Bacon Au Gratin Potatoes

Ingredients:
3/4 lb bacon cooked and crumbled
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups whole milk
salt and white pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 lbs new red potatoes sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 cup grated monterey-cheddar cheese mix

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 8x10 rectangel baking dish
2. in a nonreactive saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Whisk in the milk and cook until the liquid is slightly thick and coats the back of a spoon, about 4 to 6 minutes.
4. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder. Remove from heat
5. In mixing bowl, toss the sliced potatoes with a little salt and pepper. Fold in the cream sauce and pour 1/2 into prepared pan. Layer with half of bacon and 1/2 cheese. Then add potatoes and the rest of the bacon and cheese.
6. Cover with tin foil and place in oven about 35-40 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Remove tin foil last 5 minutes to golden the top. Cool a couple of minutes before serving.

Pineapple glazed Ham with Pineapple Corn Relish

I got a great discount on a half a ham during the holidays and been meaning to have some friends over the share it with. Finally we got out dates together and had a wonderful dinner in the middle of the summer. Oh well...it was yummy.

Pineapple glazed Ham

Ingredients
1 6 to 9 lb ham
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 tbspn honey Dijon or stone-ground mustard
3/4 tspn hot sauce
3 heaping tbspn crushed pinapple
1/8 tspn ground cloves
1 can sliced pineapple


1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Insert the meat into a cook bag and onto a racking pan with at least a 2 inch lip. Cook about 20 minutes per lb, fat side up. Insert a meat thermometer, making sure it does not touch the fat or the bone. Bake uncovered until the meat thermometer registers 135 degrees F.
3. Combine apricot preserves, mustard, hot sauce, crushed pinapple, and cloves in a small bowl, to make a glaze. Whisk until smooth. Remove the ham from oven and brush with the glaze. Bake until the meat thermometer registers 140 degrees about 20 mintues.

Pineapple Corn Relish

Ingredients:
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup whole kernel corn, yellow
1/4 cup diced onion
2 tbsp diced sweet red bell pepper
1 can chopped pineapple
1/3 cup water
pinch ground cloves

1. Combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard, and turmeric in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the corn, onion, and bell peppers; cook for 4 minutes. Set aside.
2. In a small saute pan, cook diced pineapple with water over medium heat until tender. And corn relish and a pinch of ground cloves and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve the relish hot or cold.

Tiramatzah

No that is not a miss-print. Our home group is doing a passover feast on Wednesday and a friend in the group asked if I could bring this dish. I am very excited to eat it and am possibly considering making it again for our family feast on Easter. I got this recipe from a traditional recipe at allrecipe.com and added the matzah as described at Evil Mad Scientist Labatory.

Ingredients

6 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups mascarpone cheese
1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
about 1/2 package matzah
1/3 cup coffee flavored liqueur
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
1 ounce square semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Reduce heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
2. Add mascarpone to whipped yolks. Beat until combined. In a seperate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
3. Split the matzah and line bottom of a 8x8 glass pan . Brush with coffee liqueur. Spoon half of cream filling over the matzah. Repeat matzah, coffee liqueur and filling layers. Repeat until pan is full, ending with cream filling. Garnish with cocoa and chocolate curls. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
4. To make chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar. It helps if the chocolate was in the fridge.

Orange Fish with Cabbage

Ingredients

1 tsp grated orange peel
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbspn low sodium soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tspn minced fresh gingerroot
1 tspn cornstarch
2 tspn sesame oil
4- 4 oz. fish fillets (I used tilapia)
2 oz. chopped cabbage

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together orange peel, orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and cornstarch; set aside.
2. In large skillet, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat
3. add fish and cook until edges turn white. Turn and continue cooking until lightly golden.
4. Add reserved sauce to the skillet right before the fish is done.
5. divide cabbage evenly among dinner plates; top with fish and sauce.

Nutritional Information: Kcal 144, fat 4g., Protein 21g., Carbs 5 g., dietary fiber 1b, cholesterol 49 mg, sodium 365 mg.

This is a new recipe. Overall I liked it a lot. I didn't grate the orange peel, but I think you should. I chopped the peel into small strips and they were still too big. I also added a pinch of Paula Deen's House Seasoning (See below) when cooking the fish, but I don't really think it needed it. The recipe recommended to be paired with green beans and red potatoes. I think rice would be a better combination. But overall it was all really yummy. I retrieved this recipe from Saving Dinner and modified it slightly.


Paula Deen's House Seasoning

• 1 cup salt
  
• 1/4 cup black pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder
• 1/4 cup onion powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.