Shrimp and Spinach and Proscuitto and Polenta

Dinner at Friends and Company tonight. And I had 4 of my favorite things in one dish. Shrimp and Spinach and Proscuitto and Polenta. It was shrimp and pesto wrapped in prosciutto, sauteed and served over sauteed spinach and a piece of polenta. There was a little garlic vinaigrette drizzled around the plate. What sold me on the dish was the proscuitto and the polenta. It was so good. Sorry no photos...

Chris had medallions of Filet Mignon with a demi glace over rigatoni. We started with Coconut Shrimp and Cod Fritters, which were made with cod, capers and potatoes. We had a bottle of Fat Cat Pinot Noir with our meal.

Nice ending to the work week.

Chicken Puglia and Chicken Balsamico

New to go place! La Rosticceria is our new find. Not far from home it is perfect for a dinner to go stop.

The food in the showcase was breath-taking, for me anyway. For dinner tonight I had the Chicken Puglia which was made with chicken, artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, olive and sun-dried tomatoes. The chicken was so tender and the peppers and artichoke hearts were so tasty. And the portion was large for me.
Chris had the Chicken Balsamico which was made with Chicken, hot cherry peppers, tomatoes, scallions and balsamic vinegar. I tasted the meal Chris had and it was spicy and good. Both meals came with green beans.

Finished off the meal a chocolate cookie. Why didn't I buy cupcakes at La Rosticceria? Next time.

Baked Pasta with Salami

I am pretty tired tonight so I will get to the point. This was a delicious meal. I love baked macaroni. Salami, Mortadella and the Béchamel sauce brought it together nicely. I found this recipe on lacucinaitalianamagazine.com. I will be revisiting this site quite often.

Curried Potato and Spinach Soup

A nod is a good as a wink to a blind horse... is a blog I recently started following. I like the writer's style. The recipe for this soup interested me. We do not use curry powder a lot. Reading the health note at the end of the blog entry caught my attention.
Chris loved it. He went back for seconds and I think he had a little more. I was not really counting (past the 2nd bowl) because I was enjoying the soup myself. The recipe calls for 1 to 2 teaspoons of curry powder. I used just one. Didn't want to over do it the first time I made the recipe. Here is the recipe as it appears on A nod is a good as a wink to a blind horse...

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 to 2 teaspoons curry powder *
⅛ teaspoon thyme
4 cups chicken stock
1 ½ pounds potatoes, peeled
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup fresh baby spinach

* This depends on how much you like curry

Melt the butter in a large pot then add the onion, carrot, garlic, curry powder and thyme. Stir while cooking for 4 to 7 minutes. Add the potatoes and seasoning. Then stir in the stock.

Simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are falling apart. Add the spinach, stir through then turn off the heat. Ladle the soup into warmed soup bowls and serve with the garlic toast.

I would recommend reading A nod is a good as a wink to a blind horse... It is like visiting with a old friend.

BBQ Roast Beef with Cheddar Sandwiches

On of the blogs I follow, Closet Cooking, had this recipe posted. As soon as I read it I knew Chris would enjoy it. First I had never thought to make my own BBQ sauce. The result was very good.

I picked up Roast Beef at the deli counter (it was on sale this week). Shredded the meat and mixed it with the sauce. Placed the beef on half of a sliced roll and put the cheddar cheese slices on top of that. Popped in under the broiler, yes I almost burned them but luckily did not. It was very good. A perfect Sunday night meal. Go Saints!

Another one of the blogs I follow, Proud Italian had a soup posted that I had to try - Beans, Greens and Broken Spaghetti Soup. It used Swiss Chard. I found out that Swiss Chard is packed with Vitamins K, A and C to name a few. The recipe was super easy and the result was very tasty. The flavor reminded me of something my mom made. And there is no meat in it, except for the chicken broth. I was planning on serving this later in the week but I called my dad who 92 years young, seriously he has more energy than I do, and he has an awful cold. So tomorrow I will be making a soup delivery.

The only change I made in the original recipe was using egg noodles instead of the spaghetti, which I was sure was in the pantry.

Sogliola Fresca Fiorentina

Sole Florentine in English. We ate at Bellini's with my sister and her husband. I had the camera but we were so busy talking I forgot to take photos.

We started off with Crab Cakes and Fried Calamari. They serve these garlic knots in their bread basket which are fantastic. For dinner I had the Sogliola Fresca Fiorentina. Sole Florentine in English. Chris had a special which was a Porterhouse steak with cherry peppers and onions. My sister had the Eggplant Parmesan and her husband had the Sogliola Fresca Almondine. The food was very good. But we were too stuffed for dessert.

Roasted Cod with Olives

I receive a newsletter from RealSimple.com for recipes. A couple of days ago I received an email with the subject line of - A Deliciously Easy One-Pot Fish Recipe. One Pot... I am in. I visited a local fish market and was happy to have walked in the store. The proprietor was very helpful and the fish was a nice quality. The recipe called for Pacific Cod. He only had a small piece left but suggested Cod which was brought in today from Cape Cod. It was very easy to make and delicious. Chris and I both enjoyed it. The recipe is for 4 serving.


Ingredients
2 pounds Pacific cod or some other white fish fillets (such as halibut)
3/4 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
1/2 cup mixed olives zest from 1 lemon, cut into strips
1 tablespoon olive oil kosher salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions
Heat oven to 400° F. Place the fish in a small roasting pan. Add enough wine (about 3/4 cup) to reach halfway up the sides of the fish. Scatter the olives and lemon zest around the fish. Drizzle with the oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the red pepper. Roast until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the parsley. Divide the fish among individual plates and spoon the olives and wine sauce over the top.

I made steamed snow peas and picked up some fantastic wheat and potato bread to go with dinner. I used a 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, from Cupcake Vineyards. So between the wine and the crushed red pepper this was not a dish for a kitty, no matter how cute. Sorry Archie.

Drunken Cheesy Bread and Vegetable Stew

Drunken Cheesy Bread. Just the name sounds good. We had a vegetable stew so I knew some sort of meat should appear on the table. This was a great side dish. It was just delicious.

Ingredients
butter for the pan
1/2 baguette, cut into 2-inch slices
1/2 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/8 pound thinly sliced cooked ham
3/4 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated Gruyere

Directions
Heat oven to 400° F. Place the bread in a buttered ovenproof skillet, a 9-inch square baking dish, or a casserole. Scatter the onion and ham over the bread. Pour the wine over the onion and ham and sprinkle with the pepper and Gruyère. Bake until the cheese has melted and begun to brown at the edges, about 20 minutes. Spoon onto individual plates.

Vegetable Stew. This was a good stew. The broth was spicy from the cumin and crushed red pepper. The next time I make this I will cut the veggies smaller that what the recipe says.

Ingredients
4 large carrots, diagonally sliced into 2-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 16-ounce can chickpeas, drained

Directions
Combine all the ingredients except the zucchini and chickpeas in a heavy, covered saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Add the zucchini and beans during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Shells Stuffed with Sweet Potato and Spinach

I found this recipe on the Proud Italian blog. I did not have enough Butternut Squash, used it for last night's soup but I did have a sweet potato. So I roasted the potato and used that in place of the squash. Also had marinara sauce left from Saturday night's dinner so used that instead of the sage butter. Oh it was so good. Had some of the bread I made yesterday, the No Knead Bread. It is the perfect bread recipe.

Butternut Squash Soup and Pizza Sfogliatella

I was checking out the Gourmet site and noticed the Diary of a Foodie. I remember the show had been on a season ago and did some investigating and came upon Pizza Sfogliatella. It looked fascinating. Last week when I made the pizza dough I made extra so I pulled some out of the freezer. I rolled it out nice and thin and the result was delicious. The layers were nice and crispy and the anchovies added just the right taste. The soup was the same recipe I made on September 28th.

For the Pizza Sfogliatella you can use your favorite crust recipe or buy the dough from a pizza shop or grocery store. I used the recipe from Cook-Italian.com.
Once you have your dough this is what you do next -

For Seasoned Oil
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons paprika (not hot)
1 tablespoon dried oregano, crumbled
1 (3 1/3-oz) jar flat anchovy fillets, drained, patted dry, and finely chopped (1/4 cup)

Make seasoned oil:
Whisk together all oil ingredients in a small bowl until combined well.

Form and bake pizza:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 15- by 10- by 1-inch shallow baking pan.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out dough into a roughly 25-inch square, turning and lightly dusting dough with flour as necessary to prevent sticking. (Dough will be very thin.)
Reserve 1 tablespoon seasoned oil and brush remaining oil over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border around edge. Tightly roll up dough jelly-roll-style and pinch seam to seal (some seasoned oil will seep out as you roll). Arrange roll, seam side down, in baking pan and form into a ring, then press ring with your fingertips until it covers bottom of pan. (It will be about 1/2 inch thick.)
Brush top of dough with reserved oil and bake until golden and top and underside are crusty, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then lift pizza from pan using a metal spatula and transfer to a rack to cool to warm or room temperature, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cut into squares.