Maiale al Latte

Well, I don't know how you spend a rainy Saturday but I was in the kitchen, and at the Vet with Lucy. I got an eblast from Tasting Table this week with the recipe, Maiale al Latte. The recipe originates from Emilia-Romagna. I was intrigued. I was leery about milk, but wow. Okay, it did boil over in the oven. Drats. But the meat. My God the meat was amazing. So tender, knives are not needed. And the flavors! Rosemary, Sage and Lemon. My taste buds are smiling.

And while I was in the kitchen I tried a new cookie recipe. Buttery Nutella Rolled Cookies. The recipe is from Cooking With Nonna. Oh, I love that blog! I think I have a new favorite cookie recipe. Seriously, this IS my new favorite cookie.

Now about the Vet visit with Lucy. Anyone out there have any experiences with epileptic fits in cats. Lucy had a seizure last night and I googled epileptic fits in cats after it happened, hoping nothing would show up. But what I read was exactly what happened. It was scary. Very scary. We will get the blood work results on Monday. Fingers and paws crossed.

Take Out!

A rather long day at work. Even though I worked from home at 6pm I was not about to make dinner. Jei Mei came to the rescue. Chris had Szechuan Beef and Egg Rolls and I had a special order, Szechuan Tofu. Wow, it was really good. We had some Fried Dumplings too. Perfect dinner and super easy clean up.

Wordless Wednesday

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.