1¼ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenders

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon (freshly ground) pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons olive oil

If dealing with chicken breast, cut it into serving pieces to feed 4.

Sprinkle chicken all over with salt, pepper and thyme.

Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, put chicken in skillet and cook without disturbing, for about 5 minutes. It should be an appetizing brown. Turn it over, and cook until done, which should be 6 or 8 minutes if the chicken pieces are 4 or 5 ounces and about 1 inch thick. Serve with hot cabbage slaw and baked potatoes.

Serves 4.

Nutrition data per serving: 217 calories, 33 grams protein, 8 grams fat, 382 milligrams sodium.

Source: Louisville Courier

4 bacon slices

1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional

3 tablespoons cider vinegar (or any vinegar)

2 teaspoons honey

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon (freshly ground) black pepper

6 cups very thinly sliced green cabbage (or a mix of green and purple)

1 bunch green onions

Put the bacon in a wide, deep pot over medium heat, and cook until it is crisp; set aside on an absorbent surface.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons fat from the skillet, and add caraway seeds. Cook, stirring once or twice, about 1 minute, or until aromatic. Add cider, honey, salt and pepper and about half the cabbage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is barely softened, about 3 minutes.

As cabbage cooks, mince green onions (discard root and any wilted tops).

Add remaining cabbage and green onions, and cook 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally, or until done to desired tastes. Crumble bacon, and stir into cabbage and serve.

Serves 4.

Nutrition data per serving: 198 calories, 6 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrate, 6 grams fiber, 10 grams fat, 542 milligrams sodium.

2 pounds Cubed or coarsely ground boneless, trimmed beef (chuck or shoulder arm preferred)
1 tablespoon Vegetable shortening
1-½ teaspoon Hot sauce
8 oz. Tomato sauce
2 Beef bullion cubes
2 Jalapeño peppers, skin surface slit
6 tablespoons Chili powder (or to taste)
4 teaspoons Ground cumin
1 tablespoon Onion powder
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon White pepper
3/8 teaspoon Cayenne
¼ teaspoon Oregano
1/8 teaspoon Crushed bay leaf

Cook meat over medium heat in melted shortening until meat is gray in color. Add hot sauce, tomato sauce, bullion cubes, 1 jalapeño and water to cover. Simmer, covered, 40 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water if needed. When jalapeño is soft, squeeze in juice and discard pulp and seeds.
Mix together chili powder, cumin, onion, garlic, salt, white pepper, cayenne, oregano and bay leaf; divide into 3 portions. Add one portion spice mixture and remaining jalapeño. Continue to cook for one hour adding water as needed. Remove jalapeño, squeeze juice into chili and discard pulp and seeds. Add second portion of spice mixture. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes, adding water if needed. Add remaining spice mixture and cook 15 minutes more. (Chili should be kept thick during cooking. Adding too much water keeps the spices from permeating the meat.)

Slabs of buttered warm gingerbread ended a recent supper with friends. Talk about the quintessential dessert for a cold winter night — and buttering the gingerbread the way you would toast gave it just the right homey finish.

Moist, dark, spicy and not too sweet, gingerbread is what I call a "stir and bake cake." No fussing, whipping or fiddling. Black pepper gives a spark to the other ingredients and it was always present in gingerbreads of the past.

Make a batch to bake while you're eating dinner and serve warm with butter, whipped cream, a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, applesauce or poached fruit like pears, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Leftover gingerbread keeps five to seven days, well wrapped, at room temperature and freezes beautifully for up to three months.

Here is my recipe:

Lynne's Dark and Moist Gingerbread
Copyright 2007 Lynne Rossetto Kasper. All Rights Reserved

Makes 9 servings

• 2 cups, less 2 tablespoons, all-purpose unbleached flour (measure by spooning into cup and leveling)
• 1 generous teaspoon baking soda
• Generous 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup dark molasses
• 3/4 cup very hot water (190 degrees)
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg

1. Butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

2. In another bowl, beat together the rest of the ingredients except the egg. When almost frothy, beat in the egg and quickly add the flour mixture.

3. Stir only until thoroughly blended. Pour into pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool on a rack in the pan for a moist cake. For a drier consistency, cool 10 minutes on rack then turn out of pan.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE ICE CREAM

***NOTE: The recipe fails to list an important step, and that is to strain the custard before adding to the chocolate ganache. I've noted it in parentheses below.

I suggest adding 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. The taste was a little flat without it, and the vanilla rounded it out. (I used 1/4 tsp Penzey's double vanilla, which is equal to 1/2 tsp regular strength vanilla).

INGREDIENTS:

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup whole milk
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Put chocolate in 2-quart liquid measuring cup or large heatproof bowl.

Bring 3/4 cup cream to a boil. Pour cream over chocolate and let sit a minute, then, using rubber spatula and starting in center of mixture, stir cream into chocolate in ever-widening circles. When ganache is smooth, set aside.

Bring milk and remaining 3/4 cup cream to a boil in medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk yolks and sugar together until well blended and just slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/3 of the hot liquid - this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in remaining liquid.

Pour custard back into pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon; if you run your finger down bowl of spoon, custard should not run into the track. The custard should reach at least 170 degrees F, but no more than 180 degrees F, on instant-read thermometer. Immediately remove pan from heat, ***(strain it into a bowl), and slowly and gently stir custard into ganache. (I mixed in vanilla extract after stirring custard into ganache).

Refrigerate custard until chilled before churning into ice cream. (I chill overnight).

Scrape chilled custard into bowl of ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. Pack ice cream into container and freeze at least 2 hours, until firm enough to scoop.

Serving: If ice cream is very firm - as ice cream made with premium-quality chocolate often is - allow to sit on counter a few minutes before scooping.

Storing: Packed tightly in covered container, ice cream will keep in freezer about 2 weeks.

From "Baking From My Home To Yours" - Dorie Greenspan

** Hot Peach and Ginger Grilling Sauce **

From time to time, I'll be posting recipes from the greatest recipe site ever, now unfortunately, defunct - Gail's Recipe Swap.

I don't recall who originally posted this at Gail's, but it's a keeper recommended by many of the old timers over the years. :) My favorite for grilling all year long, this marinade is a definite winner! ~ jan

1-2 batches marinade
time to make 5 min 5 min prep

1 cup peach jam
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dry wine
1/4 cup green onions, minced
10 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1/4 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce

1. Mince the green onions, garlic, and ginger - this takes me about 5 minutes, but "your mileage may vary".

2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

4. Use as a baste for pork or chicken.

5. This marinade is a definite winner!

6. I originally picked up the recipe at Gail's Recipe Swap, where everybody was raving about it. It's extremely versatile - some folks used it on beef, some on pork, and I've tried it on salmon steaks. It's wonderful on all of them!

7. Note: you can also substitute ingredients, such as apricot for the peach; I've also added a heaping tablespoon full of lemon curd to the recipe, since it was sitting out on the counter at the time.

We all adore it, each and every one of my carb addicted girlfriends. "You oldtime readers to my site know that I'm totally besotted with my Zojirushi bread machine. IMO, the best bread machine on the market. But it's also fun to do it the old fashioned way. Here is a great tutorial for making it on a cold January day. And here is a great forum on breadmaking.

And finally, ten tips for better breadmaking. Now get out in that kitchen and make a loaf! And don't forget to call me when it's coming out of the oven. ~ jan