Cream of Chicken Soup

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
2 stalks celery (with leaves), chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
7 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
3 sprigs parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 3/4 cups cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 teaspoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley


Directions
Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 12 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes more.

Pour in the broth and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Tie the parsley sprigs, thyme, and bay leaf together with a piece of kitchen twine and add to the soup. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.

Whisk the heavy cream, sherry, and salt into the soup and season with pepper to taste. Remove and discard the herb bundle. Divide among soup bowls, sprinkle the top of each soup with the chopped parsley and serve immediately.

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Ingredients

1 ½ C flour

1 C sugar

¼ C cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

1 1/3 C mashed bananas (3)

1/3 C oil

1 egg

1 C mini chocolate chips

Directions

In a large bowl combine the first 6 ingredients.  In a small bowl combine bananas, oil and egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups three fourths full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 min or until muffin test done.

Makes 18

Pork with Mustard-Caper Sauce

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Four 9-ounce pork loin chops (1 1/4 inches thick)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1/3 cup drained capers
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup uncooked rice

Directions
1. Cook rice as directed.
2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. 
3. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, add them to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until well browned, about 5 minutes per side. 
4. Transfer the pork chops to a large plate and cover loosely with foil.
5. Add the stock, capers and chopped rosemary to the skillet and boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. 
6. Return the pork chops to the pan and simmer until cooked through, about 3 minutes. 
7. Transfer the pork chops to 4 plates. 
8. Whisk the mustard and butter into the sauce and season with salt and pepper. 
9. Pour the mustard-caper sauce over the chops and serve over rice.

Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients

1 head Savoy cabbage

1 pound ground beef

1 small to medium onion, chopped small

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 carrot, shredded

1 celery stalk, thinly sliced

1 parsnip, shredded

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 to 4 cups of your favorite simple tomato sauce, tomato juice or V8 [tomato soup, vegetable broth, and  water]

Directions

1. Cut the core out of the cabbage but leave it whole. Place it, with the empty core area facing up, in a large bowl. 

2. Boil a small pot of water and pour the water over the cabbage and let it sit for ten minutes.

3. Heat the oil in a saute pan. (I like to use the large one I will cook the final dish in — a deep 12-inch saute pan — to save dishes.) 

4. Cook the onions until they are soft, add the carrot, celery and parsnip and saute them for a couple extra minutes — until they are also soft. 

5. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, transfer it to a bowl and let it cool a bit.

6. Mix in the meat, rice and tomato paste and season again with salt and pepper.

7. Drain the head of cabbage. Pull off large leaves, cut out the large vein — if the leaf is very large, you can make two rolls from each, if it is smaller, you can cut the vein out partially and pull the sides to overlap before you roll it into one roll. Pat the leaves dry with towels. 

8. Roll about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of filling in each leaf (depending on the size of your leaf) and arrange in a large, wide pot. 

9. Pour in enough juice or sauce to cover the rolls. 

10. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat, letting them simmer covered on the stove on low for about 45 minutes. 11. Serve immediately. If sauce has thinned a bit, you can heat up any additional sauce you didn’t use and pour it over as you serve the rolls.

Cabbage and White Bean Soup

Ingredients
1 c dried white beans
1 clove [1 t cloves]
1 med onion [chopped]
2 1/2 lb smoked ham hocks [leftover Christmas ham]
3 qt water
6 fresh parsley sprigs [1 T dried parsley]
1 bay leaf
1 fresh thyme sprig [1 t thyme]
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb yellow-fleshed potatoes [3-6 medium potatoes]
1 lb cabbage, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces, 6 cups

Directions
1. Soak beans in cold water to cover by 2 inches at room temperature at least 8 hours, or quick-soak (see cooks' note, below). Drain in a colander.

2. Stick clove into onion. Bring ham hocks and 3 quarts water to a boil in a wide 6- to 7-quart heavy pot, skimming off any froth, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 1 hour. Add beans, onion, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, and garlic and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until beans are almost tender, 40 to 50 minutes.

[Simmer beans, onions, spices, ham, and garlic until beans are tender]

3. When beans are almost done, peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add potatoes and cabbage to beans, then simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are very tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Remove ham hocks. When ham hocks are cool enough to handle, discard skin and bones, then cut meat into bite-size pieces. Stir into soup with salt and pepper to taste. Discard bay leaf and onion.

Pizza Crust

Ingredients
1 cup warm water (110 deg F / 45 deg C)

1 T sugar

2 1/4 t active dry yeast

3 T olive oil

1 t salt

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

Make 1/2 of batch for a cookie pan sized pizza

Roll thin!

Directions
1. Stir water, sugar and yeast together until dissolved. Add the olive oil and the salt. Stir in the flour until well blended. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
2. Pat dough into pan or on to a pizza stone using fingers dipped in olive oil. If desired sprinkle basil, thyme or other seasonings on crust. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven.