Kelli's Favorite Recipes

Italian Halibut

2010-09-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

I don't like fish much, but I love this recipe!

3 halibut fillets
2 medium sized tomatoes, small dice
1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup spinach, chopped
1/4 cup (or less) fat-free italian dressing
S&P TT

Mix last 5 ingredients together and let marinade for 10 minutes (or over night).

Place halibut on baking tray, and cover with salad mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until done.

Parmesan Chicken

2010-09-22T14:33:00.001-07:00

Super easy, super fast, super good!

4 chicken breasts
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 tbsp chili powder
S&P TT

1. Mix cheese, chili powder, and salt and pepper.
2. Coat chicken in mixture.
3. Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes, or until juices run clear

Indian Chicken Curry

2010-07-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp paprika

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp sugar

TT salt

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Hear olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar, and salkt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

2. Remove bay leaf, stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes.

Serve with rice.

Southern Smoked Pulled Pork

2010-06-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

I'm making this for dinner tonight, yum!

Pulled Pork

Yield: 6 servings

1 tbsp butter

2 lbs boneless pork roast

1 tbsp Cajun seasoning

1 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves

4 cups water
1 tbsp liquid smoke

1. Rub roast down with Cajun seasoning. Melt butter in a large skillet and brown the sides of the roast. Remove from skillet and transfer to a baking pan (glass).

2. Add onion and garlic to the skillet and cook until tender. Stir in water, scrap down the pan and add to the glass baking pan. Stir in liquid smoke.

3. Cover and cook for 5-6 hours (in 325 degree oven) or until meat is falling apart when pierced with a fork. Remove from pan and shred.

Panna Cotta w/ Strawberries and Balsamic Vinegar - My Favorite Summer Dessert!

2010-06-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is really yummy (and really simple).

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients -

Panna Cotta

2 tbsp water
1 1/4 tsp gelatin

2 cups whipping cream

1 1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

Strawberries

2 pins strawberries (sliced thin) (you can also use raspberries)

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

Bloom gelatin in water (about 5-10 minutes). Whisk 1 cup cream, yogurt, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Heat remaining 1 cup of cream and 1/2 cup sugar in small saucepain over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves and cream comes to a simmer. Remove from heat. Add gelatin, stir to dissolve. Mix hot cream/gelatin mixture into yogurt/cream (in the bowl). Divide into large martini glasses and refrigerate overnight.

Toss strawberries, vinegar, sugar, and pepper. Spoon over the top of panna cotta before service.

**Note, mix strawberries in with the panna cotta before you eat it, or you'll get a big hit of vinegar flavor which isn't pleasant.

Strawberry Balsamic Chicken

2010-05-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Feeling Adventurous? We're having this for dinner for Mother's Day, tomorrow! Yum!

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

16 oz Strawberry Yogurt

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

4 chicken breasts

2 tbsp olive oil

4 tsp lemon juice

4 strawberries - sliced

1 tsp fresh mint - minced

Directions:

1. Mix together yogurt, vinegar, sugar, pepper, cinnamon, and salt.

2. Place chicken in yogurt mix. Marinade for one hour.

3. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Take chicken out of marinade and drain off excess (do not throw out marinade). Heat skillet and brown both sides of chicken.
5. Place in a glass pan and cook in the oven until chicken is done (juices run clear).

6. Heat marinade in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.

7. Add sliced strawberries and mint to sauce.

8. Pour over cooked chicken.

Creamy Lemon Lime Pie

2010-03-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a delicious unbaked version of Key Lime Pie!

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Graham cracker crust

1/2 cup lime juice

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 lb cream cheese

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

zest of 1 lime, finely grated

1 cup heavy cream, cold

2 tbsp powered sugar

1/2 lime and 1/2 lemon (cut into slices for garnishes)

Directions:

1. Combine the lime and lemon juices, creacheese, and sweetened condesned milk in a mixing bowl (kitchen aid mixer). Mix for several minutes until combined, scraping down sides often. Add lime zest and mix thoroughly. Pour into pie shell and place in refrigerator.

2. Wisk the cream and powdered sugar in a bowl until soft peaks form. Spread over the top of the pie, add garnishes and chill for at least 4 hours.

Coconut Shrimp with Fruit Salsa

2010-03-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Coconut Shrimp with Fruit Salsa

This is our families recent favorite recipe - I make it with a side of broccoli beef and some brown rice! It's very easy and very tasty!

Ingredients:

SHRIMP

1 lb large tiger shrimp

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup orange juice

Pinch S&P

3/4-1 cup bread crumbs

1 cup dried coconut

1. De-poop, de-vein, and shell the shrimp (leave tails on).

2. Combine flour, baking powder, OJ in a bowl - whisk until there are no lumps.

3. Combine bread crumbs, coconut, and S&P in another bowl.

4. Dip shrimp in OJ mixture, then coat in coconut mixture.

5. Let rest in the refrigerator until time to cook.

6. Fry shrimp, when ready, in vegetable oil over the stove. (The oil must be hot enough to sizzle as soon as shrimp is submerged.) Cook until shrimp is golden brown, remove and let dry on papertowels.

FRUIT SALSA

Ingredients:

1 peach - peeled, small dice
1 red onion - small dice
1/2 pineapple - small dice
1/2 can of black beans
2 kiwis - peeled, small dice
1 handful lightly chopped cilantro
2 tbsp lime juice
S&P - TT

Mix produce and cilantro together in a small bowl, add lime juice, add S&P TT. Serve with coconut shrimp.

(Of course, you can add mangos and other fruits and veggies - these are the ones I normally use.)

Greek Salad

2010-03-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Greek Salad Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 large head romaine lettuce
1/2 cup snipped fresh dill
1 small red onion, cut into thin rings
1 cucumber, peeled, sliced thinly
2 handfuls cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano
S&P - TT

1. Lay the romaine lettuce on a butting board. With leaves still intact, but into a 1/2-ince shred. Place in colander or salad spinner. Wash and dry well.

2. Scatter the lettuce on a platter. Spring with the dill. Cover witht he onion rings, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, and S&P. Pour dressing over the salad and serve.

Donald Duck is on the Menu Tonight!

2010-02-05T17:37:00.001-08:00

Honey/Orange Roasted Duck

Just thought I'd share my duck recipe - for those of you who want it! (It's so good and so EASY)

Ingredients:
1 whole duck (4-6 lbs)
Salt and Pepper TT
1/2 Cup Orange Marmalade
1 T Sherry Wine
1T Orange Juice Concentrate
2 T Soy Sauce
1 tsp Honey

1. Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees.
2. Remove plastic covering from duck (and reach in through the butt of the duck and remove the giblets - normally 1 or 2 bags of insides - yum! Throw away giblets, I never use them.)
3. Poke little holes through the skin and fat (avoid piercing the flesh).
4. Salt and pepper the skin and inside of the duck.
5. Place duck, tummy down, on a cooling rack, and place cooling rack on foil lined cookie sheet.
6. Roast in oven for about 1 1/2 hours, then flip onto back for 30 more minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes while making sauce.
7. Combine remaining ingredients in a small pot - cook until hot.
8. Slice duck into serving size pieces and glaze with Honey/Orange Glaze.

Crepes - Heather's Request

2010-01-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

Crepes are so easy and they taste good with any kind of filling - this is my personal favorite (and TJ will eat it, too - well, minus the tomatoes).
Ingredients (batter)

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.
2) Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3) Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot. (Makes 8 crepes)

For breakfast/dessert crepes -

3 kiwis - cut in bite-size pieces
2 cups stawberries - cut in bite-size pieces
Nutella
Whipped cream

No need to explain - stick kiwi, strawberry and nutella in the crepe shell , top off with whipped cream. Easy!

For Lunch/dinner crepes -

2 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup mushrooms
3/4 cup onion
1 avacado, sliced
1-2 roma tomatoes (depending on size), diced
1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts
2 tbsp garlic
Salt, TT
Pepper, TT
Cayenne pepper, TT

1)Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Saute 1/4 cup of onion in pan and 1 tbsp garlic, add seasoned chicken breasts (season with Salt and Pepper, and Cayenne pepper). Cook until browned. Finish in oven (remove at 155 degrees, let stand for 5-10 minutes, residual heat with finish cooking the meat, without drying it out.)
3) Saute rest of onions, garlic and mushrooms until tender.
4) Heat artichoke hearts
5) Slice chicken into strips
6) Pile it all into your crepe, and top off with sour cream.

Christmas - Caramel Apple Cidar

2009-12-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

Well, since I'm at work with nothing else to do until 2:00PM - here's a Christmas recipe that I love!

Ingredients:

Cidar:

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups apple cider
1/2 cup water

Caramel Whipped Cream:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Instructions:

1. First, bring the cream and brown sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the cider and the water and raise the heat to medium high, heating just until the cider begins to steam, about 4 minutes.

2. Divide among 4 mugs, top each one with 2 tablespoons of caramel whipped cream (recipe follows) and serve immediately.

3. Caramel Whipped Cream: In a small chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream with the brown sugar until soft peaks form

Kelli's Infamous Coconut Chicken

2009-09-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

I've been cooking dinner for TJ's family for the past few months. They eat a lot of chicken, and have been getting tired of the recipes they have. So, I've been messing around coming up with new things for them to try. This is TJ's family's favorite chicken recipe right now (well, one of them). It's really simple.

Ingredients:

6 small chicken breasts
1/2 cup sweet and condensed milk
1 cup dried coconut
2 tbsp oat flour (can use other types of flour, but I like oat flour the best) - grind up oats in blender - and boom, you've got oat flour!
1 tsp salt
2-3 tsp pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1) Trim chicken breats - we try to make this as fat free as possible.

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and heat large skillet over medium heat (with olive oil).

3) Mix together coconut, flour, salt and pepper onto a plate.

4) Lightly coat chicken breasts in sweet and condensed milk, then dredge in coconut mixture.

5) Place coconut coated chicken in skillet. Cook until the coconut is golden brown (c0conut may stick to pan).

6) Remove from skillet, place in oven safe glass baking pan (remove any left over coconut and add back to chicken), and cook for 20-30 minutes, until juices run clear.

See! Easy recipe, but really good! Also, if you like pepper, the pepper gives a really good flavor along with the sweet coconut, so if you're brave, add a little more.

Roasted Corn Chowder

2009-09-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite soup! Yum!!

Yield: About 1 Gallon

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, small dice

1/4 stock celery, small dice

1 carrot, small dice

1 roasted red pepper, peeled

4 ears fresh corn on the cob, or 1 lb frozen (not canned)

1/8 cup minced Garlic

1/8 cup minced shallots

3 diced blanched sweet potatoes

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sherry cooking wine

3/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tbsp chipotle puree

1/2 gallon cream

1/4 gallon milk

1 1/2 tbsp chili sauce or bbq sauce

1/2 tbsp worcestershire suace

3 limes, juice of

TT S&P

Directions:

1)Saute all veggies on high heat with the butter, garlic and shallots, in a heavy stock pot, or large saucepan.

2)Add the seasoning and flour to make a roux (paste), deglaze the pan with the sherry and slowly add the cream and then the milk.

3) Bring to low simmer stirring often. Add the rest of the seasoning ingredients and taste and adjust as needed.

Hawaiian Kabobs!!

2009-09-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I love to barbeque! Shish kabobs are my favorite! I've got a million shish kabob recipes that I've come up with! Mmmmm!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs beef strips
1 onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch squares
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces pineapple chunks (Fresh pineapple is best when in season) coated with brown sugar
18 cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup honey
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
TT black pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat grill
2) Thread beef, onion, bell pepper, pineapple, and tomatoes alternately on skewers
3) In a small bowl combine servered pinapple juice, honey, brown sugar, garlic poweder, worcestershire sauce and pepper. Stir until sugar is dissolved, set aside.
4) Gill kabobs for 18-22 minutes (for well done), 14-18 minutes (for medium) or, 10-14 minutes (for rare), turning often, while brushing on marinade every 3-4 minutes.

Green Enchiladas with Pork

2009-09-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Preparation time: 5 minutes, plus 15 minutes for Green Tomatillo Salsa

Cooking Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lbs boneless stewing pork butt or shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks
Salt and Pepper (S&P) to taste (TT)
3 cups Green Tomatillo Salsa - See below
1 cup vegetable oil
Twelve 6-inch corn totillas
4 ounces panela cheese, crumbled
1/2 red onion, cut into rings

1) Prehead the oven to 350 degrees

2) Season the pork all over with the S&P and place in a small ovenproof cassorle dish. Pour on 1 cup of the Green Tomatillo Salssa. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour, until tender. Let the pork cool and then shred it, reserving it in the sauce.

3) Pour the vegetable oil into a large skillet and place over medium heat. one at a time, dip the tortillas in the hot oil, and fry for 10 seconds on each side. Dran on a rack.

4) Pour the remaining 2 cups of salsa into a shallow bowl or pie dish. Dip each tortilla into the salsa to lightly coat and plcae them on your work surface. (Reserve remaining salsa)

5) Divide the meat into 12 servings, and spoon into the cneter of each tortilla. Roll to enclose the meat in the tortilla.

6) Arrange the enchiladas in a shingle layer in a medium casserole dish, seam side down, and pour the remaining salsa over the top, discarding the fatty juices in the bowl. Bake for 15 minutes, until heated through. Sprike with the cheese and onions and serve.

Green Tomatillo Salsa:

Special tool: Blender or food processor

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients:
3/4 lbs tomatillos, steemed, husked, the stem scar cut out, and cut into quarters
3 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and coursely chopped
1/2 cup cold water
1 bunch callions, white and light green parts, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large bunch of cilantro leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

place the tomatillos, chiles, and water in a blender or food processor. Puree just until chunky. Add the scallions, cilnatro, and salt and puree about 2 minutes longer, or until no large chunks remain. Store in refigerator, in a covered container, for up to 3 days.