• 4 pounds of chicken pieces, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper (I use only breasts - that’s about 5 - 6 breast pieces)
• 1 28 oz can of good quality crushed tomatoes (or whole peeled tomatoes in thick puree) Best brand of crushed tomatoes is Sclafani or Jersey Best- the tomato product is amazing!
• 8-12 oz. sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella this time)
• 2 large red peppers, sliced
• about 4 carrots, peeled and sliced in large chunks (optional- if you like to add more veggies, this works well)
• about 10 oz. chicken broth or stock- buy organic or msg free
• 4-6 tablespoons of dry white wine (optional)
• 1 large onion, medium dice
• 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
• olive oil
• kosher salt, black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or thyme (use fresh herbs if you have them), crushed red pepper flakes to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon (optional- if you like the heat- I can’t use it for the baby)

In a large deep frying pan, pour 1 tablespoon oil,  heat up, and then place seasoned breasts face down, brown, turn and cook another few minutes.  Take out and place on large plate.  Add a little more oil, and saute onions till just starting to brown- towards the end of cooking the onions, throw the garlic in and saute just till transluscent, take out.  Do same for sliced mushrooms, when browned, put on plate with onions.  Then saute peppers, till just soft, take out.

Now you are ready to put it all together.  If this pan is large enough, and has a cover you can cook it all in pan.  Otherwise, in a pot, put the chicken in, all the cooked vegetables, the can of crushed tomatoes or whole tomatoes with juice, the cut up carrots- if using, the chicken broth, the wine if using, oregano, any additional salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer covered over lowest flame for about 45-55 minutes. If you are serving right away, either cook rice or egg noodles, and then serve over.

I do something different at this point.  I  let the pot sit there at least 1 hour, covered, until the chicken has cooled down.  Then I take the chicken out.  I lift the entire breast off the bone, and then I cut the chicken into nice big chunks. I do this because my children never really learned to eat chicken on the bone.   I put the chicken back into the sauce.  Then I turn the flame on, put the cover back on, and I simmer over lowest flame for another 30 minutes to get the juice into the meat.  Then I either serve it, or let it cool and put it into quart containers for serving later in the week or for freezing.

Note:  I go to the butcher shop at my Foodtown, and I buy the chicken that has no antibiotics.  The chicken is more expensive, but it tastes so much better!

• 1 12 oz. bag mini sem-sweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter - room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt (if using salted butter, use 1/2 tsp. salt)
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 3 extra large eggs
• 1 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Cream butter, then add sugar, and cream till fluffy.  Add eggs and cream till fluffy.  Combine the dry ingredients and blend in alternately with the milk and vanilla.  Mix in dry ingredients each time only till blended. Then add chips and fold in with rubber spatula.  Bake in greased pan for about 1 hour till toothpick comes out clean.

Note: I usually cut cake into thirds, I keep one third of the cake out, and I freeze each of the other thirds by wrapping them in plastic wrap first and then in a ziploc bag.

Note:  I have sometimes used 6 or 7 oz. of chocolate chips and then 6 oz. of bittersweet chocolate chopped too.

• 1 lb. bag of dried cannelini beans (or fasolia gigantes or similar large dried white beans)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of extra virgin, regular, or light olive oil
• 2-3 onions, about 11 oz, chopped (rough chop)
• 3 celery sticks, chopped medium
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped medium
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspooon dried oregano or thyme, or mixture of both (I used fresh thyme leaves, about 1 tablespoon, and dried oregano)
• 1 28 oz. canned plum tomatoes (do not use juice), rough chop
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste diluted in 8 oz. water
• 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• crushed red pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp, but that made the end result a little hot)

1.  Place the beans in a large bowl, cover with plenty of cold water, then let soak overnight in the refrigerator.  The next day, drain the beans, then rinse them under cold water in a collander, and drain.
2.  Pour the beans into a large saucepan, pour plenty of cold water to cover, then bring to a boil.  Cover the pan, and cook the beans at a simmer until they are almost tender, about 50-60 minute.  Giantes will cook more quickly, so keep testing them after they have been cooking for 30 to 40 minutes.  The beans should be soft, but not disintegrating through overcooking.  If the beans are starting to break in half, they are totally cooked.
3.  While the beans are cooking, heat the olive oil a clean saute pan ( I didn’t use a nonstick pan for this), add the chopped onions, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper to taste,  and saute until light golden.  Add the celery, carrots, garlic, herbs, and stir with a wooden spoon until the garlic becomes aromatic and the vegetables are softish.  Stir in the tomatoes, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.  (covering is not essential)  Pour in the diluted tomato paste with water, then return the cooked drained beans to the vegetable mixture, add the sugar the parsley, and any additional salt and pepper.  Mix gently.  Pour into a large 9 x 13 baking dish.  Bake covered for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees and serve.
If you want the dish to have more sauce, bake it covered in the oven.  If you would like the liquid to evaporate more so that the surface of the beans and vegetables become a little candied, then bake it uncovered.  If you are baking the dish uncovered, check the beans once or twice during the 30 minutes, and add more hot water if the beans look dry.
Note:
You can make the vegetable mixture while the beans are soaking, and refigerate until after you cook the beans.
You can probably substitute cooked beans, but you may lose a little of the texture or the authentic taste of the dish.

This recipe makes about 15 potato patties.

• 2 very large Idaho or Russet potatoes, washed
• 2-4 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs, depending on how big your potatoes are (I use Colonna)
• about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 or 2 small, dark green thin chiles, chopped fine (I used 2, but did not use the seeds), but you may if want more heat
• about 10 cilantro leaves, torn or chopped into little pieces
• light olive oil

Place one potato in microwave safe bowl with a few about 1/4 cup cold water.  Pierce a few times with fork, cover and cook on high for 3-5 minutes depending on size of potato.  Turn potato over, cover and cook another 3-5 minutes till soft.  Let cool, by pouring hot water out and putting a little cold water into bowl.  Turn potato over a few times in cold water.  Then peel potato with your hands.  Place in mixing bowl.  Repeat with second potato in microwave.  Mash first potato, then mash second potato when it is cooked, cooled, and mashed.  Add the salt, cilantro, the chiles, and the bread crumbs, and mix with a fork or gently with your clean hands. Put a little oil on your hands, and form into round patties about 2 to 3 inches round and about 1 inch thick.  Heat large nonstick frying pan up, add  some oil to coat, and gently place potato rounds in hot pan.  Let sit without turning until they are totally brown on bottom, about 5-8 minutes.  You may need to add a little more oil if pan becomes totally dry.  Turn when nicely browned on bottom, and cook till underside is brown, adding oil if necessary, about another 5-7 minutes.  Serve hot.

Note:  You may refrigerate them and serve them later after heating them in oven- 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

for 1 double crust:  (In parentheses are quantities for a slightly large crust.)

• 2 1/4 cups unbleached flour (3 cups)
• 1 teaspoon salt (1 1/3 teaspoons)
• 3/4 cup  cold Crisco shortening (1 cup)
• 5 tablespoons ice water (7 tablespoons)

Mix flour and salt in bowl of food processor or in large mixing bowl.  In processor, spoon shortening over flour mixture, and pulse till mixture is the size of small peas. Or if mixing by hand use a pastry blender.  Then add water and pulse only until dough comes together. If doing by hand, use a fork and blend water into dough  just until dough comes together.  Then dump dough out on floured board, and form into a large ball.  Divide into 2 disks, one slightly smaller than the other. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

When dough is sufficiently refrigerated, begin making your filling:

for the filling:

• about 7-8 very large apples- Winesap, Rome, Granny Smith, Fuji, or a mixture of these or any other baking apples
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon  salt
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• heavy 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or Minute Maid lemon juice from concentrate
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine to dot the filling
• egg wash:  1 egg yolk mixed with 1  teaspoon water

Peel and slice apples into large mixing bowl.  Add sugar, cinnamon, flour salt, and lemon juice.  Roll bottom crust (smaller disk) out to a large enough circle on waxed paper.  Transfer to pie plate.  Spoon filling in.  Dot top of filling with the margarine or butter.  Roll out top crust (larger disk).  Gently lay over filling.  If you are freezing the pie, wrap well in plastic wrap at this point, then with foil.  If you are baking, brush pie crust with egg wash, make a few slits in the pie to allow steam to escape, place pie on sheet pan, and bake at 425 degrees about 40-60 minutes till browned all over.

Note:  If pie is frozen, then bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes and at 375 degrees for another 30 minutes till browned.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Note:  If you bake this in the morning, you may place it in a 300 degree oven for about 20 minutes before serving to warm it up.

Standard Toll House Variety:

• 2 sticks butter or margarine (I like to use one stick of unsalted butter and 1 stick of unsalted Fleischmann’s margarine)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon  salt (if your butter or margarine are salted, decrease to 1/2 teaspoon salt)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (I sometimes throw a pinch of baking powder in too)
• 1 12 oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips

OR

Same as above except increase light brown sugar to 1 cup and decrease granulated sugar to 1/2 cup

OR

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter or margarine or a mixture of both
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 extra large or jumbo egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (add a little more salt if using unsalted butter or margarine)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 12 oz. bag of semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream room temperature butter or margarine in mixer with paddle attachment, food processor with metal blade, or by hand.  Then add sugars and cream till fluffy.  Add egg or eggs, and vanilla, and mix till fluffy.  Add flour, baking soda (and powder), salt  on very low speed or by pulsing in processor, just till blended.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined or greased cookie sheets about 7-9 minutes until just browned around the edges and till the tops of cookies appear dry.  Let cool for a minute, and transfer to cooling racks.  Store in ziploc bags at room temperature, in the fridge, or in the freezer.

Note:  You can use as much batter as you like, and just refrigerate the rest for up to a week and a half.

Another note:  I saw a video of Martha Stewart Chocolate Chip Cookies 101, and she uses my first variation under the recipe on top, the one changing the light brown sugar to 1 cup and the granulated sugar to 1/2 cup, but she uses all butter which I often do,  she uses 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, with everything else remaining the same, so I may try that next time and see how they come out.

for the meatballs:

3 pounds organic chopped meat

3  extra large eggs

about 3/4 cup ketchup

about 3/4 cup plain  bread crumbs ( I once substituted about 1/4 cup of organic oats and 2 tablespoons wheat germ for some of the bread crumbs, and the meatballs were just as good as when I use all breadcrumbs.)

kosher salt, garlic powder, and ground pepper to taste

Mix with clean hands gently; do not overmix.

Form into meatballs with a diameter of about 1 1/2 inches.

In a very large nonstick frying pan, put a drop of canola or olive oil.  Heat, then put meatballs in over low-medium flame, and brown for just a few minutes over a medium heat.  Turn meatballs and then COVER pan.  You do not want to really brown them all over, because they can become tough.  It is almost as if you are steaming them.  Take cover off a few times and turn meatballs.  This should be a gentle process.  Discard fat as you cook meatballs.  When meatballs seem pretty cooked, transfer them with slotted spoon into your pot of marinara sauce being careful to drain as much fat as possible before putting meatballs in sauce.  The meatballs don’t have to be fully cooked when they go in the sauce, because they will finish cooking in the sauce.  Simmer the meatballs in the marinara sauce over a low heat for at least another hour with cover on over a very low flame.  Recipe for marinara sauce is below.

for the marinara sauce:

about 1/3 cup olive oil

4 or 5 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes (best brand is Sclafani- found at Pathmark on Route 1 in Edison and Top Tomato)

1 small can tomato paste

6-8  garlic cloves, crushed or minced

2 medium or 1 large onion, chopped very fine (I use the metal blade of the food processor and I pulse the onion until it is the consistency of chunky apple sauce)

kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1 tablespoon fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or dried herbes de provence

1 teaspoon of sugar, if you like

Pour about 1/3 cup of olive oil in a very large saucepan.  Add crushed red pepper flakes to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon.  Then saute the onion till translucent, add the chopped or crushed garlic cloves, and saute with the onion till soft.  Add all  the tomato product, about 8 - 12 oz. of water if you think the sauce is too thick, about 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and some freshly cracked pepper to taste.  Cover and simmer over low flame mixing every 10 or 15 minutes.

After the marinara has been cooking for about 45 minutes, add the meatballs which you have prepared and par-cooked as instructed above.  Then simmer meatballs in sauce over lowest flame for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours with cover on.

Add more seasonings as needed.  Serve over pasta of your choice.  Or you can let the sauce cool and freeze it in quart containers with the meatballs.

for the muffins:

• 3 extra large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 16 oz. can pure pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or 2 if you like a more cinnamony flavor)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray mini muffin pans (recipe makes 48 mini muffins)

In large mixing bowl, blend eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla.  Whisk till nicely blended.  Then  and add everything else but the chips, mixing in just until blended with a rubber spatula.  Then add chips and fold in.  Scoop out batter into prepared pans, and bake 23-35 min till muffins are lightly browned around edges and toothpick comes out clean.

for 4 people:

• 3 pieces of chicken breast, skin on, bone in (each piece is 1/2 chicken breast)
• 2 tablespoons light olive oil (or other cooking oil)
• kosher salt
• freshly cracked pepper
• 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate
• 4 tablespoons honey

Season chicken pieces with kosher salt and pepper on both sides.  Heat skillet that is  large enough for your chicken.  Then add the oil, heat for another minute till oil is hot.  Put chicken in skillet skin side down.  Keep flame on medium high.  Let chicken brown without touching it for about 5 minutes until the skin is very nicely browned and crisp.  You will not need to turn chicken over and cook it on the other side!  Take chicken out of pan and place it on a sheet pan covered with aluminum foil.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare your glaze for chicken.  In small saucepan, measure the frozen orange juice concentrate and the honey.  Sprinkle in a little kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper.  Bring to a boil, then let boil for about 5-8 minutes on low flame, stirring every minute or two, until mixture reduces and becomes a little thicker.  Brush both sides of chicken generously with glaze.  Place on middle rack of preheated oven, skin side up, and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, depending on thickness of chicken.  Take the chicken out one or two times, and brush on more of the glaze.  For the last 5 or so minutes of cooking, switch the oven setting to broil (low) and watch carefully to make sure chicken browns, but doesn’t burn.  You want to look for that beautiful caramelization on the skin. 

Take chicken out of oven, and make sure the chicken is cooked through.  Let it rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes.  Then, carefully, take the chicken off the bone.  Then slice it into thickish slices on the bias.  Place on individual plates or a serving platter and drizzle with a little of the heated up glaze. 

Note:  I recommend you log on to foodnetwork.com and watch the video of Melissa D’Arabian making this dish, so you can see how to safely and easily take the chicken off the bone! 

• 2 sticks unsalted or salted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2  teaspoons kosher salt (If I am using salted butter,  I reduce this to 1  teaspoon)
• 1 cup unbleached flour (I use King Arthur unbleached organic flour)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur Organic White Whole-Wheat Flour)
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 heavy cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Beat butter with sugars in electric mixer till fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla and mix.  Stop mixer.  Dump in flours, then pour your baking soda and salt right on top of your flours. Then on lowest speed, mix JUST until blended.  By hand,  fold in oats, coconut, nuts, and chocolate chips. 

Drop dough onto prepared cookie sheet using a small spoon so that your cookies aren’t too big.  You can fit about 16 cookies on your sheet.  Refrigerate remaining dough in between batches. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 7-10 minutes until cookies are lightly browned.  Take out of oven; let set for a minute, transfer to wire rack to cool.  Repeat with remaining dough.  You can bake one or two dozen, and save remaining dough in fridge in a good tuperware container for about a week if you wish, or you can bake all of the cookies, and freeze a bunch of them.  This recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies.

*Here’s a great trick!  To avoid a step, I measure my flour, then pour it right into my kitchen aid bowl,  then I measure my baking soda and salt and drop it right on top of the flour in the bowl.  Then I turn the mixer on to low, and start mixing the dry ingredients.  This way, I don’t have to first measure my dry ingredients into a separate bowl. 

**  You can exchange more white flour for the whole wheat, or you can try exchanging more whole wheat flour for the white flour.