Showing posts with label Italian Food Forever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian Food Forever. Show all posts

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Pancetta Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Rolls And I Finally Made Ricotta


The past 2 nights I have gone out. At one time going out on both a Friday and Saturday night was not a big deal. But I stayed awake past 10pm two nights in a row! Tonight I wanted to make a nice dinner. I found the recipe for  Pancetta Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Rolls on the Italian Food Forever blog. This was so good. My sauce did have a couple of lumps, but I am sure no one noticed. It tasted amazing! Click here for the Recipe.

Now the side dish. I hear people talking about their "Bucket Lists" all the time. I don't really have a list. But making ricotta would be on it if the list existed. I did it. I made homemade ricotta. Why have I not made it before now. I have no idea. It is really delicious. It was scary how easy it was. The hardest part was not letting the milk/cream boil over. I found the recipe on What's Cookin' Italian Style Cuisine. Love the results.
So I have this homemade Ricotta and I need to use it. I found the recipe for Zucchini and Ricotta on Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome blog. Wow, wow, wow. Perfect for the summer. The lemon and olive oil, also known as my favorite dressing. And the Ricotta was such a treat!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Porterhouse Steak

 
If I am going to eat meat this is the cut of meat I prefer. The Porterhouse Steak. It is like 2 steaks wrapped in one.

 The Porterhouse is kind of a composite steak coming from the point where the tenderloin and top loin meet. Basically an over-sized T-Bone steak the porterhouse is thicker cut and has much more of the tenderloin relative to the loin portion. If you remove the bone and cut out the two steaks that basically make up this steak you will get a tenderloin steak and a top loin (or New York Strip Steak). So if you are ordering a Porterhouse, I hope you're hungry.

Chris used a dry rub consisting of coriander seed,salt, ground mustard, fennel seed, paprika, black pepper and chili powder.
    The steaks were grilled perfectly.

    For side dishes we had grilled potatoes and new zucchini recipe, always need new zucchini recipes!

    I found this on Cookstr. It is from Sarah Leah Chase's book, Nantucket Open-House Cookbook.

    Summer Squash Casserole, adapted from Sarah Leah Chase's recipe.

    Ingredients -
    1 tablespoons olive oil
    5 medium zucchini, sliced ¼ inch thick
    1 medium red onions, thinly sliced
    Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
    Thyme and Pasley
    5 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
    4 ounces Swiss cheese, sliced ¼ inch thick

    Method -
    Preheat the oven to 375°F.

    Brush a 7-inch round soufflé dish with the oil. Arrange a layer of summer squash slices evenly in the bottom of the casserole. Top with a layer of onion and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs. Dot with Cheddar cheese and Swiss Cheese. Repeat the layers. Finish with a layer of cheese. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil.

    Bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the squash is tender and the cheese is bubbly and browned, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

    And I made a new appetizer recipe.  Balsamic Glazed Mortadella Bites, which I found on Italian Food Forever. I have always liked Mortadella. This is a super easy appetizer.

    Balsamic Glazed Mortadella Bites, from Italian Food Forever.

    Ingredients -
    1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
    1/3 Pound Mortadella Salami, Rind Removed & Cut Into 1 1/2 Inch Cubes
    2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

    Method -
    Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until smoking. Add the mortadella cubes, and cook, tossing the cubes often, until they are lightly browned on all sides. Add the balsamic vinegar and toss to coat. Cook for another minute or two until the vinegar thickens and coats the meat. Serve immediately.

    Sunday, October 21, 2012

    Pancetta Wrapped Polpettone In Red Wine Tomato Sauce

    Other possible blog titles - "I have had dreams like this."
    Or "Winner!"
    Yeah this is a meatball wrapped in bacon. What's not to like about that. I found this on Italian Food Forever. With a pound of meat you make 4 giant meatballs. You wrap them in Pancetta or bacon, I did them both ways because I ran out of Pancetta! You brown the meatballs in olive oil then you make the sauce and put the meatballs in the sauce and let them cook. So darn easy and so amazingly delicious. The only part I had trouble with was turning the giant meatballs to brown on all sides.
    Click Here for the recipe and plan on spending a lot of time on this site, lots of good recipes there.


    So what did we have for dinner 1 year ago?
    Friday, October 21, 2011
    Risotto With Chicken and Arugula

    So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?
    October 21, 2010
    No Post

    So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?
    Wednesday, October 21, 2009
    Squash and White Bean Soup

    Sunday, May 6, 2012

    Stuffed Chicken Thighs in a White Wine Caper Sauce

    Stuffed Chicken Thighs in a White Wine Caper Sauce. I know you are probably saying the same thing Chris said, "Chicken Thighs?" Yes chicken thighs. I just prefer them to the breast. And they are inexpensive. So lets give them a try.
    I found this recipe on Italian Food Forever. If you have time you should spend a little visiting the site. It is packed with lots of recipes I would like to try.
    Tonight's dinner was more on the fancy side for a Sunday night in our house, the is the home of Sunday night pizza.
    So why stop at the stuffed chicken thighs, I had some fennel left over from Friday night's dinner so I made Braised Fennel. It was okay. But I would have been happier with zucchini.
    And with all this stuff I decided to keep the starch simple. Perfectly cooked Arborio Rice.

    And before dinner we had a couple of visitors. First there was the turkey.

    Then there was the duck who did not know what to make of the turkey so she left rather quickly.
    And as I was getting ready to post this Chris said the male and female duck were back. I am sure the male duck did not believe his mate when she told him about the turkey!

    Wednesday, August 24, 2011

    Grill Chicken with Fresh Tomato Sauce

    Chris grilled the perfect chicken breast.  He marinated it in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, white balsamic vinegar and fresh sage, 3 leaves to be exact. It was very moist. I made the tomato sauce which I had found on Italian Food Forever.
    We had sides of grilled zucchini and white rice.
    Is it just me or is that photo blurry? 

    Monday, August 22, 2011

    Bread and Cheese Meatballs

    Polpette Pane e Cacio. I found this on Italian Food Forever. The Polpette were nice and light, at least I thought so, and the sauce was fantastic!