Category Archives: Dinner Ideas

Milky Way Candy Bar – Famous Recipes

Dinner Ideas February 11, 2013 Leave a comment

milky wayHistory: The Milky Way bar was the first chocolate-covered candy bar to find widespread popularity in the United States. It was developed in 1923 by the Mars family.

 

 

*You will need a heavy-duty mixer for this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup light corn syrup
  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 egg whites
  • 35 unwrapped Kraft caramels
  • ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • Two – 12-ounce bags of milk chocolate chips

Directions

  1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, corn syrup, ½ cup water, and salt.
  2. Stir often until mixture starts to boil.
  3. Cook until mixture reaches 270 degrees – use a candy thermometer.
  4. While this sugar mixture cooks, beat 2 egg whites in a clean metal bowl until stiff.
  5. When the sugar mixture reaches 270 degrees (soft crack stage) pour in a thin stream into the egg whites blending with a mixer set on low speed.
  6. Continue to mix for 20 minutes until mixture thickens and reaches the consistency of cookie dough, very thick and fluffy.
  7. At this point, add the semisweet chocolate chips.
  8. When the chocolate chips are completely blended into the candy mixture, press into a greased 9 x 9 square pan. Cool for 30 minutes in refrigerator.
  9. Heat the caramels with remaining 2 tablespoons of water in a saucepan until caramels are completely melted. Pour the caramel over the cooled candy mixture.
  10. Melt Milk Chocolate chips in a microwave for 2 minutes, stirring every 10 seconds until melted – do not overheat.
  11. When the caramel is set – slice down the center of the pan and then cut crossways into 7 segments for a total of 14 bars.
  12. Using a fork and your fingers lift each bar out of the pan and dip into the melted milk chocolate, coating completely.
  13. Place on waxed paper and cool until firm at room temperature for 1 – 2 hours.

Chicken Saltimbocca

Chicken, Dinner Ideas February 7, 2013 Leave a comment
Chicken Saltimbocca

Chicken Saltimbocca

Prosciutto and fresh sage are the key flavorings in a Saltimbocca.  You can purchase Prosciutto at any grocery store either in their deli or where specialty cheeses and meats are sold. Prosciutto is a a dry-cured ham that is usually very thinly sliced and served uncooked.  The moisture is “sucked” out of the ham, and dried (cured). The process of making prosciutto can take anywhere from nine months to two years, depending on the size of the ham. Sliced prosciutto is often served as an antipasto, wrapped around melon or asparagus. It is also eaten as an accompaniment to spring vegetables.  Not to be confused with pancetta, a product that is cured, and unsmoked, sliced thinly and used cooked similar to bacon in many recipes.

 Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh sage or 1-1/2 teaspoon dried sage – or be creative and place one whole fresh sage leaf on top of the prosciutto
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded between waxed paper to ¼ inch thickness
  • 6 thin slices of prosciutto
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley or dried

 Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

  1. Sprinkle the sage and pepper over the chicken breasts.
  2. Place a slice of prosciutto on top of chicken breasts. Roll up jelly-roll style and secure with a wooden toothpick
  3. Place butter in a shallow dish.
  4. In another shallow dish combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese and parsley.
  5. Dip chicken first in melted butter, then roll in crumb mixture
  6. Place chicken in shallow baking dish and bake for 40 minutes until tender.
  7. Remove picks and serve.

Triple Chocolate Pancakes

Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner Ideas February 5, 2013 Leave a comment
Triple Chocolate Pancakes

Triple Chocolate Pancakes

What can I say, breakfast, dinner, dessert? Not just one kind of chocolate but three kinds of chocolate. A complete gooey chocolaty overload. Serve with Hot Fudge Sauce, or fresh fruit and White Chocolate Yogurt sauce – recipe follows.

 

 

Ingredients for Pancakes:

  • 1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup milk
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
  • 2eggs, separated
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
  • Purchased or homemade Hot Fudge sauce

Directions

  • Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl
  • Mix milk, buttermilk, egg yolks, and cooled melted butter into a second large bowl and beat well.
  • Add flour to the milk/butter mixture and mix well
  • Put egg whites in another bowl and beat until stiff peaks form
  • Fold a small amount of beaten egg white into the chocolate batter, then add the remaining egg white and fold until mixed.
  • Add the bittersweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips to the batter
  • Heat skillet and spray with cooking spray
  • Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter onto skillet and cook on medium-low heat until tiny bubbles appear on the top, flip and cook for one minute more.
  • Keep cakes warm in a 250 F oven until all cooked.

White Chocolate Yogurt

  • 6 oz White Chocolate chopped
  • ¼ cup plain yogurt
  1. Put the chopped white chocolate into a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and melt slowly. Be careful not to get moisture or steam into the chocolate. OR microwave on 10 second intervals, stirring until melted.
  2. When melted, remove from heat and let cool slightly, beat in the yogurt until smooth and shiny. Serve cakes with hot fudge sauce and White Chocolate Sauce. Yummy

Beer Can Chicken

Chicken, Dinner Ideas January 31, 2013 Leave a comment
Beer Can Chicken

Beer Can Chicken

YUM, while this chicken is dry roasting on the outside, the inside is being bathed with steamy beer, keeping the chicken meat wonderfully moist. The result is tender, fall-off-the-bone meat, encased in salty, herby, crispy skin. Using olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley and Rosemary on the chicken will bring out the wonderful flavor of the meat. If you are comfortable sliding your hand between the skin and the meat, rub some of the herb mixture in between, this way you are actually flavoring the meat not just the skin.

You can also roast a chicken this way in the oven. Just place it as directed on an open half-filled can of beer, sitting up, in a roasting pan on the lower rack of your oven. Roast at 350°F until done (about 1-1/2 hrs. for a 4 lb chicken, meat should register 180 degrees with a meat thermometer). You can substitute wine for the beer, just pour into a mason jar and sit the chicken on top. For an alcohol-free version of this recipe, just fill a pint mason jar halfway with chicken stock and use it instead of the beer.

If you are going to Grill your chicken: spray grill rack with non-stick cooking spray. Heat grill to medium or prepare a medium fire cooking by indirect method.

If using an oven preheat to 350 F

Ingredients:

  • 4 lb Chicken – washed inside and outside with cool running water – dry with paper towels
  • 2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh Rosemary, chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic – grated or chopped fine
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons of cold butter sliced into thin pieces

Directions

  1. Combine parsley, rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil in a bowl
  2. Slide your hand between the skin and meat – careful not to rip the skin
  3. Rub about half of the herb mixture on meat, don’t forget the thighs
  4. Slide the butter inside the skin (don’t forget legs) on top of the herb mixture
  5. Rub the chicken skin with the rest of the herb mixture

Preparation

  • Wash the beer can with hot soapy water
  • Dry
  • Open can and pour half the beer into a glass and drink
  • Puncture 2 more holes in the top of the beer can
  • Lower bird onto the can – the can must be inside the cavity
  • Stand the chicken on the grill – on cool part of grill (indirect cooking) using legs and bottom of can as a tripod (if cooking in an oven, sit the bird inside a roasting pan using same method as just described)
  • Cover grill and roast until an instant read thermometer reads 180 degrees inserted in thigh.
  • Carefully transfer chicken and beer can to a cutting board and let sit for 10 minutes
  • Carefully lift chicken off of beer can (may need two people for this, one holding the can and the other one lifting the chicken)
  • Discard beer
  • Enjoy!

The Poached Egg

Breakfast, Dinner Ideas January 29, 2013 Leave a comment

The wonderful, light, delicious poached egg. This egg dish is simple to prepare and yields a light

The Poached Egg

The Poached Egg

breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Always start with fresh eggs. Cooks will tell you to crack your egg into a custard cup or bowl before transferring to the water. I’ve been at this a long time, so I crack mine directly into the boiling water.

  • If you have a small skillet, add at least 1-2 inches of water. If you are cooking with a saucepan, add at least 3 inches of water.
  • Place saucepan or skillet on high heat and bring water to a boil. To keep the white of the egg from spreading in the water add a teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to the water before adding egg.
  • After adding the egg to the water, turn heat down to a simmer.
  • I cook my egg for 3 minutes, basting the egg with a spoon as it simmers. Gently stir the water around the egg to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pan. You can cook your egg for 4 – 6 minutes if you like your yolk thick or cooked through.

How to serve your poached egg,

  • Well I remove my egg from the water after 3 minutes with a slotted spoon.
  • I place my egg on a piece of toast and sprinkle with a tablespoon of grated cheese, tonight I used my left over apple smoked Gruyere cheese I used in my Barley, Leek Gratin recipe.
  • I sprinkled a little Kosher salt on my egg and enjoyed with a slice of cinnamon/sugar toast, and a glass of white wine.

Now I can deal with the snow

Wendy’s Junior Bacon Cheesburger

Dinner Ideas January 19, 2013 Leave a comment
Wendy's Jr. Burger

Wendy’s Jr. Burger

This burger is relatively easy to prepare. There is no magic sauce, there is only mayo, American cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato. Really – so what makes this burger so good? Perhaps it is the perfect shape of the patty (use a cookie cutter), or the fact that the hamburger bun is grilled? Actually, there is a science to stacking everything so pay attention.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 plain hamburger bun
  • 1/3 pound ground beef
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon mayo
  • 1 slice American Cheese
  • 2 strips cooked bacon
  • 1 lettuce leaf
  • 1 tomato slice

Directions

  1. Brown the faces of the bun in a frying pan over medium heat. Keep them warm
  2. Form the ground beef into a square patty approximately 4 x 4 inches
  3. Cook the patty in the pan for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until done. Sprinkle with salt on each side while cooking
  4. Start stacking the burger in the following order:
  5. Spread the mayonnaise on the top bun
  6. Place the burger on the bottom bun
    1. On top of the burger, place the cheese
    2. Bacon (side by side)
    3. Lettuce leaf
    4. Tomato slice

Eat and enjoy!

Roasted Vegetables (WW friendly recipe)

Dinner Ideas, Vegetables January 18, 2013 Leave a comment

Roasted Vegetables
(WW Friendly) zero points!

This is a delicious side for any meal or a meal by itself, and Weight Watchers friendly at

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted Vegetables

zero points.

(Makes 8 servings)

  • 2 medium sweet red peppers, seeded and quartered or sliced
  • 1 medium green pepper, seeded and quartered or sliced
  • small summer squash, sliced
  • small zucchini, cut into Julianne pieces or chunks
  • 1 cup red onion, quartered
  • 12 ounces canned artichoke hearts, without oil, drained
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450ºF.

  1. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray.
  2.  Arrange peppers, squash, zucchini, onion and artichokes on prepared baking sheets, flesh side up,
  3. Coat vegetables with cooking spray; sprinkle with thyme, fresh rosemary, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.
  4.  Roast until vegetables are tender and golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Yields about 3/4 cup per serving.

Cabbage Pancakes (Okonomiyaki)

Appetizers, Breakfast, Dinner Ideas, Vegetables January 17, 2013 Leave a comment

Cabbage Pancakes (Okonomiyaki)

Okay, really? Cabbage Pancakes. Yes, they are absolutely delicious and so healthy for

Japanese Cabbage Pancake

Japanese Cabbage Pancake

you. These are very similar to the potato pancake but made with grated cabbage and similar vegetables. Japanese Cabbage pancakes are usually served with a spicy Hoisin sauce, a recipe follows. Or you can purchase bottled Hoisin sauce. I just serve mine with a tablespoon of Soy sauce mixed with a tablespoon of rice vinegar.

I will give you the basic recipe following but I add other ingredients to my cabbage for color, nutrition and flavor such as; chopped black beans, chopped chick-peas, always a grated carrot or two, chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley, minced red onion, and/or minced leek, the possibilities are endless. I cannot rave about these “veggie” cakes enough. They can be served as a side to any meal or as a meal itself. Enjoy.

Cabbage Pancakes
Basic Recipe – Ingredients

• ½ cabbage shredded (about 4 cups)
• ½ cup shredded carrot
• 1 tablespoon Soy sauce
• 4 green onions, chopped (or 1 small yellow onion or leek)
• 3 eggs (for vegan alternative, replace with ½ cup pureed silken tofu)
• ¼ cup flour (can use gluten free, or rice flour)
• oil for frying (I’ve used cooking spray in a non-stick skillet to cut calories)
• Hoisin sauce

Directions

1. Mix together first four ingredients. Beat eggs and add flour, (or tofu or rice flour) mixing until smooth.
2. Heat a heavy skillet with about 2 – 3 tablespoons oil (or spray non-stick skillet with cooking spray)
3. Scoop about ½ cup of batter from bowl and place in hot skillet, flatten with the back of a spoon until thin
4. Fry on medium-high heat  for about 4 minutes on each side until golden brown
5. Serve with Soy sauce or Hoisin Sauce
6. Cakes may be kept warm in a 250 oven while you cook the remaining batter

Hoisin Sauce

4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon molasses or 1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon Chinese hot sauce or Habenero or Jalepeno sauce
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1 Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
2 Mix with a whisk until well blended.

Potato Pancakes

Breakfast, Dinner Ideas, Vegetables January 16, 2013 Leave a comment
Potato Pancake

Potato Pancake

German potato pancakes, a true comfort food and wonderful side with any meal from breakfast to dinner. Eat with a dollop of applesauce or sour cream, potato pancakes are a real treat. Poach an egg and serve on top of a potato pancake, or serve as a side with a steak or chicken. Crunchy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. potatoes, about 2 or 3 large russets, grated (a sweet potato may be substituted for one of the russets for color and sweetness)
  • 1/2 onion, grated
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Dash of Ground pepper
  • ¼ tsp of Nutmeg
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Oil for frying

Directions

  1. Grate potatoes, with or without skin
  2. Grate the onion over the potatoes, (at this point you can add 2 grated carrots for color and flavor, or a grated zucchini)
  3. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and egg. Mix thoroughly.
  4. Using a non-stick griddle or frying pan, heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil until hot
  5. Using a measuring cup – ½ cup – drop the potato mixture into hot oil and flatten with the back of a spoon.
  6. Fry for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown
  7. Drain on paper towels and serve hot with your choice of topping.

*keep cakes warm in a 250 degree oven while cooking the remaining batter.

Oat Groats aka Whole Oats

Breakfast, Dinner Ideas January 15, 2013 Leave a comment
Oat Groats

Oat Groats aka Whole Oats

I tasted whole oats for the first time in my life at a Health Fair the clinic I work for hosts every fall.  I was hesitant at first because I am not a fan of the instant oatmeal that seems very popular today. The gal serving the oats owns a popular café in town, the restaurant is known for their great food. So I decided to try a serving of whole oats. She served the oats with sides of: Almond Soy milk, cream, brown sugar, walnuts, honey, and raisins. She scooped out a tiny little portion for me after I explained my dislike for Oatmeal and invited me to add one of the sides to my oatmeal and then taste it. I poured a little Almond Soy milk, a pinch of brown sugar, and walnuts to my serving and tasted. Needless to say I went back for 2nds. I loved the chewy texture and nutty taste. It was unlike any oatmeal I have ever eaten. Now I am hooked.
I have been searching the WWW for other ideas on how to serve up whole oats and am amazed at how versatile it is. I saw a recipe that included a shot of soy sauce and chopped scallions for a dinner version of oats. I’m sure you can add just about anything to your whole oats for a tasty dinner, some suggestions; chopped ham, spinach, tomatoes, chopped avocado, peas and onions, any vegetable you prefer actually.
The heart health and cholesterol lowering benefits of oats is very well known, and if you are not familiar with the nutrition aspect of oats, may I suggest this site for more information; http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/health-benefits-of-oats

Here are some facts about Oats that I borrowed from Dr. Andrew Weil’s web blog about Oats:

  • Oat groats (“whole” oats) are the most intact form, only the outermost inedible hull is removed.
  • Steel-cut oats are simply oat groats that have been cut into two or three pieces with steel blades, slightly decreasing their cooking time. Oat groats and steel-cut oats are the least processed; they take a long time to cook, but result in a chewy, lower-glycemic treat.
  • Rolled oats are the result when oat groats are steamed, flattened and dried. This is the form most people know. Though somewhat processed, rolled oats are still a whole grain. I don’t recommend eating oats that have been processed any further than this, such as quick-cooking or instant oats – they are no longer whole, intact grains, and instant oatmeal packets often contain copious amounts of salt, sugar and other additives.
  • Oat bran – the finely ground meal of oat groats’ bran layer – though not technically a whole grain, has the health benefits of one with its high fiber and low starch content; it makes a good addition to other foods, especially baked goods. Despite its short cooking time and smooth texture, it won’t spike blood sugar levels, thanks to its soluble fiber.

Oats have a higher fat content than other grains, and can go rancid more easily as a result. Whether you’re buying oat groats, steel-cut oats, rolled oats or oat bran, buy in smaller quantities, and store in the refrigerator.

Add a 1/4 cup of cooked whole oats to any bread recipe
Cooking time: steel-cut, 20-40 minutes; groats, 45-60 minutes
Liquid per cup of grain: steel-cut and groats, 3 cups