Chocolate Covered Clementines

I love the chocolate oranges you find during the holidays, but I'd never tried REAL oranges dipped in chocolate! And it's so easy! And juicy!

Chocolate Covered Clementines
by Brooke Hochstein

• Dark Chocolate
• White Chocolate
  
• Clementines

Peel the clementines and separate the slices. (I left two together sometimes if they were really small). Melt the dark chocolate. Dip the slices in the dark chocolate, lift out with a fork and tap on the side of the bowl to shed the excess. Place on wax paper to harden. When you've finished dipping all the slices, melt the white chocolate. Drizzle white chocolate over the covered slices for garnish. For best taste, refrigerate and eat chilled.

NOTES: I didn't list quantities because that's all up to the candy maker. I would probably only dip half the slice next time. It would probably be prettier.

Pork Chop and Pineapple Pie

I love Paula Dean. Justin loves her food. He couldn't say enough about how much he loved this meal. He was disappointed when I made pork chops a few days later and didn't make this again. I didn't do it exactly her way, since we only have a gas grill and it was below freezing outside, but it sounds like a fun way to cook when you have guests over. I'll list her original recipe, and then explain how I cooked it.

Pork Chop and Pineapple Pie
by Paula Dean

• 1 boneless pork chop per person
• 1 slice red onion per person
• 1 slice green bell pepper per person
• 2 canned pineapple slices per person
• 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce per person
• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter per person
• Salt and pepper

For each serving, lay a pork chop on a large square of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Top each chop with the onion, green pepper, and pineapple slices. Drizzle with the teriyaki sauce. Top with the butter and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in the foil, rolling ends to completely seal the package. Freeze or refrigerate.

When ready to eat, place packages directly in coals for 15 to 20 minutes. Check to see if the pork chop is cooked through; rewrap and cook a little longer, if necessary.

NOTES: First off, Paula loves butter, so I cut it down to about 1/4 of what she asks for. And that is still usually a bit more than I'd like. I didn't marinate this at all, since I usually don't think about dinner till 1/2 hour before I want to eat. I browned the pork chops a bit on each side first, splashed them with teriyaki sauce, then added the veggies and pineapple. I put a small square of butter in each of the pineapple holes and splashed more teriyaki sauce on it. I cooked these covered in my chicken fryer for about 15 minutes until we were ready to eat! I noticed some people mentioned they added cheese and bacon and such, but I thought it was great just the way it was listed (minus a lot of butter)! I served it with rice pilaf.

Thanksgiving Turkey Again!

I am using the same method of baking my turkey as last year, since it was easy and delicious and I don't feel like experimenting with my husband' s Thanksgiving work party turkey! I don't think I have to bake the "real" thanksgiving turkey this year, since I'll be with FAMILY! ! ! woohoo!

Sweet Potato Soufflé

I LOVE Thanksgiving! ! ! ! I especially love the food that only seems to appear on the table at this time. I made this for a church dinner the other night, and it was a hit. I made a few adjustments to my mom's recipe, not that it needed it. I just wanted to experiment. I'm posting the original recipe for future use. Thanks to my Granny for reading this whole thing to me over the phone :)

Sweet Potato Soufflé
from the kitchen of Carol R. Cheesman

• 3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add ½ cup butter. Beat until smooth. Spoon into greased 2qt. casserole.

Combine flour, sugar, 1/3 cup butter. Add pecans. Sprinkle over top of casserole.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

NOTES: I threw in a dash or two of nutmeg and cinnamon while I was beating the potatoes in my kitchen-aide. I'd seen a few other recipes which called for them and it seemed very holiday-ish. I really couldn't tell that it was in there, but it tasted really fabulous, so I thought I would mention that I did so.

I also substituted marshmallows in for the streusel on top. Add the marshmallows AFTER you bake the sweet potatoes, then put in the oven just long enough to melt the marshmallows. I also sprinkled some brown sugar on top because I thought it might look cool, but there was no cool factor at all. I'd leave that out next time. I toasted the marshmallows on accident, but I think I like it better that way.

Mr. John's Stuffed Peppers

Yum. Definitely will make it again. Got this at FoodNetwork.com.

Mr. John's Meat-Stuffed Bell Peppers

• 6 green bell peppers, tops cut away and seeds removed
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 cups cooked long or medium-grain white rice
  
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• Water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling water, parboil the peppers until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and dry on paper towels.

In a large saute pan or skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and chopped bell peppers and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the beef, pork, garlic, parsley, salt, black pepper, and pepper flakes. Cook until the meat is browned, stirring with a heavy wooden spoon to break up the lumps, about 6 minutes. Add the rice and tomato sauce and stir well. Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning, to taste.

Pour enough water into a baking dish to just cover the bottom, about 1/8-inch deep. Stuff the bell peppers with the rice mixture and place in the baking dish. Bake until the peppers are very tender and the filling is heated through, 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Mango Chicken Curry

Yum Yum Yum. Found this on the internet and I don't know where. The person didn't say where they got it from either. I was trying to find Tofu recipes and I found this instead. The way I made it was very different from this recipe... but still good.

Mango Caribbean Chicken Curry

• 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. lime or lemon zest
• 2 tsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. corn starch
• 12 oz. chicken breasts or thighs
• 2 tsp. cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 c. sliced red onion
• 2 cups chopped, peeled mango or papaya
• 2 cups hot cooked rice
• lime peel strips

For sauce, in a small bow stir together broth, lime juice, lime zest, brown sugar, curry powder, and cornstarch; set aside.
Rinse chicken; pat dry, cut into bite-sized pieces
In a large skillet/wok, heat oil until very hot. Stir fry garlic for 30 seconds. Add onion slices; stir fry for 3 minutes. Remove onion from wok or skillet.
Add chicken and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Push chicken into center of pan.
Stir sauce mixture. Pour sauce into center of pan; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return onion to work.
Add mango or papaya. Stir ingredients together to coat with sauce. Cook 2 minutes or more until mixture is heated trough.
Serve over rice, garnish with lime peel strips.

Makes 4 servings.

NOTES: Okay, the way I made this was way different due to circumstance, but I wanted to have the original in my records to try another time. Today, I wanted to slow cook this. I did not have a lime, so I just used lemon juice. I only had bottled Mango, not fresh. I also wanted to try to use some Tofu (my first time!). I added a whole block of tofu and three chicken breasts and increased the ingredients a bit. I just browned the chicken, dried the tofu, dumped all the ingredients together in a crockpot and cooked it on high for three hours. I took out some of the juices and added cornstarch to make a gravy in a pan, but this time my gravy was runny. How do you master that?! I think I've only made gravy well one time! EVER! We have this divine mango coconut chili sauce that we drizzled on top for fun after a few bites. I didn't tell Justin there was tofu in it till the end, and he hadn't even noticed!

McCormick Recipes

I just want to say that whoever came up with this idea of pre-packaged herb combos for those of us who may be herbally challenged is a genius for whom I am grateful.
The three I have tried out so far are (ranked in order of deliciousness)

-Apple & Sage Pork Chops
-Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas
-Spanish Chicken Skillet

They added some variety to the tastes that come out of my kitchen, and I plan on buying more as they create more in the future.