Chicken Marsala w/ Pasta

What You Need:

• 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded ¼-inch thick (see note), or chicken tenderloins
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 (8-oz) package pre-sliced bella or button mushrooms
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup chicken broth
• 2/3 cup dry Marsala wine
• 2/3 cup heavy cream (or less depending on how creamy you want it)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley, for serving (optional) 
• Cooked pasta of your choice (I like egg noodles, personally)

What To Do:

• Place the flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a ziplock bag.  Add the chicken to the bag; seal bag tightly and shake to coat chicken evenly.  Set aside.
• Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (Use a stainless steel pan for the best browning.  Nonstick will work too, but you won’t get that nice golden color on the chicken.)  Place the flour-dusted chicken in the pan, shaking off any excess first, and cook, turning once, until the chicken is golden and just barely cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes total.  Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
• Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the pan. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt; cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.  Add the broth, wine, heavy cream, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper; use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the pan into the liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and gently boil, uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by about half, slightly thickened, and darkened in color, 10 to 15 minutes (you’re going for a thin cream sauce; it won’t start to thicken until the very end of the cooking time). Add the chicken back to the pan, along with any juices that accumulated on the plate. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce thickens a bit more, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve.
• Note: If your chicken breasts are large, it’s best to first cut them horizontally to form four flat fillets, then pound them to an even 1/4-inch thickness. If you pound large chicken breasts without first halving them, they’ll be huge. Of course, you could also pound them thin first and then cut them in half vertically;  the only drawback is that they’ll lose their natural shape (which, admittedly, is not a big deal!)
• Serve over buttered pasta of your choice and enjoy!

Super Slaw

What you need:

• A mandolin slicer is helpful for thinly slicing the cabbage and peppers
• 6 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 6 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 5 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 5 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
• 2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
• 2 large red or yellow bell peppers, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 8 large green onions, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

What to do:

1. Whisk first 7 ingredients in small bowl to blend. (Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before continuing.)
2. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

**This delicious recipe was discovered at Epicurious.com.

Savory Beef Stew

What You’ll Need:

• about 3.5 hours total
• Large Dutch Oven or Pot
• 6-8 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 lb beef chuck cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 c flour
• 1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, peeled & cut into rounds
• 1/4 c tomato paste
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 14.5 oz can Italian Style stewed tomatoes
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 oz crimini mushrooms, halved or quartered depending on size
• 3/4 lb baby potatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 c frozen peas
• Wondra for thickening, as needed
• 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
• Best accompanied by crusty French or Italian bread

What You’ll D0:

• Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in Dutch Oven or pot over medium-high heat.
• Season beef pieces with salt and pepper; combine rosemary and flour in a large bowl; dredge beef pieces in flour and rosemary and place in approximately 1 lb. batches in heated oil, brown on all sides, transfer off heat to a covered bowl; add 2 Tbsp olive oil for each batch, and repeat until all beef is browned and transferred to covered bowl.
• Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to pot and lower heat to medium/medium-low; sauté onion, celery and carrots about 7 min.
• Push veggies off to one side of the pot; Place tomato paste and garlic on other side of pot, stir together and cook until garlic is fragrant and tomato paste has darkened, about 2 minutes.
• Add beef back to dutch oven then add broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaves and mushrooms.
• Simmer ingredients for about 2.5 hours or until meat is very tender.
• Add potatoes and cook until potatoes are cooked through, about 15-20 min.
• Add peas for the last few minutes of cooking just to heat through.
• Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
• Season with salt and pepper and thicken with Wondra as needed.
• Sprinkle with fresh, chopped parsley to garnish and serve with crusty French or Italian bread and your favorite green salad.

Classic Swiss Cheese Fondue

What You Need:

• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 1 pound Gruyère cheese, grated
• 1/2 pound Emmentaler cheese or other Swiss cheese, grated
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Crusty bread of your choice, cut into bite-size cubes

What To Do:

1. Rub the inside of a cheese fondue pot or medium enameled cast-iron casserole with the garlic clove; discard the garlic.
2. Combine the grated Gruyère and Emmentaler with the wine, cornstarch and lemon juice in the fondue pot and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheeses begin to melt, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the kirsch and a generous pinch each of pepper and nutmeg and cook, stirring gently, until creamy and smooth, about 10 minutes; don’t overcook the fondue or it will get stringy.
4. Serve at once.

** This recipe was sourced from www.foodandwine.com!

Green Bean Casserole from Scratch

What You’ll Need:

For the Topping:

• 4 slices white bread, each slices torn into quarters
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (6-ounce) container canned fried onions

For the Beans and Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed, and halved
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound white button mushrooms, stems removed, wiped clean and broken into ½-inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups (360 ml) chicken broth
• 1½ cups (360 ml) heavy cream

What You’ll Do:

Chicken in Mushroom-Cream Sauce over Egg Noodles

What You’ll Need:

• 12 oz wide egg-noodles (time to finish cooking just before sauce is done)
• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1 lb Cremini mushrooms sliced or cut into little chunks
• 1/8 cup dry mushrooms (like Porcini or Oyster mushrooms)
• 6-7 cloves garlic, chopped (3 for chicken & 3 for sauce)
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1 1/2 c chicken broth (I prefer to use 1 1/2 tsp “Better Then Bouillon” to 1 1/2 cups water)
• 1/4 cup dry Porcini mushrooms, soaked in chicken broth for 20 min
• 1/8 c fresh Italian parsley, chopped

What To Do:

• Star pot of salted water to cook the pasta in.  Cook pasta according to package so it’s finished just before the sauce is finished.
• Rub chicken breasts with 3 cloves of chopped garlic, salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in large skillet at medium-high heat.  Add chicken and brown them about 6 min on each side.  Does not need to cook through at this point.  Remove from heat, set aside.
• In same large skillet, lower heat to medium and melt butter.  Remove Porcini or Oyster mushrooms from broth and place in skillet (reserve the broth); Add Cremini mushrooms, 3-4 cloves chopped garlic, 3/4 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper and cook mixture until all mushrooms have softened.
• Add flour and stir for 1 minute.
• Add cream and broth and simmer on low heat for about 15 min stirring frequently.  Add a little more flour or Wondra for additional thickening of sauce, if needed.
• Cut up chicken into bitesize pieces, and add to the sauce until just cooked through (no longer pink inside). Season with salt & pepper to taste, if needed.  Note: a lot of pepper is GREAT!
• Serve sauce and chicken over egg noodles, and garnish with fresh Italian parsley.

Serves 6-8.

Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers

What You’ll Need:

• 1 pound lean ground beef (Ground lamb would be a great substitute if you like lamb!)
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1/2 cup bulghur (or cooked rice)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2-3/4 tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, cores and ribs removed
• 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (recommend “Pastures of Eden” from Trader Joe’s)

What To Do:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl combine the beef, spinach, zucchini, onion, bulgur, egg, oregano, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.
• Arrange the pepper halves cut side up in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and fill each pepper half with the meat mixture. Pour the tomatoes over the peppers and sprinkle with the feta cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the meat mixture is completely cooked and the peppers are tender, about 25 minutes longer or until center reads 160 degrees F with meat thermometer for medium wellness.

This delicious recipe was provided by ELLIE KRIEGER and featured at FoodNetwork.com.

BBQ Salmon w/ Caramelized Onions + Cucumber Salad

What You’ll Need for the Salmon:

• olive oil
• butter (optional)
• 1 large sweet white onion, thinly sliced
• 1 lb wild caught salmon fillet (skin on one side)
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• Jane’s Krazy Mixed-up Salt (found at most grocery stores)
• Pepper
• a little more salt to taste, if needed

What To Do:

• In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium to medium-high heat; use half oil & half butter if desired.  Add onions evenly in the pan and sauté, turning occasionally until richly brown.  The trick is allowing the onions enough time to brown, and then turn them before they burn.  After first 10-15 min, turn down heat to medium-low and continue to cook another 15-20 min.
• While onions are cooking, rinse fish and pat dry with paper towel.  Rub skin side of salmon with 1 tsp olive oil.  Rub fillet side of salmon with 1 tsp olive oil and chopped garlic, and sprinkle with lemon juice, Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt (at any regular grocery store) & pepper.
• Over medium-high flame on the BBQ, place salmon skin side down and sear for 1-2 min.
• Remove fish from BBQ and place on aluminum foil with fillet side up.  Distribute onion mixture evenly over the fish and cover tightly with foil.  Place foil-wrapped fish back on BBQ for 6-8 min or until the salmon just starts releasing its fat (opaque mayonnaise-like stuff).  Do not overcook… you want the fish to flake off in large chunks.

What You’ll Need for the Cucumber Salad:

• English cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced, preferably with a mandolin
• 1 large sweet white onion, thinly sliced, preferably with a mandolin
• generous sprinkling of sea salt
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• drizzle of olive oil
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped

What To Do:

• Place sliced cucumber and onion in large bowl and salt generously.
• Allow cucumber and onion to sit for about 10-15 min, then drain off about 1/2 of the liquid released.
• Add vinegar, sugar, pepper and dill and stir to combine thoroughly.  Taste it and add a touch vinegar if it’s too sweet, sugar it’s too sour, and salt if you didn’t salt it enough.
• Serve in small bowls if you would like to enjoy the juices.  Serve with slotted spoon or tongs if placed on the plate with the salmon.

**  Salmon and cucumber salad are served best with Middle Eastern Flatbread from Trader Joe’s (heated on the BBQ).  Other starch options: lemon rice or lemon red potatoes,