2 Liters chilled Fresca or Ginger ale
1 can frozen White Grape Juice
concentrate
2 limes, slices
4-6 cups ice
Pour chilled Fresca or Ginger ale into a punch bowl. Stir in frozen White Grape Juice
until dissolved. Add ice and limes. Serve
Strawberry
Salad with Cinnamon Candied Almonds
Spinach or mixed greens
Sliced strawberries
Mozzarella (shredded) or feta
Thinly sliced red onion
Cinnamon roasted almonds
Dressing
½ cup sugar
½ cup mayo
2 TBS rice vinegar
¼ cup milk
Combine all ingredients in blender and
mix well.
Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
1 egg white
1 tsp cold water
4 cups whole almonds or slivered
½ cup white sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Lightly
grease a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan.
2.
Lightly beat the egg white: add water,
and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated.
Mix the sugar, salt and cinnamon and sprinkle over the nuts. Toss to coat and
spread evenly on the prepared pan. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15
minutes, until golden.
Pear, Brie and Bacon Flatbread
Ingredients
2 prebaked
flatbreads
3/4 cup
mozzarella cheese
2 ounces
brie cheese, sliced very thin
1/2 of a
pear, thinly sliced
4 pieces of
bacon
Garnish:
Arugula
Balasmic
glaze
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place flatbread onto a baking sheet. Place in oven for 2 minutes.
Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheeses, pear slices and crumbled bacon.
Place back in oven and bake for 3-4 more minutes, or until cheeses are
melted.
Remove from oven, garnish with arugula and balsamic glaze.
Slice into wedges and serve immediately
Almond
Sheet Cake
Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup salted butter (2 sticks)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp almond extract
For the
Frosting
6 Tbsp milk
1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
3 3/4 cup
powdered sugar
1 tsp
almond extract
Instructions
Preheat
oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 15''x11'' jelly roll pan.
Add water
and butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil.
Meanwhile,
in a separate bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In
another small bowl mix together the sour cream, eggs and almond extract. Add
sour cream/egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until combined. Once the
mixture in the saucepan is boiling remove it from heat and pour it into the
batter and mix well.
Pour
mixture into prepared pan and smooth with a spatula into an even layer. Bake in
preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until set and a toothpick inserted comes
out clean.
When the
cake is about half-way through cooking, prepare the frosting.
For the frosting
Add milk
and butter to a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, remove from
heat and stir in powdered sugar and almond extract. I like to beat the mixture
with my hand-held mixer to get rid of any lumps.
Pour warm
icing over warm cake. Use a spatula to spread it evenly over the cake. Allow
frosting to set for at least 10 minutes before serving. Top with fresh berries.
Bruschetta
Ingredients:
2
Tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves
garlic. finely minced.
1 pint red
grape tomatoes. halved lengthwise
1 pint
yellow grape tomatoes. Halved lengthwise
1
Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
16 whole
basil leaves (chiffonade)
salt and
pepper to taste (don’t oversalt)
1 whole
baguette
8
Tablespoons butter
Instructions:
In a small
skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir, lightly
frying for about a minute, removing before the garlic gets too brown. (It can
be golden) Pour into a mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.
Add
tomatoes, balsamic, basil and salt and pepper to the bowl. Toss to combine,
then taste and add more basil if needed, and more salt if needed (don’t
oversalt though) Cover and refrigerate for an hour or two if you have the time.
Cut the
baguette into diagonal slices to allow for the most surface area possible. Melt
half the butter into a large skillet and grill half the bread on both sides,
making sure they’re nice and buttery. Cook till golden brown on both sides.
Repeat with the other half of the butter and the other half of the bread.
To serve,
give the tomato mixture a final stir, then spoon generously over the slices of
bread. Serve on a big platter as a first course or appetizer.
Lemon
Chicken with Wild Rice
(for
6 chicken breasts)
Toast
Panko
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Crush Panko
and place on baking sheet, sprinkle 1 tsp salt and drizzle ¼ cup olive oil. Mix
together with fingers and bake for 10 minutes or until desired toasty color.
Sir occasionally.
Cutlets
Cutlets are super thin. Chicken breast
or pork chops or veal. Cut thin or pounded to about ¼ inch.
Proceed as on panko box (flour/egg/Panko).
Place on a rack that is in a baking sheet.
Preheat over to 450 degrees. Bake for 20
minutes. If they are getting too dark , put loose tin foil over them.
Can be put in the freezer. Prepare and
stack with parchment paper in between each cutlet. Bag in a freezer ziplock.
Let thaw for 15 minutes on the baking rack.
Lemon
Sauce
2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
4 tsp. lemon zest
1 TBS lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
In a small saucepan , melt butter. Add
flour. Whisk to combine and cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; stir in the
broth and cream, simmer until thickened, whisking frequently, about 3 minutes.
Add lemon zest, juice, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine. Cook 2 minutes. Pour
on plate and put cutlet on top of sauce. Serve with wild rice.
Triple
Berry Pie
Ingredients:
Double
crusts for one 9” pie pan
7 cups
total of fresh or frozen raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries (about 2
1/3 cups of each type of berry)
1 cup
granulated sugar, plus a little extra to sprinkle on top of the pie
1 TBS lemon
juice
4 TBS
cornstarch
2 TBS
butter
1 egg
white, beaten with a fork
Instructions:
Add
berries, sugar and lemon juice to a large saucepan over medium heat. Simmer,
until warm and juicy, about 5-10 minutes, gently stirring occasionnaly. (You
can taste it at this point and see it it’s sweet enough for your liking. I
don’t like to make mine too sweet, but if you want it sweeter you can add ¼ cup
more sugar.)
Spoon out
about ½ cup of the juice from the pan into a bowl. Stir cornstarch into the
juice until smooth. Bring pot of berries back to a simmer and slowly pour in
the cornstarch. Gently stir mixture (being careful to not smash the berries),
until thickened , about 2-5 minutes.
Remove from
heat and stir in the butter. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell. Add lattice
top or a whole top with holes pricked on top for steam to escape.
Pinch the
edges of the top and bottom pie crusts together and crimp the edge. Brush a
thin layer of beaten egg white over the top of the pie and sprinkle lightly
with sugar.
Bake at 400
degrees for 40-45 minutes. Check it after about 25 minutes and place a piece of
tinfoil over it if the top crust is getting too brown.
Remove to a
wire cooling rack and allow to cool for several hours. Once cooled completely,
you can cut into it or cover it and refrigerate it overnight to serve the next
day.
Pie Crust
(makes 2 pies)
2 ½
cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 cup
shortening
1 egg
beaten
¼ cup cold
water
1 TBS
vinegar
Mix flour
and salt together. Cut shortening into flour until size of peas. Mix eggs,
water, and vinegar together and add to flour mixture. Roll and put into pie
tins with filling. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Glazed
Carrots with Pistachio Nuts
Ingredients:
2-3
cups carrots-sliced in ¼” diagonal
pieces
3
TBS packed brown sugar
1
TBS butter
1/3
cup chicken broth
pinch
of salt
freshly
ground pepper
¼
cup shelled pistachio nuts
2
TBS finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Instructions:
Place
carrots, brown sugar, butter, chicken broth, salt and pepper in a small to
medium saute pan over medium heat.
Bring
ingredients to a simmer, stir to incorporate, and reduce to a medium low simmer
for 10 minutes.
Add
pistachio nuts and continue to cook until carrots are just fork tender.
Stir
in parsley and serve immediately or cover to keep warm.
Garlic
and Butter Sauteed Mushrooms
Ingredients:
2
to 4 cups assorted mushrooms (larger ones halved or quartered)
4 TBS
butter cut into smaller cubes, use 6 TBS if doing 4 cups mushrooms
3
cloves garlic (sliced)
Kosher
salt
Fresh
ground pepper
2-3
TBS chopped flat leaf parsley (wait until last to put in)
Instructions:
Put
butter cubes and garlic in bottom of small to medium sauce pan.
Add
mushrooms and season with salt and pepper
Simmer
uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and
most of the water the mushrooms will give off has cooked out. This will take
about 15 minutes.
Add parsley
and stir to combine
