Favorite Mother's Day Dinner Recipes
Whether you are going for simple and sophisticated, or an all-out big time family feast, make sure the meal is planned with Mom in mind.
The most important thing is to make sure your menu is organized in advance. Also, the more guests you have the more coordinated you must be to pull off a truly smooth dinner event. No cooking or cleaning for Mom today!
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Easy Yet Elegant
Let's face it: Any kind of dinner that Mom doesn't have to make is a good dinner, as far as Mom is concerned! But that's no excuse to serve up something plain, when it's so easy to surprise mom with a meal that's delicious and elegant. We are talking about Mom here, after all. :)
To keep it simple for the chef of the day - whoever he or she may be - we've focused on a handful of classic favorites. Most of these dishes can be prepared in under an hour, as long as you plan ahead:
- Roast Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
- Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze
- Roasted Rack of Lamb
- Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon
- Chicken Parmigiana
Roast Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
There may be no other dish in the world that is this easy to make and tastes this amazingly good! Roast chicken with roasted carrots and potatoes offers up a kind of casual elegance that's perfect for Mothers Day.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, roughly 4 pounds
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons dried rosemary leaves
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, medium sized, washed and scrubbed
- 2 pounds carrots, washed and peeled, cut into thirds
- 6 medium red onions, peeled, cut into halves
Preparation
- Wash the chicken and pat dry, inside and out.
- Salt the inside of the chicken (unless you plan to add stuffing).
- If you plan to add stuffing, stuff front and back of bird, just before roasting. Do not over stuff (stuffing expands during roasting). Secure front and back with small skewers.
- Make sure chicken is breast side up, and tie or skewer drumsticks to tail.
- Rub outside of chicken with butter or margarine.
- Rub on garlic, evenly spread.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Sprinkle on rosemary and thyme.
- Place bird in shallow roasting pan.
- Add potatoes, carrots and onions.
- Cover with tin foil tent.
- Place in oven, 375°.
- Cover with tin foil tent.
- Remove foil after 1 hour.
- Total cooking time for a 4 pound chicken approximately 2 hours. Chicken is done when meat thermometer shows 165° in the thickest part of the thigh (not the leg). Juices should run clear.
- Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes before carving.
Stuffing Ingredients and Preparation
- 1 1/2 cups chopped celery (with leaves)
- 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 3/4 cup butter or margarine
- 9 cups bread crumbs (leave out night before to dry out)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Melt butter or margarine in medium sized pot over medium heat.
- Add celery and online, cooking until celery is tender.
- Remove from heat.
- Stir in remaining ingredients.
- Allow to cool, then add to chicken.
- Cheat: Instead of making the stuffing from scratch, use a package of Stovetop Chicken Stuffing and just follow directions less 1/4 cup water (chicken will add the extra juiciness). It may not be gourmet but it tastes very good! Add a small box of white raisins for extra flare!
Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze
Baked ham seems to make any dinner occasion seem more special, and like our other dishes, it's incredibly easy to prepare. Besides, there's no reason to limit your delicious ham dinners to Easter or Christmas, right?
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 pre-cooked ham, about 6-7 pounds
- 1 orange, sliced
Preparation
- In a bowl, mix brown sugar, dry mustard and vinegar to create glaze. Set aside for later.
- Place ham on a rack in a roasting pan.
- Rub garlic over surface of ham.
- Follow directions for heating the ham in oven: Usually about 350° cooking time 10 minutes per pound.
- Remove ham from oven 1/2 hour before ham is done, and brush on glaze.
- Return to oven and cook until meat thermometer shows 140°.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
Serving Suggestion
- Garnish ham with orange slices.
- Vegetables: Steamed or boiled asparagus; and/or, steamed or boiled green beans.
- Starch: Baked yams or sweat potatoes.
Roasted Rack of Lamb
Few dishes appear more elegant than rack of lamb ... but this entree is surprisingly simple to make. Don't let the fact that you associate it with fine restaurants fool you. Anyone can do this.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (plain or with Italian seasoning)
- 3 tablespoons mashed garlic
- 4 tablespoons rosemary
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 racks of lamb, 6 to 8 ribs per rack
- Salt and pepper
- 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 450°.
- Mix olive oil, breadcrumbs, mashed garlic, rosemary, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
- Season lamb on both sides with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spread very thin layer of mustard on both sides of lamb racks.
- Spread thin layer of the breadcrumb mixture onto both sides of both racks.
- Place lamb, meat side up, in shallow roasting pan.
- Roast for 10 minutes. Take temperature readings with meat thermometer and continue to cook until internal temperature reaches 125° for medium rare.
- Remove from oven and allow to stand for 7-8 minutes.
- Slice evenly between the ribs.
Serving Suggestion
- Vegetables: Steamed or boiled asparagus, green beans or sugar snap peas.
- Starch: Roasted or baked potatoes, whichever mom prefers!
Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon
This dish can be pan fried in a heavy skillet, or grilled. We prefer grilled, because it's the best way to get the bacon crispy at the same time the meat is done (pan frying tends to leave the bacon a bit soggy for our tastes). Besides, it's springtime, so if you haven't fired up the grill yet, what better time?
Ingredients
- 4 filet mignons (about 1-1/2 to 2 inches thick)
- 4 slices bacon
- Wooden toothpicks
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- Salt and pepper
Preparation
- Wrap each filet in a strip of bacon around the perimeter of the filet.
- Fix bacon strips to filets with toothpicks.
- Lightly brush top and bottom of each filet with olive oil.
- Rub 1/4 of garlic onto each filet.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Grill over medium high heat until bacon starts to crisp (approximately 5-7 minutes per side, for medium rare).
Serving Suggestion
- Vegetables: Steamed or boiled asparagus; and/or, steamed or boiled broccoli.
- Starch: Mashed or baked potatoes, whichever mom prefers!
Chicken Parmigiana
Why not add a little Italian flare to your Mother's Day dinner? Our recipe for Chicken Parmigiana is a little more saucy and cheesy than most, but we've never had a complaint at home so we hope you love it too! Plus, our version has the advantage of being the easiest way we know of to serve up a delicious Chicken Parmigiana dinner!
Ingredients
- 6 chicken breasts, rinsed. Thin pieces preferable to thick pieces.
- 2 cups flour
- Salt and pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 jars of your favorite marinara sauce, store bought
- 6 slices mozzarella (1 slice per chicken breast)
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Italian parsley
Preparation
- Wash chicken breasts and pat dry. Set aside.
- Combine in a bowl the flour, salt and pepper to taste, rosemary and thyme. Set aside.
- Add olive oil to large skillet. Warm over medium heat.
- Dust the chicken breasts in flour mixture.
- When oil is hot but not burning, add chicken breasts to skillet.
- Brown chicken breasts on both sides until coating is light brown and breasts are just barely cooked through.
- Add marinara sauce to skillet. Heat sauce until slightly bubbling.
- Cover each piece of chicken with one slice of mozzarella. Mozzarella will gently melt from heat of the chicken and surrounding sauce. Remove from heat.
- Optional: You may transfer chicken pieces topped with mozzarella to broiler or toaster over if you want the mozzarella to be slightly toasted on top (see photo).
- After adding each chicken breast to a plate, top with a light sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese, and garnish with finely chopped Italian parsley.
Serving Suggestion
- Vegetables: Steamed or boiled broccoli.
- Pasta: Spaghetti or ziti cooked according to package instructions.
