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 I am calling tonight‘s dinner “Why Linda doesn’t have a Cooking Show.” We decided to have a nice dinner Saturday night as Sunday Easter, we are going out to brunch with friends. I decided to make the Barefoot Contessa’s lamb shanks with orzo. It started out great I chopped and diced everything that had to go into that pot.  I put the flour mixture for the  lamb shanks into a big plastic bag. I started to brown the  first two lamb chops.  Ina used a Le Creuset pot which can take higher temperatures then mine so the grapeseed oil started to burn that set off the smoke alarm.  I couldn’t get it to stop and Jim wasn’t home. I opened all the big glass doors and fanned it with both a towel and a magazine.  Finally the alarm company called me and it’s as easy as walking to the panel and punching in the turn off numbers. We’ve lived here for three years and didn’t know that.  Anyway finally get the alarm off; I have all the doors in the house open the dogs running around terrified but finally things begin to come down. So the first to lamb shanks are out and I am dusting in the bag the second two which are larger so I could only do them one at a time. I put the last one in and didn’t seal the bag well and you guested it, flour everywhere on me, in my shoes, on the stove, I mean everywhere. Well I carried on to braze the last two and turned the burner off.  I cleaned me and the kitchen up. In order to continue I needed more paper towels. I went outside to get paper towels grabbed one off the top of the outdoor refrigerator came in.  As I turned into the kitchen, I lost control of the towel roll and it rolled all the way through the kitchen.  It doesn’t end there.  I continue with all the cooking and everything is going fine.  At last all ingredients are in the pot. I have to use the lower oven as the pot with the lid are too tall for the upper oven.  In the lower oven I still had to lower the rack.  I put the pot down in the bottom oven and the rack that I had had to move collapsed. Luckily Jim got home, fixed the rack properly and and dinner went into the oven.  I saw this meal on Ina’s show.  As I read to the bottom of the page, I realized that this recipe comes from her book called Barefoot Contessa Foolproof!  Proved her wrong!

Ingredients:

1 C all-purpose flour

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 lamb shanks (1-1 1/2# each)

Grapeseed oil

2 T EVOO

3 C chopped yellow onion

2 C medium-diced carrots

2 C medium diced celery

1 T minced fresh rosemary leaves

3 large garlic cloves

2 (14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes, including the liquid)

2 C canned beef broth (mine homemade)

1 1/2 C dry white wine, plus extra for serving

2 bay leaves 

2 C orzo

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, 2 t salt, and 1 t pepper in a bowl or bag and dredged the lamb shanks in the mixture, shaking off the excess.  In a large (13”) Dutch oven and heat 3 T of grapeseed oil over medium heat and cook for 10 minutes, turning every few minutes, until browned on all sides.  Transfer the shanks to a plate, add more grapeseed oil, and brown the remaining 2 shanks.  (If you are using a Le Creuset pot you can go higher with the heat.  However a pot from this company that large would be impossible for me to lift out of my oven.)
3. Wipe out the Dutch oven wit a paper towel, add the EVOO and heat over medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots, celery, and rosemary  and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.  Add the garlic, and cook 1 more minute.  
4. Add the tomatoes, beef broth, wine, 4 t salt and 2 t pepper.
5. Add the lamb shanks, arranging them so they’ve almost completely submerged in the liquid.  
6. Tuck in the bay leaves and bring to a simmer on tip of the stove.  Cover the pot and place it in the oven for 2 hours, turning the shanks once while they cook.  
7. Stir in the orzo and return the lamb shanks to the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the orzo is cooked and the lamb shanks are very tender.  
8. Discard the bay leaves, stir in 2-3 T of white wine, and toast the orzo for seasonings.  Serve hot.  

This dish was unbelievably great.  Jim served my favorite wine, Chateau Gloria, 1997.  This would serve 4 very generously with an appetizer.  I was going to make one, but with the start I had, I sat on the porch with a drink and my feet up while it was in the oven.  We had carrot cake for dessert that I bought at Publix.

 

Thursday I had painting.  Almost done with my Turkeys started on the Tango with Jocelyn and Staz, and got back to the post office on the Occoquan River in VA.  I wasn’t excited with it and was going to paint over it, but Charles talked me out of it and suggested I do more detailed brush strokes.  It is getting better.  You don’t have to like every painting.  Thursday was Jim’s night to cook and we had Dinner Belle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas.  They were OK, but not as good as expected.  Dinner Belle is taking a spring break.  Not sure we will order for a while as I enjoy cooking.  It is getting warm and Jim likes to grille.  

Friday was supposed to be my last PT.  Well, I failed the strength test miserably.  They have scheduled 6 more sessions at 2 times a week.  The times are miserable.  

We had to stop at the grocery on the way home.  I needed stuff for Easter weekend so I could make my lamb shank dish and also one more for the week until I see the week ahead clearly and make a plan and list.  After that I came home and made two things.  Both are from the Instant Pot Italian.  

The first one the only thing that is Instant Pot is making a pot of beans.  I did not want a huge amount of beans when I only needed 2 cups cooked.  That is one can.  So here is the easy version of the Recipe.

Ingredients:

1 small fennel bulb, stalks removed (8 oz.)

1/4 small red onion

2 C Cannellini Beans

1 (5 oz.) can of tuna packed in oil.  (I used water packed.)

1/4 C finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

3 T lemon juice

3 T EVOO

1 T white wine vinegar

1 medium garlic clove, minced

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Cut the fennel and onion into thin slices using a mandolin.  Place the vegetables in a large serving bowel with the beans, tuna, and parsley.
2. In a small jar, combine the lemon juice, oil, vinegar, and garlic.  Shake vigorously.  Pour the dressing over the salad.  Season generously with salt and pepper and toss gently to combine.  

I did this early in the day to combine the flavors.  I served it on spring greens and topped it with Chow mien noodles.  This was delicious.  Jim loved it.  It serves 4-6 and we have no leftovers.  I think if I had used Romaine lettuce no noodles would be needed.  It needs some crunch.  

Along with making dinner, I needed a head start on Saturday’s Easter Dinner.  It calls for beef broth.  I think purchased broth leaves so much to be desired.  So as we were at the store I looked at the cheapest cuts of beef with bone.  You need to look for meaty bones like oxtails and collagen rich marrow bones.  Just look for the cheapest and you will be OK.  A long time ago when we lived in Gulph Mills,PA and would go to the Farmer’s market every Saturday.  Mr. Alderfer was the butcher of choice.  I was going to make a Martha Stewart beef broth recipe.  I gave him my list and he said, “What are you making?”  I answered beef broth.  He said, “You do not used these expensive cuts and gave me the equivalent of what I needed in the cheapest bone in cuts.  In IP Italian, they have broth recipes in the back.  I needed beef broth for our Saturday lamb shanks.  IP is so much easier than before, so I picked up the cheapest cuts in the cooler.  Here is the IP recipe.  

Ingredients:

3# meaty beef bones (Oxtail, beef feet, etc.)

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 large carrots or 2 regular size carrots (No need to peel as it all goes on the compost pile.)

2 ribs of celery (I use the heats with the leaves as the leaves are very tasty.)

2 T tomato paste

10 whole peppercorns

6 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

Directions:

1. Preheat the broiler and adjust the oven rack so that it is 6” below the broiling element.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Season the bones generously with salt and pepper.  I did not use salt) and arrange them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.  Broil until weltered, 6-8 minutes.  Flip the bones with tongs and broil until browned on the second side, 5 minutes. 
2. Transfer the bones and any browned bits and accumulated juices from the baking sheet to the pot.  (All that was on my sheet was fat and I did not transfer.)  Add 8 cups of water, the onion, carrot, celery , tomato paste, peppercorns, thyme, and bay leaf to the pot.  
3. Lock on the lid. select the Pressure cook function and adjust to High pressure for 45 minutes.  Make sure the steam valve is in the Sealing position and the Keep Warm button is off.   
4. When the cooking time is up. let the pressure come down naturally, about 30 minutes.  Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl; discard the solids.  
5. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 1 hour, until cooled completely.  Spoon off the fat that rises to the top and discard it for another use.  
6. Transfer the broth to an airtight containers.  

I cooled it on the counter and covered to put in the refrigerator overnight to congeal the fat.  I will use at least half in Saturday’s meal so will probably just freeze the remaining.  

The number one reason to buy an IP is to do broth.  So easy.  

Wednesday at PT they did needling on my IT band.  It has been the only problem I have had.  It was 100% relief from pain, but it is still week and I have to concentrate on walking from the but muscles not the thigh ones.  they also nixed Dr. Christi on the dance lessons.  Yes the knee is fine, but the IT muscle is not.  After PT we stopped at Bare Bones Butcher.  It is new in town and fabulous.  I have found my meat market.  I bought 4 of the best looking lamb shanks I have ever seen.  They make their own sausage and they had polish sausage.  I bought 4.  So what to make for dinner.  Jim left immediately for a dance lesson and I looked for something easy and found a cabbage and Polish sausage recipe on allrecipes.com.  

Ingredients:

3 T butter

1/2 medium head cabbage, cut in chunks (I shredded mine)

1 (16 oz.) package of kielbasa sausage, sliced into rounds

1 (12 Fluid oz.) can beer

ground pepper to taste

(1T Old World Seasoning from Penzeys, more about this later)

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a pot over medium heat.  Cook and stir cabbage in the butter until tender, about 5 minutes.  
2. Add sausage and beer to the cabbage, stir.  Season cabbage mix with pepper and old world seasoning.  
3. Simmer mixture until the sausages casings begin to shrink, about 20 minutes.  
4. Drain liquid before serving.  

I read the reviews and all said the cabbage was dull.  They all had an answer to spice it up and I decided that Penzeys Old World seasoning would do the trick.  It did.  I poked the sausage but didn’t cut it up.  I guarantee you that if I had the cabbage would have needed nothing.  Jim liked it better than with sauerkraut.  I love sauerkraut, but this was fine for sampling their sausage.   

Working out of the freezer again, found pork chops.  W have not had pork chops in a long time.  These were boneless from Costco.  Both these recipes were made in the Instant Pot.  The pork chops came from the WW IP cookbook.  The Herbed Polenta came from the Italian IP cookbook.  I started with the polenta.  

Ingredients:

2 T unsalted butter

1 large shallot, finely chopped

2 t chopped fresh sage leaves (2/3 t dried)

2 t fresh chopped rosemary (2/3 t dried)

2 t chopped thyme leaves (2/3 t dried)

4 C homemade chicken or vegetable broth

Salt

1 C polenta (not quick cooking)

1/4 C milk

3 T chopped Italian parsley

1/4 t freshly ground nutmeg

Pepper

Directions:

1. Place the butter in the pot, select sauté, and adjust to more/high heat.  When the butter melted, add the shallot, sage rosemary, thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot is tender, 4 minutes.  Add the broth and 1/2 t salt.  When the liquid comes to a simmer, gradually whisk in the polenta.  Press cancel.
2. Lock the lid, select the pressure cook function, and adjust to low pressure for 8 minutes.  make sure the steam valve is in the sealing position and that the keep warm button is off.  
3. When the cooking time is up, let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes and then quick-releasee the remaining pressure.  Unlock the lid and remove the pot from the appliance.  Stir in the cheese, milk, parsley, and nutmeg.  Season with salt and pepper.  
4. Serve immediately as soft polenta, or transfer it to a container and refrigerate until solid.  To reheat solid polenta, cut into 1” this slate and sauce them in EVOO in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat until crispy, 3 minutes per side.  

I did neither.  I poured it into a 9” X 9” glass dish and set it aside on the counter.  I washed to pot and put it back in the appliance.  

On to the pork chops.  

Ingredients:

4 (4 oz.) lean pork-loin chop, boneless and fat trimmed.  (I had 3 of these chops and did not weigh them.)

1 T vegetable oil  (I used EVOO)

1/3 C salsa

2 T lime juice

1 C water

1/4 C fresh cilantro (I used fresh Italian parsley)

Directions:

1. Flatten the pork chop with your hand. (I didn’t’)
2. Add oil to the Instant Pot set on the sauté setting.  Place the pork chops and cook for 1 minute on each side.
3. Pour the salsa and lime juice over the pork chops.  
4. Add in the water.  
5. Close the lid and press the stew setting.  Press the “+-“ button and adjust the time to 15 minutes.  
6. Do natural pressure release.
7. Sprinkle with cilantro.

I placed the pork chops on the polenta and served them together.  We also had a salad.

Jim served another rave ready wine.  It was a 2016 Domaine Roman, French Pinot Noir.  It was wonderful.  It was in an unusual shaped bottle for a Pinot.  Minus the straw wrapped basket it reminded me of a chianti bottle.