Chicken Divan

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2 cups frozen chopped broccoli (could easily use fresh)

3 Tbs. butter

3 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. pepper

Dash of ground nutmeg...to me that must mean like 1 or 2 good shakes of the spice jar...

3/4 cup light cream or milk

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup shredded Swiss Cheese

2 Tbs. dry white wine

1  1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken

3 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese

Paprika

Cook broccoli according to package directions; drain.  Arrange in a 10 x 6 x 2 pan...( I don't know who has this size pan but I used a 9 x 13 glass one)

Meanwhile, for sauce, in a medium saucepan melt butter.  Stir in flour, one tablespoon at a time so that there will be no clump, pepper, and nutmeg.  Add cream or milk and broth all at once.  Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly.  Add Swiss cheese and wine, stirring till cheese melts.

 Pour half of the sauce over broccoli.  Top with chicken, then the remaining sauce.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika.  Bake in a 350 degree oven about 20 minutes or till heated through.

Creamy Herbed Pork Chops

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4 pork chops cut 3/4 inch thick....or just buy the thin cut ones and save time

1 T. butter

1/3 cup finely chopped carrot (you can use the shoestring ones in the produce department or cut thin round slices)

1 T snipped parsley...I usu. leave this out because I don't buy fresh parsley that often

2 tsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. dried basil, thyme or tarragon, crushed (I actually use all three at one time and love the flavor)

1/2 tsp. instant beef bouillon granules

2/3 cup milk or light cream ...I use heavy cream just fine

2 T. dry white wine or water

1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese...I use a whole cup and if you want you can subst. cheddar cheese...

Trim fat from meat.  If desired, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet cook chops in margarine or butter over medium heat for 5 minutes....I would flip them after 2 minutes max. you do not want these little guys to over cook..

Turn chops and add carrot.  Cook for 5 to 7 minutes more or till no pink remains.(Again, check the meat by cutting into them to see if they are almost all white with a slight hint of pink, all white they will be very tough, remove when slightly pink and they will cook more later when added back to pan)  Remove chops, reserving drippings and carrots.

For sauce, stir parsley; flour; basil, thyme, or tarragon; bouillon granules and 1/4 tsp. pepper into drippings and carrot.  Add cream all at once.  Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly.  Stir in wine and cheese, mix until all combined, add chops to skillet and heat through.

On a side note....if I am going to add the carrots, I sauté them first in a separate pan in a little bit of butter or olive oil to get them soft and then add them into the recipe when it says, if you don't there is not enough cooking time for the carrots to get soft and then it fells like biting into little rocks...lol

Also, have all your ingredients out and measured, ready to go...this recipe comes together quickly...make sure you have your side dishes started and part way cooked before you start your meat.

The flavor in this recipe is spectacular~~Enjoy!!

Superb Filet of Sole and Vegetables

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1 can condensed cream of celery soup (I would recommend 2 cans)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I like lots of cheese and used 2 cups)

1/2 tsp. Sweet Basil

1/4 tsp. Seasoned Salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1 pkg. 10 oz. frozen baby carrots, thawed and drained (I just used the fresh ones in the prod. dept.)

1 pkg. 10 oz. frozen asparagus cuts, thawed and drained ( you could just use green beans as well.....I used both and went with fresh green beans from prod. dept.)

1 can 2.8 oz. Durkee French Fried Onions (I actually used two cans)

1 pound of unbreaded sole fillets, thawed if frozen

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl, combine soup, milk, 1/2 cup cheese and the seasonings; set aside. 

In  8 x 12 inch baking dish (Who in the world has this size...I used the 9x13), combine carrots, asparagus and 1/2 can French Fried Onions. 

Roll up fish fillets.  (If the fillets are wide, fold in half lengthwise before rolling.)  (I just cut mine in half right down the center line and then rolled up so they were not too thick).  Place fish rolls upright along center of vegetable mixture.  Pour soup mixture over fish and vegetables. 

Bake, covered, at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.  Stir vegetables; top fish with remaining cheese and onions.  Bake, uncovered, 3 minutes or until onions are golden brown.

This was a new recipe for us and it turned out great!!

Future plans for Corban’s Headstone

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I just wanted to share here so that when it does finally happen I can refer back to this post for what my ideas were.

We have a unique situation with Corban being buried with us here at home, I don't have the type of marker that you would see at a cemetery.

My vision when we buy our new house, and hopefully, we will either be buying in a years time or buying property to build on.....will be to have a special garden for Corban.  I want to have something that is kind of hedged in with some bushes, something that is evergreen maybe some yews or boxwood.  I want to have some flowers there and Wayside garden just came out with some new hydrangeas and one of them is blue and it is called Angel wings....(http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&mainPage=LGprodview&ItemId=46960&PrevMainPage=textsearchresults&scChannel=Text%20Search&SearchText=hydrangea&OfferCode=TH3 ) I would love to include these and then they also have these wonderful Calla Lilies called praying Hands the leaves are really folded up http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&mainPage=LGprodview&ItemId=43069&PrevMainPage=textsearchresults&scChannel=Text%20Search&SearchText=Praying%20hands%20hosta&OfferCode=TH3 so I would love to have that as well.

Then what I want to get is a huge boulder one large enough to sit on that is flat...I can picture it being about 3 feet in length at least and maybe 2 feet off the ground....then I want to have Corban's name carved into it.  Just his name, and then I can come and sit with him on the boulder and rub his name, etc.

So I have this vision of a little private enclosed area that I can go to and sit and reflect and be with my son, some place that I can see from the house...

~~

I then have this vision for a prayer garden as well, another little enclosed area, someplace quiet and contemplative that would have a little pedestal for placing your bible on,  small kneeling chair, a chair and a chaise lounge depending on the way I would want to spend time with God that day....something kind of shady....so we'll see...one day...

Salmon Cakes

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Hi all,

I did manage to get a picture of the salmon cakes and wanted to share the recipe here.  I was so thankful the night I had made them.  Our house guest staying with us, remarked that these were the best salmon cakes he had ever tasted!   What a wonderful praise to receive, Thank You Lord for helping me in the kitchen.

So here goes...

2 pounds fresh salmon (you can try canned, I never have but the recipe does say you can use that)

2 eggs beaten

2 cups bread crumbs (add a little at a time to stiffen mixture up, you might not need that much)

1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

1/4 cup chopped green onions

2 teaspoons minced fresh dill weed

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons butter

Panko Bread crumbs for coating...check your Asian section of your market if not by the regular bread crumbs

1. In a large mixing bowl, place the bread crumbs, salmon, parsley, onions, dill, lemon and pepper.  Mix well.  Make patties about a 1/2 inch thick and maybe about 2" across at the most.

2. Place your Panko crumbs on a plate and dip your pattie into the crumbs and thoroughly coat.  Place them onto a cookie sheet.  When you are done, place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes so they firm up, this way they will not fall apart when cooking.

3.  Heat your butter (you could use olive oil) on the stove to medium heat.  Place your patties in when the oil is hot, cook them about 1.5 to 2 minutes max. on each side.  The salmon should have a translucent sheen to it not bright pink.  Bright pink will mean it is over cooked and the pattie will be too dry.

For a sauce you can use Tartar sauce or try this:

Mustard Dipping sauce:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp. Grey Poupon Mustard

2 tsp. milk

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. A-1 sauce

mix together and chill until needed

Enjoy!!!

Coquille St. Jacques

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So dinner came and tonight we had Coquille St. Jacques...one of my favorite French dishes.  Here is the picture just as it comes out from under the broiler...covered with bread crumbs....

1 cup white wine or chicken broth

1 lb. medium to large shrimp

2 T. chopped onion

1/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 T. lemon juice

1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs browned in 2 T. butter.

1.  Bring the wine to boil and add shrimp.  Cook until just slightly pink and translucent.  Bright pink means they are overdone and will be tough.  Cook in small batches so you can watch them, remove them to a plate and when all done reserve the liquid at least a cup and set aside (if you do not have a whole cup, just add more wine or chicken stock to make up the difference)

2.Sauté onions with butter, add mushrooms and sauté as well, make sure your heat is lowered down to about med. to med. high.  gradually add flour, until smooth (it's ok if it isn't perfectly smooth, mine always seems to be a little lumpy but smooths out later...) add your reserved liquid.  Cook until thick.  Stir in cream, lemon juice, cheese and shrimp.  If you feel it is too thick add more wine or chicken stock.

3. Top with the bread crumbs that you browned in a separate pan and place under the broiler until brown and bubbly.

The secret to pulling off this recipe...you have to have all your ingredients lined up and ready to just toss in the pan before you turn on the heat, it goes very fast.  So make sure your cheese is grated , your onions cut up, your mushrooms ready to just dump in, everything measured out.  Enjoy!!

Enchilada’s the Family Recipe!!

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Enchiladas the quick and easy way...and might I mention tasty way as well!

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1 tsp. salt

1.5 tsp. chili powder

1 can chopped olives

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 can enchilada sauce mild

2 8oz. cans tomato sauce

2 cups cheddar cheese

12 corn tortilla's  (they come in bags of 10 so you will need two bags)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Take a 9 x 13 glass pan and either coat with cooking spray or line with tinfoil.

Brown the meat with onions and then drain.  Add all your seasonings and your olives and one can of tomato sauce.  Stir and mix together , set on back burner off of the heat.

Take some oil, like 2 Tablespoons and heat up in a shallow saucepan.  When the oil is warm enough place one tortilla at a time in the oil and warm it up on both sides.  Use metal tongs to handle the tortilla, they will be hot.  The oil helps soften them up for rolling.

Take a lunch plate and just place your tortilla on it and then spoon in about 2-3 tablespoons of filling and roll them up. (I happen to just put mine on the counter-top and deal with it that way...this is the messy part of making them.)  Place them nice and snug in the pan...10 across vertically and then two horizontally side by side to get them in.

When you have them all in the pan, mix the can of enchilada sauce with the remaining can of tomato sauce and then coat the top of all the enchilada's in the pan.  Then completely cover with your cheddar cheese.

Place in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese.  Enjoy!