Pappardelle with Chicken Liver and Sage

There is something about egg pasta that makes it so delicious when cooked al dente. The noodles on their own have this unctious chew to them. And they have an almost buttery flavor that endows the noodle with a wonderful finish. In this recipe, we take the taste of the pasta to the next level by adding chicken liver to the dish as a well flavored, buttery sauce and as a base ingredient that you'll find will melt in your mouth with every bite. This dish is a bit rich but the sage gives it an earthy flavor that compliments the meal. This is a beautiful recipe to make.

Ingredients:

Pappardelle Noodles

16 oz fresh Chicken Liver

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 shallot (finely chopped)

4 tbsp Brandy (plus 1 glass for the chef)

2 oz white wine

2 tbsp heavy cream

1 cup unsalted butted plus 2 pats

10 sage leaves

2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Kosher salt and fresh ground Pepper

Fresh Ingredients.

Fresh Organic Chicken Livers.

Recipe:

Trim the white center of the chicken livers and reserve. Finely mince/chop 4 oz of the chicken livers and separate from the rest. Coarsely chop the remaining livers. Begin boiling your water for the pasta. In a large saucepan using high heat, heat half the vegetable oil and add the white centers and 4 oz of finely chopped chicken liver. Spread these over the pan and allow to cook for 2 minutes. They should stick to the pan. Scape gently and flip, letting them stick to the pan again for another two minutes. Scape and turn, reducing the heat to avoid burning them. Use a fork and mash the liver to a paste. Add the shallot and toss for a few more minutes. Turn the heat back up and add 2 tbsp of the brandy, then carefully flame the livers. When the flame is gone, add the white wine and cream and reduce for 2-3 minutes, then reduce the heat. Whisk in the 1 cup of butter a few pats at a time. When the butter has melted and incorporated into the sauce, pour the sauce through a sieve and keep warm.

Chicken livers and shallots.

Making the sauce.

In the same sauce pan, heat the remaining oil and add the coarsely chopped liver. Season and turn over. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then turn down the heat and add the remaining 2 tbsp of brandy. Flame the livers, add seasoning, the remaining two pats of butter, and the sage leaves. Allow the butter to foam.

Cook your pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta and add one ladle full of the pasta water to the livers. Then add the pasta to the sauce pan and toss. Add the reserved sauce, Parmesan cheese, and stir. Do not heat too long or the sauce will split. When heated through, plate and serve. Accept the accolades and thank Saint Lorenzo, patron Saint of Italian Cooking.

Mangia!

Finished, ready to eat!

Vegetarian Shepard's Pie

Now that it officially getting cold here in North Carolina, I thought it was time to work on my Vegetarian Shepard's Pie recipe. This version came out delicious and I am sure ou will like this as much as Ginny and I did. Also, a shout out to Elaine who has been waiting patiently for this. If you make this, please let me know what you think, or how you improved on it.

Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled and diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb portabella mushrooms (diced)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon Soy sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup frozen Edamame beans
1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes (or Russets) cubed

1 egg yolk
2 ounces unsalted butter  

1/4 cup soy milk

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Boil potatoes until soft. Add butter, soy milk, and egg yolk. Whip potatoes. While potatoes are cooking:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add canola oil to large pan and heat on high. Add onions and carrots and saute about 3-4 minutes, until they begin to take on color. Add garlic and allow flavors to mix, then add portabello mushrooms. Stir and heat for 3 minutes, then add flour and mix in. Add vegetable broth, tomato paste, soy sauce, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and mix to combine. Heat until thickened (10-12 minutes), then add Edamame and corn, then spoon mixture into a 11X7 casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, making sure to spread the potatoes out to seal in the vegetable mix. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Enjoy.

This was very tasty and using Edamame instead of peas worked really well. A delicious dish for cold weather.

Gartine

Yep, I went and did it. I decided to take ownership of a Canadian Classic and make it my own. Welcome to "Gartine". "Gartine" is my version of that Canadian dish called "Poutine". Poutine is basically french fries with cheese curd and brown gravy. Not found very often here in the south because it is kinda hard to find fresh cheese curds. So I decided it was time to do some deconstruction and make it more southern friendly. My version, or "Gartine", was fantastic. I know there is a little bias going on here but, daaaaaammmmmnnnnn....this was just so good. It had ALL the good stuff. Crispy potato, deep flavored brown gravy (who doesn't like gravy?), butter, and melty, tasty shredded cheddar! To die for, I promise. Make this and then enjoy a remade classic.

Recipe

Ingredients:

2-3 medium Yukon Gold potato, shredded
shredded mild cheddar cheese
1 clove of crushed garlic
brown gravy
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Grate 2-3 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes. Take the crushed garlic and rub all over the interior of a medium sized bowl. Squeeze out the moisture from the potatoes and then toss in the bowl so that the garlic flavor gets transferred to the potato. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan on medium high heat. Add the potato, mashing them down to form a large, thin pancake. Place about 8 pats of butter on top and allow the pancake to brown, about 8-10 minutes.

After the first side has browned, place an inverted plate on top and the flip the pan, catching the pancake and melted butter in the inverted plate. Slide the pancake back into the pan, uncooked side down. Allow to finish browning and cooking, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and slide cooked potato onto a cutting surface. Cut into portions and place each portion onto a plate for serving. Add a generous handful of shredded cheddar to the top, then ladle a generous portion of hot brown gravy over the complete portion. Serve hot and enjoy. This is wonderful comfort food!

Pasta with Collard Greens

I decided to do a little reconstruction on Pasta with spinach greens and wondered what would have happened if Christopher Columbus had discovered North Carolina today. I think he would have tried collard greens and made something like this.

Recipe

Ingredients:

1 bunch of Collard Greens, chopped (2 inch - stems removed)
6-8 large Cherry Tomatoes cut in half
2 slices of uncured bacon, cut into lardons
1 shallot, chopped
1 dried red pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
Pasta
1-2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil on medium heat and then add the bacon. Cook until golden, then add the shallots. Cook until the shallots are transparent, 3-5 minutes, then add the garlic and red pepper. After the garlic becomes fragrant (30 secs or so), add the wine to deglaze the pan. Cook down to about 1-2 tbsp, then add the collard greens. Toss and cover the pan. Cook until the greens are tender (this can take from 10-30 minutes, depending on how mature the greens are). Cook pasta in salted, boiling water for eight minutes. When the collards are tender, Finish off the pasta by adding the noodles, tomatoes, and 1 ladle of starchy pasta water to the collards. Season with the salt and pepper. Cook until noodles are al dente. Plate, add freshly ground Parmesan cheese, enjoy.

Braised Chicken Thighs With Polenta

Braised Chicken with Polenta

Now that the weathers turning, my mind is beginning to wander towards heavier, casserole type dishes. A thick sauce with rich flavors is comforting as the weather cools. So in keeping with that vein of thought, I decided to braise some chicken thighs and serve them on a nice bed of coarsely ground polenta. This was pretty simple to put together and came out very tender and tasty. I hope you try this and enjoy it as much as Ginny and I did.

Recipe

Ingredients:
1 small green pepper, thinly sliced
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 tbsp of dried thyme
1 small bay leaf
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 large can of peeled tomatoes
6-8 green, stuffed olives, quartered
1 cup of polenta
4 cups of water
kosher salt
pepper

Recipe.

Add two tbsp of olive oil to a dutch oven or pot and heat on medium high heat. Season your chicken thighs and add to the pot, skin side down. Brown the chicken thighs on both sides, shaking the pot to keep the skin from sticking.

Once the chicken has browned, remove the chicken and pour off the fat, reserving for future use. Turn the heat to high and deglaze the pot with white wine. Reduce the wine to about 1 tbsp of liquid. Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 tbsp of the reserved oil. Add the onions, green pepper, and olives, cooking until tender (about 5 minutes).

Now add the chicken, thyme,and bay leaf to the pot. Follow this by pouring the juice from the whole, peeled tomatoes into the pot followed by the tomatoes, crushing them in your hand to release the juice. These do not need to be pulverized, just crush lightly. Turn the heat to medium high until the mixture begins to boil, then reduce to simmer. Cover the pot and let cook for twenty minutes.

After the chicken has cooked, plate your polenta and arrange your chicken ans sauce on top. Add some garlic bread, a little wine to drink, and enjoy.

Spaghetti Sauce with Pork

I like a good spaghetti sauce. Bubbly red gravy over a plate of pasta cooked al dente. And this recipe makes a very good sauce. And if you want to take it a little further, say maybe add some meatballs, or pork, or sausage, well then you have a feast. The best part is that you can make the sauce by itself and then braise your meatballs, pork, or sausage in the sauce and turn it into a even better one. The meat will add extra flavor and create a more substantial meal. Which is what I've done here. For tonight's meal, I made boneless pork in spaghetti sauce and if I do say so myself, it was excellent.

Serves Many

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic minced.

1 small onion, finely chopped.

1 medium carrot, grated

2 tablespoons of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 6 oz can of tomato paste

2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatos

48 ounces of water

salt and pepper to taste

2 lbs country pork ribs cut into large cubes

4 tbsp olive oil

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat 2 tbsp of oil on medium heat and brown the cubed pork on all sides in small batches. Do not crowd the meat, otherwise it will not brown. Remove the meat and pour off any rendered fat. Leave the fond that has formed as this will add flavor to the sauce. Add another 2 tbsp of oil to the pot and sweat your chopped onions for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add minced garlic, carrot, and thyme. Continue to cook for another five minutes. Move the vegetables to the side and add the tomato paste. Allow it to caramelize a little, about 1 minute, then mix with the vegetables. Add both cans of crushed tomatoes and then add 48 ounces of water. Stir the ingredients and then add the browned pork to the sauce. Raise heat to high until it reaches a steady boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and allow the meat to braise and the flavors to marry, about 2 hours. Stir occasionally and when meat is tender, the sauce will be done. Make your pasta and then enjoy this sauce with the meat.

Don't crowd the meat and you will get nicely browned results.

After putting all the ingredients for the sauce together, add the meat back to the pot.

Bring to a good boil, then simmer.

Plate and enjoy.

Risotto with Fried Egg and Lardons

There is something about the smooth taste and mouth feel of perfectly cooked risotto that is hard to beat. The creamy sauce that forms while the rice cooks makes this dish really stand out, something special that you can be proud of. And if the rice is prepared carefully so that it has a little bite to it, then you have the base for any combination of ingredients that will push the meal over the top.

Tonight's risotto was no exception. As a matter of fact, I am quite willing to say that tonight's risotto was absolutely the best I have ever made. The sauce was excellent, the rice was perfectly cooked, and the taste was just fantastic. The addition of a delicately fried egg with a warm and runny golden yolk brought a rich unctuousness to the meal. And the addition of golden brown lardons as a garnish added the final layer of "oh so good" to the meal. And yes, I am very proud of how this turned out because it made my wife smile and feel so much better as she was recovering from having a wisdom tooth removed. And that smile was the icing on the cake!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup of Arborio Rice

6 cups of hot chicken  stock

1 cup of white wine

1 shallot (chopped fine)

1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

4 whole eggs, fried

6 tbsp butter

Begin by finely chopping the shallot. Heat 6 tbsp of butter in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir, cooking for another five minutes until most of the butter is gone. Add the cup of white wine and begin stirring slowly. The stirring of the rice and the heat from cooking causes the rice to release starch which makes the creamy sauce that makes risotto so wonderful. As you stir, the grains of rice rub against each other and the starch gets released into the hot stock. Take it easy when you stir. Stir slowly and enjoy a glass of wine as you work. Patience will make this dish come out fantastic. When most of the wine has been absorbed, add a ladleful of hot chicken stock. This should be almost boiling hot. Keep a small pot of the stock hot on a separate burner and ladle out the stock from there. When most of the stock has been absorbed by the rice, add another ladleful. Repeat this until the stock is gone (about 20 minutes). Taste the rice as you cook so you can experience the change in the rice as it transitions from a hard grain to an almost soft grain. Once it reaches the softness you desire, remove from the heat and add the Parmesan cheese, stirring briskly. Plate the risotto and then top with a fried egg and lardons as a garnish. The yolk needs to be runny so then when you cut into the egg, the yolk can run freely over the rice and add its deliciousness to your meal. Serve this hot and be prepared for the accolades.

Shallots cooking in butter.

Getting the Lardons ready.

The shallots are getting soft.

Toasting the rice before adding the white wine.

After the hot chicken stock has been added, the rice begins to release its starch.

As the stock cooksdown, the sauce gets thicker and creamier..

The finished dish.

 This was so good, I am ashamed to say Ginny and I had two servings! Please try this, it is so worth doing!

Italian Meatballs

Ahh....meatballs. Succulent, savory, moist and juicy. Pasta's most iconic sidekick. Nobody turns down a great meatball. And the first step to making a great meatball begins with the ingredients. It's also the first step in starting an argument over what makes a great meatball. Many a family has "gone to da mattresses" over what's in their meatballs. For me, I like to keep it simple. Ground beef, ground pork, chopped parsley, chopped onion, minced garlic, grated parmesan cheese, bread, eggs for a binder, salt and pepper, and my own special touch, toasted pine nuts. Fresh, delicious, and tasty! And while some people fry their meatballs, I prefer to bake them. Then I add them to the sauce and let them simmer for a while to marry the flavors. This recipe can go either way. And best of all, you can freeze them before you cook them, then take out how ever many you need for a relatively quick meal. Whichever way you go, I think you'll enjoy these Italian beauties.

Makes 24

(or one huge Godzilla sized meatball)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of pine nuts
Ground Beef  1 lb (90/10)

Ground Pork 1 lb

4 eggs

4 slices of bread

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese (grated)

1/4 Fresh Parsley (finely chopped)

1 small yellow onion (chopped)

1 clove of garlic (minced)

Salt and Pepper

Toast the pine nuts in a small, dry saute pan on medium high heat until golden. Let cool. In a large bowl, place the onion, beef, pork, toasted pine nuts, chopped parsley, cheese, garlic, and eggs. Wet the bread with water, squeeze out the moisture, then tear into tiny bits and add to the bowl of ingredients. Add a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper. Using your hands, mix the ingredients well. Taste test the mix by heating some olive oil in a small saute pan and frying a small portion. If it needs salt and pepper, add to the ingredients in the bowl and taste test again until satisfied. Take a golf ball portion of the meatball mix and GENTLY pat into a ball. Do not squeeze. You are not trying to make diamonds out of a lump of coal. One of the reasons some meatballs come out tough and hard is because the cook was really squeezing down hard. When you've finished forming the meatballs, set aside what you need for your meal and freeze the rest. Bake these in a 325⁰ oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Eat as is or add to spaghetti sauce to marry the flavors. Plate, add more cheese, then enjoy!

Toast the pine nuts, let cool and then add to the meatball mixture.

Taste test and then bake.

Before...

After...

.

Next week, Great Spaghetti Sauce (Sunday Gravy).

Beef Bouguignon

Beef Simmered in Red Wine with Vegetables 

"It's Cold Outside"

If there was a list for "Best Winter Comfort Food Ever", then Beef Bourguignon would have to be one of the major players on that list. It meets all the requirements for comfort food. Thick, hearty, flavorful, plays well with others, a true classic. And since the winter's cold had descended here in Raleigh, North Carolina this past week with freezing rain and low temperatures, it was time to bust a move and make this most excellent dish. I mean, what's not to like. Tender and juicy beef that melts when you put it in your mouth. Flavorful fat that teases the tongue with every bite. An edible quilt of taste and warmth. And if you can eat this and not think of Sunday family dinners when you were still wearing your Sunday best, then you need a serious beat down with the nostalgia stick! All I can say is when the cold gets bold, make this dish and then send me a thank you note. Or a dinner invitation.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 lbs Beef Chuck

1 Carrot, peeled and sliced

2 sweet onions, thinly sliced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups red wine

Bouquet garni ( parsley, thyme, bay leaf)

2 tbsp oil

3/4 cups of water

Salt and pepper

Add the oil to a flame proof casserole and heat it on medium high. Add the meat and brown it on all sides. Transfer the meat to a warm platter and add the vegetables and flour to the casserole. stir and let them lightly brown. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the casserole to release the fond that has formed. You want this to dissolve into the wine and add flavor to the liquid. Add the water and then add the meat back to the casserole. Add the garlic and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 2 hours. I like to add the salt and pepper close to the end so that I don't over salt. As the chuck simmers, liquid escapes as steam which concentrates the salt. Of course you will need to taste as the chuck simmers. After 2 hours, transfer the meat to a serving dish. Strain the sauce over the meat, garnish with parsley and serve. Enjoy the taste and accolades.

Look for and select bright red, well marbled meat. Chuck roast is tough. It needs a long, low simmer to help break down the connective tissue for it to be tender. And the flavor is all in the fat. So don't go lean for this dish!

  

Yellow onion adds the bright notes to this dish and the carrot adds the sweetness. Caramelizing both in the rendered fat from the chuck roast sweetens things even more.

Pat your chuck roast dry with a paper towel. If the surface of the Chuck Roast is wet, it will not brown because the liquid will form a micro-barrier of steam, preventing browning. Browning the meat sweetens the surface and adds flavor to the meat.

 The finished product. Tender beef that you can compliment like I have with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.