Michelle's Gravy

This is from Cristina Ferrare on the Oprah Show.  

 

Chive Gravy

Ingredients

• 5 cups hot chicken broth
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 1/3 cup minced fresh chives
• Salt and freshly ground cracked pepper , to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds for garnish
• Pan juices from Turkey with Marinade

Directions

Skim the fat from the Turkey with Marinade pan juices and discard. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pan with a wooden spoon to release the cooked bits. Add 1 cup of chicken broth, strain into a sauce pan and add the rest of the chicken broth. Bring to a gentle boil.

In a separate sauce pan, combine 1 ladle of the hot chicken broth and cornstarch. Stir until lumps are gone and then pour back into stock pot. Repeat five or six times until gravy has reached your desired thickness. Add dry sherry and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chives and pomegranate seeds.

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/food/Chive-Gravy_1#ixzz1eU1pUn7e

Pico De Gallo (MIchelle)

This is actually my own made up recipe! woot woot, I really like it and am going to stick to it.
Pico de Gallo

1 red pepper minced
1 green pepper minced
1/2 onion minced
6 tomatoes quartered and seeds removed
canned jalapenos minced
1/4 canned green salsa(optional)
1 lime juiced
salt
Pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup minced cilantro

Mince everything as small as you can, I like chunky rather than pureed but I like it small enough that you aren't missing out on the different elements cause the chunks are too big. mix everything together and enjoy.

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Ranch Dressing (MIchelle)

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Ranch Dressing
Recipe by Our Best Bites

click to print recipe text only

1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
ignore directions on the packet
1C mayo
1/2 C milk
1 lime
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 C green salsa*
hot sauce

This is tough folks. Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender. Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice. Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa. Blend ‘er up. Sample it and add hot sauce to taste. Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.

*A note about green salsa:
There are several brands of green salsa available in most supermarkets and they have various degrees of heat. One of the most commonly seen brands is Herdez. Herdez brand is a lot spicier than any of the others I’ve tried. Even their medium green salsa is way too spicy for my liking. There’s no way I could put the whole 1/4 C in my dressing like the recipe calls for (but then again, I’m a wuss.) I like to buy La Costena (pictured below) because their medium is actually really mild. That way I get all of the flavor of the tomatillos but I control the level of heat with the hot sauce. If you’re not used to buying green salsa, make sure to sample it first before you put it in the dressing so you know what you’re getting into!

Michelle's Pumpkin Pancakes and Buttermilk Syrup

Pumpkin Pancakes
(This recipe can also be simplified by using bisquick and adding 1 cup pumpkin puree with spices and then milk to get to the right consistency)
*1 1/4 C. whole wheat flour
1 TBS honey
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C. milk
1 egg
1 C. pumpkin puree- with spices

*For blender wheat use:
1 C. wheat
1 C. buttermilk (or milk)

Blend for 5-7 min till smooth. Then add rest of ingredients and blend, if too thick add milk.

Syrup:

1/2 C. buttermilk
1 cube butter
1 C. Sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Bring to boil all but vanilla. When sugar is dissolved take off heat and add vanilla.

Michelle's Avocado Humus

1 can garbonzo bean (drain a little of the juice out)
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
4 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 avocado
In blender dump beans, lemon, garlic, oil, salt and pepper blend till smooth. If too thick add more oil or lemon juice( this depends on what taste you like more). Also raw garlic gives it a spicier taste, I like to Saute the garlic in the oil. This gives it a sweeter taste. Blend in the avocado...this is optional of course. You can add other flavors in, parmesan cheese, herbs, roasted red bell peppers....

MIchelle's Pesto recipe

Spinach and Basil Pesto
1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves

3/4 cup fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Roast garlic in a small saute pan with some olive oil, (just till tender). Next put pine nuts in saute pan and toast them till light brown (watch carefully so they don't burn). Put everything into blender or food processor except for oil. Once everything is in, pour half the oil in and blend (in the blender you will have to work with a spatula and keep pushing everything down until it is blended). Once it is smooth add the rest of the oil and blend. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Enjoy on pizza, salmon, pasta, or whatever you want!

Tiffany's Tomatillo Sauce

Tomatillo Sauce!!

I have never tried this myself but I love Green Sauce and I wanted to see how to make it and it would be AWESOME just to have this in the Fridge for Quesadillas. Enchiladas, Tostadas, really anything Mexican!!!

2 tomatillos, husked and rinsed

2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and take the seeds out

1 onion, cut in small chunks

Splash white vinegar

Water

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 whole bunch fresh cilantro

2 limes, juiced

Salt

Make the salsa: Put the tomatillos, jalapenos, and onion in a saucepan with the vinegar and water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until the tomatillos are soft, about 10 minutes. Drain. Put the vegetables in a blender, add the cumin, and puree. Add the cilantro, lime juice, and salt, and pulse to combine.