Thursday's the PotLuck Club- Romantic Dinners

We all love the romantic dinners. It February and all those commericals and adds are promoting the romantic dinners. With the economy it is getting harder to go out to enjoy that expensive treat. Why not have one at home.

let's start with a nice appetizer. Some thing light and easy.

Steamed Artichokes with herb garlic butter.
Paired with a glass of white wine or white grape nonalcoholic wine. One can even make a spritzer .
Next on to the dinner. A special salad.
Grab a bag of spring mix and add Raspberries and almonds. Make a raspberry Vinaigrette.
On to the main dish. Roasted Maple Salmon.
For dessert a piece of Cheese cake topped with cherries and drizzled with chocolate sauce.

My recipe for you ;
Roasted Maple Salmon

3 tablespoon Maple syrup
2 tablespoon Low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger( or you can use 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
1/2 teaspoon Cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
about four pieces of Salmon( 6 0z each)
green onion thinly sliced.

• Preheat oven to 475F
• Add first five ingredients in small mixing bowl and whisk together.
• In a small shallow casserole dish, place salmon skin side down
• Pour glaze over Salmon
• Roast for 15 minutes. At the 7 minute point baste salmon with glaze.
• remove from oven , place on serving dish and sprinkle with sliced green onion

Each serving has about 340 Calories, 32 grams protein, 12 carbohydrates, 18 gram total fat( 4 grams of that are saturated) and 89 mg cholestestrol. The sodium is down if you use low sodium soy sauce, If not it would be 580mg.

This is a great fast recipe. can be prepared early and then placed in the oven during the appetizer. It is our favorite meal here.


Now it's your turn link up your recipes for that Romantic Dinner.

Coffee time with Auntie E-Ready, Get set, Cook...

We are in full swing of the new year. Recipes are turning up as well as some old favorites being reborn.
I thought for the rest of February we would think romance. My hubby love steak and artichokes. I am not a steak eater , my favorites are Lamb and garlic potatoes. For the next two weeks for Thursday PotLuck Club, I would love to see some ideas for some romantic meals. Come on let's get those recipes out and link them up.

I am having my cup of Latta, vanilla made with my Beville frother. I really do love that tool, it make prefect froth for the latta.

Hope to see you tomorrow on the link.

Thursday's the PotLuck Club- Cincinnati Chili

We are back......Yes after a break over the holidays, it is time again for the Thursday's the PotLuck Club. If you are new to this club, this is how it works. On Thursday you post a dish that you love to make for the family gatherings. It can be just for the Sunday crew or a pot luck function.
We like the easy ones the best. Crock pots are great, even the night before-day of ovens ones are great. I have been thinking about some that are freeze and cook later ones. Anything that is easy to do and a time saver are truly the desired ones. In these days of multitasking, we all need to be able to do things fast and still impress our family and friends. Now once you have posted your recipe on your site, Link the recipe Html address to the link below. You can use a photo of the recipe or your widget. The great thing about this is there will be a category just for the Thursday PotLuck dishes. Once you have posted the recipe link, add my Thursday PotLuck Club icon to your sidebar. If you click and copy the HTML it will be link back to my Kitchen blog. It must link back to this sight. Now let's began this year 2011 with some winter recipes.

Today's recipe from me ti share will be a chili type spaghetti sauce. It love Coney dogs. I long for that taste again. Most of the time the chili is referred as Cincinnati Chili. Now the difference is chocolate is used in the recipe and there is another secret. I lived in Cincinnati Ohio as a small child. I remember the chili, we use to have it on Spaghetti. So here is a my version of the official recipe.

Cincinnati Chili a la Auntie E

First set of ingredients :

• 1 pound lean ground beef ( I like to use 90% and above).
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 Tablespoon mild chili powder
• 1 teaspoon each of; cumin,ground allspice, ground *Saigon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic,
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire
• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 cup water

You will also need:
2 to 4 Tablespoon of tomato paste

Now this is the secret. Do not brown the beef!
If you can regrind the beef to be very fine. This process with make the beef tender and cook even. you can do this in the processor or a fine grinder attachment for your mixer.
This is how to make it;

Combine the first set of ingredients in to a 3 quart stock pot. Bring to a boil and turn down heat to still have a soft boil. Cover and Continue cooking for about 30 minutes, stirring often, add more water if needed. { You can cook longer for a more intense flavor, however after 30 minutes reduce the heat to a simmer. I would not go longer than two hours, and be sure to add water as need so not to burn the meat.}

Now remove the top add two Tablespoon of tomato paste. stir well til tickened. Continue adding tomato past 1 Tablespoon at a time until the thickness you like.

copyright 2011 by "Auntie E's CookBook/M Dubros"

Serve this over thin Spaghetti, top it with Shredded cheddar cheese and diced onions.
* Saigon cinnamon can be found at Williams Somona.It really does make a difference in the taste