Italian Chopped Salad

I found this in a newspaper last year. We had just enough left over for lunch tomorrow.

Dressing -
3 tbsp dried oregano
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed and patted dry
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper

1 large head of Romaine, sliced into strips, washed and dried
16 oz can Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup Kalamata olives
Cherry tomatoes
2 oz Provolone cheese, sliced to 1/4 inch thin matchstick
2 oz Genoa Salami, sliced to 1/4 inch thin matchstick
Fresh Mozzarella, sliced to 1/4 inch thin matchstick

To prepare the dressing combine anchovy fillets and oregano in food processor and pulse until pureed. Add vinegar and pulse a few more times. With motor running, slowly add the oils, process until dressing is emulsified. Add salt and pepper. The dressing will keep refrigerated up to 2 weeks. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

To prepare the salad combine all ingredients in large bowl. Serve with dressing on the side.

Fried Chickpeas with Chicken and Apple Sausage and Swiss Chard

 

Wow that's a mouthful. This is a Mark Bittman recipe that I have made before. The original recipe calls for Chorizo Sausage and Spinach. Well all I had was the Chicken and Apple Sausage and Swiss Chard. Honestly I liked this better than the original. This is a perfect recipe for when you realized that you have been relaxing all day and kind of forgot about dinner...

Dinner At My Sister's House

NO PHOTOS! I realized half way through dinner that I had not taken a picture of any of the food we had eaten. I was having a wonderful time and enjoying an amazing meal and I forgot...
But I can tell you all about it...
We started with a cold antipasti. 2 cheeses, Olives, Hot and Sweet Soppressotta, Pickled Eggplant and Artichokes and Roasted Peppers and this amazing bread. I got a picture of the bread because my sister gave me a loaf to bring home.

For dinner we had homemade pasta with a Bolognese Sauce. Both were from Lidia Bastianich recipes. I actually tried to make the pasta recipe that Ralph made, it uses olive oil, and it did not work for me. The sauce was delicious.
There were 2 nice wines served... no I did not write down the names.
Then there was dessert. A Lemon Meringue Pie. I wish I had another piece right now!

Chicken Francais & Shaved Summer Squash Salad

I had this recipe cut out from local newspaper from last year. It is from J Roo's restaurant in North Haven. A reader wrote into the food writer asking if he could get this recipe for her. I am glad she asked for the recipe. It was delicious. 

Chicken Francais

10 oz. chicken breast, pounded

1 cup flour

3 eggs beaten

6 oz vegetable oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

6 oz chicken stock

1 tsp Parmesan cheese

1 oz butter

salt and pepper to taste

Dip chicken breast in flour and then in eggs. Heat oil on high heat and place chicken in until golden brown. Drain oil, leaving in the pan and flip (Okay I removed the chicken and then poured the oil out so I would not either drop the chicken or the pan!). Add wine, and be careful for any flame-up, lemon juice, pinch of flour, chicken stock, Parmesan, butter, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes on medium high flame. 

The recipe is written for one serving. I used a whole breast chicken breast that I butterflied. I also only used 2 eggs. I did not change the amount of any other ingredients. There was plenty of sauce for the extra meat.

 Now on to the side dish. Shaved Summer Squash Salad is from the new issue of Bon Appetit. So this was officially the first "summer" salad for the year. Chris and I both liked it a lot. It will be showing up on the blog quite often this summer.
Chris picked up a couple bottles of a wine we had not tried before. 2009 Pennywise Cabernet Sauvignon. It is from the Sebastiani Winery. It was a nice choice!

Homemade Ricotta Cavatelli with Vodka Sauce

This was a thank God for the freezer meal. I had the Cavatelli that I made a while ago in the freezer and a jar of vodka sauce in the cabinet. Also had some Whole Wheat Ciabatta bread and a bottle of Castello D'Alobola 2006 Chianti Classico. (The wine was not in the freezer!) A really nice wine for the price!

Baked Pork Ribs with Hoisin Barbecue Sauce

All day I kept thinking about dinner. I fixed the ribs before I left for work and Chris popped them in the oven and put a wonderful dinner on the table. Ribs, Fries and Corn... As delicious as I imagined. Click here for the easy recipe.

Chicken Cacciatore

From Sunday's Kitchen. Simply delicious! Have you visited Sunday's Kitchen yet? What are you waiting for?

Pizza Campofranco

Yesterday I noticed that I had a new follower! I visited her site and was blown away! Tonight's dinner and maybe another meal this week will be from her blog. The blog is Sunday's Kitchen. She is from Naples! I am always in search of real Italian recipes... which is why the cookbook La Cucina is my favorite cookbook. Anyway this recipe was a big hit. The crust was amazing and the filling was prosciutto and fresh mozzarella. Need I say more? I looked for and found this recipe in La Cucina but the Sunday's Kitchen recipe used prosciutto so the choice was obvious!
And it looks like we have another pizza fan...

Crispy Fragrant Jumbo Shrimp

 

It seems that whenever I make a new Jamie Oliver recipe it becomes my new favorite. This recipe was so good. Crispy shrimp and it required no frying... glad I did not install that double fryolater someone recommended. We even had the arugula salad that was mentioned in the recipe.

Olive oil
3 large handfuls of breadcrumbs
A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
A handful freshly grated Parmesan cheese
8 large king shrimp, peeled, heads removed and butterflied
A small bowl of seasoned flour, for dusting
2 large eggs, beaten
Sea salt and pepper
4 handfuls of arugula, washed and dried

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rub a baking pan with olive oil and put it to one side. Put the breadcrumbs into a bowl, add your parsley, lemon zest, a glug of olive oil and your Parmesan, mix it all up and spread the mixture on a baking sheet to dry.

Toss the shrimp in the flour so they're nicely coated and shake off any excess. Dip then into the egg, letting any excess drip off, then put the shrimp on to the sheet of breadcrumbs. Shake the tray to coat each prawn, using your hands to press the breadcrumbs and flavors into each one--you want them to be completely coated. Put the shrimp in your oiled baking pan and bake them in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes or until crispy and brown.

When done, sprinkle the shrimp with a little salt and divide between your plates. Lightly dress the arugula with olive oil and lemon juice and season. Add a handful to each plate, and serve each with a quarter of lemon.

From Cook With Jamie By Jamie Oliver

I picked up a new book at the library today.  Alice Waters In the Green Kitchen, Techniques to Learn By Heart. It seems like a nice late night reading... will report back on it.

Ravioli with Bacon and Red Peppers

 I have had this recipe for years. I usually make a variation of this from time to time. But tonight we went we the original dish...

2 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 bacon slices, chopped
1 7 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, drained, sliced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup chicken broth1 bag frozen cheese ravioli, cooked
freshly grated Parmesan

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bacon and cook until onion is tender and bacon is cooked, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Stir in peppers, peas and broth and simmer one minute.
Add the ravioli and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with Parmesan cheese.