Honey BBQ Ribs

I wish I remembered the recipe I came up with for the sauce.  But all the credit for the smoked ribs goes to my mom.  They were DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!

Caesar Salad-
Chopped Romaine lettuce
Your favorite Caesar dressing
Homemade croutons
Cheese crisps

Croutons-
Slice homemade bread into 1 inch squares
Bake in the oven on a cookie sheet at 450°F until they begin to get crunchy
In a bowl mix Olive oil and garlic powder together.  Add the bread to the mixture until all the the bread is covered with the oil.  Place back on the cookie sheet and bake until bread looks like a crouton . 

Cheese Crisps-
Shred 1 cup of Parmesan cheese into a bowl.  On a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, make 3 inch wide circles of cheese about 1/4 of an inch thick.  Place in the oven on broil for about 5 minutes.  The cheese should be golden at this point.  Take out of the oven and let cool so the cheese hardens and can be broken apart into pieces and mixed into the salad with the croutons.  If serving individual salads, leave the crisps whole and place on top of the plated salad. 

For the Holiday-homemade chocolates

Chocolate covered peanuts and pretzels

Chicken Rice Soup

I don't usually like chicken soup unless I am sick.  But this is a recipe I will eat any day, healthy or sick, but if you are sick you will have you back on your feet in no time! 

Ingredients:
1 cup Wild rice
2 Chicken Breasts, boiled and sliced
64oz Chicken Stock
3 Carrots, chopped horizontal
2 Celery Stalks, chopped horizontal
Small handful of parsley, chopped
Ground Black Pepper-to taste
1 clove elephant garlic, chopped
1/2 Large Onion; leave whole, you will be removing this before serving. 

In a sauce pan, cover the chicken breasts with water and boil until cooked.  Remove from water and let cool before slicing. 

In a stock pot add the chicken stock, the carrots, celery, parsley, pepper, garlic, onion and chicken. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 30minutes to an hour or ready to serve.

Cheesy Bread-
French baguette
2 slices Swiss cheese
2 T Parmesan cheese

Slice the baguette lengthwise and top with the Swiss cheese and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place on a cookie sheet and put under the broiler until cheese is melted. 

Oven Fried Honey Mustard Chicken

Servings 2
Preheat oven to 375°F

Ingredients:
2 Chicken breasts
Ground black pepper
4 T Horseradish
4 T Honey Dijon mustard
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Milk
Parmasan cheese (optional)
To make this recipe you will need a meat tenderizer to pound out the chicken until it is a 1/4 to 1/2 and inch thick. A household hammer works just as well. However if you use a hammer I would cover the chicken with plastic wrap while you pound it so that the meat stays clean and so does the hammer.

You need 3 wide bowls. You want them to be wide enough because this is what you will be dipping the chicken into.
-In one bowl you will need about a half cup of milk.
-In another bowl is flour seasoned with ground black pepper (seasoned to your liking) If you want to add parmasam cheese to the recipe I would put it in this bowl. 
-In the 3rd bowl will be about 1 cup of panko bread crumbs.

In a small bowl mix the horseradish and mustard together.  With a knife, spread the mixture onto both sides of the chicken breasts. Place the breasts in the flour bowl until both sides are covered with flour. The dip into the bowl with the milk. Then place it in the bowl with the bread crumbs.
Once this is complete place the chicken on a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with Pam or some kind of cooking grease so the chicken doesn't stick. You can also spray the top of the chicken with a little of this so it gets the golden brown color. season with more ground pepper if u wish and bake for  5-10minutes or until the outside is golden brown.

Roasted garlic and olives dipping sauce

This is such an easy recipe to make and have as an appetizer with your favorite Italian bread or Ciabatta  bread.  I like ciabatta bread so that is what I used.
Make sure you toast the bread before serving.  I do this by placing it under the broiler for a minute or until golden. 

Roasted Garlic:
Preheat oven to 350°F
Peel away the outer layer of the garlic bulb, leaving just the bottom layer of skin behind.  This hold the cloves in to place.  Using a knife, cut off the top of the bulb, exposing the tops of all the individual cloves of garlic.  Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil over the open cloves and cover the entire bulb with foil and place in the oven for about 45mins or until garlic cloves are softened.

The cloves should easily come out with a knife or fork.  Add the roasted garlic to a bowl with some olive oil (you decide how much you want).  Add in Manzanilla and Kalamata olives.  You can also add in some Italian seasoning or Parmesan cheese. 

Turkey Pot Pie

What a better meal to make with your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey leftovers than turkey pot pie!
Preheat oven to 425°F
Filling-
    1cup - 1 1/2 cups of gravey
    2 cups turkey (cut into bitsize pieces)
    1 large carrott
    1 cup frozen peas

    1 large potato

In a sauce pan boil the potatos until almost cooked.  Add the carrots and finish cooking. Drain the carrots and potatos and add gravy, turkey and peas to the pan until heated. Add all ingredients into a greased pie pan and cover with crust.  Poke a couple of holes into the crust and bake. 

Crust-
    1/3 cup shortening
    1tsp salt
    1 1/4 flour
    4-6 Tablespoons ice water (the dryer the dough the more you will need)

In a food processor pulse the shortening, salt and flour until it is blended.  Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and pulse.  Add more if needed. 

Form the dough into a ball.  With a rolling pin, roll dough out on a floured surface. 

Recipes on the way!

It has sadly (pathetically on my part) been months since I have added a recipe to my blog.  I have been cooking, not as much as I would like, but I have been doing it as much as I can and writing down the recipes as I go so I can put them on my blog when the time permits.  Hopefully some new recipes will be added today for your enjoyment! :)