Recipes from the Party

In case you're interested, here are the recipes from my hubby's birthday party.

CHICKEN WITH GRAPES AND COUSCOUS
Serves 4

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. chopped fresh thyme leaves
Coarse salt and pepper
2 T. butter, cut into pieces (I forgot the butter last night and it came out fine)
¼ c. flour
2 lbs. chicken tenders
½ c. white wine (last night I used left over champagne and it was good; could use chicken stock)
2 ½ c. chicken stock
1 c. heavy cream
¼ c. grainy, stone-ground mustard
1 ½ c. (about ½ lb.) seedless red grapes, halved
2 c. couscous

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add olive oil and butter to the pan. Place flour in a shallow dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper then dredge the tenders in flour and add to the pan. Cook chicken 7 to 8 minutes until browned. Add wine and scrape up browned bits as wine cooks down and bubbles, 30 seconds. Add ½ cup stock to skillet. Combine cream and mustard and add to pan. Add grapes to the pan and turn chicken and grapes to coat and combine with the sauce. Simmer 5 minutes over low heat.

Bring remaining 2 c. stock and thyme to a boil in a small pot. Add couscous. Put a tight fitting lid on pot and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Serve tenders and grapes on couscous.

MANDARIN SALAD

¼ c. sliced almonds
1 T. plus 1 t sugar
¼ head lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
¼ bunch romaine, torn into bite-size pieces
2 medium stalks celery, chopped (about 1 c.)
2 green onions (with tops), thinly sliced (about 2 T.)
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges*

Sweet/Sour Dressing:
¼ c. vegetable oil
2 T. sugar
2 T. vinegar
1 T. snipped parsley
½ t. salt
dash of pepper
dash of red pepper sauce

Shake all ingredients for dressing in tightly covered jar; refrigerate.

Cook almonds and sugar over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted and almonds are coated. Cool and break apart. Store at room temp.

Place lettuce and romaine in bowl. Add celery and onions. Pour dressing over all. Add orange segments and mix well. Lightly stir in almonds.

**WARNING: This dessert is VERY rich so small portions will do you! The original recipe specifies butter and margarine, so it must make a difference. Next time I make it I'm going to try and figure out how to cut down on the sweetness of it.

BUSTER BAR DESSERT

1 15 oz. pkg. oreos
4 T. butter, melted
1 c. margarine
3 c. powder sugar
3 sq. semisweet chocolate (3 oz.)
4 eggs
½ gallon vanilla ice cream
1-1/4 c. Spanish peanuts

Crumble cookies until fine, reserving 1/3 c. for top of dessert. Mix crumbs with butter and put in 9 x 13 pan. Set aside. Cook together margarine, sugar, chocolate, and eggs until boiling. Let cool. Spread vanilla ice cream over crumbs in pan. Sprinkle peanuts over ice cream. Freeze until ice cream is firm. Pour cooked sauce over peanuts. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Store in freezer.