Made From “Scratch” – Some of Purely Poultry’s Team Members Share their favorite Recipes for you to try as the New Year Rolls In

Here at Purely, we not only work our day jobs ensuring that you have great products and great service, we also have flocks and families of our own and many of us love cooking – especially with our home-grown poultry.  We thought it would be a great idea to share our favorite recipes with you, our valued customers.  So, here’s a favorite from each of us, tried and true, and delicious!  We will include new recipes in our Newsletter each week going forward as well, so if you haven’t signed up for that yet, this is a great time to get on board.

Cassandra has been with Purely Poultry since 2013.  She is the resident baker and we all wish we lived closer to her so that we could share her goodies more often.  Here, she shares one of her all-time favorite chicken recipes.  Stop by Cass’ house often enough and you’ll likely find this simmering from time to time.

Herbaceous Hot Pot
from Better Homes and Gardens

2 large onions, sliced crosswise
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
1 lb. button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. each snipped fresh thyme and rosemary (or 1 tsp. each dried and crushed)
3 large red skin potatoes, sliced (3 cups)
8 skinless, boness chicken thighs or 4 1-inch thick pork chops (about 8oz each)
1/4 c. dry white wine or chicken broth (use the wine!)
1 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces

*I have used double the amount of chicken many times because the thighs cook down a lot. Just add it in a different layer instead of together with the other chicken.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a skillet, cook the onions and garlic in hot oil over medium heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Transfer onion mixture to a bowl. Add mushrooms to skillet, cook until tender. Drain excess liquid.

2. In a 3-qt Dutch oven or cassoulet, spread half of the onions across the bottom. Sprinkle with 1 tsp each of herbs (of half of dried herbs). Spoon half of the mushrooms over top. Layer with 1/2 of the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Lay the chicken thighs on potatoes. Add white wine or broth. Layer remaining onions, herbs, more salt and pepper, and mushrooms. Arrange remaining potatoes on top, overlapping as necessary to cover. Top potatoes with butter.

4. Cover and bake 2 hours. Remove cover; increase oven to 400 F and back 30-40 minutes more or until potatoes are golden brown. To serve, spoon into large soup bowls; top with shaved Lancashire or cheddar cheese, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

 

Anna is another invaluable teammate here at Purely.  When she’s clocked out, cooking is one of her favorite pasttimes as well!  She considers herself a bit of a gourmet, but was happy to share this recipe she likes to whip up with her boys on a busy weeknight.  Enjoy!

I make this chicken chili mac thing for my kids sometimes and even my youngest will eat most of what’s in his bowl. I will have to try and write down how I do it the next time I make it. I don’t really do recipes. My recipe book looks something like this….

Saute the chicken with some veggies you are interested in green, red and/or yellow peppers, maybe some carrots, you might even want to add some green beans in if you are feeling frisky. Use a bit of oil in the bottom of the pan and seasoning with a goodly amount of garlic (because garlic is the ambrosia of life in cooking), a goodly amount of chili powder, salt and pepper to taste (pepper is important! don’t skimp!). If you like it a bit spicy you can also add a bit of cayenne. Sometimes I’ll add some Montreal steak seasoning or Mediterranean sea salt too. Have fun with it!

Once this is complete, take 1-3 cans of crushed stewed tomatoes. The amount depends on how soupy you want it. Once complete (anywhere from 45 minutes-2 hours depending on the amount made) mix in with a box of you favorite cooked noodles and Voilà! Dinner for 4-10 people.

 

Ruth is kind of the glue that holds it all together around here.  She is part of almost every department (or Circle, as we call it in Holocracy), if not every one of them, and contributes way more than she even realizes to the success and morale here at Purely.  We love her and, as busy as she ALWAYS is, she finds time to cook awesome meals for Tyler and their boys, too.  Here’s Ruth’s recipe that is a definite keeper!

Chicken with Rosemary-Mushroom Sauce
from eMeals

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp dried thyme
5 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 8oz package sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp butter

Cut chicken into strips. Season with salt and pepper. Stir together flour and thyme in a shallow dish, dredge chicken in mixture, shaking off excess. Cook chicken in hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 4/5 minutes per side until done. Remove from skillet. Cook mushrooms in 1 tbsp hot oil in same skillet over medium-high heat until browned. Add vinegar, broth, and rosemary; return chicken to skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, ans simmer until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup. Whisk in mustard and butter.

Serve with rice or noodles and steamed vegetables.

 

Mandy is a newbie here at Purely Poultry, but is definitely experienced in both customer care and cooking!  She’s contributed some amazing recipe ideas and this one looks amazing and easy, and who doesn’t love easy?  I would have tried it myself before writing this blog, but I couldn’t try them all fast enough! Check out some of her other recipes in Newsletters to come.

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Chicks In A Blanket

This super easy and forgiving recipe gives a nice spin on pigs in a blanket. My kids love it!
2 Cooked Shredded chicken breasts
1 tube Refrigerated crescent dough
Shredded cheeses(whatever amount and type you want)
Ranch Dressing
Cooked Crumbled Bacon

1. Place thick shreds of chicken breast, cheese, bacon on a single unrolled crescent dough and then drizzle with ranch

2. Roll up and heat according to crescent package directions, and serve.

 

Shannon O is not just another smiling voice over the phone.  She wears a lot of hats both here at Purely Poultry and in her home life.  She and her family are involved in many activities and Shannon is nothing if not busy! Somehow she still finds time to nourish her awesome little family with home cooked meals and this is one of her favorites!

Home Made Chicken Alfredo (Great use of left over chicken as well)
What you need:
1 Pan
1 Pot (noodles)
1 Large Pot (sauce)
2 1/2 C Chicken
1/2 box of Linguine noodles
1/2 C Butter
8 oz Cream Cheese
2 C Milk
6 oz Parmasan Cheese
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
Dice up raw or cooked Chicken 2 1/2 cups
Cook in fry pan until done
Season with salt, pepper, seasoned salt to taste
Boil water and add linguine noodles to water until they are to your preferred tenderness.
In a separate LARGE pot:
melt 1/2 C Butter
8 oz Cream Cheese
6 oz Shredded Parmasan
2 C Milk
When creamy consistency season with
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Black Pepper.

Drain your noodles and add to the Alfredo Sauce pot and Stir in your chicken. Cook everything together for 5 minutes in the large pot to let it come to greatness!
Let cool and stir occasionally to allow the sauce to thicken and serve.

 

And then, there’s me, Shannon M.  I love my job here at Purely Poultry both working with our awesome customers and writing things like this! But, my amazing kids and husband need attention, too, and seem to think they need to eat on the daily so, I cook.  There are never any leftovers when I make this recipe, so I think you’ll love it too.  Here’s a family favorite of ours..

 

CHEESY CHICKEN AND BACON LASAGNA ROLL-UPS

4 cups Chicken, cooked and shredded
1 lb Bacon, cut into small pieces
1 small container of top-the-tater seasoned sour cream
1 pkg cream cheese
2 cups mozzarella
1 cup parmesan
1 cup onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
12 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese (optional)
3 cups prepared Alfredo Sauce ( I use store-bought)
1 1/2 cups prepared tomato-basil sauce ( store bought, NOT just spaghetti sauce, the tomato-basil part is kind of important, I think)

1. Spray baking dish with non-stick spray and spread 1 cup of sauce evenly over the bottom of the pan.

2. Start by frying the bacon, adding onions about 3 minutes before the bacon in finished and garlic in the last minute of cooking. Ensure that your bacon is nice and crisp, but not overcooked. – Drain and set aside to cool.

3. Mix the Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, Ricotta and parmesan until well blended, set aside.

4. Lay the cooked lasagna out on a paper towel and cover with another paper towel, pat to dry.

5. “Frost” each Lasagna piece with the cream cheese mixture

6. Sprinkle each piece liberally with crumbled bacon/onion mixture.

7. Divide chicken evenly over each piece of lasagna

8. Sprinkle liberally with mozzarella cheese

9. Roll each lasagna up, cinnamon roll style, and place in prepared baking dish, seam side down, snuggling them next to one another to hold the ingredients in during cooking.

10. Spread remaining Alfredo Sauce over top of the roll-ups, sprinkling with any leftover bacon mixture and mozzarella cheese. Pour the tomato-basil sauce over the roll-ups in a glaze-like fashion, so each piece has a small amount, but is not smothered with the tomato basil sauce.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes, uncovered. Allow to rest for 5 minutes or so before serving.

I serve this with Garlic toast and a small salad for dinner, then re-heat for lunch, should I be lucky enough to have leftovers.

Enjoy!