Chef in the House

Kicked Up Comfort Food
Bunco Salad

1 pkg Romaine lettuce
1 pkg Spinach
4 chopped green onions
3-4 red apples sliced
1 pkg craisins
Shredded Parmesan cheese
1 c. roasted/salted cashews

Salad Dressing

1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. apple cider vinegar
2/3 c. oil
1 t. salt
1 t. dry mustard
1 t. poppy seed

Combine sugar, apple cider vinegar, oil, salt, mustard, poppy seed
Mix well-add to remaining ingredients
Drizzle and toss just before serving

top

Autumn Wild Rice

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
1 c. uncooked wild rice
1 c. finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. honey
1 1/2 c. orange juice
1 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable broth
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 c. diced sweet potatoes (about 1 pound)
1/2 c. chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 c. toasted pecans

Melt butter in a heavy 4-qt. Dutch oven. When butter in melted and hot, add wild rice and onions. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes. While rice and onions are cooking, bring orange juice and broth to a boil either in a 4 cup glass measuring in the microwave or on the stove in a sauce pot. Add garlic to wild rice mixture and cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in honey and blend well. Add hot liquid mixture to pot along with salt, coriander, cardamom, and nutmeg. Stir in the sweet potatoes and squash. Bake , covered in pre-heated 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove cover and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes, until rice and squash are tender and almost all of the liquid has cooked away. Sprinkle with toasted pecans and serve. Toast pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

top
Roasted Spiced Pork Loin

2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon black cardamom seeds
1- 4 pound pork loin roast
1 tablespoon olive oil

Finely grind first 4 ingredients in a grinder or mortar and pestle. Place pork loin in a glass baking dish. Rub with oil, then rub spice mixture all over the meat. Cover and refrigerate about 4 hours or overnight. Roast in pre-heated 400 degree oven until pork is 145 degrees (about 1 hour) let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.

Pork Sauce
Deglaze pork roasting pan with 1/2 c. dry white wine-scraping to loosen browned bits. Pour into sauce pan and add approximately 1/2 c. chicken stock. Add 2-3 tablespoons of currant jelly. Cook on high heat until reduced by about 2/3. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Drizzle on meat just before serving.

top

Yogurt Peach Pie

1 Very Best Cereal Crust

Filling:
4 fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (frozen peaches are just fine)
1 c. sugar divided
2 tablespoons GF Flour Mix
1 egg, beaten slightly
1 c. nonfat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping: 1/3 c. reserved crust mix
1/3 c. brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter (or margarine)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Reserve 1/3 c. of the crust mix before patting the rest into a 9 inch pie pan.

Filling: Slice peaches into a bowl and sprinkle with 1/4 c. of the sugar. In another bowl, combine the remaining sugar, flour mix, and egg. Fold in the yogurt and vanilla. Stir this mixture into the peaches and pour into the prepared crust.

Topping: Add the brown sugar to the reserved crust mix and cut in the butter (or margarine) until the texture is crumbly. Sprinkle this over the filling.

Bake for 1 hour. Cool before serving, and store any remaining pie in refrigerator. Makes 6 servings

top