Recipe of the Week – Steak Diane
(From the Beef Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Steak Diane
Our son left his dog here for us to watch while he had a hectic work schedule. Saturday he drove back to pick up the dog and we were joined for dinner by our other son and his family. We try to prepare the kids’ favorites when they come to dinner and try to pass the favorites along to the next generation. Along with the steaks we made twice-baked potatoes and a Caesar Salad. Dessert was a strawberry tart, but that is another story.
I made the strawberry tart, which came out really great, Saturday morning. I decided to take a photo for the emealsforyou.com site and that is when things started to fall apart, literally. While putting it back into the tart form I pushed too hard, causing a cave in of the sides. Not to worry we pushed it together and served it with enough whipped cream to hide the mistake. I don’t know if the lesson is that everyone makes cooking mistakes or it is important to have whip cream ready to go. Either way give the Steak Diane a try, it may become a new family favorite.
Steak Diane
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Beef Entrée |
| Meal: | The Boss is Back (Distinctive Dinners) |
| 4 | medium | steak, fillet |
| 1 | Tb | soy sauce |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
| 1 | 10.5 oz can | beef consommé |
| 1 | Tb | mustard, dijon |
| 2 | tsp | cornstarch |
| 2 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 3 | small | shallots, sliced |
Flatten steaks to 3/4 thickness by placing in plastic bag and hitting them with a mallet or pan. Place on plate, drip soy sauce on them and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix consommé, Dijon mustard and cornstarch in bowl, set aside.
Add 1 Tb of butter to pan. Heat pan until butter bubbles, add steaks, cook 2-3 minutes per side, and remove from pan and cover.
Add consommé mixture to pan and remaining butter, stir, making sure to get all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add steaks back to the pan.
At this point if you are feeling adventuresome, remove pan from stove, add cognac (no more than 2 oz) and light with a long match. Very impressive, be careful.
Plate, drizzle gravy over steaks and serve.
You can find the Strawberry Tart recipe at emealsforyou.com
Recipe of the Week – Chicken Salad
(From the Salad Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Chicken Salad
Who doesn’t like good chicken salad? With the weather finally getting nice enough to enjoy a weekend lunch on the deck you really don’t want to spend all your time making the perfect lunch. You also don’t want to feed your family that store-bought chicken salad that is more salad then good chicken.
You can make this from scratch or use a rotisserie chicken you picked up from the deli. I typically use leftover chicken from the night before. Either way you will enjoy the ease of preparation and the great tasting lunch for your family.
Chicken Salad
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Salad |
| Meal: | Ladies Luncheon (Theme Meal Plans) |
| 5 | medium | chicken breasts, boneless, skinless |
| 3 | Tb | mayonnaise |
| 2 | Tb | lemon, juice of |
| 1 | small | scallions, sliced |
| 0.25 | cup | cranberries, dried |
| 0.25 | cup | pecans, halved |
| 1 | pinch | dill weed |
| 0.25 | cup | tomatoes, cherry |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
Cook chicken breasts in microwave until done. Reserve cooking fluids. Lightly toast pecans. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, add reserved juices and all other ingredients and mix well.
Serve on bed of spinach or lettuce
Great lunch ideas at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Grilled Shrimp and Avocado Seviche
(From the Appetizer Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Grilled Shrimp and Avocado Seviche
This is a wonderful appetizer, or it would make a great Sunday lunch. One of the downsides of constantly creating new dishes is that sometimes you are so excited to get them to the table that you forget to take a photo first. This recipe has been on the emealsforyou.com site for several years but somehow never photographed. I will correct this in the near future.
Now to the reason for making the seviche in the first place. We got a call Friday afternoon from our old next door neighbors from Naperville saying the were on their way back from Asheville, NC and would be traveling through Mason. As we just got back from Asheville ourselves it only made sense for them to come by for drinks, some food and to compare notes on Asheville. I grill the shrimp, most seviche is raw fish cooked by the acidity of the lime juice, as a lot of people are reluctant to eat raw fish. Grilling the shrimp adds flavor to the dish and calms down the raw fish problem.
Grilled Shrimp and Avocado Seviche
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Appetizer |
| Meal: | Other (General) |
| 0.5 | lb | shrimp, butterflied |
| 2 | medium | avocado |
| 3 | Tb | onion, red |
| 2 | Tb | pepper, red |
| 2 | Tb | pepper, green |
| 4 | medium | lime juice |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 1 | Tb | vinegar, cider |
| 0.75 | cup | cilantro, chopped |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
| 4 | leaves | lettuce, curly |
Peel shrimp and grill, about 3-4 minutes. Cut shrimp and avocados into bite size pieces. place in bowl. Chop onions and peppers into small-diced pieces, place in bowl. Add juice of 3 limes, olive oil, vinegar and chopped cilantro and mix. Taste and add salt and pepper. Let sit, refrigerated for 1/2 hour. Place lettuce leaves in bottom of a large wine glass, add seviche and serve with a wedge of lime.
Many other great appetizers and lite lunch ideas at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Coq au Vin
(From the Chicken Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Coq au Vin
Everyone has or should have a couple of “go to” recipes that they know will be appreciated by their families. This is one of those for us. When we went back to NJ last month we left some Coq au Vin in the freezer for my mother-in-law to have after we left. She sent me a message last week that she found it in the freezer, had forgotten what it was, heated it up and Voila, one great meal. Actually two meals as she used the leftovers for a lunch for my brothers-in-law the next day. Yesterday my son brought his dog for us to dog watch for a few weeks and I asked him what he wanted for dinner. His response: Coq au Vin.
Don’t let the name fool you, this is as down to earth, down-home cooking as there is. What could be better than chicken stewed in wine, bacon and mushrooms. Make this your family’s favorite.
Coq au Vin
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Chicken Entrée |
| Meal: | Welcome Home (Celebration Meal Plans) |
| 2 | slices | bacon |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 1 | whole | chicken, whole, cut up |
| 6 | cloves | garlic, chopped |
| 8 | oz | onions, pearl frozen |
| 8 | oz | mushrooms, white button |
| 1 | 10.5 oz can | beef consommé |
| 8 | oz | wine, dry red |
| 8 | oz | chicken broth |
| 3 | Tb | tomato paste |
| 3 | medium | bay leaves, whole dried |
| 2 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 2 | Tb | flour |
| 0.5 | tsp | salt and pepper to taste |
Cut bacon into small pieces, brown bacon in large pan, add oil. Brown chicken in pan, remove chicken, add garlic and onions, sauté for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, chicken, consommé, wine, bay leaves, tomato paste and enough of the broth to just cover chicken. Reduce heat to simmer, cook for 25 minutes, until chicken is tender. Remove chicken to platter. Add flour to some of the juice and add to gravy to thicken, add butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon over chicken and serve.
Serve with crusty bread.
Find more “favorite” recipes at emealsforyou.com
Recipe of the Week – Ginger Butternut Squash Muffins
(From the Breads Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Ginger Butternut Squash Muffins
I bought a butternut squash last week, a really large butternut squash. After baking it and using some for dinner I was left with lots of squash. I made some butternut squash raviolis with goat cheese but still hadn’t finished the leftover squash. As we were headed to Asheville, NC to meet up with some old neighbors I thought I would try to use the remaining squash in some muffins; to go along with the banana muffins and some great corn muffins. I adjusted the recipe from several similar muffin and bread recipes and it turned out to be the hit of the muffins. The ginger adds just the right “bite” to the sweetness of the squash.
So go ahead and buy that big squash at the Farmers’ Market and give these surprising muffins a try.
Ginger Buttennut Squash Muffins
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Breads |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 1.5 | stick | butter, unsalted |
| 2.5 | cups | flour, all-purpose |
| 2 | tsp | baking powder |
| 1 | Tb | ginger, fresh, grated |
| 1 | tsp | salt, table |
| 1 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 0.5 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 2 | cups | butternut squash, cooked, mashed |
| 3 | large | egg |
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins,set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together white and brown sugars, squash, melted butter, and eggs; add flour mixture, and stir until just combined.
Divide batter equally into muffin tins.. Bake about 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool ten minutes then remove from tins.
Great muffin and quick bread recipes at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Italian Meringue
(From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Italian Meringue Frosted Cake
I had a request for a white cake with Italian Meringue icing for our usually Easter dinner. I am not a fan of white cakes but as I already made the traditional carrot cake; I thought this would be an easy addition. Making the meringue with hot sugar syrup instead of the just whipping the egg whites makes a huge difference in the taste, texture and viability of the icing. While most egg white meringues will wilt after a while, this one can stay out on the server for hours with no worries.
The added benefit to using the Italian Meringue was that I had a huge amount of egg yolks left over. These somehow found their way into an ice cream maker as Bourbon Gelato.
Italian Meringue
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 3 | large | egg, whites |
| 0.5 | cup | water |
| 1 | cup | sugar, granulated |
Beat egg whites until just starting to stiffen.
Heat water and sugar in saucepan until it boils and begins to slightly color. Remove from heat (caution!! very hot)
Add the sugar and water mixture to the egg whites slowly while continuing to mix on high speed. Meringue is done when stiff peaks appear.
Find more great uses of egg yolks at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Easter with Friends – Deviled Egg Chicks
(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Deviled Egg Chicks
This recipe comes a little late for Easter but with picnic season approaching you can surprise your family and friends with these wonderfully fun deviled eggs. Mary, our friend for many years, brought these to our traditional Easter dinner. Deviled eggs are one of those things you don’t think about until someone brings them to a gathering and you say, boy I like deviled eggs and never remember to make them. These are so cute you may have a tough time actually eating them.
Deviled Egg Chicks
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 12 | large | egg, hard boiled |
| 0.25 | cup | mayonnaise |
| 1 | Tb | mustard, dijon |
| 1 | Tb | lemon, juice of |
| 12 | medium | capers |
| 12 | pieces | pimento |
Carefully take the shells off the eggs. Cut a very small piece off the bottom to allow them to stand up. Cut through the egg about 1/3 of the way down. Carefully scoop out the yolk from both sections. Mix the yolks, mayo, mustard and lemon juice. With a melon baller or two spoons make round balls and place them inside the bottom of the egg. Place two capers in the egg yolk mixture for the eyes and a piece of pimento for the mouth. Carefully place the top of the egg onto the egg yolk mixture.
Find all the recipes and more at emealsforyou.com.
Where did the old recipes go?
Looking for Bev’s Pineapple Bread Pudding, or another of the old recipes; we had to clear out the old to bring on the new. The old recipes, and about 300 more can be found at emealsforyou.com, along with over 500 complete meal plans. On our website you can chose a recipe or meal plan, size it to the number you are feeding ( we’ll do the math ) and print a shopping list for those recipes and meal plans. Quick, easy and along with saving money you will be feeding your family healthier meals.
Recipe of the Week – Hot Fudge Sauce
(From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Hot Fudge Sundae
I am a little late in getting this posted. Last week was our quarterly trip back to NJ and I haven’t fully recovered yet. It is always great to get back home and see everyone; this time was no exception. I think we were a little overly ambitious in what we decided to accomplish both on the errands and chores front and the dinner parties, As is customary, we make a double batch of hot fudge sauce for my mother-in-law to enjoy both while we are there and after we return to Cincy. This time we paired the hot fudge sundaes with wonderful other desserts: zabaglione with fresh berries. pavlova with berries, hazelnut toffee cheesecake, and homemade strudel. You guessed it my mother-in-law chose the hot fudge sundae each and every night.
If you like dark chocolate try using dark cocoa in place of the regular cocoa.
Hot Fudge Sauce
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | Santa Fe Feast (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 0.5 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 0.5 | cup | corn syrup, light |
| 1 | Tb | vanilla |
| 1.5 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 0.25 | cup | cream, heavy |
| 0.5 | cup | cocoa |
Heat sugar, syrup, vanilla, cream and butter in a heavy sauce pan until blended. Mix in cocoa and stir.
Hint: may be kept in the refrigerator for weeks and freezes almost indefinitely. Re-heat in microwave.
The recipes for the above mentioned wonderful desserts and more at emealsforyou.com.
Recipes for a Healthier Future – Small Rant; Big Value
(From the WoW (Watching our Waists) Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Sea Bass
Okay, so we have all decided this is the month, this is the day, this is the hour that we get healthier. Our time to change our lifestyle and make a deference is here. You don’t have to go “drastic”, you do have to change the way you eat. The whole method is to limit the amount of food you eat. Portion control is the answer. This doesn’t mean bland food and constant hunger. This means balanced meals; why shouldn’t these be great tasting meals as well.
At emealsforyou.com we offer many remedies, we take the work out of your “diet.” We have categories to make you successful in your efforts without alienating the entire family along the way. Our healthy, easy recipes and meal planning provide you with all that you will need to accomplish your goal. With categories like Diet Friendly, WOW (Watching Our Waists) and even special needs programs for Diabetic Healthy, Gluten Free and more; coupled with our automatic recipe calculator (how many people are you feeding) we make it easy to get the whole family involved. Pick the recipe / meal, determine the number you are feeding, and print a shopping list; for one meal or several weeks’ worth. As they say, ” It is what we do.” Cooking something else for the kids, we have recipes / meals that they will love.
The bottom line is why pay for a program that costs you an arm and a leg, when you only want to lose a little weight. Cooking at home can not only save you money, the food is tastier and healthier than the frozen entrees they send you. All this for a yearly subscription of $17.95, less than a dollar and a half per month; we are the best bargain around. Click here to sign Up NOW! Take control of your family’s well-being.
P.S. any firm white fish will work in the recipe below.
Entree – Sea Bass
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 2 |
| Category: | WoW (Watching our Waists) |
| Meal: | Now You Sea It (WoW (Watching our Waists)) |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 0.5 | small | onions, chopped |
| 8 | oz | sea bass |
| 2 | cloves | garlic, chopped |
| 1 | 6 oz can | tomatoes, diced |
| 1 | tsp | capers |
| 4 | small | anchovy filets |
Heat 2 Tb of olive oil in an ovenproof pan; sear sea bass quickly on each side. Remove from pan and set aside. Place remaining oil in pan. Sauté onions, garlic, tomatoes, and capers until onions are translucent. Add anchovy filets and mash with a spoon.
Replace fish in pan, spoon sauce over the top, place in 300 degree oven for about 8-12 min. or until fish flakes.
Each serving has 342 calories, 9.2g carbs, 18.8g fat, 34.1g protein, and 2.1g fiber
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