1 (4 pound) pork shoulder roast

• 1 cup barbeque sauce

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup chicken broth

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon chili powder

• 1 extra large onion, chopped

• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

• 8 hamburger buns, split

• 2 tablespoons butter, or as needed

Directions

1. Pour the vegetable oil into the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the pork roast into the slow cooker; pour in the barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, and chicken broth. Stir in the brown sugar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, onion, garlic, and thyme. Cover and cook on High until the roast shreds easily with a fork, 5 to 6 hours.

2. Remove the roast from the slow cooker, and shred the meat using two forks. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker, and stir the meat into the juices.

3. Spread the inside of both halves of hamburger buns with butter. Toast the buns, butter side down, in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Spoon pork into the toasted buns.

Image via Pxhere - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0) Public Domain

Sausage, Veggie, and Apple Sheet Pan Dinner

This Sheet Pan Dinner is the perfect way to use those seasonal veggies and herbs. It's an easy recipe to throw together and it has the perfect flavors to make you feel warm and cozy on cold winter nights.

Ingredients

• 12 oz. smoked turkey sausage, sliced into 1/3-inch thick slices

• 16. oz sweet potatoes,* peeled and diced into 3/4-inch cubes

• 16. oz. brussels sprouts, halved

• 1/2 medium red onion, diced into chunks

• 1 Tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves)

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1 tsp each dried thyme, sage and rosemary (crush rosemary)

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 crisp baking apples, cored and diced into 1 1/4-inch chunks (I recommend honey crisp.)

• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rimmed 18 by 13-inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  

2. Add sausage, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, apples, onion and garlic to sheet pan.

3. Drizzle everything with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme, sage and rosemary then season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat. 

4. Roast in preheated oven 15 minutes then remove and toss.  

5. Return to oven and continue to roast until veggies and apples are tender, about 15 minutes longer.

6. Sprinkle with parsley and serve warm.

Mini Philly Cheesesteaks

Miniaturized sandwiches don't usually float my boat, or submarine, as they're almost always not as good as the full-sized versions, but these mini Philly cheesesteaks really captured everything I love about the classic.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, or as needed

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, or as needed

• 1 cup cold milk

• 2 ounces shredded provolone cheese, or more to taste

• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

• salt to taste

• 1 (12 ounce) skirt steak

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided, or as needed

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/3 cup diced onion

• 1/3 cup diced sweet peppers

• 2 baguettes, or as needed, cut into 48 1/2-inch thick slices

• 1/4 cup shredded provolone cheese, or as needed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheets with aluminum foil.

2. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk flour into hot butter and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is pale and flour taste cooks off, about 1 minute. Pour milk into flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is hot and thickened, 3 to 6 minutes. Add 2 ounces provolone cheese, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and salt; stir until cheese is completely melted. Remove from heat.

3. Season steak all over with salt and ground black pepper.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Cook steak in hot oil, turning occasionally, until meat is slightly firm and pink on the inside, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate.

5. Return skillet to heat and pour water into the skillet; bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Pour liquid from the skillet over steak. Cool steak to room temperature; dice meat and place meat and accumulated juices from the plate into a large bowl.

6. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; saute onion and peppers in hot oil until softened and slightly translucent, about 5 minutes.

7. Stir peppers and onions mixture into diced meat; season with salt and pepper.

8. Spread bread slices out on prepared baking sheets and drizzle remaining olive oil over the top. Turn slices over so that the oiled-side is facing down. Spread a thick layer of cheese mixture onto each slice. Spoon meat mixture over cheese. Sprinkle provolone cheese over the top of each slice.

9. Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cheese is melted, 12 to 15 minutes.

Stella's Crock Pot Chicken Noodles

Hi.  John Morgan here.  You might have noticed a lack of posts on our website and social media over the past couple of weeks.  On Friday, September 14, my mother, Stella Morgan, passed away after complications following a medical procedure a week earlier.

If you didn’t know my mom, you might think Corena’s Kitchen would be a weird place to share this news.  However, for those of you who knew her, this is the perfect place.  She loved to cook!  During her funeral service, my uncle shared fond memories of family gatherings where mom would cook enough food to feed a small army.

One of mom’s signature dishes that was passed down through our family is homemade chicken noodles.  She would fix a five gallon kettle of them for Thanksgiving!  However, sometimes when it was just a few people over for dinner, she would fix a crock pot version using Reames brand frozen noodles.  This was faster than going to the trouble of making noodles from scratch.  In honor of mom, here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 Chicken Breasts

• 2 Cans, Cream of Chicken Soup

• 1 Box, Chicken Broth

• 1 Stick of Butter, melted

• Pepper, to taste

• 24 oz, Frozen Reames Egg Noodles

Instructions

1. Combine chicken, cream of chicken soup, broth, butter, and pepper in a crock pot.  Cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low in a crock pot.

2. Take it out so it can cool.  Then cut into pieces.

3. Put 24 oz of frozen Reames Egg Noodles in the crock pot after removing the chicken.

4. Add chicken back in.

5. Continue cooking 1 hour on high or 2 on low.  Stirring every 15 minutes away from the sides and bottom.

6. Add up to 2 more cups of liquid (broth or chicken bouillon) if needed.