Make it Your Own Chili Bar

Ok, it's 3:30 p.m. and we are planning on hitting the trick-or-treat circuit at 6:00 p.m....dinner, right! Well, if you are hosting your crew or a few additional goblins, here is a quick, wonderful fall dinner for a crowd.

Make it Your Own Chili Bar
Ingredients:

• Safeway/Pavilions/Vons (depending on where you live in the country) Stomping Steak Chili - This is in the deli section, in the gourmet, refrigerated soup cooler. One container should serve 3ish.
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Chopped red onion
• Sour cream
• Chopped cilantro
• Corn bread muffins, butter and honey
• Chalula
• Crusteaz corn muffin mix

Instructions on tossing it all together:

• No shame in pouring the Stomping Chili into a crock pot or large pot on the stove, turn to low until heated through.
• Display above ingredients in fun colored bowls on your dining room table or kitchen island
• Bake Crusteaz corn bread muffins, and place in basket with fall colored t-towel
• Let guests choose their bowl, top with desired ingredients and perfection.
• This is great with cheese quesadillas or mixed green salad...

Nobody needs to know if you made it or bought it...it's all in the presentation baby.

Happy Halloween!

Scallops Wrapped in Prosciutto

A few weeks ago we were invited to an Octoberfest party. As usual, I was late, rushing around and hadn't had time to really think... let alone plan what I was going to bring to this annual neighborhood event. So to the refrigerator I went...searching, thinking, searching...and inspiration came to me. I found sea scallops in the freezer and prosciutto in the refrigerator...and the rest is history. This is a quick, easy, tasty and fun new recipe for your next happy hour.

From my table to yours!


Scallops Wrapped in Prosciutto
Ingredients:

• 6 Sea Scallops (halved or quartered depending on how large they are)
• 1 package Prosciutto
• 1-2 T Olive Oil
• 1 T Capers
• 1/4 C Blackberry brandy
• 2 T Fat free half and half
• Toothpicks
• Fresh herbs for garnish (I used sage and flat leaf parsley to add color to the plate - sliced cantaloupe would be perfect too)

Directions:

• Rinse scallops
• Quarter or half depending on their size (make them bite-sized)
• Slice prosciutto into 1/4 inch strips (Should be a little more narrow than each piece of scallop)
• Wrap each piece of scallop in prosciutto
• Heat olive oil in large pan over medium heat
• Brown wrapped scallops (I like to make the prosciutto crispy) - about 4-5 min/side (until cooked through)
• Remove to serving bowl (I used a wide, shallow bowl) and top with a sprinkle of capers
• In the same pan, add Blackberry brandy. Use wooden spoon to get all the yummy prosciutto bits in there!
• Cook for 2 min, add half and half
• Pour sauce over scallops
• Garnish and serve with toothpicks

Interesting sweet and salty combination...my favorite. Enjoy.

Chicken Orzo Soup (Mamma Adams)

My dear friend Liz Adams-Mohan is a giver. She gives of herself, her hopes, her thoughts and her fantastic outlook on life and love. She touches the souls of all she meets. And this is just the surface of this woman. As they say, the apple doesn't fall from the tree - and what a tree it is. Liz is part of a very large, Long Island family...yes, the Long Island Adams family!

I am lucky enough to have been accepted into the 'A-list' by Mr. and Mrs. Adams...which I am extraordinarily proud to share. I hear it's a pretty exclusive list. I love hearing stories of the Adams dinner table. The amazing meals that were cooked, lively conversation and the abundance of love and creativity. One of many Adams meals Liz shared with me was her mom's (or really Grandmother's) Chicken Orzo soup. We all know Chicken Soup is good for the soul ...and this one will knock your socks off! I have added a few little twists to this Adams classic, but the recipe and all its glory is attributed to the legendary Mrs. Adams.
From my table to yours....

Chicken Orzo Soup
Ingredients

• Whole chicken
• Onion, chopped
• 5 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 box orzo
• 1 lemon
• 1 cube butter (you can get away with 1/2 cube)
• 1/4 C creamed sherry

Directions

• Rinse whole chicken (remove any neck or nasty junk shoved inside the cavity...ewww)
• Place chicken in large pot, cover with water
• Add chopped onion, carrots and sage leaves
• Bring to a boil, reduce and cook 30 min (until chicken is cooked)
• Remove chicken from broth and cool a bit (so you don't burn your fingers as you try to remove all the meat from the bones)
• Pull meat from the bones, shred and add back to broth (I ditch all the fat, skin, random parts...again ewww)
• Bring broth and chicken to a boil
• Add orzo, juice from lemon, butter, salt and pepper
• Reduce to medium and cook until orzo is cooked (20 min)
• Add sherry
• Cook for another few minutes
• Remove bay leaves and serve!

Tim's Tomato Dill or Basil Soup

Two firsts hit Boulder County yesterday...Our first real snowfall and a brand new baby boy for Anne and Brandon Greenhaw! Fresh starts come to us everyday, just some are more obvious than others. New babies and snowfall...seems like a great time to bust out a belly warming recipe.

As I was thinking what to make my family, as well as the newly expanded Greenhaw crew, I was quickly reminded of a special gift we received almost four and a half years ago, after Miss Hailey was born. The day we came home from Avista Hospital, Tim Shove (one of our fantastic neighbors for those of you who don't know him) brought us a wonderful, large pot of fantastic tomato basil soup, homemade tortillas and aged white cheddar. The perfect meal for a sleep deprived, slightly nervous new family in the middle of winter. This was one of our first meals as a new family and joined by Nana...made for a memorable evening.

This recipe is simple, quick, fresh, healthy and most of all TASTY.
From our table to yours...enjoy!

Tomato Dill or Basil Soup (large pot - serves 8)
Soup can be made a day in advance and freezes well

Ingredients ...I have added a few little twists from the original recipe

• 3 T olive oil


• 3 C chopped leeks (white and pale green parts)


• 4- 28 oz cans diced tomatoes with tomato juice


• 4 1/2 C low salt chicken stock


• 6 T packed, chopped basil or dill (depending on your preference)


• 2 pinches red pepper flakes (or 1/4 t cayenne if you prefer)


• 1 package prosciutto chopped


• 1/4 C fat free half and half


• 1/4 C creamed sherry


• 1 T kosher salt


• 1 T pepper


• Sour cream (dollops for serving)


• Sprinkle shredded Parmesan (or slices of aged white cheddar)


• Fresh dill or basil sprigs for garnish


• Baguette (or fresh tortillas)

Directions:

• In a large pot, heat olive oil


• Add chopped leeks and cook until tender (about 8 min)


• Add tomatoes including all tomato juice, chicken stock, chopped herb (basil or dill), re pepper, prosciutto, and bring to low boil.


• Reduce heat, stir and simmer uncovered for 30 min.


• Once tomatoes are fairly soft, puree soup in food processor or blender until smooth and then return to pot (probably need to do this in 3-4 batches).


• Bring soup to a simmer over low heat


• Add fat free half and half and creamed sherry


• Add salt and pepper


• Stir and simmer for another 10 min


• Ladle into bowls and top with shaved Parmesan and herb of choice (or a dollop of sour cream and aged cheddar)

This is really a bisque and matched with a great salad...you are ready to sit down and share your weekly adventures.

Quick Coq Au Vin with Apple and Brie Smashed Potatoes

Another guilty pleasure of mine is watching the Food Network. Not sure if it's like a modern mystery or a classic romance...but always engaging and inspiring...to me anyway. So after watching Guy whip up some sort of Halibut Vera Cruz, fried asparagus (that actually looked pretty damn good) followed up by some sort of Frangelico/vodka shot ...that he promises tastes like German Chocolate Cake, Rachel Ray 30 min meal for Mother's Day started. While we can all agree she can be just a bit too perky for Sunday morning, many of her meals are fantastic. Just quick, easy and normally a family pleaser.

Craig loves Coq Au Vin. Not sure if this was a family favorite or if Chef Al Burton made it so amazingly well at one of his legendary parties, but regardless, he seems to always mention it. I however, am not a huge fan of hours of cooking and using all parts of the chicken (Coq) - but give me the wine (au vin) and now we can start talking. So Rachel Ray shared a recipe that seems to be the perfect compromise - boneless chicken (yes, honey we can use boneless dark meat too), lots of wine (happy) and cooks in 30 min (extra happy). Additionally, she glammed up a family classic - Smashed potatoes with apple cream and brie - HOLY COW. If this doesn't say fall family classic with a bit of panache, I don't know what does. I couldn't find the recipe online...so this is from memory and experience.
From our table to yours, enjoy!

Quick Coq Au Vin
Ingredients:

• 3 large, boneless skinless chicken breasts (all my Orange County friends are happy)
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (if you like or just add extra breasts)
• 1/2 bottle dry, white wine (I know, seriously, buy two buck chuck)
• 3-4 pieces bacon, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• Flour (for chicken and a sprinkle to thicken the sauce)
• sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• Olive Oil, salt and pepper (of course)

Directions:

• Marinate chicken in large bowl with wine (yes, all of it)
• In large sauce pan, cook chopped bacon until crispy
• Remove bacon with slotted spoon and reserve
• In same sauce pan, cook chicken until cooked through. Use tongs to remove chicken from the wine marinade, but SAVE THE WINE - you will use this for the sauce.
• When chicken is cooked (probably 3-4 min/side) remove chicken from pan
• Add a little olive oil to pan and add onions, garlic, celery, thyme sprigs, bay leaves and carrots - cook for 2 min
• Add the wine from the chicken marinade, sprinkle with 1 t flour, stir, cover and cook for 5 min
• Return chicken to pan cook for 5 min
• Remove thyme stem and bay leaves
• Spoon into potatoe reservoir (see below for more detail)

Smashed Potatoes with Apple and Brie
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound Yukon potatoes
• 4 oz brie
• 1 granny smith apple, pealed and quartered
• 1 1/2 C cream (I used fat free half and half and it was great)

Directions:

• Clean and quarter potatoes
• Place in boiling water for 20 min (add a t salt when water boils)
• Bring cream or ff half and half to low boil and add quartered apple (cook for 10 min)
• Pour cream/apple mixture into food processor, blend into smooth mixture
• Drain potatoes and return potatoes to hot pan
• Pour blended apple mixture over potatoes
• Add brie (break into small portions to help it melt faster)
• Using a smasher, smash all ingredients (if it seems too thick, feel free to add milk)
• Salt and pepper to your liking

To plate this version of coq au vin and potatoes....

Using over sized bowls or plates with a lip, spoon smashed potatoes in the center of the dish. Make the potatoes into a reservoir. Spoon coq au vin (chicken, sauce and veggies) into the potato bowl. Sprinkle with crisp bacon and top with a sprig of thyme. Special and fantastic to the eye and belly.