Chicken Stock

Thank you Simply Recipes for the recipe

Chef Z inspired me to make my own chicken stock.  I used this recipe and was not disappointed.  It was so flavorful!

How to Make Chicken Stock

• Yield: About 2 quarts of stock.

METHOD

Method 1. Leftover Chicken Bones

• Leftover bones and skin from a cooked or raw chicken carcass
• Celery
• Onions
• Carrot
• Parsley
• Salt
• Pepper

1 Put the leftover bones and skin from a chicken carcass into a large stock pot and cover with cold water. Add veggies like celery, onion, carrots, parsley. Add salt and pepper, about a teaspoon of salt, 1/4 tsp of pepper.

2 Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to bring the stock to barely a simmer. Simmer uncovered at least 4 hours, occassionally skimming off the foam that comes to the surface.

3 Remove the bones and strain the stock.

4 If making stock for future use in soup you may want to reduce the stock by simmering a few hours longer to make it more concentrated and easier to store.

Lime Cilantro Rice with Pineapple

1 cup long grain white rice

2 cups water

2 tablespoons real butter

Juice from 1 large lime

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

1.2 -3/4 cups chopped cilantro

Kosher Salt and ground pepper to taste

1.    In a large saucepan, combine rice and water.  Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to low, cover tightly and cook for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to stand, covered for 5 minutes, so rice can absorb more water.

2.    After 5 minutes, add the butter and stir to melt.  Ad the lime juice, pineapple, and cilantro.  Stir to combine, and then add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Molten Chocolate Cakes with Raspberry Coulis

This is a tried and true recipe at our house.  We tried 3 other recipes before deciding this is our favorite.  It is taken from Keeping Up Cookbook, but Grace Ivory Rock and Amy Henriksen Foulger.

We use the Raspberry Coulis recipe for a pancake syrup. We prefer to keep the molten cakes a true chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream type experience.  Mike adds a scoop of Peanut butter.  :o)

Here's the recipe:

Molten Chocolate Cakes

With Raspberry Coulis

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (or 1 cup chocolate chips)

½ cup butter

4 eggs

1 ½ cups powderedsugar

½ tsp salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup cake flour (regular flour works too)

1 tablespoon softened butter for greasing dishes

Generously butter six ½ cup ramekins or custard cups.  Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave at half power, stirring occasionally. Whisk eggs in a large bowl to blend.  Whisk in powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, then the chocolate mixture and finally, the flour.  Our batter into greased dishes, dividing equally.  (Can be made up to 2 days in advance, covered and refrigerated.)

Place ramekins on a baking sheet.  Bake in a 425 degree oven until cakes have risen above rim, but centers remain “molten,” about 11 minutes (14 for refrigerated cakes).  Run a knife or small spatula around edges to loosen cakes, then carefully turn them out onto serving plates.  Decorate plate with raspberry coulis and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Raspberry Coulis:

1 (10-ounce) package frozen raspberries, thawed

2-3 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste

In a blender or food processor, puree raspberries with sugar and lemon juice.  Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on seeds.  Coulis keeps for 3 days, covered and chilled.

Toffee Bars

Can't believe we haven't posted this one yet! Every now and then I forget the recipe and want to double check it, so figured we better put this on the blog so I can always have it at the tip of my fingers!

1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter and brown sugar. Mix all other ingredients, excluding the chocolate chips. Press into the bottom of a baking sheet. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Bake for 11-15 minutes.

Mom's Meatloaf

Sicilian Meatroll (Mom's Meatloaf)

2 pounds lean ground beef

2 beaten eggs

1 slice white bread, crumbled or ½ Progresso Italian style breadcrumbs

½ cup tomato juice

2 Tablespoons Parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon oregano

1 large onion, minced (or equivalent dry)

4 thin slices ham

Grated mozzarella cheese

Mix all ingredients except the ham and mozzarella cheese.  Onto a long sheet of aluminum foil, pat out the mixture to 8 x 10 inches.  Cover with ham and then sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Using one end of the foil to start the roll, fold over the meat mixture and form into a roll, like a jelly roll, placing seam edge on bottom.  Place in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for one hour and 15 mins.  Just before serving, place added mozzarella cheese on top if desired and bake for 5 more minutes.

Can also freeze the meatloaf. Just thaw in the fridge, and bake as directed.

Eggnog Rice Puding

I realize that there may be a double groan for many of you on this recipe.  "Eggnog?  Gross!!" Then, "rice pudding?  GROSS!!"  But for those of you who like both flavors, this is a really really easy and tasty recipe!  The eggnog already has all the pudding ingredients and flavorings besides the corn starch.  It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups eggnog
• 5 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 cups cooked long grain rice
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red and green candied cherries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

• Place 2 cups eggnog in a heavy saucepan. Combine cornstarch and
• remaining eggnog until smooth; add to pan. Bring to a boil, stirring
• constantly; boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in
• rice, cherries, vanilla and salt. Spoon into dishes. Chill 2-3
• hours. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Nutritional Facts: 1 serving (1 cup) equals 250 calories, 7 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 56 mg cholesterol, 161 mg sodium, 41 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 5 g protein.

Winter Fruit Salad with Pomegranate

Possibly my favorite fruit salad ever. No extra frills, just an amazing combination of delicious fruit and their yummy juices.

1 pomegranate
2 oranges
2 grapefruits
2 crisp apples (such as fuji or honeycrisp)
1 ripe yet firm pear
1 tbsp. sugar (I don't usually even do this)

Slice the pomegranate in half, from the crown halfway to the bottom. Use your fingers to break the two halves apart, then squeeze the halves over a large bowl to release the seeds and juices. Don't worry about getting all the seeds out; just get as many as you can easily without pulling out the membrane. Squeeze out as much juice as possible. Remove any bits of membrane from the bowl.

For each orange and grapefruit, slice a little off the top and bottom. Using a serrated knife, go around the fruit and cut off the skin and white pith. Holding the fruit in one hand and working over the fruit bowl, carefully cut the segments out from between the membranes. Be sure to cut only until you reach the middle of the fruit. Squeeze the remaining membrane over the bowl to release all the juice.

Cut the apples and pear into slices and toss with the other fruits. Add the sugar if desired and toss well, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.