Saturday, March 26, 2022

Pork Rib Chops with Peppers


This is a Martha Stewart recipe. The last time I made this was in 2018. Got the same reaction from the other side of the table as I did the first time I made it. Rave reviews!!!

Ingredients-

2 bone-in pork rib chops (each about 8 ounces and about 1/2 inch thick)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 pound sweet peppers (2), such as red and yellow bell peppers, stems, and ribs discarded, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rings
1 medium red onion, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
2 sprigs of fresh basil, plus small basil leaves, for garnish
2 tbsp cider vinegar

Method-
Season chops with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chops, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Cook peppers, onion, and basil, gently stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften and turn golden in places, about 7 minutes.

Return chops along with any accumulated juices on the plate to skillet, placing them on top of vegetables.

Add vinegar, cover, and cook until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of chops (do not touch bone) reaches 145 degrees, about 3 minutes.

Discard basil sprigs and divide chops and vegetables evenly among 4 plates. Garnish with basil leaves.

Monday, March 21, 2022

Sausage with Fennel and Olives

We have not made this recipe in a while. The recipe is from Lidia's Favorite Recipes

I prepared the dish yesterday, so Chris just popped it in the oven to reheat tonight. One dish! Easy cleanup for a Monday night!

Somebody even went back for seconds, so I would say it was a tasty dinner. Personally, I love the flavor of the cooked fennel and the olives add just the right bit of salt. 

Ingredients-
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 sweet Italian sausages (about 2 pounds)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 cup large green olives, squashed and pitted
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method -
Pour half of the olive oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages; cook, turning occasionally until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes or more. Carefully add wine and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Transfer sausages to a platter; pour the cooking liquid over the sausage.

Add remaining olive oil to skillet over medium heat. Add the crushed red pepper in it for a couple of seconds. Add olives; toss and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add fennel chunks and stir to combine. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, cover skillet, and cook over medium-high heat for 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fennel softens, and begins to color. Add a little water to the pan if the fennel remains hard; you want it to be wilted but not mushy.

When the fennel is cooked through, return sausages and wine to skillet. Toss together with fennel and cook, uncovered for about 5 minutes. Adjust the season to taste.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

One Pot Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

I made this recipe back in 2014 for the first time. This time I made 1/2 the recipe and we had enough for dinner and a little leftover.

One-Pot. That is what I like for a Sunday night recipe. Dinner came together in less than 30 minutes and did I mention only one pot to wash. Okay, there was also a measuring cup and a cutting board, and a knife.

Two thumbs up from the other side of the table.

Ingredients-
4 strips bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cups beef broth
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard
1/ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 ounces pasta
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Method-
Cook the bacon in a large pan over medium heat, about 5-7 minutes, set aside on paper towels to drain and drain the grease from the pan.

Cook the ground beef and onion in the same pan over medium-high heat, about 5-7 minutes, and drain any excess grease.



Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and pasta, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered until the pasta is al dente tender, about 12 to 15 minutes.


Season with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle on the cheese and simmer, covered, until the cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes, and serve garnished with the bacon.

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Slow Cooker Guinness Corned Beef


This is the only recipe I will ever use for making Corned Beef. I love the blog this recipe is from, What's Cooking Italian Style. The recipe is so very easy and the meat comes out perfect. I even like the way the cabbage came out. 


If you want the recipe, and you do want to try this one, Click Here to view the recipe on the original site. And check out the other recipes. Lots of good eats there.

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Pork Tenderloin Medallions


"This is delicious." That was the remark from across the table. Dinner came together in about 45 minutes. That included the boiling to the potatoes for the smashed potatoes. Click here for the potato recipe. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.


At first, I was hesitant about lemon and pork, but lemon and rosemary go hand in hand so I figured why not. Delicious!!!

The recipe is from Fit Diary.


Ingredients-
1pork tenderloins
1 tbsp. olive oil for browning the meat
½ tsp. dried rosemary
1 small lemon sliced
salt and pepper, to taste

Method-
Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
Wash the tenderloin with cold running water. 
Pat them dry on paper towels.
Cut the tenderloin into 2-inch-thick pieces. 
Season with salt and pepper on all sides.
Heat the oil in a large skillet.
Add the pork medallions and cook, turning once, until browned, about 2 minutes on each side.
Transfer the pork to a medium baking dish. 
Sprinkle with rosemary and garnish with lemon slices.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 150°F.
Serve warm and enjoy!

Sunday, March 6, 2022

Sunday Sauce Type of Day with Air Fryer Meatballs and Some Italian Bread

 

Let's just start by saying I have Monday off so I could relax in the kitchen today. No pressing urgency that I had only one day to do the cooking for the upcoming week. So I made meatballs. 

This is our house Meatball recipe-



THE MEATBALL RECIPE -
 I tear up a couple pieces of bread, either a roll or Italian bread, and add that with a small amount of milk to a bowl and let it sit. You want the bread to get mushy. Squeeze out as much milk as you can from the bread.

Add the meat, I use beef and pork and veal, or just beef and pork. One egg, Parmesan Cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix it gently with your hands and shape it into whatever size meatball you like. Yes, I use a kitchen scale so they are all the same size.

Preheat air fryer to 400°F.
Place meatballs in a single layer in the air fryer. Turn the air fryer down to 380°F.
Cook meatballs for 12-14 minutes or until browned and the center of the meatball reaches 165°F.

After the meatballs were "frying" I started the sauce. Ground beef, sausage, and ground veal into a saucepot. Brown the meat in some olive oil, sorry no measurements here, just cook with your heart. Add chopped onions and saute until translucent. Drain off as much of the grease as possible. Add the tomatoes. I used Tuttorroso crushed tomatoes because that is what my Mom used. Add the Air Fried Meatballs, salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, basil, parsley, and let simmer covered for about 2 to 3 hours.


That Italian Bread

I have been using this recipe for quite a while. It usually comes out of the oven with all the heels of the bread in place. Not sure what or who got their hands on the bread. The recipe is from Noshtalgia blog. I make the French bread recipe and call it Italian Bread.

Here is the recipe that I absolutely love!

Ingredients-
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. soft shortening
4 c. sifted all purpose flour

Method-
Measure flour into bowl, add water, then yeast. Let yeast dissolve thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Let set 10 minutes, then cut through dough with a wooden spoon. Do this 5 times at 10 minute intervals. Turn dough out on floured board and divide in half. Let rest for 10 minutes, then roll each ball into a loaf. Make several diagonal slashes across each loaf. Let rise double. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.










Saturday, March 5, 2022

Finally a Steak Pizzaiola Recipe That I Like







My Mom made the best steak pizzaiola. It is one of the recipes that I kick myself for not watching as she made it. Another lost recipe.

I have tried other recipes. Even winging it and hoping I could somehow channel what my Mom might have used in her prep. But never ever was it close the her recipe.

Until tonight. I found a recipe for steak pizzaiola that I now will use every time I make steak pizzaiola. Chef Bill Parisi Cooking Techniques and Homemade Recipes. I googled steak pizzaiola and his recipe was one of the top recipes to show up. Wow!! Dinner in under 30 minutes. Of course, I did not use the garlic, but still the aroma in the kitchen was quite inviting.

The steak was cooked perfectly. Chris loved this. I loved this. Yeah!!!!

Friday, March 4, 2022

Air Fryer Fish and Chips

It is Lent. We are starting off with Fish and Chips. I took care of the fish. The chips were frozen hush puppies and Chris was on Tartar Sauce.

Everything was delicious and yes, Lucy loved the fish!


Air Fryer Fish Sticks

Ingredients-
2 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp Paprika
1 cup all-purpose flour
10 oz. Cod, cut into sticks
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
pinch ground black pepper
Tartar Sauce for serving

Method-
Combine the eggs and milk in a bowl.

Pour the breadcrumbs and paprika into a pie plate, or some dish that has sides. 

Pour flour into a second pie plate.

Coat the fish sticks in olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Dip the fish sticks into the flour, then the egg mixture, and finally the breadcrumbs.

Insert the Fry Tray into the basket of the air fryer.

Set the cooking temperature to 350˚F and cooking time to 3 minutes to preheat the air fryer.

Place the fish sticks in the basket. Insert the basket into the air fryer.

Set the cooking time to 12 minutes.

Flip the fish sticks halfway through the cooking time.

Serve with tartar sauce.




Thursday, March 3, 2022

Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken

Winner, Winner! Sheet Pan Dinner! Under 30 minutes. Easy cleanup. Rave Reviews from both sides of the table! The recipe is from the Recipe Critic.


Ingredients-
For the Sauce
6 tablespoons low sodium-soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
3/4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water plus more as needed to thin out sauce

For the chicken and vegetables
2 medium skinless boneless chicken thighs or breasts cut into 1" inch cubes
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups chopped z
1 red bell pepper cut into chunks
1/2 green bell pepper cut into chunks (optional - for extra color)
2/3 cup roasted unsalted cashews

Optional garnishes
Chopped green onions

Method-
For the sauce:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, honey, sesame oil, ginger, cornstarch and water until combined. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the chicken and vegetables
Preheat oven to 400°Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or foil coated with cooking spray and set aside.
Season chicken with salt and black pepper. then drizzle spoonfuls of sauce over the chicken coating well on both sides. Reserve at least half of the sauce for later.
Cook in preheated oven for 8 minutes, then remove the pan.
Arrange the broccoli florets, bell peppers and cashews in a single layer around the chicken. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and drizzle spoonfuls of the sauce and toss everything to coat. Return to the oven and cook for another 8-12 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.**
Remove pan from oven and drizzle with remaining sauce. I served this over rice and garnish with green onions.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Fettuccine Alfredo


Ash Wednesday 2022. No meat. Not a problem. There is always Fettuccine Alfredo. I made the pasta on Sunday. I really love the pasta attachment for the KitchenAid. I made enough pasta for 2 meals. Freezing both portions. 

Tonight I made the only Fettuccine  Alfredo recipe I know.

Ingredients-
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
Dried egg fettuccine
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)

Method-
Melt butter in a large saute pan.
Cook fettuccine in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, then drain fettuccine in a colander.
Immediately toss the fettuccine with butter and salt in the sauté pan, then slowly add 3/4 cup cheese, tossing constantly and adding enough cooking water to keep pasta moist.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.