Homemade Crourons

One of my friends mentioned about new obsession with Homemade Croutons. I decided to fund a recipe and try it! Boy, was it good! And easy too. So, here is recipe that beats any Italian zesty croutons from the box.

Ingredients: Day old French bread, Olive Oil, Salt and freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 teaspoons of red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut bread into cubes and place in large bowl. Drizzle cubes with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix well. Spread seasoned bread onto sheet pan.

 

 Bake for about 15 minutes. Let them cool down completely. Store in zip-lock bag for your soup and salads. Yumm!!!

Good Eats Meatloaf

I'm not a big fan of meatloaf. But I need to learn how to cook it because my American husband likes it and for the leftovers sake if it great family meal! So, here we go: Good Eats Meatloaf, American, not Russian way!

Ingredients

• 6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and broken
• 3 whole cloves garlic
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 18 ounces ground chuck
• 18 ounces ground sirloin
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg 

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture.
Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.



Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf.

 Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees.

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup Ketchup
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Dash Worcestershire sauce
• Dash hot pepper sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey

Combine the Ketchup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.

Another few minutes to cool down and , Honey, dinner is ready! 

 

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Ingredients

• 4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin on
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup good mayonnaise, plus more for the bread
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 cup small-diced celery (2 stalks)
• 8 to 10 slices health or seven-grain bread
• 1 package green salad mix or lettuce leaves

Directions

Baking chicken is a little bit a messy business, but it is totally worth it. Your salad meat will be moist and delicious! So, roll your sleeves and get ready for a little work.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside to cool.
When the chicken is cool, remove and discard the skin and bones and cut the chicken into 3/4-inch dice. Place the chicken in a bowl and add the mayonnaise, tarragon, celery, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss well.

To assemble, spread a little mayonnaise on half the bread slices, top with the chicken salad and green mix or lettuce leaves of your choice, and cover with the remaining slices of bread. Cut in half and serve.

Believe me, it is sooooo good that your guests will be asking for recipe! :)

Chicken Pot Pie

Last week when we were in England I tried Chicken Pot Pie (actually it was my second time). I really like it. It was delicious, moister and smelled sooooooooooo good. Paul told me it is real English food. The picture you see above is the one we ate in England. The recipe below is the one I found online and cooked at home yesterday. It turned out well, except I used mushrooms instead of peas and celery. Highly recommended in cold weather approaching!

Ingredients:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed 1 cup sliced carrots 1 cup frozen green peas 1/2 cup sliced celery 1/3 cup butter 1/3 cup chopped onion 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon celery seed 1 3/4 cups chicken broth 2/3 cup milk 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2.	In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3.	In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4.	Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5.	Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

LIBBY'S Pumpkin Roll

I made this wonderful and tasty pumpkin roll for the first time! And it turned out really well. The recipe calls for LIBBY'S Pumpkin pure. I think that baked and mashed pumpkin can be a great substitute for that ingredient.
ngredients:

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel) 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional) 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

1.		PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
2.		COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
3.		BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
4.		BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Chocolate Truffles

I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website. One lady commented about the recipe, "You may be tempted to save this recipe for a special occasion since these smooth, creamy chocolates are divine. But with just a few ingredients, they are easy to make anytime."

Well, I have a special occasion - I'm hosting a Bridal Shower for my co-worker. So, this is my excuse to make chocolate-coated chocolate dessert! :)

Ingredients: 3 cups (18 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (сгущенка), 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

Directions: In microwave-safe bowl melt chocolate chips and milk. I mixed them together and melted in MW for 2 minutes. Perfect!

Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla.

Chill for 2 hours or until mixture is easy to handle. I chilled it for just 1 hour and it was still a little warm, but really easy to work with.

Prepare different coatings: chopped flaked coconut, chocolate sprinkles, colored sprinkles, baking cocoa and finely chopped nuts.

I placed then into shallow bowls for easy access and coating.

Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in the coconut, sprinkles, cocoa or nuts if desired.

Yield: about 4 dozens. Chill for a couple of hours then place into some air-tight dish to keep fresh until serve.

Tomatoes with mozzarella

Yesterday I bought really nice tomatoes and decided to make healthy appetizer for Sunday dinner. It is really simple recipe and doesn't take much time. You will need: tomatoes, of course, mozzarella cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and herbs of your choice.

Wash tomatoes and carefully cut the top part.

Slice tomatoes into 1/4" (5 mm) pieces and place them into serving dish of your choice.

Slice mozzarella cheese trying to cut similar pieces and place them on the top of tomatoes.


Now whisk 1/4 cup of olive oil with a few drizzles of balsamic vinegar and dash of salt and black pepper.

I like to add fresh herbs to all my vegetable meals, so I used dill and basil leave growing on my window.

Carefully spread oil mix on the top of tomatoes making sure that each piece is covered. Ready to serve on your table. Enjoy!