French Farmhouse Garlic Chicken & Grilled Asparagus w/ Sorrel Dressing

So had MRS. Becker over tonight - and totally forgot she didn't like meat....so um don't make this for those that don't like chicken :)  BUT it was very tasty....esp if you like the taste of garlic!!  It only takes like 15 minutes from start to finish - so super good meal to make on a busy night!

The asparagus is really good - esp with the sauce!  Our grill has like 17 inches on top of it - so I didn't grill this, but just threw in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes - and drizzled some olive oil on top.  Try it - you will like it :)

Last but not least I made mashed potatoes too -- all three were the perfect amount!  ENJOY!!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
40 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used cooking wine) + 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon cooking oil
4 teaspoon flour

Directions:
Rinse chicken, pat dry, and salt/pepper both sides.  On medium-high, heat oil in skillet.  Add chicken and garlic - cook chicken 2-3 minutes on each side.  Slowly add wine, broth, lemon juice, basil, and oregano.  Cover and simmer 6-8 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through).

Combine flour and 2 tablespoons wine in a small bowl - stirring to a slurry consistency.  Add to skillet and blend to a smooth gravy. (Tip: I removed the chicken before adding so it was easier to blend in)

If you want more gravy for potatoes - double the gravy recipe (which is everything but the chicken and garlic)

Grilled Asparagus with Sorrel Dressing

Ingredients:

¼ cup plain low fat yogurt

¼ cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

¼ cup finely snipped sorrel or spinach (used spinach but don’t necessarily even need that)

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning (optional)

1 pound asparagus spears

2 Tablespoons water

For dressing, in a small bowl combine yogurt, mayonnaise, sorrel, green onion, and, if desired, lemon pepper seasoning.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Fold a 36x18 inch piece of heavy foil in half to make and 18x18 inch square.  Snap off and discard the woody bases from asparagus.  Place asparagus in center of foil.  Fold up edges of foil slightly; drizzle asparagus with water.  Bring up 2 opposite edges of foil; seal with a double fold.  Fold remaining ends to completely enclose the asparagus, leaving space for steam to build.

Grill asparagus on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium hot heat about 15 min or until crisp-tender, turning once.  Serve with dressing.

GUAC!!

So this isn't new - but it's probably the only "dish" I've perfected :)  We had tacos tonight - which means GUAC!!  I put my perfected recipe down below - along with some suggestions / tips....it's ALMOST as good as Chipotles!

Ingredients:

3 avocadoes (peeled, pitted, mashed)

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 red onion, diced

salt / cayenne pepper      (this is something you can skip if you don't have on hand)

2 tablespoon cilantro       (this is something you can skip too...but it tastes oh so yummy!)

1/2 jalapeno                       (you can skip this too if you want - esp if you don't like the kick)

1 tablespoon garlic

1 limes juice

Mix all together - refridge a bit before serving.  If you have leftovers - throw a little more lime juice in to keep it from turning brown.

Also, while I was making it - I thought it might be very Rachel Ray of me to put some cooking tools on here as well.  During cookbook club - I realized not everyone has been to quite as many Pampered Chef parties as I have, so thought it would be fun to put some of my favorite "go-to" cooking tools.  Pay attention you engaged girls - I would totally register for some of these :)

So the minced garlic - yeah you can't register for that but it's such a lifesaver!  We pretty much have garlic in about everything we eat....so instead of having to mince a garlic clove daily - we just went this route.  It works great - and if you like flavor, my only suggestion would be to double the amount it says.

On to the scissors...I for real use this EVERY meal.  If you don't like to touch / cut raw chicken - this is your friend.  I use this to cube/cut any meat....even bacon.  The reason I used it for quac - was for the cilantro.  It's such an easy way to cut up herbs- you just need to put the fresh herbs kinda in a bunch and then just cut away.  It's so awesome - and way faster than actually "cutting" up herbs.

Last (but not least!) is the nifty little tool in black....I use this everytime I make quac / mashed potatoes.  Basically it's just a "spoon" to mash up the avocado - but it works really good!  I also use it with mashed potatoes (once they are soft) - to sort of mix it all together.  I got this at a Pampered Chef party - so if you ever attend what and are panicking about "what you really would use" - if you like either, buy it up!!

Filet Mignon w/ Balsamic Syrup & Roasted Beet Salad

So I might have been jinxed....I hung out with Miss Leslie this weekend, and she said she was waiting for me to post something that didn't turn out OR that I didn't like.....WELL - this was awesome BUT I came away with a blister on my finger and our house smells like burnt sugar....

Got both these recipes from "Giada's Family Dinners" cookbook - enjoy!

Filet Mignon with Balsamic Syrup

Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 (5oz) filet mignons
2 oz fresh goat cheese

Boil the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, until reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes.  (**so I had this on high heat - and I ended up burning this...so my suggestion : 1. do not touch a hot / boiling sauce :)  2. Get to boiling - then drop heat to medium and stir the whole time until it thickens and is reduced to 1/3 cup)

Meanwhile, preheat the broiler.  Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper.  Cook the steaks to desired doneness - about 3 min per side.  (We actually just grilled the steaks).  Transfer the steaks to a baking sheet - crumble the cheese over the steaks and broil until cheese melts - about 1 minute.  Sprinkle with pepper

Transfer the steak to plate - and drizzle balsamic sauce around the steak.  (We didn't get to this - as I burnt the sauce to a crisp ...but the steak/cheese was really good - so I'll have to try this recipe again and not burn myself next time!

Roasted Beet Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese and Avocado

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots (found these by the garlic at EP Rainbow....size of garlic clove)

1 tablespoon honey

1/3 cup olive oil

6 medium beets, peeled, each cut into 6 wedges

6 cups arugula, stems removed (found this in the organic section at EP Rainbow)

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cubed

3 oz crumbled goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 - place foil on a baking sheet.  Wash and peel beets.

In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegar, shallots, and honey to blend.  Gradually whisk in the oil - season this with salt and pepper.  Toss the beats with enough dressing to coat.  Place the beet mixture in the center of the foil - top with another piece of foil and crimp the edges of the foil to seal tightly.  Roast the beets until they are tender when pierced with a fork (about 30 minutes).  Uncover the beets and continue roasting until they are slightly caramelized - shaking the pan occasionally, about 25 min.  Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl - toss the arugula, walnuts, and cranberries with enough of the remaining vinaigrette to coat.  Season the salad with salt and pepper.  Arrange beets, avocado, and goat cheese - then serve.

Honey Dijon Pork Tenderloin

Was looking for a fast meal since we had plans tonight - so gotta love the crock pot!!  Just put this in before I left for work - and it was ready to go by the time we came home!  We ate this with garlic mashed potatoes and the carrots (recipe below).  Super easy - YUM!!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 ½ to 2 lbs pork tenderloin

½ teas salt

¼ teas pepper

1/2c balsamic vinegar

3 Tbl honey

1 Tbl Dijon mustard

½ teas dried leaf thyme

Dash garlic powder

Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper – place in slow cooker

In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients; pour over pork, turning pork to coat all sides.  Cover and cook on LOW 7-8 hours (HIGH 3.5 – 4hrs).  On my crock pot - it really only took about 6 hours on low.

Carrots

Makes 2 servings

1 1/2 cup carrots

1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil

2 1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

Heat oil - saute carrots till tender.  (Make sure to continue to stir - or they will burn...)  Then just stir in vinegar and brown sugar - and serve!

Mexican Stuffed Tomatoes

So Ross claimed the other day that we don't eat enough variety of veggies - since I only really like green beans, squash, asparagus, and corn....SO I decided to try different veggie recipes AND make it a goal to have a veggie with most of our meals.....I'm not a HUGE fan of tomatoes - but this was really really good!!  We made this with chicken and brown rice - and it was super good!!

Serves 4                                  

Ingredients:

5 yellow vine-ripe tomatoes

Salt and pepper

2 jarred pimentos, drained and chopped

1/4 red onion, chopped

1/2 small zucchini, 1/4-inch dice

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in palm of your hand

2 tablespoons, a handful, fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley leaves, your choice, chopped

2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Cut the tops off 4 tomatoes and trim a thin slice off the bottoms so that they will sit upright easily. Hollow out the tomatoes with a spoon over garbage bowl or sink. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper. Remove stem of remaining tomato. Seed and chop tomato.

In a bowl, combine chopped tomato, pimentos, onions, zucchini, jalapeno, lemon juice, oregano and cilantro or parsley. Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over the bowl. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the bowl in a slow stream or about 2 tablespoons. Toss mixture to combine and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Fill the empty tomatoes with stuffing and serve.

Artichoke and Leek Lasagne

Got this recipe from my cousin Jenn - and she had made some recommendations after she made this, so I went with that.  It was SUPER tasty - only thing is the prep time....it took about an hour to make - and an hour to bake.  However, it was realllllly good and different than your typical "lasagne"  (even Ross liked it - and he says it's not a meal unless it has meat....ha ha)

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. dried semolina lasagna noodles (cook at least 12 lasagna noodles)

3 cups ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 Tbs. olive oil

12 baby leeks, including 3 inches of green  portion, or 5 large leeks, including 1 inch of  green, rinsed well and cut into 1/2-inch dice

Fresh  mushrooms

½ yellow onion

Juice of 1 lemon

4 large or 20 baby artichokes (buy artichoke hearts)

1/2 cup water

Fresh spinach leaves (optional)

Teaspoon sage

5 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups heavy whipping cream

3 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

1 lb. whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded

Bring a large pot 3/4th full of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the noodles and cook until al dente, 8-12 minutes.  Drain, immerse in cold water to cool and drain again.  Lay the noodles on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper, and spinach leaves/sage; set aside.

In a fry pan over medium-low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the leeks, mushroom, and onion and sauté until very soft and lightly golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set the pan and leeks aside.
.
Drain the artichokes and add to the fry pan along with the 1/2 cup water and juice of 1 lemon and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat until the liquid evaporates and the artichokes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to the bowl with the leeks and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the whipping cream to just below a boil. In another saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Stir the flour into the butter and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the hot cream. Set over medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until thick and smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove the sauce from the heat.

Position a rack in the upper third of an oven and preheat to 375°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with olive oil.

Cover the bottom of the prepared dish with a layer of the noodles. Spoon one-third of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Then add shredded mozzarella. Top with one-third of the leek-artichoke mixture and then with one-third of the sauce. Repeat the layering twice. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top. Bake until golden and bubbling, 40 to 50 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.

Cookie Season!!

So part of the Ronhovde tradition is baking all our cookies together - and splitting them out between us all.  We had our "bake-off" yesterday, and it was a lot of fun!  Lots of these cookies remind me of "the olden days" - when my mom would get out her cookie dish - and put all the different cookies out.....and she would cover them but we would of course sneak and eat them before the guests arrived....and she would have to refill it!  OR she would run down to the basement fridge to get the PB balls - and they would oddly enough be almost gone....  :) 

It also reminds me of when the Feldmanns would come visit - us girls would play hide-and-seek in the basement and eat up the cookies that just happened to be near our hiding spot!!  That's right mom - I finally admitted where they went!! :)

Anyways - super fun day yesterday!!  These recipes have been passed down generation to generation - so I left some of the "terms" the same as I received them, but tried to explain what that translated to in 2010.  Love you Grandma!!

We even had one Gingerbread Man RUN AWAY!!  "Run, run as fast you can - you can't catch me, I'm the Ronhovde Gingerbread Man!"

Almond Bark Cookies

Melt 1lb almond coating in top of double boiler or heat up in mircowave (put in for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until totally softened).

Add:
1 cup thin pretzel sticks (broken up)
1 cup miniature colored marshmallows
1 cup salted peanuts
1 cup captain crunch cereal
2/3 cup rice krispies

Mix lightly until well coated - then drop by spoonful on waxed paper.  Chill - then store in freezer in plastic bags.

Peanut Butter Balls

2 cup powdered sugar
2 cup crushed graham crackers
2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup softened butter
1 lb dipping chocolate (herseys bars softened)
Paraffin (kinda looks like wax...finely grate)

Mix together except chocolate - form ball in bowl - chill for 1 hour.  Make into 1 inch balls and chill in freezer for 1 more hour.

Melt chocolate and dip each ball on it - place on a buttered foil cookie sheet and chill.

Gingerbread Men

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark molasses

1/4 cup water

2 1/2 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon ginger, nutmeg, and salt

Cream shortening and sugar.  Blend in molasses, water, flour, salt, soda, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.  Cover - chill for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 375.  Roll dough 1/4 inch thick - cut with cutouts - and place on ungreased baking sheet.  Place in eyes - and then bake 10 to 12 minutes.  Immediately remove from baking sheet - and trim with icing.

Christmas Wreaths

1/2 cup butter

30 large marshmallows

3 1/2 cup corn flakes

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon green food color

Melt butter and marshmallows in double boiler (or microwave every 30 seconds and stir).  Add color, vanilla, and corn flakes.  Blend while warm - drop on ungreased cookie sheet and shape into wreaths (while dipping fingers in cool water).  Decorate with candy.

Nut Goodie Bars

Large package chocolate chips

Large package butterscotch chips

1 cup peanut butter

6 oz peanuts

1 package miniature marshmallows

Butter jelly roll pan - pour nuts and marshmallows in pan.  Melt the choc chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter.  Pour melted mixture over the peanuts and marshmallows (stir it in so it all sticks better and y ou don't lose the peanuts).


Crisp White Sugar Cookies - from Grandma Green

2 cups flour & 1/2 teaspoon soda : sift 3 times

1/2 cup butter - work into flour till well blended.

2 eggs beaten, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon flavoring: mix and add to flour mixture

Roll thin and bake in 350 degree oven

Unbaked Chocolate Balls - from Grandma Green

Heat 2 packages of chocolate chips (or 1 large) and 1 can Borden's milk for 5 minutes.

Add:

17 crushed graham crackers

Vanilla and 1 tablespoon butter

Pour in pan and cool.  Then roll in small balls and in powdered sugar.

Pink and Green Bon-Bons - from Grandma Green

1/2 cup spry (crisco)

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 egg well beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (white powder)

Cream sugar and shortening.  Add eggs and extract - beat well.  Add dry ingredients.  Divide the dough and add redn / green food coloring.  Roll in balls and put on greased cookie sheet-  and bake slow at 350 degrees.

Fruity Santas

Ingredients

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

½ cup marshmallow cream

12 large fresh strawberries

12 fresh pineapple chunks or canned pineapple chunks (about 1 inch pieces)

12 frilled toothpicks

24 miniature semisweet chocolate chips

12 white fudge covered Oreos

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and marshmallow cream together with a mixer on high speed until fluffy.

Place cream cheese mixture in decorating bag fitted with a #16 star tip.

Cut each strawberry in ½ crosswise.  Place a chunk of pineapple in center and secure with toothpick – repeat until done.

Press chocolate chips into pineapple for eyes – pipe cream cheese around top and bottom part of strawberry to form fur around the hat, then pipe cream cheese around pineapple to form Santa’s beard.

Refrigerate (no more than 2 hours).  Serve on white cream covered Oreos of a white cookie of your choice.

Pretzel Treats

1 bag pretzel Rings

2 bags Hershey’s Hugs

1 bag holiday M&Ms

Parchment Paper

Preheat oven to 250.  Place pretzels rings on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Put one Hershey hug in the center of the pretzel ring.  Bake 2 – 3 min.  Watch carefully.  The hugs should begin to melt down, but will not be fully melted.  Remove from oven and lightly press one M&M in the middle of the hug.  Do not remove from cookie sheet until fully hardened.  It works best to put them in the refrigerator for a bit.