Pecan Chicken

1 stick of real butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg lightly beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup ground pecans
¼ cup of pecan halves
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP garlic
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup sesame seeds
2 ½ pound chicken, cut into pieces

Preheat over to 350 degrees; melt your butter into 10 x15 inch baking dish. In a shallow dish, combine buttermilk and egg. In another dish combine flour, pecans, salt, garlic, pepper and sesame seeds. Dip chicken into buttermilk, then in flour mixture. Place skin side down in melted butter. Turn to coat and leave skin side up. Sprinkle with pecan halves. Bake for 1 ¼ hours.

This is really great when served with glazed carrots, green beans and steamed baby potatoes. Makes an elegant dinner for two!!

Fancy Carrots

3 TBSP of butter
¼ cup of water
½ cup of brown sugar
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of cinnamon
Salt & pepper to taste
2 ½ cups of baby carrots

Bring your water and butter to a low heat and add brown sugar, mix well and then pour in your carrots. Coat well. Add as much cinnamon and nutmeg and you’d like to taste. Also salt & pepper. Cover with lid and let it slow simmer until almost all of the water is gone. The carrots should be nice and tender and kind of syrupy with a little flavor. If they are not as tender as you’d like, add a little more water and cook a bit longer.

Roasted Potatoes

5-6 Large potatoes, quartered (red skin work well for this)
1 Large onion, also quartered
Salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary sprinkled over the potatoes
Drizzle all the potatoes with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

Preheat over to at least 450 degrees. Roast in a large baking dish, not covered (we want to roast the top and brown them really pretty). It takes about 30-40 minutes. If you think yours are getting too brown, just cover with foil until the potatoes are tender. The onion adds flavor. For more flavor, you can also add fresh garlic cloves or throw in red and green bell pepper for color and flavor. It's up to you! Enjoy.

If you are watching your waistline, you can also do this recipe with sweet potatoes! (I wouldn’t add the garlic or bell peppers, though!)