Dayrecipe Food Community

This is utterly delicious. The sauce is really outstanding with reduced fat. It’s guest worthy and faster than waiting in line at McDonald’s (not to mention far superior!).

MAKES: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat cous cous
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, flattened slightly
• 1 bunch green onion, trimmed (green & white parts sliced separately)
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup evaporated fat free milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 orange, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook couscous using the chicken broth and 1 tablespoon of the butter, following directions on the package.
2. Melt remaining tablespoon of butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Saute the chicken, turning once, until golden and firm to the touch, this should take 5-6 minutes.
4. Remove chicken from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.
5. Add the white part of the green onions, orange juice, cream and salt to skillet.
6. Arrange the chicken with orange slices on top of the couscous.
7. Spoon the orange sauce over the chicken and serve.
8. Boil over high heat, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
9. Cook 2 minutes to reduce sauce, stirring constantly.
10. Add the orange slices and remove from heat.
11. Stir the green part of the onions into the couscous and spoon on to a serving platter.

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A beautiful red dessert thats not too sweet. I usually put it in the oven timed to come out shortly before dinner. We think that it’s best still warm.

MAKES: 6 servings
INGREDIENTS:

• 4 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced lengthwise (1/4-inch thick)
• 3 cups bog berries (cranberries-fresh or frozen)
• 3 tablespoons dry tapioca
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, plus 1 teaspoon sugar, for dusting
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mace

1 tablespoon butter

Topping:

• 1 1/8 cups flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare Filling:

1. In large bowl, combine pear slices & cranberries and stir in the tapioca.
2. Mix 1 1/4 cups sugar, cinnamon and mace together, mix thoroughly.
3. Spread fruit mixture into a 13×9x2″ pan
4. Top it evenly with the sugar mix.
5. dot with the 1 tablespoon butter.

Topping:

1. Combine flour, all but 1 tablespoon of the sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. Cut in butter until in coarse crumbs.
3. Drizzle with milk, stirring until in pebble-size chunks.
4. Drop by spoonfuls onto filling.
5. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

TIP:

What a delight these exquisite little cookies are. Think shortbread that is so tender and flaky that they truly do melt in your mouth. They should be harder to make for the wonderful results that you get but thankfully they are simple enough for a beginning cook. They are always beautiful on those holiday cookie trays.

MAKES: about 30 cookies
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup fine white sugar (often called Berry Sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached  flour
• 1/2 cup strawberry, cherry or raspberry jam or preserves
• Red decorating sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Cream butter and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mix is light and fluffy.
3.  Add sifted flour, a 1/2 cup at a time,  and mix well.
4. Shape dough into 1 inch diameter balls and place on cookie sheets.
5. With your finger make an indentation in the center of 1/2 inch in size .
6. Carefully drop a spoon tip of jam or preserves into each indentation to fill it.
   Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until they are barely beginning to turn golden brown at the edges.
7. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the red decorating sugar over the jam centers while still hot.
8. Cool on the baking sheets for 3 to 5 mins and remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Caramel Pecan Coating

Instruction

1. In pan combine sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar (6 to 8 minutes).
2. Then reduce to medium-low heat, without stirring, till thermometer registers 240 degrees, soft-ball stage (about 30 more minutes).
3. Remove pan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour mixture onto a large platter. Do not scrape the cooked candy from the sides of the pan (this part tends to over-cook and gives a hard texture to the candy –it’s not worth wrecking the soft creamy center by adding this).
4. Cool, without stirring, until slightly warm to the touch. About an hour.
5. Add cherries to the mixture and beat with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes utill candy is white, creamy and has lots of air incorporated into it. (This step can also be accomplished using a paddle attachment on a food processor).
6. Form into logs (individual size or 2 large) and wrap in clear plastic wrap.
7. Place wrapped logs in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
8. For the coating:.
9. In a heavy saucepan combine caramels, butter and water. Cook over low heat until caramels are melted.
10. Spread chopped pecans on a piece of waxed paper.
11. Remove the saucepan from heat. Dip the unwrapped fondant logs into the melted caramel mixture. Let excess caramel drip off the log.
12. Place the dipped log on the chopped pecans and roll until it is covered.
13. Chill 1 hour or until ready to serve. To serve, let logs stand at room temperature about 30 minutes.
14. Cut into 1/4 inch slices.