fruit salad

Fruit Salad

• 1 cup grapes
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 cups strawberries, sliced
• 3 nectarines, sliced
• 2 bananas, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• several dashes nutmeg

Combine orange juice, honey, and nutmeg at the bottom of a large bowl.  Add fruit and toss to coat.  Serve immediately.  Makes 8 servings.

creamed succotash

You've heard of creamed corn...you've heard of succotash...but have you heard of creamed succotash?

My husband just loves succotash.  I think he likes the name more than the actual dish, but his love of it means that we eat it quite a bit.  I got a little bored with traditional canned succotash the other day, so I decided to make it with a twist. :)

Creamed Succotash

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 T. butter
• 8 oz. frozen corn
• 8 oz. frozen lima beans
• 1 T. cornstarch
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4-1/2 t. each salt and pepper

Saute onions in butter about 2-3 minutes, or until tender.  Stir in corn and beans; cover and cook about 5 minutes until heated.  In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.  Stir into corn and beans, and bring to a boil.  Cook, uncovered, for about 2 minutes or until thickened.  Serves 6.

chicken salad

 

In my last few weeks of pregnancy, I got on a chicken salad kick.  Apparently, I haven't been able to shake it.  There's just something so delicious and refreshing about a pile of chicken salad on a bed of lettuce (and don't even get me started about the awesomeness of chicken salad sandwiches). 

We've had a chicken salad recipe for years that I've always loved, but recently I had to shake things up a bit.  The originally recipe calls for mandarin oranges, grapes, and almonds.  I am not a huge fan of mandarins (let's face it...I'm a mandarin hater), so I generally substitute a clementine or naval orange.  Then, my grocery store was out of grapes!!!  I didn't know such a thing could happen, but apparently it did...to every grocery store in my vicinity.  And I thought I had almonds at home, but nope.  Time to improvise.

The results were beyond delicious.  I think this new version is going to forever replace the old one.  Here's the skinny...

Chicken Salad
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup seedless grapes, cut in half OR 1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted OR 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained OR 1/2 naval orange, diced
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1 t. grated onion or dried minced onion

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix.  Yields 4 cups.

apple dumplings

 

We have always given each other gifts based on the traditional anniversary gifts...I love thinking of creative ways to interpret the traditions!  For the paper anniversary, I recreated the night he proposed with gift certificates to the same restaurant and opera house.  I even asked a friend to meet us at the spot he proposed to take photos.  For the cotton and china anniversary, I gave him a whole new set of lounge wear and made him fortune cookies (China!) with things I loved about him written inside.  Last year, we celebrated the leather anniversary by going to the county fair (cows have leather!), eating at Outback (again, cows!), and then having dessert at Leatherby's Ice Cream.

Yes, we stretch it a bit, but that's what makes it fun!  This year, though, I was dismayed to find out that it was the fruit and flowers anniversary.  What in the world do you get a man that relates to fruit and flowers???

I thought and thought about our 4th anniversaray, agonizing for days.  Finally, I came up with a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.  I bought him an Apple iPod (hey, apple is a fruit!) and made him a dessert of homemade apple dumplings.  I even cut flower shapes out of the pastry to decorate the dumplings! :)

Apple Dumplings

• 4 cups flour
• 1 T. sugar
• 2 t. salt
• 1 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 T. vinegar
• Garnish: cinnamon and sugar
• 6 apples, cored and peeled

Syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 cup water
• cinnamon to taste
• 3 T. butter

Combine flour, sugar, and salt together; cut in butter until coarse crumbs form.  In a separate bowl, stir together water, egg, and vinegar until yolk breaks.  Blend egg mixture and crumb mixture with a pastry cutter or fork until soft dough forms.  Chill dough for 15 minutes and then divide into 7 portions.  On a piece of parchment paper, pat 6 of the portions of dough into 5-6 inch circles large enough to wrap around an apple.  Sprinkle each circle of dough with cinnamon and sugar, and then wrap around an apple, covering completely. Use final portion of dough to decorate dumplings.  Place wrapped apples in a baking dish.  To make syrup, combine sugar, water, cinnamon, and butter in a saucepan and heat until sugar has dissolved and butter has melted.  Pour over dumplings; bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes.  

pot o'beans

This particular recipe was inspired by a favorite author of mine, Jan Karon.  I get the same rush out of reader her stories of Father Tim and his small town of Mitford as I do from eating a piece of pie.  I can't get enough!  One of the best parts of her novels is that the characters are always eating delicious food, and Jan Karon paints such a vivid picture that you can actually taste it.

In addition to her novels, she also came out with a companion cookbook that's full of recipes for delicious comfort food.  Someday I look forward to owning it.  Until then, I just copy recipes out of my mother-in-law's book.  One of the recipes I copied was for Jan's pot of beans...after a few tweaks and changes of my own, this is the deliciousness that emerged!

You could eat these beans as a soup, but we particularly love them served over a big slice of cornbread and covered in lots...lots...of Tabasco. :-)

Pot o' Beans

inspired by Jan's Pot of Beans in Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook

• 1 pound mixed dried beans, picked over
• 3 T. butter
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 T. minced garlic, heaping
• 1 T. dried rosemary
• 1 T. dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 package salt pork
• 1 T. paprika
• 1 t. freshly ground black pepper

Place beans in a large stockpot and cover with water.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Cover the pot, turn off the heat, and let the beans sit for 1 hour.  Drain the beans.  In the same stockpot, heat the butter and oil over medium heat and saute the onions and garlic for 8-10 minutes, or until softened.  Add the beans and enough fresh water to cover.  Add the rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, salt pork, paprika, and pepper.  Cover and simmer for 2 hours, checking the beans often and adding water as necessary.  Remove the salt pork and bay leaves before serving.

braised chicken with havarti polenta

The braised chicken and veggies are a healthy yet flavorful accompaniment to the easy but elegant creamy polenta.  It's the perfect meal for a special occasion!

Braised Chicken with Havarti Polenta 

• 2 T. butter, divided
• 4 chicken breasts, sliced into strips
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 bell peppers, cut into strips
• 1/2 onion, cut into strips
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 1/4 cups chicken broth, divided
• juice from one orange
• 1/4-1/2 t. cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 slices Havarti cheese (or cheese of choice)

For chicken:
Melt one tablespoon butter in a nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and cook in butter until browned (does not need to be cooked through).  Remove to a plate and keep warm.

Pour one tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and saute bell peppers, onion, and mushrooms for 5 minutes.  Add frozen corn and saute another 2-4 minutes.  Remove to a plate and keep warm.

Pour white wine, chicken broth, and orange juice into the skillet and bring to a boil.  Add the chicken; cook for 10 minutes covered.  Uncover and cook for 10 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.  Add the vegetables back to the skillet and sprinkle with cayenne pepper.  Serve over polenta.

For polenta:
Bring chicken broth to a boil.  Gradually whisk in cornmeal.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often.  Stir in 1 tablespoon of butter, milk, and Havarti cheese.

Nutrition (1/6 recipe):  463 calories, 15g fat, 7g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 123mg cholesterol, 586mg sodium, 29g carbs, 3g fiber, 5g sugar, 46g protein, 12% vit. A, 94% vit. C, 15% calcium, 16% iron. 

nutella mug cake

 Nutella Mug Cake
from The Family Kitchen

• 4 T. self-rising flour
• 4 T. sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 T. cocoa powder
• 3 T. Nutella
• 3 T. milk
• 3 T. olive or vegetable oil.

Combine all ingredients in a very large coffee mug (I suggest spraying the mug with cooking spray first).  Whisk well with a fork until smooth.  Microwave on high for 1 1/2 to 3 minutes, or until done.

Toppings: You could top with whipped cream, but I generally prefer whipping up a thin chocolate glaze.  I mix a teaspoon of cocoa with one tablespoon of powdered sugar, and then I add milk until it's just the right consistency.  You want it a bit thin so that it will seep through the cake...yum!