Christmas Party Recipes

Here are the recipes from the Relief Society Christmas party held December 6th at Annie Ried's home.

Chicken Scaloppini

Lemon butter Sauce

• 4 ounces lemon juice (1/2 C)
• 2 ounces white wine or chicken broth (1/4)
• 4 ounces heavy cream (1/2 C)
• 1 lb butter (4 sticks) Yes, a full pound!

Chicken and Pasta

• 12-15 chicken tenders or 6 chicken breasts
• Olive oil, for sautéing chicken and mushrooms.
• 1 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, for dredging
• 6 ounces bacon, cooked
• 12 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 12 ounces artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1 heaping tablespoon capers
• 1 lb angel hair  pasta, cooked
• chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. To make the sauce.
2.  Heat the lemon juice and white wine in a saucepan over medium heat.
3.  Bring to a boil and reduce by one-third.
4.  Add cream and simmer until mixture thickens (3 to 4 minutes).
5.  Slowly add butter until completely incorporated.
6.  Season with salt and pepper.
7.  Remove from heat and keep warm. The sauce does not have to be hot, just warm.
8.  To make chicken and pasta:
9.  Cook pasta and drain
10.  Pound the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap so that the chicken is about 3/8” thick.
11.  Heat a small amount of oil large skillet.
12.  Dredge chicken in flour and sauté in pan, turning once, until brown and cooked through. This only takes a few minutes because the chicken has been pounded thin.
13.  Remove chicken from pan.
14.  Add some of the mushrooms to the pan with a little oil.  The mushrooms should only cover the bottom of the pan.
15.  Heat until mushrooms soften and a slightly brown on each side.
16. Remove from pan and cook the next batch until you have cooked all of the mushrooms. 
17.  Put all of the mushrooms back in the pan. 
18. Add the bacon, capers and the chopped artichoke hearts to the pan. 
19. Add the chicken back to the pan.
20.  Add half of butter sauce to chicken mixture and toss.
21.  Taste and adjust. Add more sauce if needed.
22. To serve:
23.  Place chicken mixture over pasta on each plate.
24.  Add a little more sauce to each.
25.  Garnish with parsley.

If you want to make this ahead of time keep the sauce, chicken, artichoke-mushroom-bacon-caper mixture, and pasta separate until you are ready to serve. Put the pasta in boiling water for a minute.If you keep the sauce over night it may separate.  Just heat it up just until it meltsin a pot on the stove and whisk it back together.  It doesn’t do great in the microwave.

Panna Cotta

Ingredients:

1 cup low fat buttermilk, room temperature

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

2 t pure vanilla

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 cups heavy cream

Directions:

1. Have 8 dessert cups or ramekins ready

2. Pour buttermilk into a small bowl, sprinkle on the gelatin and stir to dissolve. Set aside for about 15 minutes or more.

3. In a medium sauce pan combine cream and sugar. Stir in buttermilk mixture.

4. Place pan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is just under a boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

 5. Pour mixture into ramekins or dessert cups. Place them on a tray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, about 5 hours or overnight.

6.  To serve pour a little strawberry sauce on top, with a dallop of whipped cream, a fresh strawberry slice, and a little mint.

 Strawberry Coulis Recipe (Strawberry Sauce)

Recipe can be multiplied as needed.

• 5 and 1/2 cups of sliced strawberries , this is about 18 ounces
• 1 of a cup of plain white sugar (granulated)
• ¼ cup of water

1. Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring the mix to a boil. Once it is boiling and the sugar has been dissolved into the liquid, turn off the heat and transfer the mixture to a blender.
2. Blend until it is very smooth, and then pass the sauce through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. (The straining step is not strictly necessary and it won’t make things taste any better, but the sauce is more enjoyable when it doesn’t leave you with strawberry seeds to pick out of your teeth!)

Serve on top of some good vanilla ice cream or as a topping for cheesecake or Panna Cotta and pop the rest into the freezer to be used as needed.

Store in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for months

Olive Garden Salad Dressing Serves: 12 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar 1 tsp. lemon juice 2 Tbls. beaten egg (see Notes, below) 1/3 cup water 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup corn syrup 3 Tbls. grated Romano cheese 2 Tbls. dry, unflavored pectin (see Notes, below) 1 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. fresh minced garlic 1/4 tsp. dried parsley 1 pinch dried oregano 1 pinch red pepper flakes

-Pour the vinegar, lemon juice, and egg into a blender; blend for 10 seconds, then allow to rest for 10 minutes. -Add remaining ingredients to blender and blend on low speed for 30 seconds. -Chill at least 1 hour before serving, the longer the better. If this is too thick after it is chilled you can add a little water. Notes: Mixing the raw egg with vinegar and lemon juice will kill any Salmonella present. You can also buy pasteurized eggs at many supermarkets. Pectin can be found in most supermarkets near the Jell-O® or with the Mason® jars; it is used as an emulsifier, to keep the mixture from separating.