A Brainy Alfredo with Tagliatelle Pasta...

 

 

 Fettuccine Alfredo with tuna ... Roman style ???

 

You will need two cans of tuna in oil (if you prefer, use fresh tuna steaks, broken apart). One onion, heavy cream, sour cream, fettuccine pasta, and Parmesan cheese. Begin by sauteing one whole chopped onion in olive oil on med. heat until you see brown edges. To that add the two cans of tuna, un-drained. Stir while it bubbles along.

In the meantime, prepare a stock pot of salted water to boil the pasta. Returning to the tuna Alfredo sauce, add 1/4 cup of heavy cream and the same of sour cream. Stir until well blended. Finally, add dried herbs: rosemary, mint and oregano. Let the sauce simmer covered on low heat until the pasta is ready to serve.

When the pasta is tender, drain, rinse and pour onto serving platter. Ladle the sauce over the top, sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Brainy Spicy Asian Noodle Bowl with Pork...

 

This is a 'noodle bowl/pot' dish. In case you didn't know, the concept of the ramen 'noodle bowl/pot' dish with marinated meat, stock/broth, some fresh veggies and a hard boiled egg was actually imported from China to Japan.

Today, this noodle dish is recognized as a Japanese 'delish' experience that consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat or (occasionally) fish-based stock/broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso.

Of course, being brainy, I used angel hair pasta broken in half rather than ramen noodles... why not, pasta was originally from China anyway. Of course, you can use traditional ramen noodles.

To begin, you will need: pork loin, angel hair pasta, fresh green beans (optional), onion, orange bell pepper (optional), and spinach blended with arugula. 

Most ramen bowls have bright colors: green, orange and yellow colors (boiled egg)... but you can be brainy and improvise/substitute ...which means use ingredients you/everyone in your house likes. 

Start by marinating a pound more or less of boneless pork loin (depending on number of guests) in whatever your favorite 'spicy' seasonings happen to be. For this version, 'fig' infused balsamic vinegar was used along with garlic powder or paste, cayenne pepper flakes and or cayenne paste, sea salt and minced ginger.

In the meantime, start your 'soup'. Get a full quart of beef stock, 4 tbs of soy sauce, 1 tbs of garlic paste, and 1 tbs of ginger paste or more if you like,.. set to boil. As for the cayenne paste, use at your own discretion in the soup; however, if used in the marinate, then omit from soup. 

Next, add half an onion and orange bell pepper julienne cut to the rolling boil of soup stock. Lastly, add one cup of julienne cut young green beans and then some shredded spinach leaves. 

When the meat marination time is up, either broil the pork loin in the oven or cook on the stove in a skillet. Check the pork and add necessary beef stock to keep the meat moist and juicy. Once, it is pink on the inside (use knife checking the densest portion) a little searing seals in the flavors. 

Back to your spicy ramen soup... add four handfuls of angel hair pasta broken in half directly to the boiling soup stock with all its added spicy flavors.

Take out a deep serving dish and ladle in the pasta with julienne veggies topping with the seared pork loin. Pour out the spicy soup stock over the top and also any tasty drippings from the meat. Top with fresh chopped arugula and serve. 

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Brainy Simple ~ lean meat and potatoes...

 

Meat and potatoes... just good food for a sit down candlelight dinner at home.

You will need: one pork or beef tenderloin. The loin is the best cut and the best loin is lean and boneless with just a little fat on one side. Chose side dishes that you and your family will enjoy... potatoes i.e.

To begin, heat the oven to 375 (to be reduced later on to 350). Take the loin and poke holes all around. Shake sea salt on all sides and lay it down into a glass dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, top with generously with dried herbs: rosemary, mint and oregano.

Let it rest like that for about 15 min., while the oven heats up. Cover the loin with foil and pop in the oven at 375 for about 15-18 min. After that time, pour in 3/4 cup of beef stock, and 1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce. 

Add to that, a few handfuls of dried plums and sun dried tomatoes (from the jar is ok). Remove the foil cover and return to the oven at 350 until the meat thermometer tells you its down, just slightly pink inside, mostly white meat.

Serve with potatoes, green beans and or a salad. 

 

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Brainy Beef Burgundy... Its more than just eating good!

Beef bourguignon or known as "Beef Burgundy", is a beef stew braised in red wine, often red Burgundy, along with beef stock, generally flavored with carrots, onions, garlic, pearl onions, and mushrooms. Its a traditional countryside but elegant French dish.

The simplest recipe if you need one... is this famous Julia Child recipe. She called it the best beef dish ever concocted by man. And, it just so happens to be the one I use to cook up this delicious beef dish. 

3/4 lb boneless beef sirloin cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes ( a cheaper cut try chuck roast)
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon pepper 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
1 cup sliced mushrooms 

You can cook the beef and mushrooms in a skillet on the stove while you roast in a glass dish in the oven some garden fresh carrots, asparagus and tiny new potatoes.  

Sear the beef cubes in olive oil, add the salt and pepper and dried herbs of your liking... I recommend rosemary, mint, oregano and thyme. Add to that, 1/3 cup of beef stock and 1/4 cup of red wine. You may wish to add a little more of either stock or wine depending on your preferences.  

Personally, I like to cook the mushrooms off side in another skillet in butter and cream with a dash of red wine and dried herbs; same as above. Lastly, adding them to the beef just before serving.  

~ Tutti a Tavola!

 

Brainy 'Cozy Bistro' Food at Home...

 

Brainy Bistro food at home...

 

You may already know that a 'Goulash' is actually a stew of meat and vegetables, seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating from the medieval Hungary, goulash is a popular meal predominantly eaten in Central Europe but as well as in other parts of Europe. 

 

And, stew in most cultures is exactly that 'goulash'.. a tasty dish of meat and veggies. Some like it more liquid or fluid or juicy than others who may like it more thick as in heavy being full of rich gravy.

Now Ratatouille, what's that? Well, its a French stewed vegetable dish, originating in Nice. The word ratatouille comes out of the verb touiller, meaning "to stir up". From the late 18th century, in French, it merely indicated a rough or coarse stew as in chunky and stirred up.

 

The modern ratatouille has these basic ingredients: tomatoes sautéed garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, marjoram, fennel (optional) and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs.

 

Your ratatouille can be whatever you said it is... but without zucchini squash it just might be goulash.

Serve over pasta, rice and or potatoes!

~ Tutti a Tavola!

Make Brainy Homemade Veal Marsala...

 

Veal is young beef and is relatively inexpensive. But, finding it can be a problem. If you don't have veal available in your grocer, then you can make a brainy 'veal' Marsala using lean boneless pork loin.

To begin, make sure you cut the pork loin thin and pound flat with a meat hammer. After you have pounded the meat, marinate the 'veal' or pork for at least 30-40 minutes in a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of sweet Marsala wine (or sweet non alcoholic cider with a touch of nutty flavored balsamic vinegar), garlic infused olive oil and a few dashes of sea salt.

This dish works best with some lovely brown Bavarian mushrooms and linguine pasta - infused with mushrooms. While the meat marinates in the Marsala, wash and slice whatever mushrooms you can find (preferably Bavarian) 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 veal/pork. 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 sauce, top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and dried or fresh green parsley...

~ Tutti a Tavola

Brainy 'Polish' Pierogi... simply delicious!

 



I love simple Polish food as much as I love simple Italian food. The best Polish food that is simple and filling can be no other than pieorgi... filled with potato and cheese, or just cheese, or meat and even fruit. Yum!

Polish pierogi are usually boiled in salted water. Baked or even deep fried pierogi are also popular. There exists tons of recipes both for the stuffing and for the dough. During decades of communist regime, Poles usually could only "enjoy" the more simple rural versions with basic toppings.

Pierogi arrived on Polish territories in the 13th century probably imported from the Far East via eastern neighbors such as Kievian Rus (today's Ukraine). In the past, pierogi were more popular in the eastern borderlands of Old Poland than in the west.

Make no mistake! The name does not indicate any Russian origin since such food is unknown there. 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!



* Source ~ 'Polish Food 101' [http://culture.pl/en/article/polish-food-101-pierogi]