Kale, White Bean and Chicken Sausage Soup

Started by sauteing chopped onions and carrots. Added some sliced Chicken Kielbasa. Next I added the chicken broth. Cooked the kale until it was tender. Tossed in the cannellini beans and let it all simmer. Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper. We both went back for seconds!

Braciole in Marinara Sauce

 

The Braciole recipe is from Mario Batali's Simple Italian Food. Last time I made this was back in 2009. In the book Green Olives are added to the sauce. I didn't have the olives but I made a darn good marinara sauce this morning. The meal came together in less than 40 minutes, that did not include the time for the sauce.

For side dishes I made couscous and Roasted White Asparagus. It was the first time I had White Asparagus and it will not be the last time. I love the taste! Regular Asparagus... Blah. White Asparagus... Yum!

Porchetta Sandwich

Slow roasted pork. What else can I say...

Other than click here for the recipe!

Well I can say something... like it was really good.

Quick Chicken Cordon Bleu

One of the newsletters I receive is EatingWell.com. This week they featured a recipe for Quick Chicken Cordon Bleu. It was quick and very good. I used Prosciutto, of course, and added thyme to the breadcrumb mixture.

For sides I sauteed the extra vegetables I had from last night's dinner and also picked up Risotto Cakes from Whole Foods. Wow. Risotto, Peas and Goat Cheese. The man behind the counter suggested I cut them in half when heating them. Good suggestion!

Fettucine With My Favorite Things

Dinner started out being just Fettucine Alfredo. Then I went to the store and saw Broccolini and decided to add veggies to the mix. Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Red Bell Pepper and the Broccolini were sauteed along with some diced Pancetta (I did say my favorite things). I used the recipe for Fettucine Alfredo from La Cucina for the sauce. I added a little of the pasta water at the end. It was a nice looking dish and quite good.

Italian Wedding Soup

This is one of my dad's favorites.  When I was growing up my mom made a soup that looked just like this. Actually that image is what I used to make this soup. The vegetables were cut a certain way and size. The spinach and pasta was added. And the egg. Mom use to put egg in her chicken soup. I boiled some of the broth in a small pan and dropped in an egg that was slightly beaten. I stirred it around in the boiling broth until it looked like consistency I remembered from my childhood. For the broth I used my chicken broth that I made a couple of weeks ago and froze.  Wow. A wonderful meal!

Fried Chick Peas and Chicken Sauasage

Happy Valentine's Day. Did a slight twist on a Mark Bittman recipe. In the Mark Bittman recipe which I made back in March of last year, he used Chorizo. Tonight I used Chicken Sausage with Roasted Red Pepper and Asiago Cheese.

I made Mashed Potatoes as a side dish because it is Valentine's Day and I love Mashed Potatoes!

Breaded Pork Chops and some cookies...

For dinner I breaded Pork Chops. First I  browned them in a saute pan. Next I put them in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Made some rice and zucchini. Pretty simple.

I did a little baking today. After all tomorrow is Valentine's Day... From the Silver Palate Cookbook, Linzer Hearts.

 

And from Smitten Kitchen, Expresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread. Wow they are good!

Gnocchi a la Vodka and...

Did you ever wake up thinking about dinner? Well tonight we went to Quattro's for my birthday dinner with my sister and her husband.
We started off with cocktails and appetizers. Fried Calamari, Clams Casino, Crab Cake and Bruschetta.
For dinner I had the Gnocchi a la Vodka. What an amazing meal. The Gnocchi are so light it is like eating puffs of air. Chris had the Veal Matesse. Ralph had the Lamb Osso Bucco. And Lenore had a seafood soup with coconut milk
Seeing my meal was so "light" I was able to polish off a serving of Tiramsu! We had a nice bottle of Merlot, Chateau Ste Michelle Washington State with dinner.
So far this has been my favorite meal of 2011. It will be tough to top this.

Zuppa Arcidossana

 

 This recipe came from a Mark Bittman New York Times article. I made it for the first time back 2009. It is delicious and the comment tonight was that we can have this anytime!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 cup 1/2-inch-diced carrots
1 large onion, chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and black pepper
1 cup stale bread (use coarse, country-style bread), cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound spinach, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup ricotta salata, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (feta may be substituted)
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley, optional.

Method

1. Put oil in a large pot or deep skillet and brown sausage over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When sausage is cooked through and leaving brown bits in pan, add carrots, onion and garlic, and continue to cook until vegetables begin to soften and brown, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Add bread to pan and stir for a minute or 2; add spinach and continue cooking just until it wilts, a couple of minutes.
3. Add about 2 cups water and stir to loosen any remaining brown bits from pan. This is more of a stew than a soup, but there should be some broth, so add another cup of water if necessary. When broth is consistency of thin gravy, ladle stew into serving bowls and top with cheese and some freshly chopped parsley if you have it. Serve immediately.

Forgot to add the cheese for the first photo...