Sunday, September 30, 2012

Red Wine Braised Beef Shanks and A Lot of Freezer Food

Today I made the first big batch of meat sauce for the fall/winter season.
I made 4 loaves of Pain a l' Ancienne and some butternut squash soup.
Oh, I forgot the mention the 8 dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies in the freezer!

Now about dinner. Amazing. Plain and simple. I am thinking this may be a good dish for Christmas dinner. I loved it. Chris like it. And the bonus was the bone marrow. Prefect on the  bread I made today! Mashed potatoes and Roasted Cauliflower were our sides.


So what did we have for dinner a year ago?
Rocco DiSpirito at RJ Julia Bookstore

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
No Post  : (

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?
No Post  : (

Friday, September 28, 2012

Chicken, Ham, and Swiss Roulades

The Chin came to the rescue. Today I worked from home. I was planning on making a nice dinner and at lunch I had time to prep the chicken. But alas I was still working at 6:30 when Chris got home. Not a problem. He first fixed me a drink, yeah he is a keeper, and then he started making dinner. 
The chicken was quite good. The recipe was from RealSimple.com. We had aborio rice that I had in the freezer, picked up the idea from Trader Joe's who sells frozen Jasmati Rice!

Ingredients
8 small chicken cutlets
kosher salt and pepper
8 thin slices ham
8 thin slices Swiss cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil 

Method
Heat oven to 400ยบ F.
Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roll up each cutlet with a slice each of the ham and cheese. Skewer with toothpicks.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the roulades and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes.
Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the roulades until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.


We had a bottle of 2008 Frescobaldi Remole Toscana. Wow. Really liked this wine. Perhaps this should be our house wine....

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Baked Macaroni

First one of the fall. This time I added Smoked Gouda. Excellent cheese choice! Nice flavor. Chris thought there might be bacon in it when it was still in the oven. But no meat!

So what did we have for dinner a year ago?
Mini Meatloaf

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
Zucchini, Onion and Tomato Pizza

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?
Homemade Pappardella with Portebello Mushrooms and Bolognese Sauce

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Pizza Pie

I decided to call this Pizza Pie because it had 2 crusts! I made some eggplant balls this weekend and I had marinara sauce and even Pizza Dough in the freezer. I fried up some pancetta.
I rolled out half the dough and put it in the bottom of a spring form pan. Layered Mozzarella cheese, goat cheese and ricotta cheese, Pancetta and sauce. Next went the meatball, sorry eggplant balls. More sauce and Parmesan cheese. Topped with the rest of the crust. Into a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes. Yeah this was like an eggplant and bacon pizza but better!


And who is 4 years old today?
 This was Lucy on her first day with us. She was so skinny! I think her face has softened a bit too!



It is fitting that we had "Pizza Pie" tonight as the local paper reported that Flo" Consiglio, the matriarch of the Sally's Appiza had passed away. If you are ever in New Haven you have try the Sally's White Clam Pie, my favorite. Condolences to her family.



Monday, September 24, 2012

Chicken in a Pot

Okay let's get this over with. Here is the link to the Ricky Lee Jones song that has been in my head all day...

Yesterday I was checking out the Mark Bittman app, How to Cook Everything. There was an update for the app so I was excited to see what update included. I found the recipe for Chicken in a Pot. The heavens opened up and the angels sang... well maybe not but let me tell you this is truly an amazing meal. The broth was so light and the chicken was perfect... It was one of those meals that when you think about it later it makes you smile. Okay I guess I am a foodie!

And I was looking for a copy of this recipe online so I would not have to type it, sorry, and I found out that it is in a cookbook! And yes I will be purchasing this cookbook so stay tuned for more Mark Bittman!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Fried Potatoes, Chick Peas and Chorizo

A slight variation on the Mark Bittman recipe that I have made quite often. We had the potatoes leftover from last night. I fried them up along with the chickpeas and chorizo. An excellent addition. Fried potatoes can make any dish taste better.
Here is the link to the video for this recipe.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Pork Chops with Mustard-Cornichon Sauce and Mini Apple Pie

I was planning on making Pork Chops au Poivre but I did not have the sour cream the recipe called for and was not about to drive back to the store for a 1/4 of sour cream. So I went to Bon Appetit.com to find another pork recipe. I found Pork Chops with Mustard-Cornichon Sauce and I had everything in the house. Okay this was better then I thought it was going to be. The sauce was amazing and the meat was cooked perfectly. Yeah I will make this again.

For side dishes I made parsleyed potatoes and sauteed zucchini and eggplant, both were from my Dad's garden.
Now for dessert. Last Sunday when I was awake at 4AM I was checking out Pinterest. I saw this recipe for Mini Apple Pie posted by A Little Bit Funky. I love pie, it's a crust thing. But Chris and I can never finish a whole pie. So we have mini pies! What a brilliant idea. The crust was my Pate Brise recipe for the Silver Palate cookbook. They came out so cute. But next time I would put more filling in the crust.

Don't think I have posted the pie crust recipe before... so here it is.

1-1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch granulated sugar
5-1/2 tbsp (2/3 stick) sweet butter, chilled

3 tbsp vegetable shortening, chilled
1/4 cup ice water

Sift the flour, salt and sugar together into a bowl; add butter and shortening and cut them into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture is like coarse meal.
2. Sprinkle on and blend in enough of the ice water to make a workable dough, mixing water in lightly with a fork.

Turn dough out onto you work surface and, using the heel of your hand, smear the dough away from you, about 1/4 cup at a time. Scrape up the smeared dough into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Ravioli Alla Lucia


Hey that's my name! If you are a reader of this blog you can agree that if it is Friday it will be pasta and it will have zucchini in it. I had one zucchini in the fridge. So I sliced it and sliced an onion and chopped up what might be the last of the tomatoes from my dad's garden. I sauteed everything in olive oil and butter. Then I added a jar, yes I typed the word "jar", to the pan of vegetables. Wolfgang Puck Vodka Sauce to be exact.
I put Cheese Ravioli and a little bit of gnocchi in to a pot of boiling water. I  added the pastas to the sauce and finished cooking it.
It was just good. The consistency of the sauce was nice and the added vegetables gave it nice extra layer of flavor. This was not your ordinary pasta with Vodka Sauce!


So what did we have for dinner a year ago?

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
No Post!  : (
So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?
Leek and Spinach Tart

A Weekend Wrap Up

Yes we had dinner this week.  We actually had some very good dinners this week. Just could not find the time to post so here we go...

Monday, September 17

French Onion Grilled Cheese

Yes you read that correctly! I found this recipe on TasteSpotting. Caramelized onions. Actually Wine Braised Onions. It tasted like a bowl of soup! So comforting.


So what did we have for dinner a year ago?
I am not cooking tonight.

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
No Post!  : (

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?
No Post!  : (




Tuesday, September 18

Farro Soup With Chorizo


First let me say, "Happy Anniversary Stephen and Ann!"
Farro Soup with Chorizo. This was from Real Simple. I do love that site for easy but very good recipes. Today it was stormy out so the soup hit the spot. And best part is there was enough for another meal so we have soup in the freezer!


So what did we have for dinner a year ago?
Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
Jalapeno Popper Dip followed by Sole Meuniere

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?
Chicken and Thyme



Wednesday, September 19

Pork Meatballs

     
What? Pork Meatballs! Oh wait... first HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEIDI! Okay back to dinner. I found this in a Tasting Table newsletter. Something completely different. Who would have thought to have meatballs without sauce! We had it with the grainy mustard the recipe recommends. Loved this. The spiciness of the paprika and the crushed red pepper. Really nice.


So what did we have for dinner a year ago?
Baked Macaroni

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
Quinoa with Ground Meat and Soy Sauce

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese


 

Thursday, September 20

Chicken Pot Pie

Happy Anniversary Carlo and Tara!
And it is the time of year that we can start eating meals like Chicken Pot Pie. First off I cheated. I was rushed and I had to make a quick Pot Pie. I felt bad but what could I do? Yes I used Cream of Potato soup. Sigh. I did not have time to make the roux and the thought of the pans was something I was not ready to jump into. The result was a damn good pot pie. LOL! Of course the crust was perfect, that is the best part. But the next pot pie will be truly homemade... I promise.


So what did we have for dinner a year ago?
Butternut Squash Soup

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
Pasta with White Sausage and Greens

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?
Roasted Chicken Purses

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Roast Pork Shoulder, Suppli and a LIttle Baking

Last just start with the Roast Pork Shoulder. I saw this recipe posted on Living the Gourmet blog and I knew Chris would like this. The last line in the recipe says that "this is a dinner that requires patience and is worth waiting for!" Yes it does require patience, 9 hours in the oven. And it was so worth the wait!
And the taste... well let's just say it was delicious. The only change I made in the recipe was the amount of garlic. I used 2 cloves which was a lot for us! We got so much meat off of the shoulder. And another thing about this recipe is that there is a video for it too! Thank goodness. I felt like I was watching Julia Child on TV and cooking along with her!

To go along with the Roast Pork I made Suppli (Rice Balls). When I made the Aborio Rice last night I made extra so I could make these. I even fried them. So good.... The recipe is from Simple Italian Snacks.

Then there was the bread. Herb and Cheese Bubble Loaf from Frieda Loves Bread.  This was so cool. It is like a Monkey Bread. There are little balls of bread and you just break one off. And then you get another and another...


Now let's go back to earlier in the day... breakfast to be exact. From Oh My! Sugar High -Scrumptious Baked Cinnamon Breakfast Bites. I found this recipe about 4AM as I lay awake checking out Pinterest. I said to myself and Lucy, she kind of woke me up, that I would try to make these for breakfast today. I love the idea of baked donuts. And the cinnamon and sugar reminded me of the cinnamon toast my mom use to make for breakfast!



So what did we have for dinner a year ago?
Pasta Norma

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
No Post!  : (

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?