Ham and Gruyere Quiche with side salad

A yummy dinner, recipe was found in the Food Network Magazine.  I used my own recipe for pie crust.

 Homemade pie dough makes all the difference!

 Add cubed Honey Ham.

 And Gruyere Cheese.

 Whip up eggs, half and half and chives.

 Love my pie Shield.

 So good we both had seconds!

Served with a side salad - Spring Mix with Mushrooms and a dijon vinaigrette.

Lamb Stew with Roasted Potatoes & Asparagus and Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Delicious Lamb Stew, an adaptation of a recipe from "A Girl and her Pig" by April Bloomfield and a combination of an old favorite recipe: Swiss Steak.

 Butterflied Leg of Lamb from Wegmans.

 Season and brown on all sides.

 A mirepoix with red chiles. Add garlic too.

 Add 2 TBSP flour

 Add white wine.

 Add canned tomatoes.

 And Blood Orange Juice!

 Add a sprig of Rosemary.

 Then add meat back to the pan. Cover and cook at 400 for 30 minutes, then reduce to 300 and cook and additional hour and a half.

 Lamb always goes well with Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus.

Emily helped me make these Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies from her kids cookbook for dessert.

Lemon Garlic Shrimp w/ Pearl Couscous and Edamame

 Start with 2-3 TBSP. salted butter and a good glug of olive oil.

Prepare peeled and devained shrimp (Thaw if frozen)

 Cook Pearl Couscous

 Add minced garlic to butter and olive oil.  Cook a few minutes then add white wine(preferably Sauvignon Blanc)

Add Shrimp and season with salt and pepper.  Flip to cook on both sides. 

Add a spoonful of homemade pesto to the skillet with shrimp. 

 Cook and additional minute and add 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice.

Add pearl Couscous and Shelled Edamame. 

Beef Brisket, Tacos, & Raspberry Chiffon Pie

   For Superbowl Sunday I made this delicious Atlanta Beef Brisket that was so yummy & there was plenty of leftovers.    It was slow cooked over a bed of onions, with a sweet cola & ketchup sauce.

 I served it with the easiest mashed potatoes that I made in a skillet with the filling that I scooped from potatoes I used earlier that day to make potato skins.

I just melted some butter in the skillet & put a good splash of milk into the melted butter.  Stir to combine, then add the leftover potatoes & stir & mash until warm.

Then with the leftover meat, which I also warmed up in a skillet with melted butter, 2 days later we made delicious Tacos for dinner.  I just added what I had on hand; cheddar cheese, salsa, spinach, and some fresh squeezed lime juice.  They were delicious.  I even tried the whole grain taco shells & they were pretty good.

Then to top it all off, I made this wonderful Raspberry Chiffon Pie for dessert.  Yummy!

More Menu Ideas

Here are some more ideas for Dinner if you are getting bored eating the same old thing:



Friday; Jan 6th  -  Roasted Salmon w/ Green Beans & Buttermilk Biscuits

Saturday; Jan 7th  -  Sweet and Sour Chicken over White Rice

Sunday; Jan 8th  -  Green Pork Chili (a work in progress)

Monday; Jan 9th  -  Stuffed Shells

Tuesday; Jan 10th  -  Salisbury Steak w/ Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

Wednesday; Jan 11th  -  Chicken w/ Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce over Pearl Couscous

 

Thursday; Jan 12th  -  Ham Steak w/ Brown Butter Sauce, Corn, & Babycakes

New Year 2017

   Last Year in January I posted a month worth of dinners for Healthy New Year Recipes every night.  This year I am going to do things a little differently.  I will be posting just a menu of meals as opposed to posting dinner every night.  Reading menus and seeing what other people are eating I find very interesting & maybe it will help to give you some ideas of what to make for dinner instead of the same old thing.

Here is the first week's menu:

Sunday; Jan. 1  -  Veal Chops w/ Pancetta, Bean, & Spinach Side

Monday; Jan. 2 -  Pork Tenderloin w/ Roasted Fennel & White Rice

Tuesday; Jan. 3 -  Sirloin w/ Zucchini Au Gratin

Wednesday; Jan. 4 -  Bow-tie Pasta (Farfalle) w/ Sausage, Kale, & Mushrooms

Thursday; Jan. 5 -  Chicken & Waffles


      More ideas to come!

Pumpkin Puree

    I know everybody says that canned pumpkin is just as good as fresh pumpkin, and that may be so, but I can't help but want to still make my own pureed pumpkin to use this Thanksgiving in many different recipes - not just pumpkin pie.

 I used Alton Brown's recipe for roasting and pureeing the pumpkins:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pumpkin-puree-recipe.html
I have tried other methods, including simmering in a little water, or dicing first then roasting in cubes, but I like this water-less recipe best, cause pumpkin is so watery itself, it seems best not to add any.  Also it is so much easier to make this way and not have to cut up the pumpkin, just scoop it out - it comes right out!

This year I am going to use my puree for:

- Pumpkin Crescent Rolls
- Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Tiramisu
- and for Breakfast on Thanksgiving:  Baked Pumpkin Cream Cheese French Toast

I was hoping to get about 6 1/2 cups of puree and from the 2 pumpkins I ended up with just shy of 7 cups.

I used Cheese Pumpkin, as I heard these are best for baking.  Not to mention their seeds also taste much better.  I really love this recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Seeds from Martha:
http://www.marthastewart.com/318249/sweet-and-spicy-pumpkin-seeds