Herb Roasted Lamb

12 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Salt

Pepper

2 tablespoons butter

Lamb roast (about 3 lb roast)

16 small unpeeled potatoes, washed (if larger potatoes are used, slice in half)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Finely mince 6 cloves of the garlic, rosemary. Add to the butter and 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tsp. pepper. This can be done in a food processor. Mix well and coat the top and sides of the roast with the combination butter mixture. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes but no more than 1 hour.

Toss the potatoes and remaining cloves of garlic in a bowl with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in the bottom of a roasting pan and place lamb roast on top of the potatoes. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and roast for another 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Meat thermometer should register 130 – 135 degrees for medium rare. Place roast on a cutting board and cover with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Slice and serve with the potatoes.

Irish Lamb Stew

2 lbs lamb stew meat

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil (I use garlic infused olive oil)

1 lb carrots, slice into chunks

2 med. onions, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 bottle Guinness stout (if you don’t have this any good beer can be used)

6 medium red or gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

4 bay leaves

2 fresh thyme sprigs

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a heavy Dutch oven, brown the lamb in the butter and olive oil. Remove and keep warm. In the same pan, saute the carrots and onions until just beginning to become tender. Add garlic, cook 1 minute. Gradually add the broth and stout, stirring to loosen up the bit on the bottom of the pan. Add lamb, potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Cover pan and bake 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours, until the meat and veggies are tender. Stir at least every 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves, thyme stems and rosemary stems. Stir in cream and allow to heat through.

Best served with Irish soda bread, but is also good with yeast rolls, biscuits or fresh bread.

Basic muffins

Muffins were a staple in our home when my kids were growing up. I always made a variety of muffins and would freeze the leftovers and keep them in the freezer. They could then be pulled out and warmed up in the microwave whenever we wanted a muffin. This is the basic recipe that I built all the fruit muffins on. You can add whatever you want…..blueberries, raspberries, apples, chocolate chips….the list is endless. This recipe uses cake flour which helps it be a more tender, lighter muffin. Don’t substitute the flour, the results will not be as tender or light. All the ingredients should be at room temperature. This helps bring the batter together better.

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups cake flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla. Continue creaming until a light yellow color. Reduce mixer speed to low and add in a third of the flour mixture, then a third of the buttermilk. Repeat until all has been combined. It’s important that you do not overmix. Fold in the desired mix ins…..fruits, chocolate chips, nuts, whatever you choose.

Fill your lines to almost the top with the batter. You can top with whatever you choose or leave plain. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges start to brown. Let muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack. This makes about 12 muffins

Pan Seared Garlic Herb Lamb chops

Lamb chops are pretty easy to make. They are some of my favorite ways to make lamb. Lamb is not for everyone. I have heard some people say it’s to “gamey” for them. I don’t see it, but then I love deer meat, rabbit and other game animals. If you are one of those who think that lamb is not tame enough, then an easy solution is to marinate the lamb meat in milk for several hours before preparing it. It reduces that “gamey” taste.

8 lamb chops

4 tablespoon olive olive

6 cloves garlic, grated

1/2 tsp. black pepper (freshly ground is better)

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1 tsp salt.

2 tablespoons butter

In a small bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, pepper and herbs. Rub over the chops. Please in fridge and marinate for at least 1 hour. You can marinate it overnight if you choose. Remove the chops from the marinate and season on both sides with salt.

Preheat a large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add the rest of the olive oil and the butter to the skillet until the butter is melted. Cook chops in the skillet for 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Lamb chops should never be cooked well done. Add marinate to the skillet and mix with juices left in pan. Warm well and spoon over the chops before serving.

Spinach and Mushroom Smothered Chicken

Chicken dishes are always a favorite in our house. I love spinach and I love mushrooms, so this is one of my favorites. It does take a little effort, but it is well worth it.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tsp. fresh thyme

1 cup sliced mushrooms, I prefer the baby bellas

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons garlic olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon cornstarch, mix with a little water to make a slurry

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the thyme leaves. In a skillet, heat the butter and olive oil on medium heat. Cook chicken breasts until golden brown. Set aside to rest. In the same skillet, add the onions and garlic. Cook till tender. Don’t overcook or the garlic will become bitter. Add mushrooms and cook until soft. Add spinach to the skillet and toss until it starts to wilt. Return chicken to the skillet and add the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer. Mix the cornstarch with the water to make the slurry and slowly add to the skillet, stirring, to thicken the sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the chicken. Put the skillet in a 350 degree, preheated oven and cook until the cheese melt and gets a light golden color.

Taco Soup

On cold, wet days, nothing is as good as a hot, filling soup. We eat a lot of different soups in the Fall and Winter. They are warm and comforting and with a piece of fresh, out of the oven bread, they make a great meal. This soup is one of the easiest soups to make. You can put it together in a matter of minutes and let it simmer to let the flavors combine.

2 lbs ground beef

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

2 tablespoons of Taco seasoning

4 cups beef broth

2 cups corn, cut from the cob, or frozen

1 15 oz can of Black beans

1 15 oz can of Kidney beans

1 15 oz can of Garbanzo beans

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

Brown the ground beef. Sprinkle taco seasoning over the ground beef. Add onions and garlic and cook until onion is softened. Pour in beef broth, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Reduce heat to simmer and add corn. Drain beans and rinse. Add to soup. Simmer for 30-40 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated cheese.

Hershey’s Cocoa Fudge

I can’t take credit for this recipe. This is the old fashioned fudge recipe that you found on the back of the Hershey’s cocoa container when I was growing up. It will pop up from time to time, but you don’t see it on the container much any more. Now, I’m not saying the Fantasy fudge is terrible, but it doesn’t beat the old fashioned cocoa fudge that my mother and grandmother taught me to make. The Fantasy fudge just tends to be overly sweet and I’m just not into that amount of sweetness. This one satisfies my chocolate craving without the overly sweetness cringe that the other fudge gives me. It makes about 3 dozen squares. Enjoy!

2/3 cup cocoa

3 cups sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups of milk

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine cocoa, sugar and salt in a heavy 4 qt. saucepan. Stir in milk, mixing it completely. Bring it to a bubbly boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring to 234 degrees or the soft ball stage. Make sure the bulb of the candy thermometer is not resting on the bottom of the pan. Once it reaches 234 degrees, remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR.

Cool at room temperature to 110 degrees, then beat until fudge thickens and loses some of it’s glossiness. Quickly spread into a lightly buttered 8 or 9 inch square pan. Allow to cool before cutting into squares. 

If you want nuts in this, add 1 cup chopped nuts after beating, just before you spread it in the pan.

Crockpot Stuffing

This recipe came from a request from Tommy. When he was on the road, he sometimes did not make it home for all the holidays. There was a truck stop that he would often go to that had a buffet and on that buffet was a stuffing and chicken dish that he really loved. He told me about it and I started to work on replicating it. After a few tries, I finally found the combination that he said matched it exactly. I’m sure that the truck stop kitchen made this dish is great big amounts, probably in their oven. Usually I will make my stuffing in the oven, but sometimes it’s easier and saves oven space to make it in the crockpot. I found that the crockpot method more closed matched the dish he liked on the truck stop buffet.

The majority of the time, I use dried bread that I have saved in the freezer over the past couple of months. I keep a ziplock bag in the freezer and then I throw in left over bread as it comes available. This may be the last hamburger or hot dog bun, the end pieces of a loaf of bread or bread past it’s freshness date. It all goes into the bag and into the freezer. When the bag is full, I pull it out and dry out the bread in a low heat oven, about 250 degrees, until it is dried through. Then once it’s cool enough, I take the pieces and break them down into small pieces of dried bread and fill a vaccum bag in 8 cup amounts and vaccum the air out and seal it. This help it stay fresh longer. When I need to make stuffing, I pull out a bag and make the stuffing according to the recipe I am using. This recipe is a little different from my oven recipe. This is the recipe for the stuffing only. If you have leftover chicken, or even turkey, you cut it into small pieces and mix it in with the stuffing before you cook it in the crockpot. Easy weeknight dinner.

8 cups dried bread pieces

1 stick butter, melted

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons poultry seasoning, if using the powdered seasoning, use only 1 1/2 tablespoons

1 tsp. pepper

3 tsp. salt

4 cups chicken or turkey broth

2 eggs beaten

Melt butter in a skillet and saute the celery and onion until tender. In the crockpot, pour in the bread pieces, and pour in the celery and onion. Sprinkle the poultry seasoning, salt and pepper across the top. Pour in the broth and the beaten egg and mix it all together. It will seem pretty wet, but don’t worry, it will be okay. Cook on high for 4 hours. 

This serves about 6 people as a side dish, but if you add the cubed or shredded chicken or turkey, it serves about 4 as a main dish.

Beef Barley Crockpot soup

1 lb. Boneless chuck roast, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 1/2 cup carrots, sliced thin

1 1/2 cup celery, sliced thin

2/3 cup onion, chopped

10-12 mushrooms, chopped

2 tablespoons of beef base. Don’t confuse this with beef broth. Beef base is more concentrated.

8 – 10 cups water

2 bay leaves

1 cup uncooked barley

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

Brown the beef in a skillet, stirring frequently. Don’t skip this step, it really adds to the flavor. Remove from skillet and place in crockpot. Add carrots, celery, onion , mushrooms, beef base, water, garlic and bay leaf. Cook on high for 2 hours. Add barley, and turn down to low. Cook till vegetables and beef are tender. Usually takes another 4-5 hours. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Serve with fresh hot biscuits or rolls. Makes a great Fall or Winter dinner.

Chicken Penne Bake

Chicken Penne bake can be made with other pasta. I usually use penne when I have it. This is a hearty casserole that is wonderful served with a salad and warm rustic bread. I usually make the quick Rosemary bread to serve with it.

1 lb. penne

4 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the dish.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

salt

pepper

2 cloves of minced garlic (mince this yourself. Believe me it makes a difference. The kind in the jar just doesn’t cut it)

4 tablespoons all purpose flour

3 cups half and half or cream – this always depends on what I have in the fridge

1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan

1 cup shredded Mozzarella

1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley

In a large pot of water, add salt and bring to a boil. Add penne and cook till al dente. Drain immediately and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Season both sides of the chicken with the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Add to skillet and cook till chicken is cooked through. It should take about 8 minute on each side. Remove chicken and wipe skillet clean. Let chicken rest for about 5 minutes, then slice crosswise.

To make the sauce, return the skillet to medium heat and melt butter. Add garlic and cook till garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Do not overcook. Overcooked garlic gets bitter. Whisk in the flour and cook until the mixture is bubbling and starting to turn a golden color. Should take about a minute. Gradually pour in the half and half, or cream, whisking constantly. Bring mixture to s simmer and stir in Parmesan. Let simmer until sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Then season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken and sauce. Spread about half of the mixture on the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella. Add the rest of the pasta mixture and top with the rest of the mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is melting about 15 minutes. Allow to sit about 5-10 minutes and serve.