Chicken Strips with Cabbage

This is a favorite of mine for lunch but it would make an easy dinner too. Start by thinly slicing some onions and soften them in a saute pan with 2T butter. Add the boneless skinless chicken and brown. When the chicken is browned add slice cabbage, 1/2C water and cover to steam the cabbage and finish cooking the chicken. Season to taste with salt, pepper and tabasco sauce.

Lemon Rosemary Salmon with Asparagus-mushroom Risotto

Place slices of lemon and rosemary on a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to make a package containing the salmon. Then place more rosemary and lemon on top of the fish and seal the package. Bake in a 350 F oven for 30 min or until the fish is flaky. We served the fish with a risotto, the basic recipe for which has appeared here before. We think risotto is a wonderful side for about any meat course you wish. It is versatile because the additives can be varied so widely. Asparagus and mushrooms are our favorites but you could use squash, peas, or almost any vegetable you wish. The tomatoes are topped with balsamic vinegar and grated Parmesan cheese, the same cheese used in the risotto. We served a chilled, dry white wine with the meal.

Left-over Turkey and Stuffing Bake

This is another of our favorite left-over recipes the origin of which is lost. Stir together 2C diced left-over turkey, 1/2C mayo, 1/2Cmilk, 1C diced celery, one can of sliced water chestnuts and one can of cream of celery soup, undiluted (mushroom soup will work as well). Place the mixture in an oven-proof dish and top with left-over stuffing, about 4C for this recipe. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45 min. or until heated through. Topping with chopped parsley would be nice. We serve it with cranberry/orange relish. Comfort food, all the way.

Open-faced Turkey and Ham Sandwiches with Asparagus and Cheese Sauce

Here is a pretty easy recipe using left-over turkey and ham, both of which we had over the Thanks-giving holiday. We made a cream sauce by mixing 2T butter and 2T flour in a sauce pan. When the mixture becomes bubbly, add milk and thicken to your liking. Then add 4 oz. swiss cheese and stir until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add some cayenne pepper for some kick. Spoon the sauce over toasted bread, cooked turkey and ham and add some asparagus if you wish. A pretty good use, and a bit different, for ham and turkey. We served the sandwich with escalloped potatoes.

Stew with Fava Beans

This is a "made up" recipe that starts with city-chicken, a meat mixture common in the mid-west consisting of chunks of veal and pork. Several hours before or even over night, soak 1C dried fava beans in water. You can also use canned ones if you wish. We coated about 1 lb. of the meat with seasoned flour and browned it in 3T of oil. Remove the meat and brown 1 medium onion, diced, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1t each of sweet paprika, ground cumin, tumeric, rosemary and lemon zest. When the onion is tender, deglaze the pan with 1/2 C white wine and 1/2C chicken stock. Add the meat back to the pan, add 1- 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes and bake in a 275 degree oven for 3-4 hrs, until the meat is fork tender. Sliced kalamata olives would be a nice addition to the dish. Garnish with chopped fresh mint. We served the stew with simple boiled potatoes.

Veal and Sausage Ragu

A ragu is a hearty sauce of meat and veggies. I've been looking for a wonderful recipe for years and this is it!!

I sauted diced onions and carrots with garlic and parsley. After they were done I cooked Italian sausage and some veal stew meat in the same skillet. When they were cooked, I returned the veggies and added some white wine. I cooked this down till the wine was almost evaporated. Then I did the same with chicked stock. The entire mixture went into a food processor and was coarsley chopped.

I combined the meat mix with canned tomatoes, bay and fresh sage. I simmered this for about an hour, adding chicken stock along the way.

While the stock was simmering, I sauted some mushrooms to add at the end and served the ragu over pasta.

Savory Bread Pudding

We had some left over crusty bread, so I decided to a make a savory bread pudding.

I mixed seeded and diced tomatoes, minced garlic, fresh basil and parsley with some lemon juice, olive oil and red pepper. While these flavors were blending, I cut the bread into cubes, tossed them with olive oil and baked till golden and slightly crunchy.

I whisked together 1 cup of heavy cream with 2 eggs then added the bread and tomato mix. This went into a baking dish. I toppped the pudding with grated cheese and baked at 350 for one hour.

Dijon - Potato crusted Salmon

This is a com-pilation of several recipes we found on the internet. We prepared the fish in the oven rather than the Weber because we didn't want the smoky flavor to over power the potatoes. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and lightly apply a coating of a good Dijon mustard to the side of the filet without the skin. Grate one potato ( covers 2 1/2 lb salmon filets) , pat gently onto the mustard coating and brush with melted butter. Place the fish skin side down in a 450 degree oven for 10 min and finish under the broiler until the potatoes have a golden color. We served the fish with steamed asparagus but a green salad would be wonderful as well.

Trout Filets with Dill and Lemon Butter

This is a very simple recipe but very tasty as well. The trout filets were cooked for 5 min. on the Weber but they could be done in the oven as well. We whipped together 1/4C softened butter, 1T fresh lemon juice and 1/2t of dried dill. The butter was spread on the fish just before serving. We served the trout with boiled potatoes topped with butter and parsley and steamed broccoli. A dry, crisp white wine finished the meal.

Chicken Patties with Spicy Aioli Sauce - Adapted from Recipezaar

We found this recipe for leftover chicken but think it would work well with raw chicken as well.  In advance, make the sauce by mixing 1/3C mayo with 2T spicy brown mustard and 2 cloves minced garlic.  The original recipe called for honey mustard but we prefer spicy.  Salt and pepper to taste and cool until ready to serve.

Mix 3C cooked diced chicken with 1/3C diced red onion, 1/4C chopped basil, 1t tarrigon, 1 slightly beaten egg, 1/4C may, 1/3C dry bread crumbs.  Mix well and chill until ready to cook and then form into patties.  Brown gently in vegetable oil and top with the sauce.  Obviously, if you are using raw chicken, make sure it is well cooked.