A Half Cup

So tonight, Paul (boyfriend), needs a recipe for Nerd Night.

What is Nerd Night? Glad you asked. Without giving too much away, and at the risk of embarassing him, Nerd Night is usually a Monday night when a bunch of the guys get together at one of their condos and watch football, play nerdy fantasy card games (MTG anyone?) and hang out.

Tonight Paul’s hosting, but he doesn’t get off work till 7:30, and the guys will be there at 8! That means he really needs a recipe that will feed the masses (usually 4-8 guys) that is little to no prep, and hands off, so he’s not in the kitchen much.

Here’s the recipe I left him for tonight:

Chicken Tomato Bake

Easy, hands off, done in an hour.  If you’re making 8 chicken breasts, you can either double the tomato sauce, or add chicken stalk or water to expand the marinade.

Ingredients:

4-8 chicken breasts (frozen)
1 can tomato sauce or tomato soup
1/2c red wine (anything is fine, even if it’s past drinkable)
1tsp. Poultry seasoning
1tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2tsp. Cayenne pepper
1tsp. Garlic powder
1tbsp. Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Grated white cheese (parm, jack, mozarella, blue, goat, feta, whateva)

Directions:

1. You’ll have two casserole dishes, so you’ll either want to put them side by side on the middle rack, or you’ll put on one each rack, and split those racks so they’re evenly spaced in the oven.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 400F.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, dump:
 a. Tomato sauce
 b. Red wine
 c. Poultry seasoning
 d. Italian seasoning
 e. Garlic powder
 f. Olive oil
 g. Pinch salt and pepper
 h. Cayenne pepper
 
4. Place chicken breasts (frozen) in baking dish (you can spray the bottom, but it’s not totally necessary).  If you are serving 6-8ppl, you might need to split your chicken into two dishes.
5. Pour half the mixture over each batch of chicken (or all the mixture if just one dish).
6. Cover each piece of chicken with a bit of cheese. It will melt into the sauce so don’t use too much, or it’ll melt off and go to waste.
7. Cover tightly with tin foil (crimp edges).
8. Place on the center of the rack (or even space them if using multiple dishes).
9. Put in oven quickly, don’t let the heat escape.
10. Cook for 40 minutes. Do NOT open the oven. (If you have to use two racks, then set the timer for 20 minutes, switch the dishes top to bottom at the 20 minute mark and reset the time for another 20 minutes).
11. At 40 minutes, take one batch out (quickly shut the oven door). Remove tin foil and check the thickest part of the thickest breast for doneness.
12. If not done, replace for an additional 10 minutes.
13. Serve immediately with more cheese for people to doctor up their own servings.

I don’t have a picture of this one yet, sorry to say. But, please feel free to make this the next time you or someone you know is having a case of the Mondays, and send me your feedback! Did you like it? Did it bomb?! Did you modify or adapt? I’d love to use your feedback to alter this recipe for future use.

Thanks and here’s to a quick and painless end to this cold, cold day!