THE GLORIFIED CHICKEN

THE GLORIFIED CHICKEN

Buon giorno, and Good Day!

Greetings to all you cookbook lovers, I’m so glad you are still out there. This gives me hope that my cookbook, *Rosalie Serving Italian* will stay popular long enough for me to pay down its loan. And since I am about to launch my second cookbook *Rosalie Serving Country,* I really need to find folks who love cookbooks! I can visualize myself traveling around in a recreation vehicle peddling cookbooks, especially since I have the potential to loose my home, car and clothes. Just kidding!

On a good note, I continue to keep off the 20 pounds I have lost after beginning a change of eating since January, 2009. People have asked me what I eat and my reply is always the same; fruits, vegetables, and chicken and fish, chicken and turkey, chicken and tuna, or chicken and more vegetables. Maybe my next cookbook will be *Rosalie Serving Chicken.* Now, I am exaggerating somewhat, but the good ole’ chicken is a light, low fat meat and can be made up in some great ways.

Chicken is great sautéed in olive oil, and accompanied with broccoli and mushrooms, it is quite delicious. It is also great with Red Sauces and can be served as Chicken Parmigiana; a low fat dish. Of course it is delicious in the soups as in the Italian Wedding Soup, or in a light lemon sauce known as Chicken Piccata. My children love the Italian Crusted Chicken much like fried chicken, but made with the Parmesan cheese added to the flour. These recipes and more found can be found in Rosalie Serving Italian, all praising the Glorified Chicken.

If the above recipes don’t spark your palate, you may just cook up some rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, or other foreign bodies, because as you know, “It tastes just like chicken.” I can attest to this because while my mother was frying up the critters, she always told me I would love it because, as she said, “It will taste just like chicken.”

My father, being the butcher, had a large following of customers who always felt compelled to bring him their delicacies from the woods, pond, lakes or river. He would bring home rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, frog legs, turtles and for all I know, rattlesnakes and armadillo. “Look Ann,” he would say to my mom, “these sweet people stopped by the shop and brought us this mess of frog legs.” Mom would then get out the cornmeal and flour, and before you knew it, something was actually “jumping” in the frying pan. The truth is these creatures actually taste like fatty, greasy, rubber ducks which are very “chewy.”

So, I say enjoy the real thing; Glorified Chicken, and cook up Garlic Sautéed Chicken tonight. You may even loose a few pounds.

God Bless and have a great Italian day,

Rosalie

　

　

　

　

　

 

ITALIAN CRUSTED CHICKEN

ITALIAN CRUSTED CHICKEN

NOTE: This is my Italian version of fried chicken. It is crusted on the outside and juicy on the inside. A very delicious entrée you will be proud to serve family or friends.

4 skinless chicken breasts

Lawry's coarse garlic salt with parsley

 

1 cup flour

¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese

¼ teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

 

Mild olive oil for frying

Parsley sprigs for garnish

1. Rinse chicken breast in cold water and pat dry. Cut each chicken breast in half for smaller portions if desired. Sprinkle chicken liberally with garlic salt.

2. Combine the flour, cheese, paprika, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Coat chicken on both sides with the flour mixture. In a large saucepan, fry chicken in olive oil over medium heat 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Place lid on pan and turn heat to medium low. Let chicken steam for about 8 minutes. Transfer to platter and garnish with parsley sprigs. This dish is best served hot and crunchy. Serves 4 to 6.

MOMS-A-MILLION

MAY 6,  2009 - MOMS-A-MILLION

Greetings to all the Moms, Grandmas, Mother-in-laws, and any female who claims kids. As you all know, our Deserving, Notable and much Revered day, *Mother’s Day* is coming up Sunday, May 9. I always love this day because I love getting rose bushes from my husband, Bill. He knows I love to grow rose gardens so he usually obliges me on Mother’s Day. Actually, he just bought me 7 new ones, so I am well on my way.

The gifts are nice, but if truth be known, wouldn’t it be nice to have your kids come over and Clean the House, Wash the Clothes, Mow the Lawn, Cook a few Meals, and WORK? I think it would be great! So I thought I would just open up a new business called *MOMS-A-MILLION*, you know, like the BOOKS-A-MILLION book store. These two, MOMS and BOOKS, have so much in common. Like the bookstore that has every kind of book possible, on every subject possible, with solutions for every problem possible, so do MOMS.

So I thought, why not put all of our ages, gifts of expertise, and hours we are willing to donate into a large accessible pool; complete with address, phone and email info, and of course, AVAILABILITY. Mail it out to all the MOMS who want to participate, and, Bingo! We have MOMS-A-MILLION.

The purpose of this marvelous invention? Simple. When your kids get obnoxious, rude, ugly, obstinate, disobedient and plain overwhelming, just call up another Mom and ship them over to somebody’s else’s house for a week or two. Kids always act better for someone else, anyway. They wouldn’t dream of back-talking someone they don’t know. And besides, they love to do someone else’s dishes, try the same food they’ve been denying you, and would never leave their underwear in the floor.

How many times have you let your children visit their friend’s house, and within two hours the phone rings. “Oh Rosalie“, she says, “your children are so well behaved, they are welcome anytime.” Before you utter the biggest gasp, you always politely say, “Well thank you, you can have the little Darlings anytime you wish.

So, how about it ladies? I say…TRADE, TRADE, TRADE.  Any new face has got to be refreshing. We may even avoid stating our favorite lines, some of which are as follows:

*Let that hair grow, and I’ll bury the pony tail with you!

*Leave every light on in the house, and you WILL pay the electric bill.

*If you don’t change that shirt in three days, I’m hosing you down.

*Well, just jump off the cliff with Johnny; I won’t come looking for you.

*If you use your sleeve to wipe your nose one more time, I’m ripping your nose off…Get a Tissue!

*Don’t you embarrass me by not changing your underwear!

*Shut your mouth and eat your supper!

* I hope you grow up and have kids just like you!

*DO-YOU-WANT-A-SPANKING? Tell me right now!  And don’t talk back, or I’ll slap your head off!

Happy Mother’s Day to all and to all a good night…with Ibuprofen, Nyquil (my favorite), Excedrin and any other drugs you can find. Just kidding….really, try Nyquil!

Enough silliness, look for me this weekend at Halo & Wings Christian Book Store, in Troy MO. The book signing will be from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Also don’t forget Cooking Class at Rendezvous, Café in O’Fallon, MO on June 1^st, Monday evening from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

God Bless, and Happy Mother’s Day!

Rosalie

　

　

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese ICING

NOTE:

These cinnamon rolls will be just the thing for Mom's "Mother's Day Breakfast." They could very well be a clone for the famous Cinnabon. A delicious breakfast item or anytime dessert, you will be very pleased with this recipe and the heavenly scent that will fill your kitchen.

4½ cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup warm whole milk, 110 to 115-degrees

2½ teaspoons yeast

2 eggs beaten, room temperature

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter for coating dough

FILLING:

1 cup brown sugar

2½ tablespoons cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

ICING:

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

¼ cup butter, softened

1½ cups powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Cooking Spray

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. If using a bread machine, place the first seven ingredients in the machine and set to bread instruction. Let the dough double in size, then punch down and let rest on counter 10 minutes. If kneading the bread by hand, place the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add the yeast to the warm milk and let stand for 8 minutes to foam up yeast. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the yeast milk, eggs and warm butter in the center. Gently bring the flour into the egg mixture a little at a time and work the mixture together until the dough comes together into a ball. Knead the dough about 8 minutes, or until the dough feels elastic. Keep dough in same bowl and pour butter over the top. Roll dough over to coat with butter and cover with a towel. Keep in warm place until doubled in size, about

1 to 1½ hours. Punch dough down and let rest on counter 10 minutes.

2. In small bowl, combine the brown sugar, and cinnamon; mix together and set aside.

3. On a floured counter, roll dough to a 16-inch by 21-inch rectangle; turning once or twice to avoid sticking and dust lightly with flour as needed. Spread the softened butter over the dough with a spatula. Sprinkle the butter with the cinnamon sugar. Roll the dough up jelly-roll style and cut into 12 slices.

4. Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan lightly with cooking spray. Place the rolls in the pan about 1-inch apart and cover with towel. Let the rolls rise up to double in size, about 30 to 40 minutes. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.

5. Prepare icing by beating the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt together until smooth. Spread over rolls while still warm and serve. Makes 1 dozen cinnamon rolls.

JOURNAL OF STORIES

JOURNAL OF STORIES

 

Buon giorno, and Good Day!

Getting ready to write the Weekly Newsletter, I noticed that today is the last day of April. Now, I don’t know about you, but wasn’t it just last week when we celebrated Christmas? What is it with these days? At this rate, it will be 2010 next month. Looking at my Calendar Book, I noticed at least 4 book signings crammed into this weekend, and all for the sake of Mother’s Day. Yes, here we are again for another big Holiday! But, of course this one is dear to our hearts and to the commercial world as well.

What should we get our Mother’s for Mother’s Day? This will be the big question. If you ask me, I say “a cookbook, of course.” Don’t you know every woman loves cookbooks, and *Rosalie Serving Italian* is just the book. At least this is what I will be suggesting for the next few days.

Actually, I thought of giving my three grown children a gift from me. It would be a *JOURNAL OF STORIES* reflecting their childhood, and how thankful they should be to still be living here on this earth, considering their dare-devil tricks and other antics. Why should the moms get the gifts? We ought to be so thankful we are not in jail serving life sentences, for not being able to watch over them every minute of the day.

Like the day I went to church and the dear brother approached me with the famous words, “Rosalie, I just wanted to let you know…. The other day traffic was backed up on Chambers Road at the school crossing (a major four-lane road in North St. Louis, MO), and I noticed your two boys, Scott and Jeff. They were hiding behind a bush and then running out to the Stop Light for the crosswalk and pushing the button to cause traffic to stop both directions They were so fast that no one seemed to notice, but I happened to recognize them, and since you live right down the block from there, I’m sure they were just having fun. I just thought you should know.”

Or the infamous day of my life when Jeff, my 8-month old son got up one morning and crawled into the bathroom taking hold of the toilet paper in one hand and continued crawling through the house. By the time I noticed, there was toilet paper in every room. As I was retrieving the toilet paper and trying to save it, he crawled into the kitchen and pulled all the pots and pans out of the lower cabinet. He then found a cleaning agent called Janitor in a Drum, and unscrewed the lid spilling it all over the kitchen floor. Just then the phone rang and as I was running to get it, I slipped on the solution, sending me on my back from the kitchen to the Family Room. He of course was laughing. Later that day he climbed onto the kitchen table and promptly emptied all the salt and pepper shakers all over the place. That evening when my husband came home, I was so furious that I had locked all the doors. When he rang the door bell, I opened with a scowl. He innocently said. ‘Hi, I’m Bill Harpole, have you seen my wife?” I started laughing, and eventually let him in and telling him of the horrors.

And then last, but not least, little Dana Beth. She was eight years old when she came to me with a question, “Mom, I’m lonely, can you get me a baby sister?” I answered, “Dana, I don’t think that would be possible”. “Oh, she said, “well, is the part that makes babies broke?” “Well, actually, Dana that’s true.” “Oh, that’s easy; when you go to church tonight, just have the preacher and dad pray for you. I’m sure God can fix the parts that are broken.” We got her a cat instead.

All in all, Mother’s Day is upon us and it is fun to reminisce about all those fun-filled days. Break out your *Journal of Stories*, and let them cook you an Italian dinner from *Rosalie Serving Italian* cookbook.

Click on my website,

www.rosalieservingitalian.com for upcoming events near you.

God Bless and Happy Mother’s Day,

Rosalie

　

　

　

Red Velvet Cake Supreme

Red Velvet Cake Supreme

NOTE: This grand beauty is the top of the line for Red Velvet Cakes. From the rich chocolate cake to the coconut cream-filled layers, all topped off with the sugar coated pecans; goodness just oozes out all over the place. So beautiful and stately, you could use it for any special occasion! A great cake for Mother’s Day.

10 tablespoons real butter

2/3 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 (1-ounce) bottle red liquid food coloring

1 square Baker’s semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

2¼ cups sifted cake flour

¼ cup Hershey’s cocoa

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

2 teaspoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons vanilla

2 egg whites

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese

1 stick real butter

4 cups confectioners’ powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

\3 squares Baker’s white chocolate baking chocolate

Filling & Topping Garnish

1 cup soft shredded coconut

1 cup sugar-glazed pecans, left whole

3 large maraschino cherries

pressurized canned whipped cream for fluting edges

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans, and dust with Ghirardelli sweet ground cocoa, or Hershey’s dark unsweetened cocoa. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, and continue to beat until smooth.

2. Add the food coloring, and melted chocolate (melt slowly in microwave); beat on low until well blended.

3. In medium bowl, combine cake flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda; mix well. In a 2 cup measuring bowl, combine buttermilk and vinegar. Alternately beat dry ingredients and buttermilk mixture into creamed mixture until smooth. End with dry mixture.

4. Stir in vanilla. Beat egg whites in a small bowl until stiff peaks form; fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 25 to 28 minutes until cake bounces back when touched, and is set.

5. Cool cakes in pans for about 10 minutes, and then turn onto wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

For Frosting

1. Mix cream cheese with butter in mixing bowl until smooth; add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and continue beating until mixture is satin-smooth. Add vanilla and white chocolate that has been melted slowly in microwave, and mix together until thoroughly blended.

2. Place first layer of cake on cake stand, and cover with liberal amount of frosting. Sprinkle layer with 1/4 cup coconut. Place second layer over coconut and repeat frosting, topped with coconut. Place third layer over coconut and frost top and sides of cake, using all the frosting. Use remainder coconut on top and sides of cake. Use more coconut if needed.

For Topping

1.

Toast pecans in skillet over medium heat sprinkled with 1 tablespoon sugar about 3 to 4 minutes. Sugar will melt and pecans will become fragrant and toasted. Remove to waxed paper to cool.

2. Spread the pecans over the coconut on top layer. In middle of top layer, place 3 maraschino cherries with stems if possible. Flute the whipped around the bottom and top of cake. Serves 12.

　

　

　

　

　

THE HAM BONE

THE HAM BONE - APRIL 20, 2009

Buon giorno and Good Day!

Greetings to all you spring cleaning fanatics and furniture-changing marvels! April, it is said, is the month of change. It is that in-between time of the year when no one really knows what to wear, especially when all the "winter" items have been tucked away and the "summer" items are now hanging in our closets. I have been one of the "confused" ones, getting the sweaters back out that I just packed up two weeks ago, and since today is cold, windy and overcast, I am walking around with two sweaters on trying to stay warm.

But I do thank God for His beautiful day, even though it is a bit interesting. One thing never changes, however, and no matter what the weather, there is a very familiar question that lingers on our lips… "What should I cook for supper tonight?" This question comes up almost every day, either at work, school or just anywhere women and men alike are gathered. With tough times upon us, many are resorting to actually cooking at home more than caving to the high cost of "picking something up" for dinner.

Our old Pastor, Rev. Walter S. Guinn, used to tell the story of the "Ham Bone". He would tell us that during the Great Depression, times were so tough that one family would buy a partial ham. They would bake it; serve it to their family and save the ham bone. A few weeks later they would make "Ham & Beans." They then would pass the bone to their neighbors, and they too would make "Ham & Beans." This process would repeat itself until after 4 to 5 passings of the "Ham Bone," it would then be out of "flavor" and the passing finally came to a stop. Pity the last people; I hope they had a lot of seasonings.

Now no one wants to see another Great Depression, but it would be nice to see our neighbors more often, and I daresay we throw away more food that we "pass on." It just so happens that with the last ham I baked, I did save the "Ham Bone." With the wind howling outside and the cold air blowing, I believe I will take that ham bone out and make a great big pot of "Ham & Beans." If anyone out there would like to have it tomorrow, please email me and I'll be glad to run it right over.

So, you all take care, and weather it be Italian or Country cuisine, make a big pot of soup or stew tonight and take comfort from the crazy weather. Enjoy each other and take pride in cooking your own food tonight, and don't forget the cornbread! Serve it hot with butter and crumble that cornbread right over the beans. You many even want to serve your Ham & Beans with some chopped onions. Ummm…can't you just taste it now? If you don't have a good recipe, I'll be sure to post mine from *Rosalie Serving Country* on my Weekly Recipe list. Just click on my site

www.rosalieservingitalian.com and sign up for a free Weekly Newsletter. God bless all of you and don't forget to pass the "Ham Bone."

Buona sera, and Good Evening

Rosalie