Pumpkin Casserole

This is a recipe of my second experiment with pumpkin. It is not a traditional dessert, but it can be a nice side dish for your chicken or fish (anything that is not too heavy) or a meal by itself.

You need:

Pumpkin (I used 1 medium sized tiger pumpkin and 1 medium sized golden squash)

Milk (about 1.5 cup)

Flour (1 tablespoon)

Butter (2 tablespoons)

Panko breadcrumbs (to your taste, depending on the sized of the baking dish)

Swiss cheese (depending on the size of the baking dish, I used about 6 oz)
Salt

Clean the pumpkin from seeds, peel and cut in cubes. Ones again I had two different types - tiger pumpkin and golden squash. You can use regular pie pumpkin.

Sauté pumpkin in one tablespoon of butter.

To make the sauce:

Melt one tablespoon of butter on the pan, add one tablespoon of flour. Sauté until golden. Add 1.5 cup of milk. Cook for 5-20 minutes. Add salt.

  Layer pumpkin in the baking dish.

Add milk sauce.

Cover with shredded Swiss cheese.

Cover cheese with panko breadcrumbes.

You can sprinkle a little bit of melted butter on the crumbles.

Bake at 350-400 F for about 40 minutes or until cooked.







 You can make some variations with this meal. Add sugar in the milk sauce and do not add cheese and you'll get sweet pumpkin casserole! Or substitute Swiss cheese with parmesan to add it more flavor.

Enjoy!

Ala

Chicken Soup

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts (with bone)
1 Chicken Bullion
8 oz Baby Carrots, peeled
1/2 Medium Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Leek
Crackers or Bread, if desired

This recipe is very easy and delicious. In medium pot, place peeled and sliced garlic, sliced onions, baby carrots, both chicken breasts and bullion. Fill with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let cook for 30 minutes or until chicken falls off the bones. Remove chicken and bones. Discard bones. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and return to pot. Wash Leek and cut off roots. Cut into thin slices and add to pot. Cook for 5 minutes and serve. (Leeks will dissolve completely if cooked too long.) Add crackers or bread. Enjoy!

It is easy to make variations of this recipe. If you like celery, mushrooms, tomatoes or any other vegetable, toss them in the pot. If you want, add noodles or rice. To change it up a bit, I will add a few slices of jalapeño peppers and then remove them before serving. They add a nice flavor without burning your mouth.

Be BOLD!  Experiement with the ingredients and have fun!
Posted by PAR

Eat Healthy Even When You Eat Out

When you can't have fun cooking and have to eat out, use this site to "decode" the menu and still eat healthy.  http://eatthis.menshealth.com/menu-decoder/?cm_mmc=ETNTNL-_-2009_10_05-_-HTML-_-body1  Posted by PAR

Quick and Tasty Stir Fry Chicken

Ingredients
1 Skinless, boneless chicken breast per person
Italian Salad Dressing
Frozen Bag of Stir Fry Vegetables
1/2 C Uncooked Rice per person

Cut chicken breasts into strips or bite sized pieces.  Set aside.  Put vegetables in glass or microwave dish.  Heat in microwave for 2-3 minutes.  In saute pan, place chicken and 1-2 Tablespoons of Italian dressing.  Cook chicken until it is white in color.  Add vegetables and heat through.  Cook rice according to directions.  (I use minute rice, equal parts of rice and water and a pat of butter.  Add chicken boullion for more flavor.  Cook in microwave for 3 1/2 minutes. Serve chicken and vegetables over rice.

You can get creative with this recipe by adding water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, sprouts, snow peas, mushrooms and a little soy sauce.  Change the flavor a little by adding sweet and sour sauce.  The basics are easy---then have fun experimenting a little.  Posted by PAR.

Recipe: Russian "French style meat"

Here is the Russian recipe I’d like to share with you. I just want to warn you before you go on reading through it that Russian kitchen is pretty rich. You’ll find a lot of recipes with mayo, butter or fatty pieces of meat. But the meals are very good and delicious! You don’t have to eat them all the time, but you can indulge yourself sometimes, right?
The recipe of baked under mayo and cheese meat we, Russians, used to call “French meat”. Don’t be fooled by the name. This recipe has nothing to do with French kitchen. This is probably because in native Russian kitchen sour cream, not mayo is often used (yes, famous Russian salad Russians don’t consider to be Russian: )). And there is not a lot of cheese in the original Russian recipes.
For this recipe you can use any type of meat, chicken or even fish. Most popular is pork, some use veal, some chicken. Meat will be tender and juicy and absolutely delicious. Try it!
 This recipe has a lot of variations. Besides different types of meat some may add potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini or bell peppers. You can pick any type of cheese you like, but I would recommend choosing medium or sharp one.

For 5-6 servings you need:

-2 lb. of lean pork

-3 medium onions

-8 oz. of shredded cheese

-About 2 cups of mayonnaise

-Salt

-Pepper

I bought thin sliced lean pork chops. If you have regular ones, you’ll need to cut them lengthwise.

Tenderize each piece of meat with meat tenderizer.

Put salt and pepper to your taste and place meat on a tray slightly oiled beforehand.

Slice onions in a half rings.

Spread onions on the top of meat evenly. This is a step where variations exist. Some people put onions on the bottom of a tray, others add thin sliced potatoes, or mushrooms, or zucchini, or bell peppers. Whatever you like more and think that will go really good with your meal - just add it and see how it goes. Or just try simple and well-tried by me way.

Cover meat and onions with cheese. I picked Colby Jack mix.

Cover cheese with mayonnaise. Mayo doesn't let cheese to burn too fast, thus it is better when it covers cheese, not the other way. But you can find plenty of recipes that tell you to spread mayo first and then cheese. So, you can do it either way. Just remember: I'm sure my way is a better one :)

Cook in the oven for about 40-45 minutes at 375 F. You can set the oven at 350 F and cook for one hour, or set it at 400 F and reuce time a little. Longer cooking time will make meat more tender.

Serve hot with your choice of side.

Enjoy!

Your Ala

Pot Pie - That you will love!

Try this recipe and then come back and share your comments. Every time I have made this pot pie for somebody new they say "Pot Pie---I hate pot pie!" And then they proceed to eat half the pie and ask when I am going to make it again.

The first time I made this pot pie, I emptied my refrigerator with leftovers. It can't be something you don't like because you only add the things you do like to it---and anything goes.

Ingredients

1 Philsbury Pie Crust

6 oz Meat of Choice, cooked
1 pkg Frozen Vegetables (or empty your refrigerator using all leftovers)
1 can Cream Soup of Choice
1/3 can Milk
1/4 cup of Cooked Pasta or Rice
3 oz Cheese of Choice (about 5 slices)

Place pie shell in pie dish. Cover bottom with bite-sized pieces of meat. In separate bowl, mix vegetables, pasta or rice and can soup with about 1/3 can of milk. Stir well. Pour mixture over meat in pie dish. Cover top with cheese. Put top pie shell on and pinch outer edges together. Vent top by making 3-5 slices in crust. Bake 45 minutes at 400 F or until golden brown. Let stand for 5-10 minutes so the juices won't run. Enjoy!

Posted by PAR