When I first discovered Doña María’s Ready-to-Serve molé sauce I was really, really skeptical. Molé, a spicy chocolate sauce, is one of those things that I’ve tasted done really, really well and really poorly. And, quite frankly, my expectations were so low that I actually reserved some of the sauce and only made half my enchiladas just in case they turned out bad. But when all was said and done, this was absolutely incredible.

I added a chipotle pepper with adobo to the sauce, which added a really necessary spice and complexity to the sauce that really brought it together. But even as I was spooning it over my enchiladas, stuffed with chicken sautéed with chipotle and lime, sweet onions and red pepper and chihuahua cheese, I still wasn’t entirely convinced this would work.

After baking this at 350º for 15 minutes it was bubbly and smelled incredible. And, when all was said and done, it was just delicious!

I served it up with some Mexican rice (leftover rice cooked up with leftover salsa and a little butter) topped with fresh avocado, and a fresh vine-ripe tomato. It was easily one of the best meals I’ve made in a long time, and you can bet I used the leftovers and the rest of the sauce for an impressive lunch tomorrow. Next time, I’m going to stuff these with nothing but vegetables and cheese for an awesome vegetarian meal.

When it comes to Doña María Ready-to-Serve Mole, I’m a believer.

The Bayou Bourbon Glaze was appealing immediately, even though I didn’t have a plan for using it. This recipe came together because of a handful of ingredients that needed to get used. A bunch of carrots and half a green pepper needed some love, so I peered into my pantry to look for some options.

This recipe came out sweet, delicious, and really unique! I know it’s not what the sauce was intended for, but that’s what makes it fun! Here’s what I did…

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Bottle of Tastefully Simple Bayou Bourbon Glaze (you’ll use about half)
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1/2 can of pineapple chunks
• 1/2 lb of gemelli or other pasta, cooked

Sauté the chicken and onion with a little bit of olive oil until browned. Add the green pepper, the carrots and the bourbon glaze. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through and the ca. If the sauce seems very thick, add a bit of pineapple juice. When everything’s cooked through, add the pineapple and heat it through.

Toss the chicken, vegetables and sauce with pasta!

If you’re just learning to cook, write this recipe down. If you’re trying to impress a dinner party full of friends or a date, write this down. It’s brilliant.

Okay, it’s not brilliant, but it’s easy and seriously, everybody loves it. Chicken cacciatore is one of the first fancypants recipes I ever made and one of the things that convinced me that I might actually be good at this cooking thing.

So remember the baby bottles of wine I told you about? The ones that cost about $1 apiece at my local grocery store? Well, they’re back, this time with a yummy cabernet sauvignon.

You can use any red wine, and if you’re really into wine (I’m not), go ahead and buy a fancier bottle. But this will do the trick nicely, I promise you.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 14oz of stewed or diced tomatoes. (I prefer no-salt added so I can have more control over the seasoning)
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce (Classico Florentine’s my favorite)
  
• 4lb chicken parts. (Bone-in breasts are great, but if you’re looking for cheap this works great with drumsticks or thighs)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced (use whatever veggies you like. Carrots are great in this dish too)
• 4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• Generous amounts of Italian Herbs, salt and pepper to taste. (I will never tell you how much to spice something. Just remember that the flavor will intensify as the sauce reduces, so beware of over-salting)
• 1 mini bottle of cabernet sauvignon
• 1 tube of prepared polenta. My favorite is San Gennaro, and many grocery stores carry this. Scared of polenta? Serve this over noodles…chicken.
  

Season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Drizzle about 2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the bottom of a high-walled sauté pan and turn the heat on medium. Give the oil a minute or two to heat up, then add the raw onion, garlic and vegetables. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the vegetables begin to soften. Place the chicken parts skin-down in the pan amongst the veggies and cook until the skin is browned. If you’re using drumsticks, brown them all around.

Pour the little bottle of wine over the chicken and sauté for 2 minutes before adding the tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle generously with Italian herbs…

QUICK TIP: Basil’s hard to screw up. Oregano’s easy to screw up. When in doubt, be generous with basil and take it slow with the oregano. Too much oregano will make your sauce bitter. If that happens, try adding some tomato paste to your sauce. The sweetness of the tomato will help balance it out. Also, salt’s about the easiest thing to screw up, and most shortcut dishes (because they start with canned veg or sauce) don’t require any extra salt. [Follow the cut for the rest of the recipe]

Anyway, back to the recipe. Turn the heat to low and cover your pan, leaving the lid a bit off-kilter to allow for some steam to escape. After 15 minutes, check, stir everything and flip your chicken. Repeat this once. When you repeat this a third time, remove the lid entirely. Your chicken should be cooked enough by now to start tasting your sauce. Season as needed. After another 15 minutes, the sauce should be plenty thick, super flavorful and the chicken will be cooked through.

If it’s not? Remove the chicken and turn the heat on high, stirring often, which will encourage the sauce to reduce.

So about the polenta… Slice your polenta into 1/4″ thick slices. If you’ve got a grill pan, oil it and heat it up. If not, just use a regular frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. Grill or sauté until browned, then flip it over. A few slices creates a great bed for this dish and it’s so much more fun than regular pasta!

When I made my Shrimp Scampi a couple weeks ago I knew I’d be craving jambalaya come Mardi Gras, and while I was too busy the week of Fat Tuesday to make one of my signature dishes, I was happy to have the shrimp stock I made conveniently frozen and ready to add to this dish. I didn’t want to use my beautiful jumbo shrimp in this dish, but the flavor of the shrimp was still intense!!

Whenever Woodmans has a sale on Daisy Brand Chicken Sausage I always stock up to freeze it, especially when it’s the Andouille Smoked Sauage. Perfectly spiced with the lightness of chicken sausage — seriously, does it get any better?

Here’s how tonight’s Jambalaya came together so you can try it for yourself. Want a shortcut version? Try my Fat Cat Tuesday Jambalaya from the archives!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups seafood stock, chicken broth or water
• 1 Knorr Chipotle Bouillon Cube (a bit of powdered chipotle or chili powder works too); leave out if you don’t want your jambalaya spicy)
• Juice from 1 can of tomatoes
• 1 cup brown rice

Start the broth, juice and bouillon on a back burner. When boiling, add the rice and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and let this go while you get the rest going. Pay attention to when you started this!

• 2 Links Andouille Chicken Sausage, diced (a regular smoked sausage works too)
• 1 chicken breast, diced
• 1/2 medium onion or one small onion, chopped
• 1 red or green pepper, diced
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or 1 tbsp jarred garlic)
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Roasted Corn
• 1 can tomatoes (add the juice to the rice)
• Penzey’s Cajun Seasoning (generously, to taste)
• Dash of Penzey’s Gumbo Filé.

Add the onion and garlic to a deep sauté pan (I love my Pampered Chef Flat-bottomed Wok for this) with a little bit of olive oil and sauté until the onions start to sweat. Toss in the chicken breast and sausage and a few shakes of Cajun Seasoning and cook until the chicken is white on the outside.

Add the tomatoes and some more seasoning and toss until everything is coated. Add the rice and the cooking liquid and toss to combine. Reduce heat to low and cover, checking to stir and taste every 10 minutes. Add more cajun seasoning to taste, a little each time.

You’ll want the rice to go about a total of 45 minutes, so continue cooking until your rice has hit 45 minutes.  When it’s nearly done, add the roasted corn.

Italian restaurants and I have a tricky relationship. It’s because I make REALLY good Italian food. I’m better at some cuisines than others, but Italian is easily the one I understand the most completely. Because of this I find a lot of Americanized Italian food bland, often salty, and usually end up saying “My lasagna/ravioli/pesto is better.”

However, there’s one dish that they make at Basilico in Norridge, Illinois, that I crave regularly called “Pollo Bella Vista.” It’s “Breast of chicken topped with prosciutto, eggplant, mozzarella, tomato, and artichoke hearts; baked in a light marinara and wine sauce” and it is absolutely divine. I decided to try to create the flavor at home and while I didn’t get it exact (lacking the eggplant and didn’t use wine), what I created is definitely going to be a new favorite in this house. So, in honor of Basilico’s delicious recipe, I call this one “Baked Pasta Bella Vista.”

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 chicken breasts, diced or sliced
• 4 slices prosciutto, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4-6 sundried tomatoes, softened and chopped
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained but left in can; set aside
• 1 jar good spaghetti sauce (Classico Spinach Florentine is my absolute favorite)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 lb penne pasta, cooked al-dente and rinsed

Preheat your broiler to HIGH. In a large sauté pan or flat-bottomed wok, sauté chicken, prosciutto, onion and garlic in a little olive oil until cooked through. While this is going, take each artichoke heart and squeeze the juice into the pan. It’s a little labor-intensive but it’s worth it for the flavor. Then, chop all the artichoke hearts. By now your chicken should be cooked through, so you can add the artichokes.

Cook down until the sauce this creates reduces a bit. Now add your jar of sauce and toss it all until combined.

Put the cooked pasta into a casserole dish and cover with 1/2 of the cheese. Spoon the sauce over this and stir it all until combined. Top with the remaining mozzarella. On a shelf in the middle of the oven, broil uncovered until cheese is browned and bubbly (about 10-15 minutes). You can skip the broiling step if you don’t have a broiler, but the burnt cheese on the top just adds to the flavor.

Chicken piccata is something I’ve never tried to make before. I used to love Lean Cuisine’s Chicken Piccata back when they had it (I think it might be spookily similar to the Lemon Chicken now)  so when I saw that Trader Joes carried a jarred chicken piccata sauce, I was ecstatic to try it. The results…

Meh?

It’s not BAD, and part of it was my fault for pairing it with the absolute WRONG vegetables; I should have waited until I had some root veggies for roasting with this. But the sauce, unlike all the other Trader Joes pepared sauces i’ve tried, tastes like it comes from a jar. I even sauteed my own onions to give it some more body, but it just kind of fell flat. Again, it was yummy and all, but meh?

Can’t win ‘em all, I guess.

Trader Joes, how do I love thee. I don’t care that you’re Aldi in a fancy dress. In fact, I love that you’re Aldi in a fancy dress and your delicious foods are priced accordingly. And I do love thee. Let me count the ways.

First there’s their Garlic Naan, in the freezer section for < $2 a package of  four big pieces. For that I love you lots. Then there’s the Vegetable Biryani, so conveniently packaged and ready to devour…

My favorite part about Trader Joes is that they make it easy and inexpensive to cook gourmet quality ethnic food. If I’m going to cook, I require variety, and what’s not to love about making something like Indian food easier?

I used Patak’s Rogan Josh sauce with chicken, onions and peppers in the goodie bags leftover from our friend’s taco party and piled the rest of it together.  Cheap, quick, and restaurant quality. Thank you, Trader Joes.

Rotisserie chicken is probably my husband’s favorite thing that I make. It’s also fun because it always looks terribly impressive to the people at work when I bring in a tasty 1/4 chicken meal for lunch and they ask “Where’d you get that?” They ask even though they know better, that I make my own meals most of the time. Perhaps because they hope one day I’ll say “nah, I ordered in last night.” I do love my leftovers.

The irony is that while it looks mighty impressive, it’s one of the simplest meals I make. Seriously, I Set It And Forget It. That’s right, I have a Showtime Rotisserie. And boy, do I love it so. I only use it about once a month or so because there’s just so much stuff I love to make, but it’s always a hit and it’s seriously easy. I got mine for a steal off Ebay; check Craigslist too.

If you have a rotisserie, I can’t recommend Stretch Silicone Cooking Bands enough. Wrap the chicken, roast, etc., and these babies come off easily AND can be cleaned and reused over and over. They’re easily of the best $6 investments I’ve made for  my kitchen.

I flavored this chicken with Penzey’s Galena Street rub and, quite literally just set it and forgot it. I steamed carrots on the top and served it up with some broccoli cheese rice for a super easy yet very impressive meal.

CONFESSION: I was unimpressed by Frontera Grill. I’ve been fortunate to eat at Rick Bayless‘ Chicago restaurant twice, and while the ceviche is incomparable with any other, everything else was way too smoky for my taste, which is sad because Mexico: One Plate at a Time is one of my favorite cooking shows and I have huge amount of respect for Rick Bayless and what he’s taught me about Mexican cooking.

That said, the Frontera Mexican Pantry products are among the most delicious prepared sauces around. Every time I use them the food is easily restaurant quality; and I’d much rather eat this than the food from the actual restaurant. This time I used the Red Chile and Roasted Garlic Enchilada Sauce. I filled the corn tortillas with shredded chicken that I mixed with caramelized onions and poblano peppers, cooked with some brown sugar to add some extra sweetness. Some chihuahua and sharp cheddar cheese rounded it out.

Seriously. Chicken Helper. I know. Doesn’t it look awesome? Yeah, it was.

I make a mean jambalaya from scratch. But Tuesday night isn’t the night to make things from scratch, especially on Fat Cat Tuesday.

Tonight we added a new member to our family, our newly adopted fat cat Pippen, so naturally we needed some cajun goodness to celebrate! And Chicken Helper (Hamburger Helper’s little sister) is a great way to start. But, of course, I can never just let it go like that.

What did I add to give this a more authentic N’Awlins flavor?

• 1 lb Chicken (per the recipe)
• 1 Turkey Smoked Sausage
• 1/2 lb shrimp
• Penzey’s Hot Chili Seasoning
• Dash of Penzey’s Gumbo Filé Seasoning
• 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (for some proper tomato fllavor; usually I add a can of diced tomatoes)
• 1/2 diced white onion
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• 1 diced poblano pepper

Add the shrimp at the very, very end to avoid overcooking it. Authentic flavor with a really quick prep. Not as good as my Jambalaya from scratch, but definitely a close second in a pinch!