Chicken Francaise 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 heaping tablespoons grated Pecorino cheese 4 tablespoons very finely chopped parsley 1 large egg, beaten flour for dredging 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup dry white wine 1 cup chicken stock 6 thin, round slices of lemon 2 tablespoons butter Slice the chicken breast into 6 pieces of roughly equal size. Place the pieces between sheets of wax paper, and pound with a mallet until thin. Season with salt and pepper. Place the cheese and 2 tablespoons of the parsley in a wide, shallow bowl. Slowly add the beaten egg, whisking until it's smoothly incorporated. Place the flour on a wide plate. Dip the cutlets in the egg mixture. Remove them, making sure to let the excess egg drip off. Place each cutlet in the flour, and coat lightly. Remove the cutlets from the flour, and hold them in a single layer, on a platter or on a counter. Add the olive oil to 2 saute pans, each large enough to hold 3 cutlets in a single layer. Place over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cutlets. Saute, turning once, until the cutlets are golden on the outside, just cooked on the inside (about 2 minutes per side). Remove the cutlets, and hold them in a single layer. Drain off most the oil out of the pans. Return the pans to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of white wine to each pan, and reduce it to 1 tablespoon in each pan. Divide the stock and the lemon slices between the pans. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the lemon slices. Keep boiling the sauce until it's reduced in each pan to about 1/4 cup. Turn the heat to Low. Swirl a tablespoon of butter into each pan until the sauce is thickened. Taste for seasoning. Add 3 reserved cutlets to each pan, turning them until they're coated with the sauce. Divide the cutlets between 2 dinner plates. Pour the remaining sauce over them, sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, and serve immediately. Had this recipe from someone on this site. Linda

PRUNE PUREE Fat Replacement for Baking Combine 1-1/3 c. (8 oz.) pitted prunes and 6 T. of hot water in food processor or blender. Pluse on and off until prunes are finely chopped and smooth. Store leftovers in a covered container and refrigerate for up to 2 months.

APPLE COUNTRY CHICKEN Yield: 5 Servings 1 tsp Curry powder 1 lg Golden Delicious apple, Cored and chopped 1 lg Yellow onion, finely chopped 1 tbs Lemon juice 4 oz Mushrooms, sliced 1 tsp Chicken stock 2 c Apple juice or cider 3 1/2 lb Chicken thigh, skinned 1 tbs Flour Place curry powder in a wide frying pan and stir over medium heat until slightly darker in color (3-4 minutes). Add apple, yellow onion, lemon juice, mushrooms, stock, and 1 1/2 C. of the apple juice; bring to a boil. Rinse chicken and pat dry; add to pan. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat near bone is no longer pink; cut to test (about 30 minutes). Lift chicken from pan; arrange on a warm platter. Keep warm. Blend flour and remaining 1/2 C. apple juice. Gradually add to sauce in pan, stirring; increase heat to high and cook, stirring until sauce is thickened. Pour over chicken. The sauce also tastes good poured over baked potato or rice. **************** HEALTHY CHICKEN STOCK Yield: 16 Servings 2 lb Chicken bones, back and Neck Water -- to cover 1 Celery stalk 1 Onion -- quartered 1 Bay leaf 1 Carrot In a large stockpot combine chicken bones, back, and neck and the water. Add celery, onion, bay leaf, and carrot. Simmer over low heat 1-1/2 hours. Strain. Makes 4 to 6 cups. Note: To remove fat, allow stock to chill for 2 hours. Fat will separate and rise to the top. Scoop fat off with spoon and discard. Remaining stock may be used in recipes calling for defatted chicken stock. Recipe By : the California Culinary Academy ************** this is excellent..been making it for over 20 years.... Parmesan Rice and Pasta Pilaf After the pasta and onion are sautéed, the oil is drained to minimize the fat content of this interesting pilaf. 2 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 C finely broken vermicelli, uncooked 2 Tbsp diced onion 1 C long-grain white rice, uncooked 1-1/4 C hot chicken stock 1-1/4 C hot water 1/4 tsp ground white pepper One bay leaf 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese In a large skillet, heat oil. Sauté vermicelli and onion until golden brown, about 2 to 4 minutes over medium-high heat. Drain off oil. Add rice, stock, water, pepper, and bay leaf. Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff with fork. Cover and let stand 5 to 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately. YIELD: 6 servings - SERVING SIZE: 2/3 cup each

Truth be known.... Scones vary widely when it comes to texture, shape, size, and flavor. They can range all the way from cookie-like, to biscuit-like, to cake-like. The method for making scones is similar to making biscuits in the way they are mixed and the chemical leavening used - and the mixing method and the ingredients are geared to inhibit the gluten formation - as with all quick breads. Scones can be rolled and cut, shaped, or dropped. One main difference between biscuits and scones is the high butter and/or sugar content of the dough, and both butter (or other solid fat) and sugar inhibit the formation of gluten to produce a more tender scone. Some doughs for scones are stiff and can be handled, rolled, and shaped easily. Other doughs are wet and sticky and need to be dropped, or patted with floured hands. PLEASE, please, please get a kitchen scale. Even an inexpensive one is better than NONE, but a good electric scale is invaluable in the kitchen. It's the only accurate way to measure weight. Trying to convert weight measures to dry/liquid measures (cups, spoons) is one of the most inaccurate ways to measure - it's not even a good "guesstimate" at times. Especially when it comes to converting flour because the standards for a "cup of flour" are all over the board - even among so-called "experts". The standards for the physical SIZE of a cup are all over the board because there are NO manufacturing standards for them. With a kitchen scale you can use it to weigh the amount of batter in two (or more) cake pans equally so the cake layers are even sizes. The same goes for dividing bread dough into two (or more) loaves, making dinner rolls - burger buns - hot dog buns all the same size. Equal amounts of dough or batter mean they bake in the same amount of time and the finished sizes are the same. The amount of the weight of dough for yeast breads is also how you know which pan size to use. Using the wrong size pan for the amount of dough is often what is called a failed loaf of bread.... Fill a 1-cup measuring cup, then weigh the amount on a scale. Now do that 3 different times. You will get a different amount each time. Even more amazing, have 3 different people fill a 1-cup measuring cup and measure the amounts. Because every person has a different method for filling a measuring cup, it can result in as much as 10-25% difference (low or high) in the cupped amounts. -Grainlady