Chicken with Fennel

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Cold Melon Soup

Ingredients:
1 cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
2 tbsp. apple juice
1/2 honeydew melon, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp. lemon juice
3 tbsp. fresh mint, minced
mint sprigs, to garnish

Puree the cantaloupe with the orange juice, orange rind and the sherry or apple juice. Cover and chill for 3-4 hours. Puree the honeydew melon with the lemon juice and mint. Cover and chill for 3-4 hours as well. Pour equal amounts of each melon mixture into chilled serving bowls. Garnish with mint sprigs. Serve chilled.

Crockpot Chicken with Fennel

Ingredients:
3 pound whole roasting chicken
1 small fennel bulb and 1/4 cup leaves
1 pound baby carrots
1 leek, trimmed and chopped
1 quart chicken broth to cover

Remove giblets and discard or freeze for another use. Rinse chicken and remove skin if you wish. Place in the crockpot. Wash the fennel, leaving the bulb whole and mincing the leaves.Place the fennel bulb inside the cavity of chicken. Sprinkle the leaves around the chicken. Chop leeks and carrots and add to the crockpot. Add the broth to cover. Cook on high for 3 hours, then cool in fridge. Once cool, skim off all fat and remove chicken from bones. Chop the fennel bulb and add back into the pot. Put meat back in crockpot and cook on low for 4 hours. Serve over noodles or biscuits if desired.

Cornmeal Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a food processor or large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the cornmeal with the flour, salt, sugar, cayenne pepper,baking powder and baking soda. Cut the butter into dry ingredients until the mixture is about the texture of cornmeal. Separately mix the egg with the buttermilk, and stir all but 2 tbsp.of this liquid into the dry mixture. Mix just enough to make a uniformly moistened dough. Dust a clean board with half the remaining cornmeal, and place on dough. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cornmeal,and with floured hands, gently push the dough into a circle about a 1/2" thick. Cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, and place biscuits close together on a greased baking sheet. Brush top of the biscuits with reserved buttermilk mixture. Bake in the preheated oven until puffed and brown, about 12 minutes. Serve warm.

Garden Fresh Green Beans

Ingredients:
1 pound green beans
1 medium sweet onion, sliced thinly
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth

Snip ends off green beans; halve lengthwise, then crosswise. Sauté onion in butter until soft in medium sized pan. Stir in beans and toss. Add the remaining ingredients, and heat to boiling. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until beans are just tender. Serve.

Blueberry Upside Down Cobbler

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch salt
3 tablespoons butter, cut in pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine the blueberries and 1 1/2 cups water in a non-aluminum pan. Bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes; remove from heat and cool. Pour mixture through a wire mesh strainer into a bowl; reserving the berries and juice separately. Beat shortening and 1 cup sugar in a mixing bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Combine flour, baking powder and 1/8 tsp salt, and add to sugar mixture alternately with milk beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into greased 11 x 7 inch baking dish and spoon reserved berries over batter. Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, nutmeg and pinch of salt. Sprinkle over berries. Dot with butter. Combine reserved blueberry juice and lemon juice; pour over top. Bake at 375 for 35 to 45 minutes