Category: New Menu Monday

New recipes every Monday

Monday Menu: Crispy Pecan Fish and Shortbread Cookies

I was in the mood for shortbread cookies, and I had these cool cookie cutters – ducks and swans – so of course, the cookies had to be ducks.

Plate of round and duck shaped shortbread cookies

  1. Crispy Pecan Fish
  2. Hearty Bread
  3. Broccoli w/Garlic Wine Sauce
  4. Shortbread

Crispy Pecan Fish

  • 4-6 oz fish fillets –you’ll want a firm fish such as: red snapper, catfish, tilapia or haddock
  • ½ cup flour
  • ¼ to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp thyme, crushed
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 2/3 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
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Monday Menu: Chewed Up!!

Michael Symon, Clinton Kelly and Carla Hall drining champagne on a tv set

Michael Symon, Clinton Kelly and Carla Hall

I am so very excited about this! When the Chew was on ABC during lunch hour, that’s how I spent my lunch. One of the advantages of working from a home office.

And when Carla, Symon, and Clinton said they were doing a YouTube show three days a week, I was ecstatic. My week needs this joyous thirty minutes!

Continue reading Monday Menu: Chewed Up!!

Monday Menu: Letting Julia Do The Cooking

bowl of apples on a table

The last month has been wild and I’m having trouble keeping up. I desperately need to focus on the Full Sail revisions, so for the next few weeks I’m going to let Julia Child do the menus for me. I love that PBS has an entire YouTube channel of her shows.

Since it’s fall and apples are coming in, I thought we’d start with this one:

Monday Menu: Frozen or Fresh Meats and Fish

Continuing the discussions about frozen versus fresh, this time focusing on beef, pork, chicken, and fish.

Frozen chicken breasts
Credit: Maliflower73/Getty

This past year has been ridiculously busy, and I have found myself taking more and more shortcuts when it comes to food prep.  Two shortcuts I was reluctant to embrace at first, have become go-tos.

The first is frozen chicken breasts. I would shop sales and buy bulk “fresh” chicken breasts on sale and then spend an hour packaging them into freezer bags. It was messy and time-consuming. And the not-so-fresh packages were usually previously frozen, and then sold.  This meant the quality of the meat was hit-or-miss, and I would often end up with tough, chewy chicken breasts.

One day, there was a not-to-miss sale at Costco on frozen chicken breasts. Since it was soup season, I took the chance and purchased a bag (it was Costco, it was a big bag, LOL), knowing a lot of inferior meat could be dressed up in a good soup. To my surprise, they were excellent, flash frozen, tender, and so easy to thaw and prep what I needed.

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Monday Menu: Harvest Recipes

The tomatoes have been coming in fast this week, so it seemed like a good time to make a nice, fresh sauce with some of them. I also had some ricotta and mozzarella in the freezer. Time to revisit Skillet Lasagna.

counter full of garden ripe tomatoes

Fresh from the garden ingredients elevate this easy weeknight dinner menu.  On the board tonight:

MENU
Skillet Lasagna
Patty Squash Sauté
Italian Bread
Peaches

Skillet Lasagna

  • 6 oz Mafalda (mini-lasagna noodles) or bowtie pasta
  • 1 lb lean ground beef (omit or substitute mushrooms to make vegetarian)
  • ½ onion, chopped
  • ½ green pepper chopped
  • 1 tsp basil, crushed
  • 1 tsp oregano, crushed
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 15 oz can tomato sauce (or 1 lb fresh tomatoes, chopped or pureed)
  • 6 oz can tomato paste
  • 4 oz ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped
  • 4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 2 oz grated parmesan

skillet
saucepan

In the saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions, cooking to al dente (slightly chewy), and drain well.

Meanwhile, in the skillet, brown beef, onion & pepper. Add spices, garlic, carrot, and sauté for 1 minute.  Add sauce and paste, stirring well into the meat mixture.

Add pasta, stirring gently to mix. 

Continue reading Monday Menu: Harvest Recipes