Braised Beef Short Ribs

I took a break from the La Cucina cookbook today. I actually revisited some older blog posts that I had bookmarked. Tonight's dinner comes from Smitten Kitchen, Braised Beef Short Ribs. There are certain meals that remind me of winter and Short Ribs is one of them. Probably because having the oven on for 3 hours in the summer is not going to happen. This is an easy to prepare dish. The house smelled so good today. Kramer was beside himself trying to get to the ribs. Archie did not seem to notice...

As a side dish I made one of my favorites, Roasted Cauliflower. The last time I had Roasted Cauliflower was when I got it from La Rosticceria. I loved it and I wanted to try to make it myself. I found a recipe which seemed close to what I had from La Rosticceria. It was as good. Yippee! The recipe if from the FoodNetwork.com. We also had mashed potatoes.

Did a bit of baking this weekend. I made Hot Cross Buns. I got the recipe from my sister who got it from our mom. They came out perfect, nice and moist. Hot Cross Buns are the best part of Lent.

Homemade Rough-Cut Pasta with Leeks

Has anyone seen the film Food Inc? It will make you rethink your trip to the grocery store.

Tonight's recipe came from La Cucina. Its crazy how the recipes in this book are pretty simple to make and the results are so good. Homemade Rough-Cut Pasta with Leeks, Maltagliati Di Porro, from the Piedmonte region. I have been trying different homemade pasta recipes. Tonight I tried Giada de Laurentiis's recipe. 3 cups flour, 4 eggs, 1 tbsp. salt and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Winner! Next time I will try the recipe in La Cucina. That one calls for olive oil and lard... I checked online and Crisco is good substitute for lard and there is a now a non-trans fat Crisco.

Anyway back to the recipe...

For the sauce:
2 tbsp. butter
4 leeks, cleaned and sliced in rounds
1/2 cup heavy cream
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt

Roll out pasta in a thin sheet (set machine to last setting) and cut in medium-size squares. (Note: Have plenty of space set aside to spread out dish towels sprinkled with flour to place your cut pasta).
Meanwhile, heat the butter in a pan over low heat. Saute the leeks until softened.
Cook the pasta in lightly salted boiling water.
Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the leeks. Stir in the cream, add the cheese and serve hot.

We had a nice bottle of Coppola 2006 Syrah-Shiraz. I could really taste the black cherry and strawberry. Just not sure what a currant tastes like.

Cod with Peppers

This should have been Sole with Peppers but amazingly the 2 stores I went to were out of sole. So Cod was substituted. Once again a recipe for La Cucina. This comes from the Calabria region. The recipe was simple and very good. Very, very good.

Ingredients
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced (oops I forgot to add this)
3/4 lb. sweet peppers, cored, seeded and minced
1 2/3 cups chopped fresh plum tomatoes (I used a can of plum tomatoes)
2 lbs. sole, cleaned, rinsed and dried
Salt

Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the onions and garlic until they take on color, then add the peppers and tomatoes
Cook at low heat for 15 minutes, then add the sole.
Add salt to taste, cover the pan, and cook at low heat, shaking the pan from time to time.

For dishes sides I sauteed spinach and made some minute rice.

Vegetable Soup with Squash and Barley

Zuppa Di Legumi Con Zucca E Orzetto, Vegetable Soup with Squash and Barley, from the Puglia region. Another recipe for La Cucina.
When Chris first saw the soup he did not seem impressed. After his 2nd bowl I knew it was good. And was it good. I had Roasted Butternut Squash in the freezer and White Bean Puree from a previous soup. I used the puree with a little vegetable broth so we had another meatless meal.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
4 oz. yellow winter squash, peeled and cut into cubes
2 cups broth
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
1 garlic clove
1 medium onion
1/2 lb. legumes (chickpeas, cannelli, and/or cranberry beans), cooked, liquid reserved
6 oz. barley cooked in water
1 tsp. chili-pepper flakes or 1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
Peasant-style bread, slice and toasted
Salt

Method
Heat half of the olive oil in pot; add the squash and saute until it begins to take on a little color.
Add the broth, and simmer until the squash is done; set aside and keep warm.
Chop together the celery, carrot, garlic and onion. Heat the remaining olive oil in a pot and saute the vegetables; add the legumes and their water, then add the squash and barley.
Adjust for salt and add chili pepper flakes or parsley. Serve with slices of toasted peasant-style bread.

Baked Macaroni with Eggplant

Another recipe from La Cucina, The Regional Cooking of Italy. Timballo Di Maccheroni 1, Baked Macaroni with Eggplant. This recipe comes from Sicily.
Unfortunately the camera is in hiding... I think either Kramer or Archie might know its whereabouts. But back to dinner.
This was a delicious dinner. For being a baked macaroni dish it was very light. It used the sauce I had made on Sunday and put on the pizza. This dish will reappear in the blog at sometime. I cut the recipe in half but this is the recipe as it appears in the book. The recipe calls for lardo. I did not use lardo so this meal was meatless. Perfect for Lent.

Ingredients
3 eggplants, cut in thin lengthwise strips
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lardo, minced
1 garlic clove, crushed
3/4 lb. fresh plum tomatoes, chopped and seeded (I used canned San Marzano tomatoes)
3/4 lb. macaroni rigati
2oz. caciocavallo, sliced
tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt

Method
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a baking dish. Put the eggplant slices in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and leave for 30 minutes to make them lose their bitter juice.
Heat 1/4 inch of olive oil in a pan. Rinse and dry the eggplant slices and fry them; set aside.
In a saucepan heat the lardo and 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic; add the tomatoes and season with salt; cover and cook at low heat.
Cook the macaroni in salted boiling water; drain when al dente.
In the baking dish arrange alternating layers of macaroni, tomato sauce, eggplant, and caciocavallo, continuing the layers until no ingredients are left. Place pats of butter across the surface and bake for 10 minutes.
Unmold onto a serving dish and cut in wedges to serve.

Chicken Noodle Soup

It was a cold winter's night... perfect for Chicken Noodle Soup. The broth was from the batch I made using my sister's chicken broth recipe. The chicken was from a rotisserie chicken I had picked up at the store. I sauteed chopped carrots and onions. Added the chicken broth, diced chicken, fresh chopped spinach and some frozen mixed vegetables. I seasoned the soup with thyme, salt and pepper. The noodles were prepared in a separate pan and added to the soup. It was warm and nourishing. Next time I have to remember the Saltines...

Meatloaf with Gorgonzola, Bacon and Onions

Today I had off for President's Day so I was able to make Meatloaf for dinner. I have made this recipe before and it always turns out quite good.
Saute one chopped white onion and 1/2 chopped red onion and one chopped carrot. Add the cooked vegetables to 1 1/2 lbs. meat and add 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tbsp horseradish mustard, 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, panko bread crumbs and chopped cooked bacon. Mix then add Gorgonzola. Put in greased loaf pan. Coat with ketchup and sprinkle french fried onions. Bake 350 for 1 hour.

We had mashed potatoes and steamed zucchini as side dishes.

Pizza with Steak and Onions

Happy Valentine's Day!
I like pizza (actually any type of bread) and Chris likes Steak and Onion. It was the perfect combination. The pizza dough was from the My Bread book. I used a sauce that I made to go with our Ash Wednesday dinner. Check back for that recipe. I used Steak-Ums, white and red onions, Provolone and Mozzarella cheese. It was so good. I still think putting oil on the baking sheet really gives the crust an extra crispness.

Breaded Pork Chops with Swiss Chard and Ricotta

I was sure I had Panko breadcrumbs in the cabinet. I was sure I had some kind of breadcrumbs, but I was wrong. That is how dinner preparation began. I made breadcrumbs from some wheat bread. Dipped the pork chops into egg and then into the breadcrumbs, to which I had added sage, rosemary, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. I put the pork in a baking dish that I sprayed with Pam. Popped them in a 350˚ oven for 25 minutes.

I had some Swiss Chard and found a recipe in La Cucina for Torta Di Bietole E Ricotta, Swiss Chard and Ricotta. The recipe comes from Sicily. Very easy to prepare.

Ingredients
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 lbs. Swiss Chard
10 oz. ricotta
3 large eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a baking dish with olive oil. Parboil the Swiss chard until tender, about 5 minutes, and drain well. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large pan and add the chard. Cook until totally wilted.
In a bowl, crush the ricotta with the tines of a fork, add the eggs and chard, and salt and pepper lightly. Put this mixture in the baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.

Also served Israeli Couscous on the side.

Pan Seared Diver Scallops

Tonight Chris took me out for dinner. We went to Friends and Company. We started off with cocktails, of course. For appetizers we shared Maryland Style Crab Cakes served with a Chipolte Aioli and Shrimp Fritters with a Mango Relish.

For dinner I had Pan Seared Diver Scallops and a Portabello Mushroom that was stuffed with lobster and crab meat. Wow! Chris had a Cajun seafood sauce which had lobster and shrimp in it which was served over rigatoni. Another delicious dish.

For dessert we split the Apple Crisp. I also had a hot chocolate with Peppermint Schnapps. Perfect ending to a long week.