Seafood in Mornay Sauce is what I made for a special holiday-time dinner this evening. Oh-My-Goodness but this is absolutely divine. It is not that hard to make, but will receive multitudes of oohhs and aahhs. Serve over rice with a simple salad on the side and you have a complete meal that is extra special and makes it look like you spent hours in the kitchen. Here's how I put mine together.

There is a great "fish guy", Mr. Ed, who comes up to our area from the Gulf of Louisiana every couple of weeks from the summer through Christmas. He is here this week with everything super fresh - it is his last trip to town for awhile. My husband was in the area and picked up about 10-12 jumbo shrimp and about a half dozen or so large scallops. This is what I used for my recipe tonight.

You can make this with one seafood ingredient or as many as you desire. I've had it with a combination of lobster, shrimp, scallops and crab - just pick what you like and use it.

It goes together pretty fast, so have everything ready when you get started cooking.

First thing I do is put my rice on to simmer. Use whatever rice you like - a long grain white, an arborio, a basmati - whatever sounds good to you. Tonight I used an arborio rice.

For the 5 of us, I put one cup of rice to two cups of water, bring to a boil, then simmer slowly until the rice is soft and the water is gone. The only rule of thumb you need to remember for successful rice is water 2:1 over rice. Bring to a boil, then simmer SLOWLY, uncovered, until the rice is tender.

While the rice cooked, I cleaned my seafood. I quartered the scallops - not too small or they'll cook too quickly and get tough. I peeled, cleaned and de-veined the shrimp, then cut it into bite-size pieces.

I took a large saute pan and melted 1/2 cup of butter. When the butter is completely melted, put in the seafood and cook over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. You don't want to overcook the seafood. Add a dash of salt. Remove the seafood from the pan and place in a bowl. Set seafood aside.

To the remaining butter in the pan, add 1/2 cup of flour and whisk for about 2 minutes to create a nice roux. You don't want it to get too brown, as the mornay sauce is a creamy white sauce. Once the roux is ready, add 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 cup of heavy cream. Add fresh black pepper to taste. Continue to whisk to keep any lumps from forming. The cream sauce will start to thicken. Continue to stir for about 5 minutes.

Your rice should be done by now - remove it from the heat. Turn the heat off under your cream sauce and add your seafood back into the cream sauce. Stir gently and add 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Your seafood mornay is now ready to serve over the rice. Top with a little freshly grated parmesan. Be careful - it is very filling! We enjoyed ours tonight with freshly made cranberry-pineapple relish and a mixed sprout salad. Lovely and delicious!

Oh yes, after such a filling meal, we took the girls for a walk around the block to look at Christmas lights! Gotta do something to work off all that butter and cream!

Enjoy!

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt to taste
fresh black pepper to taste
Your choice of seafood: shrimp, scallops, lobster, crab

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Lightly saute seafood over medium-low heat, remove from pan and set aside. Whisk flour into remaining butter over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and heavy cream - continue to whisk to prevent lumps and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add seafood back to cream sauce and add in the parmesan cheese. Stir, then serve immediately over rice. Top with additional freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired. Delicious with a simple salad on the side.

We like to have turkey throughout the year, not just at the holidays. When we have left-over turkey, as we always do, one of our favorite recipes is Turkey Enchiladas. You can also make these with chicken.

Here's how I put mine together:

2 cups diced turkey (approximately 2 cups - you can do more or less)
1 can cream of ____ soup. I use anything without MSG, like cream of broccoli, cream of mushroom or cream of chicken. All of these are good in this recipe.
1/2 to 1 cup sour cream
1/4 to 1/3 cup milk
1 cup plus extra of shredded cheese. We like the Sargento 4 flavor Mexican blend8-10 flour tortillas. If you use packaged and they are smaller, you'll need about 10.
Salt and pepper and other seasonings to taste - I change this based on how I seasoned my turkey meat during baking. If you are using chicken, I boil the chicken with onions and garlic for extra seasoning.

Dice your turkey so you have about 2 cups and place into a medium-sized mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl mix the cream of soup, sour cream, milk and 1 cup of shredded cheese. You want a fairly thick mixture.

Place 1/2 of the soup mixture in with the turkey and stir well. Spoon this mixture into the individual tortilla shells and roll them up. Place them in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan.

When you have all of the turkey mixture in the tortillas and they are all in the baking pan, you'll spoon the remaining soup mixture over the top of the tortillas and sprinkle with extra cheese.

For baking, if your turkey was cold when you started, you'll want to make sure it gets heated through. So I bake mine on the Convection setting of my oven at about 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is very golden and I'm sure the middle of the tortillas is warm.

If you are doing this with chicken and have just finished boiling your chicken and have cut it up and it is still warm, you can bake it in a regular oven at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is very golden.

Yes, this is the real thing, nothing at all artificial, red, green or gold in this one! DELICIOUS!

Ready for the adventure? Here it is:

2 cups raisins
2 cups currants
2 cups dried apricot halves
2 cups dried fig halves
1 cup pitted prunes
1 cup pitted dates
4 cups walnuts - large pieces
2 cups pecans - large pieces
3 oranges, grated - zest only
3 lemons, grated - zest only
1/2 cup candied ginger - chopped
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 cup molasses
2 cups brandy or apple juice
1/2 cup orange liqueur or orange juice
4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 pound butter (yes, the real thing)
3 cups brown sugar
8 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla (yes, the real thing)

The day before, combine all dried fruits, nuts and zest in a very large mixing bowl. Add the candied ginger and spices. Toss well to mix. Add the molasses and liquids and mix well. Oh yes, the scent will be heavenly! Cover and let stand overnight at room temperature.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Grease (4) 9x5x3 loaf pans, then flour. Sprinkle 1 cup of flour over the fruit mixture and stir it in. Combine remaining 3 cups of flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift if needed. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar and beat well. Add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Add all dry ingredients and beat until batter is blended and smooth.

Pour this over the fruit, mix well until everything is coated with the batter. Divide the batter among the loaf pans filling them to 1/2 inch below the top of the pan. Bake for 2 hours. Don't worry if they crack on top. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Added bonus: we sometimes make these the day after Thanksgiving and tenderly add a few teaspoons every few days of grand marnier or orange liqueur before we serve them or give them as gifts.

Here is one version of Cranberry Relish that we like with our Thanksgiving or Christmas meal.

Cranberry Relish (#1)

1 pound fresh, raw cranberries
2 large firm apples
1 whole navel orange
1 medium can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts.

Place cranberries, apples and orange into food processor or Vitamix and lightly chop. Add pineapple, sugar and nuts. Mix well and refrigerate overnight before serving. This will keep for several days in the refrigerator and gets better with age. It is also good on toast for breakfast!

Here's one that I tried in 1997 for our Thanksgiving meal - I've made it every year since. It puts a nice, fresh spin on the standard sweet potato casserole!

Sweet Potato Surprise

1- 15.5 ounce can sweet potatoes - drained and cut in half
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 Tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange zest
1-16 ounce can apricot halves, drained - reserve 1 cup of juice (you can use dried apricots and re-hydrate them by using orange juice)
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup pecan halves and/or raisins
Marshmallows for topping if desired

Place sweet potatoes in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Combine sugar, corn starch, salt, cinnamon and orange zest in a saucepan. Stir in apricot juice and cook over medium heat until boiling. Add apricots, butter and nuts/raisins. Pour mixture over sweet potatoes and bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

If desired, add marshmallows for topping and brown until lightly melted.

Once in awhile I have a craving for something other than chocolate. Not often, mind you, but on occasion! Here's one that the whole family enjoys. I like this particular recipe, because the tartness of the lemon seems just right to me.

Lemon Squares

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional - I omit this if using salted butter)
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel or lemon zest

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together 1 cup flour, butter and powdered sugar. Press into an ungreased 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 square pan, building up the sides about 1/2 inch. Bake for 20 minutes - the crust should be light brown when done.

While the crust is baking, beat the remaining ingredients together until light and fluffy. Pour over crust while it is still hot. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until no indentation remains when lightly touched in the center. Cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into squares.

Yum!

Okay, these are so easy and the recipe has been around so long that I'm sure most of you probably already have it! These are a favorite for my girls and are quick and easy to make when you are short on time!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups quick cook oats

In a large glass bowl, microwave the sugar, milk and butter for 3-5 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Remove carefully from microwave and quickly add the peanut butter, cocoa and vanilla. Stir until well blended. Stir in the oats and drop by Tablespoon fulls onto waxed paper. Allow to set until firm.

Easy as pie and you can't eat just one!

This is a family favorite from my childhood. I can remember my mom making these when I was growing up - I love to make these during the holidays to include in any gifts from my kitchen.

Peanut Butter Balls

1 pound powdered sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla in
1 cup melted butter
1 - 6 ounce package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 block of paraffin

Mix the first 7 ingredients. Shape into balls. Melt the chocolate chips and paraffin in a double-boiler over boiling water. Dip the balls into the melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper to set.

These may be made ahead of time and frozen - allow to thaw before serving