Back to School...and Blogging...

I know, I know...it's been a while. I haven't been writing or posting or anything other than being a "cruise director of summer vacation" since school got out in June...what can I say, I have 4 kids and summer gets really busy...it's no excuse, but it's the one I'm using :)

HOWEVER - I cooked a couple of FABULOUS recipes recently. My friend S had made them for a girls night in at her house a while back and I fell in love...so when we were in TX visiting my mother, I offered to help out with the cooking.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family with great chefs. My mother, my father, my grandmothers - they can all cook up a mean meal. Blessed. That's what I am...

SO - without further ado - here are my 2 new favorite recipes...

This is a beautiful salad - salty, briny, crisp, SO refreshing. Definitely my new favorite way to make green beans.

Green Bean Salad with Red Onion and Prosciutto

(adapted from a recipe found on epicurious.com)

• 2 pounds fresh string beans, trimmed
• 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pound prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced and cut into long, thin strands
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Zest and juice from 1 large lemon
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ - 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, depending on taste

1. In large pot of boiling salted water, cook beans until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Drain in colander, then immediately transfer to bowl of ice and water to stop cooking.

3. Drain and pat dry. Refrigerate 1 hour, or overnight.

4. One hour prior to serving, in large bowl, combine beans, onions, prosciutto, olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

5. Toss gently and let stand at room temperature for one hour before serving.

My second recipe is adapted from a Giada Laurentiis recipe found on foodtv. I added more meat, and more sauce and it turned out really lovely. See?!??!!

Grilled Italian Sausages with Peppers and Onions

(adapted from a recipe by Giada Laurentiis)

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds Italian turkey sausage – 1 sweet, 1 hot
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced
• 2 yellow onions, sliced
• 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¾ - 1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 8 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cup Marsala wine (I just used the red that we had on hand)
• 2 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

1. Grill Sausages until almost done – (they will continue to cook in the pan.)

Or if you don’t have a grill, just cook them in the pan with the olive oil 7-10 mn before you add the peppers and onions. Remove them and then continue with step 2.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat.

3. Keeping the pan over medium heat, add the peppers, onions, salt, and pepper and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the oregano, basil, and garlic and cook 2 more minutes.

5. Add the tomato paste and stir.

6. Add the Marsala wine, tomatoes, and chili flakes, if using.

7. Stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the browned bits.

8. Bring to a simmer.

9. Cut the sausages into 4 to 6 pieces each, about 1-inch cubes.

10. Add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine.

11. Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes or until to your liking.

Enjoy!

Little Christmas Eve Pork Tenderloin

Pipps wanted to make this recently, and I thought I’d posted it earlier, but apparently I had not.

I think I originally found the recipe on foodtv.com but it’s been a few years, so I’m not entirely sure.

So, without further ado, here it is:

Little Xmas Eve Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries
• 1 cup Tawny Port
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup minced shallots
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Pinch salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 4 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
• 2 (3/4 pound to 1 pound each) pork tenderloins, butterflied and pounded slightly to an even thickness between sheets of plastic wrap
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• Port Wine Sauce, recipe follows
• Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a small bowl, combine the raisins and cranberries.

3. In a small saucepan, bring the Port to a simmer. Pour over the dry fruit and let sit until plump, about 10 minutes. Drain well and let the fruit cool.

4. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft, about 1 minute. Add the bread crumbs, thyme, salt, and pepper and stir until the bread crumbs are lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool.

5. In a medium bowl, combine the cooled fruit and bread crumb mixture. Add the cheese and stir to combine.

6. Lay the prosciutto slices over the butterflied pork to cover. Starting about 1/2-inch from the bottom and leaving 1/2-inch on either side, lay the bread crumb mixture in a uniform line across the meat. Pull the bottom edge of meat up and over the filling and roll up into a thick cylinder. Using butcher's twine, tie the meat to seal. Rub with vegetable oil on all sides and lightly season with salt and pepper.

7. In a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan, sear the meat on all sides over medium-high heat, 3 to 5 minutes. Place in the oven and roast until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer registers an internal temperature of 155 degrees F to 160 degrees F, about 35 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before carving. To serve, remove the butcher's twine from the roast and carve into slices about 1/2-inch thick. Spoon the Pear and Parsnip Puree onto the sides of 4 plates. Arrange the slices next to the puree, drizzle with the Port Wine Sauce and garnish with thyme sprigs.

Port Wine Sauce:

1 (750ml) bottle Tawny Port (minus the 1 cup from the tenderloin)
1 cup veal stock
1 stick very cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the Port to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and cook at a low boil until reduced to a thick syrup, 1/4 to 1/3 cup in volume.
3. Add the stock and cook until thick and reduced by half. Reduce the heat to low, and whisking constantly, add the butter several pieces at a time, adding more butter once the previous pieces have nearly been incorporated, removing the pan from the heat occasionally to prevent the sauce from getting too hot and breaking.
4. Continue until the sauce is emulsified and all the butter has been added.

Yield: about 3/4 cup

Baby is "walking" !!!

Best. Bookstore. Ever.

http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

Gran Torino

I've been meaning to watch this for a long time.
I'd met and hung out with the guy that wrote it a few times. In fact, during the movie there's a reference to a meat raffle - which is coincidentally the first time I met Nick. (Article about him here)
So that's my little claim to fame. Or my six degrees of seperation. Or whatever you want to call it. Haha

In any event, the movie was good. I loved Sue - the sassy girl next door and Eastwood's "reprisal" of his Dirty Harry role (my husband claims this is true), was great.
The acting wasn't the best, but the story was a good one.

4 out of 5 stars from this girl.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I just finished reading this book for the 2nd time. It's incredibly moving.

5 out of 5 stars. By far one of the best books I've ever read.

From www.betterworldbooks.com:

A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

Shrimp & Corn Chowder

Made this on Tuesday night. It's loosely based on a chowder recipe by Mary Karlin from her Wood-Fired Cooking.

(I'm eating this for lunch AGAIN today - and don't even care...it's that good)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch slices

8 ounces unpeeled small red potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 - 2 teaspoons freshly ground white pepper (I used close to 2 b/c I like it a little hot)

1 bunch green onions, coarsely chopped, including half of greens

1 1/2 cups corn kernels (I just used a 16 oz bag of the frozen baby niblets)

4 cups fish or chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream

1 lb bag medium shrimp, deveined, tails removed

Grated zest of 1 lemon (can also add juice, if desired)

1 bunch of dill, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat and sauté the celery for 3 minutes.

Add the potatoes, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Stir in the green onions and corn and add 2 cups of the stock.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the cream and simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

Stir in the shrimp and lemon zest and simmer gently until the shrimp is just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add 2 remaining cups of stock as needed and lemon juice to taste. Heat through and add dill.

Taste and adjust the seasoning.