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Thursday, September 29, 2016

Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Raspberry Sauce

Another favorite breakfast at our house is 
Cottage Cheese Pancakes.
These are delicious, high protein, 
and will remind you of a delicious
 cheese blintz, only these are
so much easier to prepare.
I top them with raspberry sauce, a
dusting of powdered sugar and a
dollop of sour cream. Like I would a blintz.
Yum!
Here are the ingredients.
 Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl, then
add the cottage cheese and whisk until
well blended.
 Whisk in the sugar and lemon juice.
Stir in the flour starting with ¾ C 
until it's the right pancake batter 
consistency. You may need to add a bit
 more. Don't make it too stiff. Stir just 
until the flour is blended.  
 Use about ¼ C for each pancake and flatten
then with the back of the scoop or spoon.
Fry in hot butter/oil until on MH
 heat until the edges are nice and crispy 
and the bottoms are browned. Flip to
cook the other sides. 
 For the raspberry sauce I use a
bag of frozen raspberries.
 Combine the sugar, water, lemon juice
and cornstarch in a small saucepan.
Bring to a simmer and stir until
thickened and clear.
 Add the raspberries and heat
to boiling stirring to combine.
Let cool a bit.
Spoon the warm sauce over the pancakes.
 I always serve pancakes on warmed plates.
 If I don't use all the sauce I freeze it
in small 1C containers.
I'm way ahead for the next time we 
have cottage cheese pancakes. 
 I like to garnish the plate with a few
fresh raspberries, a dusting of
powdered sugar, and sour cream
This is such a great flavor combination. 
 If you don't want to make the raspberry sauce
you can cheat and use raspberry jam
thinned with a bit of lemon juice and warmed.
That's good too.
I'm going to try it next time with my
cranberry chutney or easy cranberry sauce,
 warmed a bit. I think that would be
tasty and give it that holiday flavor.


This recipe is easily divided in half for just
 the two of us. Half the recipe will make 8 small
3" pancakes. They mix up so easily we can enjoy
them any anytime. Makes your morning special.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes
2 C cottage cheese, 16 oz container
2 eggs
4 T (¼ C) sugar
1-2 T lemon juice
¾ C to 1C flour
Whisk the cottage cheese, lemon juice, sugar 
and eggs until well blended. Stir in the flour,
just until you get the right consistency.
Use a large spoonful of batter for each
pancake and pat down to flatten a bit.
Fry in butter/oil until golden and crispy
 around the edges, turning once. Serve on
warmed plates with warm raspberry sauce
and a spritz of lemon juice, a dollop of
sour cream and a generous sprinkle
of powdered sugar. 

Quick Raspberry Sauce
12 oz bag frozen raspberries, about 2C
¼ C sugar
¼ C water
1 T lemon juice
2 t cornstarch
Combine sugar, water, lemon juice,
and cornstarch in a pan. Whisk to blend.
Add raspberries and heat to boiling
stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer
for 2 minutes until the sauce is slightly
thickened.
***********************
Here's an alternative sauce.

Raspberry Jam Sauce
Thin seedless raspberry jam with a little
lemon juice. Warm in the microwave. 

Enjoy!

Monday, September 26, 2016

Chicken Scaloppini in Sherry & Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Tired of the same old chicken dinners?
This one will change all that.
I know you'll love it.
I use sherry in several other chicken recipes.
 It gives it just the right smooth finish
that's quite different from using red or white
wine. I use dry, cocktail, or golden sherry.
Never use cooking sherry. You'll want to be
able to drink it as well. 
Pound the chicken breasts until an even thin
thickness; dredge in seasoned flour and saute'
in olive oil or butter until golden.
Remove to a platter and keep warm in the oven.
Add the mushrooms to the skillet.
Season with salt, pepper and thyme.
Brown on MH for about 4 minutes then 
add the garlic and cook another minute. 
Add the red wine and sherry; let simmer
until reduced by a third. 
 Remove from heay and add butter, 1 T
at a time, while whisking in to blend.
 Pour the mushroom sauce over
the chicken on the platter and serve.

Chicken Scaloppini in Red Wine Mushroom Sauce
1½ to 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, 2 large halves
¼ C flour
3 T olive oil
salt and pepper
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Thyme sprigs or ½ t dried
½ C red wine
½ C sherry
3 T butter
Heat the oil in a large skillet.
Pound the chicken breasts to ¼" thickness and cut
in half. Put the flour in a shallow dish and season
with the salt and pepper. Coat the chicken breasts
in the flour and shake off excess.  Saute' in the
hot oil for about 4 minutes per side, until golden.
Remove to a platter and keep warm in a low oven.
Add the sliced mushrooms to the skillet and
season with salt, pepper and thyme. Brown on
MH for about 4 minutes then add the garlic;
cook another minute. Add the red wine and sherry
let simmer until reduced by a third.  Remove from
heat and add butter, 1 T at a time, while whisking
in to blend. Pour the sauce over the chicken; serve.
4 servings




Enjoy!


*adapted from The Chew

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Clean and Healthy Tilapia

Eating clean and healthy does not mean boring.
This recipe really kicks it up a notch, both in
flavor and with your metabolism. Cayenne, ginger,
and mustard are ingredients that help you burn
 fat. Plus you get the health benefits of tilapia.
Another nice thing is that it only takes 5 minutes
 to prep. Easy, easy!
 I combine the ingredients in a shallow pie dish.
 Dip the filets into the seasoning, coating both
sides.  These were rather large filets so I only
 used 3. The seasoning mix is enough for 4 filets
 or 5-6 smaller ones. Spoon any remaining
seasoning over the fish on the sheet. 
Put them on a baking sheet and into a 400º
 oven for 10-12 minutes until the fish flakes easily. 
I love fish with a spray of lemon juice. 
Leftovers make great fish tacos the next day. 


Clean and Healthy Tilapia
4-6 tilapia filets, about 1 ½ lbs 
¼ C olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t paprika
1 t ginger
1 t black pepper
1 t mustard powder
1 t chili powder
½ t salt
pinch cayenne

Combine the olive oil, garlic, and seasonings in
a shallow pie dish. Dip each fillet into the
seasonings. Place on a baking sheet.
Roast in a 400º for 10-12 minutes.
Spray with lemon juice if desired. 

Enjoy!

Monday, September 12, 2016

Herb Crusted Italian Lamb Chops

These lamb chops are brushed with dijon mustard
and coated with a garlic-herb crumb crust.  
This recipe gives these chops a delicious 
rack of lamb flavor.
They are oven-roasted for under 20  minutes. 
You can prep everything ahead of time and 
refrigerate the chops until ready to roast. 
Let them sit first at room temperature 
before roasting for even doneness. 
 Combine the crumb mixture. I use whatever fresh
herbs I have on hand. That's usually parsley, 
rosemary, thyme, and oregano. You don't need 
much. Of course there's minced garlic, too.
 Trim excess fat from lamb chops. Most of the 
fat will come off by pulling it with your fingers.
I count on 2-3 lamb chops per person. 
 Combine all the crumb ingredients in a shallow 
pie plate, one of my favorite kitchen items. HERE
 I put a dollop of mustard on each chop.
 Spread it on all sides.
 Press into the crumb mixture.
 Coat all sides well. 
I use any leftover crumbs on vegetables that
I'll roast in the oven along with the lamb chops.
 The vegetables roast on a baking sheet at the 
same time. They'll cook 5  minutes longer after
 the lamb chops come out of the oven to rest. 
 Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and 
roast @400º  for 16 minutes for medium-rare
 Remove from the oven and let rest for 5  minutes.
 Serve with the vegetable of your choice. 
 The crumbs crust is golden and crunchy.
 The inside is a perfect medium-rare. 
Delicious!

Herb Crusted Italian Lamb Chops 
4-6 lamb chops
1 T Dijon mustard
½ C Italian herb breadcrumbs
1 garlic clove, minced, about 1 t
1 T  chopped fresh herbs, combination
 rosemary, parsley, and  thyme
1  T olive oil
¼ t each salt and pepper

Trim excess fat from lamb chops

Brush the lamb chops all over with Dijon mustard.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a pie dish.
Press the crumb mixture on all sides of the chops.
Can make ahead up to this point. 

Roast on a sprayed baking sheet at 400º for 16 
minutes along with your choice of 
vegetables and potatoes.

Serves 2

Enjoy!