Tuscan Garlic Chicken

Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cup(s) flour, plus 1 tablespoon
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp Italian herb seasoning
1 lb(s) curly or regular fettuccine
1 Tbsp garlic, chopped
1 red pepper, julienne cut
1/2 cup(s) dry, white wine (I substitute in apple juice)
1/2 lb(s) whole leaf spinach, stemmed
12 oz heavy cream
1 cup(s) Parmesan cheese, grated

Procedures

- Combine 1½ cups flour, salt, black pepper and Italian herb seasoning in a shallow dish.

- Dredge chicken in the mixture, shaking off any excess.

- In a large, nonstick, ovenproof skillet, add 3 Tbsp of olive oil – enough to coat – and sauté chicken in batches over medium-high heat for about two to three minutes on each side, or until golden brown and crisp. Add additional olive oil for each batch as necessary.

- When finished, transfer the skillet to a preheated oven at 350 degrees F. Cook for approximately 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.

- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside until needed.

- While the pasta is cooking, heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a sauce pan. Add the garlic and the red pepper and cook for approximately one minute.

- Add remaining 1 Tbsp of flour and stir to combine.

- Next, add the wine and bring to a boil for one minute. Add the spinach and the cream and bring to a boil. The sauce is done cooking when the spinach becomes wilted. Complete by stirring in the Parmesan cheese.

- Partly coat the pasta with the sauce, transfer to a large bowl (or individual dishes) and then top with the chicken, the remaining sauce and extra Parmesan cheese.

Mom's Soft Sugar Cookies

2 cups butter
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 Tb. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup milk
8 cups flour

Mix all ingredients. Roll dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake at 375 for 5 minutes. Cool and frost. I prefer to use homemade cream cheese frosting. This recipe makes about 100 medium-sized cookies. You may want to half the recipe for a smaller batch.

I like to keep these cookies frozen (They thaw quickly when they are ready to be served.). I flash freeze the cookies on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Once they are firm, I am able to stack them so that they don't stick together.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

1 chocolate cake mix
1 (6-oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
5 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cube of butter, melted
2 cups sour cream
2 cups chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine cake and pudding mix in a large bowl. Create a well in the center of the bowl and dump sour cream, melted butter (not too hot), and eggs into the well. Using a large spoon, stir all ingredients together. The batter will be very thick. Add the chocolate chips and mix well. Spoon the batter into a well-greased Bundt pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Test with a toothpick. Once it is done baking, let it cool for 10 minutes and then flip it out of the pan and onto a serving plate.

** I think that this cake tastes even better the second day. It's wonderful alone, but is also good served with one or more of the following: whipping cream, berries, hot caramel sauce, ice cream, etc. I've added crushed Andes mints in place of the chocolate chips and that was yummy. I've baked this cake in a 9"x13" dish and that worked great, too. Enjoy! **

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb. Italian sausage, ground
2-3 lg. baking potatoes, cubed
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Swiss chard or kale, shredded (I prefer chard)
2 (10 oz) cans chicken broth
1 qt. water
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Press sausage into a foil-lined pan and cook in a 300 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Drain and cut sausage into small pieces. Set aside. Place onion, potatoes, garlic, chicken broth, and water in large stockpot. Cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Add sausage. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer 10 minutes. Over low heat, add kale or chard and whipping cream. Heat through and serve.

Apple Crisp

I got this recipe from Mom and it is my favorite for Apple Crisp.

1 cup butter, cold
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 tsp. baking powder
6 cups apples, sliced
Combine butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and baking powder together until crumbly. Slice apples into a 9"x13" dish. Crumble the topping over the apples and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Benihana Sauces

Mylissa requested the recipes for Benihana dipping sauces. I got these recipes from http://www.copykat.com/. We've made a few minor adjustments and have really enjoyed the following sauces and I hope that you will too. We prefer to serve the Ginger Dipping Sauce and/or the Salad Dressing with grilled shrimp and the Cream Dipping Sauce with grilled steak.

Ginger Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 small piece ginger root, grated or 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and mix until smooth.

Cream Dipping Sauce
1/2 - 2/3 cup soy sauce
2 Tb. sesame seeds, roasted
1 cup heavy cream
1 pinch garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
Combine all ingredients, except cream, in blender or food processor and mix until smooth. Pour mixture into saucepan. Add cream and stir over low heat until simmering.

Salad Dressing
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup canola oil
2 Tb. rice wine vinegar
1 Tb. water
1 Tb. ginger root, grated
1 Tb. celery, chopped (opt.)
1 Tb. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix until smooth. Serve over green salad.

Thank You!

Thanks to my friend, Mylissa, for getting this cute background on our blog. I'm loving it. I'm still interested in any great title and subtitle ideas. Put your thinking caps on =).

Thanksgiving Turkey

This year I was in charge of the entire Thanksgiving dinner. This was a completely new experience for me. Thanksgiving in my home is a large family event full of traditions. This year, we created new traditions. The day before Thanksgiving, I called my mother for her recipes and wrote them down on scratch paper. So, I'm typing them here (with somewhat of a selfish motive), so next year I can get them anywhere in the world that has access to the Internet.

So here is the "basic" recipe for the turkey...
1 18-21 lb turkey
1 cube butter
1 large can chicken broth
1 onion finely chopped
celery stalks finely chopped

Seasonings to taste:
Sage
Poultry seasoning
Salt
Pepper

Clean the inside of the turkey (yuck). Tie the turkey's front drumstick legs together with string. Tie the back of the turkey together with string. Spread the butter all over the outside of the turkey. Stuff the inside of the turkey with the celery, onion, and seasoning. Also sprinkle seasonings on top of turkey. Place the large turkey in a turkey cooking bag. Pour 1 can chicken broth over the turkey, and seal the bag shut. Put the bird on a "turkey rack" (OK, I didn't realize these existed until a few years ago).

Cook the turkey at 325-350 degrees for 3-5 hours until the meatiest part of the turkey registers at 180 degrees on a cooking thermometer.

Variations on this theme: You can take the turkey out after 2 hours and baste the turkey with the sauce at the bottom of the pan.

Aunt Kaye's Thanksgiving Stuffing

Once again, here is another recipe Aunt Kaye always brings for Thanksgiving...

1/2 C butter melted
1 onion chopped finely
Several celery stalks chopped finely (depends on how much you like celery)
1 large can chicken broth
1 large bag Pepperidge Farm Stuffing

Put the dressing in a large bowl. Saute the melted butter, onion, and celery. Add chicken broth to butter mixture. Pour the mixture over dressing and toss. Add:

1 tsp sage
1 tsp poultry seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Place stuffing in a 9x12 dish. Sprinkle the stuffing with slivered almonds. Bake the stuffing covered with tinfoil at 350 degrees for around 30 minutes.

Aunt Kaye's Thanksgiving Yams

From my first recollection of Thanksgiving, my aunt always brought her yams (which taste more like candy) to Thanksgiving. This year I made them, so here is the recipe...

6-8 sweet potatoes (steams, peeled, and cut into 1/2 inch slices)
2 large cans pineapple chunks
1 12 oz. frozen orange juice

1/3 C water
3 heaping tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla

1 C brown sugar (approximately)
Mini marshmallows (if you choose)

Layer the cut sweet potatoes in a 9x13 pan (like you layer cookies when you are taking them somewhere). Drain the pineapples, but save the juice. Sprinkle the pineapples over the sweet potatoes. Cook the pineapple juice and orange juice in a saucepan until warm. Combine the water, cornstarch, nutmeg and vanilla in a separate bowl to make a paste. Add the paste to the pineapple juice mixture. Add brown sugar to taste (around a cup, but this makes it quite sweet).

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If you are a marshmallow fan, add the marshmallows after yams are cooked and broil for 1-2 minutes to brown. (The yams are yummy with or without the marshmallows).