Christmas Dinner

We held Christmas dinner at our house this year. Norm, Zack, Matt and I were home enjoying the day together preparing for a family get together. Our dinner guest included Norm’s parents, Betsy our sister-n-law, her four children, Brian visiting from Utah, Crystal up from Boston, Whitney a sophomore at UNH, CJ a junior at KUA, and Bud Fustchik who is Zack’s caregiver.  Missing from our Christmas but in our hearts are, Wylie my oldest son who lives in California, Mia my stepdaughter she lives in Hawaii, Tyler my younger son, who had to work at the Woodstock Inn and Marci Chertok, Buds beloved wife who passed away this past fall from breast cancer.

Our Christmas dinner Menu:

Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Cream

Green Beans and Almonds

Squash with Cream Cheese

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Popovers

Pumpkin Cheese Cake-Betsy brought it over

Chocolate cake

Ingredients:

13 Lbs of Beef Tenderloin

Whipping cream

Horseradish

Green Beans washed and cut

Butter

Almonds

Winter Squash peeled and cut

Cream cheese

 Peeled Potatoes

Milk

Garlic

Parsley

Betty Crocker-Popover recipe

This dinner is very easy.  Figure on ¾ of a pound per person.

Put the Tenderloin in a large roasting pan. Pre heat the oven to 450 degrees.

When the oven is at the correct temperature, put the meat in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes turn the oven heat down to 325 and put the timer on 10 minutes per pound. When the timer goes off put the meat thermometer in the meat. The deepest part of the meat should be at 145 degrees (out of the oven). This is for Med rare.

In a med size mixing bowl, pour in about 1 cup of whipping cream. Whip at high speed until the cream holds peeks. Mix in a 1/3 of cup of horseradish from a jar, cover and refridgerate.

Steam your green beans and drain.

Steam squash

Boil Potatoes till slightly tender.

Add 1 tbsp and 1/3 cup of almonds to the green beans and heat.

Mash the steamed squash with ½ cup of lowfat cream cheese.

Whip the potatoes with garlic and parsley and milk.

I used the Betty Crocker recipe for Popovers and baked it in muffin tins because I don’t have a popover pan. They were delicious and quick and easy to make.

I made a horrible chocolate cake and fortunately for you, I will not share that recipe. Betsy’s pumpkin cheese cake was amazing.

Merry Christmas to you! I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

Perch in Panko for Poor Norm!

December 22, 2009 exactly one week ago today, Norm and I went to the hospital at 9AM for a meniscus operation on Norm’s Knee. This was supposed to be a 45 minute surgery. I was expecting him to be done at 12N and on our way home with a 2 week recovery. They got into the knee and discovered he did not have an ACL, which they rebuilt and at 3:30PM that day he came out of Surgery. We got home at 7PM. Apparently this operation is very painful and the recovery time is 14 weeks with 6 of that on crutches.

Norm was hungry despite the pain and we cooked Perch in Panko crumbs with sautéed spinach and brussel sprouts with hot pepper flakes. Poor Norm!

Ingredients:

Perch

Egg-whisked

Panko Crumbs

Brussel-Sprouts

Butter

Red Pepper Flakes

Spinach

yellow Peppers

Canola Oil

Olive Oil

Coat the Perch in egg and dip in Panko-Crumbs.  Heat canola oil in a fry pan to high heat. Cook the Perch on each side until brown and crispy. Place on a paper plate to get the oil out.

In a small pan quick sauté the spinach a julienned yellow peppers in olive oil.

 Steam the brusselsprouts and drain well. Add a tsp of butter and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Moroccan Slow Cooked Chicken

Moroccan Slow Cooked Chicken                          

As always I am in a hurry off to work and will not be home in time to make dinner.  I have a great recipe (my own) for Moroccan Chicken. It slow cooks in spices and liquid for the day and served over Couscous.  Moroccan food is enhanced with many spices such as curry, coriander, cinnamon and chili powder. I first was introduced to Moroccan food on a trip to Spain in the 80’s to visit my grandmother and father and stepmother. We went to a delicious Moroccan restaurant. Then the next day I went to Morocco which was a popular day trip from the                                Costa Del Sol. When I got back I was anxious to                                              

 try my version of what I had tasted.                                              

Ingredients;

1 Large Roaster Chicken

Curry Powder 3 Tbsp

Chili Powder 3 Tbsp

1 tsp of Coriander

1 Tsp of Cinnamon

1 beer

1 tbsp of chicken base

Cilantro

1 can of tomatoes

1 large onion

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1/3 cup of raisins

1 can of Garbanzo Beans

2 chopped jalapeños

1 box of Couscous

Spinach Salad                                          

Washed and Dried Baby Spinach Leaves

¼ cup of crushed whole pecans

Sprinkle of feta cheese

Balsamic vinaigrette                                                                                            

Early in the morning put your whole chicken in a large Crockpot or Dutch oven. Add spices and a can of tomatoes, beer, and chicken base. Cover with water and turn your Crock Pot to med. Or put your Dutch oven in the oven at 280 degrees.

Julienne the onion and peppers and put them away for later.

When you get home remove the chicken from the broth. Remove as much fat from the top of the broth as possible. Add the onions, peppers, raisins and garbanzos to the broth. Make the Couscous according to the directions on the box.

Toss you spinach greens with pecans, feta and balsamic vinaigrette.

Put a scoop of Couscous in a large bowl. Add a piece of the chicken and ladle the broth over it. Serve with Spinach Salad on the side.            

                               Enjoy!

Shrimp with Pasta

Shrimp and Pasta

I am a little late on my postings because I worked on Saturday and Sunday.   Saturday night we had shrimp and pasta.  We have a market about a mile from our home called the Woodstock Farmers Market. The food there is world class with a great selection of organic products, fresh baked goods, fresh produce, Fish delivered fresh twice a week and local grown meat and dairy, international products and a huge selection of locally produced products. The wine selection is good as well.  Before I went to the market the family had requested shrimp and luckily there was some left.

Hmm, what should I do with it?  The farmers market was having an Italian food marketing display and sale.  I did not venture in there; however it did make me think pasta! Now, I am constantly thinking about carbohydrates, fat etc.  Consequently when we eat pasta it is the whole wheat with 5 grains of fiber or more.  I do not have a lot of choices for style of pasta; we are having no. 1 spaghetti.  I was thinking sautéed shrimp with garlic, white wine, basil maybe some shallots, tossed with pasta, and I know Parmesan does not go with shrimp; however I like it with shrimp and my family does too.   

It all sounded perfect till, I got home and started preparing and discovered, we had no white wine.  Then I was stuck I actually used red wine, ooh did not look right.  I added some tomatoes.  It all turned out fine.

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs of Shrimp                                Parmesan Cheese

2 tbsp of minced Garlic                   Whole grain Pasta

½ cup red wine                                    Tossed Salad

Olive Oil                                           1 yellow pepper

 Fresh Basil

1 pint of home canned tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes

 

Peel and devein your shrimp.  Sautee the shrimp till pink in olive oil, about 1-2 minutes and remove from the pan.  Add red wine and reduce in half. Add minced Garlic and washed and cut fresh basil leaves.  Add a pint of tomatoes and crush with a potato masher.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add shrimp and  serve over fresh Pasta with parmesan cheese on top.  Add a tossed salad to the plate.

Coconut Curried Shrimp a Great Meal on a Cold Snowy Night

We  got our first big snow the night before last and we woke up to about  3 inches with a lot of snow coming down. The roads were bad and school was cancelled.  I spent the day making cookies for bake sales and Christmas Visions which are events going on this weekend in Woodstock. By the end of the day, I was in the mood to cook something easy and healthy.

Ingredients:

1 ½ Lbs. of Shrimp                          Chicken Broth

Chopped Bok Choy                         Cilantro

3 stalks Chopped Celery                  Corn Starch

Red Pepper Diced                           Olive Oil

Yellow Pepper Diced                      Diced Sweet Onion

Low Fat Coconut Milk                    Shredded Unsweetened Coconut

Curry Paste                                     Curry Powder

Mirin                                              

Raisins                                             Pecans

Cherry Tomatoes                            Diced Green Onions

Brown Rice                                     Plain Yogurt

Peel and devein your shrimp. Chop your vegetables, 1 Bok Choy, Celery, Red Pepper, Yellow Pepper, ½ of an Onion.  In a large skillet heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a skillet.  Cook your shrimp for about 1 ½ minutes on each side until pink and remove from the pan.

Add the vegetables to the skillet.

 Sautee the vegetables until slightly
tender and translucent.

Add a small can of  Coconut milk, 1/3 of cup of shredded coconut  and 1 cup of water and 3 tbsp of Mirin.  Add 2 tbsp of curry powder and 1 tsp of curry paste.   Cook at a low heat for 5 minutes, until the curry spice is well dissolved.  Mix 2 tbsp of corn starch and ½ cup of Chicken Broth.  Turn the vegetables heat to high add the shrimp and stir in the cornstarch mixture. The broth should thicken slightly.

The curry  is garnished with colorful assortments of accompaniments.  Pecans, cherry tomatoes, diced green onions, rasins and Plain Yogurt.

Spoon your hot Curry over rice and garnish from the garnish plate.

I thought you would enjoy this picture of our Chesapeak Bay Retriever. He wasn't feeling well and he is so dramatic, I snapped this picture of him. I am not sure what was wrong with him. He is fine now but the vet bill was $220.00 because of his academy award winning performance.

Chicken ala Dail and Zack

Ingredients:

Cottage Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Eggs

Chicken

Prosciutto Ham

Basil

Parsley

 White Wine

Garlic

Basil

Mushrooms

Flour

Yellow Squash

Red onions

Tomatoes
Asparagus

Pound your chicken with smooth part of the breast up between 2 pieces of tin foil until it is about ¼ inch thick. In a mixing bowl mix 1 egg, 1/3 cup of Cottage cheese, ¼ cup of Parmesan, and 1/3 of a cup of Mozzarella. Rub a cookie sheet with olive oil. Place the piece of chicken on the sheet. Put about a 1/3 cup of cheese mixture in the center of the chicken and roll up. Top with a piece of Prosciutto. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes

.In a sauce pan, sauté the mushroom in a small amount of olive oil. Add 1 ½ cups of  white wine and a tablespoon of minced garlic. Add some leaves of fresh basil and Parsley. Reduce the wine in ½ and in a small dish mix a tbsp of flour with ¼ cup of water. Whisk in to the wine and mushrooms and sauce should thicken slightly. When you pull the chicken out of the oven add the leaky cheese and juice into the mushroom sauce.

In a small pan sauté yellow squash with red onions. Add cherry tomatoes.

In another small pan steam your asparagus so that it is slightly tender, bright green and still has crisp.

Bon Appetite!

Grouper with a Chili Lime Rub, served with Fried Polenta and Jack and colorful Salad

This simple recipe will satisfy your hungry crowd and is quick to make.

Ingredients        
1 1/2 Lbs of Grouper                       Spicy Jack Cheese
Chili Powder                                  Mixed Greens with Salad dressing
1 Lime
Cilantro
Sea Salt
Polenta

Rub the Grouper filet with chili powder cover with lime slices and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake in a 325 oven on a greased cookie sheet for 20 minutes. Fry polenta in a small amount of grapeseed oil and top with cheese. Serve with a colorful salad.                                
Bon Appetite!