Creamy Tomato Sauce

I was inspired to make a creamy tomato sauce when I saw a similar recipe on Stephanie Cooks. It was super simple and super quick to make and tastes way better than jarred sauce.


Ingredients
10 oz. heavy cream or half and half (I used half and half)
4 oz. tomato paste
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
fresh chopped basil to taste

Directions
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden brown. Add tomato paste, cream, cheese, oregano and basil. Stir to combine and cook until just heated throughout. Serve over al dente pasta.

Southwest Corn Chowder

With the cooler temperatures and rainy weather we've been treating ourselves to lots of comfort food. I had some fresh Jersey corn in my freezer that I wanted to use before it was destroyed by frost bite. Velvety and warm corn chowder was just the thing to make. I don't particularly care about the calories from using heavy cream but if you do you could easily substitute half and half or light cream instead. Serve this with some crusty bread and you have a warming and satisfying meal.


Ingredients
5 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 1/2 cup of heavy cream
32 oz of chicken or vegetable broth
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp flour
2 tsp of chili powder
2 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions

In a large stock pot, add oil and onions stirring to coat. Cook over medium heat until onions begin to carmelize. Add garlic and continue cooking until pale golden brown, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over onions and garlic and stir to coat. Add chicken broth and bring to a vigorous boil. Continue to boil for 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream and continue to boil for an additional 10 minutes, be sure to stir to prevent the cream from burning or boiling over. Add the corn and red peppers, simmer for 5 minutes or until corn is tender. Add paprika and chili powder, salt and pepper to tasty. Serve hot. You can garnish with cheddar cheese and/or scallions.

Lemon Chicken

Recently I have been all about citrus. I cannot get enough of it and I keep finding different ways to use it in my cooking. I grabbed some lemons and made this delicious and simple lemon chicken. It was fresh and flavorful.

Ingredients

4 chicken cutlets
1 14 oz. can of low sodium chicken broth
2 lemons
2 tbsp olive oil
flour for dredging
4 cloves of roasted garlic, smashed into a paste (you can substitute fresh garlic, half the amount)
salt
pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet set to medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour until lightly coated. Saute chicken in hot oil until just cooked through (5-7 minutes for the first side; 3-5 for the other side). Remove from pan and place on a paper towel or tray for any excess oil to drain. Heat garlic in pan for 3 minutes. Add the juice from both lemons to the pans along with chicken broth. Let sauce reduce by half. While sauce is reducing, slice lemons. Once sauce is reduce add the chicken back to the pan along with the lemon slices. Cook until just warmed.

Serve hot with sauce and lemons as garnish.