Medium rare steak with Parmesan pea rice and a Greek salad.
Parmesan Pea Rice

6 servings of cooked rice still warm
1 bag of frozen peas warm
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1t garlic pepper

Mix ingredients and heat through.

Greek salad contains romaine lettuce, red onion slices, cucumber slices, feta cheese and a glorious greek dressing that I brought home from La Nova in Buffalo, NY.  (I wish I knew how to make it!)

Cheesy Zucchini Rice
adapted from Comfort of Cooking, originally from Real Simple

• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 2 Tbs butter
• 1 medium zucchini, grated on the large holes of a cheese grater
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
• salt and pepper, to taste

Bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in the rice, cover, and reduce heat to low.

Cook about 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat, add the butter and zucchini, and cover. Allow to stand 5 minutes, then stir to incorporate. Stir in the cheese, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Baked Parmesian Chicken

6 chicken breast
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded parmesian cheese
1 cup panko seasoned with garlic pepper

Mix yogurt, sour cream and cheese together and spread onto the chicken breasts.  Sprinkle with seasoned panko and bake at 350 until juices run clear.

Bacon Garlic Green Beans

4 slices of bacon cut into bits and cooked in skillet
fresh garlic pressed (to taste)
fresh or frozen green beans

Cook bacon in skillet until nice and crisp then add green beans and garlic and cook until green beans are crisp tender.

Mardi Gras King Cake!!!!!!

Mardi Gras jambalaya with crown pie crust accent.

Fluffy Breakfast Biscuits by The Purple SpoonYields approximately 16 (2 inch) biscuits
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
1 1/4 cup milk, cold
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F). In a large bowl whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the butter and cut in with 2 knives, a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles course crumbs and the largest pieces are no bigger than the size of small peas. Add the 1 1/4 cup milk all at once and mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon just until combined.
2. Knead the dough in the bowl 2 or 3 times, folding the dough over itself, just into a rough ball and then transfer to a lightly floured surface, cover with plastic wrap or parchment paper, and roll or pat out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 2 inch rounds with a biscuit or cookie cutter dipped in flour. Make sure to push the cutter straight down and pull back up without twisting so that the biscuits will rise evenly. Place the rounds on a baking sheet and brush with melted butter. (You can re-roll the scraps once, any more than that and you risk kneading the dough too much and you’ll end up with tough biscuits) Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on top and a deeper golden brown on the bottom.

Mardi Gras

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!!!!

BeignetsRecipe by Our Best Bites
1 c. whole milk
1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. table salt
3 1/2-4 c. all-purpose flour
1 scant tablespoon dry active yeast
1/2 c. warm (about 105 degrees) water
1 egg
Peanut oil for frying
In a small saucepan, combine the milk, 1/4 c. sugar, vegetable oil, and salt. Heat over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from heat.
While the milk is heating, combine the yeast and 1 Tbsp. of sugar with 1/2 c. water. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or until it’s very bubbly.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the heated milk and 2 c. flour. Mix, scraping the bowl occasionally, until smooth (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and mix until well-combined. Add the yeast mixture. Add enough flour to make a soft dough that slightly sticks to your finger.
At this point, you can either place the dough in a bowl sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and cover with a piece of sprayed plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough up to 1 day or you can roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Either way, when you roll it out, roll it into a large rectangle about 1/4″ thick. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough into about 3″x4″ rectangles. Slightly separate the dough pieces and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
When the dough has about 15 minutes left to go, heat 2-3 inches of peanut oil in a large skillet or saucepan to 325 degrees (just use a candy thermometer). When the oil is heated, fry the dough pieces for about 90 seconds-2 minutes per side or until they are golden. Carefully remove from the oil and allow to drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
Place some powdered sugar in a fine-mesh strainer and sprinkle the powdered sugar generously over the beignets. Serve immediately. Makes about 24-30 beignets.

For full tutorial please visit www.ourbestbites.com/2011/03/beignets-happy-mardi-gras/