Lemon Meringue Dessert

This is a combination of recipes from the Ivory Favorites Cookbook and the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. It is not really a quick one to put together, but the results are so worth it! My husband Brett said this is the most refreshing dessert he has ever had.




4 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar

Beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar and salt. Continue beating, adding sugar slowly. Beat until peaks form. Spread evenly in buttered 8" x 8" glass dish or pie dish. Bake for 1 hour at 275 degrees. Open oven door and let cool.

1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tbsp. margarine or butter
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
the juice of one lemon

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, and dash salt. Gradually stir in 1 cup water. Cook and stir over medium-high heat till thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Beat egg yolks slightly. Gradually stir 1 cup of the hot filling into yolks; return all to saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in margarine and lemon peel. Gradually stir in lemon juice, gently mixing well. Let lemon filling cool. Spread on top of cooled meringue. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Serve with whipped cream on top. Enjoy!

Oriental Chicken Salad

We enjoy this salad often. I think I could eat the whole bowl myself. This is a handy salad to fix ahead of time, even the night before. Layer ingredients in bowl, cover and refrigerate. Add dressing when ready to serve. Sorry I can't send the recipe for the delicious Filipino mango peeking at the edge of the picture.


Oriental Chicken Salad

2 cups diced chicken
4 cups thinly sliced Chinese cabbage (I try to get the ones with darker
green leaves. Regular cabbage can be used)
1 package chicken-flavored ramen noodles, broken up
2 T. sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 cup slivered almond, toasted
Optional–chopped broccoli, sliced celery, sliced green onions, chopped cauliflower, frozen peas

1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 ½ T. sugar
1 flavoring packet from ramen noodles

Prepare salad dressing by combining vinegar, oil, sugar and 1 flavoring packet from ramen noodles. Toast sesame seeds and almonds in 350 degree F. oven for 3-5 minutes. Place chicken, cabbage, and desired vegetables in mixing bowl. Add sesame seeds, almonds and broken noodles. Pour dressing over salad. Mix well.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Since we have soup weather again, I decided to post one of our favorites... and while I love to cook, I'm not really a recipe follower (or writer), but this is one thing I make that generally turns out the same.

Start out with a chopped onion, sliced carrots, sliced celery, minced garlic and two or three bay leaves in the bottom of a soup pot cooking down in some butter or oil until they get soft ( I do this slowly- with the heat on or around 4)  I pour in a little stock to de-glaze the bottom from time to time- then I either throw some chicken breast tenders in and poach them, or we also like to throw the chicken on the grill(we like to season it with "Montreal Chicken seasoning") and then slice it.  Then add more chicken stock to the pot and add noodles (they have some at Costco that are almost like home- made, or you can make some)  I like to cook the noodles right in the soup, then once they are done,  this is the secret:  Make a light roux  (I am sorry I do not measure- but I put in a whole stick of butter if it is a huge pot, and less if it is smaller, and I dump a couple of cups of flour in- cook it or low and stir a lot)  in a separate pan and then whisk it into the soup and bring it back to a slow boil (it makes it creamy and delicious like the chicken noodle at The Brick Oven) finally,  add frozen peas and fresh chopped parsley, salt and pepper. 

Pork Tenderloin with Honey Mustard Sauce

From Reynolds oven bag recipes--I have made this without the oven bag, just in a skillet, browning a bit first, adding rest of ingredients, covering and simmer until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.

1 Reynolds oven bag
2 T. flour
1/3 cup orange juice
2 T. honey
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 pork tenderloins (3/4 pound each)
Dried basil
Salt
2-4 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium apples, cored, cut in eighths

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shake flour in oven bag. Place bag in 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Add orange juice, honey and mustard to oven bag. Squeeze bag to blend to blend in flour. Sprinkle tenerloins with basil and salt to taste. Place in bag, tucking the narrow end of each tenderloin under for even cooking. Place carrot and apple slices in bag around the tenderloins. Close oven bag with nylon tie. Cut six 1/2 inch slits in top of bag; tuck ends of bag into pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Makes 5 to 6 servings.

Cashew Chicken

This picture and recipe are directly from Martha Stewart.com. I haven't done anything to it to make it my own, but I love it so much that I want to share the recipe.

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 scallions, white and green parts separated, each cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 3/4 cup raw cashews (4 ounces), toasted
• White rice, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, toss chicken with cornstarch until chicken is coated; season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Cook half the chicken, tossing often, until browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add remaining oil and chicken to skillet along with the garlic and white parts of scallions. Cook, tossing often, until chicken is browned, about 3 minutes. Return first batch of chicken to pan. Add vinegar; cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds.
4. Add hoisin sauce and 1/4 cup water; cook, tossing, until chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in scallion greens and cashews. Serve immediately over white rice, if desired.

Tuna Crescent Ring

(From 'taste of home, simple & delicious' magazine)
1 tube (8 0z) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 can (12 0z) tuna, drained
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mayo
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Unroll crescent dough and seperate into trinagles. Place on a foil lined cookie sheet, forming a ring with pointed ends facing outer edge of pan and wide ends slightly overlapping. Lightly press wide ends together. Combine remaining ingredients and spoon over wide ends of ring. Fold points over filling and tuck under wide end (filling will be visible). Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until golden. Serves 4
The following changes I made: I only used6 oz. of tuna, peas only because I didn't have carrots, and 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning. The 6 oz can of tuna filled up the crescents nicely and more tuna would have been way too much.
All three of my kids liked it! Yeah. I served with steamed broccoli and canned peaches. Was a nice quick meal.

Pulled Pork Tacos

Cinco de Mayo brought out the pulled pork taco recipe. This is so easy and so yummy!

2 - 2/1 lbs boneless pork shoulder or pork chops (I prefer pork shoulder)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp cumin

1/2 c apricot preserves

2 jalapenos, seeded, sliced into rings

1 red onion, rough chopped (or yellow)

tortillas

cilantro

Season pork on all sides with salt, pepper, and cumin. Place in crock pot. Spoon preserves over pork, turning to coat. Scatter jalapenos and onion over top. Cook on low heat for about 6 hours or until fork tender. Shred then serve with your choice of tortillas top with cilantro. Really, you could garnish as desire. We like to add cheese and sour cream sometimes.