Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken with Spinach

Based on a a recipe I found online, this was incredibly simple.   I served the chicken and spinach over baked polenta rounds, and since the chicken breasts were pretty large, even with only 2 the recipe made four nice servings.  They were perfect for work-from-home workday lunches in this, the time of stay-at-home due to Corona Virus. 

One sad thing, I forgot to put the slivered almonds on it and I think that would be a nice addition.  Next time!

Ingredients:

• 2 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 heaping tablespoon honey mustard per chicken breast
• Dash of salt and coarsely ground black pepper
• 16 oz (2 packages) spinach, washed and dried--or more
• 2 tablespoons margarine (cut into small pieces)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• Optional: toasted sliced almonds

Directions:

1. Grease the crockery part of the slow-sooker with nonstick spray  
2. Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels, then rub with the honey mustard and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
   
3. Arrange the chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker 
4. Top with spinach. (The recipe said "If your slow cooker is too small for all of the spinach, steam it briefly and add the wilted spinach leaves." The 16 oz. made the slow cooker really full, but it shrunk down considerably.  So maybe adding more spinach and wilting it some would be good. )
5. Dot spinach with butter and minced garlic, and sprinkle with more salt and pepper.
   
   
6. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.  (See, look how much it shrinks down!)
   
   
7. Serve over polenta slices, baked in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.  Or alone, or with toast, or with whatever you want!

Lemon Chiffon Cake

My mixer broke in August, right as I was finishing practice baking for the State Fair.  It was terrible timing, but I was lucky to have several friends who offered to loan me their stand mixers for the duration, so I was able to finish my recipes!

Since there aren't any authorized repair shops in the entire state of Minnesota, I contacted the nice folks at Kitchen Aid and they told me how to get my mixer repaired.  They sent me a giant box with packing materials and I sent my beloved red mixer off to them in the Fall. My mixer finally got back to me in January, right as rain. 

To celebrate, I wanted to try something that would use the full power of the stand mixer.  So chiffon cake, it was!  This recipe was from King Arthur Flour and it was SO GOOD.  Everyone at work liked the texture and the flavor, too.  It would probably be even better served with berries or with a bit of lemon drizzle, but plain worked just fine.  Also, this was the first time I've ever used Grandma McElroy's square angel food cake pan.  It was a very cool shape and the cake came out just like a regular round one would. 
   
Ingredients:

• 2 cups (241g) all-purpose flour (NOT cake flour)
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups (298g) white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 8 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. 
2. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add (in order) the oil, water, egg yolks, vanilla, grated lemon peel, extract, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
    
4. Mix until smooth; scrape the bowl and mix for 30 seconds more.
5. In a separate bowl with clean beaters, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip until very stiff peaks form.
6. Fold one quarter of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it up
   
7. Gradually (in four additions) pour the yolk mixture back over the remaining whites, folding gently just until blended each time. 
8. Pour the batter into a 10" angel food cake pan (original recipe called for round, but I used square!)
9. Bake the cake for 55 minutes
   
10. Increase the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
11. Remove the cake from the oven, and cool it upside down.
12. When completely cool, run a thin-bladed metal spatula or knife between the cake and the pan, and turn the cake out onto a serving plate.
    
    Note: The texture allowed for fairly thin slices, which would be nice if serving a big group, especially if there were extras like fruit or ice cream.  

Mushroom, Chicken, and Rice Casserole

This is another of my new, (at least relatively) healthy recipes for January.  It turned out to a be a very nice, comfort-food type of recipe.  Very easy to make and my kitchen smelled amazing as it baked!

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked long grain rice (I used basmati, because that's what was in my cabinet)
• 1 10.75 oz. can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used a healthy version with less sodium and fat, and could probably use cream of chicken, celery, or whatever)
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 envelope onion soup mix, dry
• 8 oz. fresh mushrooms
• 1 pound chicken breasts, preferably 3
• Black pepper
• Cashews for the top (original recipe called for toasted slivered almonds, but I don't have those)

Directions

1. Grease 2 quart casserole dish
2. Preheat oven to 375°F
3. Sliced and saute mushrooms, cooking until soft and liquid is mostly gone
4. Put uncooked rice in dish
5. In a bowl, mix water, dry soup mix, condensed soup, and mushrooms.  Stir to blend
6. Pour over rice and mix together.
7. Put chicken in the rice mixture (actually push down into the mixture) and sprinkle with pepper
8. Cover dish with foil and bake for about an hour, or until rice is tender and chicken is cooked.
9. Uncover dish, sprinkle top with nuts, and put back in oven for 5 minutes.