Penne with chicken and Gruyère cheese sauce

• 3/4 lb (375 g) penne
• 1 lb (454 g) skinless and boneless chicken thighs, finely chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) butter
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) flour
• 2 cups (500 ml) milk
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) frozen peas
• 1 cup (250 ml) grated Gruyère cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) chopped fresh chives
• Salt and pepper

1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente.
2. Brown the chicken and onion in the butter and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle with the flour and stir to combine. Add the milk and peas. Bring to boil, stirring with a whisk and simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the drained pasta, cheese, and nutmeg. Heat until the cheese has melted. Add the chives.

Ps.....I always forget to take a picture until it's too late.  That's what was left after three servings, so lots of leftovers.

Easy pasta - brie, tomatoes and garlic

2. Hmmm.....none of the tomatoes ended up on my plate.....
3. 
   
• 2 or 3 ripe tomatoes, cut into cubes or use sundried tomatoes
• 1 small round of Brie, rind removed, torn into pieces
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
• 1 cup best quality olive oil
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• Linguine

1. 1. Combine tomatoes, brie, basil, garlic, 1 cup olive oil, salt and pepper in a large serving bowl. Prepare at least 2 hours before serving and set aside, covered, at room temperature. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the linguine and boil until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and immediately toss with the sauce.

Martha's Lemon Squares

Base:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Cream butter and sugar, work in flour for form shortbread base.  

Using an 8" square pan, bake in 325 degree oven until lightly browned (15 - 20 minutes)

Topping:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs lightly beaten

2 tsp grated lemon rind

3 tbsp lemon juice (I find fresh squeezed juice is better than the RealLemon juice)

2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients and pour over prepared shortbread base.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Top with a light sprinkling of icing sugar (as soon as it comes out of the oven)

I find they cut the best when they have completely cooled.

Martha's dinner rolls

Ingredients:

3 tbsp granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup butter
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 egg
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (approx)

Remove 1 1/2 tsp of the sugar. Set aside. In saucepan, heat together 1 1/4 cups of the milk, 1/4 cup of the butter, the remaining sugar and the salt over medium heat until butter is melted. Let cool to lukewarm.

In a small saucepan, heat remaining milk over medium heat until warm (not hot or else it will kill the yeast).  Pour into your stand mixer. Stir in reserved sugar until dissolved; sprinkle yeast over top. Let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Add the butter mixture and egg. Stir in 4 cups of the flour, 1 cup at a time, until soft ragged dough forms. Run the mixer on stir for 4 minutes until the dough is formed and kneaded.  

Place ball of dough in oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or tea towel; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.

Punch down dough. Turn out onto lightly floured work surface; divide dough evenly into 20 pieces. Shape 1 piece into ball, folding ends underneath and pinching at bottom; roll on work surface in circular motion, seam side down, into smooth ball. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.

Place 2 balls of dough in centre of each of 2 greased 9-inch (1.5 L) round cake pans. Place 8 balls around centre of each. Cover with tea towel; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Dust with flour.

Bake in 375°F (190°C) oven until rolls are golden and sound hollow when tapped, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes; transfer directly to racks. Melt remaining butter; brush over tops of rolls.

Chicken Enchiladas and Cilantro Lime Rice

(Totally forgot to take a picture until we had devoured most of it :))

Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into long, thin strips
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp hot chili flakes
• 2 tsp cumin
• 4 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped, divided
• 2 cups packed baby spinach
• 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese, divided
• 8 large flour tortillas or 10 small ones
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a 9 x 13-in. baking dish with oil.
• Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high. Add 2 tsp oil, then chicken and salt. Cook until no pink remains, 6 min. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Reduce heat to medium. 
• Add remaining oil to pan, then onion, garlic, chili powder and flakes, cumin and half of tomatoes. Cook until vegetables soften, 2 min. 
• Add spinach and stir until wilted. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken and 1 cup cheese.
• Scoop chicken mixture into center of each tortilla. Roll into a cigar shape and place seam-side down in baking dish. Top with remaining tomatoes and cheese.
• Bake in center of oven until cheese melts, 5 min. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups long-grain rice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 to 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• Juice of 3 limes and zest of 2 limes (hold back juice of 1 lime for garnish)
• Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
• 1 Can of black beans

Directions

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. 
• Add the garlic and onions and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. 
• Reduce the heat to low and add the rice and salt. Cook over a low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly to make sure the rice doesn't burn. 
• Add 2 cups of the broth and the juice and zest of 2 limes and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the rice is done. 
• Just before serving, stir through the juice of 1 lime and sprinkle the chopped cilantro.
• Forgot about the black beans.  Rinse the beans and add them to the cooked rice.

Prosciutto roll ups

This recipe is from the 2016 Longos calendar.  Was a big hit at our Christmas party.  Make sure you use the puff pastry dough and not the sheets.  I learned the hard way that there is a big difference :)

Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the end result so here is a picture from the Longo calendar.

Made them again and remembered to take a picture 😊And I rolled them incorrectly ......half and half looks better 😕

My sister-in-law Cindy made them and they look better than mine.  Yum.

One bite pecan tarts

One bite pecan tarts

Try to get the dough as thin as possible in the mini muffin tray because it does puff up a bit.  

Ingredients

• Dough
• 170g cream cheese, softened
• 225 butter, softened
• 250g plain flour
• Filling
• 30g butter, softened
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 330g brown sugar
• 10ml vanilla
• 160g finely chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter together
2. Then mix in the flour. Gathering your patience, divide the dough between 2 x 24 mini-muffin trays (no need to grease).
3. Use lightly floured fingers to pat it down and bring it up the sides. Set aside.
4. Pre-heat oven to 160C.
5. Mix all the filling ingredients together:and using two teaspoons, spoon into the dough filled muffin trays.
6. Bake for around 20 minutes or until pastry is golden on the edges.
7. Stand for 5 minutes, then cool on wire rack.

Lemon loaf

Lemon Loaf

Made this tonight.  Apparently tastes like the lemon loaf from Starbucks.  Never had it myself so cannot comment on that.  But it was delicious and really wakes up the taste buds.

For the Loaf
1/2 cup Butter
1 Cup Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 Lemon, Juiced and Zested
1 1/2 Cup Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
Pinch Salt
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Cup half and half

For the Glaze
1 1/3 Cup Icing Sugar
1 Lemon Juiced
1/2 tsp Vanilla

For the Loaf
Preheat Oven to 350
Grease & Flour a Loaf Pan
Cream Butter and Sugar together
In a separate bowl mix eggs and vanilla well, add lemon juice and zest
Add egg mix into the butter mix, beat slowly
Add remaining Ingredients and mix well
Bake for 45 Mins,

For the Glaze
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined and spread over warm loaf.


Update:
Made this again but used 3 small pans.  I thought it should only take 30 minutes but I had to put them back in for a total of 40 minutes.  Yummy.