Beurre Blanc

Beurre blanc (pronounced burr blonk) is a french butter and white wine sauce. This is absolutely delicious on fish because of its tangy flavor. I love tangy sauces...which means I would put this on anything...maybe even ice cream...okay, maybe not.

Ingredients
1 Cup of white wine
2 Tbs finely diced shallots
1/2 Cup white wine vinegar
4 sticks of butter (unsalted), cut into 1/2inch cubes and refrigerate
Salt to taste

I did not have the proper shallots to use for this sauce so I used half an onion, and I added about 8 finely sliced mushrooms.

In a large saucepan, bring wine, vinegar, shallots, and mushrooms to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about ten minutes to allow the wine to reduce.

When reduced, reduce heat to low and add one cube of butter and whisk until nearly gone then add another cube of butter. Do this repeatedly until only a few remain. Remove completely from heat and incorporate the last few cubes as before. Salt to taste. Be cautious that you do not allow the sauce to boil again or it may separate. Constant whisking is the key! The sauce should be slightly creamy in nature.

To keep this sauce, put in a thermos or double boiler. If you have leftovers, it can be refrigerated but upon reheat, it's going to "break" or separate so it won't be nearly as smooth as it first was. However, it's still very tasty. Put it on anything and everything...though I don't recommend ice cream.

FFR

Spaghetti Sauce

This sauce is one of the best. It's homemade but not hard to do. Does NOT require any cooking and can be kept in the fridge until you're ready to us then heat it up! It's got great flavor and a rich color. Put it on pizza for a zesty pizza sauce outside the traditional tomato!

Servings: I honestly don't know...4?
Prep Time: 10-15 Min
Cook Time: None!
Total Time: 10-15 Min

Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

2 6oz cans tomato paste
1 1/2 C water
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 Tbs dried oregano
1/2 Tbs dried basil
1/2 tsp dried crushed rosemary
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a bowl, mix together the tomato paste, water, and olive oil. This will take some serious mixing to get these items to blend but it will be worth it! Add the minced garlic, pepper, salt, oregano, basil, rosemary and mix these in well. Let stand for a few hours to let the flavors meld. Don't have that much time? Got ahead and simmer it on the stove for 10-15 minutes before serving. This will help speed up the melding process. Viola! Delicious sauce without buying it!

Chicken Nuggets

I like chicken nuggets. I'm not ashamed to admit that my favorite are the ones from McDonald's and that's because they're lightly breaded. So now, I offer for you, the light breading that makes these little reconstituted bits of heaven so much better than traditional chicken nuggets.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 15 Min
Total Time: 25 Min

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs if your audience prefers it)
Canola oil (lots and lots for frying)
1/4 C flour
1/3 C cold water
1/4 C corn starch
1 Egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp baking powder

First, cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes and set aside for dipping. Then mix the remaining ingredients (besides the canola oil which is only for frying...in case you didn't get that) in a small bowl. Put the chicken bites in the batter and leave them there. Begin heating a large amount of canola oil (so you can get both sides cooked easily, better if it had a place to sink to). This works best in a large wok because you can use less oil for the same purpose. However, a large skillet works fine.

Once the oil is hot, put the chicken bites in it with a pair of long tongs. Do NOT crowd. If you get the chicken touching while the batter is still wet, they will all stick together. When they start to harden, you can put more in around them. Let cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until the batter starts to brown. Once one looks done, go ahead and cut it open and ensure that the chicken is white, not pink.

Remove the done nuggets to a plate with a few paper towels (to soak up excess oil) put the plate in either a warm oven or the microwave. Do the same until all the chicken is done. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce!

Italian Breaded Pork Chops

These chops are very yummy and usually very moist. They are not oily because they are not fried! They are messy when you are making them but it's worth the mess in my view.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 20 Min
Cook Time: 35-40 Min
Total Time: 55 Min - 1 Hr

Ingredients

Flour
Salt
Pepper
2 Eggs
2 Tbs milk
3/4 C Italian bread crumbs
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs dried parsley
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
4 Cloves garlic, minced
4 Pork chops

Breading

Mix flour, salt, and pepper in a small bowl
In another bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together
In a third bowl, mix the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley and a little flour

Dip each chop in the flour mix, egg mix, then bread mix. Dip again in egg mix and bread mix. This will give it a thick coating of breading locking in the moisture of the pork chops.

Next, heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Brown each of the pork chops on both sides and put in a glass baking dish. Sprinkle the garlic over the pork chops.

Preheat oven to 325 and bake for 25 minutes then turn up the heat to 375 and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until finished.

Enjoy!

Tinfoilies

While Aunt J and Uncle G were here, we got to talking about Tinfoilies. They had never heard of them and I'm betting most people haven't but it's a fantastic dinner. They also go by the name of Hobo Stew. It's great for camping, at home, in the oven, on the grill...anywhere.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 25 Min
Cook Time: 30-45 Min

Ingredients

Tinfoil
1 Pound hamburger
4 White Potatoes
1 Large white onion
3 C carrots
Ketchup

Optional:
BBQ Sauce
Hot Sauce

To start, lay out four large pieces of tinfoil, this is where everything will go when it's sliced and diced. Next, make four hamburger patties at the desired size for each diner and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place one patty on each piece of foil. Slice the potatoes thinly and place desired amount on each tinfoil. (Thinner is better, but not paper thin. Too think and it will take too long to finish! Too thin and it will be mushy!)

Now, Cut the onion into slim rings. Same note as the potatoes. Not minced thin, but not too thick. Place desired onion on each tinfoil. Slice the carrots and do the same.

Lastly, and this is where you get to make all the decisions, cover with your favorite sauce. As a note, doing all hot sauce is NOT recommended. It is usually too thin to cook for long periods of time. Instead, mix it with some of the ketchup. They should be heavily striped with your sauce.

Next, fold in the edges of the tinfoilies and mark each person's with a sharpie. Preheat oven to 400 and cook for 30-45 min or until the vegetables are tender. (Meat should always be finished before the vegetables). Remove from the oven when done. Standing over the sink, carefully use a fork to puncture the bottom of each tinfoil packet to release excess grease and steam. Open and flip remainder on a plate. It will be messy when doing this so don't even try to keep the plate spotless!

Enjoy!

Cheesy Tomato Eggs

Have you ever given thought to the egg? How versatile this creation is! Poached, over easy, over medium, fried, hard-boiled...and my favorite, scrambled. The scrambled egg is even more versatile than the eggs itself. You can put anything in it! So this morning:

6 small tomatoes (cherry, grape, or small roma)
1/2 Cup of cheddar
4 eggs
Milk for scrambling

Scramble away, add the tomato and pop into a lightly greased pan. Move constantly until almost fully cooked and add a little salt and pepper. Top with cheese and cook until melted. Put on a plate and enjoy!

Low Carb BBQ Sauce

I keep to a pretty strict low carbohydrate diet. I don't have diabetes but I have always been overweight and my number one downfall has been pasta and breads. I could have and have lived off of those two items. So I decided to remove them from my diet (and it's worked great). The biggest problem I have had is BBQs. I can't ever find a BBQ sauce that I can use. They are loaded with sugar!

Finally, I stumbled upon one. Oh it's delicious!

Servings: 10
Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 20-30 Min
Total Time: 30-40 Min

Ingredients

Liquid Smoke
1 Small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 12oz can diet cola
1/4 C low carb sugar (or 1 Tbs vinegar and sweetener to taste)
3 Tbs mustard
1 Tbs Worcestershire
1/2 C water

Cook the onion and the garlic in some butter in a medium fry pan (you can also prepare the sauce in a sauce pan if you'd prefer) until it is soft. Add everything EXCEPT the liquid smoke to the onion and garlic. Mix well. Bring to a simmer (most likely the absolute lowest setting on your stove for this). Cover and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Towards the end, add about 2-3 tsp of liquid smoke (as according to taste). Once done, put it in a tupperware and place it in the fridge for later!

Thai Chicken Wraps

One of my favorite sauces of all time (one that doesn't come from a restaurant anyway...because some of those restaurant sauces are good...like a beurre blanc...I can't do that for the life of me but boy is it good on ahi tuna...I digress) comes from this recipe (you had to read back to the beginning to put the whole sentence together didn't you?). It is a sweet and spicy sauce but the whole wrap itself is light and hearty. It's yummy. I think I want one now...although I just ate breakfast an hour ago.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Total Time: 30 min

Ingredients

3 6oz chicken breasts/thighs
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs vegetabl oil
1 Tbs grill seasoning

Salad:
1/2 cucumber, peeled, sliced finely
2 cups bean sprouts
1 Cup shredded carrot
12 leaves basil, chopped
1 Tbs sesame seeds
2 tsp sugar
2 Tbs white vinegar
Salt to taste

Spicy peanut sauce:
1/8 C chunky peanut butter
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs white vinegar
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1/2 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs sugar

4 12-in tortillas

This is really simple. Basically, marinade the chicken for 30 minutes to an hour. You don't want to marinade it too long or it may become too salty.

After you've marinaded it, cook it in the oil until cooked through. You can do this in strips or as whole pieces of chicken (in the end it will have to be chunks anyway).

While your chicken is cooking, prepare everything for your salad and mix together. Then prepare your sauce. These are accurate measurements however, you can taste it and determine if you want it sweeter (more sugar), more sour (more vinegar), or spicier (more cayenne). Remember that Cayenne is very hot, so do not add too much to start or it may become inedible!

Chop the cooked chicken and mix with the salad base.

Now here's a part for your choosing...I usually serve the salad and the chicken together and leave the sauce on the side allowing people to choose their level of sauciness. Or you can mix it all for them. Then, give everyone a tortilla and let them make their wraps. You don't even have to have a tortilla for this one, it's good all by itself too!

My Lunch

Usually lunch is a chicken breast and sometimes I get creative. It can be boring eating the same thing over and over. Hubby always tells me I am going to grow feathers from eating so much chicken. You know what I say to that? In his own words...blah blah blah. Now this recipe is not for the person who does not like sour. I happen to have a sour palate so this is one of my favorite lunches.

Servings: 1
Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 10 Min

Ingredients

1 Chicken breast
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
3-4 Chives
4 Basil leaves
1/2 Mexican gray squash (or your favorite type of squash)
10 Grape tomatoes
10-15 Calamata olives

Put 2 Tbs of oil in a small saute pan. Dice chives and basil. Place chicken breast in pan and cover both sides with the diced herbs. Slice the squash thinly and add to the pan. Turn on the heat to medium-high while you prepare the rest.

Slice the tomatoes in half and add to the pan. Slice the olives in quarters and add to the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to medium and add the last tablespoon of oil on top of the mixture.

Allow to cook for 5-7 minutes on one side. Resist stirring unless you feel you are running low on oil. Turn chicken and vegetables over. Allow to finish. Vegetables should be soft, chicken should be cooked through. Serve and enjoy!

Aunt J's Chinese Chicken Salad

Aunt J (not to be confused with MIL J) created a wonderful Chinese chicken salad. This is a great light meal that, for whatever reason, keeps you pretty well full. It's perfect for during summer because it's chilled and you can cook the chicken at any point during the day (aka early morning) so you don't have to heat up the house late in the day.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 10 Min
Total Time: 20 Min

Ingredients:

1/2 Head Cabbage
3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 Cup oil
1/4 Cup rice wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
1/4 Cup sugar
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 packages ORIENTAL Top Ramen
1/2 Cup Sunflower seeds
1/4 Cup sesame seeds
Sliced almonds
2 Tbs Butter

Dressing

Mix oil, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and ONE packet of oriental seasoning from Top Ramen in a bowl

Topping

Crumble both packages of Top Ramen (best achieved by banging on it with fists on a counter top while still sealed)
Put in a saute pan with sunflower seeds, almonds, and sesame seeds
Add 2 Tbs of butter to pan and brown topping for about 10 min

Put It Together

Shred cabbage and add shredded chicken
Top with the browned topping
Drizzle with dressing and serve!

MIL J's Favorite Stuffed Mushrooms

These stuffed mushrooms are my MIL J's favorite meal (and I've cooked a LOT of meals for her). Large portobello mushroom caps act as a setting for a wonderful filling of onion, cheese, and Italian sausage.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 15 Min
Total Time: 25 Min

Ingredients:

4 Portobello Mushrooms (with stems and intact caps)
~5 Tbs Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Italian Sausage Links (Sweet, Mild, or Hot: Your choice)
3/4 of a Sweet White Onion
2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning (or your own mixture of oregano, thyme, rosemary, and basil)
1/4 Cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

First, remove the stems from the caps and set them aside. We will come back to these.

Next, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread extra virgin olive oil liberally over the foil where the mushrooms will be placed. Put the caps top down on the foil and drizzle more extra virgin olive oil on all the caps. They should be striped, not drenched.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet. While it is heating, dice 3/4 of a sweet white onion, the four mushroom stems, and cut the sausage into smaller chunks. Place the onion, stems, sausage, garlic, and Italian seasoning in the hot oil.

Saute on medium-high heat until the onions have softened and you have broken the sausage into small chunks. This should take between 5-10 minutes. Turn off heat and add both cheeses, mixing until both are melted.

Spoon mixture evenly into the four caps. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese browns. Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil. Place in oven again for 5 minutes (this cooks the mushrooms through).

Not sure what sides to put with these? Because they are mostly vegetable, I recommend a nice box of rice-a-roni and some bread.

Stuffed Myself,

FFR