Hard Rock Cafe Baked Potato Soup

8 Bacon slices - fried & crumbled
1 cup Yellow onions - diced
2/3 cups Flour
6 cups Chicken stock - hot
4 cups Potatoes - baked, diced & Peeled
2 cups Heavy cream
¼ cup Parsley - chopped
1½ tsp Granulated garlic
1½ tsp Salt
1½ tsp Red pepper sauce
1½ tsp Coarse black pepper
1 cup Cheddar cheese - grated
¼ cup Green onions - diced



Chop bacon; reserve. Cook onions in remaining drippings over medium high heat until transparent, about 3 minutes.

Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps; cook for 3-5 minutes, until mixture just begins to turn golden.

Add chicken stock gradually, whisking to prevent lumps until liquid thickens.

Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, chopped bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, pepper sauce and black pepper.

Simmer for 10 minutes; do not allow to boil. Add grated cheese and green onions, heat until cheese melts smoothly.

Garnish each serving as desired with chopped bacon, grated cheese and chopped parsley.


Makes 8 Servings.

Perfect Crab Cakes

- serves 4 as a generous main course or 8 as an appetizer -

Adapted from The Dean & Deluca Cookbook by David Rosengarten, Joel Dean, and Giorgio Deluca

Ingredients

Canola or safflower oil for oiling the baking sheet
3/4 cup thick mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 pounds lump crabmeat, picked over to remove cartilage
Lemon wedges as an accompaniment

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, and egg in a mixing bowl until combined well. (I realize now that the last time I made these, I seasoned lightly with salt and pepper at this point. It seemed odd to me that it wasn't part of the instructions. I don't know if it made a big difference or not.) Gently fold in the crab with a rubber spatula until just combined.
3. Gently form the mixture into eight 1-inch thick cakes and transfer to the baking sheet.
4. Bake the crab cakes for 15 minutes or so, or until lightly golden. Run a spatula under them once or twice to make sure they’re not sticking. When the cakes are ready, put them under a preheated broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they’re lightly browned on top. Remove from broiler and let stand on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Chicken Enchiladas

1 (1 pound) loaf processed cheese food, cubed
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
8 fluid ounces evaporated milk
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (10 ounce) can chicken chunks, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium size microwave safe bowl, combine the processed cheese food, sour cream, 1 can of soup, and evaporated milk. Stir together, and heat in microwave oven until smooth, stirring at intervals. Add cumin to taste, and set aside.

In a medium size bowl, combine the chicken, remaining can of soup, shredded cheese, and green chile peppers. Drop spoonfuls of chicken mixture in center of tortillas, and roll up. Place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour reserved sour cream mixture over all.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes

Since I am cooking for one, I would adapt this recipe, taking the concept of ingredients into mind and adjusting the amounts accordingly. My chicken preference . . . frozen tenderloins from the freezer section . . . saute and cut into strips.

Credit: Dorie

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Momsmenuplan/

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Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast

12 slices bread 3/4 C. peanut butter 6 T. jelly or jam 3 eggs 3/4 C. milk 1/4 t. salt 2 T. butter or margarine Spread peanut butter on six slices of bread; spread jelly on six other slices of bread. Put one slice of each together to form sandwiches. In mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs; add milk and salt and mix together. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Dip sandwiches in egg mixture; coating well. Place in skillet and brown both sides. Serve immediately. 6 servings. Dorie http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Momsmenuplan/