Scrumptious Strawberry Shortcake

Materials:

• 3 c. flour
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 c. butter
• 2/3 c. heavy cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 3 c. sliced fresh strawberries
• 2 Tbsp. white sugar

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, 1/4 c. sugar, baking powder and cream of tartar. 
3. Cut in butter.
4. Stir in cream and whole egg.
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead two minutes.
6. Press into a half-inch thick sheet. 
7. Cut into squares. Place on baking sheets.
8. Brush tops with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.
9. Bake in preheated oven 20min or until golden.
10. Slice berries and sprinkle 3 Tbsp. of sugar overtop. Let sit until serving.
11. Let shortcakes cool before splitting and filling with sugared berries and whipping cream. 

Chicken and Broccoli Braid

Materials:

• 3 large chicken breasts, diced
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 c. fresh broccoli
• 1/2 c. red bell pepper
• 1/4 c. diced onion
• 1-1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp fresh dill weed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp slivered almonds
• 2 (8 oz.) packaged refrigerator crescent rolls
• 1 egg white, beaten

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Saute chicken and garlic in olive oil until just cooked through.
3. Steam broccoli until barely forkable.
4. Lightly saute onion and pepper.
5. Combine chicken, broccoli, onion, pepper, cheese, mayo, dill, salt and almonds.
6. Unroll crescent roll dough and arrange flat on a medium baking sheet side by side. Pinch together both rolls and perforations to form one large flat sheet. 
7. Place chicken mixture down the center of the sheet of dough, leaving ~3" on either side.
8. Use a knife or scissors to cut slits about 1" apart from the edge of the dough to the center filling.
9. Braid the dough strips over the filling, alternating sides to fully cover.
10. Brush the braided dough with the egg white.
11. Bake in preheated oven 25-28 min, or until golden brown. 
12. Thinking this might be good with chicken pot pie filling too.....mmmm

Zucchini Pancakes

Materials:

Pancakes

• 1-1/2 c. grated zucchini 
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• Pinch Salt
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 1/4 c. gruyere, grated

Toppings

• Sour cream
• Apple Sauce

Methods:

1. Place paper towel in colander and add zucchini on top. Press out as much moisture from zucchini as possible. 
2. Mix all ingredients together in bowl.
3. Fry in butter on griddle as you would pancakes.
4. Top with sour cream and apple sauce. Great with sausages :)

One damn fine sammich

Materials:

• Sourdough Bread Slice
• Caramelized Shallots
• Prosciutto 
  
• Roasted Turkey Breast
• Roasted Red Pepper
  
• Spinach
• Havarti Cheese
• Mayonnaise
  
• Sourdough Bread Slice

Methods

1. Assemble sammich in order above.
2. Press on panini grill until all hot & melty
3. Eat that tasty sammich!

Nancy's Zucchini Cake

Materials:

Cake:

• 1/2 c. melted butter
  
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
  
• 1-1/2 c. brown sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 2 Tbsp. water
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  
• 1/8 tsp. cloves
  
• 1-1/2 c. white flour
  
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
  
• 1/3 tsp. salt
  
• 1 tsp. baking soda
  
• 1 c. raisins
  
• 1 c. coconut
  
• 1-1/2 c. bran cereal buds
  
• 2-1/2 c. grated & drained zucchini
  

Frosting:

• 3 oz. cream cheese
  
• 3 c. powdered sugar
  
• 1 Tbsp. milk, add as needed
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix butter, oil and brown sugar.
3. Beat eggs and combine with water, vanilla, nutmeg and cloves. Add to butter mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda.
5. Mix dry ingredients into wet and fold in remaining ingredients just until combined.
6. Transfer to well greased 12"x8" baking pan or jelly roll pan.
7. Bake 40 min for 12"x8" baking sheet, 20-25 min for jelly roll pan.
8. Remove from oven when toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
9. Cool and frost :)

Quick Classic Gazpacho (Perfect for Hot Summer Nights)

Materials:

• 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes (I used Hunt's Petite Diced)
• 1/2 c. water
• 3/4 c. spicy V8 juice
• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4" dice
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4" dice
• 1 small onion, cut into 1/4" dice
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2-1/2 Tbsp. lime juice (add more to taste)
• 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 3/4 tsp. cayenne
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Methods:

1. Place 1/2 c. tomatoes, water, oil and juice in a bowl and use a hand blender to process.
   
2. Add in remaining ingredients and season to taste.
3. If too thick, use a few pulses of the hand blender to break up some veggies.
4. Refrigerate until serving (ideally a couple hours before serving)

Lemony Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza (Thank you smittenkitchen.com)

Materials:

• 1 uncooked pizza dough
• 1 lemon
• 4 oz. goat cheese, softened
• Few leaves fresh basil, enough to sprinkle over pizza
• 1 medium yellow zucchini, sliced thinly (use the mandolin)
• 1 medium green zucchini, sliced thinly (use the mandolin)
• Drizzle Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper, to Taste
• Corn meal

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Cover pizza stone in corn meal and roll out pizza dough over. This tastes best when the dough is stretched quite thin in the middle.
3. In a small bowl, mix together goat cheese and juice of half the lemon and season with salt and pepper.
4. Spread the goat cheese over the pizza dough, covering as far up the edge as possible.
5. Roughly chop basil leaves and scatter slivers over pizza.
6. Arrange zucchini coins in concentric circles over the goat cheese spread, overlapping them slightly. You can alternate their colors, if you're feeling fancy.
7. Drizzle olive oil over the zucchini.
8. Squeeze the remaining half of the lemon over the pizza.
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Bake in preheated oven about 20-25minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the zucchini look roasted and starts to curl up at the edges.
11. Cool a couple minutes.
12. Wonderful served with a salad or gazpacho and a glass of crisp white wine.