March 4th, 2006 by alice
Tags: Chicken, Madeira
INGREDIENTS
- 1tablespoonolive oil
- 4boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 8asparagus spears
- 4slicesmozzarella cheese
-
Madeira Sauce
- 2tablespoonsolive oil
- 2cups slicedfresh mushrooms
- 3cupsmadeira wine
- 2cupsbeef stock
- 1tablespoonbutter
- 1/4teaspoonground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
- Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Cover each chicken breast with plastic wrap then use a mallet to flatten the chicken to about 1/4-inch thick.
- Sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper.
- Sauté the chicken fillets for 4 to 6 minutes per side, or until the chicken has browned just a bit.
- Remove chicken fillets from the pan and wrap them together in foil to keep the fillets warm while you make the sauce.
- Don’t clean the pan.
- You want all that cooked-on goodness to stay in the skillet to help make the sauce.
- With the heat still on medium, add two tablespoons of oil to the skillet.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for about two minutes.
- Add the madeira wine, beef stock, butter and pepper.
- Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until sauce has reduce to about 1/4 of its original volume.
- When the sauce is done it will have thickened and turned a dark brown color.
- As the sauce is simmering, bring a medium saucepan filled about halfway with water to a boil.
- Add a little salt to the water.
- Toss the asparagus into the water and boil for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your asparagus spears.
- Drop the asparagus in a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking.
- The asparagus should be slightly tender when done, not mushy.
- Set oven to broil.
- Prepare the dish by arranging the cooked chicken fillets on a baking pan.
- Cross two asparagus spears over each fillet, then cover each with a slice of mozzarella cheese.
- Broil the fillets for 3 to 4 minutes or until light brown spots begin to appear on the cheese.
- To serve, arrange two chicken breasts on each plate, then spoon 3 or 4 tablespoons of madeira sauce over the chicken on each plate.
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March 4th, 2006 by alice
Tags: Fabric, Homemade, Softener
INGREDIENTS
- 1cupglycerin
- 1gallonwater
DIRECTIONS
- Mix together in a large bottle.
- Add 1/2 cup to washing machine rinse cycle.
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March 4th, 2006 by alice
Tags: Chocolate, Espresso, Snowcaps
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2cupall-purpose flour
- 1/4cupunsweetened cocoa powder(not Dutch process)
- 4teaspoonsinstant espressoor instant coffee
- 1teaspoonbaking powder
- 1/8teaspoonsalt
- 4tablespoonsunsalted butter, softened
- 2/3cup packedlight brown sugar
- 1largeegg
- 4ouncesbittersweet chocolateor semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled(it can still be warm, just not so hot it would curdle an egg)
- 1tablespoonmilk
- powdered sugar, for coating
DIRECTIONS
- In a medium bowl, sift the flour, espresso, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
- Don’t skip the sifting process.
- If you are using instant coffee, be sure to press the coffee pieces through the sieve so they become smaller grains that are totally incorporated into the cookies.
- With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
- Beat in egg until combined; mix in cooled chocolate.
- With mixer on low, add flour a little at a time.
- Then beat in milk until just combined.
- The dough will be very wet– flatten it into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap, then freeze until firm.
- That takes about 45 minutes, but you can freeze it longer if you want to make the cookies the next day.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment or foil.
- Shape dough into one-inch balls.
- The dough is still messy, so it helps to roll very fast, and sprinkle a little powdered sugar on your hands between cookies.
- Pour powdered sugar (about 1/2 cup) into a medium bowl.
- Working with a few cookies at a time, roll the balls in sugar two times.
- Make sure they are completely coated and no dark dough is visible.
- Place on baking sheets 2 inches apart, and bake until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, about 12 minutes.
- Cookies will still be soft to the touch, but do not overbake.
- Cool cookies on a wire rack.
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March 4th, 2006 by alice
Tags: Christmasny, Other, Timeppetizer
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2lbs thick slicedbacon
- 2 (8 ounce)canswater chestnuts
- 1/3cupsoy sauce
- 1/4cupbrown sugar
DIRECTIONS
- Cut each bacon slice into thirds.
- Wrap one bacon piece around one water chestnut, skewering with a toothpick to hold together.
- Combine soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl.
- Dredge each water chestnut in this mixture, placing on jelly roll after dredging.
- Place under broiler, turning after a few minutes, until bacon is evenly cooked, about 10 minutes.
- Time will depend on how close your tray is to the broiler.
- You may also do small batches in a toaster oven.
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March 4th, 2006 by alice
Tags: Dip, Ranch, Taco
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (8 ounce)canrefried beans(I use fat-free)
- 1envelopehidden valley ranch dressing mix
- 8ouncessour cream
- 2cups shreddedcheese(any type - we prefer sharp cheddar, but it’s your preference)
- 1cup seeded dicedtomatoes
- 1 (4 ounce)can slicedblack olives
- 3-4 slicedgreen onions
- 1cup choppedlettuce
DIRECTIONS
- Heat the refried beans until just warm.
- Spread in a 9″ glass pie pan.
- Mix sour cream and ranch dressing until combined.
- Spread over beans.
- Next, spread the cheese over this.
- Next layer the lettuce, then tomato, onions and black olives.
- Serve with tortilla chips.
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