Chicken Marsala w/ Pasta

What You Need:

• 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded ¼-inch thick (see note), or chicken tenderloins
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 (8-oz) package pre-sliced bella or button mushrooms
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2/3 cup chicken broth
• 2/3 cup dry Marsala wine
• 2/3 cup heavy cream (or less depending on how creamy you want it)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley, for serving (optional) 
• Cooked pasta of your choice (I like egg noodles, personally)

What To Do:

• Place the flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a ziplock bag.  Add the chicken to the bag; seal bag tightly and shake to coat chicken evenly.  Set aside.
• Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (Use a stainless steel pan for the best browning.  Nonstick will work too, but you won’t get that nice golden color on the chicken.)  Place the flour-dusted chicken in the pan, shaking off any excess first, and cook, turning once, until the chicken is golden and just barely cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes total.  Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
• Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the pan. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt; cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.  Add the broth, wine, heavy cream, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper; use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the pan into the liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and gently boil, uncovered, until the sauce is reduced by about half, slightly thickened, and darkened in color, 10 to 15 minutes (you’re going for a thin cream sauce; it won’t start to thicken until the very end of the cooking time). Add the chicken back to the pan, along with any juices that accumulated on the plate. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce thickens a bit more, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve.
• Note: If your chicken breasts are large, it’s best to first cut them horizontally to form four flat fillets, then pound them to an even 1/4-inch thickness. If you pound large chicken breasts without first halving them, they’ll be huge. Of course, you could also pound them thin first and then cut them in half vertically;  the only drawback is that they’ll lose their natural shape (which, admittedly, is not a big deal!)
• Serve over buttered pasta of your choice and enjoy!

Super Slaw

What you need:

• A mandolin slicer is helpful for thinly slicing the cabbage and peppers
• 6 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 6 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 5 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 5 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
• 2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
• 2 large red or yellow bell peppers, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 8 large green onions, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

What to do:

1. Whisk first 7 ingredients in small bowl to blend. (Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before continuing.)
2. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

**This delicious recipe was discovered at Epicurious.com.

Savory Beef Stew

What You’ll Need:

• about 3.5 hours total
• Large Dutch Oven or Pot
• 6-8 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 lb beef chuck cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 c flour
• 1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, peeled & cut into rounds
• 1/4 c tomato paste
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 14.5 oz can Italian Style stewed tomatoes
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 oz crimini mushrooms, halved or quartered depending on size
• 3/4 lb baby potatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 c frozen peas
• Wondra for thickening, as needed
• 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
• Best accompanied by crusty French or Italian bread

What You’ll D0:

• Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in Dutch Oven or pot over medium-high heat.
• Season beef pieces with salt and pepper; combine rosemary and flour in a large bowl; dredge beef pieces in flour and rosemary and place in approximately 1 lb. batches in heated oil, brown on all sides, transfer off heat to a covered bowl; add 2 Tbsp olive oil for each batch, and repeat until all beef is browned and transferred to covered bowl.
• Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to pot and lower heat to medium/medium-low; sauté onion, celery and carrots about 7 min.
• Push veggies off to one side of the pot; Place tomato paste and garlic on other side of pot, stir together and cook until garlic is fragrant and tomato paste has darkened, about 2 minutes.
• Add beef back to dutch oven then add broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaves and mushrooms.
• Simmer ingredients for about 2.5 hours or until meat is very tender.
• Add potatoes and cook until potatoes are cooked through, about 15-20 min.
• Add peas for the last few minutes of cooking just to heat through.
• Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
• Season with salt and pepper and thicken with Wondra as needed.
• Sprinkle with fresh, chopped parsley to garnish and serve with crusty French or Italian bread and your favorite green salad.

Classic Swiss Cheese Fondue

What You Need:

• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 1 pound Gruyère cheese, grated
• 1/2 pound Emmentaler cheese or other Swiss cheese, grated
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Crusty bread of your choice, cut into bite-size cubes

What To Do:

1. Rub the inside of a cheese fondue pot or medium enameled cast-iron casserole with the garlic clove; discard the garlic.
2. Combine the grated Gruyère and Emmentaler with the wine, cornstarch and lemon juice in the fondue pot and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheeses begin to melt, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the kirsch and a generous pinch each of pepper and nutmeg and cook, stirring gently, until creamy and smooth, about 10 minutes; don’t overcook the fondue or it will get stringy.
4. Serve at once.

** This recipe was sourced from www.foodandwine.com!