Dijon-Tarragon Cream Chicken

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
seasoned flour (with salt and pepper)
1/8 cup white wine (optional, can use cooking wine)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 onion (chopped)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (divided)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon

Directions

1.Coat the chicken breasts with 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard and let them marinate for a few hours prior to cooking.
2.Melt the butter and heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the chicken with lightly seasoned flour, and place in the skillet. Brown on both sides. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and continue cooking 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Remove them from the pan. Set them aside and keep warm.
3.Add the white wine and deglaze the pan. Then sauté 2 minced cloves of garlic, ½ of an onion (chopped), and 1 cup of sliced mushrooms into the wine. Cook until the onions are soft and the mushrooms are mostly cooked.
4.Next stir the cream and milk into the pan. Mix in the mustard and tarragon. Cook and stir 5 minutes, or until thickened. Return chicken to skillet to coat with sauce. Drizzle chicken with remaining sauce to serve.

Notes: If you are not using wine you can deglaze the pan with a little bit of olive oil instead. Also I did not have fresh tarragon. I used 1 teaspoon of dried tarragon instead and that seemed to be enough.

Deviled Steak Cubes

1 1/2 LB beef round steak cut 3/4 inch thick
2 TB Cooking oil
1/2 C. tomato sauce (I use a full cup)
1/2 C. chopped onion
2 TBS Vinegar
1 TBS Prepared Mustard
2 tsp. Horseradish
1 clove minced garlic
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2/3 C. COLD water
1/3 C. all-purpose flour
Hot cooked egg noodles

Trim excess fat from meat; cut meat into cubes; in skillet brown meat on all sides in hot oil; drain. Transfer meat to crock pot. Stir in tomato sauce, onion, vinegar, mustard, horseradish, garlic, salt, pepper and 1 C. water.
Cover; cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours. Turn to high heat setting. Blend cold water and flour into paste and pour into pot. Cook until thick stir occasionally. Serve over egg noodles.

Cooking Light 25 top cooking mistakes

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cooking-questions-tips-00400000064986/page29.html

Spaghetti Pie

1 pound ground round
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce with garlic
1 1/2 cups low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
4 cups hot cooked spaghetti (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta)
Cooking spray
1 1/3 cups (about 5 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook meat in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well, and return meat to pan. Stir in salt, pepper, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Combine the sour cream, green onions, and cream cheese in a small bowl, and set aside. Place the spaghetti noodles in a 2-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Spread the sour cream mixture over spaghetti noodles. Top with meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 C. Flour
1/3 C. Sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/3 C. milk
1/4 C. Canola oil
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 C. halved maraschino cherries
1/2 C. semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl whisk the egg milk, oil, and extract. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the cherries and chocolate chips. Fill paper lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield 6 muffins.

Creamy Cranberry Coffee Cake

2 C. Flour
1 C. Sugar
1-1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Egg
3/4 C. Orange Juice
1/4 C. Melted Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 C. Coarsely chopped fresh or frozen Cranberries
1 TB grated orange peel
CREAM CHEESE LAYER
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 C. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
TOPPING
3/4 C. Flour
1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Cold butter

In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Combine the egg, orange juice, butter and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients until well combined. Fold in the cranberries and orange peel. Pour into a greased 9-in, springform pan.
In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Spread over batter. Combine the flour and sugar; cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over top.
Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 70-75 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing sides of pan.

Spaghetti Bolognese

3/4 LB ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, chopped
3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 TB tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 Cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 LB spaghetti
fresh basil leaves

1. Spray a large nonstick skillet with canola oil nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring frequently to break it up, until browned, 5-8 minutes. Add the onion and the garlic; cook stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrot and cook about 2 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, and oregano; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Add the milk and cook, uncovered until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes longer. Stir in the salt and pepper.
2. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Drain, divide among 4 plates, and top with the sauce. Garnish with basil leaves.