Chicken Gravy

Drippings + white flour + stock.

If you don't have these you can substitute:

Bouillion (Better Than Bouillion is the best) + butter + white flour + Swanson's (or similar) canned chicken stock.

In a nonstick pot, melt the butter.
Add in the white flour (gravy is essentially a meat flavored white sauce) and stir it until incorporated into the butter. You can stir it while cooking if you want to get a light brown color. Don't burn it as that will give you a burnt flavor. The Bouillion also adds color which is more important for beef flavor than chicken or turkey.

Add stock. Simmer until thickened stirring it up with a wire whisk - just don't damage the nonstick pot surface. You can play around with the quantities but gravy is pretty forgiving. Just remember to not use water. Always use stock.

If it is too watery, you can dump in more flour directly into the pot as long as you whisk it immediately with a wire whisk. That breaks up the flour clumps. Otherwise, dissolve flour in a bit of broth and add the mixture to the pot.

This is a really basic gravy but it is also really good. Simple, without excess spices. If you want to dress it up, you can chop in some parsley or chives but I think it is very good just as it is.

Granola

7 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup almonds or walnuts broken up

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1cup sunflower seeds, raw or toasted

½ cup flaked coconut

¼ cup ground flax seed

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup maple syrup (I use grade B)

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cup dried mangos*, chopped

1 ½ cup dried pears*, chopped

*Not the sulfur squishy kind but the thin dry homemade-type.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Combine the oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts, seeds and salt in a very large bowl. Mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Pour the syrup mixture over the dry mixture, stirring and tossing till everything is very well combined.

Spread the granola over 2 large baking sheets with rims.

Bake for 2 hours, stirring the mixture after 1 hour or so. Remove the pans from the oven and let cool completely. Transfer the granola to a large bowl and mix in the dried fruit. Store in the freezer if you have room

Chicken Salad

It's just a mixture of Romain lettuce and spinach with sliced celery and grapefruit segments. Then I did some candied walnuts (sugar and walnuts over medium heat until it dissolves). The chicken was pretty easy too. I have a pot of thyme so I put of that on it along with salt and pepper and some oil (I use grapeseed), put a lid on it and cook. I don't have a lot of experience cooking meat so I ended up over cooking it but it still tasted good. The grapefruit was my favorite part. It would have been even better with some bleu cheese on top; maybe next time.

Cous Cous

1. 3 medium red bell peppers
2. 10 ounces instant couscous (about 1 1/2 cups)
3. Salt
4. 1/4 cup olive oil
5. 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
6. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
7. Pinch of cayenne pepper
8. Freshly ground black pepper
9. 1 pound ripe beefsteak tomatoes--peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 -inch dice
10. 1 large seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
11. 1/2 cup Moroccan or other small, oil-cured black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
12. 2 scallions, white and tender green, minced
13. 1 large garlic clove, minced
14. 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Roast the bell peppers over a gas flame or under a broiler, turning, until charred all over. Transfer the peppers to a paper bag and let steam for 10 minutes. Remove the skin, cores, seeds, and ribs and cut the peppers into 1/2-inch dice.
2. In a saucepan, bring 2 1/4 cups of water to a boil. Stir in the couscous and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and let stand until tender, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, and cayenne and season with salt and pepper.
3. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Add the roasted peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, scallions and garlic. Pour the dressing over the couscous and toss to combine. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours. Just before serving, stir in the parsley.

Yam and Cheese Sandwich with Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Yam and Cheese Sandwich with Pumpkin Seed Pesto
from the Cafe Flora

1 large yam (about 1 pound), peeled and sliced in rounds, about 1/8 inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 medium onion, sliced in rounds about 1/4 inch thick
4 sticcola rolls, or other chewy rolls or buns with a tender crust
Pumpkin Seed Pesto (recipe follows)
4 slices fontina or provolone cheese
Sweet hot mustard, Dijon, or your favorite mustard
A couple handfuls spinach leaves

Get Ready. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the yam in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the paprika. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss again.

Roast the Yam. Spread the yam slices on on a rimmed baking sheet large enough to accommodate them in a single layer without crowding. Roast until tender, but not mushy, so that a sharp knife easily pierces the yam slices, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and set aside. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Brown the onion. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the onion in a single layer, trying to keep the slices intact. Cook undisturbed until one side is browned, about 5 minutes.

Flip the onion rounds over - it's ok if they fall apart at this point - and continue to cook. Flip the onion occasionally until it's tender and browned evenly all over, about 5 more minutes.

Toast the Bread. Slice the rolls in half, and lay them, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted, 2 or 3 minutes.

Make the Sandwiches. Spread each of the 8 halves right to the edges with 1 or 2 tablespoons of Pumpkin Seed Pesto. Layer 4 halves (the bottom halves) with 5 or 6 slices of roasted yam, one-fourth of the onion, and finish with a slice of cheese.

Bake the Sandwich Halves. Put all 8 sandwich halves on a lightly oiled baking sheet, and bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

Serve the Sandwiches. Remove the sandwich halves from the oven. Spread the top halves with sweet hot mustard. Top the bottom halves with spinach leaves, put the sandwich together, and eat!

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

1/2 cup raw green pumpkin seeds, hulled
Salt
6 to 8 large fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
1/2 cup fresh parsley sprigs, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

Toast the Pumpkin Seeds by tossing them n a dry saute pan over high heat until they start to pop. Add salt to taste, and set aside to cool.

Mix all the ingredients. Put the pumpkin seeds, sage, parsley, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse several times until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, add the olive oil through the feed tube, processing until the mixture is chunky (like chunky peanut butter). Season with salt pepper to taste.

Roasted Tomato and Asparagus Pasta

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 good sized garlic cloves; minced
salt
fresh ground pepper
1 large handful fresh basil; leaves rolled up together then cut into thin strips
1 lb cherry or grape tomatoes (kept whole)
1 bunch asparagus; end snapped off then snapped/cut into 2 to 3 inch segments

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Put all the following, in order, into a large mixing bowl. Toss until the veggies are well coated. Spread out onto a cookie sheet and roast in the oven for 45 minutes or everything starts to look a little burned.

15 minutes before the veggies are due to be done, cook your pasta. Shorter pasta shapes work better for this one.

Scrape it all (including all the oily juices) onto the cooked pasta and toss. Freshly grated Parmesan on top always helps. This pasta is good hot and at room temperature.

Roasted Broccoli

(recipe from Becky)

1 large head broccoli (about 1 3/4 pounds)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin oil
2 large shallots, halved and sliced thin lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Ground black pepper
Lemon wedges for serving

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place large rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Cut broccoli at juncture of florets and stems; remove outer peel from stalk. Cut stalk into 2- to 3-inch lengths and each length into 1/2-inch-thick pieces (see picture). Place broccoli in large bowl with shallots; drizzle with oil and toss well until evenly coated. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, and pepper to taste and toss to combine.

2. Working quickly, remove baking sheet from oven. Carefully transfer broccoli to baking sheet and spread into even layer, placing flat sides down. Return baking sheet to oven and roast until stalks are well browned and tender and florets are lightly browned, 9 to 11 minutes. Serve with fresh lemon wedges.