Рецепт Recipe of the Week - An Old Favorite - CArrot Cake
by Dennis Kraus

(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)

Basil Pesto

The last couple of years my basil plants have produced very little basil; this year a total reversal, tons of basil, basil as high as a corn stalk. The problem is that we have been nomads this summer and haven’t been around enough to enjoy the harvest. The temps in the Ohio Valley are plummeting, basil doesn’t survive sub-freezing weather. I seized the opportunity to go out and pick some, still lots on the plants though.

Pesto is one of the sauces that lends itself to be whatever you want it to be. Add more garlic, add more cheese, add more olive oil and use it as a pasta sauce as shown above. Leave it thicker and pile it on toast points. Spread on fish or chicken to move that ordinary meal to special. Don’t like the cost of pine nuts; substitute walnuts. Try changing ingredients; I can’t get out of NJ without loading my mother-in-laws fridge with sun-dried tomato pesto.

Basil Pesto

Recipe Summary

Complexity:

Easy

Serves:

Category:

Misc

Meal:

other (General)

0.5

cup
basil leaves, whole
0.75
cup
pine nuts, toasted
0.75
cup
cheese, Romano, grated
1.5
cloves
garlic, chopped
0.75
cup
oil, olive

Toast pine nuts lightly. Place basil, pine nuts, garlic and Romano in food processor, process until a paste forms, add oil slowly until you reach the consistency you desire. Should be spreadable, like peanut butter.

Note: Great on sandwiches, may be used on pasta. I spread it on toasted French bread, sprinkle with Romano and basil and broiler slightly.

Try the Sun-dried Tomato Pesto and the Spinach Pesto at emealsforyou.com.

Shown here on pasta.

October 10, 2012 at 8:24 am

(From the Gluten Free Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com)

Mixed Berry Pavlova

For you frequent readers you will remember that I was on my way to NJ for our quarterly trip and had suffered temporary loss of my tastebuds. If that wasn’t enough I had to contend with preparing dinners for a vegetarian, a gluten intolerant person and the rest of the mob. It turned out to be less of a struggle than I anticipated and a good learning experience for creating meals for those who don’t tolerate all things wheat.

The pavlova was a requested dessert and turned out to be the perfect ending to a great meal. It is important to follow the baking instructions to ensure the pavlova are crisp on the outside and creamy and soft on the inside.

Mixed Berry Pavlova

Recipe Summary

Complexity:

Easy

Serves:

Category:

Dessert

Meal:

other (General)

large

egg, whites

0.125

tsp

cream of tartar

0.125

tsp

salt, table

cup

sugar, granulated

0.5

tsp

vanilla

cup

cream, heavy

tsp

vanilla

sugar, granulated

mixed berries, frozen

sugar, granulated

For the Pavlova: Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, salt, sugar and vanilla until stiff and glossy. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees; line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread egg white mixture in even, 4-inch circles on the parchment paper, about 3/4th inch thick. Cook in oven for 1 ½ hours then turn oven off and let Pavlova cool in the oven for about an hour. ( may be frozen at this point)

For the whipped cream: Place heavy cream, vanilla and sugar in a cold bowl and whip until firm peaks form.

For the berries: Mix the sugar into the berries, allow the berries to thaw.

To construct the Pavlova: Place a Pavlova in the center of a plate, spoon on whipped cream in the center, Gently spoon on the berries, allowing some of the juice to run unto the plate.

Serve immediately.

Try some of our many gluten-free desserts and recipes at emealsforyou.com.

October 1, 2012 at 10:15 pm

From the Chicken Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com

Chicken Piccata

We are heading back to NJ for our quarterly visit and once again I will be cooking the meals while there. As is our custom the dinners will be full blown dinner parties with anywhere from 8 to 14 people. I recently developed a severe sinus infection and one side effect is that my tastebuds are way off. While usually this wouldn’t be that big of a problem; I am one of those cooks who tastes and adjust everything while cooking. So when cooking for the group; consisting of a vegetarian, a gluten intolerant and us carnivores I will be cooking basically blindly. Thus the purpose of this post, do you trust your recipes enough to cook for a crowd, one that expects really good food, without tasting them before serving.

When choosing recipes for your family be sure to know where the recipe came from. Have you cooked recipes from this source before? Can you imagine the taste in your mind. Are the recipes consistently excellent?

Now on to the attached recipe. This is my mother-in-law’s favorite chicken dish; so it was not unexpected that it was on the request list for this trip. I make a ton of this and then leave some in the freezer for her to reheat down the line. I haven’t forgotten the gluten-free and vegetarian dishes either as I will be making an Asian steamed whole fish with veggies and rice. I will not be as comfortable with these as they are untried recipes and hopefully my tasting imagination will be up to the task.

Chicken Piccata

Recipe Summary

Complexity:

Easy

Serves:

Category:

Chicken Entrée

Meal:

We’re Talking Chicken (Celebration Meal Plans)

medium

chicken breasts, boneless, skinless

rice flour

pinch

salt, kosher

oil, olive

lemon zest, finely chopped

mushrooms, sliced

medium

lemon, juice of

15 oz can

chicken broth

cornstarch

pinch

salt and pepper to taste

Pound chicken breasts in zip-lock baggie to 1/2” thickness, add flour and salt, shake to coat. Heat oil in pan, brown chicken; add zest, mushrooms, and lemon juice. Cook for 3 minutes, add chicken broth, reserving 2 oz. Cook for about 7 minutes, until chicken is done. Add remaining chicken stock to corn starch, add to pan, stir. Salt and pepper to taste.

Get comfortable with all (500+) recipes and meal plans at emealsforyou.com.

September 24, 2012 at 9:01 am

(From the Soup Collection at emealsforyou.com)

Old Fashion Chicken Soup

We have been cooking up a storm around here most of the summer; but now we are getting back to basics. The grand kids were here last weekend and left us with their colds. There is nothing more miserable than getting a summer head cold; and there is nothing that makes it feel better, at least for a short time, than a hot bowl of homemade chicken soup.

This took under half an hour to put together. Throw everything in the pot and come back, get a bowl and let the warm broth soothe you.

Old Fashioned Chicken Soup

Recipe Summary

Complexity:

Easy

Serves:

Category:

Soups

Meal:

Weekly 8 (Quick Meals Planner)

oil, olive

chicken, whole, cut up

tsp

salt, kosher

medium

onions, chopped

cup

carrots, diced

medium

celery ribs

chicken broth

water

pinch

salt and pepper to taste

0.5

recipe

spaetzle

This recipe makes a lot of soup and you will have extra cooked chicken leftover for another use. Heat a large soup pot, add the olive oil, when it begins to shimmer add the cut up and dried chicken. Brown, don’t burn, the chicken on both sides. Add the onion, carrots, celery, salt, and stir. Lightly brown the vegetables; add the broth and water and stir. Cook on a low boil for 20 -30 minutes; until the chicken is fork tender. Remove the chicken to a platter and taste the broth. Depending on the chicken, the broth may need to be reduced to concentrate the flavors. Cook on the boil until the broth is tasty. In the meantime, remove the chicken from the bones. Cut half the chicken into small pieces and add back to the soup pot. Once the soup is done adjust the salt and pepper to taste. (It is important to not add the salt prior to reducing; as the soup will become too salty)

Bring the soup back up to the boil. Drop the spaetzle batter into the boiling soup to form small dumplings.

Use the remaining chicken in chicken salad or tacos.

More great soup recipes at emea.lsforyou.com

September 11, 2012 at 9:21 am

(From the Salad Collection at emealsforyou.com)

Jake’s American Potato Salad

I can’t believe that summer is over already. I also can’t believe that we haven’t had a true picnic this summer. We have been very busy but still burgers, sausage, chicken and corn on the grill is usually an every month thing during the summer. This potato salad is my father’s recipe, thus the name. I believe it was probably his mother’s recipe as growing up no matter which aunt and uncle’s house we were at; the potato salad was always this recipe.

This recipe is called American Potato Salad as my mom made German potato salad; usually at the same picnics that the American appeared causing lots of good-natured teasing, along with maybe a sampling of each.

Jake’s American Potato Salad

Recipe Summary

Complexity:

Easy

Serves:

Category:

Salad

Meal:

N/A

potatoes

medium

celery ribs

medium

onions, chopped

0.666

mayonnaise

vinegar, cider

water

celery seeds

tsp

salt to taste

Boil potatoes until tender. Peel while warm. Chop celery and onion into small pieces. Place in bowl, with mayonnaise, vinegar, and water. Mix well. Sprinkle celery seed on top of mixture. Cut warm potatoes in large bite size pieces, place half in large bowl, pour on half of the mixture, mix well, place remaining potatoes in bowl, add remaining mixture. Mix well. Let sit in refrigerator for 1 hour. Taste and adjust salt.

May be made 1 day in advance.

If you liked this try my mom’s German Potato Salad recipe at emealsforyou.com.

September 4, 2012 at 7:29 am

Years ago we created Dad’s Diner, a listing of some of our kids’ favorite meals, on a menu enclosed in plastic. The purpose of this was two fold; most important was to get the kids at the table to establish better communication and social skills and secondly to encourage them to understand and enjoy food.

In today’s fast-paced, instant message world it is hard enough to get the kids to look up from their cell phones long enough to see what they are eating. Parents struggle to get answers to even the most mundane questions which usually are answered by a mumbled answer at best.

One solution is to create a menu of meals they like, just as Dad’s Diner did years ago. Pick meals you are comfortable with, then pick one day each week where the kids get to select a meal they want. The next step is to have the kids help prepare the meal; they will love the idea of actually making something good, think how much they enjoy making cookies. This not only teaches them to make good food but also allows for a chance of those conversations you wish to have and need to have.

P.S. One more thing; why not turn off all electronic communications during dinner, including yours. If you agree with this post please pass it on to your friends.

August 30, 2012 at 9:04 am

(From the Fish Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)

Pan-seared Scallops

This post is a little delayed by the good weather in Charleston, SC. We are vacationing with friends and family and are enjoying some of the wonderful local seafood. We were debating what to serve with the scallops when, while playing tourist, we picked up magazine and there in the enter of the magazine was a picture of scallops served on an asparagus bed. We decided to add some garlic mashed potatoes to the mix and had a wonderful dinner. The non-fish eaters in the group enjoyed a hardy serving of Coq au Vin.

We finished the night with a Corn Meal Cake with dried cranberries. Always good.

Pan-roasted Sea Scallops

Recipe Summary

Complexity:

Easy

Serves:

Category:

Fish Entrée

Meal:

Dinner in the Round (Distinctive Dinners)

large

scallops, sea

pinch

salt and pepper to taste

Panko breadcrumbs

pinch

salt and pepper to taste

oil, olive

butter, salted

leaves

sage, fresh

butter, salted

0.5

medium

lemons

Note: This recipe takes very little time to make and therefore be sure to have the rest of the meal ready to go before starting the scallops.

Dry scallops thoroughly on a paper towel. Salt and pepper both sides of the scallops. Place Panko breadcrumbs in a shallow dish, salt and pepper breadcrumbs. Dip one side of scallop in breadcrumbs. Place butter and olive oil in pan; heat pan until oil begins to smoke. Place scallops, breadcrumb side down in pan and cook until light brown (about 3 minutes); flip scallops and cook for three minutes on reverse side. Remove scallops to a side plate. Lower heat to medium, place sage leaves and butter in pan and swirl, cooking for three minutes. Plate scallops and drizzle brown butter sauce over scallops, serve with a lemon wedge on the side.

Try some more great recipes at emealsforyou.com

August 22, 2012 at 12:25 pm

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Рецепт Recipe of the Week - An Old Favorite - CArrot Cake by Dennis Kraus

Рецепт Recipe of the Week - An Old Favorite - CArrot Cake
by Dennis Kraus