September ’10 – Week 2 – Monday Dinner/Side

There’s nothing like a recipe from your childhood. I grew up eating these carrots at my grandmother’s house. The shimmery tomato-based sauce they’re cooked in lends them the look of copper pennies, and the sweetness of the sauce is really kid-friendly. It won’t be hard to get them to eat their veggies once you introduce this dish to the table.

Ingredients:

2 lbs Carrots
1 Onion, chopped
1 Green Pepper, chopped
1 can Tomato Soup
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 C Vinegar
1/3 C Oil
1 t Mustard
1 t Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Cut carrots into coins and cook in a saucepan until tender. Add remainder of ingredients while carrots are still hot, allowing flavors to develop. Transfer into a bowl and refrigerate, marinating overnight. I prefer mine served warm, but in the summer, served cold as a picnic side is just as good!

September ’10 – Week 2 – Sunday Dinner/Entree

This stew is elegant enough for the adults as is, and makes a gorgeous Sunday dinner, but as for the picky kids in your house? We’ve got you covered. Serve this stew up on a “volcano” made of molded white rice and tell them it’s not stew- it’s lava! This recipe is another one that’s good for busy weekends, since it’s done in the slow cooker, freeing you up to enjoy your day.

Ingredients:
2  lbs chuck beef, cubed
1 bottle dry red wine
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 bay leaves
2 C AP flour
Olive oil
2 onions, cubed
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
1/2 lb mushrooms
1 lb small potatoes, halved or quartered
1 T garlic, minced
Fresh thyme
Fresh rosemary
2 C stock or broth
1/2 C chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 package frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

The night before, place cubed beef in a bowl with wine, bay leaves, and crushed garlic. Allow to marinate, refrigerated, overnight.

The next day, combine flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. Remove beef from marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving marinade aside. Dredge the beef in the flour mixture and set aside. Heat olive oil on med-high in a heavy skillet and cook beef in batches until all beef is thoroughly browned on the outside.

Into a slow cooker, place beef, onions, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms. Add 2 1/2 C of the reserved marinade back into the hot skillet and deglaze. Place deglazing liquid into the slow cooker, along with minced garlic, thyme, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.

Allow to cook on high for 4-6 hours, or until beef is perfectly tender and vegetables are cooked through. Stir in frozen peas shortly before serving, allowing to heat through.

White Rice Volcanoes:

Cook 1 C white rice according to package directions (should make about 2 C cooked.) Allow to cool most of the way, but keep moist. Using your hands, form rice into conical ‘volcano’ shapes on the plate. Create a crater using your fingers, then pour the stew over the top.

September ’10 – Week 1 – Saturday Lunch

The silly and charming name of these fried rice and cheese balls come from the fact that when you break them apart to eat them, the gooey mozzarella forms strings between, like the cord of a telephone! (Remember when telephones had cords?) These are a fantastic way to use up leftover rice from rice dishes, but it’s traditionally done with leftover risotto. This recipe makes about 16 suppli, but if you’re having a crowd, double it. (These go really fast!)

I like to serve them with raspberry sauce, but the more discriminating eaters in your crowd (like my husband) may prefer marinara for dipping!

Ingredients:

4C Risotto or other leftover rice dishes
2 eggs
1/3 C flour
1 C bread crumbs
Mozzarella (string cheese is good for this!) Cut into large (no bigger than 1″) chunks
Frying oil

Directions:

While heating oil over medium heat in a saucepan, beat one of the eggs and incorporate it into the rice. In a small bowl, beat the other egg along with a pinch of salt. Put the flour in one shallow dish, and the breadcrumbs in another.

Using your hands, pull a small clump of rice (about the size of a ping-pong ball,) and form it around one of the mozzarella chunks. Continue making these and setting them aside until you’ve used up all your rice.

Take each suppli, coat in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing firmly to adhere. Fry in oil until golden brown and crispy. Allow to drain on paper towels before serving.

September ’10 – Week 1 – Saturday Dinner/Entree

Whenever I think about roasted fish, I always think about learning about Native American tribes in school, specifically those living on the coastline, smoking huge racks of fish and storing them for the winter. Learning about food always made me want to cook food, and I have to admit, no matter how much I read or learn about fish, cooking it still intimidates me. Luckily, that’s why you have your grocer’s fishmonger. This recipe calls for trout fillet, and your resident seafood expert will be happy to take care of that for you. Once the fish is filleted, all the hard work is done!

Ingredients:

4 trout (each a pound or less, cleaned and filleted)
1 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced thin (as if for a gratin)
2 T butter, cut into small pieces
Fresh rosemary sprigs
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and white pepper, to taste
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

September ’10 – Week 1 – Friday Lunch

In my house, we love spicy foods, and as far as Italian cooking is concerned, nothing beats a Fra Diavolo, but it’s not for the faint of heart! If you’re less inclined to super spicy things in your house, but like just a hint of heat, try this Amatriciana instead. The pancetta adds a savory saltiness to the sauce that perfectly compliments the heat from the red pepper. It’s a thing of beauty.

Ingredients:

1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, halved
3 oz thickly sliced pancetta, finely diced (or bacon if you can’t find it)
1/2 t crushed red pepper
1 T tomato paste
One 35oz can crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of sugar
Fresh Basil
1 lb spaghetti

Directions:

Heat olive oil to med-high in a large saucepan. Add red pepper, pancetta, and garlic, and saute until garlic is golden brown. Add the tomato paste and cook, just long enough to allow the sugars in the paste to caramelize a little- about 5 minutes.

Add canned tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Then mix in sugar, and as much basil as you prefer. Cover and simmer for about half an hour, or until sauce has thickened to an adequate consistency.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and toss together with sauce before serving.

September ’10 – Week 1 – Friday Dinner/Entree (to be served with storebought broccoli in cheese sauce.)

This recipe is one of my dirty little superfast secrets. The drumsticks always come out gorgeously and the flavors in them can only be described one way: “YUM!” This recipe was a bunch of ideas all smooshed together into one chickeny place, and I hope you love them as much as my family does. Who needs Shake ‘n’ Bake?

Ingredients:

Chicken Drumsticks, 4-8, depending on size of chicken and of family. =)
1/3 C Mayonnaise
1/3 C Brown Mustard
2 C Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°. Coat a shallow baking dish or sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium sized bowl, combine mayonnaise and mustard. In another, larger bowl, put breadcrumbs. Coat chicken first in the mayonnaise mixture, then in the breadcrumbs, then set on baking dish.

Bake chicken for about 30 minutes, or until crispy brown on the outside and cooked through (165° on a meat thermometer, or until juices run clear when poked.)

September ’10 – Week 1 – Thursday Dinner/Dessert, Friday Breakfast

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. oil

September ’10 – Week 1 – Wednesday Dinner/Entree

Ingredients
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp garlic chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
2 tsp lemon zest, grated
1/4 C lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 (1 lb.) turkey breasts
1 (1 lb.) eggplant
1 (1 lb.) zucchini
3 plum tomatoes

Directions

Whisk together the oil, garlic, rosemary, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Place the turkey into a large bowl. Pour 1/3 C of the marinade over the turkey and turn the turkey to coat well. Refrigerate at least 45 minutes.

Refrigerate the remaining marinade.

Cut the eggplant and zucchini lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut the tomatoes in half. Place the vegetables on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil.

Heat the grill (outdoors is fine, or try cast iron on your stovetop!) Place the turkey on the grill and discard any marinade. Grill the turkey for 7 minutes per side or until a meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees. Remove the turkey to a platter, tent with foil and let rest until ready to cut.

Place the eggplant slices and zucchini slices onto the grill. Grill for 4 minutes then turn and grill an additional 4 minutes or until just tender. Add the tomatoes to the grill and grill for 2 minutes per side or until charred but not too soft. Allow the vegetables to cool enough to handle. Cut the cooled vegetables into bite size pieces and toss with the remaining marinade.

September ’10 – Week 1 – Tuesday Dinner/Entree

September ’10 – Week 1 – Monday Dinner/Entree

This rustic, warm and hearty dish is perfect for chilly fall and winter nights around the table with family. Served on a beautiful platter, it really makes a statement, and no one ever has to know how very simple it was! This particular recipe is very easy, and traditionally Spanish.