Mulled Wine

1 bottle of red wine (the cheap stuff is OK)
3 or 4 cinnamon sticks
4 or 5 whole cloves
4 or 5 whole allspice berries
1 or 2 whole anise stars
peel from a large orange
1/2 c. of sugar
1/2 c. dark rum

Remove white lining from orange peel (too bitter if left on).
In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients except the rum.
Heat until steaming (don't boil it!) and maintain temperature for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and add rum.  Serve hot, of course.

Makes about 4 servings.  For the Cleydael crew, triple the recipe and keep warm in a crock pot.

Italian Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 slices of prosciutto
8 slices of smoked provolone
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 eggs
2 tsp water
1 c. Italian-flavored Panko bread crumbs
1 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butterfly and pound chicken breasts until 1/4 inch thick.
Lay two slices each prosciutto and provolone in center of each breast, leaving 1/2-inch "margin".
Tuck in sides and roll each breast tight.  Secure with toothpicks if needed.

Mix flour, salt and pepper in a flat dish.
Beat together eggs and water in another flat dish.
Mix bread crumbs and olive oil in a third flat dish.

Roll chicken in flour, dip in egg mixture, and then coat with bread crumbs.
Set chicken (seam side down) on lightly olive-oiled baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Goes great with Orange Beurre Blanc sauce (below).

Orange Beurre Blanc Sauce

1 c. orange juice
1/2 c. dry white wine
1 c. heavy cream
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp dried rosemary (.5 tbsp if fresh)

Combine orange juice and wine in saucepan over medium heat until reduced by half.
Stir in heavy cream and simmer over low heat until thickened.
Stir in rosemary and remove from heat.

Excellent on chicken or almost any seafood.

Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

2 lbs of skinless, boneless, chicken meat, cut into pieces no larger than 2x2 inches
1 clove garlic, minced
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 c. dried bread crumbs
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp of Italian seasoning (herb mix)
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels.
Combine the minced garlic with the melted butter.
In a separate bowl mix together the remaining ingredients.
Dip chicken pieces into garlic butter, then into crumb mixture to coat.

Place coated chicken pieces on to a 9x13 baking dish. Try to leave a little room between each piece. Drizzle with remaining garlic butter and bake uncovered 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Note that the chicken will get much more browned on the bottom side than on the top.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

10 oz chunk chicken, drained
16 oz softened cream cheese
1 c. ranch dressing
1.5 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 c. hot sauce (Franks, or Texas Pete)

Heat chicken and hot sauce in skillet over medium heat.
Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing.
Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes.
Mix in half of shredded cheddar cheese.
Transfer mixture to crock pot (on Low) and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Serve with crackers and/or celery sticks.

Fried Turkey Injection

3 tbsp melted butter
1/3 c. maple syrup
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
2/3 c. chicken stock
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp finely ground black pepper
optional: 1 or 2 tsp Tabasco sauce

Chicken and Grape Salad

2 or 3 large chick breasts
1 lb seedless white grapes
1/4 slivered almonds (more to taste)

2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt

Boil (or bake) chicken until cooked.  Cool thoroughly and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (or shred).
Wash grapes and slice into halves.
Mix everything else in a separate bowl.
Combine all ingredients and enjoy.

Chicken Paprikas

3 or 4 large chicken breasts

For the dumplings:
4 eggs
1.5 tsp salt
2 c. flour
1/4 to 1/2 c. water
1 tsp softened butter (or margarine)

For the sauce:
1 stick butter (or margarine)
1 chopped onion
1 pint of sour cream
3 or 4 tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika (more or less to taste)
1 c. water

Mix salt, eggs water and butter with a wooden spoon, then add flour slowly until the correct consistency.
Spoon into spaetzle maker and boil dumplings just until they float.

Wash and cube chicken.
In a large pan, saute the chopped onion in butter, then add chicken and 1 c. of water.
Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Add sour cream, paprika and dumplings.  Stir well and remove from heat.

Uncle Skip's Sausage & Sauerkraut

1.5 lbs of sausage (any kind)
2 lbs of sauerkraut (drained, but not rinsed)
1 lb bacon
1 medium onion
1 large can of tomato juice

Cut sausage into 2 - 3 inch lengths and cook slowly in water.  Cooking slowly keeps the skins tender.
Fry the bacon to medium-crispy.
Chop the onion and saute in the bacon grease.  Drain.
Butterfly the sausages once they're cool enough to handle.

Build by layers in a casserole or baking pan.  Sauerkraut first, then onions, then bacon, and lastly the sausages, skin side up.  Pour the tomato juice over everything.  Bake at 350 for 1.5 hours, then stir to combine all ingredients.  Put back in oven for up to 30 more minutes.

Tandoori Lamb Chops

1 c. full-fat plain yogurt
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 tbsp grated lime zest
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp paprika
1.5 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 racks of lamb chops

Separate lamb chops if necessary.
Combine all ingredients and pour into two ziplock bags.
Add 1/2 of lamb chops to each bag and squeeze/shake to coat well.
Refrigerate up to 24 hours (at least overnight)
Rotisserie or bake at 375 until internal temp is 130 degrees.

Rotisserie Pork Shoulder

For rub:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp dried lemon peel
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

For marinade:
1/2 c bourbon
1/4 c. corn syrup
2 tbsp ketchup
1/4 c. brown sugar

Trim off fat cap and remove any bones from pork shoulder.
Mix rub ingredients and, well... rub all over shoulder.
Refrigerate - the longer the better.
Tie if necessary, and cook in rotisserie until internal temp is 185 degrees, mopping with marinade every 15 minutes.

Coquito

15 oz cream of coconut
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
12 oz evaporated milk
3/4 c. white rum
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in blender.  Serve ice cold.

Banana Bread

3 or 4 well-ripened bananas, smashed
1.5 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. melted butter
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

Optional, choose one or two, no more!: walnuts, chocolate chips, M&Ms, cashews, peanuts, and/or a shot of espresso, Kahlua or dark rum.

Mix butter and mashed bananas with a wooden spoon.
Mix in sugar, baking soda, salt, egg and vanilla.
Mix in the flour last.
Pour into a buttered 4x8 loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool, in pan, on a rack.  Slice and serve.

Can also make 11 muffins.  Reduce cooking time to 35 minutes.