Brussel Sprout Chicken Bake

I don't mind the sprout.  Recipe from Yummly.

Maple Bacon Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Sheet Pan Dinner

Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 45 mins
Servings: 4 people
This fall inspired chicken sheet pan dinner with brussels sprouts and bacon is the best way to enjoy fall flavors without much effort at all. I mean, you literally let your oven do all the work.

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 4 strips applewood smoked bacon
• 1 pound brussels sprouts trimmed and washed
• 1 whole yellow onion chopped
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line sheetpan with parchment paper or a baking liner. Place bacon and chicken breasts on sheetpan. Bake for 10 minutes.
2. Remove sheetpan from oven, increase temperature to 400 degrees F.
3. Add onion and brussels sprouts to pan. Drizzle syrup over ingredients, season with salt and pepper. Toss ingredients to evenly distribute syrup and bacon grease over all ingredients.
4. Return to oven (even if it's not done heating up to 400 degrees. Roast for 40 minutes or until brussels sprouts are crispy and browned.
5. Remove from oven, evenly distribute vegetables between 4 plates, slice chicken and bacon and evenly distribute between plates.

Recipe Notes

• serve with bread, rice, pasta, or add potatoes to vegetable mix to roast everything together.

Brigadeiros

The Brave Astronaut Clan is on the road for Thanksgiving, visiting with Mrs. BA's family.  The only thing that I am aware of that we are on the hook for is the famous Costco Apple Pie but I might try and convince Mrs. BA to make these - if not for Thanksgiving, maybe for an upcoming dinner party that I am hosting. From Tasty, via BuzzFeed.

Brigadeiros
Ingredients for 12 brigadeiros

• 400 g (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing
• 40 g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
• chocolate sprinkles, to decorate

Preparation

1. Put a pot on a medium low heat and melt the butter with the condensed milk.
2. Stir in the cocoa powder and continue to stir for 10-15 minutes until the mixture begins to pull away from the edge of the pot.
3. It’s done when you run the spoon through the centre of the mixture and it takes a few seconds to combine again.
4. Spread the mixture onto a buttered plate and refrigerate for 2 hours.
5. When set, roll the mixture into small balls and coat them in the chocolate sprinkles, (you may need to apply a small amount of butter to your hands to help them from sticking).
6. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff

One of my richest memories of growing up was traveling to my aunt's house for New Years and she would make Beef Stroganoff.  I should build this into the recipe repertoire at the Launchpad. From the Recipe Critic via BuzzFeed.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff
Prep time 5 mins
Cook time 5 hours
Total time 5 hours 5 mins
Slow Cooker
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 8 ounce sliced mushrooms
• 1 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 1 (10½) ounce cream of chicken soup
• 1 envelope (1¼ ounce) dry onion soup mix
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
• 1 pound large egg noodles for serving

Instructions

• Place the chicken in the bottom of a lightly greased slow cooker. Add the mushrooms. In a medium sized bowl add cream cheese, cream of chicken soup, and dry onion soup mix. Mix until incorporated and spread on top of chicken and mushrooms.
• Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 3-4. Serve over noodles and top with fresh parsley and salt and pepper.

Chowder Soaked Toast

I spotted this article and recipe in the New York Times Magazine a while back and it stirred great memories of summers in Maine at my grandmother's house. I feel like this made an appearance on the dining room table more than once.

Chowder Soaked Toast

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, minced, scraps reserved
• 2 ribs celery, minced, scraps reserved
• 2 sprigs tarragon
• 30 littleneck clams, rinsed and scrubbed
• 6 ounces dry white wine
• 6 ounces clam juice
• ⅓ pound guanciale, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 leeks, dark, woody green parts removed, sliced into coins and washed well
• 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, medium dice
• 2 sprigs thyme, picked
• Salt and pepper
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 12 ounces chopped clams
• 6 pieces of a dense rustic loaf, cut into thick 2-inch-by-2-inch squares

Preparation

1. Put the olive oil in a Dutch oven, and heat on medium-high for approximately 1 minute, until the oil starts to streak. Add onion scraps and celery scraps, tarragon and littleneck clams. Stir briefly to coat with oil, and barely soften, then add the wine. Reduce the wine by half, then add 3 ounces of clam juice. Cover, and allow clams to steam open, checking often so as to remove the clams as they open, until all are open and removed. Set clams aside. 
2. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth, and reserve the liquid. Remove all but 6 clams from the shell. Meanwhile, in a cast-iron or heavy-bottomed sauté pan, render the slices of guanciale in the canola oil until they are browned evenly on both sides. Reserve the fat and the guanciale.
3. In the Dutch oven, heat the guanciale fat, and add onion, celery, leeks, potatoes and thyme, stirring to coat. Season with salt and pepper, and cook over low heat until the vegetables have just started to soften, taking care not to brown, about 5 minutes. Cover the vegetables with remaining clam juice, and simmer until potatoes are al dente.
4. Stir in the cream, and simmer until vegetables are cooked through, taking care not to boil. Add the chopped clams and the littlenecks, and season to taste with salt and ground black pepper. Remove from heat.
5. Toast the bread until golden, and place each piece in a bowl. Cover the toast with pieces of guanciale, and then add a ladleful of the chowder, about 6 ounces. Garnish with the remaining littleneck clams still in the shell.