81: Lamb & Veal "Bolognese" / Fresh Spinach, Beet & Egg Fettucine

It’s starting to feel a lot like the holidays! I wanted to make something that looked seasonal, and I also wanted to continue my winter tradition of slow cooking. Even though I made this in the "holiday spirit," this is really just a great cold weather meal.

I knew exactly what I was making when I saw the tri color fresh pasta at the grocery store. I mean, fresh pasta says it all. I’ve made a lamb or veal bolognese many times before, but I had never combined the two meats into one. The result: An incredibly tender and flavorful meat sauce that dances on the palate with the different types of pasta. The beet pasta was by far my favorite of the bunch. Any meat or Italian food lover will enjoy this dinner.

Ingredients and Directions:

1 pound ground lamb

1/2 pound ground veal

Will’s Holy Trinity

--1 leek, thinly sliced

--1 medium carrot, diced

--1 small fennel bulb, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 cup dry red wine

1.5 cup chicken broth

1 large tomato, seeded and diced

Tomato paste, 1 good large spoonful

Bouquet garni of rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley

1 pound fresh tri color fettuccine pasta

Parmigiano-reggiano, large shred for garnish

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Parsley, minced for garnish

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a Dutch oven, and sauté the Holy Trinity for about 10-12 minutes with good bit of salt and pepper. Increase heat to high and add veal and lamb to cook until browned, somewhere between 5-10 minutes. Stir to break up clumps.  Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, bouquet garni, and wine. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 – 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper as necessary. Discard bouquet garni.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook for 2 minutes; drain. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

75: Orzo / Shrimp & Bacon / Roasted Tomoatoes & Broccoli / Pecorino Romano

I opened the refrigerator, and this recipe is what I created. I make a shrimp stock on the fly to serve as the sauce. This dinner comes out light and flavorful. The bacon adds a rich, crisp flavor, while the tomatoes add acidity and broccoli another layer of crunch and complexity, made complete with a little pecorino romano to round out the dish.

Ingredients and Directions:

1 cup (uncooked) orzo

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup shallots, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

Handful of broccoli florets, chopped

Pecorino romano, grated

Fresh basil , chopped

Olive oil

Salt + pepper

Cook the pasta according to package directions, without salt or olive oil. There will be plenty in the rest of the cooking.

While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp with salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes. There should be a thin layer of water from the shrimp counteracting the oil. This is your shrimp stock. Saute shrimp for about 4-5 minutes. Strain shrimp into a bowl, reserving the shrimp stock.

Add olive oil to the same pan. Add onion, garlic, and salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, so the mixture doesn’t burn in the pan. Add tomatoes and broccoli now, and sauté for about 3-4 minutes.

Now stir in the orzo, shrimp, and basil until heated through, 1-2 minutes. Serve immediately, and use additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Enjoy!!

73: Osso Bucco / Tomato-Vanilla Broth / Braising Vegetables

It doesn’t get any better than a braised Osso Bucco, which translates into “hole in the middle.” The hole in the middle, of course, is the rich and succulent bone marrow that is the end prize of this fantastic dinner.

It’s somewhat of a traditional set up, plus a touch of vanilla that provides a silky texture. The gremolata looks a bit of overkill, but it actually doesn’t interfere with the flavor profile. In fact, it complements the flavors rather well, if I do so myself. Including the root vegetables the veal was braised in presents a layer of flavor uninterrupted.

Ingredients and Directions:

2 veal shanks, bone in

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 medium potato, peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup dry white wine, a floral white like pinot grigio works nice

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1 lemon, zested

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Bouquet garni – fresh sprigs of thyme, rosemary, parsley, basil, and halved garlic clove

Olive oil

Salt + pepper

Osso Bucco—Season shanks with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven. Brown shanks 4-5 minutes. Remove to a plate.

Braising Set Up—In the same dutch oven with the veal juices and bits, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and reduce heat to medium. Add onions, carrots, and celery to the pot, and sauté for 10 minutes with healthy pinches of salt and pepper. Now add the white wine, return heat to high, and reduce wine by half. Add tomato paste and stir to break up, cook for 1-2 minutes. Now place the shanks on top of this mixture.  Add chicken stock, bouquet garni pushed down into stock, tomato paste, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 90 minutes. Remove shanks to plate, and drain vegetables of their liquid. Skim fat off the top of the braising liquid. Plate shanks with a couple spoonfuls of sauce. Serve vegetables on the side.

Gremolata—It’s important to chop this fresh parsley in the beginning of your prep, so the warmth in your kitchen helps dry the parsley out a little bit. Combine parsley and lemon zest in a small bowl. Spoon mixture on top of the veal shanks.

Enjoy!!

70: Rosemary Flat Iron Steak / Tomato Mushroom Risotto

I ended up with about a cup of leftover sauce from the Tuscan Veal Stew the other night, and I didn’t want such a flavorful sauce to go to waste. I had a couple flat iron steaks I needed to use, and found a cup of dry risotto in the cupboard. I also had two cups of chicken broth, so I came up with this dinner. I love nights when all I have to do is look through what I have and can come up with something blog-worthy.

Ingredients and Directions:

2 flat iron steaks

1 cup dry risotto

1/4 cup shallots, diced

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup leftover sauce (you’ll have to improvise here)

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup wild mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

Olive oil

Butter

Salt + pepper

Risotto—Bring leftover sauce and stock to a low simmer in a pan. Meanwhile, sauté mushrooms in olive oil with a little butter, salt and pepper. Turn off heat on mushrooms and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and butter in a pot over medium heat for a few minutes. Sweat shallots in this mixture for 3-4 minutes, and then add the risotto to the pot. Sauté for a few more minutes or until risotto is light golden brown. Turn heat to medium high, and add stock a 1/4 cup at a time, stirring continuously. You know you need to add more stock when the mixture in the pot seems dry, meaning the risotto has soaked up all the liquid, usually about 5 minutes. The whole process will take about 30 minutes. You must stir continuously, or your risotto will not come out nice. Stir in mushrooms and cheese for one minute before serving.

Steaks—Heat a dry pan on medium high heat for 3-5 minutes. Dredge steaks through a mixture of salt, pepper, and rosemary. Press the seasoning into the steaks. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and let warm for 1-2 minutes. Sear steaks on each side for 3 minutes per side for medium rare, depending on thickness. Our steaks were just over half an inch thick, so they didn’t need to cook long. Plate steaks up against risotto mound on plate.

Enjoy!!

68: Roasted Branzino Filet / Lemongrass Fennel Sauce / Artichoke Hearts & Bell Pepper / New Potatoes

I’m really surprised that this is the first branzino recipe I’ve posted, given how much I love the fish. Branzino is Mediterranean Sea Bass. The branzino in the US often comes from Greece, and it is farm raised over there. It’s a true delight. It’s somewhat fatty and oily like salmon, but it has a richer feel with a mild flavor. I round out the fish with the citrus infusion of lemongrass, subtly sweet star anise of fennel, and butter. Add some sautéed artichoke hearts and red bell pepper in garlic, and this dish is packed with flavor. I boiled some red potatoes for good measure, dusted with salt and pepper on the plate.

Ingredients and Directions:

2 branzino filets

1/3 cup shallots, minced

1/3 fennel, diced

1/3 cup red bell pepper, diced

1 can artichoke hearts in water (yup, I cheated)

2 red potatoes, quartered

1 lemongrass stalk, julienned and pounded to release flavor

1/3 cup clam juice or fish stock

1/3 chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced and separated

Olive oil

Flour

Butter

Salt + fresh ground black pepper

Potatoes—Boil potatoes in well salted water until fork tender. Drain potatoes, and return them to the pot and keep covered while everything else cooks. Dust with salt and pepper when you plate the meal.

Fish—Dredge filets in flour that is well seasoned with salt and pepper. Heat a pan dry over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes. Add a tablespoon each of olive oil and butter, and let them coalesce for 1-2 minutes. Gently place filets down in pan, and sear on each side for 3 minutes over medium heat. Remove fish from pan and set aside.

Sauce—In the same pan you cooked the fish, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add shallots and fennel with good dose of salt and pepper. Sweat until shallots are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Now add chicken broth, clam juice, lemongrass, half of garlic, and reduce liquid by half over high heat. Add fish back to this pan, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until artichokes are ready. You will spoon the sauce over the fish with a slotted spoon when ready to plate.

Veggies—Heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add artichoke hearts and bell pepper with salt, pepper, and the rest of the garlic to sauté for 5 minutes. Try not to stir the veggies that much to give them a slight char that really helps bring out the flavor.

Enjoy!!

61: Veal Scallopini / Mushroom Marsala / Kale & Red Bell Pepper Salad

Veal, yes, veal in all its succulent and tender glory is draped in a savory mushroom marsala sauce, finished with earthy kale and sweet red bell pepper. I was surprised to see veal cutlets at the Safeway because they’ve never been known to carry such things in the past. Recipe ideas immediately began swirling through my head, and I just had to buy some of the cutlets. Here is what I ended up making that night. It’s quick and delicious – what more could you ask more?

Ingredients and Directions:

4-6 veal cutlets (about 3 oz each)

Handful of sliced baby bellas

1 shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/2 cup semi-sweet Marsala
1/4 cup dry white wine (can substitute chicken broth or water)
Leaves of 1 fresh rosemary sprig, chopped

2 handfuls of kale, shredded

1/2 a red pepper, thinly julienned

1/4 stick butter

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup flour

Minced parsley for garnish

Veal-- Sprinkle the veal with salt and pepper, and dredge the cutlets through flour. Heat half of the butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add the cutlets when butter finishes foaming, and cook the cutlets until golden brown – no more than 2 minutes per side. Transfer veal to a plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm.

Sauce-- Add the rest of the butter and another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Saute shallot and smashed garlic cloves until fragrant, about 30-45 seconds. Now add the mushrooms with salt and pepper, and saute them until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the marsala wine and reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and rosemary to deglaze the pan, and reduce by half once more, about 4 minutes. Add veal cutlets back to this pan, and toss them in the sauce for 1 minute.

Salad-- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add kale and bell pepper with salt and pepper. Saute for 3-4 minutes, tossing the kale enough to wilt it down without having all the oil sopped up at once.

Plate, garnish, and enjoy!

60: Herbed Pork Tenderloin / Tomato Fennel Sauce / Zucchini Coins

Two recipes posted in one night! Aren’t you lucky?

Simple, quick, and incredibly delicious! The sauce alone is out of this world. This is another one of those meals where I didn’t have to buy anything extra because I had all of these ingredients in my refrigerator. Pork filets are coated in fresh herbs with a tomato fennel sauce made complete with zucchini coins sautéed in oil and breadcrumbs. We drank Sebastani Chardonnay with this – toasted oak for smoke, citrusy, and crisp on the finish.

Ingredients and Directions:

2 pork filets (about 3/4 lb)

2 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, and sliced

1/2 a fennel bulb, diced

1/2 an onion, diced

1/2 a zucchini, sliced

Small handful of breadcrumbs

1 tbsp each of fresh thyme and rosemary, minced (save some for garnish)

Splash of milk or cream

Olive oil

Salt and pepper (add to each component)

Pork—Coat filets in salt, pepper, and minced fresh herbs. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, and sauté filets for a total of 8-10 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Thicker cuts will require more cooking.

Tomato Fennel Sauce—Sauté onion and fennel over medium heat for about 7 minutes. Now add tomatoes and sauté for another 3-4 minutes. The sauce is ready for the food processor once the mixture has broken down in the pan and the tomatoes almost look mushy. Puree in food processor with a splash of cream or milk, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Zucchini—Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Add zucchini and bread crumbs, and sauté mixture for 3-4 minutes.

Plate as you wish, garnish with remaining herbs, and enjoy!

59: Pan Roasted Turbot / Tomato Parsley "Confit" / Garlic Broccoli / Roasted Potatoes

It’s been awhile since I posted a recipe because I just moved, which we all know is time consuming and stressful. Anyways, on to the food!

Turbot fish is absolutely amazing. It’s a big time food fish because of its delicate flavor yet somewhat meaty texture. The local markets only seem to have it for a short time over the summer, so I picked up a couple pounds to make over a few different meals. This recipe was probably the best of the ones I made, so here it is. The white fish is rounded out with roasted potatoes, broccoli sautéed in garlic, and a tomato parsley “confit” that lends incredibly bright acidity to the dish. I believe we drank this with a white wine, but I cannot remember what anymore. You could also make this preparation with just about any white fish.

I’m going to try something new for my blog. I’m going to break down the directions by each component of the dish, so you can more easily plan your timing. Give me some feedback on this.

Ingredients and Directions:

1 lb turbot filets

4 small red potatoes, quartered

Broccoli for two people

6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1-2 tbsp parsley, chopped (save some for garnish)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper (add to each component)

Flour

Fish—Dust fish in flour, salt, and pepper to start. The key to a good pan roasted fish filet is to heat the pan on high heat for a few minutes before adding any oil. Heat a pan on high heat for 3-5 minutes before adding olive oil. Turn heat down to medium high while oil heats for a couple minutes. Add filets to pan and let cook for 4-5 minutes. Flip fish and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Potatoes—Boil potatoes until they’re almost easily pierced with a fork. I usually add my potatoes to the water while the water is heating up because this cuts down on boiling time. Potatoes should be ready in 10-15 minutes. Drain when ready. You can choose to boil them all the way for a healthy alternative to finishing them off in olive oil in a pan. If finishing in olive oil, heat a pan on medium heat with some olive oil. Add potatoes and cook for about 10-12 minutes, flipping once.

Broccoli—Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and let cook for about 1 minute once the oil is hot. Add garlic and sauté for 4-5 minutes.

Tomato Parsley “Confit”—Confit refers to a cooking method to preserve flavor after being immersed in a substance. In this instance, the “confit” was used to bring out the bright acidity of the tomatoes. Heat a pan with olive oil on medium high heat. Add tomatoes and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add parsley and sauté for additional 2-3 minutes. Serve the tomato mixture with a slotted spoon, so you don’t spoon a ton of oil on your plate.

Plate as you wish, garnish, and enjoy!

52: Fennel Seed-Crusted Lamb Chops / Caramelized Green Bell Pepper & Carrots / Rosemary Bacon Whipped Potatoes

Well, I figured out what to make for dinner tonight. It was just me tonight, so I surveyed the refrigerator and did my thing. Sometimes I have a bad habit of doing too much to each component of a dish. I felt like I was over-seasoning and that the flavors wouldn’t go well together. You be the judge.

The fennel seed imparts a lovely fragrance when slightly charred, adds texture, too. The caramelization of the veggies provides a nice nutty and bittersweet contrast to the richly flavored and slightly spicy feeling from the rosemary whipped potatoes. And, bacon – well, bacon just makes everything better.

I was going to drink a big California chardonnay with dinner tonight, but then I forgot to put the bottle in the fridge when I started prep. The alternative became one Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown Ale. It’s missing a good dose of hops, but it did the trick with dinner.

Ingredients and Directions:

1/2 pound of lamb rib chops

1 tablespoon fennel seed, chopped

1/4 of a green pepper, sliced lengthwise into 8 strips

2 large baby carrots, quartered lengthwise (8 pieces total)

1 smallish medium potato, peeled and chopped into chunks

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 sprig rosemary, minced

1 slice of bacon

1/2 cup sour cream

 1 garlic clove, minced

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat broiler. Cook bacon until crispy while boiling potatoes until very tender. Wrap bacon in paper towels when finished. While potatoes boil and bacon cooks, sauté bell peppers and carrots in olive oil over medium low heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Season chops with salt, pepper, and fennel seed while everything else cooks. Add sugar to vegetables when 5 minutes out to caramelize. Be careful not to burn the veggies. Turn off heat and keep veggies covered if not ready to serve everything yet when they finish.

Stick a cast iron plate under broiler for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and mash with a fork. Add garlic, rosemary, and sour cream and puree with hand blender to desired consistency. Add bacon and stir to fold into potatoes.  Place on low heat to keep warm. Remove cast iron plate, add lamb chops, and stick back under broiler for 5 minutes for medium rare. Arrange your plate.

Enjoy!

41: Veal "Bolognese" / Spinach Fettuccine / Pecorino

I was wrong when I said the braised short ribs would probably be my last slow cooked meal of the season. We got a rude shot of winter this past week, even a dusting of snow overnight. None of that stopped me from cooking veal bolognese tonight, however.

Veal is a tender meat and low in fat. I didn’t get all five hour on it this time because veal doesn’t need to cook that long. I picked up some fresh pasta from the market. Spinach’s slightly bitter flavor blends well with flour, almost sweetens it, and the nutty pecorino cheese brings it all together.

This dinner pairs well with a sangiovese, so we drank a multipulciano d’abruzzo with it – match made in heaven.

Ingredients and Directions:

1 pound ground veal

1/3 pound pancetta, diced

Will’s Holy Trinity

--1 leek, thinly sliced

--1 medium carrot, diced

--1 small fennel bulb, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup dry red wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 large tomato, seeded and diced

Tomato paste, 1 good large spoonful

Bouquet garni of rosemary, thyme, parsley, mint, thyme

1 pound spinach fettuccine pasta

Pecorino cheese, grated

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Parsley, minced for garnish

Cook pancetta in a Dutch oven like you would bacon for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Remove pancetta bits and set aside. Add oil to the pancetta grease and sauté the Holy Trinity about 10 minutes, or until tender. Increase heat to high and add veal and pancetta to cook until browned, somewhere between 5-10 minutes. Stir to break up clumps.  Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, bouquet garni, and wine. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 – 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, but go light on the salt since the pancetta and cheese will lend saltiness. Discard bouquet garni.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook for 2 minutes; drain. Plate pasta with sauce over it and add cheese with garnish.

Enjoy!

40: Chicken & Prosciutto Risotto / Leeks / Collard Greens

Yum, yum ,yum. Here is another recipe from the Cooking for Two book by Jessica Strand. Her tag line: Fresh, salty, creamy, rich; what else is there to say? Yup, I couldn’t have aid it better myself. I forgot to add the mascarpone cheese, so I don’t think it’s quite as creamy, and, honestly, it’s really not that salty. It is, however, incredibly tasty and takes comfort food to another level.

The trick to a good risotto is of course the way you stir it. Don’t be lazy and just push it around in the pot. If your arm doesn’t hurt, you’re not stirring enough. Put some love into it!

(You may notice I busted out some different plates for this dinner. This is also the 40th recipe I have shared with you.)

Ingredients and Directions:

1/2 pound chicken, diced

1/2 cup prosciutto, sliced into small strips

2 large collard greens, stemmed and chopped

3 cups chicken broth

1 leek, thinly sliced

1 cup Arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Parsley and mint, minced for garnish

Blanch collard greens in a pot of boiling salted water for about 90 seconds – helps reduce the bitterness. Drain in a colander and then push the water out with the back of a spoon until dry. Set aside.

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to very low and keep warm.

Meanwhile, sauté chicken in a small pan with salt and pepper until just about cooked. Turn off heat, and set aside. Don’t worry, it will finish cooking as the pan cools off. Plus, you’re going to add it to hot risotto for a bit at the end.

Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until absorbed, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the hot chicken broth. Reduce heat and simmer on medium-low heat until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add 1/4 cup of broth at a time, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is just tender and mixture is creamy, about 28 to 30 minutes. You may need to adjust heat to medium for last 10 minutes if your risotto doesn't seem to getting creamy by this point.

Add the collard greens, chicken, and prosciutto for final 1-2 minutes of stirring. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish.

Enjoy!

35: Pork "Milanese" / Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Mushrooms / Parsnip Mash

This dinner is a treat. Pork, the other white meat, exhibits an incredibly subtle sweetness and mild flavor that is close to chicken with a texture more similar to beef. Pork is just as versatile as chicken or beef, and it picks up the flavor of the seasonings quite well, especially in this “Milanese” style dish. Milanese as a cooking method is simply seasoned breading, and it is often mistaken for a dialect of Italian. Milanese is a romance language much like Italian, and the two are not as compatible as you think. However, people who speak one or the other do speak both languages. I'm recalled all that from memory, so feel free to correct if need be. Anyways, enough linguistic history for now. I like the cooking method because of the texture it provides here, and Italians will tell you they grew up eating the chicken version of this dish.

The pork is served along with the slightly peppery and sweet parsnip, a real seasonal treat, and the meal is rounded out with nutty brussels sprouts cooked with bacon and chopped woody cremini mushrooms. I make my breading from scratch, but you could also buy seasoned bread crumbs to save time on prep.  I bought boneless pork ribs, so I could manipulate what the pork cutlets would look like on the plate. You could do this with a pork chop as well, but I prefer the pork rib because there is a tiny bit of on them. A nice pinot noir would go well with this dinner.

Ingredients and Directions:

3/4 lb boneless pork ribs, sliced into cutlets

1 tbs each of finely chopped mint, basil, and parsley (omit if using seasoned bread crumbs)

1/2 – 3/4 cup bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

1 lb parsnips, peeled and chopped in near equal sized pieces

8 brussels sprouts, halved

2 pieces of bacon

1/4 cup cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped

2 sprigs thyme

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Start your prep with the parsnips, so you can boil them in a covered pot with salted water for 15-20 minutes. You can also fry the bacon during this time, about 5-7 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your bacon. Parsnips should be easily pierced with a fork when ready, and wrap crispy bacon in paper towels when ready. Crumble bacon when cooled off. Drain water from parsnips, reserving about an eighth of a cup of the water. Add parsnips to a food processor with reserved liquid, thyme, salt, pepper, and three tablespoons of olive oil. Puree to desired consistency, and transfer it back to pot on stove to keep warm over low heat.

Combine bread crumbs, herbs, salt and pepper to taste on a flat surface. Coat your cutlets in egg wash, and then dredge them through the seasoned bread crumbs and coat them well. Heat 2-3 tbs each of olive oil in two different pans over medium heat. Add pork to one pan, and add the brussels sprouts to the other cut side down. Raise heat on pork to medium-high. Cook pork 4-5 minutes on each side. After you turn the pork, add mushrooms to brussels sprouts. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, and add the crispy bacon bits to the brussels sprouts for 1 minute to warm them up. Arrange on the plate as you wish.

Enjoy!

12: Tuscan-Style Pork Stew in Red Wine and Herbs

The slow cooking madness continues! If you missed it, be sure to check out this bolognese sauce.

Last winter in DC was pretty wild. We had over five feet of snow, and we were snowed in for four days because this city isn’t prepared for that type of snow. It just doesn’t happen here. I happened to have a five pound bag of cubed pork shoulder perfect for stewing. This meal takes about 3-4 hours of total time to prepare and cook, but it didn’t matter at the time because I had nothing but time!

Fresh herbs make this meal so complete and flavorful that you should think twice before adding any salt or pepper. Pair it with a hearty red wine, and you will fall in love. We drank a magnificent cab/shiraz/merlot blend from Australia – the name escapes me.

Ingredients and Directions:

-2 tbs olive oil

-1 medium onion, diced

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1.5 lbs pork, cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes

-1 cup fresh parsley leaves

-1 cup hearty red wine

-28 oz can peeled tomatoes

-2 branches fresh rosemary

-12 fresh sage leaves

-2 cloves garlic, peeled

-day old bread

-cheese for garnish

Saute the oil, onion, and minced garlic in Durch oven (or large saucepan) over medium heat and cook for 10 minutes. Add the pork, stir, and cook until it has taken on a slight golden edge – 5 to 6 minutes. Now add the parsley and wine, stir, and bring wine to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer about 25 minutes. The wine should have reduced by half at this point.

Slowly add the tomatoes to the pan, and stir well to mix everything together. Then add the rosemary and sage, ensuring you push the herbs down into the tomato juices. Bring to a boil once more, reduce heat as long as you can, and cook for 2 hours. The end result should be incredibly tender pork and a somewhat thick sauce. Cook a little longer if need be.

Preheat the broiler. While the stew finishes cooking, toast the bread under the broiler. Be sure to keep a close eye on it as you will only need a couple minutes on each side to crisp it up nice enough. Remove bread and coarsely chop.

Serve stew over bread crumbs, garnish, and enjoy!

11: Proper Five Hour Bolognese Sauce over Crispy Polenta Cakes

Strap on your seatbelts, kids, because this dinner will take you for a culinary ride! Fall has moved quickly to Winter, and the change in seasons means only one thing: Time to slow cook some meat!

This bolognese recipe is sure to please. Slow cooking meat for this long ensures the meat melts right in your mouth. I had a few friends over for dinner recently, and I thought this was the perfect time to make this meal for the first time this season. I make my bolognese a number of ways, and I employed a completely different style than the previous times I have created this dish. This is a hands-on recipe for a few hours, but you will not be disappointed! A hearty red wine is the perfect choice for the meal – we drank a 2004 cab franc from California.

Note: Clear your calendar for a day because you will need a good portion of it for cooking. Also, using a blender or food processor will make your prep time much shorter. No picture available because we were so freakin’ ready to eat by the time it was done!

Ingredients and Directions:

Bolognese Sauce
 

-3/4 lb lean ground beef

-3/4 lb ground bison

-1/4 lb pancetta, diced (get it whole at a butcher)

-1/3 cup butter

-2 tbs olive oil

-1 cup onion, diced

-1 cup carrots, diced

-1 cup celery, diced

-1.5 cups whole milk

-2 cups canned chopped tomatoes (use Pomi brand if you can find it)

-1/4 healthy pinch of nutmeg

-1.5 cups white wine

-4 cloves garlic, minced

-2 branches fresh rosemary, five fresh twigs of thyme, and 12 sage leaves

-Fresh parsley, chopped minced for garnish

-Fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for garnish

-Salt and pepper to taste

Finely chop the fresh herbs (discard stems). Combine beef and bison in a mixing bowl with salt and herbs in a mixing bowl, and refrigerate for 24 hours.

In a Dutch oven (or large saucepan), cook pancetta like you would bacon, so all the fat is cooked off, about 10 minutes. Remove the pancetta chunks when crispy and set aside. Add the butter and oil over to the pancetta grease and cook on medium-low heat. When the butter has melted, add the onion, garlic, and a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté for 10 minutes. Now add the carrots and celery to the pan and mix well, and then cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the ground meat and mix well with veggie mixture in the pan. Cook for about five minutes, stirring to break up clumps of meat. Add milk and reduce heat to low. The key is to simmer now, not boil. Simmer for 1 hour uncovered, stirring every 15 minutes. Add the nutmeg. (Note: You will begin preparing the crispy polenta cakes at this time.) Add the wine and simmer the same way you did with the milk for another hour.

Now add the tomatoes slowly while stirring. Put the lid on, turn the heat as low as you can and cook for three hours. Be sure to stir it occasionally to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.

Crispy Polenta Cakes

-2 tbs olive oil

-1/4 – 1/2 cup onion, minced

-1 cup coarse polenta (corn meal)

-3 cups water

-1/2 cup milk

-1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

After stirring in the milk in the sauce above, bring the water, milk, and onion for the polenta to a simmer. Stir in the corn meal in a steady stream and whisk as necessary to get rid of all lumps. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes on low heat, stirring often. Polenta should be smooth and soft and pull away from the pan when stirred.

Spread the polenta on a baking sheet and sprinkle with crumbles of the goat cheese. Mix gently to combine while still leaving clumps of cheese. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4.

About 30 minutes before the sauce will be done, cut the chilled polenta into triangles and sear in olive oil for 4-6 minutes, should be brown and crisp.

Serve the bolognese over the polenta, garnish with cheese, and add parsley over the top.

Enjoy!!

 

3: Pesto Sauce with Homegrown Basil

Mmmm pesto! This turned out really nice, and I used three different cheeses and a lot of garlic in my usual fashion of tweaking traditional recipes. I’ve been enjoying the homegrown basil all summer, and it was time to harvest the plant as a whole because we’ve already had our first frost of the season.

Pesto is incredibly easy to make, and it can be frozen for up to three months. Depending on how much you make, you may freeze pesto in a freezer ziploc bag or add to jars to keep in your fridge. Harvesting my basil plant yielded six cups of leaves, for a grand total of 32 ounces, or 4 cups, of pesto sauce. You can add pesto to fresh cooked pasta, toss shrimp in it, or marinade lamb or chicken in the sauce before placing on a grill.

Tips: If freezing in ziploc bags, lay the bag down on its side in the freezer, so you can usually break off a chunk as you need it. Another method of freezing pesto is to use an ice cube tray.

The recipe below is for the amount of pesto I made tonight, so adjust the recipe accordingly.

Ingredients and Directions:

-6 cups of basil leaves, packed

-1 pint extra virgin olive oil

-2 ounces grated parmesan cheese

-2 ounces grated asiago cheese

-2 ounces grated romano cheese

-8 garlic cloves

-1/2 cup sunflower kernels

Combine all ingredients except for olive oil in a blender or food processor. Add about a 1/3 of the olive oil and begin to pulse until desired consistency. Continue adding olive oil little by little until gone, and process everything for about 15-20 seconds.

Enjoy!