I don't know the answer to any of those, Allen. Tell me!
Charon: I have lots of recipes!
For large parties, I make baby beef wellingtons. It's a recipe that my #1 customer for catering (and by #1, I mean the only one I've worked for more than twice....) gave me.
*You take a couple pounds of beef tenderloin, cut it into 1 inch pieces season it, and saute it. Then you cut puff pastry into squares and spread pate' on it. Then you wrap up the beef into the puff pastry and bake it til golden brown. Quite tasty and easy, but expensive.
*For smaller parties, an elegant and easy side dish is asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. I just lightly steam and salt asparagus, so that it still has a crunch to it. Then I wrap 7 pieces in the prosciutto and put it in the oven just enough to finish cooking the asparagus and warm the meat. People love it.
*Stuffed chicken breasts for 2:
Pound 2 chicken breasts flat. Take a bag of fresh spinach (might need 2 depending on the size) and saute with finely minced onion and garlic. Season with salt and black/red pepper. Add a block of fat free or low fat cream cheese (or the whole fat stuff if you want). Mix it all together and put it aside. Season the chicken with salt, black, red, and white pepper, paprika, and parsley. Then spread the cream cheese/spinach mixture and spread it on the bottom side of the chicken breast. Roll it up, put toothpicks in to hold it, and bake at 375 until cooked through (it took me about 20 minutes, but it depends on your oven, I guess.) Very tasty.
If you like seafood, I have a great recipe for Dill Shrimp or Crawfish
You'll need about a half pound to one full pound of seafood, depending on the crowd Boil it in water seasoned with salt and Tabasco sauce, then chill it.
- First, put about a 2 tablespoons of mustard powder in a bowl. Then, add a few dollops from a jar of Dijon mustard and a couple quick splashes of vinegar. Then whisk in about 1/4 cup of olive oil til it's all nicely incorporated. Throw in the rest of the jar of mustard, salt, pepper, cayenne, and a whole lot of dill. No less than 2 or 3 good capfuls. Then you add the chilled seafood and serve it with crackers. It's very good.
What else, what else?... Oh, I make this salad all the time. It's also good as a dip:
*1 can low salt black beans (or prepared dry black beans)
*1 can spicy fiesta corn
*1/4 cup finely minced onion
*2 cloves garlic
*1 avocado, diced
*2 roma tomatoes, diced
*1/2 - 1 minced jalepeno
*Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and some chopped parsley and cilantro
Just toss all that together, chill it, and eat it. Very simple, but very tasty and healthy.
Apricot pork loin:
-1 pork tenderloin, sliced longways into thinner pieces and then pounded
-bread crumbs
-dried apricots, boiled and minced
-parsley
-salt, black/red pepper
After pounding and seasoning the pork, lay some of the minced apricots down on it. Then sprinkle bread crumbs on top. Roll, tie, and bake at 375 til done.
Chicken appetizer in phyllo dough:
Saute minced onion and garlic with black beans. Put aside. Saute cubed chicken in oil, season with salt, pepper, cayenne, chili powder, and cumin. Combine the chicken and vegetables in a bowl and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Wrap this mixture up in squares of phyllo dough, brush with a little melted butter, and bake until golden brown.
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No problem
I've had the ukulele since about May of this year. I'd considered it for about half a year. I was just looking for a change, really... something new to do with my time, something I could hum along with since I love to sing. I've performed once with my brother, but that's really not why I started. I just love music, and this instrument really suits my style. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to learn an instrument but doesn't have a whole lot of time. You can learn plenty of simple songs and chords in a matter of days. I'm no virtuoso, but it's a relaxing way to pass the time and entertain my friends.