Shrimp Scampi Linguine

My kids asked me at dinner last night, "Mom, why do you take pictures of your food?" I told them that sometimes I like to write about the yummy things we make. I decided that meant that I better actually write about that particular dish. This one is from my mom (again). We both have a "problem" with perpetually tearing recipes from magazines, or printing them from the internet, then storing them in a file for later. Every so often we pull one or two out and experiment. Then, if they are exceptional, we trade recipes, so our files are even thicker. But seriously, this one was a winner. Mom copied this one from Prevention Magazine, so it's relatively healthy. I even used the whole wheat pasta (spaghetti instead of linguine because I wasn't thinking straight at the store apparently). The kids didn't even notice. They slurped up the whole wheat spaghetti no problem. It was light and fresh, and had TONS of shrimp. There was enough to easily serve 4 adults, or me, my kids, then two lunches (leftovers were delicious today). Here you go!

Shrimp Scampi Linguine

9 oz whole wheat linguine

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1b medium shrmp, peeled (I used a 1 lb bag of frozen shrimp from Trader Joe's)

4 cloves garlic, minced (or a little more)

1/2 tsp red-pepper flakes

1 pt cherry tomatoes, halved (I threw in some little yellow ones too)

1/2 c dry white wine (or chicken stock)

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp salt

3 c packed baby spinach

1/4 c finely chopped fresh parsley

1/2 c grated parmesan

1. Prepare pasta per package directions.

2. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat while pasta cooks. Add shrimp, garlic, and red-pepper flakes and cook until shrimp start to turn pink, about 2 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes, wine (or stock), lemon juice, and salt. Cook until tomatoes start to soften, about 1 minute. Add spinach and parsley and cook until spinach wilts, about 1 minute.

4. Drain pasta and add to pan. Toss to coat and serve sprinkled with cheese. I put a little extra lemon juice in at the end too.

5. Enjoy!!

Cheesecake Brownie Bars

I saw a picture of these on the cover of a Family Circle magazine and I couldn't stop thinking about them. I happen to have a bit of a sweet tooth and it was amplified by my most recent attempt at calorie counting. My birthday was the perfect occasion to give them a try. For a slight variation, I poured half of the cheesecake mixture on top of the brownie part, topped it with a layer of chopped Oreos, then poured the rest of the cheesecake on top. Next time I think I will decrease the baking time a little bit, but I think they turned out really well.


Cheesecake Brownie Bars
(32 servings)

Cheesecake
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
3 packages (8 oz each) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Brownie
1 cup unsalted butter
5 squares (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag (12 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips

Topping
3 Tbsp strawberry jelly
1 pkg (12 oz) strawberries, hulled and chopped
1/4 cup hot fudge sauce, heated
Whipped topping
Chopped hazelnuts, for garnish (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with foil. Coat foil with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Cheesecake: In large bowl, whisk cornstarch and sugar until blended. Add cream cheese, and beat until smooth. Beat in eggs, sour cream and milk. Stir in vanilla; set aside.

3. Brownie: In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine butter and chocolate. Microwave for 1 minute, 30 seconds. Stir, if necessary, continue heating in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until chocolate is melted.

4. Whisk in sugar, then eggs. Whisk in flour, baking powder and salt until smooth. Stir in vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Pour cream cheese mixture over brownie mixture. Spread gently until smooth.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until center is set. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Transfer to refrigerator and continue to cool 2 hours.

6. Topping: Heat jelly in microwave-safe bowl for 15 seconds. Stir in berries. Heat fudge sauce in a glass cup in microwave for 25 seconds, until drizzling consistency.

7. Cut cheesecake brownie into 32 squares. Dollop each square with about 1 tablespoon whipped topping, then some of the strawberries and fudge topping. Sprinkle with nuts, if desired.

Rainy Day Risotto

I have been cleaning out cupboards recently, and found a box of Arborio rice I bought to make Risotto (of course!). I've never tried making it but everyone on the food network says it's easy. Alton Brown's recipe called for precooked mushrooms and asparagus. I had leftover mushrooms and chopped zucchini from our fondue night the other night (hmmm, that might be a good post too). Overall, the Risotto was a total success, even though it took much longer than the recipe said. I was in the kitchen cleaning and putting things away, so it wasn't a big deal to stir and add liquid over the hour-plus it took to come together. It was delicious and creamy--so good that I had TWO bowls for lunch. I love that it gets that texture with NO cream! I think I used a tablespoon of butter, and that's it (I made a half recipe, since it was just for myself). This recipe calls for nutmeg (I used less than it called for) and lemon zest, which I almost skipped, but then decided to add when I remembered I had some in a baggie in the freezer. (I usually take the zest from oranges and lemons and throw it in the freezer if I think about it before I use them.) There are plenty of risotto recipes around, I'm just a big fan of Alton. It was a winner for sure. Yum!

Click here for the Good Eats risotto recipe!

Go Fish!

I found this delicious recipe in the Family Circle magazine and couldn't wait to try it out. I decided that yesterday would be the day so I headed off to the store. My store didn't have flounder (which didn't surprise me) so I got some sole. I also used half and half instead of the cream since I already had some in the fridge. John thought it was so good that he had seconds. I love cooking meals that he can't stop talking about and this was one of those meals. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did!


Baked Flounder with Crabmeat Stuffing

1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 small red pepper, finely chopped
3/4 tsp low-sodium Old Bay seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup light cream
8 ounces imitation crabmeat, finely chopped
3 tsp chopped parsley
4 flounder fillets (about 4 ounces each)
3/4 cup white wine or water
Cooked brown rice (optional)

1. Heat a medium-size nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with nonstick cooking spray, then add onion and red pepper; cover and cook 4 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove cover and stir in 1/2 tsp of the Old Bay, 1/8 tsp of the salt and the light cream. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute or until reduced and thickened. Gently fold in crabmeat and 2 tsp of the parsley; refrigerate 30 minutes.

3. heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place one of the flounder fillets pretty side down on work surface, then spoon 1/2 cup crab mixture onto end of fillet; roll up, creating a small bundle. Repeat using remaining fillets and crab. Transfer bundles to prepared baking dish, seam-side down, and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp Old Bay, 1/8 tsp salt and 1 tsp parsley. Add wine or water to pan; transfer to oven.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until fish is solid white and flakes easily with a fork. Remove to plates with a large spatula and serve with rice, if desired.

PER SERVING 281 calories;
9 g fat (5 g sat.); 27 g protein;
13 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber;
803 mg sodium;
92 mg cholesterol

Healthy Brownies?????

No, I am not kidding! Not only are these brownies low in fat and calories, but they are made with 100% whole wheat flour! Why would anyone ever deviate from the best loved ooey gooey sinful alternative? Summer is quickly approaching. Need I say more? I was a little skeptical about this recipe for obvious reasons, but I was pleasantly surprised. These brownies are not chewy and they aren't very gooey, but they are moist, chocolaty and delicious. One recipe makes 24 brownies each containing a meager 137 calories and 6.6 grams of fat! My chocolate loving husband thought these were really good and both of my kids loved them! My favorite brownie recipe? Probably not. My favorite healthy brownie recipe? Definitely!

Ellie Krieger's Double-Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour (or 1/2 cup each whole-wheat and all-purpose flours)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally; do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water.

Whisk the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and brown sugar until smooth, then add the yogurt, oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until blended. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and sprinkle with walnuts, if desired. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool almost completely in the pan on a rack before slicing.

Per brownie (without nuts): Calories 137; Fat 6.6 g (Saturated 2.8 g); Cholesterol 40 mg; Sodium 55 mg; Carbohydrate 16.5 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 2.4 g

Per brownie (with nuts): Calories 160; Fat 9 g; (Saturated 3 g); Cholesterol 40 mg; Sodium 55 mg; Carbohydrate 17 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 3 g

Chicken Balls (Ebelskivers)

For about a year, my 4-year-old had been wanting chicken balls for dinner. She created this idea that you could form chicken into balls and dip them in "white ketchup." For a while, every time we went out to eat she asked me if they could make chicken balls for her. Finally, I found a recipe for chicken meat balls. She told me that she liked them, but I could tell she wasn't truly satisfied. Then I got an email from my sister-in-law with this recipe for Chicken Ebelskivers with a buttermilk dipping sauce. I made them for dinner and my kids LOVED them!! The next day, my 4-year-old asked me when we were going to have chicken balls for dinner again. You may be asking, "What are ebelskivers?" They are these fun spherical Danish pancakes. You have to have an ebelskiver pan to make them. I have the Williams Sonoma nonstick pan and I love it. Ebilskivers were already a breakfast favorite around here and now they are a dinner favorite too!


Chicken Bites (Ebelskivers)

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups whole milk (I used 1 ½ cups skim milk + ½ cup nonfat plain yogurt)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
8 ounces chopped, cooked chicken breast meat
5 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley (or 5 tsp dried)
1 shallot, finely chopped
Buttermilk Dressing

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and , using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain. Gently fold in the chicken, parsley, and shallot, taking care not to deflate the mixture.

Brush the wells of the ebelskiver pan with some of the remaining melted butter and place over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add about 2 tablespoons of the batter to each well.

Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp, 3-5 minutes. Use 2 short wooden skewers to turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly browned on the other side, about 3 minutes longer.

Transfer the finished pancakes to a platter and keep warm in 200 degree oven while you repeat to cook more batches. Serve right away with the buttermilk dressing for dipping.

Buttermilk Dressing
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I substituted some of the mayonnaise with nonfat plain yogurt)
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 ½ tablespoons chopped Italian parsley (or 2 1/2 tsp dried)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, parsley, cheese, and dried onion until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 8 hours, to blend the flavors.
Makes about 1 cup

Bread Anyone?

I love making bread to go with dinner but sometimes I know I won't have time to make the bread and the dinner. I have found the answer! This very delicious sourdough bread recipe requires very little work before baking since it is actually mixed the day before. Once you mix the dough, it just sits on your counter for 19 hours until you need to do anything else. It was really nice that after shaping it into the loaf it rose for 2-3 more hours because that was well before I needed to get dinner started. The bread is supposed to cook in a dutch oven, but that doesn't mean you have to use charcoal outside. The recipe has instructions for baking it inside too.

When I pulled the bread out of the oven, it made crackling noises that the kids thought were really cool. This bread is not very sour for sourdough, but I think my kids probably like it better that way. The texture was like sourdough bread: dense, but spongy and moist at the same time. One of the best things about this bread is that it will impress any dinner guests with its artisan look and taste. I can't wait to try this recipe with rosemary or other twists! Thank you Alton Brown- this recipe is definitely "Good Eats!"

Click here for the recipe and enjoy!!

Red and green pasta for a crowd

Looking for something that tastes fancy, without the fuss? This is one of my favorite pasta recipes of the moment. It makes a LOT, so is perfect for a crowd. A simple salad, vegetable, and/or easy garlic bread makes a meal good enough to serve to friends. My mom brought this recipe to me from a church activity. I'm not sure whose it is, but thanks, whoever you are!

Sun Dried Tomato & Basil Pasta

1/2 c. sun dried tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
6 chicken breasts, cut into strips (or chunks)
2 cloves garlic
1 T. olive oil
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 c. basil pesto (a small jar of premade makes it easy)
1/4 c. toasted pine nuts
1/4 c. choped fresh basil
3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese
16 oz. pasta (bow ties are my favorite for this, but anything would work, even whole wheat)

Soak sun dried tomatoes in chicken broth. Saute chicken in the olive oil and garlic mixture over medium heat. Remove a few tablespoons of broth from the tomato mixture and stir cornstarch into broth. Stir broth, tomatoes, pesto, pine nuts and basil into a skillet with chicken. Mix cornstarch mixture into the above. Cook a few minutes until thickened. Cook pasta. Add feta cheese to the sauce and serve over pasta.

My notes:
I've adjusted this recipe depending on what I had on hand. I usually use much less chicken (2 or 3 breasts cut in chunks). I have done it without the fresh basil, although I prefer the fresh bite added in. You can add some fresh diced tomatoes at the last minute to give the pasta pretty red "decorations." You can leave out the pine nuts, or serve them on the side if someone is averse (but they add a delicious crunch, you won't want to miss). I would garnish with extra ribbons of basil that are fresh and green. There are enough delicious flavors here that leaving one thing out won't ruin the recipe, but my favorite is with EVERYTHING!

P.S. Sorry no picture again, I forgot to take one before we ate it all and figured it's better without than no post at all. Enjoy!

Soup for a Cold Day

I'm back! Laurel inspired me to start posting again. This is one of my mom's most delicious soup recipes. It is packed with vegetables and tastes delicious and creamy, even though it is only "creamed" with evaporated milk. My husband and girls all love this and eat it fresh AND left over. Here it is:

Winter Vegetable Chowder

Serves 4 ( I made a double batch last night since the leftovers are SO yummy)

1 chopped onion
½ c. sliced celery
2 T. butter
1 large potato (peeled)
1 c. sliced carrots
2 c. water
1 T. flour
1 tsp. beef bouillon
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp basil
¼ tsp pepper
1 ½ c. sliced zucchinis
1 can corn
2/3 c. evaporated milk
½ c. shredded cheddar cheese

Saute onion and celery in butter until tender. Cut potato into 1/2 inch cubes. Add potato, carrots, water, bouillon, salt, basil and pepper. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and boil gently 30 min.

Stir in zucchini and corn with liquid. Boil gently 30 min.

Combine flour with small amount of evaporated milk. Stir in remaining milk and add to vegetable mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture just comes to a boil.

Remove from heat and stir in ½ c. cheese until melted. Garnish with more cheese.

Best Pumpkin Muffins Ever!

I am truly embarrassed that it has almost been a year since my last post on this blog! This past year, I have been trying a lot of recipes by Ellie Krieger. I love almost all of her recipes. I made her pumpkin muffins last week and just had to share that they were the best pumpkin muffins I have ever made! I have to admit that I omitted the pumpkin seeds and added chocolate chips to the batter. This might be why they were so good! I always reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees when I make muffins, because I have dark muffin pans. If I forget to do this, the bottoms are always a little too dark. I once-and-a-halved the recipe and we ate them all in 2 days! Click here to view this very delicious recipe. Hopefully Catharine and I will post a little more often this year!

Lets Eat Turkey

The turkey is the most anticipated and most stressed over part of Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing can make you more proud than a perfect turkey and nothing can be more embarrassing than a dud! For those who have never cooked a turkey it can be very intimidating. The first time I cooked a turkey on my own (not counting the one Catharine and I cooked in college) I was a nervous wreck. We invited 16 adults (including my in-laws) to come for the feast. Catharine told me about the Good Eats Roast Turkey recipe and I was intrigued. You brine the turkey before roasting it. The coolest part of the episode was the method for roasting the turkey. You put foil over the turkey breast so the legs and breast can be done at the same time. The dark meat takes longer to cook than the breast so if you wait until the legs are done, the breast will be dry. The foil solves this problem. Here is a link to the roast turkey recipe. You can also watch the video of the episode from there.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

We also cooked a turkey on the rotisserie. We pierced 2 oranges with cloves and put them in the cavity of the turkey. As it rotated on the rotisserie, the juices from the clove studded oranges moistened the meat. It was amazing! Here is a link for this wonderful recipe:
http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/recipe/view.aspx?c=poultry&r=176

Good luck on your turkey this Thanksgiving. They don't call it Turkey Day for nothing!

Speaking of Pancakes

We usually have breakfast for dinner at least once a week. It's always a hit. I'm a big fan of waffles, but we've been on a pancake kick for, well, months. I just might have to try Laurel's pumpkin pancakes tonight. I figured I'd add our top two pancake recipes to the list and wrap up the pancake topic. We used to go through bags and bags of the krusteaz mix but we were out of it one day and I figured I'd make pancakes from scratch. I'm not kidding, it took maybe three minutes longer than making them with the add water mix, so don't be afraid to make pancakes from scratch! Our favorites are Blueberry-Buttermilk pancakes and Applesauce Pancakes. Both have a little extra going on in the grain department (cornmeal or wheat germ). Also, both recipes call for buttermilk. In theory, you could substitutde sour milk, but in batters like these, buttermilk would be preferable. It's not expensive and nonfat versions are great with all the tangy flavor. If you have extra, make some muffins or marinate some fried chicken (that's another post).

Blueberry-Buttermilk Pancakes
From the Better Homes and Gardens red and white cookbook (which I think everyone should own)

1 cup all-purpouse flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk (you can substitute sour milk, but I always use buttermilk for this)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Maple syrup, powdered sugar, or other desired toppings

1. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in center of dry mixture; set aside.
2. In another medium mixing bowl stir together the egg, buttermilk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy). Gently fold in blueberries.
3. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto a hot, lightly greasted griddle or heavy skillet. I use a large disher (ice cream scoop) to get matching-sized pancakes. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or till pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve warm. Pass syrup or powdered sugar. Makes 8-10 pancakes.

Applesauce Pancakes
From: some random magazine I got in the mail and tore the recipe out of

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ (from the ceral aisle, near the oatmeal and cream of wheat)
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
Maple syrup, or cinnamon syrup is especially tasty

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and wheat germ in medium bowl and make a well in center of mixture. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, applesauce, vegetable oil, and egg. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Drop batter onto skillet using a 1/3 cup measurer (or ice cream scoop again) and brown on both sides.

Happy Halloween!

I had some pumpkin puree and wanted to make something new and different with it. I decided that pumpkin pancakes would probably be good so I looked online and found a recipe. The recipe calls for milk and vinegar, but you could definitely substitute buttermilk for those. I also used my immersion blender to mix the pumpkin with the milk before adding it to the other wet ingredients. I think that helped mix in the pumpkin. To serve, I cut a jack-o-lantern face out of a piece of paper, placed it over each pancake and dusted it with powdered sugar. Ashley really liked that her pancake had a face for Halloween. She liked it so much that she kept licking the face off and asking for another one! I will definitely make these again.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour (or whole wheat)

3 T brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups milk

2 T vinegar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 T oil

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar (this was when I blended the milk with the pumpkin first). Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/3 cup for each pancake. Spread out with the back of a spoon. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Wowing the In-Laws

I got this recipe from Laurel (thanks for pre-screening it for me). I meant to make it earlier, but didn't get around to it and the chicken needed to be cooked the night my parents-in-law came into town, so I went ahead with it. Actually, I was a little embarassed that it looked so fancy. I couldn't stop giggling as I put everything on the plates! Seriously, it was an easy recipe and had a ton of great mexican flavor, which always does well in our house. The pinenuts made the breading extra crunchy. Another bonus is that since each piece of chicken is only a half a breast pounded out, you can fool yourself into eating less (it's satisfying enough for sure). Anyway, here's the recipe:
Chicken
1/2 c. buttermilk
2/3 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. pine nuts, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2 to 1/2-inch thickness
Corn or Olive Oil for frying

Green Chili Sauce
2/3 c. chicken broth
1 c. medium to hot bottled green salsa
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Garnish
1 Thinly sliced avocado
Sour Cream
Cilantro

Pour buttermilk into a shallow dish. Combine cornmeal, chili powder and salt in separate shallow dish. Stir in pine nuts. Place chicken in buttermilk and turn to coat. Dredge chicken in pine nut mixture, pressing mixture firmly into chicken to coat.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken breasts, sauteing until cooked through, about three minutes per side. Make sure that chicken is not overly crowded. If necessary, turn the heat to medium low if the pine nuts are browning too quickly. Transfer chicken to a plate covering it loosely with foil.

Add broth to drippings in skillet. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to scrapte up browned bits. Stir in salsa and cream, simmering until slightly reduced, about three minutes, or desired thickness. Stir in cilantro.

Plate chicken, spooning sauce over each piece and topping with avocado, cilantro and sour cream if desired. I added some mexican rice underneath the chicken and served it all with some fresh cut-up veggies (a salad would have been nice too).

Disaster and Success

Catharine and I talk about recipes all the time, so it is fun to have a new way to share our successes and failures.  I watched an episode of the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network where she made some chunky banana nut muffins.  They looked really good, so I decided to give them a try.  I usually love bran muffins, so I thought I should double the recipe.  I had most of the wet ingredients mixed when I realized I was short 1 egg.  Luckily my neighbor bailed me out!  I finished mixing the ingredients, filled the muffin cups and put them in the oven.  I started cleaning up the mess and realized that I hadn't mixed in the bran/buttermilk mixture!  The muffins had only been cooking for 1-2 minutes, so I pulled them out of the oven.  I scraped out the muffin pans, mixed in the forgotten ingredients, cleaned and refilled the muffin pans and put them back in the oven. Finally the muffins were done.  I took a bite out of a hot muffin only to realize that it was gross.  The recipe included molasses and orange zest.  I thought those flavors clashed with the bran flavor.  Also, the chunks of banana created pockets of mush.  I made myself finish the muffin then offered some to John and Ashley.  Both of them were excited to try the  muffins, but didn't end up finishing them.  I ended up throwing away 2 dozen muffins!  After all of this, I called Catharine to tell her of the disaster and her reply was, "I made those same muffins and thought they were gross.  You should have told me you were making them and I would have warned you!"

On a happier note, I made a Pear Ginger Crumble that was delicious!  It had a Tablespoon of freshly grated ginger in it and I was a little scared to put in that whole amount.  I decided to risk it and I am glad I did!  The recipe is also a little more figure friendly than most crumbles.  Here is a link for the recipe:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/pear-ginger-crumble-recipe/index.html

Squashing Hunger

I think about food a lot. I mean, I think about it all day. That might be because I have nutritional responsibility for three others in my family, or it might just be because I really like to eat. I can appreciate everything from a fine filet mignon to a satisfied craving for crunchy cheetos. I consider myself a relatively adventurous eater (within reason) and will try (almost) anything once. That could have something to do with the fact that I refuse to be one of those rotating weekly menu type of people. Like it or not, my family and friends are subjected to a steady stream of culinary experiments.

For example, I am occasionally inclined to purchase strange produce, like the spaghetti squash I tried last week. In case you wondered, I microwaved it and separated the angel-hair thick strands with a fork just as directed by my Wegmans recipe. Then, I mixed it with parmesan cheese, garlic, thyme, sour cream, yogurt, etc. (the recipe called for creme frache and Asiago cheese, but I wasn't in the mood for the financial commitment this week - thank you crashing stock market). It was pretty good, but a little bitter. My husband actually ate it, which means it was at least reasonably palatable (he's pretty picky), but the kids weren't interested. It was fun enough that I think I might need to try another sometime. I've had quite a few, more successful trials lately, like the lentil cookies, but I'll save those for another post.