Winter Warm Up: Chicken Cacciatore with Parmesan Cheeseballs

When hearing the word cheeseball, we tend to think of something one would spread on a cracker. This recipe is not that. Rather it’s a recipe for Parmesan Cheeseballs, which is similar to how my Italian grandmother would make them. Basically she would roll Parmesan cheese, eggs, bread and spices into balls; brown them in olive oil; and simmer them in a red sauce.

Chicken Cacciatore with Parmesan Cheeseballs

My grandmother would sometimes make cheeseballs to accompany dishes like chicken cacciatore or veal stew – no pasta required. Other times they were simply added to the giant sauce pot, along with meatballs and Italian sausage, she would make on weekends and holidays.

    

When my grandmother was growing up, her mother would make cheeseballs in place of meatballs on Fridays when the family did not eat meat. “You either loved them or you didn’t,” she reminisced.

While this dish was derived out of necessity, it was very creative in that it took simple, pantry ingredients and turned them into a hearty and satisfying meal. That concept is what makes Italian food so desirable. 

My grandmother isn’t cooking much these days, but I am so grateful to have her direction so I can carry on one of our family’s culinary traditions. Here I present Parmesan Cheeseballs over a bed of Chicken Cacciatore. Again, no pasta required.

Chicken Cacciatore with Parmesan Cheeseballs
4-5 servings

Sauce and Chicken
24-ounce jar Rao’s Tomato and Basil sauce
8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 red or yellow bell pepper, sliced
½ cup dry red wine
1 quart white mushrooms, sliced
2.25 ounce can sliced black olives
1.5 pounds boneless chicken breasts
Flour for dredging
Olive oil for browning
Fresh Italian parsley for garnish

Parmesan Cheeseballs
8 slices day-old Italian bread, crusts removed and torn
into small pieces
3 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
2 eggs
3 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
Olive oil for browning

In a large sauce pot, combine tomato sauces, pepper slices and wine. Bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer.

Cut each chicken breast into 3 large pieces. Dredge in flour.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add chicken pieces and brown on each side. Add to sauce.

While sauce and chicken simmer (about 30 minutes), make cheeseballs.

For the cheeseballs, combine bread, cheese, eggs and spices in a large bowl. Roll mixture into 12 balls.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add cheeseballs, turning often to allow even browning.

Add cheeseballs, mushrooms and black olives to sauce and allow to simmer at least 1 hour. The cheeseballs will absorb the flavors from the ingredients in the sauce.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped Italian parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.

(Recipe by Jennifer Ruple and Ann McGrath)

 

Strawberry Hearts Cakelets

More sweets for your sweeties. This cakelet recipe was adapted from a strawberry cake recipe that was given to me by a co-worker years ago. I’ve since adapted it for cupcakes and now for cakelets. I couldn’t resist after finding this sweet little heart-shaped pan recently at Target. Recipe makes 8 cakelets.

Strawberry Hearts Cakelets

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

3-ounce package strawberry gelatin

½ cup buttermilk

10-ounce package frozen strawberries, thawed

½ tablespoon melted butter for brushing pan

Strawberry Frosting

¼ cup butter, softened

1 pound confectioners sugar

1/3 to ½ cup juice drained from strawberries

Heat oven to 350 F. Using a pastry brush, generously coat pan with melted butter and flour it.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs. Add oil sugar, gelatin and buttermilk. Stir vigorously until well blended. Add the flour mixture and blend.

Drain 1/3 to ½ cup of juice from strawberries and reserve for frosting.

Fold strawberries into batter. Pour batter into wells of the cakelet pan to ¾ full.

Bake 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow cakelets to rest in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, combine butter, confectioners sugar and strawberry juice. Beat until creamy.

(Recipe adapted from cooks.com) 

Slow Cooker Valentine's Day Candy

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at making candy, this slow cooker method is a great way to get your feet wet.  The recipe is so simple, and the results are delicious. The slow cooker does all the work – it is literally a dump it all in and stir.

I first made slow cooker candy over the holidays in a chocolate version. They were a hit with family and friends, so naturally, I began thinking about making another batch for Valentine’s Day.

This go around, I used white chocolate ingredients. The white chocolate version is equally scrumptious, even more so for white chocolate lovers.

Valentine's Day Slow Cooker Candy

1 pound dry roasted peanuts

1 pound vanilla almond bark

6 ounces white chocolate chips

4-ounce bar of white chocolate

Small paper candy cups, size 4

Sprinkles of your choice

To a slow cooker, add all the ingredients (except the sprinkles). Cover and set the temperature to low. 

Allow the mixture to cook for 30 minutes, then stir it every 10 minutes until the chocolate is completely melted. It should take about 1 hour total.

Once mixture is melted, spoon into candy cups. 

Decorate with sprinkles immediately and allow chocolate to set.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!