Rachel's Scallop and Proscuitto Risotto

Adapted from Michael Symon's Live To Cook

Serves 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup diced prosciutto
1 cup Arborio rice
1 generous pinch saffron (didn't have any on hand, so I left it out)
1/2 cup dry white wine
3-4 cups chicken stock, warmed
1/2 pound bay scallops, or 1/2 pound sea scallops cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup sliced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 tablespoon chopped thyme

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Heat the olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sweat it for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat it for 2 minutes more. Add the prosciutto and cook it until it crisps, about 1 minute. Add the rice and let it toast slightly in the hot fat, about 1 minute, stirring with a wooden spoon.

Reduce the heat to med-low, add the saffron and wine, and stir continuously until most of the wine has cooked off. Add 1 cup of the stock and stir continuously until the liquid has cooked off, about 3 minutes. It should be at a high simmer but NOT a boil...if it starts to boil you will cook the rice and it won't work right. I had to adjust the temp up and down continously to get the right temp. Continue to add stock in 1/4-cup increments until the rice is tender and the risotto is creamy.

Add the scallops and continue to stir for 2 minutes, or until the scallops are heated through. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the thyme, parsley, butter, and cheese and serve immediately.

Beer Butt Chicken

From:  danies08

Beer Butt Chicken
1 Chicken, whole w/ insides removed
1 can beer (Budweiser works best)
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Seasons (what ever you want)
5 cloves garlic, peeled
One Beer-Can Chicken Holder (Wal-Mart)

**I rubbed on the oil and seasonings beforehand, and let it sit in the fridge for about 5 hours before I cooked it this last time. Made it even better**

Pre-heat oven to 450. Coat the outside of the chicken in the olive oil. Make a mixture of seasonings (I use all kinds of stuff), then rub them on with your figertips all over the outside of the chicken. I also like to rub them on the inside of the skin, too. Pour about 1/4 of the beer out of the can, then put the whole, peeled garlic cloves inside. Put the holder in an aluminum pie pan (to catch the drippings) and put the holder and pie pan on top of a cookie sheet (I usually use a 1/4 baking sheet, but a 1/2 is fine too). Put the beer can in the holder, then slide the chicken over it, butt first! Put it on the oven rack as low as it can go. Bake for one hour, or until done.

Tasty Chicken Tenders

I made this earlier in the week, and unfortunately did not photograph it. I plan on making this again soon and will update the post. I only had 10 chicken tenders and for hubby and I; that was plenty but I probably could've eaten more if I wanted to stuff myself silly! They were A-mazing! I adjusted the recipe for a larger amount of tenders since I made such a small amount.

2-3 lb. chicken tenders
2 c. flour
1 Tbs. Emeril's essence seasoning (I used an old spice bottle to mix a batch of this, it keeps for a while and it great to use as an all purpose seasoning)
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. milk
1 egg
2 c. bread crumbs
1 Tbs. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Vegetable oil

Mix flour and Emeril's essence in a shallow dish. Mix buttermilk, milk and egg in another dish. Mix bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper together in a third dish. Set up in an assembly line heading towards a very large, shallow skillet with a thin layer (1/4") of vegetable oil. Set skillet on med-high heat.

While oil is heating, dredge the tenders in the flour, then milk and egg mixture, then finally into the bread crumbs. Once oil is hot add chicken tenders to the skillet, careful to not overcrowd and let the oil temperature drop. Fry on each side for about 4-5 minutes. Depending on how many tenders you have it may take several batches. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt immediately after taking out each batch. Keep warm in the oven or under a piece of foil covered loosely.

Serve with an oven baked mac 'n' cheese and a salad for a comfort food filled meal.

Thin Mint Chocolate Mousse Pie

I made this last night, after I found a recipe online using Jello pudding but switched it up with the Chocolate Mousse and adding Mint Extract for extra mintyness!

Ingredients
2 boxes Dr. Oetker Dark Chocolate Truffle Mousse
2 c. cold milk (per Dr. Oetker's instructions)
1/4-1/2 tsp. Mint extract, depending on how minty you want it
approx. 20 Girl Scouts Thin Mint Cookies, or enough to border your pie rim, plus 4 for crushing to sprinkle on top
1 pie crust, baked off and cooled (I used an 8" pie plate)

Follow Dr. Oetker's instructions on the box, mixing the 2 c. cold milk, packaged mousse mix, and the mint extract.

**You may have extra mousse that won't fit in your pie shell so if you want pure chocolate set at least 1 cup aside, then add the mint extract to the rest of the mousse. I had 2 cups of extra mousse since my pie plate was smaller.

Pour mint chocolate mousse into the baked pie shell, place the whole Thin Mint cookies around the border of the pie to create a crown look. Put 4 Thin Mints in a sandwich ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin. Sprinkle crumbs over top and chill in the fridge according to Dr. Oetker's directions.

Danie's Mama's Meatballs

Barbequed Meatballs

Meatballs: 

 1 can (13 oz) evaporated milk

3 lbs ground chuck (or lean hamburger)

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup chopped onion

2 t. salt

2 t. chili powder

2 eggs

½ t. garlic powder

½ t. pepper

Mix and shape into balls (about the size of a golf ball), place in flat pan. (Only place ONE layer on the pan.)

Making meatballs ahead of time will enhance flavor but isn’t necessary.

Sauce:

1 ½ c. catsup

1 ½ c. chili sauce

3 T. liquid smoke

¾ c. chopped onions

2 c. brown sugar

¾ t. garlic powder

If Baking:
Mix thoroughly and pour over UNcooked meatballs.  Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees, uncovered.

If Crock-Pot Making:
Bake meatballs without the sauce on cookie sheets at 350 for 20 minutes, then put them in a crockpot, stir in the sauce, and cook on low for 4 - 6 hours, test for doneness.

Chicken with Zucchini and Mushrooms

This is a recipe that I kind of threw together last night for dinner, and we both LOVED it. Hubby said it was "better than anything he ever had in a restaurant". Score!!! Give it a try! It was under 30 mins start to finish.

2 thin, boneless chicken cutlets (about 4 oz each)
just enough flour, salt and pepper to coat chicken
2 tbsp butter
1 cup each sliced white mushrooms, and sliced zucchini (i made little "moon" shaped slices)
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 tsp italian seasoning
2 cloves (about a tbsp) of garlic, chopped

1. Pound chicken cutlets until very thin and even. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a large pan and add chopped garlic. Coat chicken in flour, salt and pepper mixture. Cook chicken in melted butter until no longer pink and remove from pan.

2. Add the other tbsp of butter to pan and add vegetables, italian seasoning mix and chicken broth. Stir well, and scrape up the bits of flour and garlic at the bottom of the pan to incorporate flavor. Cover and cook for about 15 mins or until veggies are fork tender and a "sauce" has developed from the chicken broth. (you can add a tiny bit more flour or broth to adjust)

3. Add chicken back to pan and cover and simmer for a few minutes so that the chicken warms back up and everything incorporates. Serve over couscous or rice.

Enjoy :)
(for the WW girls - I counted this a 8 pts per serving - because only the 3 oz of cooked chicken and 1 tbsp of butter per serving have points values. The veggies, broth and seasoning are free!)

Tortellini Sausage Soup

Source: Unknown

3 links Italian sausage
4 cloves pressed garlic
1 onion, diced
1/2 c water
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 c apple cider (don't leave out)
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 c sliced carrots
1 tsp dried basil
2 medium zucchini, grated (I left this out)
8-10 oz pkg cheese tortellini (I used a 20 oz bag)
2 Tbsp dried parsley (yes 2 TBSP)

Remove the casings from sausage and crumble into large soup pot.

Begin cooking sausage over medium heat, stirring frequently (may need to drain halfway through). Meanwhile, chop onions and garlic and add to the sausage. Continue cooking until onions are translucent and sausage is cooked.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, cider, water, broth, carrots, oregano and basil. Cover and simmer for 30 min. Add parsley and zucchini and simmer for another 15 min. or so.

Add the tortellini and cook until tender. Serve with bread and freshly-grated Parmesan.