one-pan meals Archives - The Midnight Baker

Rouladen

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 00:00:57 +0000

Rouladen is pure German comfort food. Very easy to make.

Rouladen Is German Soul Food

Well, at least that’s what I call it.

My late husband was a first-generation American of German parents and this was a dish he loved. My mother-in-law would make it all the time. The curious thing is my husband was not fond of pickle so mom made a couple without the pickle relish.

I might add these are equally as good if you omit the pickle, but as a German friend said, “It ain’t rouladen then.” She, of course, was correct, but they’re still good.

I do add pickle but in a different form and that makes them even more awesome.

In A Pickle

This little trick with the pickle I learned from a very dear friend who was a chef and a restaurant owner.

Klaus was making rouladen for guests when I stopped in to say hello to him. I noticed that his rouladen had a pickle spear wrapped up in the meat. It made a nice presentation and when I tasted one, it was so delicious I couldn’t wait to use this trick myself.

Of course you can substitute sweet pickle relish for the dill pickle spear. The relish will make them a bit sweet and they are really good. The pickle spear doesn’t introduce any sweetness and the slight sourness adds a beautiful dimension to the beef rolls. I find they lighten up the taste a bit.

Round Steak

Thinly cut round steak is available in the meat case of most stores. However, as you know, the more that’s done to process anything always costs more.

Since you have to pound even the thinly sliced product to be even thinner, why not buy a round roast that you can cut yourself? What I do is usually buy an eye of round roast–whole. I then slice off steaks to be used for the rouladen then vacuum seal the other part to use as roast beef. I prefer the eye of round because it’s a solid piece of meat, but bottom round works pretty well too.

The Recipe

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Rouladen

German comfort food

Prep Time25

Cook Time50

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: German

Keyword: German comfort food, Oktoberfest, rouladen, traditional German dinners

Servings: 4

Calories: 418kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1.5 lb thinly slices round steak--8 slices
3/4 cup finely diced onion
8 slices cooked bacon
8 dill pickle spears
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbs butter
1 tbs oil
1 cup beef stock
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Pound round steaks with a meat mallet to about 1/8-inch thickness.
Heat the butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until it's just translucent. Remove from skillet and set aside.
Divide the onion evenly over each pounded round steak. Place a slice of bacon over the onion then place a dill pickle spear over that. Roll up and secure each roll with a toothpick.
In the same skillet you cooked the onions in, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Brown the beef rolls on all sides.
Add the beef stock to the pan, heat to boiling then reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until the beef is tender.
Mix the flour and water so there are no lumps.
Remove the beef rolls from the pan and whisk in the flour/water mixture. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the beef rolls back to the pan and heat for 5 minutes to heat through.

Notes

What I do is get an eye of round roast and slice of thin slices then pound them down very thinly.

For UK readers--the bacon is streaky bacon.

Nutrition

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Shrimp & Zucchini With Orzo

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 18 May 2021 23:00:22 +0000

Shrimp and zucchini with orzo is a great one-pan dish. Delicious and easy dinner.

Great One-Skillet Meal

Shrimp and zucchini with orzo is one of those quick one-pan meals that comes together easily. Since it tastes so good, it’s sure to be on your dinner rotation permanently.

In fact, you’re not limited to shrimp here because any leftover meat will go great with the pasta and veggie combination. Chicken would be a natural choice, at least for me. So remember this recipe the next time you have any leftover rotisserie chicken.

Orzo

I remember the first time I discovered orzo. So many possibilities for its use went through my head. Orzo is truly a versatile pasta shape.

Of course it’s really not meant to be used in the usual pasta fashion and that’s the nicest part of it.

Orzo can take the place of rice in so many things. However, unlike most rices, orzo has a silky texture which makes it a great “extender” for any dish that has a sauce.

And just like rice, when there’s a sauce involved, you want to serve it immediately. Reason is since it’s like rice, it absorbs liquid rapidly. Wait too long and the dish is dry.

Add What You Like

I kept it simple here and used zucchini by itself. However, you can add lots more veggies to this dish to extend it. Adding more vegetables also will add interesting textures, not to mention adding more fiber which many of us are lacking.

If you have a child who’s not big on their “greens” it just may encourage them to eat more of what’s good for them. This will work especially if you vary colors so it looks pretty. My mother used to do this so my sister would eat more of them. My only vegetable phobia was eating the stalks of broccoli. Go figure it’s my favorite part now.

The Recipe

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Shrimp & Zucchini with Orzo

Quick and easy dinner.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: budget meals with shrimp, one pan shrimp dinners, orzo and shrimp skillet dinner

Servings: 4

Calories: 370kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 tbs vegetable oil
1 large zucchini cut in half lengthwise and into 1/4-inch slices (about 2 cups)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken stock
1 lb uncooked large shrimp peeled deveined
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves chopped
1 tbs finely chopped parsley

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add zucchini and salt; cook 4 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. Remove with slotted spoon; reserve.
Heat same skillet over medium heat; add garlic and pasta.
Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant and pasta is lightly toasted.
Add broth; cover and simmer 10 to 11 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed.
Stir in shrimp, butter and zucchini; cover and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp are pink and pasta is tender.
Stir in cheese, lemon, and thyme; garnish with parsley.

Nutrition

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3-Ingredient Italian Chicken

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 00:00:53 +0000

Just 3 simple ingredients make this delectable and easy chicken dinner.

Want a really no-fuss dinner where you need nothing special in the way of ingredients and that has almost zero prep work? Oh and most importantly, that it’s awesomely delicious? Then here’s the recipe.

I saw this kicking around Pinterest. It wasn’t from a website or recipe page, simply somebody who took a pic with their phone and put the recipe & method in the description. This gal is my kind of cook! I looked but she didn’t have anything else of her own in her profile.

There was nothing else but the chicken in the recipe. I tossed in some orphaned mushrooms I had in the crisper–naturally I overbought again on a sale.

Now if you want to make this a truly “one-dish” complete meal, I’d suggest tossing in some fresh or frozen whole green beans. The green beans will get a lovely flavor not just from roasting them, but from the chicken coating–which all that amounts to is brown sugar and dry Italian salad dressing mix.

I know I say this ALL the time, but it still amazes me at how very few simple ingredients can produce the most tasty meals. Again, this is another one of those meals. Most of us have brown sugar on hand and I would venture a guess that many also have a packet of Italian dressing mix in the cupboard too.

You can use either boneless skinless breasts or thighs in this. Either will work, and I used thighs here. OK, mine had bone in them, but I did remove the skin. Unless they are on sale, boneless skinless thighs are pricy. My store had regular thighs on sale for 88 cents per pound and that’s what’s in the pictures. I guess I could have de-boned them myself, but I’ve gotten way too lazy for that!! The juice from this is just lovely–not greasy nor fatty because the skin and most of the fat is removed from the chicken. It makes a great dipping sauce!

If you want a more zesty flavor, then I would suggest using a bolder variety of Italian dressing. I know you can get “zesty” and there’s even a garlic-lover’s variety. Those would work SO well here. Next I’m going to try it with ranch dressing mix–but before I do, I will mix some of it with brown sugar and see how it tastes. If the sugar/dry seasoning tastes good, so will the chicken.

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The Recipe

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3-Ingredient Italian Chicken

Just 3 simple ingredients make this delectable and easy chicken dinner.

Prep Time5

Cook Time1

Total Time1 5

Course: Chicken, Everyday Meals

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: chicken recipe, italian chicken

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 493kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3-4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts -OR-thighs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 envelope dry Italian salad dressing mix

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix brown sugar and salad dressing mix in a small bowl.
Dredge chicken in the sugar mixture well.
Place in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Sprinkle any leftover sugar mixture over chicken.
Bake for 45-60 minutes; baste occasionally with the juice that forms in the pan.

Notes

To make a complete meal in the pan, add 1 lb fresh or frozen whole green beans to bake along with the chicken.

You can toss in some mushrooms to like I did (if you like them)

Nutrition

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One-Pan Chicken & Orzo Skillet Dinner

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 13 May 2014 23:00:00 +0000

One-Pan Chicken & Orzo Skillet Dinner

Tasty chicken and pasta skillet dinner cooks in one pan and is ready in 30 minutes!

I’m not much into fussing anymore–I like quick, easy and of course, tasty. This chicken and orzo dinner fulfills every one of those requirements.

Cooks all in one pan!

Let me tell you about orzo–I have a boatload of it. Nope, not because it’s my personal favorite or anything. In fact, it happens to be the last pasta shape I think of using. I don’t dislike it, it’s just that it’s so much like rice because of it’s shape, I tend to use…well..rice.

I ended up with about a dozen boxes of it because of my sister. She lives in the UK and this was one pasta shape they didn’t sell there. Her family LOVES the stuff, so any time she came for a visit and pasta was on sale, she’d stock up. Of course she couldn’t get everything she bought back with her, so she’d leave it here to take back on her next visit–about 6 months away.

Anyway, last batch she bought and left here, stayed here because they started selling it in the UK. So, I was stuck with the stuff. She gifted me with it with the usual, “Use it in good health.”

Since I had to use the stuff, I filled up a big Lock & Lock container and left it in the cupboard. This was a time I figured I could put some of it to good use. Actually, it was perfect for this because it cooks and cooks fast. Plus it absorbed the flavor of the chicken and the stock.

I added some bacon here that I had left over from baking my Bacon and Cheese Dog Biscuits so I added that to use it up. As much as I love bacon, this dish doesn’t need it. So if you are iffy about adding it, just use bacon as a garnish to see if it improves the flavor for YOU. I don’t think it’s necessary, even though I added it.

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One-Pan Chicken & Orzo Skillet Dinner

Tasty chicken and pasta skillet dinner cooks in one pan and is ready in 30 minutes!

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Chicken, Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals, skillet dinners

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken, orzo

Servings: 2 -4

Calories: 740kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts medium boneless
2 tbs butter
2 pouches Swanson Flavor Boost*
2 tbsp instant onion flakes
2 strips crisp bacon diced (optional)
2 cups water
1 cup orzo

SEASONED FLOUR

1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch curry powder

Instructions

*You may use 2 cups of very rich chicken stock in place of the Flavor Boost. If you do, omit the water.
Pound chicken breast to about 1/2-inch thickness between 2 sheets of waxed paper with a mallet.
Mix seasoned flour ingredients and dredge each chicken breast with the flour mixture.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Brown chicken breasts well on each side--don't worry if the butter becomes brown butter--it's part of the flavoring process.
Remove chicken and in the same pan, add the uncooked orzo and brown in the remaining butter in the pan. Add the 2 cups of water, the Flavor Boost and dehydrated onion; stir.
Place browned chicken breast on top of orzo mixture. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the diced bacon and broccoli florets. Cover and continue simmering for 10-15 minutes or until water is almost absorbed and broccoli is cooked to crisp-tender (don't let it overcook).
Serves 2 (or 4 with light appetites)

Nutrition

One-Pan Chicken & Orzo Skillet Dinner

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