Chicken Alfredo over fettuccini

Stephanie at 7 years old

Today a friend emailed me to ask if I could put up a couple of pasta dishes. I put on Nonnie's Lasagna today and now I want to add my mom's Chicken Alfredo over fettucini.


Chicken Alfredo over fettucini:


2 boneless chicken breasts
2 cups water
Kosher salt
1 small onion in quarters

Cut the boneless chicken breast into strips, place in small pot add water, salt and onion bring to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. Remove chicken, run through a small holed colander.

Fettucini Noodles: 

2 packages noodles
6 cups of water
Kosher salt

Put the water into a pasta pot with the salt bring to a boil. Add the noodles and bring to a boil again. Cook for about 8-10 minutes until tender. Drain immediately and serve with Chicken Alfredo.

Alfredo Sauce: 

2 tbsp butter
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of chicken broth - use a can or use the broth from cooking the chicken
1/4 cup cream
Fresh Basil - chopped

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a sauce pan add garlic, pepper, salt when completely melted add flour. Stir about 30 seconds that then add broth. Bring to a boil to thicken then add cream and gently stir for another minute. Now add the cooked chicken strips to the sauce. Stir another minute and then serve over noodles. Add about a tbsp of fresh basil to each serving dish.

Dave's Favorite Artichoke Salad

Dave with Katelyn

Dave loves artichokes, in brine, olive oil, fresh, canned, frozen...whatever. We would go to King Soopers after church on Sundays with the specific purpose of buying fried chicken pieces, their artichoke salad and hot french bread! He especially liked these foods together during football season. Dessert is if the Broncos win!!

I asked a lot of questions of those at the deli counter and I also look closely at the ingredients and put this recipe together. After several attempts, Dave said that this was his favorite one.

Dave's Favorite Artichoke Salad:

1 can of artichoke pieces
1 can of black olives
1/4 lb of feta cheese or the feta cheese crumbles already in package - can be seasoned
1 large cucumber - peeled, seeded and cubed
1/2 cup of spanish onion - diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup of Italian Dressing

Drain the can of artichokes and black olives and pour into bowl. Prepare cucumber and add to the bowl. Dice the spanish onion add to bowl as well. Crumble the seasoned or unseasoned feta cheese into the bowl and finally mix all together with the Italian Dressing. If you used unseasoned feta cheese, you can add 1 tbsp of Italian Seasoning to the mixture too.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and serve as a salad.

PS You can also add 2 cups of penne pasta or bow tie pasta to the salad to actually make it a robust lunch or dinner. You may need to increase the seasoning and the dressing. Definitely let sit at least 2 hours for the pasta to drink up the flavor of the seasoning and dressing.

Nana's Egg and Broccoli Bake

Nana & her friend Harriet @ 16 yrs old.

I had not had this recipe in many, many years but made it the other day. Dave and I thought it was terrific!
When Nana made it, she would use a frozen package. Nana used this dish when she entertained or she prepared it to take as a side dish to a party.

Nana's Egg and Broccoli Bake:

4 hard boiled eggs - sliced
3 broccoli crowns - stems cut
1 1/2 cup milk
1 pkg cream cheese
1/4 cup Sherry
1 can pimento
1/2 cup cracker crumbs - Ritz


Melt cream cheese in the milk then add the Sherry. (1/4 extra cup of milk can be used in place of the Sherry.)  Once the cream cheese is melted bring entire mixture to a gentle boil and
turn off. Put 1/2 the milk mixture into a square baking pan, arrange the broccoli stems in the pan. Put sliced eggs around the broccoli. Then add strips of pimento on the eggs. Pour the remainder onto of the broccoli, eggs and pimento. Sprinkle the cracker crumbs on top of the entire mixture. Bake at 375* for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

PS When I made this, I actually diced the hardboiled eggs and sprinkled throughout the broccoli stems. Then I chopped the pimento and did the same so that every bite would have a taste of each ingredient. I also used Saltine crackers but I think the Ritz crackers with more butter would have been tastier.

Nana's Oatmeal Cookies

The house on Harvey St. in Hyde Park, NY. Built by my great-grandfather. I actually
 came home from the hospital to this house and lived here while my dad was deployed in the Navy. 

Nana was born Lily Tobin. She married John William Hey and were married for 40 years until her untimely death in 1973. They had my mother Carol and my Aunt Melody. Lily was a Julliard School of Music Graduate. She played the piano and sang. Therefore she named her daughters musical names. They met in Poughkeepsie, NY, were married and lived there a number of years. Daba, as we called our grandfather, opened an appliance store but things were scarce and eventually. They lost the store and ended up going bankrupt. Daba enlisted in the Navy during WWII.

In the meantime, Nana moved back to Hyde Park and into her childhood home with her father. My great-grandmother passed away when Nana was in her teens. My mother was surrounded by Aunts and Uncles who lived only houses away. Daba was wounded in the war and spent quite a period of time in a hospital recovering from his injuries. Upon his release, he landed a job with IBM in Kingston, NY. It was said that Daba could charm the skin off a Cobra! He was a terrific salesman for IBM and worked there until his retirement in 1971.

We were blessed to have such a close relationship with our grandparents. Nana would always make us something "special" for her "Special Angels" as she called us! I was the "Big Angel" and each sibling hopefully remembers their nickname. Here is Nana's Oatmeal Cookies written on a piece of paper in her own handwriting.

Lily Tobin @ 20 years old.

Nana's Oatmeal Cookies:
3/4 cup of unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar2 eggs
1 cup and 1tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal (rolled oats)
1 pkg chocolate chips
1/2 cup nuts - chopped

Oven 350*
Mix all ingredients together by hand adding the chocolate and nuts last. Grease a cookie sheet and drop the mixture onto the pan using a teaspoon. Cook 10 minutes. Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

PS Add another 2 tbs flour for high altitude baking. This is a slightly different recipe which calls for chocolate chips instead of raisins or cranberries which I use both from time to time. I have also been known to add 1 tsp cinnamon to the mixture along with the raisins or cranberries. Oatmeal Cookies are one of the healthiest cookies for kids to eat. So make them!!

The Son's of Italy & stuffed pork chops!

Julie, Stephen and I back at Christmas in 1989. 

When Jorge, the kids and I moved to Shirley, NY on Long Island. We were really alone. Eventually we made some friends and one couple we were close to was Paula and Enzo. Enzo was born in Italy and Paula although born in the USA grew up in Argentina. It was there that Paula's mother and Enzo's father met and married. Both Paula and Enzo were in the teens by then and a romance ensued. At this point, I think they have been married almost 50 years!

Enzo and Paula became surrogate family for us since we had no other family within hours of us. My brother, Stephen lived in Westchester, about 2+ hours away. Enzo and Paula used to invite us to the Son's of Italy activities in Mastic Beach. There were dinners, bingo nights, dances and much more. So anyone that knows me, knows that once I become involved, I usually volunteer etc. So, within a year of attending events, I was organizing, planning and cooking the Friday night Bingo events once a month.  My first meal was the one I was most remembered for: a house salad, stuffed pork chops, double baked potatoes, green beans with mushrooms, rolls and a chocolate cake. I got a lot of compliments for my stuffed pork chops which I share with you now.

Stuffed Pork Chops: 

Boneless center-cut pork chops - about 1 - 2 " thick (one per person)
olive oil
Seasoned salt
Pepper

Stuffing:
1 stick of butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large package of bread stuffing in a variety of flavors
1 medium onion - diced
2 stalks of celery - diced
1 cup mushrooms - diced
2 cups of chicken broth
2 tbsp of Italian Seasoning
Kosher Salt and pepper to salt

In a large deep pan, melt the butter and add the olive oil so the butter does not burn. Then add the onions, celery, mushrooms then season slightly with Kosher salt and pepper.  Saute until transparent. Add the chicken broth and the italian, remove from heat and allow to soften.

Take the pork chops and using a sharpened knife cut a pocket into the side (fat side). Try to keep it even so the meat cooks evenly on both sides of the stuffing. Without opening the whole too much, open the pocket inside to allow at least 1/2 cup of stuffing. Allow it to bulge slightly otherwise all the stuffing will heat up, expand and be on the baking pan instead of inside the meat. I put boil with the shiny side down on the cookie sheet to allow for an easier clean-up. Finally I use a brand seasoned salt on the meat itself before baking at 325* for about 20 minutes then flip and then another 20 minutes. Cover with foil if the meat starts to burn at all.

PS I was introduced to Johnny's Seasoning Salt Pure Magic by Johnny's Fine Foods, back in 1998 by David Dormeier's mom. David was a housemate of mine when I first moved to Colorado. He was a young man studying to be a pastor. He is now pastoring on the Western Slopes of Colorado at his own church. He is married to Madonna and has 5 children! Anyway, his mom, Elvina brought this seasoning from Tacoma, WA where they are from. She told me it was made by a local manufacturer and it was delicious. I have since run our and found it on the Internet and bought it. It is by far the best Seasoning Salt I have ever had!

Nonnie's Lasagna

Nonnie, Grampy & friend cerca 1920

As I understand it, Nonnie was born in Yonkers, NY, Bernadine Chamberlain. She was born in 1904 to a poor family. She had one brother Dave Chamberlain. She was only 16 years old when she married my grandfather, George Samuel Wilklow. She apparently was a flapper and enjoyed some of the wild life for a couple of years! She never finished high school and had no formal education after she married but knew all the practical things a wife and mother needed to know. She was a good cook, she sewed, knitted, made crafty things and was a terrific accountant. She later credited the Ladies Home Bureau for her domestic education.

My grandfather would bring home his money every week. Nonnie would have envelopes for each bill. She would add the money to those envelopes. At the end of the month, she would put her money in the bank or invest in stocks. Nonnie lived to be 86 years old and Grampy was 99 when he died. Their estate was worth a lot of money as Nonnie had smartly invested in a new company back in the 1940's called Texas Instrument!


Nonnie and Grampy live in Highland, NY. We always lived within a couple of hours of them and would visit on weekends. One of our all-time favorite meals was Nonnie's lasagna. I share this recipe from a note to my mother in her own handwriting on the back of deposit slips from the First National Bank of Highland.

Nonnie with Uncle George cerca de 1925

Nonnie's Lasagna:

Tomato Sauce: 
1/4 cup minced onion
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1/4 olive oil
1lb ground beef
1 16 oz can of tomatoes - stewed or diced
1 6 oz can tomato paste
4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper
2 cups water
1 tsp sugar
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp basil

Brown onion and garlic lightly in oil in a large sauce pan. When beef brown add remaining ingredients into pan and cook uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.

Lasagna:
1 box of lasagna noodles
3 qts boiling water
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb cottage cheese
1/2 lb of mozzarella cheese sliced
Tomato Sauce - see above
1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water about 25 mins or until tender, stir often. Drain and mix with the olive oil. Arrange in shallow rectangular baking dish making three layers of each; cooked lasagna, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, Tomato Sauce and Parmesan Cheese.  Bake in a 325* oven for 45 minutes.

PS I know this is pretty much a basic recipe but we thought it was delicious! Over the years, I have made a couple of adjustments to the recipe. Instead of cottage cheese, I use ricotta cheese. I add 2 eggs and italian seasoning to that mixture and set aside until assembling the lasagna.  I also have used uncooked lasagna noodles because it cooks right into the baking dish and does not mush as much. Or I only cook it about 10 minutes. I think the biggest different idea from this recipe is the Cayenne Pepper, the Bay Leaves and the sugar in the tomato-meat sauce. That most definitely gives Nonnie's Lasagna a unique flavor.
We love you and miss you Nonnie!

Joan Reilly's Zucchini Bread

Memo, Jenna, Liz and Brett in N. Tonawanda
NY in 1983.

Upon returning to the United States in 1982, Jorge took a job up in the Buffalo area and we rented a colonial North Tonawanda, NY. One of our neighbors was Joan Reilly. She had several kids and was a terrific cook. Many of our neighbors has summer gardens and zucchini was abundant in the fall. Joan gave me this recipe and said it froze well. So I made it and have always enjoyed its rich flavor.

Joan Reilly's Zucchini Bread:

2 cups of grated raw zucchini with skins
2 eggs
1 cup crushed pineapple
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
Optional:
1 cup raisins
1 cup nut
1 cup combination of both

Heat oven to 325*
Mix the dry ingredients flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix the zucchini, eggs, pineapple, sugar, oil and vanilla. Now fold the dry into the wet mixture and mix thoroughly. This recipe makes two loaves. Grease and flour two loaf pans. (I use baking spray on the pans since it is neater and easier to spread!) Bake for 50-60 minutes. Test and adjust until done.

PS I also make the whole batch and put into a rectangular 13" by 9" cake pan. It is good enough to serve for dessert!