Red Snapper in a Roasted Bell Pepper Cream Sauce

*** Before I begin, I want to apologize to my blog followers.  Things were hectic for a spell and further complicated by catastrophic computer issues.  I'm back and ready to get the great recipes as of late on the blog!  Thanks for checking in on me. 

You've heard it before.  When cooking, buy what's fresh and what looks good in the case.  My local fish monger had fresh red snapper and I chose to serve it with a roasted bell pepper cream sauce.

Now you can do it the long way and roast the bell peppers yourself over an open flame either on your gas range or on the grill, then put it in a closed brown paper bag for about 20 minutes and peel.  Like that's not a lot of work!!  Or, you can simply buy your roasted red bell peppers in the jar, like Mezzetta, which come from California and are very good quality.

Ding! Ding!  Table for two please!

Ingredients

1 lb red snapper fillets

2/3 C. roasted red peppers (Mezzetta)

2 cloves garlic

dash salt and pepper

1/2 C. white wine

2 T whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

1 T. chopped flatleaf parsley

Preparation

Remove fish from wrapper and rinse in cold water.  Pat dry with paper towel and set aside.  Combine the roasted red  peppers, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until combined.  Pour red bell pepper sauce into skillet over medium heat.  Add white wine and stir.  Add fillets and cover with lid.  Steam fillets over medium low heat until done, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Remove fillets onto serving plates. Going back to your sauce, turn off heat and add whipping cream and stir until combined.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon sauce over fish and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Chicken Curry with Lime and Tomatoes

Kye thar hin

Chicken Curry with Lime and Tomatoes

This week was a dandy.  I mean that with every possible amount of sarcasm.  Sometimes one feels overwrought with the problems of the world, but we must remember, it's always worse somewhere.  I love to cook because its an outlet of artistic expression, its creative and amongst many other reasons, it is the only thing I really have control over.  When the week is tough, there's always cooking.

I get to the end of most weeks and I usually can't remember how they started.  I chose to leave it all behind me and left work to take the kids to the park and be a kid with them.  We even took the car through the car wash for fun.  After making them dinner and getting them all settled, I opened a cookbook my sister got me for Christmas titled Curry Cuisine and opened it to this malaysian recipe.  I poured a glass of one of my absolute favorite wines, a Kestrel 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, turned on some low groovy music and got down to cooking this spicy and delicious meal.  There is something to say for taking your time and enjoying the experience.

This recipe comes out of the book Curry Cuisine, but I did change it to suit my taste.  I added the bell peppers, made substitutes for the lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and Balachaung and left out the chicken thighs.  If you happen to have these things on hand use them.  If not, here is your recipe:

Kye thar hin

Ingredients

2 T. peanut oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 sliced red bell pepper

1 sliced orange bell pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 t. ground tumeric

1 T. ground coriander

1 dash cinnamon

1 T. lemon zest

1 T. lime zest

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut lengthwise and again through the center

1 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes

3 T. lime juice

1 1/2 t. red chili sauce like Sambal Olek

1 T. fish sauce

1/4 C. hot water

1 t. sesame oil

chopped cilantro

3 T. roasted peanuts

4 C. cooked jasmine rice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour the peanut oil in a skillet and when very hot, add onions, garlic and peppers and stir fry for about three minutes.  Add the tumeric, corriander, cinnamon, lemon and lime zests and chicken pieces.  Stir fry for about 6 to 8 minutes until all your ingredients are beautifully colored and slightly browned.

Add the tomatoes, lime juice, chili sauce, and fish sauce.  Stir and cover the pan to simmer for three minutes.  Uncover and stir in 1/4 cup of hot water and sesame oil.

 

Transfer skillet contents to oven safe casserole dish and bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and spoon over hot prepared rice.  Garnish with cilantro and peanuts. 

Serve with your favorite wine!

Tacos Al Pastor

Tacos Al Pastor

A TACO TRUCK IN THE VINEYARD

You're going to laugh.  I ran into these tacos while wine touring.  How does one do that?  Well, I'm not really sure.  What I do know is that I attract unusual circumstances.  It's been that way all my life and one day I'm going to write a book about it.  This day, it was a taco truck in the vineyard.  My sister, her beau, my husband and I were touring Washington wine country and at one of our last stops before the long drive home we drove to a vineyard on a bluff overlooking Rattlesnake Hills called Knights Hill Vineyard.  The vineyard was situated up a gravel drive.  In the dusty sunshine we crested the hill and there it was.  The glorious......taco truck.  Bright yellow, it seemed a vision of heaven for very hungry wine enthusiasts.

We had our priorities in order.  Wine tasting first, then tacos.  After making our wine purchases, we got in line to read the taco menu posted on the side of the truck.  Tiffany (my sister), pointed us in the direction of Tacos Al Pastor.  She said they would be the best around.  One thing I know for sure is that you never come between my sister and a taco.  Never.  I never ate Tacos Al Pastor but when one is staring in the eyes of the taco truck, the smell of the grill is wafting out the door and Tiffany is very enthusiastically convincing us this is the way, we were all listening and pooling our cash.  They were wonderful.  She was right.  I took a few photos to share with you all and researched recipes when I got home.  I made them and my husband and I shared them only communicating with raised brows and eyes open wide.  "It's a hit.  It's going in the blog" I said.

There are several methods for making Tacos Al Pastor, but since I do not have a rotisserie or a spit, or time for that matter, I did mine in the crock pot for a weeknight meal, but it is wonderful roasted to perfection in the oven.

 

Tacos Al Pastor

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb pork loin meat, cut into striplike pieces

1 C. white vinegar

2 jalapeno or serrano chile peppers

1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 medium white onions, finely diced, divided

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1 pkg Mexican Grill Seasoning (red)

1 C. pineapple juice

salt

Serving Ingredients

40 very small corn or flour tortillas (about four inches in diameter)

6 limes cut into wedges

1 bunch chopped cilantro

1 can salsa verde

1 can salsa ranchero

Preparation

Soak the pork in the vinegar for two hours prior to cooking.  Remove and drain well. 

To soften the chilis, boil them in about 2 cups of water on stovetop until soft and fragrant.  Save your liquid and set aside.  Remove from water bath and remove seeds.  In a food processor, combine chilis, tomatoes, one of the chopped onions (remember these were divided), garlic, Mexican Grill Seasoning, pineapple juice and salt.  Blend until smooth.

In a hot skillet, add sauce and simmer, stirring often for about ten minutes.  Remove sauce and let cool completely. 

When you are ready to assemble, add pork to crock pot with the reserved pepper water and half the sauce.  Keep the other half of the sauce refrigerated.  Cook either in a crock pot on low for four to six hours or in a roasting pan on 325 for 2 1/2 or 3 hours depending on thickness of pork.  At the end of the cooking time, drain the liquid.   Take a fork in each hand and gently pull the pieces of the pork apart, similarly to pulled pork.   Heat up the remaining sauce on stovetop or in microwave and pour over the top of the cooked pork and work in with a fork until combined.

Preparing your tortillas
You can do this two different ways; steam or lightly fry.  Both are good options.  To steam, preheat oven to 200 degrees.   Soak a teatowel in warm water and ring out.  Lay wet towel on a cookie sheet so half of the towel is covering it.  Lay your tortillas in a row next to eachother until sheet is filled.  Pull the wet cloth over the top and tuck in the sides so nothing can burn.  Place sheet in 200 degree oven and turn off the heat.  Get out one of your biggest plates or a platter.  After 10 minutes in the oven your tortillas should be moist and hot.  To fry, pour a tiny bit of oil in a skillet and heat until hot.  Lay the tortilla down for about one minute until it puffs.  Using tongs, turn it over and cook the other side.  Remove on plate lined with paper towel until ready to assemble your taco.

Layer two tortilla shells on top of one another and fill the plate.  Place the marinated meat on top and layer chopped onion and cilantro on top of the meat until all tortillas are filled.  squeeze your limes over the top excessively and serve with salsa verde and ranchero sauce.   After you taste these, you'll know why I said "40 tortillas"! 

Enjoy along side your favorite vineyard!

Mustard Crusted Pork Roast with Savory Winter Root Vegetables

Mustard Crusted Pork Roast

with Savory Winter Root Vegetables

Early Saturday morning, I got out of bed and told myself, "If you go to the store now, you won't have to do anything else this entire three day weekend."  I poured a cup of coffee, slipped on my tennis shoes and vest, put my hair in a pony tail and out the door I went into the cool, clear morning to grocery shop.  The kids stayed home with my husband.

Going without the kids somehow is so much easier.  For one,  I don't have to carry my son literally all over the store because he vehemently refuses to ride in the cart, or walk, which is exhausting.  I know there is a toddler seat in every cart, always absent of my son's behind, but now it's a holder for the vegetables and fruit Im purchasing. And two, my daughter is always picking up things I would never buy and putting them in the cart only to be taken back out and put back on the shelf when she's not looking.  Isn't that what all parents do, carry one around with muscles that don't exist and somehow with a free hand, put back the mish mash of collectibles accumulated along your weary way by the other one while trying to remember your mental grocery list?  And finally, when you get to the check out, one of them is squeezing all the candy bars and putting them back on the shelf and the other one is begging you for your secret debit card password because THEY want to DO IT!  It's truly the gameshow equivalent, if not the gameshow itself.  Somewhere, somehow, there's got to be fabulous cash and prizes for making it through the checkout.  Well, today was different.  Today was the day that I was free from the bonds of motherly bliss of being a junglejim with a toddler necklace and using the cart like a crutch to just get one more last minute item before staggering to that perfect place in line only to get behind the junk food guy with the short attention span and finding out it's the checkers second day and they are going to have trouble with your coupons.  Today is the day I found my mind and bought a pork roast.

What a lovely idea.  When you are this happy to buy a pork roast, you either love food or you need to have more excitement in your life.  This wasn't just any pork roast.  It came without seasonings or injected color.  There were no black specks in the wrapper that were, at one time, herbs.  There was no advertisement about an inclusive "Flav-O-Pac." It was just a plain fresh, innocent pork roast with no adulteration....yet.  He was a beauty and he was cheap!  This date was looking better and better.  The options were endless.  It made me so happy.  I hope you are this happy when you buy your pork roast.  You should be.  I'm about to share with you one of the best pork roast recipes of ALL TIME.  Here we go.

Mustard Crusted Pork Roast with Savory Winter Root Vegetables

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients
1 2 or 3 pound pork roast, unadulterated
1/4 C. grainy dijon mustard
1/4 C. dijon mustard
1/2 C. soy sauce
1 T. black pepper, divided
2 C. Panko or bread crumbs
Olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
2 carrots, cut into sections
2 parsnips, cut into sections
10 baby red potatoes or 2 large cut into chunks
1 red onion, cut into eighths
1 t. dried thyme
1 t. salt
1 C. chicken broth
1 C. white wine

Directions

Take your beautiful pork roast out of the packaging.  Wash and pat dry (dry!).  Combine mustards, soy sauce, garlic and 1 t. pepper in small bowl and whisk to combined.  Slather mixture on pork roast until thoroughly coated.  Roll pork roast in panko or bread crumbs.  Set aside.

Slice all  your vegetables and put them in the bottom of a dutch oven pan and cover them with a few swirls of olive oil, thyme, salt and the remaining pepper.  Using your hands, toss together to thoroughly coat.

Place the breaded pork roast on top of vegetables in your dutch oven and lightly swirl with olive oil over the top.

Place roast in the oven and cook for about two hours or until your roast registers 140 to 150 degrees.  Take pot out of the oven and carefully removing the roast, set it on a cutting board to rest.  Turn the oven up to 425 degrees and put the vegetables back in for about 15 minutes.  Carefully remove vegetables from pot into serving dish.  There should be some tasty morsels in the bottom of your pot.  Place pot on stovetop and turn up the heat to medium high.  Pour in your chicken broth and wine.  Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer scraping sides and bottom to incorporate all the flavors and reduce to about 3/4 cup.  Add pepper as desired.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Plate your roast with your vegetables and drizzle sauce over the top.  This roast is so simple and is a great idea if you are serving it to a group of people.  But even if you are just making it for you and your sweet one, they will be eating right out of your hand!  They will love your roast as much as you do!

Enjoy!

Steak avec sauce au poivre et de Madère / Steak with Madeira Peppercorn Sauce

Steak avec sauce au poivre et de Madère  / 

Steak with Madeira Peppercorn Sauce

What is Valentine's Day without a delicious steak?   A steak is good just by itself with a little salt and pepper, but if you are aiming to do something special and surprise your sweet one, this recipe may be for you!

One of my Dinner Club gals, Tracy, and I were discussing good steak recipes and she suggested a couple.  One had green peppercorns in a brine.  Sounded excellent.  The only problem was finding green peppercorns in a brine.  Standing in the aisles of my local grociers, I saw every different kind of pepper, but green was not one of them.  I even asked for help only to be met with looks of confusion and blank stares.  Is there somebody out there who can tell me where they sell green peppercorns in a brine?  I bet I can find them on line.  You can find anything on line.  I'll look later.  Even if I did order them on line, they weren't going to get to me by the time I was making this steak.  The other recipe was a beef tenderloin in a port sauce which also sounds amazing, but it calls for cognac.  I've used cognac in several beef recipes and I am a big fan.  So much so, I'm fresh out!  In times like this, you make up your own recipe!  Here's mine:

Steak avec sauce au poivre et de Madère

Ingredients

2 steaks, preferably tender, like a strip steak

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 t. canola oil

1/4 C. finely chopped shallot

1/4 C. Madeira wine*

2/3 C. beef broth

1 T. whole black peppercorns

1 t. butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Bring steaks to room temperature prior to cooking.  Salt and pepper your steaks, both sides.  Place an oven safe skillet on stovetop and turn on high.  Add canola oil to skillet.  When skillet is hot, (Hot!, but not smoking), carefully add steaks to pan and sear on one side, then after about three minutes, flip over and cook about two to three more minutes.  Be careful to lay the side of the steak you expect to be the top when it's done cooking, face down first.  This is the side that will be face up when served.  When you are done searing, place steaks in oven in the same oven safe skillet they were cooked in.  Cook for about 6 to 8 minutes until desired doneness.  Remove steaks from oven and place on stovetop.  Using tongs, remove steaks from the skillet to rest on a plate nearby.  Get yourself a wooden spoon and get ready to make the sauce.   While the meat is resting, turn on your stove to medium high and add chopped shallots and peppercorns to the skillet, stirring for about two minutes.  Add madeira and beef broth, bring to boil, turn down the heat and stir while simmering until juices reduce.  This step does not take too long.  Add butter to skillet and use your spoon to work it through the sauce.  Plate steaks and pour sauce over each.  You're going to love this and your sweet one will too!

Cooks Note:  Please remember that Madeira contains alcohol which is flammable.  Please be careful when pouring it in your skillet especially if you have a gas range.

Wasabi Wild Salmon

Wasabi Wild Salmon

I was recently asked to duplicate a restaurant recipe I actually never had, nor had I ever seen, or even tasted.  The recipe requestor, who is not long on descripitions or details, does in fact think that I am capable of reading minds and getting drifts, was confident that it would somehow come to me in the night.  I made Wasabi Wild Salmon three different ways in order to successfully secure that tastebud humming moment when all is right with the world and everyone sits back to reflect with their glass of red. 

Farm raised salmon just doesn't cut it.  First of all, it may be cheaper and look equal to all the other salmon fillets in the case, but it lacks the flavor, the texture, and it is saturated with artificial dyes to make it look like a salmon.  Typing that statement actually made me think for a second what it would look like fresh out of the water.  They do live in water don't they?  DON'T THEY?  Do yourself a favor and just go wild.

I love wasabi and this is a beautiful looking fish dish, but somehow, I just couldn't quite catch the moment to get a picture of it, so instead, you get this breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean courtesy my brother in law, Shane.

Ingredients

1 beautiful wild salmon filet, Sockeye or Coho

1 T. powdered wasabi

2 T. water

1 T. sesame oil

3 T. soy sauce

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. ground white pepper

1 t. brown sugar

1 t. sesame seeds

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

I always rinse my fish.  Habit?  Maybe.  I don't like the thought of my fish being "handled".  Pat dry with paper towels (dry!!).

Using small mixing bowl, add wasabi powder and water and using a fork, blend into a paste.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix well until combined.  Place fish in a plastic ziploc bag and pour in marinade to coat.  Let the fish marinate in refridgerator for two hours until ready to bake or grill.

Take the fish out of the fridge.  On a cookie sheet lined with foil, place fish skin side down, flesh side up.  If your fish has no skin on one side, please use cooking spray to prepare the pan prior to placing the fish on it.  This step will help you remove the fish better.  The reason why you don't use cooking spray with a fish with the skin still on is because the skin will adhere to the foil and when you use a spatula to remove the fish, your skin stays in the pan.  Reserve the marinating liquid.  If there is enough left, drizzle over the top, but be careful not to create pools of marinade.  Your marinade has sugars in it which will burn and stink up your kitchen leaving a very unappetizing smell lingering so be careful not to pool.  Bake fish until flaky.  This is somewhere between 14 and 24 minutes depending on the size and thickness of your fish.  Remove from oven, slice into steaks and serve.  Enjoy with saffron rice and fresh steamed seasonal vegetables. 

Boss Meatball Sandwich

Boss Meatball Sandwich

Today is Saturday.  The kids and I went to the park and played in the leaves.   It was decided that we would take some home for art projects.  We also ran some errands.  During our excursion, my daughter got a charge out of the Christmas stuff that was out in stores already.  I love this time of year, but where has the year gone? 

Recently, one of my friends said to me, "...those Mob meatballs are Boss!"  He was referring to the Sicilian Meatballs  I had made earlier this year.  Fortunate enough to have some left over from a dinner party, I decided that a meatball sandwich sounded like a great lunch today.  These meatball sandwiches are very easy to make. If you do make them, promise me you will eat it piping hot with an ice cold beer.  Even on a crisp, cool fall day, these meatballs are 'boss'!  And without further adieu, I bring you the Boss Meatball Sandwich.

Ingredients

4 hoagy rolls, bagettes or hotdog buns

2 T butter

16 cooked meatballs in sauce (see recipe above)

4 slices of cheese, your choice

Directions

Heat meatballs until hot in microwave.  Turn your oven broiler to high.  Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Cut hoagy rolls lengthwise and lightly apply butter to cut side.  Lay them on the cookie sheet butter side up.  Broil for 3 minutes until lightly golden.  Remove from oven.  Using a spoon, place meatballs in a row on the bun and lay cheese over the top.  Leaving the sandwich "open face", place cookie sheet back in the oven and broil for two more minutes until cheese is melted and bun is golden brown.  Remove from oven and enjoy hot.   I used swiss cheese here, but you can use parmesan, swiss or white cheddar.

Slow Cooked Beef Roast with Mushroom and Onion Sauce

Slow Cooked Beef Roast with Mushroom and Onion Sauce

I'm going to have to warn you.  I love roasts.  This time of year is perfect for tender, juicy, succulent, cut with a fork, melt in your mouth, heartwarming roasts. 

A very long time ago, I made a roast for easter dinner.  I remember it being very dry and tough.  When I look back on it, I am embarrassed about the lack of culinary skill I had at the time and I'm thankful that it most likely wasn't a "memorable" meal and hopefully everyone forgot how horrible it was.  Thank goodness for lessons learned.  Since then, I have pursued learning more about roasts and with some help from my wonderfully talented aunt Adrienne, I have produced some of the most flavorful and tender roasts imaginable.   To me, a roast in the oven is one of the most welcoming aromas, but what's better, is to have one prepared for you after a long day.

This roast recipe can be made a day ahead of time.  After the cook time, the roast should fall apart.  Pulling the roast apart, covering it in a dish and allowing it to sit overnight in the sauce makes for a very tasty and inviting meal the next day.  Try it.  I guarantee you will be back for more.

Slow Cooked Beef Roast with Mushroom and Onion Sauce

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Ingredients
2 lb. Top Round or Chuck Beef Roast
salt & pepper
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1 t. thyme leaves
2 T. canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
16 oz. sliced mushrooms
8 C. beef broth
1 C. red wine (optional)
2 T. Flour

Directions
Prepare roast by massaging in the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and thyme.  Add oil to dutch oven and turn heat to medium high.  When the temperature is up, sear roast on all sides until browned.  Remove roast from dutch oven and set aside.  Add onions and mushrooms and cook for three minutes.  Add roast back into pot and add beef broth and wine.  Cover with lid, bring to a simmer and then turn off the burner.  Place roast in oven for three hours.  Remove from oven. 

Sauce
Strain out four cups of broth and place it in a saucepan over medium high heat.  Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer, cooking for about 15 minutes uncovered.   During this reduction, take 3/4 cup of remaining broth from the dutch oven and pour it in a small bowl.  Add flour.  Carefully whisk in flour until combined.  Add flour mixture back in to the saucepan and continue to reduce until 2 1/2 C. remain.  Remove saucepan from heat.  Carefully scoop out mushrooms and onions with slotted spoon from roastpan and add them to the saucepan.  Set aside. 

Remove roast and pull apart into pieces.  Place in a shallow dish.  Pour mushroom and onion sauce over the top.   Serve hot.  If you are making this dish ahead of time, cover it with a lid and let cool for about 20 minutes.  Refrigerate overnight and reheat in oven or microwave the following day. 

Depending on size of roast, this meal can serve 4 to 6 people.

Marinated Autumn Pork Chops with Apple and Chipotle Broccolini

Marinated Autumn Pork Chops with Apple

and Chipotle Broccolini



Photo from De Jour Bistro
Bellingham, Washington



I recently went to dine one evening with friends.  There were five of us.  We all have stressful, busy lives and decided that too much time had gone since we had seen each other and we were long over due for some time to visit and catch up.  We decided to go to a restaurant in Bellingham that we all very much enjoy that's called De Jour Bistro and The Vines Wine Shop.  The whole restaurant is like one big wine room.  When we dine there, we like to reserve the actual wine room just off the kitchen.  Our hostess and restaurant owner, Becky knows our group and she is always very gracious and has a wonderful sense of humor.  The food served here is always fresh and seasonal.  It is inspired by local farmers so you know you are getting the best.  It's down to earth, homestyle cooking.  After our dinner, the taste and feel of our time together has lingered with me and I thought of making something that resembled that homestyle quality I admire so much about their food.  This is what I came up with.

Marinated Autumn Pork Chops with Apple

and Chipotle Broccolini

Ingredients

Marinade:

3 C. apple cider

2 C. water

2 t. salt

1/2 C. brown sugar

1 t. dried sage

1 t. pepper

1 t. cinnamon

4, 1 inch thick pork loin chops, trimmed of excess fat

Add all ingredients to a dish and mix until blended.   Add chops to marinade and refrigerate overnight.

Olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 apple, your choice, diced

1 C. chicken broth

1/4 C. Cooking sherry or a good, dry white wine

1/2 t. ground ginger

1 T. dijon mustard

1/4 C. whipping cream

Directions:

Remove chops, pat dry with paper towel and discard marinade.  Using a dutch oven over medium heat, add oil.  When hot, add marinated chops and sear on both sides.  This process usually takes about three minutes a side.  Remove to a plate.

To the dutch oven, add onion and saute quickly, about 2 minutes.  Add apple and saute for about three minutes.  Add broth, cooking sherry or wine and ginger.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and add dijon and whipping cream.  Add chops back in to the pot and cover with a lid.  Simmer for five minutes and turn off heat.  Pork should register at 150 degrees.  Remove pork.  Simmer remaining sauce for about five more minutes and remove from heat.  Spoon sauce over pork and serve.

Chipotle Broccolini

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 bunch broccolini

1 pinch dried chipotle flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Par cook broccolini in microwave for one minute.  In a saute pan big enough for the broccolini, bring olive oil up to high temp.  Add brocolini, chipotle flakes, salt and pepper and sear tossing them occassionally until they are crisp and appear slightly browned.   These are crunchy, sweet and wonderful.  The flavor is nutty, spicy and amazing.  I love these best served with traditional yukon mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Sicilian Meatballs with Homestyle Tomato Sauce

Sicilian Meatballs with Homestyle Tomato Sauce

The picture above shows the meatballs uncooked.

You know that game people play where you ask the question, "If you were on death row, what would be your last meal?"  Well, mine would be eggs benedict no contest, but a lot of people have answered steak oscar, lobster or something covered in chocolate.  Play this game with your friends.  Interestingly, most the choices you hear for last meals are heavy and rich.  Whose gonna order a salad?

A short time ago, I was introduced to real Sicilian meatballs.  They are excellent.  Where I can share the recipe, the source remains anonymous.  Let's just say, it's a family recipe and the way I came about it, I practically had to sign a nondisclosure statement.  If I was ever to reveal the source, somebodies second cousin, maybe named Angelo, would be paying me a visit in a dark alley some evening threatening to break my legs and telling me its a warning.  The meatballs are authentic and my source is trustworthy.  These meatballs are savory and moist with a wonderful exterior.  This family recipe will rival your last meal declared.  I've made a lot of meatballs in my quest for a really good itialian sub sandwich.  This is it.  This is the Godfather of all meatballs.

1 lb ground beef

2 t black pepper

2 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder

1/4 C. fresh chopped parsley

1/2 C. parmesan cheese

1 C. bread crumbs

2 eggs

1/4 C. beef broth

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl, add all the ingredients and mix well.  The beef broth is to moisten the meatballs.  Form mixture into 1 inch balls.  Rotate in frying pan until outside is cooked, about 3 minutes.  Place on paper towel and then transfer to foil lined baking sheet.  When all the meatballs are done frying, place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 12 minutes.  Make sure that your meatballs are completely cooled prior to placing in the sauce.  If not using sauce, serve immediately.

Homestyle Tomato Sauce

2 28 oz cans tomato puree

1 T. dried oregano

1 t.  onion powder

1 t. salt

1 bay leaf

1/2 C beef broth

1/2 C fresh basil leaves, chopped rough

Using a large dutch oven, add all ingredients, but basil and stir to blend.  Cook over low heat, simmering for one hour and stirring occassionally.  Stir in basil in the last 15 minutes of cooking.  If you are using both the sauce and the meatball recipe together, adjust the spices accordingly so your meatballs are not over powering.

This is a real picture I saw on my way home from my in-laws one evening.  After I stopped howling at the description of the lost item, I had to get out of the car and get a photo.  I'm still laughing.

Opera Pizza Dough

Opera Pizza with Fontina and Sherried White Cream Sauce

(toppings include: artichokes, bacon, baby spinach leaves and quickly sauteed green onion)

My sister and I were in the kitchen cooking all day.  We were thirsty and exhausted.  When we sat down to reflect on our day, I jokingly asked her, "What if we lived long ago and we had to wear dresses and cook for every man we knew?"  She answered, "Then we best be hiding a bottle of booze somewhere."

This pizza dough recipe was a fun adventure.  It turned out so well the first time we made it that I made it again for guests at my Election Night Party last fall.  I call it Opera Pizza because the dough is sophisticated, bold and tasteful.  It could easily be served up at the opera and would land rave reviews from all the critics.  You'll be singing like they do at the opera when your dough rises and your perfect crust pizza is on it's way out of the oven all fresh and bubbly.  Let's roll out the red carpet and get started!


Opera Pizza Dough

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

3/4 C. warm water or room temperature beer 

1 package active dry yeast

1 t. olive oil for greasing sides of mixing bowl 

1 t. sugar 

1 t. salt
2 cups flour

3 T. olive oil

Place warm water (or beer) in mixing bowl and add entire yeast package.  Let dissolve.  This step takes about five minutes.  Don't be afraid.  Yeast is great stuff.  Your dough will not rise if the liquid it is dissolved in is too hot or too cold.

Grease bowl for dough to rest in after it is mixed up.  To do this, my mother used to take a paper towel, fold in fours and sparingly add olive oil to it.  She would then use the olive oil towel to wipe down the inside of a big glass bowl.  I have done this for years and I think it is the easiest way to do it if you do not have cooking spray, plus the clean up is a snap.

In mixing bowl, add flour, sugar and salt to yeast mixture.  Add olive oil.  With dough hook attachment, mix until dough forms into a ball shape.  If it is too sticky, add very small amounts of flour and work it in with your hands.  Remove dough from mixer on to floured work surface.  Knead dough over itself until smooth.  Carefully place dough in oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Place dough in a warm area to rise.  Rising takes about an hour and it will look like it has doubled in size.  After the dough has risen, punch it down and clear some kitchen space for assembling pizzas.  I have made this pizza the size of a jelly roll pan for large groups (see in pictures here), or personal size pizzas which are fun for parties.  Roll out dough, cover with sauce and toppings as desired.  Place in oven for 16 to 20 minutes for a large pizza and 8 to 10 for a personal size pizza.

In the picture above, I used a white sauce which I found on the internet, but I substituted cheeses and I used sherry instead of white wine.  The flavor was great.  It is good to be on the safe side and try a traditional sauce, but don't be afraid to mix it up!  Try the following web sites for more sauce recipes: foodnetwork.com, epicurious.com, or allrecipes.com.

Barbequed New York Strip Steak

Barbequed New York Strip Steak

There ain't nothing wrong with that.

OUT of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

~ Evictus

This poem is more meaningful to me than you can imagine. It usually emerges when I am up against a life challenge and I need to be reminded of what I am made of. I am the commander of my life compass. "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."

I used to be afraid of barbequeing steak.  Oh, I've seen it done many times in many ways and yet, fear would overtake me.  "What if the meat is too fatty?, What if the meat is undercooked? What if I cook it too long on one side and not long enough on the other?  What if it tastes like a big sweaty cow?  What if I catch something on fire because I was concentrating on trying not to catch something on fire???!"  Realizing that I needed to take a stress tab, get over it and just trial and error the crap out of it until I got it right pushed me right into success.  I admit, it wasn't overnight.  My spouse has eaten a lot of things that look great, but taste like 'there's just something wrong' while I'm snapping pictures of his food eighteen thousand times to get the right one to put out on the blog only to start over again.  Its really the love of cooking that keeps me going and Im sure its just plain hunger and starvation that keeps my spouse from flipping out over me continually photographing everything he eats, but we can talk about all that fun later.  Today we are making strip steak so quit being afraid.  I won't let you fail.  Here we go nice and easy.

 
Turn your barbeque on high (trust me).  This step is for all of you out there who are laughing right now because your grill looks like it has about six unintelligible different meals on it.  Just turn your grill on high for a few minutes and soon you won't be able to tell what you barbequed last week because it will be incinerated!

 

Barbequed New York Strip Steak

2 New York Strip Steaks

2 t. Olive Oil

1 t. Lemon Pepper

1 t. Seasoning Salt
2 or 3 t. Grill Seasoning, like McCormacks
 
Put the steaks on the counter about an hour before you season them.  Pick the most beautiful side of the steak.  This is the side that will be face down first on the grill because it is going to be the up side when you serve it. 

When its time for the grill, put them in a suitable dish and season with oil and spices above using tongs to flip over to get the seasoning all over.  While your grill is on high, take them one by one and lay them on the hot surface.  Wait 90 seconds and using tongs, turn the steak ninety degrees.  This step will ensure your steak has beautiful criss cross marks on it when you serve it.  Turn grill on medium and cook three more minutes.  Using tongs, flip them over and cook on other side for four and a half minutes.  For thicker steaks, you may need to adjust the minutes up a little.  Remove from grill and place in dish to rest at least ten minutes prior to serving.  If you cut into it right away without letting it rest, it will bleed all its tasty juices all over the rest of your perfectly prepared meal.  Bad.  Do it right and wait to serve.  Its simple.  Its even more amazing with a glass of red wine.  May I suggest a 2007 Mercer Syrah from Horse Heaven Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area - a dedicated grape growing region for wine) in Washington State.  Usually, you would serve steak with a Merlot or Cabernet Savignon, but this wine can holds its own against a strip steak and there ain't nothing wrong with that.  Enjoy.

The Cowboy picture above was created by a very talented young man, named Derrick, who worked at his family's fruit stand off of I-93.  He pulled me aside and shared with me a wonderful piece of apple and told me that he was leaving the family business to chase his dream as a graphic designer in Seattle, Washington.  God bless you and Godspeed Derrick.  As my three year old would say, "It sure was nice to meet you."