Short Rib Grilled Cheese

Yeah, you read that right. Remember the Balsamic-Braised Short Ribs from Sunday night? Well, Chris called me when I was on my way home and suggested we use the meat in Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Nice idea. What a delicious idea. And he also suggested we use the broth from the ribs as an au jus. Oh my!

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

How did my foodie pen pal know how much I love grits?
This month my foodie pen pal was Sarah from ProjectOnPurpose.com.  She sent me a 2# bag of White Grits.  I am still amazed at this. When I was little, I think it was 1967, I went to Florida with my parents and my Aunt Marie and Uncle Charlie. What a great trip. We drove and I think it took us at least 2 days to get there. I was little so time was not that important. On the way to Florida we stopped for breakfast in either Georgia or South Carolina and there was this stuff on the plate with my eggs. I asked my Dad, you remember the Ice Cream Bean story, what this white stuff was. He told me they were Grits. Well, no way was I going to eat that. I was not an adventurous eater at that age. He said to just try a taste. It was true love at first bite. I loved the texture. The flavor, I think they were dripping in butter! Ever since then if I am eating breakfast out, I look for grits on the menu. At home, I have instant grits, I know, sorry Sarah but they are so easy to prepare. But I followed the recipe on the bag and dang they are good!

I wanted to make something special with them, something Chris would eat. I found a recipe on Food52 for Grits and Goat Cheese Cakes. Perfect for Sunday breakfast. Click here for the recipe.

Thank you Sarah bringing back memories of that great trip with Mom and Dad and Aunt Marie and Uncle Charlie.

Skinny Sausage Parmesan Stuffed Eggplant

Tonight we had what may become a regular meal at our house. Skinny Sausage Parmesan Stuffed Eggplant. I found the recipe on Baker By Nature. I used Al Fresco Chicken Sausage made with Spinach and Feta. We both enjoyed this. And the possibilities for filling the Eggplant are endless. Any type of sausage, you could use uncooked and just fry it up before adding it to the filling or go with all veggies or farro or quinoa or bulgur... You see what I mean. Click here to try this delicious recipe.

Balsamic-Braised Short Ribs with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

  

Oh happy day! What a delicious meal I put on the table. And it is from Cooking Light. Balsamic-Braised Short Ribs with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes! This was such a huge hit. Chris was head over heels for this dinner. What's not to like. The meat fell off the bones, no knives required. And the potatoes, well they had horseradish in them. How perfect is that. Click here for the recipe, please try this recipe.

So being a Sunday I had to do some other cooking. There was the Foodie Pen Pal reveal that I had to do today for the Tuesday reveal. All I will say is that I love Grits! And these Goat Cheese and Grits Cake will be made again.

Meatballs and a large pan of Meat Sauce. Or Sunday Sauce if you must. More on that later in the week.

I can't tell you how good this house smelled today.

Kung Pao Chicken

When I was little and my mom would make Chinese for dinner, this was back when La Choy was new to the market, my sister would say that only my mom could make Chinese food taste Italian. It might have been her addition of black olives. Well, my Chinese cooking does not taste like Italian food. But this was really good. Not too spicy but it had a nice kick.

Tonight's recipe is from Cooking Light. Kung Pao Chicken.

Ingredients-
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced ginger
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1 large pepper)
1 cup snow peas, trimmed
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

Method-
Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until softened. Add chicken; sauté 3 minutes or until chicken begins to brown.

Combine 3/4 cup water and the next 5 ingredients (through crushed red pepper), stirring with a whisk until sugar dissolves. Add water mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Add bell pepper and snow peas to pan; cook for 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender and sauce thickens. Sprinkle with nuts.

We had ours with a side of Jasmati rice, of course.

Stovetop Chicken and Dumplings

Wow! I think that would sum up this dinner. Food and Wine supplied the recipe. When Chris walked, he said it smelled delicious in here. Chicken and dumplings. How could you go wrong. And I had all the ingredients, well, I had to pick up the shallot and the wine but that was not too bad.

The dumplings were so light. I could have gone back for seconds, but I didn't. The broth was from the freezer along with the chicken meat. You have to try this recipe. Click here to try it, you won't be disappointed.

And don't you love when a recipe calls for wine? I do!

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Note to self- take photos before you put food on the table. So this was so good it was gone before I could snap a photo. A few weeks ago, my sister appeared at my door with a few tomatoes. They were perfectly ripe. I made Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter. I blended the onion into the sauce with an immersion blender. The sauce went into the freezer until tonight. Oh My God. It could have been that we have not had home made sauce with spaghetti for quite some time but there were no leftovers. That bit of sauce in the pan disappeared with the last of the Italian bread.

Escarole and Beans Casserole

Some recipes just have to be made again. And this is one of them. I made this for the first time back in 2009. I added some chicken meat from the broth I made this weekend. This was so darn good. Perfect to make on the weekend and just toss in the oven to reheat during the week. 
 
Panecotta (Escarole and Beans Casserole)
Ingredients-
1/2 loaf Italian bread, cubed; bread can be day-old, stale or fresh
1/2 sliced onion
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 - 6 cups of cooked Escarole and Beans, recipe follows
 
Method-
Coat 9- by 13-inch casserole or baking dish with cooking spray. Spread enough cubed bread to cover bottom of a 9- by 13-inch casserole or baking dish. Saute onion in olive oil until onions are golden and slightly caramelized. Spoon this mixture over the bread. Then cover with the Escarole and Beans.
Sprinkle top generously with grated Parmesan and mozzarella and bake in a preheated 350- degree oven for 20 minutes. Move to upper shelf in oven, and broil for 5 minutes, until cheese is slightly browned. Makes 6 generous servings.

Escarole and Beans

Ingredients-
1 large head of escarole
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup cooked cannellini or Navy pea beans, canned or freshly cooked
Salt and pepper

Method-Wash escarole. Remove core, cut leaves and boil in about 2 cups of salted water until it cooks down and is completely tender. Remove from heat; reserve liquid.
Lightly saute garlic in olive oil. Add cooked beans, escarole along with enough liquid to make the mixture slightly soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook together on top of stove for 20 minutes. This can Be made ahead of time, eaten as is with fresh Italian bread or made into Panecotta.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This dinner started on Saturday when I picked up 2 fowl at the grocery store.
Saturday I made 2 large pots of broth, my sister's recipe.

 On Sunday I removed the meat from the carcasses and removed the fat from the broth.

 Wait, did I mention that one cat was very interested in the whole process.

I have 28 cups of broth in the freezers! 

 

And for dinner, I sauteed some diced onion and carrots. Added chicken broth to the pan along with some of the chicken meat, frozen vegetables, chopped spinach and seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme. I had some homemade noodles in the freezer and they were perfect in the soup.

Goodbye Summer

 

Summer officially ends on Monday but tonight we had the last grilled steak dinner of the summer. A zucchini salad and baked potatoes rounded out the meal.

Looking forward to Autumn I made Apple Hand Pies today. 

Delicious. My Dad would have loved these!

And at the store today I found Fowl!

 I made two large pans of Chicken Broth. Hello Autumn!

 

Goodbye summer. Let's hope next summer is fracture free!