To try: Braciole

Aka rouladen if you're a good ol' German boy. Meatloaf version is Rachael Ray; steak version is haphazardly adapted from Alton Brown recipe which reviewers said was "like my Nonna's" and impressed "my seriously Italian girlfriend."

Alton advises on how to flatten flank steak, how to wrap n' roll and how to pitch a tinfoil tent here.

I loooove Alton, but after all that, Rachael's looks so much simpler it's probably what I'll try first!

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, pork and veal mix from the butcher's counter (meatloaf mix)
(or
(3 cups tomato or spaghetti sauce plus
(1 pound flank steak: get butcher to butterfly it, then pound it 1/4-inch thick)

For braciole mix:

Salt and pepper
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 small white onion, grated
2 tablespoons golden or dark raisins, chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts, chopped
3 tablespoons grated cheese, Parmigiano or Romano
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley (rosemary, oregano)

For layering (skip for steak):
1 cup arugula leaves or baby spinach
6 slices prosciutto di Parma
6 slices deli sliced provolone

For drizzling:
Extra-virgin olive oil


Meatloaf version:
---Preheat oven to 450. Mix meat and next 10 ingredients. Flatten meat out on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet into a thin layer: 1/2-inch thick, 12 inches long by 6 to 8 inches wide.
---Layer on spinach, prosciutto and cheese, then roll the meat, using the waxed paper to help roll up into a large log, rolling up the short side to get a 12-inch long log.
---Drizzle the log with olive oil to coat lightly. Roast meatroll 20 minutes. Cut into 1-inch slices, 3 pieces per portion, and serve.

Thin steak version:

---Preheat oven to 350.
---Pound steak flat under plastic. Mix next 10 ingredients into a paste.
---Brush steak with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the filling evenly over the meat. Roll tightly and tie with butcher's twine.
---Put spaghetti sauce in 9-by-13 baking dish and place in the oven to heat. Make a tinfoil tent for the dish that won't touch the meatroll once placed inside.
---In a large saute pan, sear all sides of the rolled meat.
---Put meatroll in the sauce; cover with tinfoil tent so that the foil is not touching the meat. Braise for 35 minutes or up to 3 hours. (Reviewers say 35-45 min results in very rare beef and an hour ten or an hour 25 is more like it.)

To try: Sopapilla Cheese Cake

From the same round robin. And doesn't this look good too:

3 8 oz. cream cheese
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 cans of small crescent rolls
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick of butter

Set oven at 350 degrees. Grease bottom of pan (13x9). Mix cream cheese and only 1 1/2 cups of sugar, add vanilla, mix until creamy. Unroll 1 can of the crescent rolls and lay on bottom of greased pan. Spread cream mix on top. Top with the other can of crescent rolls. Melt butter and pour over top. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 mins.

To try: Italian Sausage & Tortellini Soup

From a friend's big sister, in an e-mail round robin!

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 c. coarsely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, sliced
5 c. beef broth (3 cans)
1/2 c.water
1/2 c. dry red wine
2 c. (4 med) chopped, seeded, peeled tomatoes
1 c. thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tsp. basil leaves
1/2 tsp. oregano leaves
8 oz. can tomato sauce
11/2 c. sliced zucchini
8 oz. (weight) or (or two cups) meat or cheese tortellini
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 med. green pepper cut into 1/2 in. squares
Grated Parmesan cheese


Remove casings from sausage if present. In 5 qt. Dutch oven brown sausage, reserving 1 tbsp drippings in oven. Saute onions and garlic in reserved drippings until onions are tender. Add beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce and sausage. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 min. Skim fat from soup. Stir in zucchini, tortellini, parsley and green pepper. Simmer covered an additional 30 min. or until tortellini are tender. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over each serving. Yields eight 1½ c. servings.

'Tis the season: Saline solution

This is not glamorous, but it's a much-needed recipe. Since I began periodically using a nasal saline wash, my seasonal allergy symptoms are much better and consumption of yucky medicines down.

1 teaspoon table salt
1 pinch baking soda
1 quart tap water

Stir in a microwavable container (a glass quart jar works well). Boil for 5 minutes in the microwave. Let cool until warm to the touch.

Fill a bulb syringe with saline solution (about 10 cc), put the tip of the syringe in one nostril, aiming straight back. Lean over sink, and slowly squeeze until syringe is emptied. Repeat in other nostril. Store unused solution covered in refrigerator and warm before using.

Ginger Pork Potstickers

Lots of steps but the steps aren't hard. Also, fairly forgiving -- mess with the proportions and ingredients and you will still probably get a tasty dinner. This is my recipe, melded from a survey of many recipes and about ten years of practice. I regularly get rave reviews.

Potsticker wrappers
3/4 lb pork, trimmed into little cubes
6-10 spinach leaves
6-8 cloves garlic
1 tbsp grated ginger
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 or 3 cans chicken broth

Cube up the pork, mince the spinach leaves and garlic, grate the ginger. Stir up with the soy, rice wine and sesame oil. Let mixture marinate up to 1 day.

Lay out 6 potsticker wrappers, paint a thin circle of water around the rim of each, scoop a small spoonful of pork mix into center, fold in half and pinch-pleat the edge shut. Repeat till you have a small army of little potstickers awaiting your command.

Fry each dumpling a little bit on each side and bottom to crisp up the wrapper. I put several in a pan at once and fry one side, then flip, then stand 'em all up to fry the bottoms. Tongs are great for this.

With all the potstickers you can fit in a pan standing upright on their bottoms, pour in enough chicken broth to mostly cover the little guys. Simmer until most of the broth cooks away (maybe 20-30 minutes). Start eating.

For dipping sauce, mix soy with a bit of rice wine and sesame oil (plus a little garlic salt).

A nice presentation is to stir-fry some snow peas (just until they are bright green), layer those on a dish and place the potstickers on top.

Makes about 30, depending on how much you fill each wrapper (the wrappers are available at Asian or chi-chi groceries). I have yet to figure out a good healthy side dish for this because I simply start wolfing them down until I'm not hungry anymore, but the snow peas are a start!

Pecan Chicken

Needs a little refinement but YUM. Adapted from this salad recipe, which looks scrumptious.

The area where it needs refinement is that the breading did not stay evenly on the chicken pieces. I may find the trick to this eventually, but for now it's only a cosmetic flaw -- i.e. I will readily eat this myself, but not make it for company till I get the breading worked out!


2 cups or more crushed pecans
3 or more chicken breasts
Garlic salad dressing

Dredge chicken in dressing, then in pecans. Bake in 9x13 pan at 400 for 25 min.

Quick chicken: Lemon-herb, pecan, popcorn

One of those big packs of 6 chicken breasts adds up to nearly a full work-week of eating this way.

Difficulty: Low. Flavor: High. Yield: 8 entrees, all with sides. (Because difficulty was so low, I actually made the sides!)
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.italic.gif
Trim chicken. Cut about 4/5 into fairly regular medallion-size pieces (for even frying and to increase coating area). Trim the last 1/5 into smaller chunks and toss in bag with Italian breadcrumbs.

Take half the medallions and coat with garlic salad dressing and pecans for Pecan Chicken. Bake in 9x13 pan at 400 for 25 min.

While that's baking, fry the Italian breadcrumb pieces in olive oil (this is Popcorn Chicken).

Rinse out pan and make Lemon Chicken with Carrots.

While lemon chicken is simmering, make the rice, cook some corn and make some small salads.

Nicole's Bread Pudding

My friend Nicole's recipe. Simple, lovely and comforting to have on hand for warm breakfasts or snacks.

Might also travel well to brunches, etc. (It bakes up pretty, especially with the raisins -- I left them out, but if you want them, sprinkle some in when you layer the toast pieces.)

12 slices white bread
1 stick melted butter

Toast and tear the bread. Arrange pieces in 9x13 baking dish. Pour butter over.

4 cups milk
8 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
cinnamon
vanilla extract

Beat together and pour over toast pieces. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Sausage-Egg Casserole

Great for overnight guests because the meat part can be done a day ahead. Modified a bit from the original on Epicurious.

1 pound Owens sage sausage
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes or roasted peppers

5 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 pint half and half
2 cups grated mozzarella
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cook and crumble the sausage. Drain and place in 9x13 baking dish. Saute the garlic 3 min, then add tomatoes and stir 1 min. Add garlic and tomatoes to baking dish and mix up with the sausage. (Can do this part up to 1 day ahead and store in fridge, or, possibly, freeze for a week but I did not test this. Shallots, parsley added in
original.)

Combine eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, 1.5 cups of the cheese and salt in a bowl; pour over sausage mix. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Bake at 375 about 30 min till top is golden-brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean. (Note: Sausage and tomatoes magically bubble up and distribute themselves evenly!)

Let it rest 5 min before serving.

Time: about 40 min. prep plus 30 min. baking and 5 min rest.
Difficulty: Very easy! Serves: probably 6-8, or reheats well for
second day serving 4 : )

Spiced cider

Smells lovely and, in a slow-cooker, doesn't get in the way of your other holiday preparations.

Two quarts, it turns out, is not an awful lot; if numerous people are sipping (or a few people really like it), have another jug of cider handy and prepare a second bag of spices.

The ingredient list looks like a giant pain, but if you have a fancy store like Central Market in your area that sells loose spices, you can scoop and buy a teaspoon of each for pennies -- I got all of these for a total of about 53 cents. (Nothing else in the store is cheap!)

(From Allrecipes.com, where they offer instructions for brewing in your coffeepot.)

1/2 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp salt
1 pinch ground nutmeg
2 qts apple cider
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large orange, cut into wedges with peel

Wrap spices in muslin, tie with kitchen twine.
Put apple cider in slow-cooker, stir in brown sugar, add orange wedges and spice bag.
Heat for 20 min, then remove spice bag (this step optional).

Lazy Thanksgiving

This requires three solid hours of labor (not including doing the dishes after), plus some prep work on the two nights before T-day. So I'm not sure it qualifies as a "lazy" Thanksgiving, but it's about as simple as I can make it and still supply turkey with three sides plus dessert!

The method used for cooking the turkey breast is Gourmet Magazine's high-heat "simplest turkey" method from Nov. 2005. A 6-8lb turkey breast should provide 8-10 servings -- enough for two, but not so much we get tired of leftovers!

Le Menu: Simple Turkey Breast with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, Rosemary Potatoes, Buttered Corn, Spinach Salad and Pumpkin Pie

Several days before: Get groceries before the stores sell out of everything!
Make sure you have:
---salad dressing, at least 1 tsp black pepper, at least 2 tsp salt, olive oil, butter, rosemary (ours is growing out back so it's not on grocery list)
---9x13 glass baking dish; large flameproof roasting pan; V-rack; instant-read thermometer; serving dishes for sauce, corn, potatoes and salad; saucepan

Grocery list:
V-rack
Raspberry-chipotle sauce
6- to 8-pound turkey breast (with skin and bone)
2 lb. new potatoes
bag o' salad greens
garlic
2 pkg frozen corn
2 frozen pumpkin pies: Sara Lee ChefPierre or Marie Callender's
Whipped cream
Milk


T-minus 2: (Tuesday)

• About 8 p.m., place turkey breast in refrigerator, if planning to eat dinner at 1 p.m. (thaw 24 hours per 5lb of turkey).

T-minus 1: (Wednesday)

• Bake pumpkin pie (can take 90 min and needs to firm up afterwards). Refrigerate.

• Mince garlic, clean & chop rosemary

• Make seasoning mixes.

TURKEY SEASONING:
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoons black pepper
(a little garlic, olive oil & rosemary?)
POTATO SEASONING:
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. snipped fresh rosemary, crushed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

T-day:

• 10:30 a.m.

Pull out one oven rack and keep it outside oven.
Put oven rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 450°F.
Rinse turkey and pat dry; rub or sprinkle turkey seasoning mix in cavities and all over skin.
Put turkey on V-rack in roasting pan.
Set table and make iced tea.

• 11 a.m.

Put turkey in oven.
Wash salad greens.
Get saucepan out and ready to cook corn.
Get pumpkin pie out and let it warm.

• 11:40

Rotate turkey pan 180 degrees.
Scrub & quarter the new potatoes; arrange in glass dish, pour on potato seasoning mix and toss to coat.
Cook frozen corn, put in serving dish and stir with butter.

• 12:10

Check turkey; keep roasting up to another 20 minutes until thermometer inserted in thickest part of each breast half (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

• WHEN TURKEY IS DONE:

Remove turkey and let stand 30 minutes (temperature in breast will rise to between 175°F and 180°F).
Put in spare oven rack; switch oven to bake (also at 450); bake potatoes uncovered about 25 minutes or until brown and tender.

• Around 1 p.m.

Slice turkey and serve with raspberry-chipotle sauce, corn, potatoes and salad.
After dinner have some pumpkin pie with whipped cream and milk.
Lay about and watch football!

To try: Berry Compote

At a very cozy, uspcale cafe the other day we had "French-toast casserole" and some kind of berry mixture. This is my best guess at how to do it:

Strawberry-Raspberry Compote

from http://www.driscolls.com/recipes/poundcake.html

1 tbsp. sugar 1/4 cup dry red wine 2 tbsp. water 2 strips lemon peel 2 whole cloves 1 cup strawberries 1/2 cup raspberries

• In small non-aluminum sauce pan, combine sugar, wine, water, lemon peel and cloves. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Cool.
• In medium bowl, place strawberries and raspberries. Strain cooled liquid over berries. Allow to stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or refrigerate several hours or over night.

Baked French Toast Casserole

modified from a Paula Deen recipe

Similar to Nicole's wonderful bread pudding recipe, which uses slices of toasted white bread, which I bet would work here too. Also I like that this version mentions you can make it the night before -- I once made a Christmas-Eve-morning ever so much less enjoyable by trying to assemble the bread pudding with family sitting around trying to enjoy each others' company.

20" loaf French bread (or 16 pc toasted white bread?)

8 eggs

2 cups half-and-half

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Dash salt

Maple syrup to top

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. Arrange slices in buttered 9-by-13-inch baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 40 min until puffed and slightly golden.

Eh: Tacos, Lemon chicken, salmon week

Not too difficult, but also not necessarily worth repeating, flavor-
wise. Either my allergies are sapping my appetite or these tacos
simply aren't as good as the last time. Perhaps sub in a roast and/
or cream tacos.

Cook up 1lb ground beef and make tacos: 30 min, yield 5 meals
Chop garlic, ginger, carrots while simmering rice: 1 hour
Marinate salmon
Trim chicken, flour and brown it, then simmer with sauce mix: 1 hour,
yield 4-5 meals
Glaze and bake salmon; trim and stirfry green beans: 1 hour, yield 4
meals

$50 total; 3.5 hours cooking; 13 meals @ $3.80 each

To try: Green chili chicken; Poblano chicken; Date/bacon bites

Poblano chicken: Combine this with the green chili chicken to do all your roastin' at
once?

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/106892

Parmesan-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon: Apparently an old traditional favorite, and the reviewers all say it is easy to make and gets rave reviews at parties:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/232778

Green Chili with Chicken

8 mild New Mexico or poblano chiles
2 jalapeño chiles, optional
1/4 cup olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
11/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 cans (14 oz. each) chicken broth
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 cup whipping cream or half-and-half
2 Tbsp. cornmeal

Garnishes: Chopped chiles, crumbled Mexican cheese, chopped onion, minced
cilantro, salsa

Heat the broiler; roast the chiles, turning, until blackened on all sides, about 8 minutes. Set in paper bag to cool and then peel off the really black parts, seed and chop chiles.

Cube the chicken.

Saute garlic, onions, cumin.
Add chicken and cook, stirring, till chicken is opaque (8 min).
Add chicken broth, tomatoes, oregano and reserved chiles. Bring to boil, cover and simmer 50 min. Stir occasionally.
Stir in cream and cornmeal; cook 10 minutes.

To try: Spicy recipes

Allspice Beef -- a pot roast that might go well with the wonderful
rosemary potatoes

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/232969
---------------
Apricot Almond Chicken -- it just uses ingredients I like to keep on
hand!!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/231356

4 chicken breasts
5/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp whole-grain mustard (or ground ginger)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Lightly
oil a 13- by 9-inch flameproof baking dish (not glass).

Bake chicken 10 min, seasoned w/ salt & pepper. Toast almonds in
small baking pan beside it -- stir twice, pull out before chicken.
Combine apricot, soy, mustard, butter, dash salt, 2 dash pepper. Stir
in small pan till preserves melt. Pour over chicken and bake 10 min
more.

Turn on broiler and broil chicken 4 to 5 inches from heat, basting
once, until chicken is glazed and browned in spots, about 3 minutes.
Serve sprinkled with almonds.

---------------
Lamb Chops with Cumin, Cardamom and Lime
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/107353

8 (1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick) rib lamb chops (2 lb)

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp plus 2 teaspoons olive oil

Marinate lamb 15 min (or longer) in bag with garlic, cumin, cardamom,
lime juice, salt, pepper, and 2 teaspoons oil.

Use 1 Tbsp oil over moderate/high heat to cook half the lamb (3-4 min
per side); wipe pan & repeat with rest of lamb.
---------------
Steaks with Orange-Fennel Crust
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/232971

Try when making meatballs (grinding fennel anyway!) and orange beef
stir-fry.

4 7-oz beef tenderloin steaks

1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/2 tsp ground fennel
1/2 tsp orange zest
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 tsp Dijon mustard

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 500°F.

Stir together bread crumbs, fennel, zest, 1 Tbsp oil and half the
salt and pepper.

Salt and pepper the steaks, heat an oven-safe pan with remaining oil,
and sear 3-4 min till steaks are brown on bottom. Take pan off heat;
flip steaks over; spread tops with mustard and then top evenly with
breadcrumb mix.

Move skillet to oven; roast 5 min.
---------------
Chik Nug-et
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/106361

With the hot sauce, sounds like Buffalo stuff that my husband
likes. Without, it might tastily mimic a certain restaurant whose
offerings I am addicted to.

4 chicken breasts
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon bottled hot sauce plus additional for serving
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups fresh bread crumbs (from 6 slices firm white sandwich bread)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Pound chicken to 1/3 inch thick and cut into chunks. Coat in bag
with buttermilk, hot sauce, salt and pepper -- let stand 15 min.
Press pieces gently into mixture of bread crumbs, cayenne and 1/2 tsp
salt.

Fry in veggie oil.
---------------

Honey Hoisin Salmon

Easy, flavorful, pretty -- good for guests!

(much modified from original version on http://www.recipezaar.com/411426">recipezaar)

6-oz. salmon fillets

Marinade for salmon
1 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 Tbsp garlic (do not overdo)
2 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar

Glaze
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
salt

Put the marinade in a plastic bag, set the salmon flesh-down in it and refrigerate 1 day (notes: Salmon only keeps a couple days in the fridge so don't dawdle. Might want to score the flesh for better absorption).

Preheat over to 350. Put fillets flesh-side up in an oiled baking dish. Coat with at least half the honey-hoisin glaze. Bake 15-20 minutes, stopping halfway through to glaze again.

Orrrrr --
To use frozen salmon fillets WITHOUT thawing them, which is not only a Lazy Chef ultimate goal but also a fairly amazing way to keep a very healthy food on hand without going to the grocery store every five minutes....

--Preheat oven to 400
--Rinse frozen fillets in cold water to remove "ice glaze" and pat dry with paper towels
--Put fillets on a greased baking sheet or foil-lined sheet
--Brush with marinade, or a low-smoke-point oil such as avocado plus seasonings
-- Bake 30-45 minutes.

One source recommends 5 minutes per oz of fillet, ie 30 min for 6-oz, 40 min for 8-oz; all sources pretty much say you can tell it's done properly when it flakes easily on the tines of a fork.

Tortilla soup, chipotle flautas, lemon-herb chicken

Kitty's Tortilla Soup (6 srv), Chipotle Chicken Flautas (3 srv) and Lemon-Herb Chicken (4 srv)

Yield: 13 meals, not bad
Cost:
Flavor:
Labor: Somewhat heavy: about 2.5 hours.

Grocery: 6pack chicken breasts, corn tortillas, pico de gallo or salsa to top flautas, rice, 40 or more oz chicken broth, 16 oz RoTel Fiesta, 11 oz sweet corn, lemons, carrots, garlic, lime, small yellow onion, grated cheese

Have on hand: cumin, paprika, chipotle seasoning, oregano

Day 1 (est: 1.5 hr)

Trim chicken; put half (the thick pieces) in broth to simmer 20 min. Shred cooked chicken and save a third for flautas. (save any extra broth for lemon mix) Refrigerate thin chicken pieces.

Chop carrots for lemon chicken. Refrigerate.
Chop garlic and onion (plenty for soup; a little onion/garlic for flautas and a lot of garlic for lemon mix).

Combine the flauta chicken with a little onion and garlic, plus whichever seasonings you can find: chile powder, garlic powder, lime, cumin, paprika, oregano, cayenne.

Finish soup: Toss in garlic, onions, Ro-Tel, corn, lime juice, shredded chicken. Heat.

Make flautas: Warm several tortillas in a little oil. Fill each with chicken mixture; spear with toothpick; fry. Top with cheese and pico or salsa.

Cut several tortillas into strips; fry in fairly deep hot oil. Serve soup with strips and cheese.

Day 2 (est: 1 hr)

Pull thin chicken pieces out of fridge and flour them. Cook rice.
Make lemon mix: Broth, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary, sugar.
Brown floured chicken in butter. Add lemon mix and carrots and simmer 20 min.
Pull chicken out and put atop rice. Add 2 Tbsp butter to sauce and whisk, then pour over chicken.

Week: Potstickers, Cajun shepherd's pie, ravioli

Ginger beef potstickers, Cajun shepherd's pie, store-bought ravioli.
With spinach salads and mandarin orange slices.

This is vastly streamlined from an earlier menu that left me utterly exhausted. Also new to this version: You get to eat food every single night!!

If the estimated time for this is right (3 hr 20 min) and the yield is 12 meals, that's the equivalent of 16 minutes per meal, which I suppose is not horrible. And it's all pretty tasty.
Still need: Price estimate _____

Day Zero: Shoppin' (est: 20 min prep)

Fancy store: Potsticker wrappers, cayenne, white pepper, garlic powder, thyme
Regular store: 1 lb ground beef; garlic, ginger, green pepper, carrots, potatoes, snow peas; spinach; 2 eggs; ravioli and sauce, jar of orange slices

Cook the ravioli and assemble the spinach salads (leaving some spinach for potstickers).

Day 1: Choppin' (est: 1 hour)

Chop/grate the ginger and garlic for the potstickers (and garlic for the shepherd's pie).
Chop spinach for potstickers; carrots and green pepper for shepherd's pie.
Trim and wash the snow peas.
Chop potatoes, boil, mash, refrigerate. (Make a lot.)

Assemble:
---Shepherd's Seasoning: Butter, tabasco, green pepper, cayenne, cumin, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic.
---Potsticker Stuffing: Ginger, garlic, spinach, sauces, beef.

Day 2: Cookin' (est: 1 hour)

Make Shepherd's meatloaf:
--Mix 2 eggs, breadcrumbs and ground beef.
--Saute Shepherd's Seasoning 5 min, scraping often. Let cool, add 1/4 c milk and mix with the meat.
--Make meat into 12x8 "patty," center in ungreased 13x9 pan, bake at 450 for 30 min. Save drippings.

(Build the potstickers while this is cooking, and refrigerate them.)

Pour meat drippings into pan with carrots, salt, garlic powder, pepper and cayenne. Saute 1 1/2 min on high, stirring.

Put the carrots on top of the meat, not around the edges. Layer the mashed potatoes over carrots and meat. (Try putting some potatoes in first so the carrots don't fall)

Bake at 525 until brown on top, about 8-10 minutes. Have dinner and parcel up the rest.

Day 3: More Cookin' (est: 1 hour)

Take the postickers out of the fridge.
Stirfry the snow peas until bright green.
Cook potstickers a dozen or so at a time: fry quickly on all three sides, then fill pan 2/3 full with chicken broth and simmer a half-hour or so till most of the liquid has cooked off.

Cajun Shepherd's Pie

An unbelievably oversimplified version of K-Paul's Cajun Shepherd's
pie (full version http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/americas/cajun/shepherds-pie-paul-
prudhomme1.html">here).


Flavor's pretty good. You need quite a bit of mashed potatoes and not very many carrots at all.

The original, as made by my Mom, is a sovereign cure for colds, flu, allergies or a bad mood, but it takes two days to make (no joke). Oversimplified, it's still more steps than I like to take (note the title of this blog) but it produces some of the same soothing effects, even if it does not actually have the power to heal.

In terms of cooking for a week, it makes at least six portions which do not reheat super-well (perhaps better if you break up the chunk of meatloaf when you package up the portions). That plus the labor involved make it generally unsuitable for a full-week plan, but it's still worth keeping the recipe around.

------------------------------------

Mix 2 eggs, breadcrumbs and ground beef.

In saucepan, combine butter, tabasco, green pepper, cayenne, cumin, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic. Saute 5 min, scraping often.

Let cool, add 1/4 c milk and mix with the meat. Make meat into 12x8 "patty," center in ungreased 13x9 pan, bake at 450 for 30 min; save drippings.

Boil & mash the potatoes.

Combine meat drippings with carrots, salt, garlic powder, pepper and cayenne. Saute 1 1/2 min on high, stirring.

Put the carrots on top of the meat, not around the edges; layer the mashed potatoes over everything.

Queen Elizabeth II's Scone Recipe

Note: These apparently turn out rather a lot like pancakes a there is an excellent exploration of this recipe and how to bake them from an American-measurement-and-equipment perspective here: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/queen_elizabeths_drop_scones/


Got this from a November 2005 Washington Post story. 

Caster or castor sugar is apparently a superfine sugar; my best guess so far is that a "teacup" is equal to 1/3 of a pint of a liquid; some sources have it as equivalent to 1/2 cup and 4/5 cup. Golden syrup is corn syrup.

(Below Liz's original, I wrote out my best guess at what modern equivalents would work out to.)

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From the Washpost story:

Here’s a royal postscript to the recent visit of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, from the just-released collection called "Dear Mr. President : Letters to the Oval Office From the Files of the National Archives."

Charles’ mum was a baker.

In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II saw a newspaper photo that showed President Eisenhower barbecuing quail at the Albany, Ga., home of W. Alton Jones, who was described as a friend and wealthy oilman. It reminded her that she had promised during Eisenhower’s visit to Balmoral to send him the recipe for her drop scones. She jotted it down and sent it to him Jan. 24, 1960 :

... Though quantities are for 16 people, when there are fewer, I generally put in less flour and milk.... I have also tried using golden syrup or Treacle instead of only sugar and that can be very good, too....

Yours sincerely,

Elizabeth R

To make 16 scones, she called for “4 teacups flour, 4 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar, 2 teacups milk, 2 whole eggs, 2 teaspoons bi-carbonate soda, 3 teaspoons cream of tartar and 2 tablespoons melted butter.”

Directions : “Beat eggs, sugar and about half the milk together, add flour, and mix well together adding remainder of milk as required, also bi-carbonate and cream of tartar, fold in the melted butter.” (No information on baking time and temperature given.)

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My translation:

WET ingredients

2 eggs
4 or 5 Tbsp superfine sugar (Grind granulated sugar with a mortar and pestle?)
1 1/3 cup milk

DRY ingredients

2 cups to 3.2 cups flour (Err on the side of less, I think)
2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cream of tartar

2 Tbsp melted butter

Beat together wet ingredients -- eggs, sugar and about half the milk
Add dry ingredients and mix, using rest of milk as required (Err on the side of less milk)
Fold in the melted butter.

My guess at cooking time: 425 degrees, 12-15 minutes.

Makes 16 scones, says Elizabeth R.