Chicken Livers

One of Brian's favorites, I make this a few times a year. It is pretty rich, definitely not low fat. Buy the freshest chicken livers you can find as this does make a difference in taste and texture. I buy them at Whole Foods. I usually serve the chicken livers with cooked rice.

Ingredients:

Container very fresh chicken livers (see above)

4 Slices of raw bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 Large sweet or white onion, chopped

1/4 Cup brandy

1/2 Can chicken broth

Fresh ground sea salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:

1. Open container of chicken livers and transfer to a colander in the sink. Rinse gently. Using kitchen scissors, trim off and discard any fat and connective tissue. Cut the livers into about 1 to 1-1/2 inch pieces, trying to preserve as much of the livers as possible; set aside.

2. In a large cast iron skillet, over med-low heat, cook the bacon pieces until they are crispy and done. Remove from the pan and set aside on a small plate or bowl.

3. Add the butter to the bacon grease in the pan and turn up the heat a little bit (heat can be adjusted down later if cooking too fast or spattering). Add the chicken livers and cook until nicely browned.

4. Add the chopped onion, and lower the heat a bit so the onions cook slowly and do not get browned. You want them to get soft and golden and blend in a bit with the livers. This may take 10 minutes or so.

5. When the onions are done, add the cooked bacon back to the pan and stir.

6. Turn the heat up to sizzling, then add the brandy, stirring to coat and deglaze the pan.

7. Add the chicken broth, salt and pepper, to taste. Stir well. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook gently until broth is mostly gone, about 15-20 minutes. Serve.

Serves about 4.

Chopped Salad With Grilled Corn and Black Beans

Ingredients:
Medium head romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed, end cut off, and chopped into bite-sized pieces.
2 Ears corn-on-the-cob, wrapped in buttered aluminum foil, and grilled about 30 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so. When done, remove husks and silk. Cut the kernels off the cob.
15-1/2 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1 Tbsp., packed, finely chopped fresh basil leaves
Ranch dressing
Fresh ground sea salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Place warm corn kernels in a large serving bowl and stir in butter until melted. Place remaining ingredients in the serving bowl and stir to mix. Add ranch dressing to coat well, stirring to mix thoroughly. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Serves 4-6.

Lemon Caper Tilapia

For many years, this was Cameron's birthday dinner. It is still a favorite of ours. I usually make it with tilapia, but it would also work well with flounder, sole, or any other mild, white fish. Serve with parsley red potatoes and a salad of mixed greens with tomatoes. This recipe serves 4, but can easily be doubled, just use 2 large pans to cook the fish in, or do in batches and keep the cooked fish warm in the oven (275-300 degrees) while other fish is cooking. If doing multiple batches, pour the sauce over all the fish just before serving.

Ingredients:

3-4 whole tilapia pieces (about 2 pounds)
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp. Olive oil

Juice from 1 good size lemon
3 Tbsp. capers (the small nonpareil size)
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces

Directions:

Juice the lemon into a small ramekin. Measure capers into the lemon juice, and set aside.
On piece of waxed paper, place fish. Salt and pepper both sides. In a large frying pan over med-high heat, heat olive oil until hot. Carefully add fish and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the edges start to look browned and crisp. Carefully turn the fish using 2 spatulas. Cook for another 3 minutes or so until the fish is done and flakes easily. Remove fish to serving platter. In pan with heat still on, add lemon juice and capers, scraping the pan to deglaze. Then add the butter, stirring and gently shaking the pan , cooking until mixture thickens a bit and makes a nice sauce. Pour sauce over the fish on the serving plate. Ready to serve, or if needed, can be kept warm in the oven for a few minutes. In general the sauce should be put on the fish right before serving.

Pepper Steak

Ingredients:

1 to 1-1/2 lb. sirloin strips, dried on paper towels
1/2 cup cornstarch for coating beef
1/2 cup peanut oil for frying beef
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
fresh ground sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 green pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. Mirin (Japanese sweetened saki -- get in aisle near soy sauce)

additional 2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 4 tsp. water
additional ground pepper, to taste
additional red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

In a small bowl or ramekin, mix together the soy sauce and Mirin with the cornstarch and water; set aside. Salt and pepper the beef, then coat with 1/2 cup cornstarch. In a large frying pan, heat oil on med-high heat until hot. Add red pepper flakes and cook for a few seconds. Add beef and cook on each side until well browned and crispy. Remove from pan to serving dish and set aside. Add a few more red pepper flakes and then green pepper and onion slices to pan. Stir fry for a few minutes until cooked, but still a bit crisp. Add beef back to pan and stir. Add more fresh ground black pepper, to taste. Turn down heat to med-low. Stir the soy sauce mixture again, and add to the pan, stirring to coat the beef and vegetables as the sauce thickens. Serve over rice.

(Serves 4)

Lemon Macadamia & White Chocolate Cookies

This recipe is from my friend, Addy and her daughter, Caitlyn, who made them for a bake sale to benefit the local animal shelter. The recipe is adapted from a Mrs. Field's cookie recipe, with some changes. I knew when I heard the name that they would be good... Well, they were GREAT -- very lemony with lots of macadamia nuts and white chocolate bits. I had to ask for the recipe so I can make them -- here it is:

Curried Chicken

This recipe works well for any chicken pieces, although I usually make it with frozen boneless chicken tenderloins. Serve with cooked jasmine or basmati rice and dipping bread.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
4 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp. onion powder
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground sage
pinch ground ginger

4 Tbsp. peanut oil

chicken pieces (fresh or frozen), to serve 4-6

1-14 oz. can coconut milk (regular or lite)

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together the spice ingredients. Set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat oil and then add chicken pieces. Cook until chicken is browned and mostly cooked through, turning often.

When the chicken is well browned on all sides, sprinkle about 1 Tbsp. of the spice mixture over the top of the chicken (it helps to use a small sieve to get a thorough even coating). Continue to cook for a minute or so, then turn the chicken so the curry coating is on the bottom. Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp. of spice mixture over the chicken again and continue to cook for a couple of minutes, or at least until the part of the chicken touching the pan gets a nice crust with the curry spices. Turn the chicken again now so that the new spices on top are now on the bottom of the pan and cook another couple of minutes, or until this side of the chicken gets a nice golden curried crust. Remove the chicken from the pan when it is thoroughly cooked through and keep warm on a serving platter.

Add the coconut milk and the remaining spice mixture to the pan. Stir to mix and adjust with a little more salt, if necessary. Cook until heated through and thickened a little. Pour into a small pitcher or gravy boat to serve on top or alongside the chicken and rice.

Scones

This is the recipe I use to make scones. It is from Maida Heatters Book of Great American Desserts, except that over the years I have made a couple of changes: I think they are more tender made with heavy whipping cream instead of milk and I prefer to cut the dough into wedges rather than make as drop biscuits. Also like to sometimes vary the currants with other chopped dried fruit:

Ingredients:

2 cup sifted all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

scant 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sugar

6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter (3/4 stick), diced

1/4 cup currants (or finely chopped pecans, dried cherries or cranberries as a variation)

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (or milk/half and half)

Additional sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions:Heat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a 1 cup Pyrex measuring cup, or other small mixing bowl, beat together the egg and egg yolk, then add cream or milk to mix -- set aside. In a medium bowl measure the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar; "whisk" with a pastry blender until combined. Add the butter and cut it in to make rather large crumbs. Add the fruit/nut combination you've chosen, mix. Make a well in the middle. Add the egg, egg yolk, and cream/milk combination, mixing lightly with a fork until the mixture comes together--don't over mix this.

Can make these as drop biscuits, dropping by rounded tablespoonfuls placed an inch apart on your prepared cookie sheet (to make 12). OR what I like to do is -- take all of the dough and gently make it into a ball with your hands and place onto the prepared cookie sheet. Gently pat or roll out to about 10 inches, then with a sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges. Space out a bit on the sheet so they have room to bake.

Sprinkle lightly with the additional sugar and bake for 14-15 minutes, or until nicely golden brown, reversing cookie sheet from front to back halfway through baking time.

Remove scones from baking sheet onto a rack to cool. Can be served right away. Any leftovers can be sliced in half and gently heated in toaster oven for a few minutes to regain fresh baked texture.