Gotta love Saturday nights.

Got home from my dad's to find my husband making an awesome salad. He did the grocery shopping for me and got some good stuff.

He also had pork tenderloin marinating in Paul Newman's Lemon Pepper Marinade. He cooked that on the grill while I was in charge of the zucchini and rice. A bottle of a 2005 California Merlot, Wisteria Cellars and we are talking about a fantastic dinner.

So I Have the Broccoli Rabe

I was at my dad's today and I cleaned out his freezer. Now keep in mind he is 92 and lost his wife 3 years ago to Alzheimer's Disease. It was not as bad as it could have been. Only a couple of things were questionable, is it pork? was it chicken? But then I found a container in the back of the freezer. I immediately recognized my mother's handwriting. It said "Meat Sauce, March 16, 1994." I froze. Here was the stuff that dreams were really made of. Is it still good after 15 years? I could not throw it out. It will remain in my dad's freezer until who knows...
Back to the broccoli rabe. My dad actually has more broccoli rabe than I do. He pulls out this dish from the fridge and asks what he can do with it. I say well we can make a frittatta.
Today's lesson was that you can not make a frittatta in a non non-stick pan. At least I can not. I did my best and it was not the prettiest frittatta I have ever made but it tasted quite good.

Ravioli with butter and what!

Okay, every week I post a menu. It makes it easy because my husband gets home before me. On Friday I had posted Ravioli with Butter and Cheese. Simple not fussy and good. I got home late and walked into the smell of tomato sauce. My husband made tomato sauce to go with the ravioli. Wow it was good! Tomatoes, onions, olive oil and crushed red pepper. It brought the Ravioli to a whole new level than what I originally planned. Smiles.

Monte Chris Sandwiches

Thursday, May 7 2009
No there is not a typo in the title. My husband, who shall remain nameless, made dinner. So the recipe is named after him. (oops!) I found a recipe in this months Bon Appetit for a Monte Cristo sandwich. The recipe called for a Spanish sheep milk cheese which I found at the store. But at $11 for a small slice we made a few changes.
I had Prosciutto, salami, ham and provolone cheese. We constructed our sandwiches, dipped in eggs and put in fry pan. Flip after 4 minutes and cook the other side.
Something about fried eggs and bread that just tastes really good. The sandwiches were quite filling. We used mustard as a dipping sauce.

Wow this is good!

That was my husband's comment as we ate dinner. Spicy stir fry chicken. Recipe was in this month's Bon Appetit. As we were finishing up I realized I had not taken a photo! Well it was fast and really tasty. I will be typing the recipe shortly. Just a very busy day at work and I am sure if I typed anything right now there would be a typo somewhere.

Mom's Baked Macaroni

I know every one's mom made the best baked macaroni but this is my blog so it is my mom's that is the best.

I was spoiled as a child. There I have admitted it. Whenever my mom would make something I was not really fond of there was always that dish of baked macaroni that would appear from the oven. The top was toasted and crunchy and the inside was tender and cheesy.

I think if I had to pick my last meal this would be it.

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.

Rolled Flank Steak with Green Olives and Oregano

My husband gave me the Mario Batali's Simple Italian Food for Christmas. This recipe was really easy and I think I will reach for this book more often.

I made this yesterday, Sunday, so it was easy to reheat after work. My husband made the risotto. Arborio rice, lemon peel and sage. A great match for the meat. But tomorrow I am looking forward to a meatless meal.

The original recipe is for 4 servings but I made enough for the 2 of us.

3 cups of your favorite tomato sauce
1 cup green Italian olives, preferably Ascolane
3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 cup chopped Italian Parsley
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 3/4pound Braciole
Salt and Pepper
flour for dusting
1/4 olive oil
1/2 dry red wine

In a medium saucepan, combine the tomato sauce, olives and oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer while you assemble the braciole.

In mixing bowl, mix cheese, parsley and nutmeg. Lay pieces of steak on a board and season with salt and pepper. Divide the cheese mixture evenly over the meat. Roll up each piece like a jelly roll and tie with butcher's twine. Season with salt and pepper and roll in flour to coat.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Place 4 steak pieces in skillet and brown evenly. Transfer to plate and repeat with remaining rolls. Pour off the cooking oil. Add the red wine and stir the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. Add the simmering tomato sauce and bring to a boil Add the beef rolls and simmer uncovered 10 to 15 minutes, until the meat is cooked through. Remove the meat to a heated platter, pour the sauce over, and garnish with the remaining tablespoon of oregano.

Very tasty and the house smelled very good. Also have enough sauce left over to use with tomorrow night's dinner...

And now for something completely different

Sausage, Fontina and Bell Pepper Strata

Sunday Night, May 3
This recipe is from Bon Appetit, June 2009. I had never made a Strata. I made a couple of changes in the original recipe because I did not have all the right ingredients. So here is what I did -

6 large eggs
3 cups milk
1/2 cup Romano Cheese
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound sweet Italian sausages, casing removed
1 large bell pepper, cut in 1/2 inch wide strips
1 loaf Italian bread
2 cups coarsely grated Fontina cheese

Spray Pyrex square pan with cooking spray.
Whisk 1st five ingredients in large bowl. Sprinkle with pepper. Set aside.
Cook sausage and pepper until sausage is cooked through and the peppers are brown in spots about 7 minutes.

Arrange half the bread slices in the prepared pan. Pour half the egg mixture over the bread. Sprinkle with half of the cheese, then half of the sausage-pepper mixture. Repeat laying. Let stand 20 minutes, occasionally pressing on bread to submerge. Bake Strata until puffed and brown, about 1 hour. Cool slightly.

I am classifying this as comfort food. The bread, the egg and cheese are perfect.
I had enough to make a small casserole to bring to my dad. I see the possibility for a lot of variations with the recipe.

If I knew you were coming I would have baked a cake.

Yes there it is, the famous shot cake. There are certain things that just make you feel good. This was my Aunt Marie's recipe. Fortunately my sister had a copy. When I was mixing the batter looked and it looked like it should have I was happy. When I took it out of the oven and it looked just like my aunt's cake I was happy. And oh it smells so good. I am afraid to taste it because I am not sure I will be able to handle that much joy...
Yes it was as good as I remember.
: )

Here is the recipe-
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup spry
2 tsp vanilla
Beat the above ingredients together for 15 minutes.

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt

Fold 1 cup milk into egg mixture. Add flour to egg mixture and blend well on low speed. Add 1/2 cup chocolate shots. Mix. Pour into a well greased 10" tube pan. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool inverted on rack.

Steak, Potato and Veggie.

Saturday night, after watching a very exciting Kentucky Derby, my husband, who will remain nameless, proceeded to grill the most delicious steaks. Granted they were the first steaks on the grill this year. I was on vegetable and potato detail. Sauteed Zucchini and Baked Potato, okay microwaved potato. We had a nice bottle of wine, El Matador, from Spain. Not a bad wine at all.