Southern Comfort

These recipes come to you all the way from Savannah, Georgia from the kitchen of Mrs. Paula Deen.

Chicken Breasts in Sour Cream Sauce

8 slices dried beef (in a jar)
8 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (7 oz. each)
4 slices bacon, cut in half
1 cup sour cream
one 10 3/4 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lay one piece of dried beef on each chicken breast and wrap with a half slice of bacon. Place in a 13x9 inch casserole dish, seam side down. Mix sour cream, soup and mushrooms together. Pour over chicken breasts. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with rice.

My notes: I used uncured bacon and low-sodium cream of mushroom soup to cut down on the salt in the dish and I left out the fresh mushrooms. I like my bacon crispy and the bacon in this dish was quite the opposite of crispy. I didn't care for the flavor or the texture of the dried beef/bacon/chicken combination. I served the chicken with the following rice dish:

Savannah Red Rice

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced Hillshire Farms sausage
One 14 1/2 oz. can crushed tomatoes with juice
1 tablespoon Texas Pete or red hot sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Pepper to taste; add salt to taste if desired
1 cup uncooked white rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan over medium heat, saute' onion and bell pepper in butter. Add sausage; heat until mixture is slightly browned. Add tomatoes, hot sauce, tomato sauce, water and bouillon cubes. Season with pepper and salt as needed. Stir in rice. Pour mixture into a greased casserole dish and bake for 45 minutes.

My Notes: I used brown rice instead of white rice and I did not add salt to this dish. This dish could be a meal in itself. It was full of flavor and very filling. Yum!

Biggest Loser

The following recipes came from The Biggest Loser cookbook:

Grilled Flank Steak with Roma Tomatoes

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water or low-sodium beef or chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried basil)
1 tablespoon ground mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 pounds flank steak, trimmed of all visible fat
8 Roma tomatoes, halved crosswise

Combine the vinegar, water or broth, garlic, basil, thyme, mustard seed, and black pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add the steak and seal the bag. Marinate refrigerated for at least 2 hours (no more than 12), turning the steak occasionally.
Prepare a fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill or broiler. Lightly coat the grill rack with cooking oil spray. Position the cooking rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.

Remove the steak from the marinade; drain and blot to remove excess marinade.

Place the steak and tomatoes on the grill rack or broiler pan. Grill or broil until browned, 4 to 5 minutes on each side for the steak and about 3 minutes on each side for each of the tomatoes. Watch the steak carefully as the balsamic vinegar can cause it to burn if not properly blotted. Check the steak for doneness by cutting into the meat. Let stand for 5 minutes on a cutting board. Cut the meat across the grain into very thin slices.

Nutrient Analysis per serving:
241 calories; 25 g protein; 8 g carbohydrates; 11 g total fat; 5 g saturated fat; less than 1 g monounsaturated fat; 60 mg cholesterol; 2 g fiber; 72 mg sodium.

My Notes: I love this recipe. The meat turned out very tender and full of flavor. I served the steak with the following rice dish:

Wild Rice and Toasted Almonds

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons chopped almonds (or almond meal)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried)
2 cups fat-free chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large nonstick saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the rice, mushrooms, onion, almonds, garlic, and thyme. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture is fragrant and the onion is just starting to soften. Do not allow the garlic or nuts to brown. Transfer the mixture to a 2-quart baking dish. Meanwhile, bring the broth and water to a boil and pour over the rice mixture in the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour. Serve hot.

Nutrient Analysis per serving:
156 calories; 7 g protein; 25 g carbohydrates; 4 g total fat; less than 1 g saturated fat; less than 1 g polyunsaturated fat; 2 g monounsaturated fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 3 g fiber; 162 mg sodium.


My Notes: This dish is very easy to prepare. I left out the mushrooms and substituted almond meal for chopped almonds. I also used low-sodium, low-fat chicken broth. The rice was delicious and went well with the flank steak.