Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C

Wash chicken and pat dry. Set aside.

Mix paprika, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Sprinkle seasoning mix over chicken legs, coating evenly. Give the chicken skin a pat with your hand to help the seasonings absorb into the chicken.

Wrap each chicken leg with a slice of pancetta.

Add sage, rosemary and wine to the center of the skillet.

Place skillet (uncovered) in the oven. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

Cut chicken into bite size pieces no larger than 1”. If you are using a precooked rotisserie chicken, remove the skin and bones before cutting the meat.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat for about 2 minutes. If you are using a precooked rotisserie chicken, you can skip this step as the chicken is already cooked.

Add the uncooked cubed chicken breasts to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and you can no longer see pink. (I like to sauté my chicken in a seasoned cast iron skillet. Then I can skip the adding the oil)

Remove cooked meat from the pan and set on a plate.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chopped onions and peppers. Sauté for 4-5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add cilantro pesto. Stir. Remove skillet from heat.

Mixing the ingredients on a warmed platter will help them melt quickly to make a satiny sauce. For the best results, use dried pasta, which doesn't break as easily during tossing as fresh egg pasta does.

Bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut butter into thin pats and transfer to a large, warmed platter. Drain pasta, reserving 3/4 cup pasta water, and place the pasta over the butter on the platter.

Sprinkle grated parmesan over the pasta and drizzle with 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water.

Using a large spoon and fork, gently toss the pasta with the butter and cheese, lifting and swirling the noodles and adding more pasta water as necessary. (The pasta water will help create a smooth sauce.) Work in any melted butter and cheese that pools around the edges of the platter. Continue to mix the pasta until the cheese and butter have fully melted and the noodles are coated, about 3 minutes. (For a quicker preparation, bring the reserved 3/4 cup pasta water and the butter to a boil in a 12" skillet; then add the pasta, sprinkle with the cheese, and toss with tongs over medium-low heat until the pasta is creamy and coated, about 2 minutes.)

Serve the fettuccine immediately on warmed plates.

In a small saucepan, combine the fish sauce, vinegar, tamarind juice, and sugar. Cook over medium high heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Set aside until needed.

In a large bowl, soak the dried rice noodles in warm water until somewhat tender but still firm to the touch, about 1 hour, drain well and set aside until needed.

Place the tofu on several layers of paper towel and press firmly to remove all excess moisture. Heat a wok over high heat. Add 2 T of canola oil and heat through. Add the tofu and stir fry until golden brown. Set aside until needed.

Place the wok over medium high heat until it is smoking hot. Add the remaining 2 T of oil, and then toss in the garlic, shallots, shrimp, radishes, and red pepper flakes. Stir fry for 30 seconds.

Add the drained noodles and ¼ c water to the wok, stirring and tossing quickly to separate the strands. Pour in the fish sauce mixture and paprika, tossing well to coat the noodles and keep them from sticking. Stir fry until the noodles are tender and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the cooked tofu, and cook another minute, tossing to combine and warm the tofu through. Garnish with all of the bean sprouts, green onions and chopped peanuts. Place a couple of limes wedges on each plate. Add a squeeze of lime and additional fish sauce to taste. Serve immediately.

In soup kettle, combine chicken broth, lime leaves, lemongrass, ginger root, and straw mushrooms over medium high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then add the coconut milk, dried chile and chicken.

Immediately reduce the heat to medium low and simmer gently, uncovered, until the chicken cooked through (2 min)

Just before serving, stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, salt green onions, and cilantro.

The kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and whole chiles are for flavor only and are not to be consumed. You may wish to place them in a sachet while cooking and remove before serving.

Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan by brushing some of the melted butter on the sides and bottom of the pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the chopped walnuts, sugars, honey, cinnamon, ground cloves, vanilla bean paste, orange and lemon zest, orange juice, half & half and beaten egg. Mix until all of the ingredients are well combined.

Roll out the thawed dough on a lightly floured surface to make two 12”x9” rectangles. Brush remaining melted butter evenly over the dough, covering the entire top.

Spread the nut mixture over the top of the dough, leaving ½ inch border along the top and sides.

Trim excess fat from meat. Cut into 1 ½ inch cubes. Set aside.

In medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, pepper flakes, oregano and lemon juice.

Add in meat, toss to coat.

Pour contents of bowl (meat and marinade) into a large zip lock bag. Refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to mix. At this point, you may also freeze the meat. Before cooking, be sure to thaw the meat thoroughly.

When you are ready to cook…heat your grill or broiler to a medium cooking temperature (325 F).

If using wooden skewers, be sure to soak them for 30 min before using.

Skewer meat onto BBQ skewers and grill until meat is nicely golden brown and cooked through. (You may also wish to add a slice of onion or tomato on the skewers)

Serve with warm pita. Garnish with lemon, tzatziki and sliced onion (tomato and fresh parsley optional)

Wash cucumbers. Trim ends and roughly chop (do not peel).

In food processor, add cucumber, garlic cloves, mint and dill.

Drizzle with olive oil (optional).

Pulse on low until cucumber mixture is pureed.

In a medium bowl, gently combine the cucumber puree, salt and pepper into the yogurt.

Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to mix.

Preheat oven to 440 F (I know, it’s a little odd, but it’s the perfect temp).

Choose a baking pan with sides so that the liquid does not roll off the pan during baking. A cookie sheet does not work for this recipe.

Spray the pan with cooking spray.

Put all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Generously season with salt and pepper. Toss to evenly distribute. Pour into baking pan.

Bake for 40 minutes. When the top has formed a golden brown crust, stir the potatoes to bring the white underside to the top.

If all of the liquids have been absorbed and pan is looking dry, add ½ c water.

Return to the oven for another 40 minutes. Don’t be afraid of overcooking these- it may seem like a long time, but they are delicious and the cooking time is correct.

Over med high heat, heat oil in large kettle. Add chicken pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue to cook over med high heat until chicken is browned. Transfer chicken to plate.

To same kettle, add onion, curry powder, ginger, garlic, jalapeno and red pepper flakes. Continue to sauté over med high heat for 3 minutes.

Stir in chicken stock, tomatoes, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium and simmer 10 minutes.

Ladle out about 2 cups of hot broth. Set aside.

In a different smaller saucepan, melt butter over med high heat. Add flour and whisk over med high heat until smooth and bubbly, making a roux (pronounced ROO). Gradually add the ladled broth, continually whisking. Simmer and whisk for an additional minute. Remove from heat.

Add flour/broth mixture back to soup kettle. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add coconut milk and spinach. Remove from heat. Cover for 5 minutes. Stir.

Serve in a bowl over steamed rice.

Boil the potatoes in water seasoned with 1 T salt. Boil until the potatoes are just tender enough to pierce with a fork. You don’t want to overcook the potatoes or they will be mushy.

Drain the potatoes and allow to cool. At this point you can either wrap them and place in the fridge for later use or slice to prepare now. Do not slice the potatoes and then refrigerate or they will become dry. When ready to prepare the dish, slice the potatoes into 1/8” (.25-.3 cm) slices and then slice into quarters. Set aside.

In a small bowl, add eggs, kosher salt, prepared mustard, sugar, vinegar and cayenne pepper. Whisk together until well mixed.

Peel the onion, cut it in half, and then cut thin slices (thinner then than the potato slices) from each half. Set aside.

Heat your skillet over medium/medium high heat while you dice the bacon. Add the bacon to the heated skillet and cook until the pieces are evenly browned and crispy, being careful to stir often as not to burn the pieces.

When the bacon pieces are fully cooked, add the egg mixture into the hot pan with the bacon and bacon grease, continuing to cook and stir until the mixture is thickened like a salad dressing.

Add in the cooked potatoes and sliced onions. Gently mix.

Serve hot.

Add the fresh basil (leaves only, no stems), garlic cloves, pine nuts, parmesan, salt and pepper to food processor.

Pulse on low until everything is well mixed, drizzling with olive oil while blending.

The pesto will last a few days in the refrigerator or can be frozen for later use. I always make a triple batch and then spread the pesto into ice cubes trays for easy use. Freeze the pesto and pop the cubes out into bags that can be vacuum sealed. They will last this way in the freezer for one year.

Rinse the uncooked rice well in a colander. Allow to drain well.

Place all ingredients in the rice tray insert of your vegetable steamer.

Stir to combine. The mixture should look like a cream soup if mixed well.

Steam for 50 minutes. Fluff with fork.

Combine all the ingredients (you may also want to double or triple the recipe to give as gifts).

Store in glass jars or airtight containers.

For the maximum shelf life (easily two years), measure into serving size portions and vacuum seal each package. When I make tacos I always use 2 pounds of meat, so I portion out my seasoning mix into 6 Tablespoon size packets. This way I don’t have to measure anything when I’m preparing dinner.

Any extra cooked and seasoned meat can be used for taco salad, breakfast quesadillas or frozen for later use.

Heat chicken stock in a small kettle or in a microwave safe bowl until it begins to gently boil.

Remove from heat. Stir in taco seasoning. Mix until the spices are dissolved in the broth.

Place chicken breasts in crock pot.

Pour seasoned chicken stock over chicken breasts.

Cover. Cook on low for 6-7 hours. Do not lift the lid during cooking. It will interfere with the timing and cause chicken to take longer to cook.

After the chicken is done, shred the chicken breasts with two forks, by pulling the meat apart. The meat should be very tender and break apart easily. If it does not, it is not done and needs to cook longer.

The day before:

Cook rice using a rice cooker or vegetable steamer (2 cups rice, 1 c vegetable stock, 1 c water). Do not add more liquid. The rice is intended to be a bit crunchy. When finished, spread rice on a cookie sheet and cool in the freezer until individual grains break apart. Store in the refrigerator overnight in a zip lock bag

The next day:

Grill your pork loin and cut into small cubes.

Heat 2 T oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add eggs and scramble until cooked. Add pork and peas and fry for an additional minute to heat through. Remove from skillet. Wipe out skillet with paper towel. No residue should remain.

Add 3 T oil to skillet and again heat over high heat until very hot. Add cold rice and stir evenly to coat each grain.

Add chicken stock to the rice, a little bit at a time until the rice soaks up the liquid. Continue to stir fry for a bit. Add chopped up egg, pork and peas. Mix well. Add salt and soy sauce to season.

Even though the soy sauce is salty, adding actual salt to the recipe enhances the flavor.