Here’s a step-by-step illustration of creating a menu.
Step 1: Choose a main dish. In this case, Chicken w/ Cider and Bacon Sauce, which is an American dish.
Step 2: Choose starch and veggies. Since this is an American dish, stick with potatoes and green beans or carrots.
Step 3: Look for common themes in the different dishes. Use common flavors to pull the meal together. Example: Cheddar & Cider Scallop Potatoes and Sautéed Green Beans With Bacon. Another option: Apple-Glazed Carrots With Bacon (though this may overkill the apple flavor).
Step 4: Use common flavors to determine drinks and dessert. Some options that could work: cinnamon apples with chocolate sauce and hot chocolate, apples with caramel sauce and hot cocoa or coffee with caramel, cinnamon apples and cinnamon-flavored coffee, or throw in something unexpected, like chocolate fudge and hot cocoa with peppermint sticks. Not everything has to be matchy-matchy.
Possible Menu:
Main dish: Chicken w/ Cider and Bacon Sauce
Starch: Cheddar & Cider Scallop Potatoes
Veggies: Sautéed Green Beans With Bacon
Drink: Hot chocolate w/ peppermint sticks
Dessert: Cinnamon Apples w/ Chocolate Sauce
Common Flavors:
bacon in the greens beans to bacon in the chicken
apple cider in the chicken to apple cider in the potatoes
cinnamon in the potatoes to cinnamon in the apple dessert
chocolate in the apple dessert to chocolate in the drink
Adding extras:
Now, add some extra pieces to the meal, like cheddar cheese bread or biscuits, sliced almonds in the green beans and/or sprinkled on top of the apples, cinnamon sticks as garnish, and add some mushrooms or carrots to the meal.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Recipe: Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bacon slices, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh onion
3/4 cup unsweetened apple cider
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper.
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Add chicken to drippings in pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.
Add onion to pan; cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring constantly. Add cider and broth; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until broth mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup (about 5 minutes). Stir in cooked bacon; serve sauce over chicken.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Recipe: Sautéed Green Beans With Bacon
1 3/4 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup water
8 bacon slices, chopped
5 green onions (white bottoms and light green parts of tops only), chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Place beans and 1/4 cup water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and pierce plastic wrap with a fork. Microwave at HIGH 4 to 7 minutes or until crisp-tender. Plunge green beans into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain well, and set aside.
Cook chopped bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp; remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings in a small bowl. Discard remaining drippings. Wipe skillet clean with a paper towel.
Sauté green onions in skillet in hot reserved drippings over medium-high heat 1 minute. Stir in green beans, salt, and pepper; sauté 2 to 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in bacon.
Kitchen Express: Substitute 2 (12-ounce) packages ready-to-eat trimmed fresh green beans for the fresh green beans, omitting water. Pierce bags with a fork and microwave at HIGH 4 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Proceed with recipe as directed.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Recipe: Apple-Glazed Carrots With Bacon
2 bacon slices
1 cup chopped onion
2 (16-ounce) packages baby carrots
1 1/2 cups apple cider
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Cook bacon slices in a small skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet, and crumble. Add onion to bacon drippings in skillet, and sauté 3 minutes. Add carrots, cider, sugar, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cook mixture 10 minutes over medium heat or until carrots are tender. Do not drain.
Place carrot mixture in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with the reserved bacon and chives.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Recipe: Cheddar & Cider Scallop Potatoes
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
2 pounds potatoes
cinnamon sugar
Preheat oven to 425F. Rinse potatoes well in lukewarm water, peel if desired, and slice thinly. Arrange half of potatoes in a shallow 3-quart dish and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Arrange remaining potatoes on top and set aside.
Place flour in medium saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Stir in cider, broth, salt, pepper and nutmeg; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Pour the cider mixture over the potatoes and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and press potatoes with a spatula. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, then mozzarella cheese. Top with cinnamon sugar. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Let sit 10 minutes.