Cauliflower Spinach Gratin

Ah, Wegmans... This week we're making Wegman's Cauliflower Spinach Gratin again. Once again, I deviated from the recipe (I don't use their Alfredo sauce but make my own sauce with basil, heavy cream, organic ranch dip mix, and butter).

Fresh cauliflower, about 8 ounces of frozen chopped spinach...

I added about 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg to the top of the gratin and added some romano cheese and garlic powder to the breadcrumbs.

And of course, today I baked it in my Le Creuset skillet.

The original post for the gratin is here:

http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2009/11/steak-au-poivre-with-cauliflower.html

or click on Wegmans or cauliflower.

Pepper Ranch Chicken with French Butter Cream sauce (kind of)

I started this meal with some frozen corn, prepared with no butter or sauce. I also used canned whole potatoes which I cooked in olive oil, low sodium soy sauce (about 50/50 each) and seasonings... in this case I used It's a Dilly. Normally I would use straight dill. You can also use parsley.

The chicken is a variation of Rosemary Pepper Chicken, a French recipe. This is the rosemary chicken recipe as I found it on the Internet about a year ago:

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons cracked pink peppercorns
3 tablespoons cracked green peppercorns
2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter, divided
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1. Mix together peppercorns and spread over both sides of the chicken breasts. Pound with a tenderizing mallet until they are half as thick as before.
2. Melt half the butter over medium high heat. Fry chicken breasts about five minutes per side. Remove chicken to serving dish and keep warm.
3. Stir in the remaining butter, cream, rosemary and garlic into the skillet mixing it into the juices from the chicken. Simmer for five minutes, stirring constantly. Pour over chicken and serve.

My variations:
I always used four color peppercorns in a grinder. I also never seem to have the rosemary so I substitute whatever seasoning I have on hand. Tonight I used organic ranch dip mix. And I don't use chicken breasts, I use tenders. Oh, and I used half and half not cream. But I did use real butter!

End of month review

January certainly did not follow the typical pattern around here. I just reviewed the finances for January and unless I spend unforeseen amounts of money today, we ended up spending $162.53 on groceries and $151.01 on dining. Remember we had a house guest for close to three weeks, and that accounts for some of the cost. And last night I splurged and treated the family to dinner out. That was $37. The great thing is our pantry is not as depleted as usual. I even have enough beef in the freezer for a batch of stew. I have lots of frozen veggies (even artichoke hearts), lots of sauce and plenty of noodles. 

I did not bring the camera last night so you don't get to see the feast we enjoyed. We went to MexTex Trio, a fabulous restaurant in downtown Easton. We've been there four times now (and if our finances were better we would probably be there once or twice a month.) They have a kids menu that includes chicken breast and spanish rice, or quesadilla, or tacos/burritos. We tried the chicken breast. We've tried several of the option and our daughter prefers the Nachos de Rey off the appetizer menu. It's enough to feed an army, so we usually share.

Since MexTex had some technological issues, we had to pay with cash. That meant my husband had to walk to the MAC machine. And it meant there was no wiggle r

oom in the budget for the evening. We had $50.

My husband offered to share nachos with our daughter. I ordered a round of hot chocolate for us. It's $2.50 a cup but man is it incredible. And I teased it was dessert, and we were having it first. (And since my husband got to walk several blocks in the cold it seemed a nice treat to warm him.) I couldn't decide what I wanted so I ordered a chicken quesadilla with a side of spanish rice and a side of fried beans. Then we shared everything. The bill came to $3o.15. I added a $7 tip. We all left full.

I hate to do an entry without a photo, so this is a photo of the fritos and dip we had the other day. The dip was an organic ranch mix that you add to sour cream. It was the first time I tried it, and being me, I added It's a dilly to give it some zing. The family loved it. That little cup was all I made, just enough for a little snack for each of us.