Here’s a quick curry-flavored soup that is delicious and easy to make. You can even change up the flavors each time you make it by using different curries. I used curry powder this time (doubling the amount called for); next time I’ll try red, green or yellow Thai curry paste.

Although the soup would be great as is, I decided to add some stir-fry veggies (Napa cabbage, broccoli, snow peas, bok choy, celery and carrots) to the simmering soup for extra flavor and some crunch. I served the soup over fragrant steamed jasmine rice. Yumm…a tasty dinner in no time!

Chicken Curry Soup with Coconut and Lime
-recipe from epicurious.com

Here, lime juice replaces the traditional lemongrass, which can be hard to find. The result is a quick, authentic-tasting Thai-style soup. If coconut milk is unavailable, substitute 1 3/4 cups half and half mixed with 3/4 teaspoon imitation coconut extract. Serves 4.

1 14 1/2-ounce can low-salt chicken broth
1 13 1/2- to 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
1 jalapeño chili, seeded, minced
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup freshly cooked white rice
Lime wedges

Bring chicken broth, coconut milk, curry powder and chili to simmer in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add chicken and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Mix in lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer soup to bowl. Sprinkle green onion and cilantro over. Spoon rice into each bowl. Ladle soup over. Serve, passing lime wedges separately.

Tags: Chicken, cilantro, coconut, curry, lime, soup

If you like Buffalo Chicken Wings, you’re going to love these sandwiches! They’re easy to make, delicious and way more satisfying than those scrawny little chicken wings. I love the spicy red pepper sauce that coats the tender chicken breasts, and the tangy, extremely flavorful blue cheese spread that gets slathered on the bun tops. Basically, this sandwich ROCKS!

I pretty much followed the recipe except I grilled the chicken instead of cooking it in a skillet. Also, I substituted a few tablespoons of mayonnaise for sour cream in the blue cheese spread, which actually added to the overall flavor. The crumbled Gorgonzola that I got at Trader Joe’s worked perfectly in the spread. I didn’t bother serving the sandwich with red onions since the blue cheese spread had green onions in it.  For extra texture and flavor, I toasted the inside of each bun. The sandwich is a little messy so serve with plenty of napkins.

Hot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
- Rachael Ray recipe from foodnetwork.com 

Makes 4 sandwiches.

4 pieces, 6 ounces each, boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 /3 palm full
1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/3 palm full
A drizzle extra-virgin olive oil

Sauce for chicken:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup, 4 ounces, cayenne pepper sauce, preferred brand Frank’s Red Hot
Bib or leaf lettuce leaves
4 crusty rolls, split
2 cups sour cream
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled
Small red onion, thinly sliced
8 ribs celery, cut into sticks
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into sticks

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and chili powder. Drizzle breast with a little extra virgin olive oil to coat. Pan grill chicken breasts 5 minutes on each side.

Heat a metal or oven safe glass bowl over low heat and melt butter in the bowl. Add hot sauce to the butter and combine. When the chicken breasts are done, remove from pan and add to the bowl and coat evenly with hot sauce mixture.

Place chicken breasts on bun bottoms and top with crisp lettuce. Combine sour cream, scallions and blue cheese and slather bun tops with blue cheese sour cream. Affix bun tops on sandwiches and serve with remaining sauce for dipping your veggies. Arrange Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches on dinner plates with red onion, celery and carrot sticks.

Tags: blue cheese, buffalo chicken sandwich, Chicken, Frank's Red Hot Sauce

If you’ve never made Russian Tea Cakes (also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies), you’ve probably eaten them at some point in your life. They’re extremely easy to make, very tasty and a great addition to any holiday cookie platter.  

Although the recipe calls for 1 cup of pecans, I decided to try 1/2 cup of chopped pistachios and 1/2 cup of chopped dried cranberries (soaked in a bit of Grand Marnier or orange juice before chopping to soften them up). I really like how the cookies turned out: a tender, buttery cookie with the added flavor and color of the green pistachios and ruby red cranberries (perfect for Christmas). A little freshly grated orange zest would also be a delicious addition to the pistachios and dried cranberries. The recipe calls for flattening the cookies but I left them in round balls.

After baking, the recipe says to roll the hot cookies in powdered sugar, which is messy and melts the sugar. I find that letting the cookies cool first then rolling them in the powdered sugar works best. I try to knock off the excess powdered sugar from each cookie so that the sugar isn’t inhaled when taking that first bite. Yumm!

Russian Tea Cakes
- adapted from a recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse on foodnetwork.com

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, plus more for rolling cookies
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts (I used 1/2 cup chopped pistachios & 1/2 cup dried chopped cranberries)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla then gradually add the 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Sift the flour, measure, then sift again with the salt. Add gradually to the butter mixture. Add the pecans and mix well.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten slightly using the bottom of a glass, then bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are very lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and roll in powdered sugar while still hot. Cool on wire racks and roll cookies again in powdered sugar before serving.

Once they are completely cooled, cookies may be stored in airtight containers for up to 1 week.

I’m linked to:
Homemade for the Holidays

Tags: Christmas cookies, cranberries, holiday, mexican wedding cookies, pecans, russian tea cakes, snowball cookies

I love pancakes and am always looking for new and interesting ways to make them. I ran across this recipe for Eggnog Pancakes recently and knew I had to try them. Boy, am I glad I did! They are perfect for breakfast during the Christmas season.

The pancakes have a light eggnog flavor and are a cinch to whip up. The pancake batter is very thick so add more eggnog if you need to. I also added a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil to the batter to make them easier to flip in the nonstick pan I was using. I served them with real maple syrup (my favorite)…yumm!

Eggnog Pancakes
-recipe from Taste of Home Magazine

4 Servings.

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups eggnog
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg if desired. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, eggnog and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown. Makes 1 dozen pancakes.

Tags: eggnog, pancakes

Every party needs a few meaty appetizers to keep the festivities rolling. That’s why I brought these Sweet & Sour Cocktail Meatballs to a party recently. Sure, you can buy store-bought meatballs but I thought these were delicious and worth the effort to make (they are firmer in texture than some spongy, store-bought types). Plus, you can make the meatballs and sauce ahead of time and freeze them for up to a month…a bonus when it comes to preparing for a party!

I was getting lazy towards the end of the meatball rolling process so I started making them a bit bigger. Because of that, I only got 74 meatballs instead of 80 (no big deal, though). I used a regular-sized jar of Smucker’s Apricot-Pineapple Preserves (about 2 cups) and added a splash of cider vinegar to make the sauce a bit more tangy. The smaller you mince the onions, the better because you don’t want chunks of onion the size of the meatballs. And remember to buy the toothpicks to spear them with. 

Make-Ahead Sweet and Sour Cocktail Meatballs
-recipe from Cook’s Country Magazine (December 2009)

We wanted to do as much advance preparation as possible so the meatballs could come together in a hurry the night of a party. We needed a sweet, tangy sauce without any hints of artificial candy flavor and meatballs that wouldn’t dry out in the freezer. Here’s what we discovered:
•Browning the meatballs in a skillet was a pain. Baking them in the oven was much faster and ensured the meatballs browned evenly.
•We found that all of the most common binders—bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, and even cornflake crumbs—dried out the meatballs. We settled on a panade, a paste made from bread softened in milk, to protect our meatballs from the dry cold of the freezer.
•Too much seasoning will overpower the meatballs, but too little will be lost in the sauce. The right balance of salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley complimented the sweet and sour flavor of the sauce perfectly.
•Tomato sauce doctored up with red pepper flakes, Dijon mustard, and a few other key ingredients took care of the sour portion of the sauce. For the sweet, we tested every type of jam and jelly we could think of and settled on one standout.
•Freezing the meatballs and sauce in separate containers eliminates almost all of the last-minute prep work. When it’s time to serve, simply reheat the sauce, dump in the frozen meatballs, and you’re done.
•Use a 1 1/4-inch melon baller or a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon to form the meatballs.

Serves 20.
 
Meatballs
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread , torn into pieces 
1/2 cup whole milk  
2 large egg yolks  
1/2 pound ground pork  
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley  
2 garlic cloves , minced 
1 teaspoon salt  
2 teaspoons pepper  
2 1/2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef  

Sauce 
1 tablespoon vegetable oil  
1 onion , minced 
1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce  
2 1/2 cups apricot preserves  
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar  
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce  
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard  
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes  

MAKE MEATBALLS: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Using fork, mash bread, milk, and egg yolks in large bowl until smooth. Add pork, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper and mix until incorporated. Add beef and knead gently until combined.

BAKE MEATBALLS: Form mixture into 1¼-inch meatballs (you should have about 80). Bake meatballs on 2 rimmed baking sheets until cooked through and beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through cooking. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Transfer to large zipper-lock freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month.

MAKE SAUCE: Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in tomato sauce, preserves, sugar, Worcestershire, mustard, and pepper flakes and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Transfer to airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month.

TO SERVE: Reheat sauce, covered and stirring occasionally, in Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Once sauce reaches simmer, stir in frozen meatballs and cook until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve.

STEP BY STEP: Make-Ahead Magic
1. Bake the meatballs, cool them on the counter, and refrigerate.
2. Place the chilled meatballs in zipper-lock bags and freeze. 
3. To reheat, dump the frozen meatballs directly into the simmering sauce.

Tags: Beef, make ahead, meatballs, onions, pork, sweet and sour, tomato sauce

I brought this delicious soup to a friend’s birthday luncheon recently. It’s easy to make, hearty and loaded with all kinds of tasty ingredients, including Italian sausage, carrots, tomatoes, kidney beans, and elbow macaroni.

Since I made the soup the day before I was going to serve it, I did everything up to adding the macaroni (I didn’t want it to soak up all the broth overnight). When it came time to reheat the soup, I brought it to a boil, added the macaroni, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. I then added a few cups of chopped kale leaves, letting them wilt in the simmering soup. After seasoning the soup with salt and pepper, I let my friends dig in. Note: chicken Italian sausage worked great in this recipe. 

Pasta, Sausage and Bean Soup
-recipe from epicurious.com

A little grated Parmesan sprinkled on top is a nice addition. Serves 8.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound Italian sausages, castings removed
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
5 cups canned chicken broth
1 14 1/2-to 16-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15- to 16-ounce can kidney beans, drained

1 cup elbow macaroni

Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausages and sauté until beginning to brown, breaking up with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, basil, rosemary, crushed red pepper and sage. Sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes with their juices and beans. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender and flavors blend, about 20 minutes.

Add macaroni to soup and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tags: italian sausage, kidney beans, macaroni, Pasta, soup

Most people have some tradition that marks the holiday season for them. Mine is Pecan Tassies, a bite-sized version of pecan pie that is made with an easy cream cheese pastry crust and a not-too-sweet brown sugar-pecan filling. I grew up with these cookies. My mom was given the recipe almost 40 years ago and has been making these delicious treats for all our family gatherings from Thanksgiving throughout the Christmas season. And now that I’ve got my own family, I’m continuing the tradition.

One of the reasons I love Pecan Tassies is because they’re small (made in a mini muffin tin) — a single tassie can be eaten in a bite or two. Molding the dough into the muffin tins is easy but definitely the most time-consuming part of the whole recipe. To make up for it, I use a nut chopperto simplify the process of chopping the pecans. Make a few batches and give them as gifts or add them to your holiday treat platter. Pecan lovers will thank you!

Pecan Tassies
Make these delicious, bite-sized cookies a part of your holiday tradition.

Pastry:
1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
1 cup flour

Filling:
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

For pastry: Blend cream cheese and butter, add flour. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Divide dough into 24 balls and press in mini muffin pans. Sprinkle chopped pecans in each pastry shell (about 1 teaspoon of nuts per shell).

For filling: Combine melted butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add egg, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Fill pastry shells 2/3 full. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pans. Makes about 24 tassies.

Note: Store tassies in an airtight container, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, at room temperature for 1 week.

I’m linked to:
Homemade for the Holidays

Tags: bit-sized, brown sugar, cookies, cream cheese pastry crust, pecan tassies

The Progressive Nut Chopperis one of the handiest tools in my kitchen. If you’ve ever tried chopping a cutting board full of pecans or almonds (or any nut for that matter), you already know that it’s no easy task. This is where the Nut Chopper comes to the rescue. I just did a little experiment to prove my point. I measured out one cup of whole pecans (shelled, of course), filled the nut hopper of the Nut Chopper with them, set the timer then started turning the crank handle. I had the whole cup of nuts chopped in less than 30 seconds.

The Nut Chopper is made of plastic, has a non-skid base and is dishwasher safe. It also has measurement lines so you can easily measure the chopped nuts. For less than $15,a Nut Chopper is one of those indispensable kitchen tools that has made my life easier. And it makes a great gift for a baker!

Tags: Cooking Gadgets, nut chopper, nut grinder, nuts