And The Nominees Are...

Yes, we have a nominee for the best of list for 2016. I know it is early in the year, but the fact is this will be tough to beat. Tonight we had the leftover Beef Bourguignon. I had put the leftovers in the freezer and they were as delicious, if not more, delicious than the night the dish was made. Let's see if we can do anything else this month that might beat out the Beef Bourguignon.

Chicken Parmesan

Yesterday I made "those chicken cutlets" and I made and extra batch. With the extra batch I did not use the lemon dressing. Instead I topped the baked cutlets with "that sauce" along with some fresh mozzarella. Wow! Best Chicken Parmesan!!!! Even the photo looks delicious.

Only to make my life easier, here is the recipe for those chicken cutlets. If you try this recipe you have to watch the video of the grandson cooking with his Nonna. It is priceless and so dear.

Frank Pinello's Nonna's Chicken Cutlet Recipe -
These are my notes from the video. You will need to watch the video to get the whole recipe.

1.   Mix eggs with Parmesan Cheese
2.   Mix bread crumbs, flour, pepper, Parmesan Cheese and parsley
3.   Coat baking pan with oil
4.   Toss chicken in a bowl with the egg/cheese
5.   Coat chicken with bread crumb mixture
6.   Place chicken in pan
7 .  Drizzle oil on top
8.   Heat oven to 350 and then raise temp to 450.
9.   Place tray in middle of oven
10. Mix lemon juice, parsley, pepper and oregano
11. Flip cutlets when they look like they do in the video (!!!)
12. Dip baked cutlets in lemon bath.

Ziggy?

 

Today started with the news that David Bowie passed on. 

Sad does not really come close to how I feel. 

His music was the soundtrack of my youth.

By George, I Think I've Got It!

 

It has been a while now. I have tried and tried to make a Stuffed Artichoke that came close to what my mom use to make. They were a meal by themselves. In all my attempts the stuffing was not perfect. Until tonight. Delightful. Delicious. Every bite brought back wonderful memories. I used the same recipe that I have been using for a while but tonight I nailed it. The only thing I did different was maybe I used more bread. Maybe more olive oil. Or perhaps it was the Hail Mary's as I was mixing the stuffing. I figured that wouldn't hurt.

Oh that leftover Pot Roast, I turned it into a Shepherd Pie. Chris liked it. I was only focused on that artichoke!

And the recipe for those Artichokes can be found here.

And while you are at the Food Blogga check out the Rice Pie recipe. Amazing!

I do not usually post fund raisers on my blog but this one is close to home. The wife of Jim Babjak, the lead guitarist in our favorite band, The Smithereens, was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. The cancer has spread to her lungs and liver and is now considered Stage 4. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help with ongoing bills and to continue Betty's treatment and care. Click here for more information and to make a donation.  If you can not make a donation please keep Jim and Betty in your prayers. Thank you.
                                                            

Easy Italian Style Pot Roast

Last weekend I went to the library and took out The Complete Crockery Cookbook. Tonight's recipe is from the cookbook. Honestly I was not head over heels about this dinner. I think it was over cooked and bland! Yes I know this is only my second Crock Pot dinner but just not crazy about it. I am not even going to type out the recipe. It was not a keeper.

Of course there are leftovers for tomorrow night. I am looking forward to the other thing I will be making tomorrow night for dinner. Sorry no spoilers here. Stay tuned!

Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

This past weekend I did an inventory of what I had the freezers. We have a freezer in the garage, my savior, and the one in the kitchen. I was pleased to find a few things I could use up this week for dinner, and next week too! I had made Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash back in November. Of course I made too much stuffing so I froze what was not used. I picked up an Acorn Squash on Saturday and tonight we had a delicious dinner. Maybe it was because all I had to do was stuff the squash with the prepared stuffing (a lot less dishes to wash!!!) and pop it in the oven. Here is a link to the blog post with the recipe. Not much time to write tonight, 2 hour crossover episode of NCIS!!!!

Happy Birthday to the Woman Who Taught Me How To Cook!

 

Today would have been my Mom's 95th birthday. This year will be 10 years that she has passed. Damn, I miss her a lot. Hence this silly little blog. Tonight I made a soup that I remember my Mom making, Stracciatella with Pastine. The broth was from batch I made up before Christmas. Thank you freezer! I added the egg to some of the broth and crossed my fingers. I whisked away and it came together perfectly. I knew my Mom would smile if she saw what I had done. I made a pot of soup that looked and yes tasted just like she use to serve us. 

Stracciatella with Pastine.

(there are no amounts or times in this recipe, 

my Mother would have said to add as much as you need
and you will know how long to cook it.)

Heat oil in a pot. Saute diced onion and sliced carrots until tender.

Add chicken broth. Simmer. 

Put some of the broth into a small pan and bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat and slowly add beaten eggs. 

Whisk until the eggs they come together, the texture should be like scrambled eggs. 

Add the eggs and broth to the soup pan. 

Add frozen mixed vegetables and chopped spinach, fresh or frozen. 

Add cooked chicken meat. Adjust the seasonings to your preference.

Make the pasta, thin noodles or pastine in a separate pot and add to soup before serving.

And I did add one thing to this recipe. I squeezed a little lemon juice in at the end.  

 

 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Pizza Night!

 

Pizza with the Works, Borzillo style.

Those Chorizo Meatballs from the other night and sausage, peppers and onions from a meal that will appear later this week. The dough was Jim Lahey's recipe, of course. Baked at 450 degrees in the convection oven for 25 minutes. "Delicious!"

The small pie was spinach and olive. Yeah that was darn good too!

Chicken Bake

When I was working on my Year In Review post and I saw this recipe I knew that I had to make it very soon. Well tonight was as soon as I could make it. The chicken was on sale for $1.99 a pound! I love the flavors of this dish. The toasted bread, the roasted tomatoes, the olives, the perfectly baked chicken and then the pancetta. You have to try this recipe. Trust me on this.

Jamie Oliver's Chicken Bake-

Ingredients-
Small ciabatta loaf
8 chicken thighs or drumsticks (I used a whole chicken cut into parts)
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
Bunch of basil, leaves picked
1 garlic bulb, broken into cloves, skin on
Handful of black olives, stoned
Olive oil
1 dried red chili
8 slices of pancetta, or thin-sliced smoked streaky bacon

Method-
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚.  Get a deep roasting tray big enough to fit all the chicken in one layer. Rip the ciabatta into medium-sized chunks and place in the tray with the chicken, tomatoes, basil, garlic cloves and olives. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and the chili. Toss to mix up well, then reposition the chicken on top. Bake in the oven, turning the chicken after 30 minutes.

2. After another 30 minutes, drape the pancetta or bacon on top of the chicken and return to the oven for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and falling off the bone.

Chorizo Meatballs with Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

For Christmas I received Cooking Like A Master Chef by Graham Elliot. As I flipped through the book the first recipe that jumped out at me was Chorizo Meatballs. The recipe included a Spicy Tomato Sauce but I knew what sauce I wanted to use, Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter. 

 

I had some pasta that I had ordered from Borgatti's in the Bronx. Spaghetti alla Chitarra. It was the prefect pasta for the sauce and the meatballs.

I did make a couple of adjustments to the meatball recipe. The original recipe called for chives. I did not have any. It called for 2 Chorizo Sauasages. One was plenty. It called for 2 eggs. I went with one and the meatball mix was prefect to handle. The recipe also called for sumac and cayenne pepper. Didn't add it. And it called for lemon zest. Last year Chris got me another cookbook that called for lemon in their meatball recipe. I added it and we did not like it. So I left out the too.

My version of Chorizo Meatballs-

Ingredients-
3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 small onion, diced
 8 oz. ground pork shoulder
 8 oz. lean ground beef
1 Spanish chorizo sausages, casings removed, sausage meat minced
1 eggs
2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 c.)
1/2 c. dried breadcrumbs
1/4 c. red wine
1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt

Method-

In a large skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. When hot, saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent and softened. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl, mix pork, beef, sausage, egg, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, wine, parsley,  and a little salt. Add cooled onion and garlic. Using your hands, work mixture until ingredients are well mixed. 

Season with salt. Roll meat between your palms to make 20 small meatballs, about the size of walnuts.

In another large skillet, spread remaining oil (you only need a film of oil to coat the skillet) and heat. Brown meatballs on all sides and transfer to baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

And I made scones for breakfast today. I found this recipe on Local Kitchen Blog. These were delicious!

Ginger Orange Scones from Local Kitchen Blog-

Ingredients-

2 cups (9 oz) whole grain all-purpose flour
1 cup + 2 tbsp (4.5 oz) whole wheat pastry flour
2 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup turbinado sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
Zest from 2 medium oranges (about 2 tbsp)
6 oz (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, frozen for at least 30 minutes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger
3/4  cup chilled  milk, plus extra for glazing

Method-

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (375 F convection).

In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; whisk for approximately 1 minute until well blended.  Transfer flour mixture to the bowl of a food processor.  Add butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Mix orange zest and chopped ginger into flour mixture.

Gradually add the liquid, tossing with a fork until moist clumps form.  Stop adding liquid when it seems the dough will stay together; if the dough is too sticky, the scones will lose their shape upon cooking. If the dough seems crumbly and will not hold a shape, add more liquid 1 tbsp at a time.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead briefly to bind the dough; about 4 turns should be enough.  Cut the dough in half, and form each portion into a 1- to 2-inch thick round.  Cut the round into 8 triangular pieces with a sharp knife or pastry cutter. Transfer wedges to a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet, spacing approximately 2 inches apart. Repeat the process with the other half of the dough.

Using a pastry brush, glaze the tops of each wedge with the extra milk. Sprinkle a small amount of turbinado sugar on top for added crunch.

Bake for 10 minutes (8 minutes convection), then turn pans in oven 180 degrees.  Continue to bake for 10-15 minutes (7-12 minutes convection), until the tops of the scones are golden brown and they feel somewhat firm to the touch.

Transfer to wire racks to cool.  Let cool 5 minutes before serving.