Flounder Francese with Toasted Almonds, Lemon and Capers

By Rachael Ray

Serves 4

• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) sliced almonds -- I forgot these
• 4 flounder fillets, 6 to 8 ounces each -- I used tilapia
• Salt and pepper
• 3 large eggs -- I only used 2
• A splash heavy cream -- I used skim milk
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided -- I only used 1 T
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided -- I only used 1.5 T
• 1/2 cup dry white wine, eyeball it - a couple of glugs
• Handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped-- I used dried
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 3 tablespoons capers
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pound triple washed spinach, tough stems removed, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg, eyeball it
• I added cream cheese to the spinach
• I added 1/2 C flour

Toast almonds over moderate heat and reserve.

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium high heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Beat eggs with cream. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet, 2 turns of the pan then add 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces. I dredged fish into flour. Dip the fish into the eggs and cook on both sides until just golden, 5 to 6 minutes total. Transfer fish to a plate and cover with loose a foil tent to retain heat.

Add wine to the pan and reduce by half, 1 minute, then add 1 tablespoon butter and a handful of parsley to the pan. Stir in the lemon juice and zest and the capers. Turn off heat. Pour sauce over fish and top with sliced almonds.

Return skillet to heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 more turns of the pan. Add chopped garlic and let it speak by coming to a sizzle. Wilt in spinach, turning to coat in extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. I added light cream cheese. Serve spinach alongside flounder.

My Review: I served the fish and spinach with mashed potatoes and chardonnay. All I can say is God bless Rachael Ray. This meal was phenomenal. It's guest-worthy. In fact, Simon said this might be the best thing I've ever cooked. (And I've cooked him a lot of meals...)

There's absolutely nothing I would do differently. It was perfect!

Spicy Sausage Pizza

from Cooking Light, JUNE 2004

• 1 (10-ounce) Italian cheese-flavored thin pizza crust (such as Boboli) -- I used a plain thin crust
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce or marinara sauce
• 3 (1/8-inch-thick) slices sweet or red onion, separated into rings
• 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced into rings -- I just used slices
• 3 ounces chicken sausage with habanero chiles and tequila, chopped (such as Gerhard's) --I used Trader Joe's chicken & jalapeno sausage
• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil -- I omitted

Preheat oven to 425°. Place crust on a baking sheet. Spread sauce evenly over crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Arrange onion and bell pepper evenly over sauce. Top with sausage; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from heat, and sprinkle with basil.

Yield: 4 servings

CALORIES 314 (30% from fat); FAT 10.4g (sat 4.7g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.8g); IRON 2.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 32mg; CALCIUM 396mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37.4g; SODIUM 703mg; PROTEIN 17.5g; FIBER 1.9g

My Review: This is a five-star recipe, for sure. It was absolutely delicious! I loved the yellow pepper and the spiciness of the sausage. If you have more than 2 people (and one of the 2 has a very healthy appetite), I would double the recipe and make more than one pizza. We polished off the whole thing -- although, I went with the recommended serving size as I have a wedding dress to fit my booty into.

Bean and Bacon Soup

from For the Love of Cooking (click here to see the official recipe with pictures)

• 4 strips of lean bacon - I used turkey bacon
• 3 large carrot, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 15 1/2-ounce cans white beans, drained - I used two cans cannellini beans and one can great northern beans
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

In a large Dutch oven, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Let cool, chop, and set aside.

Over medium heat, add the carrot, celery and onion to the pan drippings in the Dutch oven and sauté for 7 minutes; add the garlic and sauté for an additional 60 seconds, stirring constantly. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

Add 2 cans of beans, bay leaf and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the carrots and celery are soft.

Uncover and remove the bay leaf. Using a potato masher or an immersion blender, partially mash the bean mixture until it thickens slightly. Stir in the last can of beans, parsley and bacon. Taste and re-season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, if needed.

My Review: This was delicious! Pureeing the beans made the soup seem thicker and I loved the crumbly bacon. I squeezed a lime wedge over it before serving -- it added a little zing.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints

from For the Love of Cooking (click here to see the official recipe with pictures)

• 1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam -- I used low-sugar blackberry

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat the peanut butter and butter with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugars then beat until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients then mix until combined.

Scoop level tablespoons of dough, and form into balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar, and transfer to a silpat lined baking sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart. (I don't know what silpat is - I just used a normal baking sheet!)

Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the cookies are puffy. Remove from oven, and make indentions in centers by pressing with the handle of a wooden spoon. Return to the oven for 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

Heat jam in a small saucepan, stirring, until loosened, about 30-45 seconds. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon into each indention. Store cookies in a single layer.

My Review: These should be titled the best cookies on earth. They were so incredibly delicious. In fact, if you just want the perfect peanut butter cookie, just skip the jelly-adding part. They were soft and had a great peanut butter flavor. We couldn't stop eating them!

Roast Beef with Coffee Gravy

from Closet Cooking (click here to see the recipe with photos)

• 3-5 pound chuck roast
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 onions (sliced)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups coffee
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tablespoon flour mixed into 1 tablespoon water
• salt and pepper to taste
• *"new" potatoes - my addition
• * carrots cut into 1-inch pieces - my addition

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the beef and brown on all sides and set aside.Add the onion to the pan and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the beef stock and deglaze the pan. Add the beef back to the pan along with the coffee, balsamic vinegar, bay leaves and thyme and bring to a simmer.

Cover and transfer to a preheated 325F over and bake until fork tender, about 3-5 hours.Set the beef aside, cover and let cool. Strain the solids from the gravy and skim off the fat. Add the flour and water mixture and simmer until it thickens, a few minutes. Season the gravy with salt and pepper. *I added carrots and potatoes in the last hour of cooking.

My Review: Yum! This was delicious! I've never made a pot roast before. I'm not sure why - because it was incredibly easy. I did have some problems with the gravy. I've never made gravy before and it was kind of hard to do. It turned out to be more like broth with clumps of flour that I couldn't get unclumped. It still tasted OK, though.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

from For the Love of Cooking (click here to see the official recipe with pictures)

Serves 4 @ 308 calories, 10 g fat, 3 g fiber (pancakes only)

Cinnamon Syrup:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup water

Stir all the dry ingredients together in a small saucepan. Add the water and vanilla and stir occasionally until boiling. Let it boil for a few minutes while stirring until it thickens. Remove from heat and set aside until needed.

Pancakes:

• 2 cups of Bisquick pancake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp clove

Combine all dry ingredients until well blended. Add the milk and eggs into dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly (there should be some lumps). Heat a bit of butter in a skillet or griddle, over medium heat. Once hot, add a ladle full of pancake batter to the pan and cook for a few minutes; once you see bubbles forming on top of the pancakes, flip. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until done. Serve with fresh hot cinnamon syrup.

My Review: These were delicious, of course! I'm all about pumpkin anything so of course pumpkin pancakes are a big hit. The syrup was yummy too - sweet and spicy!

Nectarine and Goat Cheese Salad

From For the Love of Cooking (click here to see the official recipe with photos)

• Fresh lettuce (whatever kind you like)
• 1 nectarine, sliced thinly
• 1-2 T goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 handful of grape tomatoes, halved (I left these out)
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded & sliced (I left this out)
• 4 leaves of fresh basil, chopped (I left this out)
• 1-2 tbsp of craisins
• 1-2 tbsp of sunflower seeds
• 1/4 sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup croutons
• Balsamic vinaigrette (I just used Italian)

Combine all ingredients, toss & serve. Enjoy.

Review: This salad was yummy - Simon declared it the best salad ever!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This recipe is a family favorite - and perfect for football season! I'm sure my mom got it from somewhere. Your guess is as good as mine!

SERVES 20 (about 144 calories, 9 g fat, 0 g fiber - doesn't include chips and celery)

• 2 (10 ounce) cans chicken (You can also use leftover cooked chicken)
• 2 (8 ounce) packets light cream cheese
• 3/4 cup hot sauce (I've used regular hot sauce and the buffalo wing hot sauce)
• 1 cup light ranch dressing (I've used light blue cheese dressing before - that's good too)
• 2 cups reduced fat cheddar cheese
• Baked tostitos and celery sticks

Drain canned chicken and combine with hot sauce in saucepan. Cook on medium until heated. Add cream cheese and stir until blended thoroughly. Add ranch dressing and mix. Add most of the cheddar cheese and heat for a few minutes until mixed and melted. Put dip into a small slow cooker and sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese on top. Keep on low heat. Serve with baked tostitos and celery sticks.

I have also simply combined all ingredients in a bowl (except chips and celery) and put in the slow cooker to heat.

Review: This is a family favorite, so obviously I love it! It's not pretty, but it smells wonderful, tastes even better and is great to have around for football games. And it goes without saying that this is a boy-friendly recipe!