Blog Search

Matching archive for: March 2016 [x]

You win some and you loose some.  The win part is that the path to the pool is finished.  We are waiting for the screaming green dust to come out of the trees, the furniture comes out of storage and summer is officially on.  

This recipe looked great, but is has a flaw.  It over cooks the pork rendering it too tough to eat.  I know it is the recipe as it is the final batch from a large package from Costco.  the sweet and sour tasting gravy is delicious.  I think, if I ever made it again, I would cook down the sauce and maybe put the chops in at the last 15 minutes at most.  

Ingredients:

4 pork chops, 1” thick

1/2 C flour

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

3 T EVOO

1 (10 1/2 oz) can beef broth

1/2 C drained crushed pineapple

1/4 C catsup

1/4 C chopped green pepper

2 T wine vinegar

1 T brown sugar

1 t soy sauce

1/2 t dry mustard

Directions:

1. I made the sauce before going to painting class as this is the day I return home late.  So step one is combine all ingredients except chops, flour, salt and pepper in a blender.  Place in the refrigerator until ready to cook the chops.
2. Dredge chops in flour, salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil in skillet and brown pork chops on both sides.  Pour off excess fat.
4. (Here I deviate from the script.)  Pour the ingredients from the blender into the skillet.  Cook uncovered for 45 minutes.  
5. Add the pork chops the last 15 minutes of cooking.  

They suggested rice and it was delicious with the sauce on it.  I struggled through 1/2 chop.  Jim ate 2.  Jo got the rest cut up for dinner tomorrow.  

So Wednesday all I had scheduled to make was the dish I rejected for Monday.  This is from Fine Cooking and a wonderfully surprisingly great taste.  I loved the combo of orange and curry.  Jim of course, was delighted to be eating something good for him.  I had a very full day.  I have joined a ladies golf group that plays a a public course near our house.  They had the opening day luncheon.  After that I had to go get my hair done.  Home to make dinner and then off to group dance class.  I strained a muscle Tuesday afternoon at dance class and ended up sitting most of it our.  Could not twirl on my right leg.  

Ingredients:

1 large head cauliflower, cut into 1” florets

1 C thinly sliced shallots, from 2 large

1 1/2 t curry powder

7 T EVOO

kosher salt and black pepper

2 large navel oranges

1 T rice vinegar

2t Dijon mustard

3 T coarsely chopped fresh tarragon

1/2 C toasted slivered almonds

1/4 C currants

5 oz. baby arugula

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil.  
2. In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower and shallots with the curry powder.  Add 2 T oil, season with 1 t slat and 1/2 t pepper, and toss again.  
3. Spread on the baking sheet and roast until the vegetables are tender and browned, 20-25 minutes.  Let cool.  
4. Meanwhile cut the peel and pith off the oranges.  Working over a large bowl, cut the Orange segments free from the membranes letting them fall into the bowl.  Squeeze the juice out of the membranes into a small bowl.  
5. In another small bowl, or mini food processor, which in the remaining 5 T oil.  Whisk in 3 T oj and the tarragon.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, and the remaining oj.
6. Add the cauliflower, almonds and currants to the orange segments and toss with enough vinaigrette to coat well.  
7. In large salad bowl, toss the arugula with enough vinaigrette to coat lightly.  
8. Top with the cauliflower mixture and drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, and service.  

You can also divide the arugula among 4 plates and then top with equal portions of cauliflower mixture.  They say to pair with Riesling; we just used our house white Italian.  All during the making of this salad I thought of my friend Cynthia.  The only thing she did not like was tarragon.  

Monday night was a horrible dinner.  I really did not want to cook and could not concentrate on the recipe I was to make.  So I used the deer bolognese sauce from the freezer part box of penne pasta and cheese. Baked it and it was horrid.  Luckily Jim will eat anything. 

After dinner I had to put the chicken in to marinate for tonight.  This recipe is also from RR’s latest cookbook.  I think it is the best one she has ever done.  It was a little scary to think about as you marinated the chicken; strained the marinade and used it in the cooking.  This is an incredibly filling dish.  I should have only eaten half a portion, but Jo helped me finish mine.  Jim finished up all the remaining helpings, but saved about 1/2 a piece of bread for Jo.  

Ingredients:

8 bone-in skinless chicken thighs (mine were boneless)

3 cloves garlic

A few sprigs fresh  sage

A few sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 2 T chopped fresh rosemary leaves

A few juniper berries

1 carrot, coarsely chopped

1 rib celery, coarsely chopped

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 bay leaves

2 C dry red wine

Salt and coarsely ground pepper

4 T EVOO

2 T butter

4 slices of crusty peasant-style white bread

1# Swiss chard, stemmed and coarsely chopped Freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:

1. Place chicken, garlic, sage, rosemary sprigs, juniper berries, carrot, celery, onion, bay leaves and wine in a shallow dish or zip-top bag.  Cover or seal and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.  
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
3. Pat chicken dry. 
4. Strain the marinade into a bowl (discard the solids in the strainer).
5. Season the chicken with chopped rosemary salt and pepper.  
6. In a large, heavy skillet heat 1 T EVOo over medium high heat.  
7. Add the chicken and brown for 3-4 minutes per side.  Transfer to a plate.
8. Add 2 T of the oil to the skillet and melt in the butter.  Brush the bread on both sides with the oil-butter mixture, ad the bread to the pan, and brown the bread on one side.  
9. Flip the bread and top with the chicken, 2 thighs per slice of bread.  
10. Pour the strained marinade evenly over the chicken and bread.  
11. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.  
12. Meanwhile in a second skillet, heat the remaining 1 T oil over medium-high heat.  Wilt in the Swiss chard and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  
13. Serve the chicken and bread with the wilted greens alongside.  

This is kind of a one dish meal that takes every pot and bowl you own.  I would certainly make this again.  Remember I cook, but Jim cleans up!

I have been so busy i have not had time to write.  So this includes Good Friday through Easter Sunday.  Friday morning I started with a dance lesson.  I came home to preparing two dishes for two events on Saturday and then had to go to the hospital for a sleep study.  Had to be there by 8:30 PM.  By the time they got to me it was 10:30, that was ok due to the fact that between 10:00 and 12:00 is my standard bedtime.  They woke me up at 6:15.  They said I was the last as I had not slept very much.  What a surprise.  Goop and wires everywhere and something stuck in your nose and you are supposed to sleep?  Saturday I was afraid to sleep as I had to be at the Opera Center to coordinate the cast luncheon.  Friday things seemed to be falling apart, but all came together fine.  For that I made the following.  I got a taste of it and it is good.  We serve to vegetarians, vegans, gluten and lactose intolerant.  I have to make sure there is something for everyone.  This is from Oh Gussie, the singer from The Little Big Town Group’s cookbook.  It makes one 2-qt casserole.  

Donna’s Spaghetti Casserole with Fennel

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

2 T EVOO

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 C thinly sliced onions

2 C sliced button mushrooms

1 C thinly sliced fennel

3 C tomato sauce (I used Emeril’s marinara sauce)

1 # spaghetti, broken into 2” pieces, cooked

1 C shredded mozzarella cheese

1 C shredded parmesan cheese

2 T chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees if you are baking right away.  It actually freezes very well if you would like and hold for company.  I made it all the way to baking, put in the fridge and baked it right before leaving.  
2. Coat a 2 qt. baking dish with cooking spray.
3. heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until softened about 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  
5. Add the mushrooms and fennel and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 7 minutes.  
6. Add the tomato sauce and cook spaghetti and mix well.  Salt to taste.
7. Pour the mixture into the baking dish.  Top the casserole with the mozzarella, parmesan, and parsley.  Bake until the cheese is golden brown, 12-15 minutes.  

This dish looked beautiful and went like hot cakes at the luncheon.  Jim and I arrived home from the luncheon about 3:00 PM.  Remember I have been up since the ungodly hour of 6:15 AM.  

I was relaxing on the porch when Jim announced he was going into the shower to get ready for the wine club.  So I had him pull these stuffed mushrooms out of the fridge that I had also made Friday for Wine Club.  The theme was Italian and these are from Rachael Ray’s, Everyone is Italian on Sunday.  Someone exclaimed that night, “These are wonderful, I wonder who made these?”  I said, “I did.”  The come back was oh, we should have figured.  Am I the only one who can read and follow a recipe?  Anyway when RR says this spinach, artichoke dip is beyond any you have ever tasted, she is correct.  

Spinach and Artichoke-Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

24-30 cremini mushrooms, stems removed and reserved (Try to get all large ones)

3 T EVOO

Salt and pepper

1 small onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, grated or pasted

1 (10 oz.) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and wrung dry in a kitchen towel

1 C water-packed canned artichokes hearts.  (Squeeze to get the water out of them.)

Freshly grated nutmeg

1 C freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 egg yolks

1/4 C pine nuts, toasted

1/2 C heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place the mushroom caps on a rimed baking sheet, stemmed side down (so the liquids ran away from the mushrooms as the start to shrink.)
3. Drizzle with 1 T of the oil an season with salt and pepper.  Roast until tender, 10-12 minutes.  Remove from the oven.  (I found that I had to also had to remove the mushrooms to paper towel and wipe the moisture from the pan.  I then returned them to the pan to stuff.)
4. Meanwhile, chop the reserved mushroom stems.  In a skillet, heat 1 T oil.  Add the mushroom stems and brown.  Add the onion, garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook to soften.  Let cool, then transfer to a food processor.  
5. Add the spinach and artichoke heats.  Season with salt and pepper, and nutmeg and pulse chop.  
6. Pulse in the remaining 1 T oil, the Parmesan, egg yolks, pine nuts and cream.  
7. Flip the mushroom caps over and fill them with the spinach-artichoke mixture, mounding it up a bit. 
8. When ready to bake heat the oven to 425 and cook through, 12-15 minutes.  

In the meantime I had to make dinner.  We had my EVOO sautéed catfish lightly coated with cornmeal, and a mixture of leftover fennel, orange pepper and asparagus stir-fried together.  I added a little sesame oil to the pan and it was a very good combo I had not tried before.  

I came home from wine club and went straight to bed.  Jim snored and Jo had nightmares.  They wondered why I could not get up Sunday.  We went to Jim’s cousin’s house in Franklin.  I took the kale slaw that everyone loved at Easter.  I made double the amount this time.  They had an Easter Egg hunt with about 150 eggs hidden on the property.  They were plastic eggs with candy, prizes and money inside.  There were at least 15 children ranging from high school to 2.  I helped the younger ones find eggs.  Everyone had a great time.  Chris had beautiful tables on the lawn fully decorated and then came the rain.  Such a shame, it is idyllic setting looking over acres of pasture land with cows and horses.  But the egg hunt was done and everyone tore into ham, fried chicken and all the southern fixing.  We had a pile of deserts.  

Wednesday fried my brain.  We had bridge here and when I went to make dinner, I just couldn’t concentrate on a recipe so I made the broccoli quiche in the refrigerator.  I needed something in a hurry as we had group dance Wednesday night.  I forgot I wanted to use the quiche after painting on Thursday.  Wednesday night we were told to watch out for severe weather and wind.  Thursday morning looked terrible so I pulled ribs out of the freezer without reading the recipe feeling I would not be able to go to painting.  By 2:00 PM the weather had cleared without incident and I went on to class.  I got home from painting and found out I was to make a marinade and let it sit for 1-2 hours.  I quickly made it, put it on the ribs and it sat for 1 hour.  Then I read on.  

Ingredients:

3# pork spareribs, cut into serving pieces

1 10oz. jar plum jelly (talked to my oriental market guy and he said they meant plum sauce.)

1/3 C dark corn syrup

1/3 C soy sauce

1/4 C chopped green onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 t ground ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. heat ingredients for marinade in medium saucepan until hot.
3. Pour heated marinade over ribs and marinate for 1-2 hours.
4. Place ribs on a rack in a large foil-lined broiler pan.
5. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, turning occasionally and basting with marinade.

It serves 4 to 6, but Jim was so hungry by the time dinner got on the table that he ate them all.  That is because he sat here all day and couldn’t make himself lunch.  Boy was he grumpy even though he and Jo polished off a whole bowl of almonds waiting for dinner.  I had a baked potato and asparagus as sides.  We had a bottle of The Stand from Paso Robles CA.  It is a Syrah.  

This recipe comes from an old cookbook that I bought ages ago in NC called Even More Special.  You can save the marinade in the freezer to use again.   You must foil line the broiler pan unless you have a power washer to clean it.  It drips off the ribs and cooks rock hard in the pan.