Friday, March 2, 2012

March 2, 2012

Happy March, all! This week was successful on the recipe front. One dessert, one side dish, and two entrees. Not bad for one week!

My kids love dessert. We don't always have something sweet, sometimes it is just a yogurt, or fruit salad, but they do love it when I offer them ice cream, or cake, or cookies. This week, I took out the Tupperware popsicle molds that I usually use in the summer and made some fudgesicles! (Why do I reserve these to use only in the summer?) The kids loved them, and they were easy. Now I am going to be making popsicles more often! Yogurt pops, juice pops, let your mind wander! When Ryan tried them he imitated Bill Cosby...remember when he was the spokesperson for Jello, including Jello Pudding Pops?

I came across a site called The Pioneer Woman (thepioneerwoman.com). She has a show on the Food Network now, so I checked out her site. This week, we tried 2 dishes from her recipe collection, and both were voted keepers! I made Chicken with Mustard Cream sauce (I had some mustard and some half and half in the fridge to use up), and served French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms with the chicken. Both were delicious!

And finally, the last keeper of the week is a pork roast with a light citrus sauce. The sauce was pretty light tasting, and went well with the pork. It called for one jalapeno, but next time I might try using two. After cooking it for a few hours it probably could have used two. But everyone loved it, and the leftovers will be great re-purposed into another dish tomorrow or for a few lunch sandwiches.

Here's hoping for another successful week coming up!

New Recipes
Fudgesicles
Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce
French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms
Roast Pork with Citrus Sauce

Fudgesicles



Ingredients
* 1 4 oz. pkg. instant chocolate pudding
* 2 cups milk (we used skim)
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 cup canned evaporated milk (we used 2%)

Directions
1. Combine the pudding and 2 cups milk. Beat for 2 minutes.
2. Stir in sugar and canned milk.
3. Pour in to popsicle molds, freeze for 3-4 hours and enjoy!

Notes
To make un-molding easier, run the popsicle under water for a minute then they should pop out easily. We also made these with vanilla pudding, and they tasted great as well!

Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce



Ingredients
* 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
* 1 tbs olive oil
* 1 tbs butter
* 3 whole garlic cloves, Minced
* 1 cup white wine
* 1 heaping tbs Dijon Mustard
* 1 heaping tbs stone ground Mustard
* ¼ cups half and half, or heavy cream
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise so that you have six to eight smaller, thinner chicken cutlets. Salt and pepper both sides.
2. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook cutlets on both sides until nice and golden brown and cooked through. Remove chicken from the skillet and keep on a plate.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic to the pan and saute it for a minute, stirring to make sure it won’t burn. Pour in the wine, and cook until it’s reduced by half.
4. Add both the mustards and stir to combine, then pour in the cream or half and half. Stir in chicken broth, adding more if the sauce seems too thick. Taste sauce and add salt and pepper if desired.
5. Add chicken breasts back to the pan, nestling them into the sauce. Allow sauce to cook for another few minutes, shaking the pan if needed to move things around.
6. Serve and enjoy!

French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms



Ingredients
* 2 tbs butter
* 2 whole large onions, halved and sliced thin
* ¼ cups beef broth
* 7 dashes worcestershire sauce
* splash of white wine
* ½ cup shredded Swiss cheese
* kosher salt
* 24 whole white Or crimini Mushrooms, washed and stems removed

Directions
1. In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very soft. Splash in wine, broth, and Worcestershire. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until liquid is cooked down. Set aside.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Throw in mushrooms and toss around for 2 minutes, just to start the cooking process. Sprinkle mushrooms with salt.
3. Place mushroom in a baking dish. Heap cavity with sauteed mushrooms, then sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake at 10 minutes on 325 degrees. If desired, turn on broiler and broil for a couple of minutes, until the cheese starts to bubble and slightly turn brown.

Roast pork with citrus sauce



Ingredients
* 2 Tbs olive oil
* 3 lb boneless pork loin
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp pepper
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
* 1 tsp jarred chopped garlic
* 1/3 cup orange juice
* 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
* 2 tsp cornstarch
* 2 Tbs lemon juice

Directions
1. In a heavy skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat. Add pork and brown it on all sides. Remove pork to a plate and season with salt and pepper.
2. Add remaining oil, onion, jalapeno, and garlic to skillet. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add orange juice. Pour into the slow cooker. Place roast on top; add the broth.
3. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours. Remove pork.
4. Strain juices from onions and other ingredients. Pour 2 cup of the cooking liquid into a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
5. Dissolve cornstarch in lemon juice and stir into saucepan. Cook for a minute or two to thicken.
6. Slice meat; serve with sauce.

Notes
This sauce was bright, but not overpowering. As with most slow cooker meals, the meat can become a little dry (definitely don't go past 5 hours if you only have a 3lb roast), but the citrus gravy was really nice with it. The roast is great the night you make it, and the leftovers can be shredded and re-purposed for another meal (depending on how much you have left). You could use it in quesadillas, or on a pizza crust, or add some BBQ sauce and have pulled pork sandwiches. It is so nice when the leftovers can take on a whole new life as a completely different meal!

I clipped this from a parenting magazine back in February 2007! 5 years ago!