Shopping List for Alfredo and Divan

21(ish) lbs of chicken breast

8 cups uncooked rice

1800 gr pasta

4 L whole milk

2½ L half and half

15 cups shredded cheddar cheese

9 cups shredded mozzarella

2¼ cups Parmesan

6-8 yellow onions

12 carrots

3 lbs broccoli

garlic (2 T minced)

4 cups flour

2.5 L chicken broth

6 cups crushed Ritz crackers of Panko

Seasonings:

Italian, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Mustard Powder

Chicken Divan

See original recipe on Scratch Pantry

On May 13, 2023 we made a six times recipe for a total of 2 - 9x12 pans and 8 - 9x9 pans.  We agreed that this recipe was a win, both in flavour and recipe balance.

Filling

24 cups cooked brown rice

12lbs chicken breast, diced, cooked

¾ cup butter

6 yellow onions, diced

12 carrots, diced

24 cups broccoli florets (approx 3 lbs)

salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

2¼ cups salted butter

2¼ cups flower

9 cups chicken broth

9 cups whole milk

4 cups sour cream

2 T garlic powder

2 T onion powder

2 T mustard powder

salt & pepper to taste

Topping

15 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

6 cups crushed Ritz cracker or panko (we used panko)

¾ cup melted butter

Method

Start the sauce by melting the butter and whisking in the flour.  Cook for about 2 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and milk

When the sauce has thickened, take it off the heat and add in the sour cream, garlic, onion, mustard, salt & pepper.

Sautee the onions and carrots in the butter.  When mostly soft add the broccoli and cook until the broccoli is bright green.

Mix up the panko and melted butter 

Layer rice, chicken, veggies, white sauce and cheddar.  Add the panko if cooking immediately.  If not, freeze it separately and sprinkle on after thawing the dish.

If frozen, thaw for a day or two in the fridge.
Bake at 350F covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 10 minutes.

Chicken Alfredo Bake

See original recipe on Spend with Pennies

On May 13, 2023 we made a six times recipe for a total of 2 - 9x12 pans and 8 - 9x9 pans.  This recipe was mostly successful.

We all agreed that the flavours of this dish were on point, but there are things we would change if we made it again.  Hopefully the notes below include all the changes we would make.

9 lbs of chicken breasts, cubed, cooked (an approximate.  We wanted more than the six lbs called for)

30 cups of short pasta, cooked al dente  (approximately 1800 gr)

9 cups mozzarella cheese (this is a guess.  We needed more than the 6 cups it called for)

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Alfredo Sauce

1½ cups butter

1¼ cups flour

10 cups milk

10 cups half and half

1 T salt

2 T Italian seasoning

¾ tsp pepper

1½ cups parmesan cheese

2 T minced garlic

Method

Melt butter. 
Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. 
Add flour to create a roux, cook for approximately 2 minutes.

Mix in the milk and cream, whisking very often.
Stir in the salt, Italian seasoning, pepper and Parmesan.
Continue whisk over medium low heat until thickened and smooth.

Layer pasta, chicken, sauce, mozzarella and Parm in the pan.

Thaw in fridge for a day or two if the dish has been frozen.
375F covered with foil for 20 - 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Broil to brown the cheese.

Cabbage Noodle Salad

I had this at a BBQ yesterday and loved it. It's almost identical to what I've always done - it's the soy sauce that makes it different.

1 small head cabbage,
1/2 cup diced onions,
3/4 cup diced celery,
1 pkg of ichiban broken up,
1/4 cup roasted salted sunflower seeds.

Combine and toss with dressing.

Dressing:
1 tablespoon sugar,
1 pkg of ichiban seasoning,
1/2 cup canola oil,
3 tablespoons soy sauce,
3 tablespoons white vinegar,
pepper to taste.

Rosemary Buns

I make these using the dough setting on my bread maker.

It makes a single pan of really really yummy buns.

Fresh Veggie Pasta

This pasta is faintly based on a recipe from Chef John

But almost none of the ingredients are the same:

I started with mostly cooked bacon (I keep it in the freezer).  I diced it fine and started frying it.

Next, diced onions and peppers were added - doing the blotting thing with the towel.

When they were cooked, in went the mostly cooked penne.

Coffee cream, frozen corn and fresh ground pepper went in next.

When the cream was mostly soaked into the penne, tomatoes, fresh basil and parsley were stirred in.

I forgot the parm.  I meant to parm.

*shrug*  It tasted really good without it.

Pancit

This is a "reprint" from my mother's blog.

As part of our family gathering today, Flaviana taught several of us how to make my favourite Filipino dish, Pancit. 

A little research taught me that Pancit is really a generic term for noodles but this is the only version I have eaten.  Flaviana did say that she does make variations in the vegetables depending on what is on hand.

She started by sauteing garlic in oil and then adding onions. 

 After a while she added chicken and soy sauce and cooked it for a while. If she had been at home she would then have been chopping up the vegetables, but on this occasion they were conveniently all ready chopped and waiting in ziploc bags.  They included savoy cabbage, carrots and celery. Before adding them, she pulled out half of the meat.

After the vegetables were cooked, they were removed and she returned the chicken, any juices, and some hot water to the pan and threw in her rice noodles. She does not pre-soften these noodles, though some people do.

The noodles were stir fried along with more soy sauce and eventually everything was mixed together along with some shrimp and it was poured onto a platter, 

 

garnished with lemon and served.

Lovely mid afternoon snack!