Chicken Velvet Soup

1 1/2 sticks of butter (I use 1/2 butter and 1/2 margarine)
3/4 C Flour
1 C Milk
1 C Heavy Cream (I use fat free 1/2 and 1/2)
6 C chicken broth
2 C chopped cooked chicken
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Parsley or green onions, chopped as a garnish

Make a roux with the butter and flour and cook for 2 minutes.  Heat broth, milk and cream and add a little at a time to the roux unit the mixture thickens. Blend until smooth.  When soup starts to boil add chicken and seasonings.  Garnish. Serves 6 to 8

This is the basic recipe ... I usually will sauté some celery, onion and slivered carrots and add that at the chicken, this adds some great flavor.

Hot Orange Spiced Drink

2 cups Tang 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup pre-sweetened lemonade mix 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground cloves Mix all ingredients and store in an airtightt container. Put 2 1/2 teaspoons of mix in a mug or cup and add 1 cup of hot water. Make sure the ratio is 2 1/2 teaspoons to 1 cup of hot liquid, otherwise the drink will be very weak tasting, (check the size of your cup or mug). Stir and enjoy!!!! For a little stronger drink use 1 cup of hot apple cider or hot apple juice. Very tasty!!!

Spices for Tagine Cooking (Charmoula)

Charmoula, a Moroccan marinade of paprika, cumin, cilantro and garlic, is a classic seasoning for fish. "Tagine" refers to slowly simmered meat, fish and vegetable dishes that have both a sweet and savory flavor. Not to be confused, it is also the name of the earthenware dish in which these highly aromatic stews are prepared and served.



Spices:
◦ quarter teaspoon black pepper
◦ quarter teaspoon ground ginger
◦ pinch of saffron
◦ one teaspoon cumin (optional)
◦ one teaspoon turmeric (optional)
◦ one stick of cinnamon or a few pinches of ground cinnamon (optional)
◦ one teaspoon coriander (optional)

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Marcia’s Salsa for canning

        35-40 medium tomatoes

8 medium apples (different varieties for the best flavor)

4 green peppers

2 red peppers

6 cloves of garlic (crushed)

4 medium sweet onions

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup plain salt (no iodine)

1 cup vinegar

2 Tbsp. chili powder

3 tsp. cumin

1 Tbsp. oregano

5-7 chili peppers (use a variety of chilies, Pablano and Anaheim add great flavor)

5-7 jalapeño peppers

If you like hot salsa then do not core any of the chilies and peppers. If you like a milder salsa, remove the core and seeds on all the peppers and chilies...you can also cut the number of chilies and peppers for a milder salsa.

Course grind or fine chop all vegetables and apples. Put in a large stockpot. Add all the other ingredients. Boil for two hours, stirring often. Pour into hot sterile pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

Debra’s Salsa

        1 (102 oz) can crushed or diced tomatoes - or combination of two OR

equivalent of fresh tomatoes, chopped*

2 medium onions, chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (add more if you like the taste)

1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed or bottled)

3 Tbsp. garlic salt

3 small jalapeños, chopped with seeds removed

3/4 cup vinegar

Mix all together in a large bowl. This salsa can be frozen in small portions or canned using a water bath canner.

*When making this with fresh tomatoes, use a variety of kinds. Ex: Roma, grape, yellow pear, etc. Chop 3/4 of the tomatoes and then run the rest through a food processor to make a sauce.

**You may need to add more lemon juice if you use fresh tomatoes to make it a bit more tart.

***Be careful with the jalapeños. Make sure you get all the seeds out. You may want to start with 2 and see if it's hot enough for you and then add more if you want to increase the heat. Note that the salsa tends to get a bit hotter after it sits for 24 hours.

Restaurant Style Salsa

1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice

2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)

1/4 cup Chopped Onion

1 clove Garlic, Minced

1 whole Jalapeño, Quartered And Sliced Thin or chilies, Pablano and   Anaheim add great flavor

1/4 teaspoon Sugar, honey or Agave syrup

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)

1/2 whole Lime Juice

Note: this is a very large batch. Recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeño, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like---I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Fish Taco's

Mahi Mahi, Talipia, of other solid white fish

Tortillas

Shredded Cabbage

Shredded Cheese

Grape Tomatoes (halved)

Black Olives

Chopped Onions (red or green onions are best)

Guacamole (optional)

Fish Taco Sauce (below)

Marinade

2 - 3 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 - 3 T lime juice

1 T Old Bay or Mrs Dash Seasoning

Salt and Pepper

Mix these four ingredients in a 1 gal size bag, cut the fish into 1” strips (the strips work well with your tortillas) and marinate the fish for about 30 minutes.  Bake fish at 350 for 15 minutes or until cook throughout.  Meanwhile make the Fish Taco Sauce.

Fish Taco Sauce

1/2 C Mayo

1/2 C Sour Cream

2 T spicy brown mustard (I use a spicy, grainy mustard)

2 T any spicy sauce ( I use Boar’s Head Cajun)

3 T chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients well and put in a bowl to spoon over the tacos after they have been assembled.

Warm tortillas, serve buffet style and allow each person to assemble their own taco’s.

Serve with Cilantro Rice or Yellow Rice  and Refried Bean or Black Beans 

Enjoy!!!

Lemon Curd 

1 cup sugar
3 eggs, large
1 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of 3 large lemons
1 stick butter (do not substitute), melted

 1 Grab a medium sized, microwave safe bowl, melt butter ... cool, add sugar and eggs and whisk until very smooth
2 Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice ... yummy
3 Pop in the microwave and cook, on high, for 2 minutes
4 Stir and cook for 1 minute, on high
5 Repeat step 4 until the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. You can also us a candy thermometer to check the temp. Lemon Curd is the perfect consistency at 196F
6 When you’ve reached the perfect consistency, cover the mixture with cling wrap placed directly on the surface of the curd.
7 Refrigerate until set, a few hours.

 Wasn’t that simple ... makes about 2 1/4 Cups and is fabulous on toast, on top of ice cream, as a layer filling for cake, injected into cupcakes, or my favorite .... fresh berries, topped with lemon curd, topped with granola and whipped cream ...

Mom’s Curry Dinner

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon Curry Powder (or more if you like a strong curry flavor)
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper
Shrimp, crab meat or diced chicken or turkey

1 cup Rice
1 pkg. Frozen Peas

Directions
Melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook a minute (being careful not to let it burn) then whisk in curry powder. Slowly add milk, whisking vigorously. Slowly (medium heat) bring the mixture to a boil stirring constantly to keep it smooth. If mixture is too thick add a little more milk until desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add shrimp, crab, chicken or turkey and keep warm on a very low setting, stirring occasionally.
Cook Peas according to the package directions.

Directions to cook rice : 2 cups of water in a pan, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, bring to boil and add 1 cup of rice, allow to come back to a boil and cover with a tight lid, lower heat to a low setting and simmer for 17 minutes WITHOUT LIFTING THE LID, after 1 minutes lift remove lid and allow to finish cooking until there is not water left in the bottom of the pan, maybe 2 to 4 more minutes, keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t stick to bottom of pan.
Enjoy!