California Central Coast Wine and Food Guide.

I don't know about you, but the McGourtys had a very hectic holiday get-together with several relatives in town for the celebration. All the "richer than normal" food and entertaining really took a toll on our systems. Many of us ended the celebration with colds. Time for some home-cooked remedies.

Under the weather for the last week and a half, I turned to my "sure-fired food weapon" of defense: Roasted Chicken Soup. What's different about this chicken soup and what makes this such a stand-out is that the chicken parts and vegetables are first roasted in a 425 degree oven for an hour. This amplifies all the flavors and goodness. Then you cook it on the stove with herbs and such to make a really deep-flavored soup that you can practically taste and feel your defenses getting stronger with each swallow!

Another standout recipe that's really mellow and easy to digest -and is very fun to eat is Steamed Mussels. We first had these when we were traveling on business (and worn out from traveling) at a little Bistro in Lyon France late one evening. Boy! Did they ever pick us up! After eating these we actually had an extra bounce to our step when we walked!

A fabulous recipe to have when you're feeling better that really warms the body on a cold night is our To Die For French- Style Scalloped Potatoes. They're the best that we've ever tasted!

We have two versions of this recipe available. The lighter version uses just Half and Half with potatoes as the main ingredients and is absolutely delicious. (As pictured.)

But if you really want a heavier and more creamy version of the recipe, you also can add heavy whipping cream in the final minutes. But be warned, the heavier version is absolutely sinful but also heavier to digest.

In both versions, the main trick to this recipe is to slice the potatoes paper- thin (2mm.) You can accomplish this task easily by using a 2mm slicing blade on a food processor or a mandoline. This speeds-up the baking process and the result is scalloped potatoes that literally melt in your mouth!

Our dessert recipe is another one we learned while traveling, in Vienna, Austria. There at the Intercontinental Hotel, we saw two patrons being served a humongous dessert of what looked like a huge platter of cooked egg white meringue with lots of shaved dark chocolate. We asked what it was and the waitress told us all about the Salzburger Nockerln , how it was made and that even though it looked gigantic and rich, it was very low in calories. That was enough to get us to try it and also to recreate it at home. It's delicious! And after most of us gorged ourselves a little too much over the holidays,Salzburger Nockerln is a dieter's dream come true! Try it for yourself!

If you've been feeling a little blah since New Years, it's probably partially due to excitement let-down and to being a little worn-out. Time to go back to "basics" and reinforce your system with some mellow foods and a couple new recipes. Try these out for size and see if they don't make the month move more smoothly for you -and before you know it, it'll be the early part of Spring!