Michelle T. and her Grandma host dinner

 Brine your chicken!  This is a fancy brine, but there are simpler ones out there.  It makes such a difference when baking or smoking chicken.  I smoked the bone in and skin on chicken breasts at 225 for 1 hour and 350 for one hour.  The temperature and times work well for a whole chicken also.  I seasoned the chicken with a mixture of butter, olive oil, garlic and chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme, and parsley).

https://www.recipetineats.com/chicken-brine-recipe/comment-page-6/#comments

Spring Green Risotto

Spring Green Risotto Get Spring Green Risotto Recipe from Food Network

Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Prosciutto

Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Prosciutto Get Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Prosciutto Recipe from Food Network

Perfect Pie Crust

4 cups flour

1 T sugar

2 t salt

1 3/4 butter flavored shortening

Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt, then cut in the shortening until crumbly.

Mix together the following in a small bowl.

1 T vinegar

1 large egg

1/2 cup water

Add liquid to dry ingredients with fork until moistened.  Divide into 3 large balls. Roll out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for easier handling.

Pecan Pie- Dear Abby

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups pecan halves

Beat eggs, add the rest of ingredients.  Pour into pie shell.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

For this recipe Michelle substituted butter for margarine 

For the Orange Bread, just cook orange rinds for 15-20min (not until reduced by half)

Lindsay’s new & tried and true recipes

 Salad:

https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/christmas-salad/

Carrots:

https://cafedelites.com/honey-garlic-butter-roasted-carrots/

Pull apart bread:

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/rosemary-garlic-pull-apart-bread/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_smartloop&utm_content=smartloop&utm_term=64445966

Sushi cups:

https://www.purewow.com/recipes/vegetarian-sushi-cups

I just made up my own recipe for the filling, but used the rice/vinegar recipe from the link.  I put cream cheese, cucumber and avocado in the little cups then added sesame seeds and seaweed snack pieces that I cut into small pieces.  I drizzled yum-yum sauce and sriracha sauce over the top.  To form the cups, I balled a teaspoon or two size of rice into a mini muffin tin and then used the back of a teaspoon that I’d sprayed with cooking spray to get the shape.  The rice is kind pretty sticky, and sometimes a little hard to work with but overall it really wasn’t too bad!

Yum-Yum sauce:

https://pinchofyum.com/yum-yum-sauce

Olive Oil cake:

https://www.bakefromscratch.com/classic-olive-oil-cake/

Heavy Winter Meal at Kymberly's

 Two appetizers: 

Cherry and Black Pepper Smoked Cream Cheese Recipe - Traeger Grills traeger.com

Brie and Cranberry Pull Apart Bread Recipe | Traeger Grills traeger.com

Sides:

Carrot Puree with Ginger foodfolksandfun.net

Roasted Beets and Parsnips beetsandbones.com

Instant Pot Wild Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms sweetpeasandsaffron.com

Roasted Brussel Sprouts:

Wash and cut out stem of sprouts, halve them. Toss with a shallot and diced garlic, olive oil and sea salt. Drizzle with balsamic glaze. Roast at 400 degrees until browned. (Not blackened 😜)

Roasted fingerling potatoes or potatoes at gratin go really well with this meal.

Main: Beef Wellington

This recipe requires an expensive cut of meat, center cut of the beef tenderloin (filet mignon) or you can use the front cut of beef tenderloin (chateaubriand).

I would improve this recipe by ensuring you process the mushrooms in batches to obtain the fine chop, otherwise it turns into a paste. If you sear the meat well enough it shouldn’t leak out into your pastry. 

The Ultimate Beef Wellington foodnetwork.com

King Cake with Caramel Crunch foodandwine.com

Cinnamon Crunch Ice Cream sugarhero.com

Michelle T and Nora's Couples night

 Michelle's recipes:

Walnut & Cinnamon Biscotti - Once Upon a Chef

Almond - anise biscotti: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/almond-anise-biscotti.html

Cranberry orange biscotti: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/231047/cranberry-orange-biscotti/

(I needed 3 oranges for 1 tablespoon of orange zest and added 8-10oz of cranberries vs the 6oz on the recipe)

Coconut Curry:  https://jessicainthekitchen.com/coconut-chickpea-curry-recipe/

Roasted Butternut Squash, Romaine and Goat Cheese Salad

Champagne Vinaigrette

Sarah's "last meals"

 

Fried Chicken

Ingredients

Chicken Thighs

Chicken Drumsticks

Flour

Salt 

Pepper

Vegetable Oil

Directions

1. Skin chicken drums and thighs. 

2. Place chicken in a brown paper bag with 1/4 cup of flour. Preheat skillet to 425 degrees.

3. In pre-heated skillet, place about 1/4 cup vegetable oil in pan. Place floured chicken in skillet. Salt and pepper.

4. Cook for 15 min or until brown uncovered. Flip chicken to the other side. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Cook for 15 min or until brown uncovered. 

5. Turn down skillet temp to 325-350 degrees. Flip chicken and cook for 15 min. Cover chicken with a lide slightly askew so the steam can escape. 

6. Flip chicken once more. Cook for 15 min with lid slightly askew.

Lindsay's viral recipe night

Simple Sourdough E-book

Whipped Feta Dip

-served with sourdough bread (photo included above) 

Green Goddess Salad with tortilla chips

Jennifer Aniston Salad

Tik-Tok Feta Pasta

Lemon Pasta

Ingredients: 

• 16 oz shellbow pasta or pasta shells

• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth

• 4 cloves minced garlic

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese shavings

• 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsely

• 3 cups fresh baby spinach

• 1 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper (more or less to taste)

• Lemon zest from 1 lemon

• juice of 1/2 lemon

Pour the pasta into a deep pot or dutch oven.

• Sprinkle in salt and chopped garlic, followed by broth. Heat up the pot on the stovetop and bring it up to a boil. Cover and cook the pasta for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is al-dente

• When cooked, squeeze in the juice from one lemon, zest and give it a quick mix.

Pour in heavy cream, spinach and chopped parsley. Give everything a mix and allow the spinach to wilt from the heat of the pasta.

• Sprinkle on shredded parmesan and mix it one more time.

• Serve with a lemon wedge, fresh parsley and a sprinkle of parm!

Browned Butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies