French Onion Sliders

I could just put this recipe on repeat. We both love these sliders. Another easy meal. If you line your baking pan with foil you should only have one pan to wash.

This recipe is from Delish.com. The recipe calls for Roast Beef from the deli department. I have made it like that once. But I like to use Steak Sandwich meat. There is a brand that is sold around here that is called Old Neighbor Beef Shaved Steak. I pick that up and divide the package into 2 portions. Using the seal-o-vac, I have 2 meals.

If you were to use the Roast Beef, you could do the Au Jus sauce, even cook the onions ahead of time and then put everything together at dinner time

This is my version of the original recipe. This makes enough for the 2 of us.

Ingredients-

4 tbsp. butter, divided

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 sprigs, plus 1/4 teaspoon of fresh thyme

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 slider buns, halved

1/2 lb. Beef Shaved Steak

4 slices provolone cheese

3/4 c. low-sodium beef broth

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Method-

Preheat the oven to 350°. 

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. 

Add onion and thyme sprigs and season with salt and pepper. 

Cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 15 minutes. 

Discard thyme.

Remove onions to a plate.

Melt 1 tbsp of butter in the skillet and add steak, cooking it through.

Place the bottom halves of slider buns on a baking sheet or 9" x 9" baking pan, lined with aluminum foil, and top with steak, provolone cheese, caramelized onions, and slider bun tops. 

Bake until cheese is melty and sliders are warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, make the au jus: 

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter to the same skillet and melt over medium heat. 

Add beef broth, Worcestershire, and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. 

Simmer until slightly reduced, 10 minutes. 

Serve sliders with au jus for dipping.

 

Fettuccine Con Capicola E Pangrattato

 

This is one of my favorite pasta dinners. Comes together in 20 minutes. I made an ingredient edit. I did not have the fresh marjoram in the house. I used Italian seasoning in its place. I used dried fettuccine instead of the spaghetti.

Ingredients -
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 ounces Capicola, cut into small cubes (I used the hot Capicola)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
6 tablespoons fine plain bread crumbs
1/2 pound spaghetti
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method -
In a large skillet, heat half of the butter and oil over medium heat until butter is melted. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 7 minutes.
Add Capicola and Italian seasoning: cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Transfer onion mixture to a plate. In the same skillet, lightly brown bread crumbs in the remaining butter; add onion mixture back to the pan and stir to combine.
Remove from heat, and cover to keep warm.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil. Add spaghetti and cook to al dente; drain. Transfer spaghetti to skillet with onion mixture, toss to combine, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meatball Salad

Super easy Friday night dinner! The meatballs were made a couple of weeks ago and were in the freezer.

The salad stuff was picked up at Bishop's tonight on my way home from work. It was a delicious salad served with our new favorite Blue Cheese dressing and Parmesan Chips.

 

Pollo all'Arancia e Olive

In English - Chicken Breast with Orange and Gaeta Olives.
From Lidia's Commonsense Italian Cooking.

Here is a link to the exact recipe from the book on Lidia's site. 

I got home from church at 5:45. 

Dinner was on the table by 6:35pm. 

That included the Arborio rice and the roasted Buttercup Squash. 

Not bad for timing and quite delish!!

That Buttercup Squash is a new product we tried. It was featured in the Bishops Farmers Market newsletter this week so I picked it up for a try. It is Sodium Free, high in Vitamin C and A, and Potassium.

I cut it into 1/5 inch slices, brushing it with olive oil and seasoning it with salt, pepper, and crushed sage. Roasted it at 375˚. 20 minutes. Flip and in for another 15 minutes.

Meatball Salad

I made meatballs on Sunday using the air fryer. 

I also made Marcella Hazen's Butter and Onion Tomato Sauce.

. 
Put the two together and make a salad.

Aunt Carm’s Braciole

This recipe is from Italian Sons and Daughters of America.  

Easy to prepare during the weekend for a weeknight heat and serve dinner.

For 4 braciole

Four top rounds – cut quarter inch
1/4 pound of Italian lunch meats: capicola, provolone, sliced thin
Meatball mixture – raw (breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, spices, ground beef, ground pork, and egg)
One hard-boiled egg – sliced
Olive oil
Cooking twine

Assemble:

Pound out top round pieces nice and flat.

Layer the lunch meat and cheese. I used Capicola and Provolone.

Spread the raw meatball mixture. 

I used the house meatball mix. 

Ground Beef and Pork with egg and Parmesan Cheese, this time I used bread crumbs instead of bread soaked in milk. 

Seasonings were salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning.

Layer the hard-boiled eggs on top of the meatball mixture.

Make sure to fold up the ends and then roll them into a little package. 

Tie with string. 

Heat a pan over medium-high and add olive oil.

Brown braciole on all sides and ends.

Drop package into the simmering tomato sauce and cook for three hours.

Slice and serve.

Steak Au Poivre Soup

When I first mentioned that I was making Steak Au Poivre Soup for dinner the reaction was questioning. I found the recipe in the Soup edition of Delish Magazine.

After the first bite was taken, it was requested that we have this every 3 days.

It was really that good. I started the recipe at 5:45PM and we sat down to eat at 6:30pm.

I made 1/2 of the original recipe which serves 4 people. 

I used a sirloin steak, which is more affordable than the filet mignon. My favorite part of the recipe was the fried shallots.

• Ingredients-
• 3 tbsp. 

  whole black peppercorns

• 4 

  (4-oz.) filet mignons or 2 (8-oz.) sirloin steaks, sliced in half 
  

  Kosher salt  
• 1/2 c. 

  plus 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 

• 4 tbsp. 

  (1/2 stick) butter

• 2 

  thyme sprigs, plus 1 tbsp. chopped leaves

• 2 

  large shallots, 1 finely chopped, 1 sliced into rings

• 1/4 c. 

  all-purpose flour

• 1/4 c. 

  cognac or brandy 

• 5 c. 

  low-sodium beef broth

• 1 1/2 lb. 

  waxy baby potatoes, quartered 

• 1 c. 

  heavy cream

• 2 tbsp. 

  Worcestershire sauce

Method-
Grind peppercorns on the coarsest setting of a pepper mill (you can also use a mortar and pestle, or wrap peppercorns in cheesecloth and smash with a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy skillet). 

Season steaks on both sides with a generous pinch of salt and crushed peppercorns, pressing peppercorns into the meat. 

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 tbsp. of oil until shimmering. 

1. Cook steaks, gently pressing to make sure you don’t lose any peppercorns until well browned on one side, about 3 minutes. 

1. Flip steaks and add butter and thyme sprigs. 

1. Continue to cook, spooning butter over the steak, until tops are crusty and well browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 135°, 2 to 3 minutes more. 

1. Transfer steak to a cutting board and let rest until ready to use. 

1. Strain the remaining fat in the skillet and reserve. 

1. Wipe out any large chunks of pepper from the skillet. 

1. Return reserved fat to the pan, then cook chopped shallot over medium heat, stirring often, until softened, about 2 minutes. 

1. Add chopped thyme and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

1. Add flour and whisk until combined. 

1. Cook, whisking constantly, until flour darkens slightly, about 2 minutes. 

1. Whisk in cognac until smooth, then slowly whisk in broth. 

1. Add potatoes and bring to a simmer. 

1. Cook until potatoes are tender and the soup is thickened, about 15 minutes. 

1. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream and Worcestershire. 

1. Cook, stirring, until warmed through and combined, about 5 minutes more.  

1. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook sliced shallots and remaining 1/2 cup oil, stirring occasionally, until oil begins to bubble around shallots, 2 to 3 minutes.

1. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook until shallots are golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes more.

1. Using a slotted spoon, transfer shallots to a paper towel-lined plate; season with a pinch of salt. 

1. Let cool slightly. 

1. Divide soup among bowls. 

1. Cut steak into cubes, then top bowls with steak and fried shallots. 

Beef Bourguignonne Pot Pie

Sounds pretty fancy, doesn't it. 

I found this recipe on the Bon Appetit site. I fixed the filling on Sunday and tonight I just put the filling into a pie plate and put the puff pastry on top. It only took about 25 minutes in a 400˚ oven. 

The crust was as good as you would expect, it was puff pastry after all. The filling, well it did needed a bit more seasoning. Some creamy horseradish sauce on the side fixed that.

Want to try this yourself - Click Here.

Bacon and Onion Pizza

 Jim Lahey Pizza crust recipe. The toppings were cooked bacon, thinly sliced onion, tomato sauce, Parmesan, fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, Olive oil, and oregano. Into a 450˚ oven for about10 to 15 minutes.

Happy Anniversary!!

31 Years!!!

We decided to eat at home tonight.

I stopped by Luizzi's in North Haven and picked up some
Octopus Salad and Stuffed Peppers for an appetizer.

Also picked up some Italian Bread and even some imported pasta
to go with our Meat Sauce.

The bottle of wine was from my boss, a very nice Malbec from Argentina.

A perfect dinner.

Happy Anniversary!