Elegant Turkey Stuffing

I made this for Thanksgiving this year. I used to make stuffing from scratch by chopping sourdough bread for hours. It never came out right. That being said, I did have some day-old slices of sourdough that I chopped and added.

This recipe uses stuffing mix in addition to your own fresh ingredients. It came out great. The extra vegetables and fruit is a nutrition bonus.

Elegant Turkey Stuffing

1/2 cup raisins (I use a combination of golden raisins and craisins)
3/4 cup orange liqueur
1/4 cup butter
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
½ large onion, chopped
½ pound spicy Italian sausage, casing removed (I use a big “tube” of Jimmy Dean spicy)
8 ounce package herb-seasoned dry bread stuffing mix
½ cup chopped pecans
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup chicken broth
2 tsp. sage or thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Place the raisins in a small saucepan, and cover with ½ cup of liqueur.
Bring to boil, remove from heat, and set aside.
In a large skillet, sauté the celery and onion in the butter for about 10 minutes; transfer to a large mixing bowl.
In the same skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until crumbled and evenly brown, then drain.
Combine the sausage and stuffing mix with the celery and onion mixture.
Stir in the raisins and liqueur, pecans, and apples.
Mix in melted butter, chicken broth, the rest of the liqueur.
The stuffing should be moistened.
Season with sage, salt, and pepper.

Ham & Cheese Chowder

This one's another one from Diva Karyn. Like me, Karyn would rather cook and chat and flip through magazines criticizing celebrities rather than go to the gym.

Ham & Cheese Chowder

3 cups water

4 potatoes, diced

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 1/4 cups onions, diced

2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 quart milk

4 cups sharp cheddar

2 cups ham, diced

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

Boil the water; add potatoes, celery, carrots, onion, salt, and pepper.
Cover and simmer until everything is tender.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour (a roux).
Stir in milk and cook over medium heat until mixture boils.
Stir, stir, stir.
Add cheese and stir until melted.
Add drained vegetables and ham.
Heat, but don't boil.
Serve with hot sauce.

Make it a meal: Serve with Crab Delights (see recipe)

Wine: Chardonnay or Pinot Noir

Maxine's Thanksgiving

Maxine's at it again. I love this little lady with the big mouth. She has it all over Thanksgiving. This year I'm thankful I'm not eating at her house. Thanks, Diva Mandy.

Cauliflower Puree

This is such a great idea. Apparently Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote an entire book about pureeing vegetables. I've been doing cauliflower for years. I got the tip from a fellow diva who is also watching her waist.

Pureed cauliflower adds creaminess without the fat and calories. Add it to soups, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. Pull them out of the freezer when needed. They only take 10 -15 minutes to thaw.

Cauliflower Puree

1 head cauliflower

2 cups chicken stock

Steam the cauliflower above a potful of chicken stock until tender.
Put the cauliflower in a blender and add chicken stock as needed.
Blend until smooth.
Put into sandwich baggies and freeze.

Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup

This recipe is not quick. It is easy, but it takes some time. I like to make this soup on a cloudy, rainy Saturday, and then eat it for the rest of the week. You can even freeze some. I need to make more of my own soups rather than buy it in cans at the store because of the horrifyingly high sodium content.

This recipe is creamy without cream. One of the things I do is add some cauliflower puree (see recipe) that I have frozen in small bags in the freezer. I pull it out, thaw it (10 minutes) and add it to the blender. This gives extra creaminess and packs the soup with nutrients.

Busy divas need to take care of themselves and extra sodium causes bloating and puffy eyes.

Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup

3 yellow peppers, cut in half and seeded

½ onion, chopped

1 leek, chopped

olive oil for sautéing

1 potato, mostly peeled and cubed

3 cups chicken broth

salt & pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese

Roast the peppers by broiling them skin side up for about 4 minutes.
Put them in a covered bowl for about 15 minutes; peel the charred skin off.

Meanwhile, sauté the onion and leeks in olive oil.
Add the potatoes, broth, salt & pepper; bring it all to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Chop the roasted peppers, and add to the potato mixture.
Remove from heat.
Put it all in a blender and puree.
When you are ready to serve, reheat and top with Parmesan cheese.


Make it a meal: Serve with garlic bread.

Wine: Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

Baked Apples

Play around with the amounts to adjust sweetness. I read one recipe where you prepare the apples and cook them all night in a crock pot. You awake the next morning to the smell of apples and cinnamon and then eat them for breakfast. That diva’s got it all over me!

Baked Apples

4 large apples

½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

small handful raisins

a bit of cinnamon

a sprinkle of nutmeg

a squeeze of honey

2 pats of butter

Wash and core apples, then remove a strip of peel around the top of each apple.
Place in a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
Combine brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey in a small bowl.
Fill the center of each apple and dot with the butter.
Add just enough water to baking dish to cover the bottom of the dish.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until apples are tender. Serve warm with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.

Options: Substitute honey with maple syrup, add pecans, try craisins

Make it a meal: Serve with granola for breakfast.

Wine: Champagne

Rita Mae's Restaurant Review

Rita Mae's is a great diner on the West Side of Manchester, NH. The menu is extensive and affordable. The atmosphere is funky with yellow walls and pink lights all over them. I love pink lights. The current man in my life recently ordered a corned beef hash omelet for $5.99. It was full of corned beef. He ate every morsel.

I ordered a hash brown special for $4.65. It was fine, but there was too much cheese on it. In addition, my rye toast had way too much butter on it. It was inedible. The coffee is the stuff of diners--no French Roast here.

On Fridays, Rita Mae's serves fresh fish. Their fried clam plate for $16.99 is the best in the city. There was so much, I had to share with my man. Their onion rings are also the best this city offers. They are light and crispy and perfect.

Guy Buffett Wine Chiller

My current man and I picked up this wine chiller years ago during a romantic weekend in Quebec City. We are both fans of Guy Buffett, and we are both fans of chilled white wine.

We had never seen one in the States and considered ourselves fortunate to have this gorgeous, simple tool. While I would love to have a four thousand dollar wine chiller, I have neither the available funds or the space.

I do have a wine refrigerator; I'm not a barbarian. However, sometimes guests bring over a nice bottle to share (they are not barbarians either), but having come directly from their wine cellars, it is not cold enough. Pull this chiller from the freezer and in moments, the wine is ready.

This is available at Epic Products, Inc. The link on my sidebar will take you right there.

Basil and Artichoke Chicken

Use thighs or breasts for your dinner. This recipe takes 6 hours total. I used orzo which some call Italian rice. You can serve this over any rice or pasta. You can also sear the seasoned chicken using olive oil in a pan. I don’t bother. I did use fresh basil from my kitchen herb garden. It is November and still alive. The list of ingredients looks long, but you will see it is all spices.

Basil and Artichoke Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken pieces

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. paprika

½ tsp. cayenne

3 tbs. white balsamic vinegar

2 cloves minced garlic

1 leek, thinly sliced

1 can artichoke hearts, quartered

1 ¼ cup white wine (or chicken broth)

¼ cup parsley, chopped

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

Season chicken pieces with salt, paprika, and cayenne and place in crock pot.
Add balsamic vinegar, garlic, leeks, and artichokes.
Pour wine over everything.
Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
Stir in parsley, basil, and tomatoes.
Continue cooking for an additional hour.
Serve over prepared rice or pasta.

Make it a meal: Serve with steamed spinach.

Wine: Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay

Bruchetta Bake

What to do with extra stuffing? Here's the easy answer. I use thighs for this recipe, but breasts might work, as well. Thighs? Breasts? This diva loves them all, dah-ling.

Bruschetta Bake

1 can diced tomatoes with liquid

6 oz. stuffing mix

1/2 cup water

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 lbs. chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces

1 tsp. basil

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

In a cute bowl, mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water, and garlic.
Put chicken in a greased baking dish.
Sprinkle with basil and cheese.
Top with stuffing mixture.
Bake at 400 degrees 40-45 minutes until chicken is done.

Make it a meal: Serve with steamed green beans.

Wine: Chianti or Chardonnay

Roast Beef and Red Pepper Sandwich

This afternoon Diva Karyn and I had a bit of lunch. For once, it was not a liquid lunch. We actually ate. This sandwich is not for the yogurt and salad crowd. This is for divas that enjoy real food.

Roast Beef and Red Pepper Sandwich

mayonnaise

horseradish

1 onion roll

roast beef slices

Havarti cheese slices

roasted red pepper (I get mine from a jar)

Mix together some mayonnaise with a bit of horseradish to taste.
Slather on the onion roll.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Put on the George Foreman grill for a few minutes until the cheese melts.
You could broil this open-faced, but the George Foreman is easier.

Make it a meal: You don't need anything else for lunch.

Wine: hardy Cabernet Sauvignon or spicy Zinfandel

Jewel Wine Stopper

This jewel stopper is an eye popper. Perfect for a diva.


Order from Epic Products, Inc.

The link is on the sidebar.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef

This recipe calls for a large crock pot. When I am making this for a large crowd, I don’t put the potatoes and cabbage in the crock pot. Instead I use them to make colcannon (see recipe). Don’t wait for St. Patrick’s Day to make this. Just wait for corned beef to go on sale.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage

4 cups water

3 Tbsp. cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 onion cut into wedges

2-1/4 lbs. whole corned beef brisket

8 small potatoes, scrubbed and quartered

1 head green cabbage, cored and cut into wedges

Combine first 5 ingredients in an electric slow cooker on high
heat.
Mix thoroughly.
Add meat and potatoes.
Cover and cook 4 hours.
Remove lid and add cabbage wedges.
Cover and cook another 3-4 hours, or until meat is tender.
Carve beef into slices and serve with cabbage, potatoes and sauce.

Make it a meal: Serve with colcannon or all by itself.

Wine: Pinot Blanc

Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Pears

I found a recipe on the Internet which combined sweet potatoes with pears. I was intrigued, but the recipe had about two dozen steps and called for baking the potatoes for an hour and pureeing for another half hour. This busy diva does not have time.

So out of my kitchen came this dish. I just mashed it all. I may never make sweet potatoes any other way ever again. That good, dah-ling.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Pears

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

8 oz. evaporated milk (I used fat free)

a couple drops of vanilla

2 spoonfuls of brown sugar

¼ stick of butter

2 pinches of cinnamon

1 pinch of nutmeg

2 pears, peeled and sliced

½ cup white wine

Cook and mash the potatoes.
Add the milk, vanilla, sugar, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Poach the pears in wine and ¼ water.
When the pears are soft enough, mash into the sweet potato mixture.

Make it a meal: Serve with Crock Pot Portuguese Chicken (see recipe)

Wine: Chardonnay with the potatoes, Pinot Noir or Sangiovese with the Chicken

Ginger-Carrot Bread

Kids won’t eat their carrots? They’ll devour this bread. Better still, you don’t need to peel or grate a single carrot for this easy bread. It also freezes well. Make it on a rainy afternoon and pull it out for a holiday get-together. Another idea is to wrap it well in plastic wrap and tie a pretty ribbon on it for a gift.

Ginger-Carrot Bread

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 cup carrot juice

1 ½ cups flour

3/4 tsp. ginger

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.
Mix sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, and carrot juice.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, ginger, baking powder, and salt.
Add the flour to the egg mixture.
Pour batter into loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.
Cool before diving in.

Options: Add chopped walnuts or chocolate chips

Make it a meal: Serve with coffee and presto! Breakfast is served.

Wine: Chardonnay or Riesling

Colcannon

What Irish diva doesn't have a great recipe for colcannon? Shame on ye, if ye don't. Mine is a lovely bit o'cookin. I should make it more often than March 17, but I don't think about it. So here 'tis.

Colcannon

3-4 cups cabbage, shredded

2 leeks, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

3-4 potatoes, peeled and quartered

6 tbs. butter

milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg

1/2 cup grated cheese

a few bouillon cubes

Cook and mash the potatoes.
Dash in a bit of salt.
Add the butter, milk, egg, and sour cream.
Saute the cabbage, leeks, and onion until tender.
Stir into the potatoes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Top with grated cheese.

Make it a meal: Serve with bangers.

Wine: Chardonnay or Pinot Noir

Chili Chicken Pasta

Kids will love this depending on how much chili powder you put in. Spice it up for your man, divas, or tone it down for the kids. This is everything comfort food needs to be--it's cheesy, spicy, creamy, and garlicky. And EASY. Put it all together while the pasta cooks. That’s all the time it takes.

Chili Chicken Pasta

1 lb. chicken breast, cubed

2-3 garlic cloves, sliced (I use 3)

½ onion, chopped

1 can cream of chicken soup

½ cup milk

a few sprinkles Parmesan cheese

at least 3 oz. cheese, cubed or shredded (I like Gruyere)

chili powder to taste

4 cups cooked pasta (I use corkscrew-shaped)

Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil.
Add chicken and stir often.
Add soup, milk, cheese, chili powder, and garlic.
Stir until heated.
Serve over pasta.

Options: Chop up green and red peppers; add them to the sautéing onions and garlic.

Make it a meal: Serve with steamed broccoli.

Wine: Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

Tomato, Avacado, Bacon Sandwich

This makes the top ten list of best sandwiches. Serve on a bagel, toast, or wheat bread. Wrap it up and take it on a hike. Don't worry, dieting divas--avocado is GOOD fat.

Tomato, Avocado, Bacon Sandwich

2 slices thick dark bread like wheat or rye

2-3 slices bacon, cooked

a few sliced of beefsteak tomato

1/2 avocado, sliced

Toast the bread.
Assemble the rest between the slices.

Make it a meal: Serve with a small salad or if you are indeed on a hike, just munch some gorp.

Wine: I always bring a nice Chianti hiking, and you?

Goat Cheese Omelet

The key to a good omelet is letting the egg cook enough before you flip it over. I rarely do this, and thus enjoy goat cheese scrambled eggs. Then a friend, an amazing cook--not like me--gave me a fabulous non-stick pan. I put enough olive oil in for once. It was amazing. I made my first, gorgeous omelet. (photo by woodleywonderworks)

Goat Cheese Omelet

2 egg whites

salt and pepper

goat cheese

Heat olive oil in a gorgeous, non-stick pan.
Whisk egg whites, salt and pepper.
Pour into the pan and WAIT until egg is almost cooked through.
Add the goat cheese and flip the half the egg over.

Options: Serve with salsa on the side or put a few pieces of spinach in with the goat cheese.

Make it a meal: Serve with toast.

Wine: Champagne

Pumpkin Custard

This is not a particularly sweet dessert, but it is creamy. The recipe calls for cream, but I use half and half. Much of the creaminess comes from the pumpkin puree. Also, I tend to double the nutmeg, because nutmeg is an aphrodisiac. Couldn't hurt; might help.

Pumpkin Custard

2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1 tbs. flour

1 can pumpkin

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup half and half

1 cup milk

Mix the eggs, yolks, and flour.
Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Spoon the mixture into buttered custard cups or ramekins.
Place the custard cups into a large baking pan and fill halfway with water.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes until the custards are set in the middle.
Serve at room temperature or chill.
Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Make it a meal: Serve after a Crock Pot Cassoulet (see recipe)

Wine: Anything goes with pumpkin. Try a Sauvignon Blanc or a Pinot Noir.

Chicken & Mushrooms in Wine

What to do with leftover wine? Frankly, this is hardly ever a problem in my home. I adore all the fancy corks friends give me as gifts for wine I was unable to finish. They have all gone largely unused. Sometimes I use them for vinegar or oil.

It did happen once, though, and this is what I did with it.

Chicken & Mushrooms in Wine

2-3 chicken breasts

1 cup white wine

a bunch of sliced mushrooms or 1 can

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped or a few healthy sprinkles garlic powder

a small handful parsley, chopped

goat cheese

Throw all but the goat cheese in a crock pot and cook for 4-5 hours.
Put the cheese in the last 30 minutes.
Serve over rice.

Make it a meal: Serve it with steamed cheesy peas (see recipe).

Wine: Chardonnay