Brainy Veal Marsala...

a 'top deck' Euro-bistro favorite...

Even if you don't have veal, you can make a brainy 'veal' Marsala using beef. To be exact - eye of round steak or you could also use flank steak. To begin, make sure you cut the steak of your choice thin and pound flat with a meat hammer.

After you have pounded the meat, marinate the 'veal' or steak for at least 30-40 minutes in a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of sweet Marsala wine with a brush of garlic infused olive oil adding also a few dashes of sea salt.

This dish requires some lovely brown Bavarian mushrooms and linguine pasta - best is infused with mushroom. So, while the meat marinates in the Marsala, wash and slice whatever mushrooms you bought and then saute in butter along with a few garlic cloves.

Once the mushrooms have browned, push them aside in the skillet and lay in the 'cutlets' of marinated beef. Flash fry on high heat, reduce the heat and bring the mushrooms back in and add 1/4 cup of Marsala wine and 1/4 cup of beef stock...bringing this skillet mixture to a bubbling richness.

Finally, add fresh dried herbs: rosemary, mint, and oregano and 1/4 cup of heavy cream (optional), let simmer on very low heat until the pasta is tender.

 *Drain your pasta and pour out the Marsala, top with fresh grated parmesan cheese and dried or fresh green parsley...

~ Tutti a Tavola

What's Your Weekend Look Like?

Take your pasta pick...

*Check out Brainy Archives for these meals...www.brainygourmet.com

Italian Oven Roasted Rosemary Chicken with Tiny Potatoes....

Dinner at a cozy Italian bistro....

Mmm, didn't I just blog that skillet cooking was/is the best? Yes, indeed, I did. However, that does not mean that the brainy gourmet never likes to roast or bake in the oven. Oven roasted takes longer; Italians call it - slow cooking. And, sometimes that is exactly what you want from a dish, a certain flavor that comes from slow cooking.

As the title suggests, oven roasted rosemary chicken with tiny potatoes is absolutely delicious. To begin, you will need chicken thighs with the bone in and skin on (provides flavor). You will need green pepper, sun dried tomatoes, and tiny colorful potatoes as well as one fresh lemon.

Before roasting, marinate the chicken thighs in fresh squeezed lemon juice, garlic powder and sea salt along with dried herbs: rosemary mixed with oregano and mint and a hint of lavender. Drizzle over the top some olive oil as well. Let that stand for 30-40 min. Preheat your oven to 400f. When the temp is achieved, pop in the chicken.

While the chicken begins to sizzle in the roasting process, chop up one green pepper and prepare sun dried tomatoes by reconstituting them in boiling water.  Wash as many tiny potatoes as you need. Then take out the chicken and try to fit in cut up green pepper, the potatoes and sun dried tomatoes in and around the chicken thighs.

Let this roast in the oven for about 75-80 min. In the meantime, prepare green beans or asparagus as an additional side.

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Be Brainy ~ Cooking in the Skillet...

Many home cooks think the oven or crockpot is the way to go... I say no, not really. Skillet cooking is the way to be brainy at home; its fast and frugal.

*Check past posts on this Brainy Gourmet Blog for a variety of skillet cooked meals.

Sunset Mediterranean Chicken...

Slip off into the sunset with Mediterranean Chicken...

You can make this dish in either the oven or skillet. Today's version is oven roasted. First, in a glass baking dish, you need to marinate in fresh lemon juice (20-30 min) as many chickens thighs (skin on, bone in) as you need per person. Preheat oven to 400f.

Next, you need to season the chicken thighs. In that same glass dish, drizzle the lemony thighs with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic powder, sea salt, rosemary, lavender, mint, oregano and ever so 'gently' red pepper flakes. Pop in the oven for about 30-35 min.

When the skin on the chicken thighs appears to be getting crispy, take a handful of either whole grape tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes (reconstituted in hot water unless from jar), the same amount of dried plums and Kalamata olives... tossing them over the chicken. You can also include: diced zucchini or eggplant.

Photo ~ skillet version...

Pop it all back into the oven for another 30 min. Reduce oven temp to 350. Near the end of the last 30 min (half way), pour in a med. size can of petite diced tomatoes, spreading the tiny tomato bits in and around the chicken.

Then, back into the oven for the last 15 min or until you see the tomatoes start to bubble up around the chicken. Believe me, this oven version is as juicy as the skillet version (found on a past blog dated - Aug. 2, 2017).

In the meantime, prepare your pasta - boil in lightly salted water. A spinach infused 'thin' tagliatelle (Taglierini Al Spinaci) is incredibly complimentary.

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Lemons ~ Let the Sunshine Into your Kitchen!

Lemons and lemon juice serves many culinary purposes. Making marinades is one of the most significant uses for lemon juice in cooking, but the acids and tangy citrus taste of lemon juice can be used for far more than that alone.

For instance, lemon juice can be used to flavor beverages and foods, and it can also be used to preserve fruits and vegetables. Lemons are absolutely necessary for Chicken Picata, and any fish.
















You can use lemons in hot tea (good for combating colds) and cold tea to take the edge off a hot summer afternoon. Lemons are even great for cleaning up the kitchen: to cut the grease in the sink of dishes or to cut the grease on the stove top or scrubbing a pot til its shiny and new.

So, be brainy and let the sunshine in by cooking and cleaning with lemons; for instance, you can mix fresh lemon juice with baking soda and coconut oil for a lively toothpaste and use the same mix to take hard water marks from the faucet.

 https://www.wikihow.com/Cook-With-Lemon-Juice

Be Your Own Brainy Gourmet...

This blog is dedicated to being your own brainy gourmet. For example, the Brainy Gourmet has always advocated using your 5 senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. Yes, even hearing can be a brainy gourmet tool in the kitchen. 

Most important though is knowing what you like... what your taste buds appreciate the most. Which means, you need to self-evaluate what combinations of sweet, savory and salty flavors you favor. From there, as a point of departure, you can get cooking like a gourmet chef.

This blog also advocates being fast and frugal which comes from experiences ... your own successes in the kitchen based on applying the above brainy advice. Its really just knowing how to make the most of what you buy and cook and that can include how to use what you have on hand and what's left over.

If you go the Brainy Gourmet Webpage, click on 'Brainy Tips'. There you will see a list of food items you should always have on hand to get you started and to keep you going as a brainy gourmet.

www.brainygourmet.com