Comfort Soup

Delicious Chickpea and tomato soup with herbed dumplings. Add diced chicken for added heartiness  :)

Sunday fried chicken!

Perfect fall dinner....save yourself the excessive grease and just fry until brown and then into the oven to cook for 20. I used cornflakes mixed with bread crumbs for an extra crunchy  extra yummy coating.

Awesome October Clam Chowder!

Nothing better than fresh clams from the shore made into all day long simmered clam chowder to enjoy by the fire at days end.....that's 35 years of cooking knowledge poured into a big bowl of heaven :)

How to maximize Thanksgiving leftovers

Save all those left overs and stuff them in a pot pie! Don't forget the stuffing....use your gravy for sauce and top it all with your mash potatoes....mmmmm

Sunday Brunch

For an easy but filling brunch.....

Half a bag of frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
Half onion, diced
1/4 lb Crumbled cooked bacon
1 c shredded cheese of choice
5 eggs scrambled
1/4 milk
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven 325
Spray casserole dish with non stick spray
Scramble eggs and milk, set aside
In a pan, saute hash browns and onion in butter (I like to cook the crumbled bacon and then use the fat to saute) I know...but...yum!
Combine the hash browns, onion, bacon and half of cheese and put in the casserole dish. Pour eggs evenly over and top with remaining cheese.
Bake for 30 min, covered.
Uncover and broil for 5 min to brown and bubble cheese.

Turkeys can be Greek!

One of my favorite foods is anything Greek! You don't have to cook a traditional dish to enjoy Greek food though :)
This is my famous greek turkey burger and a favorite among my friends and family.
1lb ground turkey (don't use extra lean here because less fat = less flavor)
1/2 pkg of thawed, drained chopped spinach (squeeze that water out!)
1tbsp of crumbled feta for each patty
4 tbsp mayo

2 tsp minced red onion

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp onion powder
2 tbsp fresh dill
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together with a fork except feta. This will either make 4 large burgers or six smaller ones. So I like to score the mixture in the bowl to mark how many patties I want before forming them because it guarantees all your patties are equal size. Take a ball of turkey on your hand, make an indent in the middle, put your tbsp of feta in there and gently form ther side up and around to cover feta and press slightly to flatten. I like to spray a plate with olive oil and flatten the patty on that and it won't stick. You can bbq these or you can pan fry. Bbq is best.

Fresh Tzatziki Sauce:
I cup plain greek yogurt
I clove garlic minced
1/4 english cucumber, grated and liquid squeezed out
Zest of half a lemon
4 tbsp fresh dill chopped
1/4 tsp salt

Spread Tzatziki on top of toasted  bun, top with burger, sliced tomato and greens (I used arugula).
You can see when you cut through, the feta is in the middle and it's soooo juicy and delicious!

Herb Stuffed Pork Chop

When I discovered I had beaten my allergy to pork, I was happy to have things I haven't had in awhile and discovered new ways to cook them along the way!
Take a 1.5- 2 inch pork chop sliced through on the fat side to make a pocket up to the bone. Salt and pepper both sides.
In a pan, saute onion, celery in butter with desired herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary), add bread crumbs and a bit of chicken broth to moisten. Stuff inside pork chop, use a tooth pick to spear shut, pan sear both sides. Put in small baking pan, pour 1/2 cup (more if you make more than two and using bigger pan), cover and bake 350 for 40 min. These were moist and flavorful!

"You'll Never BBQ your Ribs Again" Ribs

Baby back ribs....rubbed down in salt, pepper, steak spice, brown sugar....place in crock pot standing up and meat side facing the edges ....pour bbq sauce of choice over top ( I use Jack Daniels No.7 original) cook on low 6 hrs. They will fall off the bone but try to take them out gently in sections of 3 or 4 and place in pan to broil for 5 min. Far better than a restaurant!

Cinco de Mayo chimichurri steak....'nough said

New Creation Wednesday!

Cheesy rice with broccoli topped with flounder, baked covered  then topped with a sauce of mayo, parmesan, lemon, tabasco, pepper, dill and garlic ....then broiled to brown and serve. Wow. Worth the risk of trying a new recipe!

Mexican Lasagna

Time for a change of pace from italian lasagna....taco beef, cream of mushroom soup, shredded cheese, salsa. Black beans and refried beans layered between flour tortillas instead of pasta. Bake to heat through...top with cheese and broil til brown....top with enchilada sauce and sour cream.....ole!

Vegetarian Lasagna

This use to be a regular meal when my oldest daughter Ashley was a kid. She devoured it! Finely chopped carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, sliced zucchini and mushrooms layered with a ricotta parmesan filling with spinach and mozzarella and of course a tomato basil sauce. Save time using the new no boil lasagna noodles and remember to put sauce on the bottom first and top with mozzarella. Spray the foil with oil first before you cover and it won't stick to the lasagna when you uncover it.

Curried Cod

This is actually a repeat of what I made 3 nights earlier. It was so delicious I decided to serve it for friends Saturday night. You start by making a compound butter with curry, parsley, garlic, onion powder, dash of paprika, tumeric and cumin, salt and pepper. Dry the fish and spread the butter across the top. Baking in a foil pouch with a splash of chicken broth for 20 min...perfection. I served this with steamed baby carrots with dill, basmati rice made with half chicken broth and a spring mix salad with candied pecans, cranberries, shredded carrot and feta...dressed with olive oil, brown sugar, mustard, sesame oil and pepper.

THE ULTIMATE BURGER SATURDAY!

Saturday morning cooking shows get my mind flowing for what I want to cook. A culmination of many things I saw turned into THIS amazing burger!  This is a stuffed burger. You make two thin patties and place your filling in the center. This one has blue cheese. Ingredients from bottom to top: bun that was browned in the grease from burger, garlic aioli with chopped pickles, lettuce (his had romaine..I prefer baby arugula for the extra spice), sliced tomato, patty topped with blue cheese...broiled, French's onions .....with a side of wedge fries with truffle oil, garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder and parmesan cheese. Let's not forget the spicy Cesar cocktail topped with blue cheese stuffed olives to compliment the burger...sheer joy! Judging by the photo when I looked up to asked my husband "how is it?" I'd say it must have been pretty good!

Feeling Feta Thursday

When I had a craving for feta and knew I had chicken breasts at home, I decided to stuff them! Ricotta, spinach, dill, red onion, feta, garlic, salt and pepper, stuffed into a pocket sliced into a chicken breast. Saute til brown on both sides and bake. Drizzle a lemon sauce over top. Served with a side of lemon dill rice and a tomato, feta, cucumber,red onion and cilantro salad with a simple olive oil and lemon dressing.