Cod Fillets Poached in Sweet Pepper Sauce

Cod Fillets Poached in Sweet Pepper Sauce

4 cod fillets of the same size and thickness, patted dry
10 mini peppers chopped fine or 1 large red bell pepper chopped fine
1 small shallot chopped fine
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Sauté shallot and peppers till soft and set aside briefly. Add the garlic and olive oil to a blender. Blend till creamy. Add the peppers and shallots and blend again. Add the heavy whipping cream and blend till smooth. Add in some vegetable stock if sauce is too thick. Pour sauce into heated saucepan and add cod fillets to poach till fork tender. Serve immediately with rice, pasta, or polenta so all of the tasty sauce can be enjoyed. What a quick and easy meal to prepare. The sauce color will depend on the color of the peppers. I happen to use yellow and orange mini peppers so my sauce turned out a slightly yellow color. Red peppers would be brighter red color. Give it a try, fish cooks in a short amount of time. What could be easier to make.

Pear Sauce

Pear Sauce

8 ripe pears cored, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon anise seed ground up
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon orange liquor

I found a bag of pears for a reasonable price. I decided to make pear sauce. Peel and core, then dice 8 ripe pears. Add pears and remaining ingredients to a sauce pan. Cook till moisture evaporates to desired consistency. Blend pears or mash with a potato masher. Put in glass mason jars. So easy and delicious. Confession of an errant home chef. I taste tested the pears before blending, they were so good I had a bowl of them chunky style before blending. Don't omit the anise seed, really adds to the sauce.

Pecan Tarragon GF Shortbread Cookies

Pecan Tarragon GF Shortbread Cookies

1 cup room temperature unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar

2-1/2 cup gf 1:1 flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Cream butter, extracts, and sugar. Set aside. Measure remaining ingredients into a separate bowl. Stir to blend all. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture until just blended. Grab dough and pat into a flattened ball. Cut dough in half and roll into logs. Refrigerate logs for 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 300 F. Remove one log and cut cookies into half inch pieces. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake cookies for 30 minutes. Keep watch on them so they don't brown. Remove cookies sheet from oven and cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Then move cookies to a wire rack with a spatula to cool completely. Do the same for the second roll of dough. So delicious and makes at least 30 cookies. If you don't need that many cookies at one time, the second cookie roll can be frozen and baked at a later time. Just make sure the dough is completely thawed before baking the frozen cookies.

Coq au Vin

Coq au Vin

3-4 boneless chicken thighs, cut in half or quarters
3 strips of bacon cut into small pieces
1 small onion chopped medium fine
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 whole thin carrots cut crosswise on the diagonal
8 ounces button mushrooms quartered
8 ounces pearl onions, skins removed

32 ounces of vegetable stock

1/4 cup brandy
1/2 bottle of red wine, burgundy, merlot, or cabernet
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon ground thyme or fresh sprigs if you can fine them
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a large stock pot, sauté bacon and chopped onion till onion is soft. Set aside. Add olive oil to pot and brown the chicken thighs on both sides. Set aside. Add vegetable stock, wine, brandy, carrots, and pearl onions to pot. Precut packaged carrots are too tough for my liking. Cook till carrots and pearl onions are soft. Add browned chicken to pot and cook for 15 minutes. Next add mushrooms, and butter. Cook till mushrooms are soft and cooked down. Remove thyme sprigs if you've used them whole. Serve over polenta, pasta, or mashed potatoes. You'll want something to soak up all that delicious broth. There will be left overs in our house since it's just the two of us.