Recent Posts

Amalfi Lemony Tuna Capellini

In between me being able to cook, we eat dinners that Jim buys at Costco or Trader Joe.  I get very tired of it, but lately I have a lot of hip pain.  The MRI showed a tear, but Dr Christy said he doesn’t think the radiologist has seen a tear repair before.  From the way it looked to him the repair was in tact and there was a lot of inflation.  So another pill.  I do feel a little better today.  Anyway I finally with help made a meal.  This is from The Easy Italian Cookbook by Paulette Liditra.  She does zoom classer around here.  I like them.  This feeds 4-6

ingredients:

1# capellini pasta (angel hair)

1 (5 oz.) can turn preferably packed in EVOO

3 medium lemons, zested and juiced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

Leaves for 5-6 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, minced

1/4 C EVOO, or more as needed

1/2 C grated Parmesan, plus more for serving 

Black pepper

Directions:

  1. Heat 4 Qt. of water in a pasta pot .  Bring to a boil.
  2. When water boils, add 1 T salt.  Add the capellini.  Cook al dente.
  3. Drain tuna and break it up into flakes.   Put turn in a large mixing bowl.  Add lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, EVOO, and grated parmesan cheese.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Mix all and combine.  
  4. When pasta is done, reserve 1/2 C pasta water.  Drain pasta.  Add cooked capellini to lemon-turn mixture.  boss to combine and coat.  Add a little pasta water or oil to moisten if needed, salt to taste.  
  5. Serve with extra grated cheese for individual servings.  

jim would have liked more tuna in it.  


Continue Reading >>

Easy Meals

The beef lasted through Tuesday.  Wednesday we went to the Opera Reveal for the next season.  I’m so excited he is going to do the Julia Child Opera.  After we went to our favorite Japanese restaurant only to be told by the owner that he had sold the restaurant.  So I guess I had my last wonderful Miso soup and great sushi.  

Thursday we had spinach quiche from Costco and arugula salad.  They are so well matched you can hardly tell one from the other in my photo.  


Continue Reading >>

Beef Bourguignon

Do you want to spend the entire day in the Kitchen?  Well, read no further. That is how long it took me to make this dish.  I knew it was a lot of food, but expected it to last longer than 2 meals.  

Jim each night made a mountain of mashed potatoes and covered it completely with the beef.  

Lucy enjoyed standing by me while I was cutting the beef in 2” cubes.  If it didn’t qualify, in the dogs mouth it went.  All the fat went in the trash which did not make her happy.  Lucy and Jim are so much alike.  If it isn’t good for you it is a favorite.  Vegetables are poison.  This is from Geoffrey Zakarian on The Kitchen.  it was very good.

Ingredients:

4# beef chuck, cut into 2” cubes

8 oz. pancetta or bacon , diced small

Kosher slat and freshly ground black pepper

4 large carrots or 6 medium, sliced into 1” thick pieces

2 large shallots or 3 small, sliced

5 sprigs fresh parsley

4-5 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 C tomato paste

1-2 T soy sauce

1 T white miso paste

1/2 t sugar

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 C beef stock

3/4 of a 750 milliliter bottle red wine (Burgundy region, Pino Noir)

# T unsalted butter

14 oz. peeled pearl onions (frozen works)

8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced thin

mined fresh chives, for garnish

Serving Suggestions:

rice

mashed potatoes

sourdough toast

Directions:

  1. Set the beef out on a paper towel-lined sheet tray in a single single layer and allow to come to room temperature for 1 hour.  Pat the beef dry on all sides.
  2. In a largeDutch oven, brown the pancetta over medium heat until rendered and crispy, around 10 minutes.  Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.  
  3. Sprinkle the beef generously with salt and pepper just before searing.  In the same Dutch oven wit the pancetta, sear the beef in 3-4 batches until browned heavily on on all sides, 7-10 minutes.  Set the beef aside on a platter.
  4. Add the carrots and shallots t the same Dutch oven and cook until they begin to soften and take on a bit of color, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Tie the parsley and thyme into a bundle using butcher’s twine.  Add the tomato paste, soy sauce, miso paste, sugar, garlic and herb bundle t the Dutch oven and cook for 1 minute more.  
  6. Deglaze the pan with beef stock, scraping up all the browned bits on the the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  Add the wine.  
  7. Add the beef back to the stew and cook, covered for 1 1/2 -2 1/2 hours.  Alternatively, you can transfer to a 300 degree F oven and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  (I did the first.)
  8. While the stew is cooking, melt 1 T butter in a medium skillet on medium heat.  Add the pearl onions and cook for 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook until browned, stirring to prevent burning, 8-10 minutes.  (Do not add salt until the end , as that will prevent browning.)
  9. When the stew is finished, use a spider or a large, slotted spoon t remove the beef and vegetables t a platter or large bowl.  Discard the herb bundle.  Reduce the sauce on medium-low heat until thickened to almost coat the back of a spoon, about 25 minutes.  
  10. Add the remaining 2 T butter and combine. Add the beef and vegetables back to the sauce.  
  11. Add the mushrooms and pearl onions and gently stir to combine.  Serve with whatever suggestion you like and enjoy.  

Continue Reading >>

Easy Crab Cakes

For those of you that follow this blog and have quite a few infill recipes that I just added.  But here is a new one that I just made last night.  Jim thought they were the best crab cakes he’d ever tasted.  They were very good and the salad with arugula and orange slices was perfect to go with it.  

Ingredients:

1# large crab meat (Phillips brand best)

3/4 C panko bread crumbs

1 egg

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 T creamy mustard, Dijon

1/2 C mayonnaise

1 t Old Bay Seasoning

1 T Italian parsley leaves

Salt

Black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Add the crab t a large mixing bowl.  
  3. Add bread crumbs and little salt.  Gently toss to coat, being careful not t break up lumps of meat.  
  4. In a separate medium mixing bowl, stir together eggg, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, mayonnaise, celery salt and parsley until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  
  5. Gently fold creamy mixture into crab, being careful not t break up lumps.
  6. Line a sheet pan with parchment.  Using 2 T shape 1-2” balls into small mounds of crab mixture not the sheep pan.  (I did not do this.  It says feeds 4-6 so i made 6 crab cakes.)
  7. Chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  
  8. Remove and pres crab balls into lightly flattened cakes.  
  9. Bake about 20 minutes until golden.  (We had to bake ours 15 minutes longer.)

Continue Reading >>

Meatloaf

I am finally following a recipe again.  Ellie Krieger is on Food TV.  I don’t record her but, I can’t resist a new meatloaf recipe.  I have to say this one was hard to handle but delicious.  

Ingredients:

3/4 C quick-cooking oats

1/2 C skim milk

1 medium onion, peeled

2# ground turkey breast

1/2 C chopped red bell pepper (really?!, just chop 1/2 and use)

2 eggs, beaten

2 t Worcestershire sauce

1/4 C ketchup

1/2 t salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the oats and milk.  
  3. Thinly slice 1/4 of the onion and set aside.  Finally chop the remaining onion. 
  4. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients above the tomato sauce including the oats and milk.  (I made this in the big bowl and just waited til the oats soaked up the milk..  Mix until well combined.
  5. Transfer the mixture to a 9 X 13” baking dish and shape into a loaf about 5” wide and 2 1/2’ high. (It helps if you have exactly the oval dish to do this in.)
  6. Poor the tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle with the sliced onions.  
  7. Bake for about 1 hour or until an instant-reat thermometer registers 160 degrees F.  
  8. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Again tasted great and served with mashed potatoes and green beans.  Meat


Continue Reading >>