Easy Everyday Sauces

Using Knorr Gravy mixes makes it simple and easy to make a meal special.

With Knorr Chicken Gravy Mix:

-Use 1 cup water and 1/2 cup white wine, or
-Decrease water a bit and add in some chopped Mango Chutney, or
-Add in chopped sundried tomatoes and some capers, or
-A 1/2 teaspoon of tarragon and a little garlic, or
-Use half water, half orange juice and some orange zest, or
-Red Pepper flakes are always good

With Knorr Brown, Pork or Turkey Gravy Mix:

-A dash of worcestershire always kicks it up, or
-Use 1 cup water and 1/2 (1/4 in the turkey) cup white wine
-Dried Cranberries in the Turkey gravy, or
-Mango Chutney in the Pork gravy

Easy Chicken and Wine Sauce

3 chicken breasts, cut in half, thru bone, width wise
2 cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp tarragon
6 slices swiss cheese
I/2 pkg Butter croutons, roughly crushed
Salt and pepper

Place chicken in 13 x 9 Pyrex dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place Swiss cheese on top of each piece of chicken. Pour mixture of soup, wine and tarragon over top. Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes, sprinkle with croutons last 15 mins. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice or noodles and a vegetable.

Yummy Meatloaf

2 lbs ground beef or turkey
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 C Siouxy Wow sauce. (add'l 1/4 cup for top of meatloaf)
1/2 can Campbells Beef Consumme'

Mix all together except for meat/poultry.. Then add meat/poultry and mix well. Shape into loaf and put into greased pan. Sprinkle olive oil over top, then pour on Siouxy Wow . Bake at 350 for an hour and 15 mins.

Pretty Good Asian Dipping sauce

Mix to taste:

About 1/2 cup Simply Fruit Apricot Jam
About 1 TBS Red Wine Vinegar
Red Pepper Flakes
A little mayo if you like it creamy

Mix it all up and use for dipping battered shrimp, spring rolls, crispy wontons, etc.

Crock Pot Pot Roast

2 lb Pot Roast
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
4 large carrots peeled and quartered
1 1/2 cups good red wine
1 cup beef broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp star anise seed ground in coffee grinder with 1 tsp dried thyme
1 shallot sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp Kitchen Bouquet


Brown roast in dutch oven. Mix everything together in crock pot, put roast in and cook on low for 6 hours.

The BEST Turkey Lettuce Wraps

1/3 cup lime juice (you'll need maybe 3 limes)
3 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs honey

2-3 tbs canola or olive oil

1/2 red onion, sliced
3 shallots, sliced
1/4 cup chopped lemon grass (or 3 tbs lemon grass from tube sold in produce dept)
1 Thai or Serrano chile chopped, seeded if you don't like too much heat
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped mint

Butter lettuce, to be used as "shells or wraps"

Soy sauce
Sriracha sauce (in Asian section of market)
Crispy Won Ton strips (in salad/crouton section of produce dept)

Whisk together lime juice, lemon juice, honey and fish sauce, set aside.

Sauté onions, shallots, lemon grass, chile in oil till soft. Add turkey and cooked till browned and done. Add dressing and cook till liquid is mostly absorbed, add mint and cook through.

Spoon mixture into lettuce wraps and top with soy, sriracha and won tons. Yummy!!

Best Grilled Chicken Sandwich - EVER

4 slices Whole wheat sourdough bread
Some warmed shredded roasted chicken, enough for two sandwiches
I tsp canned diced hot jalapenos
2 to 3 tsp sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup ketchup
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
Butter (sorry) for grilling

Mix the jalapenos, relish, mayo and ketchup. Should taste like a sweet/spicy 1000 Island dressing. Spread this on the insides of each piece of bread, sprinkle insides of each piece of bread with cheddar and pat down. Fill with shredded chicken and close sandwiches. Butter pan and put sandwiches in on med hi heat. Butter top side of sandwiches. Flip over when cheese is melted on bottom side. Cook till browned and crispy! Sooooo good!

Mediterranean Couscous

This is so good!

2/3 cup whole wheat couscous
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup roughly chopped toasted walnuts
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 med red onion finely diced
4 to 5 tbsp finely chopped italian parsley
Olive oil
Lemon juice, optional
Salt and pepper

Cook couscous according to pkg directions, let cool and add rest of ingredients. Mix with olive oil to taste. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper if needed. Serve cold.

Lemon Ginger Risotto-O-O-O

1 cup Aborio rice
1 med. Onion diced
1 tsp ground Ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
Juice and zest of a large lemon
2-3 cups chicken broth
Oil for sauteeing onion, rice

In a large frying pan, sauté onion, then add rice and sauté to coat with oil. Add spices, stir, then add 1 cup of broth, simmer, stir until liquid is absorbed. Add another cup of broth and simmer and stir till absorbed. You are doing this until rice is creamy, and al dente. You'll probably need to add a little more broth to accomplish this. Add half of lemon juice with each addition of broth, zest at the end. Rice should be fairly soft. Done!

Posting

Gonna try to keep this up with my home recipes and twists on others.

Fancy Fries

Buy some frozen sweet potato fries, make a mixture of olive oil, honey, red pepper flakes and salt, to taste. Toss fries in this mixture and bake till crusty and golden brown. Fabulous!

Arriba, Arriba!!!

Okay Everyone, try Jenni-o Ground Turkey seasoned for tacos!! Really good!

Dinner Rolls

Forgot all about this, but you can still do for Christmas, parties, etc. Put your dinner rolls in your Crock Pot on low or keep warm setting. They are out of the way, you don't have to worry about them at the last minute and they stay nice and warm.

Best Pot Roast

Go to foodnetwork.com. Search "pot roast", select Paula Deen's, the one with mushroom soup. It is THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD!!!

Try These Green Beans for The Holidays

These Green Bean are a nice and easy change from the usual Green Bean Casserole.

To serve 10:

5 cans (drained) of green beans, cut, not french style

6 - 8 pieces of bacon cut in 1 inch pieces

Lawry's Seasoning Salt

Optional: sliced fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced onion

Saute the bacon till crispy in a sauce pan large enough to hold all the beans or a high sided frying pan. If you are adding mushroom and/or onions, saute them separately in a little olive oil and butter. Then add all to pan with the bacon and add Lawry's Seasoning Salt to taste. Heat slowly so the beans don't break up. Don't drain the bacon grease - that's where the great flavor comes from!!

For Mayo Lovers (Best Foods!)

This is one of my favorite condiments but it is soooo full of fat! My girlfriend Kathie kept saying, "buy the light mayo it's not bad". Humph. Well, I bought it and all I could think of was it was bland, not good and why bother?

So I did a little experiment. Since the light lacked the zing of regular mayo, I tried adding a little lemon juice to it and, Viola!, it tastes almost the same as regular Best Foods! Very, very good. I wouldn't do the whole jar at once, just as you use it.

Best Foods regular mayo has in 1 Tbs, 90 cals and 10 grams of fat. Best Foods light has 35 cals and 3.5 grams of fat, no carbs to speak of!!

Try this, I think it is a miracle.

Cookies and Sweets

Anyone interested in cookies and sweet treats for the holidays?? Let me know and I will give you some great recipes!!!

Mango Chutney

I love sweet and savory with a little spice! Take some mayo and add some mango chutney, available in most supermarkets (Cost Plus has a great one) and combine. It is to die for....spread it on chicken, turkey, ham sandwiches/panini's, you'll love it.

Mango Chutney is great on Brie, both warmed up and served with your favorite crackers.

Also great over a mound (not a block - make it look pretty!) of cream cheese, again served with your favorite crackers.

Ahead of the Thanksgiving Last Minute Chaos

Last year, yes, maybe I'm slow to catch on, I cooked everything the day before - except the turkey and gravy. I did real mashed potatoes, put 'em in a nice oven proof dish and reheated them very low and slow in the oven. Did the stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans (or whatever vegetable you're having) and the homemade cranberry relish a day or two before the big day, too.

I also set the tables and get out all the dishes and serving utensils I'll need and put a post- it on which utensil goes with what dish. So, all you have to do on the "day of" is put the bird in the oven, reheat the sides and do the gravy at the last minute.

I like to have others bring the stuff like appetizers, rolls & butter, desserts, wine, beer, soft drinks, etc.

I used to spend ALL morning (up at 5 or 6 a.m.) of Thanksgiving doing everything fresh. Believe me, one day ahead and the food is just as good and YOU'RE the one who's fresh!

Ah, well, there's still the dishes.....

Thanksgiving

Stay tuned for some turkey day tips and recipes!!