Category Archives: Recipes

Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu

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Fall is in full swing, and with this nice cool weather comes that hankering for good old comfort food. This next recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu is easy, but tastes like it took hours to prepare. The best part? If you’re a Passanante’s Home Food Service customer you probably already have most of the necessary ingredients in your home/freezer! So, without further adieu, start heating up your oil and get ready for another delicious home-cooked meal.Chicken Cordon Bleu RecipeWhat you’ll need:

  • 4 Grade-A boneless skinless chicken breast halves
  • 4 Thin slices of fully cooked hormone and antibiotic-free smoked ham
  • 4 Thin slices of Swiss or Gruyere cheese
  • 1 Cup dry bread crumbs
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon water
  • 1/2 Cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 Cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 Teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 Teaspoon ground pepper
  • Lemon wedges (optional)
  • Parsley (optional)

How to prepare Chicken Cordon Bleu:

  1. Lay the chicken flat between 2 sheets of wax paper. With a mallet, flatten each breast half to about 1/4″ thickness.
  2. Place 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese on each breast half.
  3. Beginning at the narrow end, roll up and press the meat firmly together.
  4. In a pie plate combine flour, salt and pepper. In a second plate, spread the bread crumbs. And in a shallow bowl, beat eggs and water.
  5. Roll a chicken piece in flour, shake off the excess; dip in the egg mixture and roll in bread crumbs, pressing crumbs evenly onto the chicken.
  6. Place the coated chicken on a wire rack and let stand for 20-30 minutes at room temperature to firm the coating. You can also prepare in advance and refrigerate until 30 minutes before frying.
  7. When ready to cook, heat the oil to 375 degrees in a deep skillet.
  8. Fry the prepared chicken pieces over medium heat, turning occasionally with tongs for 8 minutes or until golden brown.
  9. Drain on paper towels, garnish with lemon wedge and parsley if desired, and serve hot!

3 New Game Day Party Pleasers!

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Well, football season is in full swing and you know what that means — weekend watch parties with friends, family, and foes! We’re always looking for more delicious recipes to add to our game day playbook and we love when Passanante’s Home Food Service customers share their best kept secrets with us! Throughout the 2013 football season we’ll be adding tons of great new appetizer and dinner recipes to our blog and our Facebook page so check in with us regularly and don’t miss out on your next new favorite food!

Football Season Menu

Playbook Pot Stickers

  • 1 cup pork tenderloin, cooked and finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup bok choy or cabbage, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup celery, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dry sherry
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 36 wonton wrappers
  • 2 tablespoons oil

Mix the bok choy (or cabbage), celery, and green onion. Combine soy sauce, sherry, and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Stir in the cornstarch and pour the mixture over pork – toss to coat. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Cut the wonton wrappers into 4-inch circles with a cookie cutter. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of the round. Bring the sides up and seal the edges with water (keep the rest of the rounds covered with a dry cloth while you prepare them one by one.) Transfer the pot stickers to a baking sheet and cover with a dry cloth.

In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Carefully place half of the pot stickers in the skillet; do not let them touch each other. Cook over medium heat for 1 minute or until the bottoms are browned.

Gently add 1/2 cup water to the skillet and reduce the heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 3-5 minutes  or until the water evaporates. Transfer pot stickers to a baking sheet and allow them to sit in the oven on 250 to keep warm. Repeat with the other half of your pot stickers and serve with soy sauce!

Beer Cheese Dip

  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 package ranch dip mix
  • 1/2-3/4 your favorite beer
  • 4 chopped green onions
  • pretzels and assorted veggies

In a medium bowl combine cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and dip mix. Gradually stir in beer until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. Add green onions and stir. Garnish with extra green onions and cheddar cheese. Makes 3 cups.

Hail Mary Hot Crab, Parmesan and Artichoke Dip

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 large green pepper, chopped
  • 2 (14 ounce cans) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped finely
  • 2 cups mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1 pound crab meat, drained
  • 1/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
  • pita chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small skillet over medium heat, stir vegetable oil and green pepper until soft. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine artichoke hearts, mayonnaise, scallions, Parmesan, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and celery salt. Gently stir in crab meat. Transfer the mixture to buttered baking dish and sprinkle with almonds.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the mixture is bubbly. Serve with pita chips.

Recipe: Gourmet Pork Chops

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A friend of ours had the pleasure of enjoying this next recipe while on a small-town vacation in Texas. These “Gourmet Pork Chops” are fancy enough for any dinner party and apparently pretty hard to forget.  We know a lot of effort goes into preparing a gourmet meal at home, which is why we only provide the best hormone-free meats available — nothing can ruin a great recipe faster than a bad cut of meat. All of the pork Passanante’s Home Food Service delivers is locally raised, corn and grain fed, and consistent in color and taste so you can be sure your recipe will turn out just the way it’s meant to!

Pork Chops

What you’ll need for “Gourmet Pork Chops”:

  • 8 – 1/2 inch thick pork cutlets
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup Madeira wine
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup onion, chopped
  • 1 cup plum tomatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1 large lime, peeled, seeded, and cut into small cubes
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander or parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

What to do:

  1. Soak the raisins in the Madeira wine for 30 minutes.
  2. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the vegetable oil.
  3. Remove the fat from the pork cutlets and pound them slightly flat. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper before placing them in a pan over medium heat. When both sides are browned, cook for another 10 minutes. Move to another frying pan and keep warm.
  4. Discard all fat from the first frying pan and add the onion. Stir and brown slightly.
  5. Add tomatoes, lime juice, chicken stock, and lime. With a spatula, scrape and stir to dissolve the solids in the pan.
  6. Add raisins and Madeira, and the lime rind.
  7. Reduce the liquids in the pan to about 1 cup.
  8. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of butter.
  9. Pour the sauce over the cutlets.
  10. Serve very hot, garnished with fresh coriander or parsley.

Love pork chops as much as us? Check out a few more incredibly share-worthy pork chop recipes from our blog!

Pork Chop Casserole
OMGoodness Honey Tabasco Pork Chops & Creamy Butter Beans
Grilled Pork Chops with Apple Compote

Happy Eating!

Back 2 School Brilliance

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As summer comes to a close and you prepare to send the little ones back to school, you might start thinking about ways you can help ensure their lunches are nutritious, portion controlled and enjoyable. It’s no secret that many cafeteria lunches are questionable in nutritious value, packed full of preservatives and usually lacking in variety. Passanante’s Home Food Service knows our customers take pride in the food they provide to their families – so why should that all stop come September?

We’ve pulled together an assortment of back to school lunch ideas to help you continue to provide the same quality of food to your children year round. These lunch box heroes are simple, easy and can be customized for your child’s taste and preferences in a snap.

Lunch Box Recipes

Lunch Kebabs

Most of us have had the “Lunchable” debate with our kids… you know the one. Your child wants to eat Lunchables everyday at school but you know the nutritional value of the meal and the quality of the meat is questionable. We all know the reason our kids want Lunchables isn’t because they’re just so delicious, it’s because they’re fun to eat. Lunch kebabs are even cooler and give your kids a chance to play with their food while giving you peace of mind about what they’re eating. Try out a couple of the combinations or make up your own… we promise your child will love them!

  • Canteloupe + Ham + Green Grapes + Mozzarella Balls
  • Salami + Italian Bread Cubes + Grape Tomatoes + Fresh Basil + Mozzarella Balls
  • Turkey + Apple Cubes + Celery Slices + Swiss Cheese
  • Bacon + Lettuce + Italian Bread Cubes + Tomatoes
  • Turkey + Colby Jack + Bell Pepper

Sog-Free Sammys

There’s nothing worse than packing a sandwich in your child’s lunch box only to see it come back with them in the afternoon. What a waste! But if the sandwich you packed is soggy can you really blame them? A trick of the trade is to always place a barrier between the condiments and the bread. (Example: Bread, cheese, condiment, meat, lettuce, bread) Try it out and hopefully you wont get any more sammy surprises after school.

Pin Wheel Sandwiches

Another great option if the standard sandwich is getting boring is pin wheel sandwiches. Just substitute the bread with your favorite wrap, roll meats, cheeses and veggies up like an enchilada and slice into poppable pin wheels. Your favorite variety of peanut butter sandwiches also works great in a pin wheel whether its paired with jelly, honey, banana or green apple — they’re all delicious.

Quiche

Quiches are a great lunch box option if you’re looking to mix it up. Use this opportunity to sneak in spinach, zucchini, onion, asparagus and any of the other veggies you struggle to convince you child to eat at dinner. When paired with egg, ham, turkey, bacon, sausage, or potato these veggie villains will slide right in undetected.

Homemade Parfait

Tasty and filling, parfaits are an excellent lunch box addition. Layer greek vanilla yogurt and cubes of your child’s favorite fruit into a small resealable round tupperware or jar. Pack granola and nuts in a separate baggy to keep crunchy and relax knowing their dessert is good and good for them.

Pasta Salad

An easy lunch box side option, pasta salad is a great substitute for greasy potato chips. Add chopped carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, olives, feta and Italian dressing for an irresistible lunch time favorite.

Alphabet Cookies

For elementary students, alphabet cookies are a really cool way to treat your kids to a tasty dessert and a fun message from mom. Use small cookie cutters and your favorite cookie recipe to send words of encouragement to your little ones — challenge them to figure out the message! Example: Smile, Love, Smart, Silly, Crazy, Giggle, Laugh, Dance, Kisses

Have some awesome lunch box ideas of your own? Please share them with us and your fellow Passanante’s customers on our Facebook page!!

Recipe: King Ranch Beef Casserole

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King Ranch Casserole

This simple recipe for King Ranch Beef Casserole is really comfort food at it’s finest. If you’re feeling adventurous grab some pickled jalapeños and sprinkle them over the top of the finished product or mix in a tablespoon of diced jalapeños for an extra kick. Also, if beef isn’t your preference feel free to substitute with shredded chicken breast.

As always, we hope you’ll trust Passanante’s Home Food Service to deliver organic produce and tasty hormone-free meats right to your door. Since 1916 we’ve been dedicated to delivering the best ingredients around so the recipes you prepare for your family truly shine.

Yield: 5-6 servings            Prep Time: 20 minutes            Cook Time: 40 minutes

Everything you’ll need:

2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup bell pepper, diced
Dash of salt
1 10 3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom
1 10 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken
1 10 oz. can mild rotel tomatoes, drained
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
10 corn tortillas

How to prepare King Ranch Beef Casserole : 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the beef and onions.
  3. When meat has almost cooked all the way add the bell pepper and sprinkle with a dash of salt.
  4. When the meat is brown and thoroughly cooked drain the grease from the pan.
  5. Heat a medium size sauce pan over low/medium heat.
  6. Add the cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, rotel tomatoes, garlic powder and chili powder. Stir and cook until the mixture is warm and then turn off the heat.
  7. Tear each tortilla into pieces and dip each piece into the sauce mixture. These pieces do not have to be totally saturated in the mixture or you might use it all up and won’t have enough for the dish
  8. Place the tortillas in a large casserole dish and top with half of the meat mixture and half of the sauce.
  9. Sprinkle 2 cups of the cheese over the sauce and repeat the layers finishing with the rest of the cheese.
  10. Cook for 40 minutes & enjoy!