Sorry Mom But There is a New Sauce in Town

I can not believe that I have never made Bolognese Sauce before today. I have always made my Mom's Meat Sauce Recipe. For me, there was no other. Until today...

I made Lidia's Bolognese recipe. It was delicious. Truly delicious. Amazingly delicious. And for the pasta I made hand cut Pappardelle using the only pasta recipe I have ever used, the Tide and Thyme Recipe. The pasta was a perfect match for this sauce.

Flavorful and the blend of meats were perfect. It simmered for 3 hours on the stove. The final result was perfect. I hate to say it but this might become our regular sauce... sorry Mom...

Click here for Lidia's Bolognese Sauce Recipe.

Eggs in Purgatory

If this is Purgatory, Heaven can wait. I have made this dish so many times. My mom made it. My Aunt Marie made it. My Aunt Catherine made it. Let's just say it is one of those go to recipes. And there are so many variations of the recipe. My mom use to add green beans to her sauce. I opted for zucchini and a couple of hot dogs. But the main component of the dish is the sauce. Yes it is all about the sauce. The sauce I used tonight was the leftover sauce from the Steak Pizzaiola we had on Sunday night. That sauce is from Lidia's Favorite Recipes. Tonight I sauteed the chopped zucchini in some olive oil and then added the chopped up hot dogs. I sauteed those for a few minutes then added the sauce. Once it came to a simmer I added 4 eggs, one at a time, and poached them. This was a dinner that will be remembered. Why? The sauce. It's all about the sauce.

The sauce is from Lidia's Favorite Recipes.

Ingredients-
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1-inch strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch strips
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 cups sliced white button mushrooms
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano
One 14-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano

Method-
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced garlic. Let the garlic sizzle a minute, then toss in the bell peppers and mushrooms. Season with 1 teaspoon of the salt and the oregano. Saute until the mushrooms and peppers are caramelized on the edges, about 5 minutes.

Pour in the tomatoes, and slosh out the can with ½ cup hot water, adding that to the skillet as well.

Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and the peppers break down, about 12 to 15 minutes.

The Week of No Cooking, Well Almost...

This week I did not really make dinner, well except for Thursday. The past 2 weekends have been occupied by making cookies for a fund raiser for a co-worker's friend. The co-worker asked if I would bake some cookies. She supplied all the ingredients I supplied the cookie baking. Needless to say there was no way I could cook for this week and do the cookies. So we went to the freezer.

We started the week off on a high note with leftovers from a dinner at Leon's. Chris had the Chicken Zingara, "Gypsy Chicken", boneless chicken, fennel sausage, caramelized onions, hot cherry peppers, fried potatoes, red wine vinegar reduction. This is now his favorite menu choice, unless Osso Bucco in on the goodies list. I have had this dish before and it is wonderful. I chose Risotto Funghi. Arborio rice, sautéed wild mushrooms, spinach, pecorino-romano, and white truffle essences. This is the item I will be ordering from now on at Leon's. Each little piece of risotto was like a cloud that I wanted to rest my head on. Okay maybe a little dramatic but seriously it was perfect. I was so sad when I cleaned my plate tonight because I wanted more.

To go along with the leftovers I had some Vegetable Stew in the freezer.

On Tuesday we got more snow. It started snowing right before the evening commute. It took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to get home. I can not tell you how happy I was to walk in and find Chris plating Pasta with Meat Sauce.

Wednesday was actually a nice commute home. I was home in one hour! I had Chicken Cutlets in the freezer and there was left over pasta from last night. Just the perfect amount of food.

And then on Thursday it snowed. Again. All day. It was crazy how much snow we got. Close to 8 inches in 8 hours. I do not think we will see our lawn any time soon.

Dinner Thursday night consisted of Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup from Lidia's Favorite Recipes which I was made when took my lunch break.

My version of Pappa al Pomodoro, Tomato and Bread Soup, adapted from Lidia's Favorite Recipes.

Ingredients-
1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the finished
1/4 cup onions, finely diced
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1 cup water
2 slices Italian bread, crusts removed
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried basil

Method-
In a deep, heavy 4 to 5-quart pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes.

Crush the tomatoes by hand.

Add the tomatoes and their juice to the pot. Add the water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Once the tomatoes have boiled for 10 minutes, add the bread to the pot and bring back to a boil. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the basil and adjust the level of heat to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, whisking occasionally to break up the pieces of bread, until the mixture is dense and silky, about 40 minutes. The soup was rather chunky from the bread so I used the immersion blender to give it a smooth texture.

Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in warm bowls, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. 

And about those cookies. Well, here are some photos of the finished cookies packed and ready for delivery...

Cinnamon Sticks

Lemon Shortbread

Palm Beach Brownies with Chocolate Covered Mints

Vanilla and Chocolate Butter Cookies

Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies

Lenore's Oatmeal Raisin

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Salsicce con Finocchio e Olive

 

Tonight's recipe for dinner was from this week's featured cookbook, Lidia's Favorite Recipes. I had purchased a fennel bulb a while back that I did not use all of it. I did not want to waste it so I froze it following these instructions (click here). That cut down on the cooking time.

This dish is delicious. The saltiness of the olives and the flavor of the fennel a perfect together.

Salsicce con Finocchio e Olive, Sausage with Fennel and Olives, from Lidia's Favorite Recipes.

Ingredients -
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 sweet Italian sausages (about 2 pounds)
1 cup dry white wine
6 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup large green olives, squashed and pitted
3 large fennel bulbs (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method -
Pour half of the olive oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages; cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes or more. Carefully add wine and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Transfer sausages to a platter; pour over cooking liquid.

Add remaining olive oil to skillet over medium heat. Add garlic cook about 1 minute. Clear a hot spot and cook the crushed red pepper in it for a couple of seconds. Add olives; toss and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add fennel chunks and stir to combine. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, cover skillet, and cook over medium high heat for 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fennel softens, and begins to color. Add a little water to the pan if fennel remains hard; you want it to be wilted but not mushy.

When the fennel is cooked through, return sausages and wine to skillet. Toss together with fennel and cook, uncovered for about 5 minutes. Adjust the season to taste.

Chicken Saltimbocca, Roman Style and Mashed Potato Cakes

 

Wow, what a delicious dinner. The Chicken Saltimbocca was from Lidia's Favorite Recipes. The sauce came out perfect and the chicken was so moist. The potatoes were a perfect match for the chicken and its sauce. Sadly, I had to make frozen veggies, but they were not bad. The flavors blended nicely with the chicken. And we had a appetizer, see the end of the blog for more on that.


 

Chicken Saltimbocca, Roman Style, from Lidia's Favorite Recipes

Ingredients -
chicken scallopine

salt

freshly ground pepper

2 slices imported Italian prosciutto, cut in half crosswise
4 large fresh sage leaves

all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken stock, or canned reduced-sodium chicken broth

Method - 
Season the scallopine lightly with salt and pepper, keeping in mind that the prosciutto is cured with salt. Cover each scallopine with a half slice of the prosciutto. Tap the prosciutto with the back of a knife so it adheres well to the meat. Center a sage leaf over the prosciutto and fasten it in place with a tooth pick, weaving the toothpick in and out as if you were taking a stitch. (Alternatively, you can place the sage leaf directly over the scallopine and cover it with the prosciutto.)


Dredge the scallopine in the flour to lightly coat both sides. Tap off excess flour. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until the butter is foaming. Slip as many of the scallopine, prosciutto side down, into the pan as fit without touching. Cook just until the prosciutto is light golden, about 2 minutes. (Overcooking will toughen the prosciutto.) Turn and cook until the second side is browned, about 2 minutes. Remove and drain on
paper towels. Repeat with remaining scallopine, adding more oil if necessary. 

Remove all the scallopine from the skillet and pour off the oil. Return the pan to the heat and pour in the wine. Add the remaining 2 tablespoon of  butter and cook until the wine is reduced by about half, about 3 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a vigorous boil. Tuck the scallopine into the sauce. Simmer until the sauce is reduced and lightly thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

The potatoes were actually suppose to be baked in cupcake tins, but the scone pan was in arms reach so I went with that. Basic mashed potatoes seasoned with butter, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley and Parmesan cheese. Milk and stir until smooth. Into a greased pan for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Nice. Crispy on the outside and creamy inside.

Seeing this was such an easy meal to put together, I grabbed some rice balls I had in the freezer. Doesn't everyone have rice balls in their freezer? I heated them up and opened a jar of what will be our new store bought tomato sauce. Rao's Sensitive Formula Mariana Sauce. No garlic! Thank you! It was so good! And it was on sale this week! Even better.

Sausage with Peppers, Fennel and Olives

Tonight I used the recipe from Lidia'a Favorite Recipes for Sausage with Fennel and Olives and added an extra ingredient. Peppers. They were on sale, the yellow ones and the red ones! I had to buy them. It was a nice addition to an already delicious recipe.


Sausage with Peppers, Fennel and Olives, adapted from Lidia's Favorite Recipes

Ingredients -
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 sweet Italian sausages (about 2 pounds)
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup large green olives, squashed and pitted
3 yellow or red peppers, 1/4" slices
3 large fennel bulbs (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method -
Pour half of the olive oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages; cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes or more. Carefully add wine and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Transfer sausages and liquid to a platter.

Add remaining olive oil to skillet over medium heat. Clear a hot spot and cook the crushed red pepper in it for a couple of seconds. Add olives; toss and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add fennel chunks and peppers and toss to combine. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, cover skillet, and cook over medium high heat for 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fennel softens, and begins to color. Add a little water to the pan if fennel remains hard; you want it to be wilted but not mushy.

When the fennel and peppers are cooked through, return sausages and wine to skillet. Toss together with fennel and peppers and cook, uncovered for about 5 minutes. Adjust the season to taste.