Chicken Divan with Asparagus

 

When there’s a rotisserie chicken in the fridge and it’s a super busy week we tend to default to chicken green bean casserole.  Known here on the blog as curried chicken casserole.  Or Miz Lou’s chicken casserole.  It’s a family favorite.  I was ready for some nice, quick alternatives.  Turns out this is a great one.  Particularly when it’s served over rice and the sauce recipe is doubled so it can go into my favorite chicken lemon rice soup! 

This meal was so quick to make that I felt like I’d started cooking too early!  And, it was good!  Now, of course I didn’t follow the recipe.  Yes, I remain in the camp of a recipe is a suggestion.  No reason to not make changes in my book!

The original recipe called for chopping the asparagus and briefly sauteeing it then building the sauce on top of it and then adding the chicken.  Finally you put the cheese on top and pop the whole saucepan in the oven.  One, I didn’t want the asparagus to cook that long.  Two, I wanted a prettier dish.  And, three, I wanted the extra sauce for the soup. 

This will be a regular for us.  LOL, well as regular as any recipe ever is!

Ingredients:

1 lb thick asparagus, bottoms snipped

Olive oil sprayer

3 T butter

3 T flour

1 ½ c chicken stock or broth

1 T heavy cream

Juice of ½ lemon

2 slices chicken per serving

1 ½ c shredded mozzarella cheese

½ c cooked rice per person

 

Directions: 

Place the asparagus on a roasting pan in one layer.  Spray it lightly with olive oil.  Roast it for 5 minutes at 400F.  

In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter.  Add in the flour and stir well.  Let it cook for a few minutes to remove the raw taste.  Slowly stir in the chicken stock and stir regularly until it’s thickened.  Add in the lemon juice and the cream.  I also added in a cup of the shredded mozzarella.  

Lay the chicken slices on top of the roasted asparagus.  Spoon over some of the sauce.  Top with the rest of the shredded mozzarella and a little sprinkle of thyme for color.  Broil until the cheese is melted. 

On your dinner places, put a scoop of rice in the middle and top with some of the sauce.  Then, top that with the asparagus and chicken.  Serve.

adapted from 150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken by Tony Rosenfeld

 

Pantry Beef Stew and Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

 

Every year we hike down to Florida to visit with our clients who either live or winter there.  I pack a cooler full of fridge food and take bags of pantry groceries so we don’t have to shop as much while we’re there.  When we head home I invariably have some goodies from Bayway and from Ted’s Smoked Fish and from the citrus store.  And, a few leftovers.  This year the leftovers were pretty sparse.  A heart of romaine and a couple of bell peppers and half a sweet onion. 

 

Thanks to two days on the road and consequently two days of crummy road food, both of us had grumbly tummies when we finally got home.  The first evening we’d just gotten home and so we pulled out the Triscuits and the smoked fish dip from Bayway along with the smoked salmon from Ted’s.  Easy peasy. 

 

Saturday we slept.  And, slept.  And, slept.  Then when I finally got to the kitchen I really didn’t feel like cooking.  One of the recipes I’d read was from a Pampered Chef cookbook.  It was for Greek Lemon Chicken soup.  That sounded like it’d do really well with a grumbly tummy.  And it did.  It was so easy to put together.  I even used a can of chicken!  We had this for dinner and then I had it for lunch for three days and was ready to make more when that was done. 

 

Then, Sunday evening we felt better but after working all day I just didn’t have the energy to cook a big meal.  Pantry stew was created!  There’s a recipe for beef and noodles from a gal who used to own a noodle making business.  It calls for a can of beefy mushroom soup.  Something I’d never used until I wanted to make that recipe.  Then, I couldn’t find it at the grocery so ordered a case from Amazon.  You’re seeing what happened here, right?  Use up the soup!  There was also a can of roast beef from Costco that’d taken a tumble on its way to the shelf.  Dented cans should always be used asap as long you know when the dent was created.  Otherwise, they should be discarded.  Too risky!  Note please that I didn’t measure, just dumped…

 

Pantry Stew

Ingredients:

Handful of carrots (par-cook til al dente)

Onion

Garlic

Olive oil

Red wine – maybe a quarter of a cup

Tabasco

Worcestershire

Consommé

Beefy mushroom soup 

Can of beef

Handful of peas

Noodles

Directions:

Heat the olive oil to shimmering in a sturdy saucepan.  Once it’s hot toss in the carrots and onions.  When the onion is translucent, add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.  Then, deglaze the pan with  the red wine.  Add in a couple of good dashes of Worcestershire sauce and some Tabasco.  Then, pour in the soups and add the noodles.  You’re going to let the broth in the soups cook the noodles.  Finally, when the noodles are about three minutes from being done toss in a handful of frozen peas. 

 

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

2 c chopped cooked chicken

2 t olive oil

2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped

½ c chopped onion

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 t lemon zest

¼ c lemon juice (I used double the lemon)

2 T snipped fresh parsley (I omitted this)

1 can cream of chicken soup

42 oz chicken stock

½ t freshly ground black pepper

2/3 c uncooked long-grain white rice

 

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven.  Add the carrots and onions and cook until the onion is translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.  Add the lemon juice, zest, cream of chicken soup, broth, and black pepper.  Once this mixture boils, add the rice, cover the pot and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes.  If you’re using the parsley, sprinkle it on top when serving. 

 

 

Chicken Cacciatore and Glazed Carrots plus Sausage Chowder for Lunch

 

Every once in a while I pick up a cookbook and really want to cook my way totally through it.  Comfort in an Instant is one of those.  Even though it’s an instant pot cookbook I’ve done the time math and many of the recipes are quicker on the stovetop.  Risotto is ten minutes to reach power, six under pressure and ten to decompress.  Twenty-six minutes versus twenty-five on the stovetop…  Yes, I do think in numbers and Excel spreadsheets 😊   At any rate, this is really a fun cookbook.  Among the half dozen try now recipes was Chicken Cacciatore.   

Then, after a run through Aldi’s we stopped at Ollie’s to browse the cookbooks.  Where I found Field to Fork.  A collection of recipes from the Old Farmers Almanac.  I opened it to Maple Orange Glazed Carrots and that was all I needed to see.  Into the cart.   

While I was fixing dinner I also made a pot of The Brick’s Sausage Stew.  The Brick is a hole in the wall dive bar in Jonesville.  We’ve been there once.  I can’t particularly recommend it but it’s an institution so is worth a visit.  While I was doing my friend Gail’s review a couple of days ago we started chatting about soups and how good they are this time of year.  She texted me the recipe today and the rest is history.  Lunch tomorrow will be really good!

What did we think about the Chicken Cacciatore?  A five out of five.  Ditto the Maple Orange Glazed Carrots.  Those were amazing.  A dinner that left both of us totally satisfied and looking forward to making both dishes again.

 

Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

2T olive oil

2 lbs bone-in, skin on chicken thighs

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 oz cremini or white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 small bell pepper, thinly sliced (I used green, the recipe called for red)

2 cloves garlic (I used minced)

¾ c canned diced tomatoes and their juice

¼ c dry white or red wine (I used white)

2 large sprigs rosemary (I used ½ t crushed)

2 T drained capers

 

Directions:

This recipe works on the stovetop, in an instant pot and in a slow cooker.  I chose the stovetop because the math worked out that that was the quickest method.  Therefore all of the instructions are based on that…  

Heat the olive oil.  Sprinkle the thighs with salt and pepper.  Brown both sides.  Remove the thighs from the skillet and add the onion, pepper, mushrooms and garlic.  Cook until they’re tender.  It’ll take about five minutes.  Add in the tomatoes, wine and rosemary.  Cook for a couple of minutes to tighten the sauce.  Add back the thighs.  Cook on low for another 10-15 minutes.  Or, you can use medium and shorten the time.  Add in the capers just before serving.

Here's how it looked:

adapted from Comfort in an Instant by Melissa Clark

 

Maple Orange Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

4-6 large carrots (I used baby carrots cut into coins)

1 T butter

¼ c maple syrup

2 T frozen orange juice concentrate

Pinch of salt

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Chopped walnuts – optional for garnish

 

Directions:

Cook the carrots until tender.  Drain and set aside on a warm stove. In a small skillet melt the butter and mix in the other ingredients.  Toss the carrots with the glaze.

adapted from Field to Fork

 

The Brick’s Sausage Chowder

 Ingredients:

1 package sausage (I used Polish Kielbasa) cut into medallions

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium green bell pepper, diced

4 Yukon gold potatoes or 2 large russet potatoes, diced

1 can hot chili beans

1 can diced stewed tomatoes

1 4 oz can of diced green chiles

1-2 T brown sugar

1-2 T chili powder

1 t garlic powder

 

Directions:

Saute the sausage, onion and bell pepper in olive oil just until softened.  Add the other ingredients, cover and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through. 

Thank you Gail!

 

 

 

Joyce's Chicken Dip

 

We had some friends over for dinner.  Old favorites were on the menu.  First I looked in my blog.  Then in my Word document called Kate’s Cookbook.  Then in the pdf recipe box.  Then in the real written recipes.  Turns out I’d pulled one of the recipes and it was parked in a bowl on the island.  The other was actually with the written recipes.  But, of five recipes only one was on here…  Time to get that resolved!

Joyce’s Chicken Dip was served to us by a friend named Joyce.  We typically stay at their place on our way to Florida.  She’s a WONDERFUL hostess and a really good cook.  Before we headed to our favorite white-table Atlanta restaurant (Canoe) for dinner Joyce put a bowl of this out on the counter.  Let me just say that that could have easily been dinner for both of us.  As much as we love Canoe, a big bowl of this yummy chicken dip would have been perfect. 

One of the most interesting things about this recipe is the grocery shopping.  Turns out I usually find the soup mix in the ethnic aisle.  Ok, so vegetable soup mix isn’t American?  ‘Splain that to me Lucy!  I even resorted to ordering it for about a zillion dollars on Amazon before I figured out the ethnic aisle trick.

Joyce’s Chicken Dip

Ingredients:

1 c mayonnaise

1 c sour cream

1  oz can chunk chicken

1  oz can diced water chestnuts

1 envelope Knorr’s vegetable soup mix

1 8 oz block extra sharp cheddar, coarsely grated (we use Cracker Barrel)

 

Directions:

Mix everything at least an hour before serving so the vegetables have an opportunity to soften.  We’ve served this with Triscuits, pita bread, carrot sticks…  And just an fyi, it makes a GREAT sandwich!

 

Baked Chicken Rose and Feta Stuffed Cucumbers

I've been having a lot of fun with a cookbook that's really old.  It belonged to a friend of mine who recently passed away.  Her hubby showed up at the office with a box of cookbooks.  This was the first one that I pulled out.  Published in 1963 by the Wine Advisory Board it is well beyond dog-eared.  Just as I do, Janet wrote lots of notes on the recipes she tried. And on the ones she wanted to try.  We started with one called Sherried Tomatoes.  Connie inhaled his serving while declaring, "These are some of the best tomatoes I've EVER had."  It was a recipe Janet had marked, "Excellent."

One that she'd not marked tried or to try was called Baked Chicken Rose.  Now, let me mention again that this cookbook is old.  VERY old.  It's of the generation that used convenience foods whenever possible.  So much so that when I found a recipe that called for starting with making chicken stock I was totally shocked.  So, this recipe calls for chicken bouillon and canned mushrooms and margarine.  Things I pretty much avoid or, in the case of margarine, never use.  I also realized that using chicken thighs I could make the whole dish on the stovetop.  It's just plain hot enough that I didn't want the heat of the oven.  What did we think?  I"m so glad there are leftovers!!!  This was a five out of five.  I've never used rose wine in a dish before but I'm certainly going to start now.  Fabulous flavor!!!  If I was someone who had the monthly rotation of recipes, this one would be on it.  But, I don't so all I can say it I'll make it again SOON!

To go with the chicken, I made a salad.  Not too sure what I was going to do, I peeled and seeded a big cucumber.  Then, I cut the halves in half so I had four smallish "boats."  My mind went to my friend Christiane's cucumber salad.  That I love, love, love.  I also could taste a wonderful herb salad.  Out to the herb garden where I cut a big handful of dill and a big handful of parsley.  Those got chopped finely.  Then, out came a tub of feta and the jar of capers.  I added some of each to the bowl of herbs.  Then, I poured in some really good extra virgin olive oil and pretty much mashed the whole thing up.  All of that went into the boats.   Which went onto plates and were topped with a good drizzle of everything aioli.  It's basically a spicy mayo with some tomato and some mustard and some peppers in an aioli base.  It's yummy!  But, you could drizzle over a balsamic glaze or a nice salad dressing just as easily.  We gave this one a five out of five too.  

Here's the recipe for the chicken:

Baked Chicken Rose


Ingredients:

6 chicken thighs, bone -in and skin on
2 T butter
6 T flour
1 c chicken stock
1/2 c rose wine
1/4 c thinly sliced green onions
8 oz box cremini mushrooms
1 T butter
1/2 T soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
14 oz can artichoke hearts (reservc the juice!)

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large skillet.  Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of the flour over the chicken skin.  Put the chicken thighs in skin side down.  Saute until they're nice and brown.  You're not going to want to eat the skin, but the browning will add flavor.  Flip the thighs and sprinkle on the balance of the flour.  Cook for a few minutes and then pour in the stock and the rose wine.  Allow all of that to thicken a bit.  While you're initially cooking the thighs, in a small skillet saute the sliced mushrooms in a tablespoon of butter.  Once the liquid has cooked off, add in the soy sauce and garlic.  When that liquid has cooked off, remove the skillet from the heat and set it aside.  Back to the thighs...  Add the green onions and the artichoke hearts and juice.  I chopped the artichoke hearts and they pretty much cooked into the sauce.  Next time I'll put another can of them in and cut those in half.  Add the mushrooms and cook until the sauce is thickened.  I had to add a bit more flour to get it as thick as I wanted.  You can serve this over rice, noodles, pasta, bulgur, quinoa, couscous...  Or, just plain. 

Simple Recipes

Sometimes the simple recipes are just as fabulous as the complicated ones.  The chicken wings we made for the ARC of Indiana fundraiser.  Or the tomato, zucchini, yellow squash gratin I made to use up extra produce. 

Let's start with the chicken wings.  For years I made La Brea Tar Pit Chicken Wings.  They are fabulous.  Then, I found A Taste of Palm Springs and a wing recipe with sherry, brown sugar and soy sauce.  Our grandkids were coming over for a weekend.  I knew son David would want to watch football so I did an appetizer bar for lunch.  Everyone devoured the wings.  Since then I've made them half a dozen times.  My brother's mother-in-law declared she had never eaten a chicken wing and promptly demolished half a dozen.  They're that good.  The last time I made them was for a fund raiser.  You take 75-100 bites and folks wander around and nibble.  We sold out in 15 minutes.  Yup, 15 minutes. 

Next up is the gratin.  There's a produce stand down the road.  They have a $1 per basket close out shelf.  That's where I start.  I went in looking for tomatoes and wound up spending $4.  Six large tomatoes, eight yellow squash, seven peaches plus four plums and the most overloaded basket EVER - with seventeen bananas.  Yes, you read that correctly.  SEVENTEEN.  In addition to the jalapenos, goat cheese and cherry tomatoes to use up, I now had a full bag of other produce.  Research time.  Eatyourbooks.com, New York Times, recipes I've scanned in at home, recipes I've scanned in at the office.  Some really great recipes.  But, what to make for an actual dinner in an hour?  Had to be quick.  Gourmet's Quick Kitchen had this wonderful gratin recipe.  It called for grated parmesan on top.  But, my elbow hurt from all of the work on the computer at the office.  So, I chopped off a piece about 1" long and 1/2" square.  And, proceeded to chop the heck out of it.  That turned out to be the difference between a four and a five.  Remember, we score dishes one thru five.  This one was a five. 

Bananas.  Still had that mountain of bananas to work my way through.  And, I'd gotten some apples from our Imperfect Produce box.  There was a recipe for a banana, apple, walnut Waldorf salad.  Sounded perfect. 

Still needed a protein since I'd not had any all day.  Shrimp poached in white wine would be perfect.

Here are the recipes...

Taste of Palm Springs Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
5 lbs chicken wings (fyi - the Costco wings are pre-cut but there are only 12 per pack with three packs for 5 lbs - the recipe says it makes 50-60 pieces.  It does not.)
1 c brown sugar, packed
3/4 c sherry
1/2 t dry mustard
1 c soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions
Separate the wings into two pieces after you've cut off the tips.  Bake the wings at 350 for thirty minutes.  I usually use a piece of aluminum foil on the half sheet so the clean up is easier!  While the wings are starting, heat the sauce ingredients.  Pour the sauce over the wings and bake for another two hours.  You want the wings to be totally glazed.  There may be a bit of sauce left but there shouldn't be much.


Tomato Zucchini Gratin

Ingredients:
1 large tomato
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
6 large leaves basil
1 t minced garlic
2 T olive oil
2 T freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cut the zucchini and yellow squash into 1/4" slices.  I got about 11-12 slices from each.  Cut the tomato into 1/4" slices then cut those in half.  Drizzle one tablespoon of the olive oil in a 9" pie plate.  Top that with the garlic.  Then layer over the vegetables.  The recipe called for one layer but I already had a baking dish for two so that's what I did.  On the first layer, sprinkle half the basil and half the parmesan.  Ditto the second.  Then drizzle the gratin with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.  Bake at 425 for 35 minutes. 


Apple Banana Waldorf Salad

Ingredients:

1 t orange zest
1 T seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 c mayonnaise
dash of nutmeg
1 apple, cored and diced
1 banana, peeled and sliced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 c chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

Directions:
Mix the orange zest, vinegar, mayonnaise and nutmeg.  Either toss everything together or make a deconstructed version like I did.

Cherry Chicken Salad

Connie isn't terribly fond of fruit.  Soup, fruit and corn.  That's pretty much his no-go list.  I could live on soup.  Mom's minestrone in particular.  But, I also love fruit and corn.  So, tonight when our cart at Costco looked like a Fruitopia, he wasn't amused.  Pears, peaches, cherries, clementines and red grapes all came home with us.  What are you going to make with all of that???  That was the question of the evening. 

I'd decided to make the cherry tabouleh I made last year.  But, we got home and didn't have cucumbers or parsley.  Most of my herbs are producing well.  Except for the parsley.  I'd bought a rotisserie chicken thinking I'd just go ahead and slice some to go with the tabouleh.  How about chicken salad with cherries instead?  Off to eatyourbooks.com and I found a plethora of such recipes.  Many called for tarragon.  Which I don't have.  A few called for dill.  Which I have in abundance.  I read all the ingredients in all the recipes and decided on my own recipe.  Which was fabulous if I do say so myself!

Cherry Chicken Salad
makes 4 good-sized sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast, cooked and chopped
2 ribs celery, diced
1 cup cherries, pitted and quartered
3/4 c walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 shallot, minced
1/4 c sour cream
1/2 c mayonnaise (or more to taste)
2 fronds fresh dill, minced
onion buns or bread, toasted or not

Roasted Rosemary Chicken

Let's have a show of hands of all of you who would have ever guessed that the best roast chicken recipe EVER would come from the Cake Boss?  Mine was certainly not raised!  Several months ago I stopped at The Christmas Tree Shop while I was at my Greenwood office.  I had about half an hour and wanted to pick up some bows for the window boxes at home.  While I was there, I looked at the cookbooks.  There were several I wanted and four of those came home with me.  I kept saying to myself that four was excessive but I really wanted them and they were all cheap.  The Small Plates one from Williams Sonoma was $1.99 and this one was $6.99.  So, I rationalized my way right up to the cash register.  As it turns out Small Plates is probably my favorite cookbook of the year.  This one may well turn out to be my second favorite.  It's Italian home cooking at it's best.  Now, we don't watch tv so I'd never even heard of the Cake Boss, much less watched him!  But, I did have fun reading his cookbook. 

Typically over the holidays we have a Girls Night Out dinner.  Those of you who've read this blog for a while know that GNO is a group of gals who've been getting together for about 20 years.  We used to meet monthly at a bar and have a grand time.  Now, we're much more likely to gather at someone's home and have a pitch-in.  That's what a bit of age does for you!  Judy and Carl do Halloween.  We do Christmas.  Except that this year we just couldn't find a weekend that'd work - except for this past week.  We were still missing a couple of gals and a few husbands/beaus but we got most of us together.  And, thanks to a very forgiving floor plan at our house, we all got to eat at one table. 

I said I'd make the meat and everyone else pitched in the sides.  Just about that time I read this roast chicken recipe.  And, I saw two more.  One from Ina Garten that I think was called engagement chicken.  I can't remember where I saw the third.  But, this was the one that stuck.  It was so easy.  And, it was the best roast chicken EVER.  Leftovers were spectacular.  Particularly with gravy made from the drippings.  Connie even had seconds on the gravy.  First time I've seen him do that in the twelve years we've been together.  I do believe that I've found the best recipe and will not make another roast chicken recipe.  I used to think I'd just keep trying new recipes for dishes even though I'd found one that was fabulous.  But, the older I get the more I appreciate finding THE ONE.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  And, I apologize for the fact that the photos aren't great.  It was a bit busy in my house when they were originally coming out of the oven.  So, you're seeing a leftover chicken...  Trust me here.  The skin was crispy and crackly and faintly scented of lemon and garlic.  The meat was tender and moist.  Perfection!

And, my friends?  Perfect also :-)

Now, let's get to the recipe then I'll show you how the process looked...

Roasted Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients:
1 small lemon quartered
1 small Spanish onion, quartered
1 small head garlic, cloves peeled
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped into 2" pieces
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 whole chicken, 3- 3 1/2 lbs.
1 T unsalted butter, softened at room temp
1 T coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

Directions:

Toss the lemon, onion, garlic and all but a couple of pieces of the rosemary with the salt and pepper.  Stuff that mixture into the cavity of the chicken.  Put the remaining rosemary under the skin of the breast of the chicken.  Lightly salt the chicken and loosely cover it with plastic wrap.  Make sure you're using a pan with sides as the chicken will release moisture!  Place it in the refrigerator overnight.  Bring the chicken to room temperature prior to roasting it.  That should take about 20 minutes.  While the chicken is getting up to room temp, preheat your oven to 425.  Dry the chicken with paper towels then put it in a roasting rack or a cast iron skillet.  Slather it with the butter.  Roast it for 45 minutes to an hour or until the thigh meat is 165F.  Remove from the oven and allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes prior to carving.  The drippings will make fabulous gravy.  But, that being said, the first night you really don't need any gravy for this...  It's the leftovers that will totally appreciate gravy.  Leftovers with some nice redskin potatoes.   And, maybe a little broccoli or some Brussels sprouts.

recipe adapted from Italian Cooking with the Cake Boss

Scotch Dinner

We are blessed with some of the most wonderful friends.  And, once in a while we get to celebrate something really fun with some of them.  Like Mark's retirement.  Time for Scotch and dinner. 

And, you can see our furry kids really wanted to join us.  But, they know better than to come in a room where humans are eating...

Dinner was to be pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon and served with a bourbon glaze, sweet potatoes and cauliflower gratin.  Except that Connie and I didn't communicate well.  He thought I had a pork tenderloin thawed so he put the ones from the grocery into the freezer.  Then, thanks to a big project at our office that HAD to be finished, he got to the house well after we'd started the other dishes.  There was simply no time for thawing pork tenderloins.  Thank goodness for buying and freezing chicken thighs.  Those are easy to thaw.  Not quite as easy to wrap with bacon, but easier to thaw :-)  Since we were celebrating Mark's retirement with a really nice bottle of Scotch, my intent was to use Scotch (our regular brand, not the really good stuff) in the glaze.  The recipe below reflects the way I actually made the dish.  Which turned out to be a fabulous dish in spite of the substitution.  And, in spite of the fact that the bacon simply wouldn't stay on the chicken...

I wanted to do something with cranberries and apples for the sweet potatoes.  A hunt through recipes I've saved didn't bring up anything I wanted to make.  But, there was a recipe on food.com that I could use as inspiration.  The cauliflower gratin was a recipe that I'd clipped from a magazine and tucked into an envelope of recipes to try soon.  Eons ago.  I have NO clue which magazine it came from.  I do wish they'd identify their recipes at the end of each because I really try hard to give credit as credit is due...  I'm assuming the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin/chicken is from Midwest Living.  It's credited to Chef Beth Murphy, Old Town Ale House. 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs with Scotch Glaze

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs (I'd recommend removing the skin)
8 strips thick cut bacon
1/2 c dark brown sugar
1 t Chinese five spice powder
1/2 c Scotch (we use Dewar's)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350. Par cook the bacon in an oven proof skillet just until it starts to brown.  Leave the bacon fat in the skillet.  Wrap the chicken thighs with the bacon and secure it with tooth picks.  Mix the brown sugar and Chinese five spice.  Pat the chicken thighs with the brown sugar mix.  Saute in the bacon fat until the bacon is browned.  Remove the skillet to the oven until the chicken is cooked through.

adapted from Chef Beth Murphy


Cauliflower Gratin with Almond Crust

Ingredients:

1/4 c butter
1 head cauliflower, separated into florets
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T flour
2 t chopped fresh thyme
1/2 t salt
1/2 c whipping cream
1 c grated Gruyere cheese
2/3 c panko
1/4 c sliced almonds
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, melt the butter.  Add the cauliflower and onion.  Saute for about 8 minutes, then add the garlic.  Stir in the flour, thyme and salt.  Then, once the cauliflower is thoroughly coated with the flour, pour the mix into a greased casserole.  Drizzle it with the cream.  Then, top it with the Gruyere, followed by the panko, then the almonds then the Parmesan.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.


Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole with Cranberry Relish

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, peeled and sliced about 1/8" thick
2 apples, sliced about 18" thick (I didn't peel them)
1 12 oz package cranberries
1/2 c dark brown sugar
1/4 c orange juice concentrate
1/4 c Scotch
1 t Chinese five spice powder
1/4 c butter
1/2 c chopped pecans

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, par cook the sweet potato until it is slightly softened but not mushy.  Ours took 5-8 minutes.  Drain the sweet potato.  In a casserole, layer the sweet potatoes and the apples.  I used three layers of each.  In a medium saucepan, mix the cranberries, brown sugar, OJ, Scotch and five spice powder.  Cook over medium heat until the cranberries pop.  Stir in the butter.  Once that's melted in, pour the relish over the sweet potatoes.  Top with the chopped pecans.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

adapted from Food.com