Best Chicken Parmesan

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Salt Time: 20 min (can overlap with prep)
Breading/Cook Time: 20 min
Broil: 2-4 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source:
Cook's Illustrated (March 2013),
America's Test Kitchen TV (Season 14)

This tasted great, but was a little greasy and rich, so I probably won't make it a lot. I remember a lighter recipe from the Best Light Recipe (which I don't own anymore) but I think I probably prefer that recipe. It is not super quick, but they have streamlined the recipe some so it isn't too complicated.

Make Ahead Chicken Fingers

Prep: 15 min
Wait: 20 min
Bread and Cook: 30 min

Grade: A-


Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Make Ahead Cook (book)

That link is to the actual recipe, because this is one of the featured recipes on the website.

These tasted very good but maybe just a little bit greasy. Also the process of making them, although easier than regular frying, still gets a little messy.

The recipe was supposed to make 16 fingers, but I only got about 11. They were long though.

The cooked from frozen fingers were still quite good, but the last couple I had were starting to get a tiny bit dry. I may never make these again, because it isn't something I think of eating, and I don't have kids. I'm sure my nieces and nephews would like these though. I did really like cutting them up and putting them in a salad. That countered the greasiness nicely, so it is possible I will do these again.

O's with Meatballs

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Comfort Food Makovers
(Recipe found here)

Note: The prep time is broken up into two parts, 20 minutes at beginning and then another 5 to puree the vegetables and add pasta and meatballs. Overall, this is a pretty simple recipe, the most complicated part being using the blender.

The meatballs only use 6 oz of ground chicken. That was annoying to me, because when am I going to use the other 10oz. So I sort of doubled it and froze half the meatballs for another time. The meatballs are just the ground chicken, low-fat pesto (don't know where you get that at the store, but I had some in my freezer that I made myself and was relatively lower fat) and panko.

After you saute vegetables in chicken broth (tomatoes, carrots, onion, celery) you blend to puree then cook the meatballs and pasta for another 15 minutes.

It was good. Nothing exciting, but a nice simple meal. I don't know that it reminded me of spagetti o's, but it has been a LONG time.

Meatballs for a Crowd (or your freezer)

Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes

Grade: A+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (November 2010)
Recipe Source: ATK TV (Season 12)
Recipe Source: Pasta Revolution

These are possibly the best meatballs I have ever had. They are a bit of work, but the recipe makes a huge amount of sauce and meatballs. I got 39 medium sized (less than 2") meatballs from the recipe.

I came very close to making these just ok meatballs, when I almost didn't add the proscuitto. I had to go to Trader Joe's to buy it and I didn't want to. But decided if I didn't, the salt would be off, and I didn't want to mess with the original recipe that much. I'm so glad I got it, because it really added a lot to the recipe.

My least favorite part of making these was grating the onion (1.25 cups). I might use the food processor for that next time. The tears were pouring out of me.

The meatballs are baked instead of pan-fried which is nice, because a lot of the fat renders out and it is a bit easier with so many. The sauce and meatballs are finished in the oven. They use 6 cups of tomato juice because supposedly the sauce cooks down. I only used 4 cups, and even took the cover off the last half hour, but still felt the sauce was a little thin. I would use less next time. but I like a thick sauce.

As I said, this made a lot. I have a lot of leftovers in the freezer, which makes me very happy. I will definitely use this recipe again, but not that often, since it makes so much. !

Nut-Crusted Chicken Cutlets

Prep Time: 38 minutes
Cook Time: 20 -25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes


Recipe Source: America's Test Kitchen TV Show (Season 12) 
Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (January 2011)

There is a video of the recipe available for free at the ATK link above, and it was helpful to watch the video before making the recipe. The tv version is with almonds and lemon and thyme. The CI version I linked to uses chipotle and southwestern spices.

This recipe is definitely a winner. It took a little longer than I wanted, but that was partly because I had a lot of chicken trimming to do this time. I could probably get it done in 30 minutes if I make this a few more times.

It is a baked dish (on top of a wire rack in jelly roll pan). To get flavorful crust you toast the finely chopped nuts and panko breadcrumbs in browned butter for the coating instead of pan frying. I love that aspect of the recipe. It is less messy, and you don't mess up the breading when you flip the meat in the pan. Also, it is nice to have the dish finish in the over, so you can clean up while it is cooking.

The breading really adhered to the chicken, really better than any other breaded meat recipe I've ever tried. I had leftovers tonight (cold) and it was still really sticking to the chicken. The leftovers were also delicious. They would make a really nice spinach salad.

The only possible problem with the recipe was that the chicken was close to being too salty. It wasn't, but I felt it was on the edge. I should have used a little less salt on each breast I think. It was probably because the kosher salt I was using was Morton's which is not as "fluffy" as others.

I made 3/4 of the recipe since I had 3 breasts. I cut the breading by 3/4, and I still had lots left over.

Tuna Casserole

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Cool Time: 10 minutes


Grade: B+/A-

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (October 2011)  

This recipe was from a lightened up comfort foods article. The sauce replaces a lot of the whole milk with broth. I think that adds flavor and is a good idea. It also uses a tiny bit of parm in the topping with panko. I felt like there should be more cheese in the topping. I used less oil for the onions and white sauce, and that was fine, so next time I would add more cheese.

The amount of tuna in this was kind of small. I think I would use more next time. The panko makes a much better topping than regular bread crumbs (although fresh toasted would be great also, if you don't have panko.) I didn't have enough peas, so I threw in some chopped fresh spinach for added green and more veggies. I thought the spinach and peas might clash, but I barely tasted the spinach.

I'm not sure which tuna casserole is my favorite. I think that Cook's Country version probably tastes the best, but it is also pretty high calorie since it is made with heavy cream. It is a quick and easy recipe however, so that goes in it's favor. The other Mediterranean Tuna Casserole from EF is nice and a bit different. I don't make tuna casserole very often, and I'm not sure which one I would do again. Really, any of them are fine, I think.

Veggie Burgers

Prep Time: 75 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Grade: A- (would be an A+, but too time consuming)

Make Again: Maybe, but not very often.

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (July 2005)

This recipe makes 12 veggie burgers, which can be frozen. This fact does make the effort almost worth it, because these burgers were some of the best veggie burgers I've ever had. I used to be a vegetarian, and I have tried a lot in my day.

This recipe calls for a lot of ingredients: mushrooms, bulgar, leeks, onions, celery, lentils, panko and more. Luckily I had everything except the mushrooms. I used about half the called for mushrooms, because I am not a big mushroom fan, but you don't notice them at all, so I would probably use the full amount next time.