Friday, November 23, 2018

Roasted Sausage, Potato, Shallots and Bread

Today was not Black Friday at our house. It was Flour and Sugar Friday. I mixed and froze cookie dough for 6 cookies. There are 2 more that need to be made. I will bake the cookies probably the weekend of the 15th. Needless to say I needed a hands free dinner for tonight. This recipe fit the bill perfectly. And there were no leftovers so I guess it was a hit! This was a twist on a Smitten Kitchen recipe. I think Chris was glad I did not add the Arugula!

I cut potatoes and shallots. I put them on a baking sheet and tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper. I roasted them at 425˚ for 10 minutes. Then I added sausage links, brushed with olive oil, and some cubed ciabiatta bread. The pan went back into the oven for 25 minutes. I adjusted the salt and pepper and it went directly on the table where it quickly disappeared!!

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Fresh Market Chicken Pot Pie

This was the best Chicken Pot Pie I have had in a long time. It has been a while since I have made one of my own but damn this was so good! It may have been that it had the top and bottom crust that gave it the over the top taste. Next time I will try it on my recipe. This was not bad at all for a store made meal.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Mom's Baked Macaroni




The best. Just the best Baked Macaroni recipe ever!

The recipe -
Boil 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
Grease Pyrex loaf pan.
Alternate layers of macaroni and American cheese starting with the macaroni.
Break 3 eggs and pour over macaroni. Fill baking dish with milk to almost cover macaroni.
Top with bread crumbs, and parsley. Bake 350 degrees until set, usually about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Honestly that is the way the recipe was given to me.
It is pretty forgiving. Just boil macaroni and add cheese. I have used what ever cheese I have in the house. Mom used American. It is a good basic recipe you can build to fit your taste.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Steak Marinara

On a Tuesday night!! Yes! This is an under 30-minute meal. Delicious! I found the recipe on the All Recipes site. Rave reviews from the chorus. And easy as pie.

Your cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your steaks. Serve with noodles and a nice bottle of red wine.

Steak Marinara

Ingredients-
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 top sirloin steaks, not too thick
1 1/2 cup chunky pasta sauce
1/4 cup red wine
salt and pepper

Method-
Salt and pepper both sides of the steaks.
Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the steak, turning so that all sides get browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato sauce, red wine. Reduce heat to low for 5 minutes, or until the steak is cooked through.



Sunday, November 11, 2018

Classic Osso Buco

Yesterday I was out shopping with my sister and on the way home, we stopped at Ferrarro's Meat Market. I was hoping to pick up sandwich steaks for tonight's dinner. What I got instead was Osso Buco. Wow! What a fantastic dinner! I found an easy recipe on the Cooking with Nonna site. So good!

Classic Osso Buco from Rossella’s Cooking with Nonna.

Ingredients-
4 veal shank steaks approx 1 inch thick
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup red wine
3 carrots diced
2 potatoes diced
2 celery stalks diced
1 large onion diced
3 bay leaves
all-purpose flour for dredging meat
salt and pepper


Method-
Preheat oven to 350˚F
Dredge shanks lightly with flour and fry in olive oil until browned on both sides, place in a roasting pan.
Saute all veggies in the same pan until slightly soft approx 8 minutes.
Add sauce and wine and cook an additional 5 minutes
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour veggies over veal shanks in roasting pan and add the bay leaves.
Cover and place in oven for approx. 1 hour.
Remove cover and roast for 25 minutes.
The osso buco should be fork tender with a thick sauce and tender veggies.

I made Roasted Brussel Spouts and Aborio Rice as sides. Perfect dinner!

For breakfast, I made Brown Sugar Apple and Cinnamon Chip Scones. Loved these!! I have been looking for Cinnamon Chips at every local store I go into. I can never find them. Until I checked Amazon. Yup. Found them!

I was going to make just Cinnamon Chip Scones but then I noticed the apples on the counter. What happened next resulted in the best scones I have ever made.

Brown Sugar Apple and Cinnamon Chip Scones

Ingredients-
2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda, sieved
0.5 tsp salt
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 c diced apple
1c cinnamon chips (see note)
1 egg, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c buttermilk
raw sugar for dusting

Method-
Combine the flour, baking powder, and soda, salt, and sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the cinnamon chips. Stir in diced apple. Combine the egg yolk, the vanilla, and the buttermilk; stir this into the dry ingredients until just combined. Turn the dough out onto a lightly flowered surface and knead for 6-10 turns. Divide the dough in half and pat each half into a 6-7 inch circle. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Brush each circle with lightly beaten egg white, dust it with sugar and transfer the wedges to an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack; after 5 minutes, cover loosely with a dish towel until completely cool.