Fried Veggies

1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 ½ cups cornmeal
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ t. pepper
Fresh vegetables such as okra, green tomatoes, onion, zucchini, or yellow squash
Vegetable Oil
Salt

Whisk buttermilk and egg. Combine cornmeal, salt and pepper.

Dip vegetables in buttermilk then coat in cornmeal mixture.

Pour oil to a depth of 3 inches in dutch oven; heat to 375 degrees.

Fry vegetables in batches for 4 minutes on each side – turning too soon will cause breading to fall off.

Drain on paper towels

Add salt.

Chicken Dijon.....Version Two

This recipe is different from my other recipe in that it uses chicken broth as the base for the sauce and includes the pepper and one. I think I like it better. :)

6 skinned and boned chicken breast (about 2 lbs.)
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
3 T. butter
1 medium-size red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 medium-size sweet onion, diced
1 (14 ½ oz) can chicken broth
3 T. all-purpose flour
3 T. Dijon mustard

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add chicken, and cook 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove chicken from skillet; add bell pepper and onion, and cook, stirring often, 4-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Return chicken to skillet.

Whisk together broth and next 2 ingredients and pour over chicken

Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes until chicken is done.

Sweet and Spicey Chicken Wings

These are so fantastic the recipe should be a bit more difficult. This was the main attraction (besides the commercials) for this year’s Super Bowl game. We served them up with various other frozen appetizer type things…….

1 cup Pace Picante Sauce
¼ cup Honey
½ tsp. ground ginger
12 chicken wings (tips removed) or 24 chicken drummettes


Stir the picante sauce, honey and ginger in a large bowl.

Cut the wings in half at the joints to make 24 pieces. Toss the wings with the with the Picante sauce mixture. Place them in a foil-lined baking pan.

Bake at 400 degrees…for 55 minutes or until they are glazed and cooked through, turning and brushing often with the sauce during the last 30 minutes of baking time. Discard any remaining sauce.

Note…….they like to stick to the aluminum foil. Next time a glass baking dish or baking stone will be in order…..

Lemon Crumb Cake

One of my guilty pleasures happens to be the individual lemon crumb cakes from Publix. They are to die for. I looked for some reference on them online but couldn’t find anything. However, the following recipe from Epicurious is close……

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup packed golden brown sugar
4 tsp. grated lemon peel
¾ t. ground cinnamon
½ cup vegetable oil
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Powdered Sugar

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Lightly butter and flour 8-inch square glass baking dish. Stir flour, 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon in large bowl to blend. Add oil and lemon juice and mix until flour is evenly moistened and mixture forms clumps. Set aside 1 cup of mixture for topping.

Whisk sour cream, egg, vanilla, baking powder and baking soda in small bowl until well blended. Using electric mixer, add sour cream to crumb mixture and beat until batter is smooth. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top.

Bake until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with foil; Store at room temperature.)

Sift powdered sugar over top of cake. Cut into squares and serve.

Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy

6 pork chops
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. season salt
2 eggs beaten
¼ cup all purpose flour
2 cups Italian style bread crumbs
4 T. olive oil
1 (10.5 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup
½ cup milk
1/3 cup white wine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse pork chops. Pat dry and season them with garlic powder and season salt to taste.

Place beaten eggs in a small bowl. Dredge pork chops lightly in flour. Dip in egg and coat liberally with the bread crumbs.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Fry five minutes per side or till breading appears well browned.

Transfer to a 9 x 13 baking dish and cover with foil.

Bake 1 hour.

While baking the pork chops combine soup, milk and white wine. After 1 hour cover the pork chops with the soup mixture. Bake another 30 minutes.

Pair the pork chops with green beans and pierogies. If you aren’t familiar with pierogies follow this link.

Easy and Yummy Meatloaf

2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
3 slices bread, torn
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar or part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil, thyme or sage, optional
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef

TOPPING:
1/2 cup Hunt’s® Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and bread; let stand until liquid is absorbed. Stir in the onion, carrot, cheese and seasonings. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.

Shape into a 7-1/2-in. x 3-1/2-in. x 2-1/2-in. loaf in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45 minutes.

Combine the topping ingredients; spoon half of the mixture over meat loaf. Bake 30 minutes longer or until meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160°, occasionally spooning remaining topping over loaf. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6 servings

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ t. baking soda
1/8 t. salt
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
¾ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup rolled oats
¼ cup flax seed meal
¼ cup wheat germ
2 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with mixer on medium for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in vanilla and egg till combined.
Beat in flour. Stir in rolled oats, flax seed meal, wheat germ, chocolate, cranberries and walnuts (dough will be crumbly)

Drop dough by rounded teaspoon two inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or till tops are lightly brown. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for one minute. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Makes about 30 cookies.