By Andy Bedwell
You know sometimes you just want to save time and money by serving an all-in-one meal. Add a few delicious sides, and presto, your dinner is done.
Chicken Cacciatore
4 large boneless chicken breasts, cut in half
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup of flour
¼ cup Crisco oil
Minced garlic
2 ½ cups canned or fresh tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
2 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
Rub chicken in minced garlic and season with salt and pepper. Dredge lightly with flour. Quickly brown chicken in oil in a Dutch Oven. Remove chicken and pour off any remaining oil in pan. Return chicken to Dutch Oven. Add tomatoes, onions, green pepper, sugar, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Simmer covered, basting occasionally with sauce, about o’ne and one-half hours or until chicken is tender. Serve over hot spaghetti noodles.
Andy’s Note: Doug walked in my kitchen this morning with all my fresh vegetables from the garden to add to this dish. Gardens are such a blessing. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful this is for a family. I was thinking of Pat Davis making this for her family. She has always been one of my great supporters and follows my recipes in The Messenger.
Slaw Salad
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup vinegar
½ cup oil
Let sugar, oil and vinegar come to a boil. Boil for five minutes. Pour over cabbage and onion. Let stand in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Andy’s Note: This little slaw will add a little “zip” to the chicken cacciatore dish. Sometimes, I add a small bell pepper to this.
Chocolate Fudge Cake
1 cup water
1 cup Crisco oil
1 stick margarine
4 tablespoons cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine water, oil, margarine and cocoa over medium heat and bring to a boil. Sift flour and sugar together. and then pour the boiling mixture over the flour and sugar. Mix well. Add eggs, buttermilk, salt, baking soda and vanilla. Blend well and pour batter into a greased 9×13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Frosting:
1 box powdered sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick margarine
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix ingredients well in boiler and let come to a small boil. Pour over warm cake.
Andy’s Note: This recipe is fantastic! No mixer, no lumps, one bowl and so moist that you can barely hold it to eat. I made one yesterday and half of it is missing this morning. A lot of chocolate cakes are dry, but not this one. Be sure and pour the frosting over a warm cake.
Happy Cooking, Andy
“Southern Cooking with Andy Bedwell” can be purchased at The Messenger located at 1957 Rainbow Drive.