In this mosaic of Life we all share we do like to eat don't we?! And when given the opportunity, we like to eat well. One of my favorite movies of all times is "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" with the legendary funny man Don Knotts. There is a scene where he is sitting on his girlfriend's porch after having had supper and he says - ever so profoundly - that he enjoys good food. Not really a deep comment but one that is so true. Who doesn't like good food?
Well I certainly do and, at times, I enjoy the cooking of it too. I go through phases. My mom had me helping her prepare dinner when I turned 10 years old, so I guess you could say I've been cooking now for 50 years. There are days when I just don't want to...not one whit. Then other days I find preparing a good meal as creative as working on a mosaic or a painting.
This cookbook - to the left - is one I received this past Christmas from nephew Daniel - it's from his school. Last night I fixed two of the recipes inside and they were so tasty I thought I'd share them here. Also I mentioned last post that I fixed a delicious meal on Mother's Day so I'm including a link to that recipe here also.
Last night's main course was from the Valley Tiger Favorites, page 42, contributor Lisa Black and titled: STRANGE BUT TASTY CHICKEN #2.
ingredients:
6 chicken legs [recipe calls for 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts]
3/4 c apricot preserves [recipe calls for 2 cups]
1 envelope dry onion soup mix [yep, I used the whole thing]
2 tbl water
Mix preserves, onion soup mix and water. Pour over chicken in baking dish and bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes. *I turned the chic legs over halfway through and basted more of the sauce over top. Yep, the ingredients seem strange, but this was very tasty!
To go with the chicken I made the GERMAN POTATO SALAD on page 15 contributed by Anika Smoot.
ingredients:
3/4 bag baby golden potatoes [recipe calls for 8 small russets]
1/2 c water
1 tsp salt [recipe calls for 1/2 tbl]
5 dashes black pepper
3 dashes Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb [recipe calls for 5 dashes garlic powder]
4 tbl rice wine vinegar [recipe calls for white vinegar]
1 1/2 tbl olive oil
1/3 of a chicken boullion cube [recipe calls for 1-1 1/2 tbl chicken boullion]
1/2 med onion cut in half and slivered [recipe calls for 1 med onion, 1 bunch green onions and 1 cucumber]
Cover potatoes in water and boil 20 minutes or until tender. Make dressing while boiling potatoes: combine water, salt, sugar, pepper and garlic powder, vinegar, olive oil and boullion and microwave for one minute. Chop onion and green onion. Slice cucumber into thin rounds. Combine with dressing. Rinse potatoes with cold water, peel and cut into bite-sized pieces. Stir into dressing. Serve warm. *in my version I had far more dressing than was needed so I drained off the excess before serving. Very tasty!
The entree I prepared for Sunday was a recipe I found in the May 2011 issue of Real Simple magazine. The recipe can be found at the Real Simple website here. Instead of using plain cheese ravioli, I bought a package of Wild Mushroom Agnolotii by Buitoni. Oh my - it was good!!!!
Yes cooking and eating can be an art and enjoyable at that. What's your favorite recipe for dinner?
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