French Pound Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Cream butter, milk, and sugar together in a mixer. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Turn mixer to low setting and add in flour, baking powder, and vanilla extract. Turn mixer to medium setting and mix for 5 minutes. Pour batter into a greased cake pan or bundt cake pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Test cake by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean then it's ready. Garnish with powdered sugar and serve.

Seafood & Pinot Grigio Spaghetti

Ingredients:

• 1 pound spaghetti pasta
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 shallot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup Pinot Grigio
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 pounds clams, washed
• Sea salt and ground black pepper
• 2 cups arugula

Directions:

1. Boil a large pot of salted water. Add the pasta and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta and set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until tender but don't let it brown. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and cook for another minute. Add the wine, shrimps, and clams. Bring the liquid to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, cover and cook until shrimps are pink and the clams have opened which takes about 7 minutes.
3. Add the pasta to the seafood mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Add the arugula last. Serve and enjoy immediately.

Sweet Potato Fries with Garlic Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

• 5 sweet potatoes, cut into about 1 by 4-inch fries shape
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 400º.
2. Place the sweet potato fries on a foil baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake until golden which is about 40 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice.
4. Sprinkle baked sweet potato fries with sea salt and pepper. Serve with garlic mayonnaise alongside for dipping.

Cornmeal Cranberry Scones

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 ½ cups cornmeal (medium grind, but fine is fine too)
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into 1-inch pieces
• ¾ cup dried cranberries or raisins
• 1 cup buttermilk

1. Heat the oven to 425° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the salt, sugar, and cornmeal and mix together.
3. With a pastry cutter or a couple of butter knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the size of peas. Mix in the cherries, and then make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Mix briefly, just until the dough comes together; it should be stiff and still a little sticky. (Don’t worry about getting every last bit of flour.) Let rest for 5 minutes.
4. Form the dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter and place them on the baking sheets a couple of inches apart. Place in the oven and immediately turn down the temperature to 375° F. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the scones are golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Baked Dijon Salmon

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 4 salmon fillets
• salt and pepper
• 1 lemon for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
2. In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs and pecans.
3. Brush each salmon fillet with honey mustard mixture then sprinkle the top of each fillet with the pecan crumb mixture.
4. Bake salmon for 12 minutes or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with a wedge of lemon.