Poppy Seed Egg Noodles (Recipe 17)

Poppy Seed Egg Noodles

Ingredients:
16 ounces egg noodles
6 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Cook egg noodles in boiling water. Drain.

Melt butter in skillet. Add onions and cook until tender. Remove from heat. Pour butter mixture over egg noodles and add poppy seeds. Toss until thoroughly covered.

This went over fairly well at my house. Most of the family enjoyed the crunch of the poppy seeds, but the 4 year old refused to finish her portion because she didn't like the texture.

Italian Chicken Rolls (You Rock Chicken) Recipe 16

Italian Chicken Rolls
serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups bread crumbs
1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 cups milk

Pound chicken breasts until about 1/4 inch thick. Set aside. In flat casserole, combine cheese, Italian seasoning, and bread crumbs. Mix well. Pour milk into another flat casserole dish. Dip flattened chicken into milk, drain excess milk. Dip milk covered chicken breast into crumb mixture. Turn chicken to cover both sides with crumb mixture. Roll chicken starting with a short side of the breast. Place on ungreased baking sheet, with seam side down. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, depending on breast size.

My kids love this dish. I received a chorus of "You Rock!" , so we decided to call this "You Rock Chicken" at our house.

Empanadas (Recipe 15)

We had a lot of fun making up these tasty meat pies! I needed to double the recipe to feed my crowd. The dough became difficult to handle when made into a double batch, so next time I'll make two separate batches of dough. These can be made ahead and heated up in the microwave or covered with foil in the oven. I think they would also freeze well, if not completely baked through.

Empanadas

Ingredients

Dough:
3-1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 sticks butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1-1/4 cups ice water
1 large egg

Filling:
1 tablespoon oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 pound ground beef (not lean)
3/4 cup beef broth
dash of sugar
salt and pepper
3 ounces shredded Colby-jack cheese


Heat oil in pan and cook onion until soft. Stir in garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, cayenne pepper. Cook briefly, then add ground beef. Cook until thoroughly cooked. Add beef broth, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook until beef is moist. Set aside.


In medium bowl, place dough flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in butter, using fingers or pastry blender. Dough should resemble coarse cornmeal. Add ice water by small amounts until dough joins together and forms ball. Cover and place bowl in refrigerator for 20-25 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll dough out to 1/4" on lightly floured surface. Cut dough into circles. Add 1 tablespoon of meal filling and small amount of cheese in center of circle. Top with another dough circle. Pinch edges together using fork. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush top with beaten egg.

Bake in 425 degrees for 20 minutes.