Marli's Heavenly and Elegant Chicken Dish

You may want to prepare this delicious chicken breast delight for a romantic dinner for two, or for a group of twenty. It is that simple and delicious; and it is also elegant, and yet very tasty.

Ingredients for serving a party of 4 or 6

.Skinless chicken breasts - 4 to 6
.Small carton of heavy whipping cream
.Small box of onion soup mix
.Brown rice for a side dish, or preferably wild rice


Preparation

.Use a Pyrex dish size 9 x 13 in.
.Oven should be at 325 Degrees
.Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together, but leave the chicken fresh on a plate.

Once the sauce/gravy is prepared, place the chicken pieces on the Pyrex dish and mix everything together. Pour the entire sauce on the breasts.

Now place the dish in the oven and follow it up for the next 40 minutes maximum.

While the chicken is cooking, you may want to start the preparation of the rice to your liking. Just read the instructions on the box. I prefer wild rice with this dish, but brown rice is also great.

Once in a while open the oven door and with a large spoon take some of the gravy and pour it over the chicken pieces.

Recommend a Pinot Gris, well chilled. And for entertainment, play one of Andrea Bocelli's Cds.

Place flowers on the table and a lit candle for ambiance. Enjoy the evening!

The author of this recipe has various articles of interest which you may want to read. Please go to Ezine Articles on this page, and click for the article of your choice.

TonyMcCleary
tonymcclr@gmail.com

Mexican Quesadillas—Flour or Corn Tortillas

Here's a quick and simple recipe which can be followed-up anytime you feel like a quick snack.

Ingredients

. One dozen flour or corn tortillas
.Monterey jack cheese with jalapeños or regular
.Salsa picante, medium or mild
.Guacamole sauce


Preparation

.Warm-up a medium to large size skillet and place a tad of vegetable oil on it
.Put a tortilla on the warm skillet and let it get warm by turning it over a few times
.Now put not-too-thick strips of jack cheese on one-half of the tortilla
.Let the cheese melt a little and fold the other side of the tortilla to make a half-moon
.Before you fold the tortilla over, you may want to put salsa on the cheese, it is up to you
.Turn the quesadilla over until it looks crispy, but not too much

*Repeat the process with more tortillas until you have enough to your liking. I have done this recipe with or without salsa, and either flour or corn tortillas. Keep the quesadillas in a warm platter, wrapped with aluminum foil until you're ready to serve.

When you serve them, have the guacamole sauce on a serving bowl placed on the table. You may also want to have a small bowl of salsa picante on the side to dip the quesadillas.

If you don't like hot salsa at all on the quesadillas, and you want to keep them with just cheese, go for a bottle of chilled white wine, but nothing too expensive. With salsa on the quesadilla, red wine is best, or go for ice-cold beer.

You may want to share a recipe you would like for me to post, and I will be happy to consider it. Please send your comments to my email address, and if you'd be so kind to share this blog with family and friends, I will appreciate it.


Tony McCleary
tonymcclr@gmail.com
http://www.recipe-fair.blogspot.com

Mexican Ranch Style Eggs (Huevos Rancheros)

Ranch Style Eggs is a treat for breakfast, or for lunch and dinner if you wish. It is a Mexican recipe which is made available to add to your book of recipes. It is simple to make, and it lends to having friends over for brunch. It is just a happy meal, very nutritious and quite filling. You may want to accompany it with coffee and orange juice, if the eggs are served in the morning. For the afternoon, I would want to celebrate this feast with ice-cold Light Corona beers.


Ingredients

.Large bottle of salsa picante (hot), medium or mild (buy the salsa that you dip chips into)
.One dozen eggs
.Kraft's cheddar cheese already grated
.One dozen corn tortillas
.Butter or margarine
.Can of refried beans
.Salt and pepper

Preparation

.Place skillet (medium size) on top of stove and start warming it up on medium heat
.Scoop up some butter or margarine and let it melt on the skillet.
.Pour the salsa, for example: 1/2 of the bottle for 6 eggs, and pour it over the butter and mix it well. Heat it up until it is done. Stir-it well for ten minutes under heat.
.Take a spatula and separate an opening on the heated salsa/butter mix on the skillet.
.Now crack an egg open and place the contents right in the center of the opening. Do the same near the first egg and place another raw egg. You can place 4 or 6 eggs at the same time, depending on the size of the skillet. You choose that part.

.Let the eggs cook until the white of the egg is solid. In the meantime, place some of the heated salsa over the eggs as you cook them. You may want to turn the eggs over once, depending on taste, and then flip them back.

.Put salt and pepper to your liking, and cook the yolk to your taste also—soft or hard.


Other additions

.Corn tortillas may be warmed-up either in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, or on a medium-hot skillet. I prefer to place the tortillas on a skillet and keep an eye on them until they are ready to serve. Make sure the tortillas are soft and warm when you serve them. To keep them warm, place them on a server wrapped in aluminum foil.

.I like to add one more ingredient to the feast. Open a can of refried beans and heat these in the microwave. I say 30 seconds at max and the beans should be ready. If not, zap them for another 20 seconds. Serve the beans as a side dish with the eggs, and you now have a Mexican feast, very economical and incredibly tasty. Make sure to pour the remaining heated salsa/butter mix on the skillet over the eggs as you serve them on plates, unless you're planning on making more ranch style eggs.

You should be able to determine the amount of ingredients that you need for your party. I have posted the recipe to make six eggs to maybe a dozen. Have fun, and enjoy it thoroughly!


Next recipe might be an Indonesian dish, look forward to it. If you have a recipe that you would like to share with me, I will be happy to post it in my blog. Additionally, if you would like to share these recipes with friends and neighbors, please email the blog noted below my name by copying it and pasting it.

Should you be interested in reading any of my articles on Ezine Articles on this same page, please do, and be so kind to share them.



Tony MCleary
tonymcclr@gmail.com
http://www.recipe-fair.blogspot.com

Argentine Empanadas

Argentine empanadas are a year-round treat. You can make them for holidays, birthdays, and your Saturday and Sunday afternoon barbecues. An empanada is similar to an apple tart. The difference is that the empanada that we will talk about today is made with ground beef as its main component. The secret of great tasting empanadas is the rest of the ingredients that go into the stuffing.


Recommended ingredients for 2 dozen empanadas:

1/2 lb of ground chuck beef
1/2 lb of top sirloin ground beef
1 good size onion diced, or one small bunch green onions chopped
2 garlic cloves mashed
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of chopped olives, preferable the green olives with red peppers
1 tablespoon of capers
2 envelopes of the Goya brand seasoning with saffron
2 small cubes of chicken broth by Knorr
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 hard-boiled eggs

2 dozen Argentine empanada tops (tapas) available at Latin international markets. Make sure that they are made to be used in the oven. As an alternative if you cannot find the Argentine tapas, you may have to make the dough from scratch and cut in circles of 5 to 6 inches in diameter for tart-size empanadas. The best dough mix that I can offer you is the dough that you use to make fruit pies, such as apple pie.

Preparation of mix:

Use a large frying pan, and keep the heat on medium. First of all, saute the onions and garlic first with olive oil. Now add the raw beef and brown it a little. Throw in the rest of the ingredients listed for the stuffing and stir the mix slowly. Get it going for a little while, and then place a cover over it. Keep checking the mix and stirring it. In 25 to 30 minutes it should be fully cooked.

Add the hard-boiled eggs chopped first, and then season to the mix with anything extra you wish to add while it is cooking on the pan. Taste the stuffing while it is cooking for seasoning.

Once the stuffing is cooked, leave it to cool down for about 10 minutes before you start to fill the empanada crusts.

Preparation of the actual empanada:

Take the package with the empanada crusts from the refrigerator, and start filling one tapa at a time with a tablespoon of the stuffing. You don't want to put too much in them. And now close the tart by soaking your fingers with a tad of water from a dish, and seal the crust by pinching the ends and twist— just like a pie crust.

Before you start laying each empanada on the cookie sheet, spread some oil on sheet and sprinkle a little white flour over the entire sheet. Give the empanadas some space so that they don't stick together. Now you take a raw egg, open it and mix the contents with a few drops of water. With a small brush, dip it on the egg liquid and 'paint' the empanadas over on the top side.
Set the oven at 350 degrees before you stick the empanadas inside to bake.

Place the cookie sheet with the empanadas for 20 minutes, but check them after 10 minutes to make sure they are baking well. You should be able to monitor your progress just to make sure the empanadas bake to perfection. Watch over them so that you don't over burn them. Ok?

Once baked, take the empanadas out, and let them cool down a bit, but not too much as you want to eat them warm, but not scorching hot. Recommend a bottle of good red wine to accompany them.

Enjoy them and save one for me! A small reminder, the entire recipe should provide for two dozen or more empanadas. Should you want to make more, than just do the math, and buy more ingredients at the store. It is best to make extras, than leave your guests hungry for more. Have a bottle of good red wine available to accompany the feast.

****Next recipe will be for "Huevos Rancheros," that is Ranch Style Eggs. Look forward to this excellent breakfast feast.

Recipe Fair

The world is filled with recipes to make delicious food. However, people are getting more and more used to buying cooked food to take home, and are missing out on a fabulous adventure—the art of cooking for the fun of it!

It is with my greatest pleasure that I will be sharing with you my recipes so that you may enjoy
various dishes from different parts of the world. I will start with an Argentine recipe which was handed down to me by a friend in Buenos Aires for preparing fish on the grill.

You are welcome to choose the fish that you enjoy best. The recipe will apply just as well. I would like you to try my 'salmon-on-the-grill' dish, and share the feast with your family and friends.

Once a week, or more regularly if time permits, I will be posting recipes for unusual, but practical dishes such as "Argentine empanadas" which will make your mouth water every time that you prepare them. Your family and friends will also love you for being so "talented."

Today, it's going to be salmon grilled and served with a medley of vegetables cooked on a frying pan with a small amount of olive oil; accompanied with a tossed salad and for dessert: French Chocolate Chiffon Pie, or Key lime pie, or how about Haagen-Dazs Mango Ice Cream, whichever you so desire. For wine, I recommend a chilled bottle of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.


Salmon on the Grill

Fish: a slab(s) of salmon for as many as you wish to cook for. Ask the fish attendant at the supermarket to give you the right pounds of salmon for the number of people attending your feast.

Spices: ground pepper, salt, and Old Bay Garlic and Herbs

Lemons: prefer to use fresh limes, or regular lemons will do, and pick up at least four

Butter: a tub of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!"

Preparation: when you're ready to cook, get your grill going hot. Take the salmon out of the refrigerator, and all of your ingredients. You may also bake the fish if you want to. That's fine too!

Lay the salmon slab(s) on a deep corning ware dish to keep the juices from the lemons. Squeeze the lemon juice to your liking, but be generous. Take the butter and spread it over the salmon with the skin facing down, and now sprinkle a little bit of salt, ground pepper and the Old Bay Garlic and Herbs over the slabs.

Let the salmon sit for a few minutes on the dish, and start preparing the tossed green salad, and begin cutting up the vegetables. For a vegetable dish, I recommend zucchini with green, red and yellow bell peppers, and white onions. Cut these up in slices and cook on a frying pan with olive oil.

Take the fish which was marinating for a few minutes and place it on the grill. I recommend that you cook the fish by putting aluminum foil on the grill and lay the fish on it (skin always facing down). Pour all the left-over lemon juice on the dish over on the fish. You should grill the fish until it is done. That is a bit tricky and I use a large fork to tap the top of the meat to feel for texture. But I also cut some of the front of the slab to see if it breaks-off easily. Fish on the grill takes anywhere from fifteen to as much as thirty minutes, depending on the heat.

To turn the fish over to cook on both sides, take a spatula and slip it in between the skin and the meat. Then flip it over. Keep checking to make sure the fish is done. Try not to over cook it, and work on getting good at this. Practice will make you a great cook!

If you have any questions, ideas, comments, or suggestions for me to post, please reach me on my email address at: tonymcclr@gmail.com.

Best of life for you, and next week we start with the Argentine empanadas.

Tony