Archive for the ‘Chicken, Beef, Pork’ category

Pizza Again!

October 24th, 2009

Salami, mozzarella & fresh peppers & onion...

Well, why not pizza again? It is one of the easiest, quickest and most creative dishes I can think of. Christina and Jasmine came over after work and I have to tell you I was really excited to cook with them. We spend a lot of time at work talking about food and both gals have great food blogs (Fattened Calf & Glitter Shrimp) and food pedigree. Yaz went to culinary school and Christina’s fiance is a chef at Uchi, and they cook together all the time, so it’s food, food, food! They brought cheeses (goat and mozzerella), olives, arugula, salami, pesto, proscuitto and we doused one of the pizzas with truffle oil. I sauteed some onion with a fresh jalapeno and green pepper from Jaz’s mom’s garden until soft and fragrant and then threw in some fennel seed, salt & pepper and that is a pretty darn good pizza topping. We then assembled two store bought pizza doughs and had a feast. Don’t forgot the wine!

6 comments »

Posted in Appetizers and Sides, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Cocktails and Wine, Everything Else...

Tags:

Boeuf Bourguignon & Beef Stew

October 4th, 2009

beef stew
boeuf bBoeuf Bourguignon and Beef Stew and  are both homey, hearty, comforting and delicious dishes. They are similar, but Beef stew is more simple and American. Boeuf Bourguignon has a French name and it is a little more elegant with the addition of cognac, red wine and bacon and is famous because of Julia Child and the movie Julie & Julia. Boeuf Bourguignon has pearl onions and beef stew has an yellow onion.  Of course you could add those fabulous ingredients to beef stew if you want to but I don’t or else it would be Boeuf Bourguignon. My mom likes simple food so I made her the beef stew this Sunday. However, last Sunday I made the Boeuf Bourguignon for Sara & Dan proud parents of Charlie. Sara is part of the book club that I mentioned a few posts ago. As a way to help the new parents out each of us brought a dish for them and my contribution was Boeuf Bourguignon.

I am including the beef stew recipe but you can easily find your favorite Boeuf Bourguignon recipe, hint Julia Child.  Make both and decide which one your prefer. Beef Stew is fast and simple. Boeuf Bourguignon is a little more involved and it will have a deeper flavor but I’d eat either anytime.

Beef  Stew

  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 lb of beef stew meat, dredged in flour
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 stalk of celery, chopped
  • 2 quarts of chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
  • 2 teaspoons of thyme

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a Dutch Oven, I use Le Creuset, heat the olive oil and saute the onions, carrots and celery, when they are tender add the garlic. Take the vegetables out and set aside add another tablespoon of olive oil and dd the beef and saute until brown. Add the chicken broth and tomatoe paste and the vegetables and cover tightly and place in the oven for 2 hours.

    Boeuf Bourguignon

    This recipe is everywhere so choose the one that you like. I like Ina Garten’s, the Barefoot Contessa, www.barefootcontessa.com, from her book “Barefood In Paris” or you could use Julia Child’s. Regardless it is basically beef stew with the addition of bacon, pearl onions, cognac and red wine. Ahhh….


    3 comments »

    Posted in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Cocktails and Wine, Holidays and Special Occasions, Recipes

    Tags:

    Rib Eyes & Mac and Cheese

    August 26th, 2009

    Rib Eyes & Mac and CheeseMy favorite grocery store Central Market had Choice Rib Eye steaks on sale for half price! That’s like two for the price of one. These are really big one pounders, some even bigger.  Each steak can easily be split with someone or you could eat the whole steak as Dashiell does.  I bought them and then contemplated going out in the heat to grill them and decided that the only civilized way to “grill” steaks was in the house. It’s been triple digit temperatures for 60 days straight here in Austin and going outside at 6 PM is really dumb. I also made some stove top mac & cheese because I didn’t want to bake it in the oven and heat the house up even more.

    Grilled Rib Eye Steaks

    • Heat an indoor grill pan or an  outdoor grill
    • Season the steaks with garlic powder, salt and pepper–use as much as you like
    • When the grill is hot put the steaks on and grill for about 6 minutes on each side for medium

    Stove top Mac & Cheese

    • 1/4 lb of elbow macaroni
    • 1/2 stick of butter
    • 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
    • salt
    • pepper
    • Boil water for the macaroni
    • Cook the macaroni in the boiling water until al dente
    • Add the butter and cheese and mix
    • Season with salt & pepper to taste
    • Serves 2 generously
    • Serve warm

    6 comments »

    Posted in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Recipes, Vegetarian

    Grilled Chicken

    August 18th, 2009

    grilled chicken

    I love this recipe because it’s a different way to cook a whole chicken and it’s easy and quick. Nigella calls it spatchcocked chicken and Ina calls it flattened chicken and I’m just going to name it Grilled Chicken! You should marinate it for a few hours or overnight and always buy a good chicken, preferrably organic. About the marinade you can use whatever you want. For Italian chicken use an olive oil with garlic and rosemary and for a Greek version marinate the chicken in yogurt and spices. For a Southern version how about buttermilk? You could also use some Indian curry and spices or a chili paste. The chicken can be seasoned almost any way you want and come out to be a delicious meal so here are the basics and use your imagination.

    • 1 butterflied chicken about 3 or 3 1/2 pounds
    • salt
    • pepper
    • 1/4 cup of olive oil
    • 2 lemons
    • 2 sprigs of rosemary
    • 1 clove of garlic minced

    To butterfly you have to cut the backbone out or ask the butcher to do it. Really simple to do–just lie the chicken on it breast side and cut the backbone out with scissors. Don’t cut all the way through but flatten it.

    Mix the olive oil and squeezed lemons together and pour on the chicken. Season with salt and pepper on both sides. Pull the rosemary off of the stem and put that on the chicken. Put the chicken in a zip lock bag and put in the fridge for at least an hour. Let the chicken come to room temperture and either grill it or put it into the oven.

    To grill: Heat the gas grill and cook on low about 15 minutes on each side. Or heat an oven to 425 degrees and cook the chicken about 45 minutes. Either way after the chicken is done let it rest and then cut into halfs or quarters.

    1 comment »

    Posted in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Recipes

    Paella

    May 31st, 2009

    I had eaten paella only twice, last time around Christmas at Janice & Sydney’s house and about 10 years ago on New Year’s Eve at Tad & Karen’s place. Both versions were delicious but different and I’ve been haunted by them every since.  I kept thinking about it so I decided to try making it. One reason I waited this long to make it is because I like simple recipes and paella is a lot of different ingredients and steps. We had a Saturday night ahead of us so my husband Jesse and I got started. We made the traditional version with seafood, chicken and pork. It turned out delicious. Rich, smokey and salty. All flavors that I love. We made it with shrimp, clams, sausage and chicken. I can see this easily as a seafood only paella or even a vegetarian version. The chicken and sausage make it very moist and fatty. You’ve got to use Spanish paprika and saffron as both have incredible flavor and color. It took about 2 hours from start to finish so if you have the time I highly recommend this dish. It’s really fun to make and perfect for a dinner party of four. Oh, I don’t own a paella pan so I used my large skillet (pictured).

    paella

    Paella

    • 2 chicken legs
    • 2 chicken thighs
    • 1 pound of clams – we used littleneck
    • 6 large shrimp – peeled & deviened
    • 1 pound of sausage – we used Andouille
    • 1 onion
    • 5 cloves of garlic
    • 1/2 can of diced tomatoes
    • 1/8 cup of olive oil
    • 1 cup of rice
    • 1 teaspoon of oregano
    • 1 teaspoon of fennel
    • 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika
    • a pinch of saffron
    Wash and dry the chicken, clean the shrimp & clams and set aside.
    Saute the chicken in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, oregano and paprika. Let it cook for about 10 minutes. Add the sausage to the chicken and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. This is where it gets a bit greasy so I think I will eliminate the chicken and sausage next time for my taste although they do make a very rich & tasty paella. Take the meat out of the skillet and set on a plate. Add the onions and garlic both chopped and minced to the skillet and cook them down a bit and add the tomatoes. Cook on high until you loose some of the water from the tomatoes. Add the rice and about 3 cups of water, salt, pepper & saffron. Simmer all for about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp, clams, chicken & sausage back into the pan and cook all for about 15 minutes or until the rice is tender. A lot of this timing in the end will depend on what kind of rice that you use. Don’t use a brown rice but instead a basmati or Spanish rice that cooks quickly.
    The paella should be ready. Put some chopped parsley on top and enjoy. Enjoy with  some a bottle of red Spanish wine.

    3 comments »

    Posted in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Recipes, Seafood

    Memorial Day

    May 25th, 2009

    spareribsToday is Memorial Day and the Grovers are coming over for a late lunch. My mom’s coming too. She is a fantastic Italian cook that doesn’t cook anymore due to her age. She asked me to make German Potato Salad and I did. More on that in a minute. Memorial Day means barbecuing, at least the food part of the day signifies that. The day itself should make us remember all of the soldiers that fought for our freedom. My wonderful dad fought in World War 2 and I’m thankful to him for risking his life and to all of the others that did so as well. Otherwise we may not be blogging, Facebooking, emailing, etc. This is a food blog so on with our menu for today.

    • Watermelon Daiquiris
    • Chips with Green Salsa
    • BBQ Pork Ribs
    • German Potato Salad
    • Baked Beans
    • Cole Slaw
    The Grovers are bringing the dessert and I think it will be a cobbler but I’ll let you know for sure later.
    coleslaw

    I prepared all of the recipes in advance which is awesome when you are having guests over and you want to start with a daiquiri when they arrive. I mean one or two of those and no telling how the food would turn out.

    That morning prepare the babyback ribs.

    Season well, I use coarse black pepper, kosher salt & garlic powder. Sprinkle all of the seasonings all over the ribs. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour & 15 minutes. Cover with foil and when you are ready to eat heat a grill, sauce one side and grill for 3 minutes, turn over do the same. Oh, I love Hoover’s BBQ sauce, buy some. At this point the only place to buy it is his restaurant.

    German Potato Salad

    • potatoes
    • bacon
    • onions
    • celery seed
    Boil the potatoes, cool, slice. To make the sauce, saute onions in olive oil, the recipe calls for bacon dripping but I don’t go there. It’s olive oil for me. Add the celery seed, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of sugar to the onions. Then add 1/4 cup of vinegar. I think Japanese rice vinegar is best, and 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook until thick and add the potatoes and bacon. You now have German Potato salad! Serve at room temperture.

    potatosalad

    Baked Beans

    Open a can and saute 1/4 cup of onion, add some dijon mustard to cut the sweetness and add 2 slices of bacon; cooked and chopped. Heat & Serve.
    This is not really the kind of food that I usually cook and this is my first post so I’m a little nervous so keep checking me out because it’s going to get better. I will cook a lot of Italian recipes from my Mom and food with a French twist.

    8 comments »

    Posted in Appetizers and Sides, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Cocktails and Wine, Holidays, Recipes, Soups and Salads