Are
you anticipating fresh summer fruits like I am? Whether fresh or dried,
cooking with summer fruits bring great flavor to any dish. We don't
often think of dried apricots or fresh apricots as a side dish... but
they are and deliciously so... just saute, sear and add to any chicken
or beef or pork dish.
Ahh, Italia...
To
begin, you will need to buy or take from the pantry a package of wide
egg noodles... preferably the 'Egg Pappardelle Pasta from the Italian food product provider ~ Rustichella
d'Abruzzo.
Next, using a deep fry pan, gently saute the bacon (thick
sliced) and or very mild Italian sausage in olive oil on med. heat until
it crumbles. Drain off the extra fat that accumulates to save for
future cooking.
Add
to the skillet, half a jar of drained capers, and one chopped roasted red
pepper, one med can of diced tomatoes, dried herbs: rosemary, mint, sage
and oregano along with garlic powder.
As the sauce
simmers, start salted water to boil in which you will cook the pasta.
Returning to the sauce in progress, add a little less than 1/4 cup of
heavy cream to the sauce, and a small pat of butter.
Oh the Taste, so Regal, so French, so Versailles....
The
last time I made this Tex Mex 'family' cuisine, black bean meatloaf, I
served it with french fries and a savory gravy. Today, I made a creamy
thick black bean gravy to top off mashed potatoes.
For
this dish you will need: ground beef and or ground lamb (mix them if you
like), one med.can of black beans, bread crumbs, dried herbs,
Worcestershire (in the mix) and hot sauce(on the table) and potatoes as a
side dish.
To begin, heat the oven to 350f. While it
warms up to temp, mix 1 lb of ground beef with half the can of black
beans (drained). Add to that 1/2 cup of dried bread crumbs, 2 -3 tbs of
Worcestershire sauce, dried herbs to taste, a dash of garlic powder and
sea salt. Mix and form into a football sized meatloaf. Place in a glass
baking drizzled with olive oil and set in pre-heated (350f) oven with
convection on.
In the land down under, lamb cutlets are served pub style... Here's my take on that!
For
this dish, you will need to buy ground lamb to make as many ground
cutlet patties as per dinner guest. To that, as sides, potatoes and
baked squash.Take from your pantry: sea salt, olive oil, garlic powder,
Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes and dried herb seasonings:
rosemary, oregano, mint and sage or thyme.
Grab a covered skillet and add 4 tbs of olive oil. When the oil is just
hot enough, lay in hand patted ground lamb cutlets, shake over the top
the listed seasoning to taste. Fry on med/high heat both sides of the
cutlet patties until browned, then reduce the heat and add a few dashes
of Worcestershire sauce over each cutlet patty. Cook until the meat if
fully cooked but yet a bit pink on the inside.
In the meantime, turn on the oven and when hot enough, bake your potatoes and squash wrapped in foil.
Serve
the lamb patties in the au jus that remains in the skillet and a short
pour of olive oil to dress them up. A snip of fresh mint or rosemary is a
lovely garnish.
*traditional cutlets use a breading but you can make without...
~ Tutti a Tavola!
Whether you like the Greek version or Moroccan (north African) version of meatballs, either or are delicious. But, what's the key the difference? Well Greek's tend to us beef or pork; but, of course they do use lamb. For this dish, Moroccan's more strictly use beef or lamb...which I happen to prefer.
Greeks love mint for a added special flavor and serve with tzatziki (salted cucumber yogurt dip); whereas, Moroccan's like a more stew version of this dish and to spice it up with curry, ginger and red pepper. Also, the Moroccan meatball can be flavored with carrots, onion, tomatoes, and even raisins...and to be really exotic, try cumin, cinnamon and dried chilies.
And, as with all recipes, follow your own taste buds. The basic 'brainy' mix is 1-2 lbs of ground meat (depending on number of guests), dried bread crumbs, heavy cream (or one egg as substitute) diced onion, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, salt, and seasonings depending on the version you're making.
To that tomato sauce, when making the Moroccan version,
you can go as crazy as you like with hot and spicy seasonings. If you
are making the Greek version meatball mix, add in garlic paste and dried
mint; but, skip the tomatoes and just add beef stock to simmer until
cooked.
*For a more traditional Greek version, serve with pita bread and traditional tzatziki..
~ Tutti a Tavola!
You will need to buy a package of chicken thighs with or without skin, dark cherries, crushed pineapple, and dried plums along with left over homemade and barbecue sauce.
First, I simmered the thighs to get a
stock from them for the week. I have said it many times before, keep a
chicken stock in the pantry or fridge. I also stuck some carrots and
green cabbage in the stock. Once the meat was white, I removed the
thighs and laid them into a glass baking dish which was drizzled with
olive oil. I also removed the carrots and cabbage transferring them to a
glass baking dish.
To the chicken thighs, I dumped in the dark cherries, the crushed
pineapple and some dried plums. Over the top, I dumped the left over
homemade barbecue sauce (you can also use store bought), and lastly, I
sprinkled on some dried herbs. All of this went into a F400 degree oven
uncovered for 50 min.
Next, I took fresh ginger and grated some over the carrots and cabbage.
To that I drizzled over the top, teriyaki sauce, and organic honey til
it blanketed the veggies. You can also lay on some fresh sliced lemon.
~ Tutti a Tavola...
The best Polish food is simple and filling...which means it can be no other than pieorgi... some with potato
and cheese, or just cheese, or meat and even fruit. Yum!
Polish pierogi are a kind of filled dumpling. They are usually boiled in
salted water. Some are fried, sauteed, baked or even deep
fried. There exists tons of recipes both for
the filling and for the dumpling dough.
During decades of communist regime, Poles usually could only enjoy the more simple rural versions with basic toppings. Perhaps this is why nowadays a lot of eateries and homes are tempted to experiment with extravagant fillings and fancy toppings to turn this simple dish into a gourmet delicacy.
Make no mistake! Ruskie
pierogi arrived from a prewar region of Poland which is now part of the
Ukraine. Indeed, before 1945 Ukrainians used to call this particular
variety of pierogi ‘Polish pierogi’. It is likely that “pierogi ruskie”
were created by Poles living in Ukraine at the time.
We
like them boiled or boiled then fried in butter or in lard with bacon
bits to crisp up the edges... a pinch of paprika adds extra zest. Always
served with sour cream, what a brainy fast and frugal meal!
~ Tutti a Tavola!
