ROASTED STUFFED CHICKEN LEGS

It was a cold night last week when I made this dinner. Too cold to go outside and cook on the grill. Well, not really, but it felt like it to me. Starting the oven seemed like a better idea. So I made a little bread stuffing for the chicken legs and roasted them. As long as the oven was on, I threw in some baby Yukon gold potatoes and a stuffed tomato for Guy. And I had
creamy delicata squash. Yumm. What a good dinner it was.


Roasted Stuffed Chicken Legs
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp. Smart Balance or butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1/4 tsp. sea salt
big pinch black pepper
1/8 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 cup crumbled bread (1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat)
2 Tbsp. chicken broth
2 whole chicken legs with thigs

In a medium-sized skillet, saute the onion, celery and mushrooms in the Smart Balance until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add parsley, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and bread and stir together with a fork until well combined. Sprinkle the chicken broth over all. Cool thoroughly.
Preheat oven to 400F. With fingers, gently lift the skin that is over the thigh portion of the chicken. Place stuffing under the skin, pushing it down into the drumstick and as far as you can get it to go without splitting the skin. Close the ends with toothpicks or skewers. (I used metal corn skewers.) Place the chicken in a baking pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Add whatever you want to the pan to roast alongside the chicken. Little potatoes are nice. You can also do other veggies: peppers, onions, squash, broccoli. But I would add broccoli and squash nearer the end of cooking -- maybe 20 minutes before the end. You can baste everything with chicken broth if it needs it, but not too much, you don't want a soggy meal. The chicken should take about 30-40 minutes. Check the thigh joint for doneness, or insert a meat thermometer. Somehow, a meal like this, when it's cold outside, is maximum comfort. It's not just the heat of the oven. It's the whole package. Try it; you'll see.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES

I found this recipe on the Rice Krispies website. The nice Kellogg people went to all the trouble of developing a recipe for me so I could use up the rest of the Rice Krispies in my pantry. And, since they are the Kellogg people, and since they really really want you to use Rice Krispies, they put a lot of them in this recipe, which is just fine with me. It's a small batch recipe. I got 15 3" cookies; if you make them bigger, you'll get even less. It's just the right amount I think, so you don't have too many cookies looking at you.

These cookies are good: crispy on the edges and soft inside. The cereal gives them a little crunch.

The batter is thick. I used an ice cream scoop (about 1.5 oz. for each) to scoop the dough, and it was a high ball. The batter doesn't deflate when it goes in the oven. So, as I was watching the first batch stay in balls, I thought I should do something. I took a fork and smashed the dough balls down a bit. For the second batch, I did the fork trick before I put them in the oven. If you want high cookies, go ahead and leave the high dough balls alone. I wanted fat but not high cookies. These turned out to be about 3" diameter cookies. If you want bigger cookies, try 2.5 ozs, or even 3 oz. Any way you make them, you'll enjoy them. Guy, who doesn't eat desserts, gave these a thumbs up -- way up. Thanks, Kellogg Company.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Kellogg's Rice Krispies

Rating: 8 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half bread flour, half unbleached all-purpose)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 cups Rice Krispies

1 pkg. (6 oz. or 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In large electric mixer bowl, beat together butter and sugar just till combined. (I did the beating by hand, making it less likely to overbeat anything. Overbeating cookie dough makes the cookies puff up in the oven, then deflate.) Add egg and vanilla, beating till combined. Add flour mixture, then cereal and chocolate chips. Using an ice cream scoop (about 1.5 oz.), drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350F about 13-15 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted near center, but not into a chocolate chip, returns almost clean. Remove immediately from baking sheets and cool on wire racks. Yield: 15 3" cookies

CREAMY DELICATA SQUASH

Wanting to experiment with different winter squashes, I bought one little Delicata squash. I found this recipe somewhere on the internet, and always like to give credit where it's due. But the recipe would not print, and I failed to write the source when I scribbled it, late at night. Though I searched and searched just now, I could not come up with this recipe. So I apologize to the person or group that's responsible for this great recipe for not properly acknowledging you.

I was a bit skeptical of using mint with squash, but decided to follow this recipe exactly. Amazingly, the mint makes the dish.

Here's another tidbit: these small watermelon-shaped squashes don't taste much different from any of the other winter squashes, so feel free to use another winter squash in this recipe. One medium Delicata squash serves two people. So if you want to serve more, multiply this recipe accordingly. Whatever you do, don't leave out the cream. It also imparts something special: a creaminess that, with the mint, really complements the mild flavor of winter squash. Click here for printable recipe

The first thing you must do is to scrub the squash, then cut it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and membranes with a large spoon. Put it in a pie plate or other baking dish, cut sides up, with a little water and loosely tent some foil over it. Bake it at 400F for about 30 minutes, or till it's very tender.

Remove squash from oven to cool. Saute in a skillet 1 chopped shallot in 1-1/2 tsp. butter. When shallot is transparent, scoop the squash from the shells and add to the pan, stirring well. Add 3 Tbsp. heavy cream; bring to a boil; turn off heat. Add a dash of freshly grated nutmeg, 2 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley,

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint, and some sea salt and pepper to taste.

You now have a few choices: you can serve it as is or you can puree everything in a blender. Either way, you can then, if you desire, put the not-completely-smooth squash mixture or the pureed squash mixture in a buttered baking dish and top it with buttered crumbs or top it with grated Parmesan cheese and bake till crusty. Very, very good stuff. My rating is 9 out of 10.

COCONUT CURRIED SHRIMP

I found this recipe on the My Recipes website. It's from Coastal Living Magazine. Since it called for 1-1/2 lbs. of shrimp, and I had a 1-lb. bag in my freezer (of shrimp we caught ourselves), I reduced the recipe to 2/3. The full recipe serves 4. Click on the link above if you want the full recipe. Otherwise, my version will serve 3. I froze the extra serving and will use it later.

We both enjoyed this recipe. The flavors are good, especially if you serve a chutney with the dish. It makes up rather quickly, too.

Coconut Curried Shrimp

Rating: 8 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. peeled, deveined shrimp

2 tsp. peeled, grated fresh ginger

1-1/2 garlic cloves, grated

2 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 tsp. Thai red curry paste

3/4 tsp. curry powder

10 oz. coconut milk (I used lite; full-fat coconut milk will produce a creamier sauce)

2 tsp. lite soy sauce

1 tsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. sea salt, if needed

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Hot cooked rice

Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cook 3-4 minutes, or till pink, stirring occasionally. (Do not cook shrimp all the way through.) Remove from skillet; cover and keep warm.

Add bell pepper, curry paste and curry powder to skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in coconut milk, soy sauce and brown sugar. Taste to adjust seasonings, adding salt, if necessary. Cook 3 minutes or till curry paste dissolves, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp; cook 2 minutes, or till shrimp is cooked through. Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro and serve immediately in shallow bowls over hot cooked rice. Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro. Serve with chutney and chopped peanuts, if desired. Yield: 3 servings

PRODUCT REVIEW: SONY CYBERSHOT, 9.1 Megapixels, 15X Optical Zoom

Can you see any difference between these two photos? There should be a difference, because the top photo was taken with my new camera. After months of research, my hubby bought what he thinks is the next best thing to sliced bread. Since I'm not the world's best photographer, I probably goofed when I took both photos, because I can't see much of a difference. Positioning and lighting are so important, and I am so impatient. Taking more than one shot is also critical, and I'm usually too much in a hurry. I'm not sure we really needed a new camera after all, since neither of us is into photography. But we have it now. In fact, we have two cameras now.

The old camera is a SONY Cyber-shot, 4.1 megapixels, 6.1X optical zoom. It's a nice little camera, and great for idiots like me. The new camera is a SONY Cybershot, 9.1 megapixels, 15X optical zoom -- an updated version of our old one. It's slightly easier to use, but basically the same camera and is supposed to take good close-ups. True confession: I haven't read the instruction manual. Actually, I didn't read the manual for the first camera. I just point and shoot. Some day, when I have lots of time, I'll read the manual and learn more about photography.

MARINATED AND GRILLED BACON-WRAPPED SCALLOPS

This is my own recipe. Guy is not big on scallops, and I love them. I don't like bay scallops -- too bitter, but the giant sea scallops are one of my faves. To make the scallops more palatable for him, I wrapped them in par-cooked bacon after first marinating them in a delightful Thai concoction. I skewered them with whole mushrooms that had also been marinated. (He said peppers would have been nice, and next time I'll add peppers for him.) Steamed broccoli and pea pods and coconut rice accompanied this deelish meal. You can see from the photo that there isn't much rice on my dish. That's because rice puts me in orbit about the way that chocolate does. Rice is high glycemic and raises blood sugar, then drops it dramatically several hours later, making you very hungry. Guy doesn't like brown rice and I don't want to eat white rice, so I compromised and made half brown and half white. We both got some of what we wanted. I started the brown rice first and cooked it for 30 minutes before adding the coconut milk and white rice. I have a neighbor who uses a rice cooker and she just puts the brown and white both in at the same time. The white gets a little overdone, but they're happy with it. Since we seldom eat rice in this house, I've never bought a rice cooker. This meal was so good and so satisfying that I know I'll be making it again.

Marinated and Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

Rating: 9 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:

4 tsp. chopped cilantro

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1/4 cup Thai sweet chili sauce

1/2 tsp. California hot sauce (or hot sauce of your choice)

1 Tbsp. canola or olive oil

6 whole mushrooms

optional: 1/2 green or red bell pepper, cut into chunks

1/2 lb. sea scallops (mine weighed .57 lb. and there were 7)

1 slice bacon for each scallop (I used 7 slices for 7 scallops)

In a small resealable sandwich bag, combine cilantro, garlic, lime juice, chili sauce, hot sauce and oil. Seal bag and massage to distribute ingredients. Transfer 2 Tbsp. of mixture to another sandwich bag and add the mushrooms (and peppers, if using). Place the scallops in the first bag. Seal both and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour or up to 6 hours.

Parcook bacon. (Here's an easy way: Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil. Place a wire rack over the tinfoil. Lay bacon strips on the rack. Bake @ 400F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.)

Lightly oil gas grill grates. Preheat gas grill to 400-425F. Wrap each of the scallops with a strip of bacon. Skewer the scallops, mushrooms and peppers. Grill for about 4 minutes each side, or till scallops are done, basting with remaining marinade throughout cooking process. Serve with coconut rice. Yield: 2 servings

(Coconut rice: 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 tsp. sea salt, 1/2 cup water, 3/4 cup lite coconut milk. Cook rice according to package directions.)

CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE MUFFINS, ADAPTED

Right now, I'm in the use-up-what's-in-the-fridge mode of baking. That means recipes with cream cheese, sour cream and heavy cream.
Just so you know.

This recipe, found on Pamela Lanier's website, is very good. Pamela has recipes from bed and breakfast places around the country. And you know B&B's always serve good food. I added some vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate chips to the batter and subbed 1/2 cup pumpkin puree + 1 Tbsp. oil for the 1/3 cup oil called for. If I make these again, I'll also add some coffee syrup or coffee brandy to bring out the chocolate flavor a little more. An extra Tbsp. of cocoa would also be nice. Oh, and since I'm trying to use up my bread flour, I subbed 1/2 cup bread flour + 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour for the all-purpose flour. I'm enjoying these a lot, especially the cream cheese centers which are fluffy, soft and delicious. They're a nice surprise when you bite into the muffin. A yummy treat for breakfast, snack or dessert.


Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins, Adapted
Rating: 7 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:
Cheesecake Filling:
3 oz. Neufchatel cheese
2 Tbsp. sugar (I subbed some Stevia for half the sugar)
1/4 tsp. lemon juice

Muffin:
1 cup all-purpose flour (or whole-wheat, or half and half)
1/2 cup sugar (Again, I subbed Stevia for half the sugar.)
3 Tbsp. cocoa (If you want these more chocolatey, make it 1/4 cup.)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips, divided (I used Nestle Chocolatier 53% cacao)
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk (I used fat-free half and half, because that's what I had.)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
optional: 1 tsp. strong coffee, coffee syrup, or coffee liqueur

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 10 muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Have all ingredients at room temperature. In a small bowl, blend cheese, sugar and lemon juice til fluffy; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup chips, mixing well to distribute ingredients evenly. In another small bowl, or in your blender, combine egg, milk, pumpkin, oil, vanilla and coffee flavor if using. Add wet ingredients all at once to dry, mixing lightly only till barely combined. Battery can be lumpy. Spoon a scant 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup, then drop 1 tsp. of cream cheese batter in centers, pressing down slightly.














Top with remaining chocolate batter, dividing equally among muffin cups. Scatter remaining chocolate chips over tops of muffins, pressing down slightly. Bake until toothpick inserted away from cheese filling comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Yield: 10 yummy muffins