Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce

 

 Ok this one's super SUPER simple to make, and it's absolutely delicious. I saw the recipe on a FB reel from Khin's Kitchen, and my first thought was "how can this not be good?" 

The recipe states that it's "Perfect for spring rolls, crispy won tons, or nuggets" but I would also use it as a stir fry sauce as well. It's SO flavorful. I bet you could even add a little heat to it if you like things hot and sweet. Lots of bang for your buck with this one! Boom. 

 

 

 

1/2 cup pineapple juice or water

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tsp salt

1 tbs corn starch mixed with 2 tbs cold water

 

 

In a saucepan, combine pineapple juice, vinegar, sugar, ketchup, and salt. Stir and bring to a gentle boil. Once the sugar has dissolved and the sauce begins to bubble, stir in the cornstarch slurry. Continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency. Let it cool and store it in a clean jar. 

Chef's note: Add 1-2 drops of natural red food coloring if you prefer a red sauce.

 

 

Tips:

It sounds silly to say this about a sweet and sour sauce, but it's VERY sweet, and VERY sour. When I made it, I used pineapple juice, but I think I may use just water next time. That might cut it a little. I also added a tsp of soy sauce. That gave it a little savory note to it. 

This sauce is perfect for water bath or steam canning. If you choose to do so, use clear gel instead of regular corn starch. The clear gel is modified specifically for canning. I'd do half pints for 15 minutes.

Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken

 So, summer has come to a close, but you're not quite ready to let go of summer flavors, right? SAME! I still want some sweet saucey smokey BBQ, but I think all the grilling and cookouts are done for the year. So what do we do? Well, we could do oven BBQ chicken or ribs, but it's still kinda hot out for the oven. We could do slow cooker pulled pork, but that'll take all day. The next best thing? The skillet on the stove top!
 The recipe is super easy, really quick, and super delicious when you want a quick chicken dinner and a quick BBQ sauce. When I tell you that this recipe comes together in a snap, I'm not even kidding. Honestly, you can have dinner on the table in less than a half hour. This is my tweaked version of a recipe for strawberry chicken that I found on Taste of Home. I didn't have strawberries, but I had fresh pineapple, so I went with it. I've done pineapple with BBQ before, so I knew it would work. It turned out SO good! TBH, I've never met a pineapple anything that I didn't love, (yes, even pizza. Oh stop.), so I knew I'd love adding pineapple to the BBQ sauce. Oh, one thing... the original recipe turned out to be VERY sweet, which I'm fine with, but still, I decided to cut back a little on the sweet ingredients and add a little lemon juice to brighten up the whole party. Much better, I think! That's the beauty of a recipe! You make it the way YOU like it!
 So, if you're still thinking of BBQ, try this one. SO easy, and SO good. Serve it with some potato salad and baked beans, and summer is still here!



a couple glugs of oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup BBQ sauce
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs EACH of honey, brown sugar, and lemon juice
1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped

 Add oil to a large heavy skillet. Over medium heat, brown chicken pieces on both sides, until chicken almost cooked through, but not all the way. Remove to a plate and set aside. Add chopped onions and butter to pan. Saute a minute or two until the onions soften. Add all remaining ingredients to pan. Stir well to combine. Nestle chicken pieces back into the sauce in skillet. Reduce heat to low. Let simmer for about 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened.



Tips:
Don't have fresh pineapple? Use canned! I would add some of the juice too, because why not?
Not a fan of pineapple? Try a different kind of fruit! Like I said, the original recipe used fresh strawberries, but I bet you could use black berries, blueberries, diced apples, supremed oranges, any kind of fruit you like! or just leave the fruit out altogether. All good!
This recipe would also be great with pork chops instead of chicken. I mean, I've never tried it, but dontcha think? I'll let you know if, actually WHEN I try it! How can that not be good? In fact, it would probably be good on anything! Shrimp anyone? Don't throw away that extra sauce!
Btw, if your grilling season has NOT ended, go ahead and make this sauce recipe in a small sauce pot, then brush it on anything you're grilling! 

Strawberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

   A few years ago, I came up with a recipe for Blueberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce, and it was fun and unexpected and a fabulous big hit. It was sweet and tangy and smoky and zesty and everything you want in a barbecue sauce. So then I thought, I wonder how it would taste with strawberries instead of blueberries! Wouldn't that be amazing? At first, I figured I'd just use the same recipe and swap out the blueberries, but then I thought, wait... let's make a new recipe for strawberries and let them have their own moment in the spotlight!
  As always, when I want to find a new recipe, I do some googling to see who else might be thinking of the same idea. I happened to find a recipe on a blog called The Stay At Home Chef, and I gave it a try. It's so good! But then I thought, lets turn this from good to GREAT! So, this is basically the same recipe, but I added a couple tiny tweaks to it. (You know me. I can't leave well enough alone.) The final result is a revelation! Who knew that strawberries would pair so well with smoky Chipotles??? And since Chipotles are just smoked jalapenos, this sauce has a nice little kick to it. Not like a burn-your-face-off kind of a kick, but just a nice heat that sneaks up on you a little. I'm not a spicy guy, but I'm definitely a fan of a slow burn.
  So the next time you're grilling up some chicken or ribs, or maybe doing a slow cooker pulled pork, give this one a try. It's really awesome!



2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil 
1 large sweet onion diced 
3 cloves garlic minced 
2 cups strawberries hulled 
3 chipotles in Adobo sauce 
1 cup ketchup 
2/3 up brown sugar tightly packed 
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 
1/2 cup honey
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
1/2 teaspoon salt


 In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add in onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and saute for 60 seconds. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce or transfer to a blender. Puree until smooth. Return to heat and simmer another 10 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container. Refrigerate up to 5 days.


Tips:
If you would like more heat, go for it! Add some crushed red pepper flakes for another layer of heat. Or you could even add in some chopped jalapenos or a bit of Tabasco.
If you would like a sweeter sauce, bump up the brown sugar and honey.
If you want a little more tang, try adding a little more mustard or lemon juice or even a little splash of apple cider vinegar. 

Joey's Easy Enchilada Sauce

 This sauce only takes a few minutes to throw together and it's absolutely the perfect thing for your next Mexican themed dinner. What kind of enchiladas do you like? Chicken? Beef? It goes with everything! It's my own recipe and I hope you like it! Oh, and if you wanna add some heat, go for it!

3 tbs oil
3 tbs flour
2 tbs chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups chicken stock
1 6oz can tomato paste


Add oil and flour to a sauce pan. Over medium heat, whisk together to make a paste. Add the spices and whisk to combine. Add the chicken broth and tomato paste. Whisk again until smooth. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes. It should be a little on the thin side, not quite as thick as ketchup. If it becomes too thick, just add a little more broth. Adjust salt if needed. That's all there is to it!

Tips:
I like to measure all of the spices into a small bowl and then add them all at once. This way you're not burning the first spice by the time you finish measuring and adding the last one.
If you don't have chicken broth, you can use powdered or cubed bouillon. Just omit the added salt. Or you can just use plain water.
If you'd like some heat, add as much crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper as you like!!

Joey's Go-To Homemade Pizza Sauce

 I was recently making a Pizza Lasagna, and I realized that I didn't have a go-to pizza sauce recipe. So I figured I'd come up with one! Just as I usually do, I looked up a few different recipes and took what I liked from each one. And here it is! Now I have my go-to recipe and I hope you'll give it a try. Of course you can use it for homemade pizza or Crock Pot Pizza Pasta, but try it as a dipping sauce for Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza Puffs, or your favorite mozzarella sticks. You could also do mini pizzas in the toaster oven on English muffins with a little shredded mozzarella cheese on top. It's also fabulous just as a spicy sauce poured over your favorite pasta. Hopefully this will now be YOUR go-to pizza sauce recipe too! Enjoy!

3 tbs olive oil
3 tbs butter
1 small onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cracked fennel seeds
2 (28oz) cans Tuttoroso crushed tomatoes
2 large whole sprigs fresh basil
1 tbs sugar
S&P to taste

Add the first 7 ingredients to a heavy saucepot over medium heat. Stir and saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Increase the heat to bring it up to a boil, then reduce it to a low simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. That's all there is to it! Can be made in large batches and frozen, if desired.

Tips:
 For the fennel seeds, I used a mortar and pestle to crack them and crush them a bit. You can also place them in a ziploc bag and use something heavy the bash them up so you won't have big seeds floating around in your sauce.
I leave the sprigs of basil whole so you can easily fish them out after the sauce is finished cooking. If you want, you can chop them up and just leave 'em in the sauce.
 I usually don't mention specific brands, but in this case, I only use Tuttoroso. For one thing, all crushed tomatoes aren't created equally. Sometimes they're very chunky, more like stewed tomatoes, other times they're almost like puree. Tuttoroso crushed tomatoes are the exact texture I like for pizza sauce. And I seem to remember seeing on America's Test Kitchen that they were the best tasting ones too. I could be completely wrong on that, but I'm going with it. If you don't have Tuttoroso crushed tomatoes, then I recommend using any favorite canned whole tomatoes and crushing them to your desired texture.

Shrimp and Asparagus Stir Fry with Lemon Sauce

  One of the best things about having a cooking blog is that people often text me or email me with a new recipe. Maybe it's something tried and true, or maybe it's something new. Either way, it's always exciting to hear that someone was so thrilled and pleased with a dish that he or she felt the need to share it! Isn't that awesome? Seriously, let's think about that for a second. Someone has just cooked something and thought "OMG this is SO good I need to tell someone about it!" Isn't that fun? And I'm happy to provide a platform with which to do just that!
 This recipe come from my niece, Katie. She found it on a blog called Home Cooking Memories, and texted it to me a couple months ago. I figured now would be the perfect time to share it. It's the perfect summer recipe that you can quickly throw together in no time and have a lovely dinner for two out on the deck with a nice glass of wine. Doesn't that sound like heaven? It's easy enough for the novice cook, and sophisticated enough to be impressive on a first date. Perfect! Thanx Kate!!
 So keep those recipes coming! And if you happen to think of it, take a picture and send it to me with the recipe! I'd love to share it!

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed and each stalk cut into 2-3" pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Lemon Sauce:

 2/3 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

In a small bowl, whisk together all of the lemon sauce ingredients and set aside.
In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to pan in a single layer and cook for about 3 minutes, turning them over to cook both sides. Season shrimp with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Shrimp should be beginning to pink on both sides and be opaque, but just slightly undercooked. Remove from frying pan and place shrimp on a plate.
In same frying pan, heat another 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and cook until asparagus is tender-crisp, bright green, and just barely beginning to brown. Season asparagus with 1/4 teaspoon salt (or more if needed). Add ginger and garlic and stir to combine with asparagus. Cook for another 30-45 seconds or so.
Pour in lemon sauce mixture into frying pan with asparagus. Add shrimp back into pan and combine sauce with asparagus and shrimp. Simmer for about a minute or until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and serve over rice.

Tips:
Katie said this dish reminded her of Chinese take out garlic chicken. She added a little pinch of crushed red pepper flakes "because she's a pepper monkey", and also said perhaps she'll pump up the lemon a little more next time, but it was delicious just as is.
 If you'd like to swap out the asparagus for any other veggies, go for it! I'm sure this would also work perfectly with chicken instead of shrimp. I would cut boneless chicken into small pieces, dredge it in seasoned flour to lightly coat, then saute it in the pan until partially cooked, and finish cooking it with the sauce as directed with the shrimp. YUM!

Blueberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

 

Ok just go with me on this one!
A while back, I was watching Diners Drive-ins, and Dives, and there was a place that served bison ribs with blueberry barbecue sauce. Even though they didn't give an exact recipe, I knew I wanted to try it. So I wrote down the list of ingredients and just guessed at the amounts. After a couple tries, I added a couple extra ingredients and here we are! I must say I'm THRILLED with how it turned out. It's sweet and tangy, spicy but not too hot. It just has a little bit of heat that hits you in the back of the throat, ya know? I wouldn't even call it a 'kick'. Of course you can make it as spicy as you like it, but this is just fine for me. It's absolutely SLAMMIN' on pork ribs. Chris said he could eat it with a spoon. Emma and Daniel Loved it as well, and my friend Denny loved it with chicken fingers. It's really just a great barbecue sauce! Delicious, slightly different, and definitely unexpected.
 Try it and let me know what you think!!

2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup chipotle peppers in adobo sauce 
2 pints fresh blueberries
4 big cloves garlic
1 cup any regular barbecue sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 cup honey
4 tbs butter
kosher salt

Add all ingredients to a heavy pot and simmer on a low heat for about an hour. Puree with a blender or food processor. Serve immediately or store in the fridge.

Tips:
Like I said, I didn't make it very spicy because I'm not really a spicy food kinda guy. I just used half of a small can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. But if you like the heat, by all means GO for it!
To make the pork ribs, I used the country style ribs...
Place them in a pot of water and boil them for about an hour. Then place them in a casserole dish, smother them with the BBQ sauce, and place the pan in a 350F oven for about 30-40 minutes. They'll be sticky and yummy and the meat will just fall off the bone. Be sure to have lots of napkins at the ready! And before you start complaining that I BOILED the ribs instead of grilling them, just try them and you'll see how amazing they are. Besides, I live in an apt and I don't have a grill. So there. Don't judge me!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Here's a perfect recipe for the novice cook. You only need a few ingredients and you're good to go. It's so easy you won't believe it, and just wait until you taste it! It's absolutely delicious! I found the recipe on the Hellman"s Mayonnaise web site and it's just perfect. This would be great as a midweek dinner because it's ready in less than 30 minutes. Serve it with something light and fresh such as a tomato salad or a fresh roasted green vegetable. SO DELICIOUS!!! You seriously need to try this one!


1/2 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 lbs.)
4 tsp. Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs


 Preheat oven to 425°.
Combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise with cheese in medium bowl. Arrange chicken on baking sheet. Evenly top with Mayonnaise mixture, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.
Bake until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 20 minutes.
Also terrific with Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Light Mayonnaise or Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Canola Cholesterol Free Mayonnaise.

Hellman's Tips:
Try making this dish with thin-cut boneless skinless chicken breasts! Prepare as above, decreasing bake time to 10 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Omit Parmesan cheese and have "Magically Moist Chicken" on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Joey's Tips:
Use Panko bread crumbs to make a nice crispy crust.
There are only 2 carbs per serving, but if you'd like go even further, simply omit the bread crumbs and sprinkle a little dried Italian seasoning. You'll have barely a trace of carbs per serving.
I like to sprinkle a little extra Parmesan cheese on top, just because more is more!!

Oh, one other thing....
I think this would be AMAZING on roasted vine ripened tomatoes. Just slice the tomatoes in half horizontally, then place them on a sheet, cut side up. Schmear each half with a little of the mayo/cheese mixture, then sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake until bubbly. They'd be a perfect first course!

Easy Onion Gravy

This is my "go to" recipe for onion gravy. It's simple to make and it goes with EVERYTHING! Are you making Toad in the Hole? You definitely need onion gravy. Or how about a meatloaf smeatloaf double beatloaf? Yup. You definitely need onion gravy to go with it. Yes, I know it only take 5 seconds to open up a jar of brown gravy, but seriously, this is definitely one of those times where it's better when YOU make it. It really only takes a few extra minutes to make, and it goes perfectly over a pile of mashed potatoes or even just a simple bowl of rice. So, the next time you're having a roast beast or Salisbury steaks, give this one a try. I think you'll love it! Oh, and be sure to read the tips after the recipe for a few helpful ideas.
Great then!

2 large onions
several glugs of vegetable oil or olive oil
a few splashes Worcestershire sauce
3 tbs flour
2 cups beef broth
1 tbs butter
salt and pepper

Slice onions and place in a large saute pan along with the oil over medium heat. Slowly and patiently saute the onions until they're soft and caramelized. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and stir again. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute or two longer. Add the broth, salt, and pepper. Turn the heat up to medium high, just to bring it up to heat. Keep stirring as it thickens. Finish it by stirring in a pat of butter. Adjust seasoning if needed. Serve.

Tips:
Be sure to keep the heat low to medium as you caramelize the onions. You don't want the heat to be too high. That'll brown the onions too quickly. Just keep it nice and slow.
For a little extra layer of flavor, try adding a few pinches of fresh thyme leaves.
You can easily use butter instead of oil. Just omit the pat of butter at the end. It's really just there for flavor and also to make everything nice and rich and glossy.
Are you serving chicken? Use chicken broth! Are you vegetarian or vegan? Use vegetable broth!
You can also make this a mushroom gravy by substituting mushrooms for the onions. Everything else stays exactly the same. You could also ADD mushrooms to it and make a mushroom and onion gravy. MMM that sounds good.... doesn't it?

and btw... don't you just love my Aladdin's lamp gravy boat???  hee hee!

Never Fail BBQ Sauce

 This is a great all purpose BBQ sauce that is ready in no time at all. When my friend Terri asked me if I had a recipe for BBQ with orange juice in it, I did a quick search and found this one for her. It's not my recipe, but it sure is yummy! She was nice enough to take the picture for me. 
Thanx Ter!

1 c ketchup, 
1/4 c brown sugar, 
1/4 c onion finely chopped, 
1/4 c orange juice
1/4 c white vinegar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
 Add orange zest for extra zing. 

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot. Boil 5 mins. Pour over chicken, pork, ribs, etc. Marinate beef steaks for as long as you can, from as little as 30 minutes to overnight. Broil or grill!


Tip:
I NEVER make a BBQ sauce recipe without doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling the amounts. I figure, if I'm gonna make it, I might as well make a big batch! I keeps for a really long time in the fridge, so why not?

Peanut Butter Sauce

When I first made the Peanut Butter Cake, I topped it with a chocolate ganache. Kristin decided that, as much as she loved the cake, it needed to have a peanut butter glaze instead of the chocolate. I wondered if that might be too much peanut butter, but then realized that I had obviously taken leave of my senses because there's no such thing as too much peanut butter. Am I right, Kristin?
So I decided to see if I could find a really good peanut butter sauce recipe. It needed to be sweet enough to pour over a dessert, such as vanilla ice cream, but it also needed to be rich enough to act as a ganache over the Peanut Butter Cake.
Well, ladies and gents, this is the one. I tried it out when the WDHS gang came over for dinner. I had made a Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake and decided that this sauce would be the perfect topping, along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Needless to say, it was a huge hit! As usual, Katie was an immediate fan, because basically she can never get enough peanut butter, and Brooke loved it so much, she made it for her whole family. She even took the picture! Thanx Brooke!
Give it a try. I know you'll love it!


1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (you can use half and half)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
pinch kosher salt

Combine all ingredients except peanut butter in a saucepan stirring constantly until all ingredients are dissolved. Let the mixture cool completely then add the peanut butter and stir well. It will look like a hot mess, but keep stirring and it will turn out smooth.
That's all there is to it! Easy, right? Serious Yum.

Tip:
One of the key ingredients is the pinch of salt. It might not seem like a big deal, but it's that little bit of saltiness that makes it. Make sure you include it!
Serve this on anything chocolate or banana, or as a sundae topping with Reese's Pieces.
I know the recipe only calls for a cup of peanut butter, but I always just add the rest of the 12 oz jar. More is more!!!

Cream Cheese Sauce

This is the perfect sauce to serve over any kind of spiced cake, a bowl of fresh berries, or Carrot Cake Ice Cream. Yum!

1 pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixing bowl, simply combine all ingredients together until smooth. If you'd like a thinner sauce, add a drop or two more milk. Also, feel free to change the amount of sugar to adjust the sweetness.

Home Made Caramel Sauce

Often times when one thinks of an ice cream sundae, one thinks of gobs of hot fudge, right? Well, I have to say that's not always the case, at least not with me. Yes, I love a hot fudge sundae as much as the next person. But for me, it's all about the caramel. It's true! Ever since I was a child, every time there was a choice between chocolate and caramel, I pretty much pushed the chocolate aside. To this day, my hands-down favorite dessert of all time is a deep dish hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Nothing else compares! So, I hope you'll give this sauce a try. It's really simple to make and it's ready in no time. And seriously, home made caramel? Are you kidding me? It just doesn't get any better!!


1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup water
6 tbs butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Normally I'd list any tips and hints at the END of the recipe, but this time, you should read them BEFORE you make it. Safety first!!


Tips:
-First and foremost, be extra careful when you make this!
-The sugar is SCREAMING hot when it melts and you could seriously burn yourself. If you have little toddlers running around, wait until it's time for today's nap, or let them watch something Disneytastic to keep them occupied.
-Be sure to use a high sided saucepan because adding the butter and cream causes the caramel to dramatically bubble up. You definitely don't want it to overflow!
-You may wonder why the recipe calls for 1/4 cup of water since it only evaporates from the pan anyway. Why bother adding it, right? To be honest, you don't need it. You can just add sugar to the pan and let it melt when you put it over heat. I like to add the water because it makes the sugar caramelize a little more evenly and you're less likely to burn it. It takes a few more minutes since you have to wait for the water to evaporate, but I think it's worth having a little extra insurance.
-It's best to have everything ready when you start. As soon as the sugar starts to change color, it goes pretty quickly. You don't want to be routing around in the fridge looking for that last stick of butter while the sugar is burning.
-After the vanilla is mixed in, let it cool for a while before pouring it into a heat resistant container, such as a mason jar. For heaven's sake, don't pour it into a plastic container! It might melt the plastic! And be sure to use oven mits when handling the hot jar. Whew! That was a lot. Ok NOW we're ready to begin!


Place sugar and water in a 2 qt saucepan. Place over medium heat. Don't use any utensils to stir it. This will cause the sugar to crystallize. Just hold the handle and swirl the saucepan in a small circular motion. Cook the syrup until the water has evaporated and the sugar has turned to a lovely amber color. In the meantime, have the butter and cream ready. As soon as you've reached the amber color, carefully add the butter. Whisk until the butter is melted. Remove from heat. Add cream, whisking until well incorporated. Let it cool for just a bit before stirring in the vanilla. It will thicken to the perfect pouring consistency when it cools.

Katie Franny BBQ Sauce

My sister, Cathy, has been making this BBQ Sauce for years. Reen's husband Billy has always been a fan of it. He calls her "Katie Franny"(since her name is Cathy Francis), but the funny thing is that's what he calls the BBQ sauce too, as in "Pass me the Katie Franny" or "Will you pour some more Katie Franny on my burger?".
He cracks me up.
Anyway, I'm thrilled that she passed the recipe along to me and now I get to share it with you! So here ya go. Have some Katie Franny!


Hey Joe,
I gave someone my recipe for BBQ sauce today, and I thought I'd send it along to you while I was at it. It's my family's favorite BBQ sauce recipe (apologies to Marshy's!), and I must say I do enjoy it too. It's a little sweeter than some of the more smoky-flavored ones, which is ok by me, because I don't like a heavy smoky taste. Besides using it on grilled stuff, it's also great as the sauce for BBQ Pulled Pork, which I often make in my crock pot. You just make your pulled pork like usual, and after "pulling" the pork, add the BBQ sauce at the end. Yum!
The Katie Franny thing just started from Billy being his usual goofy self. He first called it Katie Franny BBQ Sauce, and then at some point announced that he was going to shorten the name to Katie Franny, and that was that.
The rest is history...

:)
TTFN.
C.


2 tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf, crumpled
2 cups ketchup
6 oz. Cola
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Dijon or spicy brown mustard
2 tsp. cider vinegar (I've also used red wine or white wine vinegar, and regular white vinegar - no prob)
Salt & pepper

Saute onions and garlic in butter until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat 45 minutes to an hour, until thickened and yummy.

Enjoy!

Cathy's Tip:
DOUBLE this recipe every time you make it. It keeps for a long time in the fridge. And, besides, what are you gonna do with the other half can of Coke anyway?

Chicken Francaise

Tom and Amy came over to my place for dinner a few weeks ago and they asked if I could show them how to make Chicken Francaise. Frankly, I had never made it before, but as always, I thought "How hard can it be?" Well, I found a recipe for it and gave it a try. It was FABULOUS! The sauce was super easy, it was quick to prepare, and it's so flavorful that someone might think you went to a lot of trouble. I think this recipe now falls into the category of "go to" dishes when you want to impress someone. Give it a try!


1 egg, beaten
1 lemon, cut in half
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
5 or 6 tbs butter (plus more, if needed)
1 (10.75 ounce) can chicken broth
fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the egg and juice of 1/2 lemon. In another shallow dish or bowl mix together the flour, garlic powder, and paprika. Slice each piece of chicken breast horizontally so that you have twice as many pieces that are half as thick. Dip chicken breasts in egg mixture, then flour mixture. Shake off excess flour. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken breasts and saute until golden on each side and almost cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat until all chicken is cooked, adding butter if necessary. Add 1 tbs of the seasoned flour and one more pat of butter. Whisk together to make a paste. Add chicken broth. Using a spoon or whisk, scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add juice from the other half of lemon, a handful of chopped parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken back to the pan. Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Tip:
The key to this recipe is the freshness that you get from the lemon juice and the parsley. Whatever you do, do NOT use anything but freshly squeezed lemon juice and fresh parsley. Using that stuff in the bottle and also dried parsley just wouldn't cut it.

Pineapple Chicken

A few weeks ago, my brother shared some pineapple chicken that was leftover from a catered party. It was REALLY good! So I began searching for a recipe for it, but I wanted something very specific. I didn't want a recipe where the chicken is breaded, I was thinking of something a little lighter. I also wanted it to have only a few ingredients, preferably items that you might have in your pantry. And of course it had to be simple to make. Ultimately, I wanted a low fat, time saving, simple-to-prepare meal requiring only a few ingredients that would be perfect for a mid week's hectic schedule. That's not too much to ask, is it? Well, I'm happy to say that this recipe is all of those things! And most importantly, it's delicious!


3 boneless chicken breasts
Pepper
Paprika
20 oz crushed pineapple
2 tbs Dijon mustard
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced


Trim fat from chicken breasts. Split each breast in half horizontally so that you have twice as many pieces that are half as thick. Arrange chicken in 9x13x2 casserole dish. Sprinkle with pepper and paprika. Mix pineapple, mustard, soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic together. Pour over chicken. Place in a 350F oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Serve it up with some rice and a steamed vegetable and you're set!

Tip:
The original recipe didn't specify how much soy sauce to add. I just guessed that this would be a good amount. If you'd like to add more or less, go for it!!

Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Green Beans and Ricotta

So, I went to Reen's house to help Jude learn how to parallel park a car, and Reen had just made this delicious recipe for dinner. I was STARVING at the time, so I couldn't resist diving into a big plate of it. I LOVED it! I immediately wanted a picture of it and asked her for the recipe. Thanx to Natalie for typing up the recipe and emailing it to me, and thanx to Will for taking the picture! Oh, and by the way, congrats to Jude for passing his driver's test!

1 pound gnocchi (refrigerated or frozen)
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1 8-ounce container store-bought pesto sauce (or 1 cup of Chris's Pesto Sauce)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup ricotta

1. Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Drain and return them to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the green beans and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes; drain.
3. Add the pesto and cream to the gnocchi and cook over medium heat, stirring, just until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Divide among bowls and top with the green beans, ricotta, and 1/4 tsp pepper.

Tip:
Try this sauce on any number of differently shaped pasta!

Chicken with Apple Stuffing

This chicken dish uses a basic stuffing recipe, with a slight twist. I wanted to do a stuffing that had a slight sweetness, but didn't want to pull too far away from my favorite stuffing recipe, which belongs to my sister-in-law, Marianne. Although some of the amounts are different, the ingredients are pretty much the same, with the added sweet-tartness of the apple. Try it! It's REALLY yummy!

4 boneless chicken breasts
4 tbs butter
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cups bread cubes
1 cup milk, more or less
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 soup can of milk
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
splash of white wine

Melt butter in a skillet. Add onions, celery, apples, thyme, salt, and pepper. Saute until softened. Add bread cubes and stir to combine. Remove from heat. Add milk a little at a time until bread is moistened, but not too wet. Let it cool slightly while preparing chicken.
Trim fat, if any, from chicken breasts. Place chicken breasts on your cutting surface. Holding the chicken flat with your entire hand, slice each piece of chicken horizontally so that you'll end up with a total of 8 pieces of chicken that are half as thick.
Place a huge mound of stuffing in the center of each chicken breast. Pull both ends up to meet, encasing the stuffing inside the chicken roll. Secure with a toothpick, if desired. Place in baking pan, seam side down.
Mix together soup, milk, wine, and thyme leaves. Pour sauce over chicken. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.

Tip:
I'd serve this with a steamed or roasted green vegetable and some cranberry sauce. Fabulous!

Steamed Broccoli with Cheddar Cheese Sauce

So, Kelli called me up last night and asked me if I was cooking dinner. "Um, sure, yes, I'm cooking dinner. What shall we have?" We decided to just pick up a rotisserie chicken and have some vegetables on the side. I suggested steaming some broccoli and roasting some asparagus. She asked if we could maybe melt some cheese over the broccoli and I said "Well, how do you feel about cheese sauce?" "PERFECT!"
So here it is. A super easy sauce that's absurdly simple to make and is perfect over any steamed veggies, French fries, or baked potato. So good!

1 bunch fresh broccoli
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Cut broccoli into spears and steam over boiling water until tender. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, over medium heat, stir together cheese, cream and salt and pepper. Let it simmer for a few minutes until it's smooth and thick. Pour over steamed broccoli and serve.

Tip:
You can easily add other cheeses or substitute another cheese such as Gruyere or Fontina. If you'd like to cut the fat a little, use light cream or half and half.

Blueberry Sauce

 I got this recipe from my sister, Jeanie. She's always in the kitchen cooking for a million people. Sometimes I really can't imagine how she does it! She amazes me! She loves blueberries as much as I do and this sauce is fabulous! Spoon it over everything from pancakes, waffles, or French toast to a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a piece of toasted pound cake. Thanx my Jeanie!

1 cup sugar
2 tbs corn starch
1 cup water
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 tbs butter

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, corn starch, and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries. Reduce heat. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Stir in butter until melted. Serve either warm or chilled over your favorite dessert.


Tip:
I like to add a little squeeze of lemon, just at the very end. The sour balances with the sweet and it wakes up the flavor of the blueberries.
You can easily substitute other berries or fruits to make different kinds of fruit sauces. Try doing combinations of fruit too. Sliced peaches and raspberries would be fabulous or sliced strawberries and kiwi fruit.