Blender Hollandaise

This is one of my all time favorite sauce recipes! I tried and tried to make the hollandaise out of a book one night and the rest of the meal was getting cold and then I decided to stick with the reliable favorite recipe. In no time at all the meal was finished and the result was wonderful. Almost every time I make this I double the recipe. Leftovers can always be used to dress up some veggies or glam up a chicken dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

3 egg yolks 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 dash hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco ™) 1/2 cup butter

Directions:

1.	In the container of a blender, combine the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Cover, and blend for about 5 seconds.
2.	Place the butter in a glass measuring cup. Heat butter in the microwave for about 1 minute, or until completely melted and hot. Set the blender on high speed, and pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. It should thicken almost immediately. Keep the sauce warm until serving by placing the blender container in a pan of hot tap water.

Lemon Herb Chicken

* 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
* 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
* 1 teaspoon mustard powder
* 2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
* 2 lemons
* 2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Combine the seasoning, salt, mustard powder, garlic powder and black pepper; set aside. Rinse the chicken thoroughly, and remove the giblets. Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of the spice mixture inside the chicken. Rub the remaining mixture on the outside of the chicken.
3. Squeeze the juice of the 2 lemons into a small bowl or cup, and mix with the olive oil. Drizzle this oil/juice mixture over the chicken.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until juices run clear, basting several times with the remaining oil mixture.
** COOK'S NOTE: I like to stick a stalk of celery in my chicken to make it more moist. Also I loosen the skin of my chicken with my fingers and instead of rubbing the spice on the outside I rub it in between the chicken and it's skin.

Fettuccine

This is the recipe:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

I added:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup romano cheese

Directions:
In a medium saucepan combine whipping cream, butter or margarine, and grated Parmesan cheese. Cook over medium low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Sauce will thicken upon standing.

I cut half chicken breast in small chunks. Salt and peppered it and cooked it in butter. Added it for Chicken fettuccine dinner. I served Garlic bread and an Italian salad, on the side. My family gave it a 4 to 4.5 stars.


~Amie~

Ratatouille

This is one of my families favorite vegetarian meals. Definitely a comfort food!! I always add a few extra cloves of garlic and caramelize my onions. Also good is to add an extra tomato and plenty more parm cheese. I use good old S&P to taste instead of just salt. That combination is used so much that I even made a 2 to 1 ratio of S&P and put it in a shaker!

2 Tbs olive oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsp dried parsley 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes salt to taste 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 zucchini, sliced 1 large onion, sliced into rings 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms 1 green bell pepper, sliced 2 large tomatoes, chopped 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil. 2 Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Saute until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste. 3 Spread eggplant mixture evenly across bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Spread zucchini in an even layer over top. Lightly salt and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Continue layering in this fashion, with onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and tomatoes, covering each layer with a sprinkling of salt and cheese. 4 Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Marshmallow fondant

I refuse to buy fondant. Why? I mean doesn't it look so pretty? Well yes it does, but it is a flavorless, silky, preservative! If I wanted to preserve the inside of me I would eat a jar of maraschino cherries because I like the way those taste better :).

After playing with this recipe and putting my spin on it I think this is just as beautiful, much more flavorful, and healthier (as healthy as a bowl of sugar could get?).

Her notes said the recipe yield was 2 1/4 pounds of fondant.... I didn't weigh it.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided

Directions (as altered)

1. Heat water in the bottom of a double boiler. Empty the bag of marshmallows into the top and place over heat.
   
2. Melt marshmallows and cook for 1 minute more. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Be sure that the mixture is very hot before transferring. If it is just barely melted it will be very hard to work with. I let mine sit over the water for a good 5 minutes or so.
   
3. Transfer to a kitchen aid or mixer. Using the kneading hook, slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar (a cup/ little at a time) until you have a sticky dough.
   
4. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.This is the point where if you are going to add coloring you need to separate the dough into as many portions as there will be colors. If you wait till later it is still possible to add color but very messy and tedious.
   
5. Skip this step if not adding color. Add the coloring a few drops at a time (I really like the paste coloring from the craft store, but regular food coloring works too) alternating with more powdered sugar. When you have the right color and a smooth dough that isn't sticky you are ready for the next step.
   
6. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. (I'm impatient, I chilled it for an hour or two and it came out fine)(chilling is important though, I think it's because the excess liquid is soaked into the sugar making a more dough like product?) To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature. Coat your hands in Crisco, I know, it's gross, but it works! Kneed/ work the dough until it is soft and pliable. Roll it out on a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.
   

Just a few more thoughts or need to knows about this recipe:

If you want it to look right you still have to cover the cake/ cookies/ cupcakes with frosting to give the fondant a truly smooth appearance.

For an extra touch of gloss use your fingers dipped in Crisco to smooth out the fondant and give it a shine. Also good for touching up tears. Pull fondant together and smooth together with fingers dipped in Crisco.

For extra smoothness on a sheet cake I used a flat ruler to scrape gently against/ flatten out my fondant.

Also fun to use are the shimmer powders available at the craft store to add a nice sheen/ sparkle.

~~ Sarah ~~


P.S. The original recipe is on allrecipes.com and has some very cool pictures of different creations using this recipe/ a modified version of this recipe.

P.S.S. I'm working on a party planner portfolio. Eventually, I will be a party coordinator and would love the experience.

Carrot soup

This week has been pretty crazy. Half of my family is on a diet thingy. So the only people eating is myself, dad, and Grandma. And out of those people I am the only one that can cook, but I am also sick. So last night, after dragging myself out of bed, I made a homemade soup that is really easy and good.

6 c. of peeled and sliced Carrots
4 c. of Chicken broth
4 TBSP of butter
4 TBSPof flour
1 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp heaping of Cayenne
2 c. of Half and half

1. Cook carrots in Chicken broth. When broth begins to boil, set timer for 25 minutes. While waiting start step two.
2. Melt butter over medium heat. Then stir in flour. Cook flour and butter together for a couple of minutes. Then add salt and cayenne.
3. When carrots are done cooking, use a food processer or a blender to mix them. Be sure that the carrots and broth are smooth, with no chunks.
4. Add carrots and broth to the the flour mixture and add half and half. For a more liquidy soup add 1/2 cup more chicken broth.

This is such a great soup, especially when you are sick. :) My family doesn't really like Carrot soup, but they all love this one. It has a great chicken, creamy flavor to it, and the Cayenne adds just a little kick to it. This is definitely one of my favorite soups.

~Amie

Artichoke Garlic Pasta

I made this for lunch today. It took about 30 min. from start to finish. This recipe is for two, so be sure and multiply it by the amount of people. I served garlic bread and veggies along side of it. I added Parmesan on top, Sun-dried tomatoes, cooking wine, and salt to taste.

4 ounces small uncooked seashell pasta
2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig fresh basil, chopped (I used dried about 1 Tablespoon)
1 (8 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (If I made this again, I would add more)

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add seashell pasta, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft, and drain. Start step two while waiting for water to boil.
2. Heat the olive oil and melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Mix in the garlic, basil, and artichoke hearts, and cook 5 minutes, until heated through. Toss with the cooked pasta to serve.

My family loved this recipe. We will be having this one again, for sure.
~Amie

P.S. Sorry about us not posting for a while... we were at a debate/speech tournament. We didn't have internet at all last week.