In the Kitchen With Mattie

 

I had wanted to make a fresh ham today but alas, after going to three local grocery stores I came up empty handed as far as a fresh ham went. I had asked hubby this morning what he wanted for dinner and his answer was “anything with pork” so I went with pork tenderloin. They are lean, quick cooking and tender and we do enjoy them a lot. I seasoned them simply with fresh thyme, salt and pepper and then simply seared them in an enameled cast iron pan until they had a nice char on them, then I lowered the heat and let them finish cooking. I made some fresh mashed potatoes to go along with it and some sauteed cabbage too, it was an easy quick meal but I am still looking forward to making a nice fresh ham soon!

 

 

Sauteed Cabbage with Bacon

 

12-16 ounces bacon cut into 1 inch pieces

 

1 teaspoon pepper

 

1/2 teaspoon Accent

 

3 pound cabbage cut thinly on a mandoline or sliced thinly by hand

 

 

In a large saute pan place bacon and cook until it is crispy, drain off fat and add pepper and Accent. Rinse cabbage and shake off excess water, add cabbage to pan and cover for 5 minutes, then remove cover and continue cooking until the cabbage is softened and cooked through, adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper if needed.

 

 

Back when hubby and I were dating…….way back in the stone age that is…….ok, it was actually back in the 1960′s, the neighborhood we grew up in had all kinds of great foods and we loved it all. The neighborhood was predominantly Irish/German/Italian and those nationalities were well represented in the local restaurants. We enjoyed them all! There was the Ideal that served hand grated potato pancakes and saurbraten and knockwurst,  Joe’s Spaghetti House that had the best sauce I have ever tasted to this day, the Heidleburg (still in operation) for other German specialties, the Lotus Chinese restaurant where everyone went to celebrate making their communion or graduations and so on. Whatever you felt like eating you could find within 4 city blocks of where we lived, even a Horn & Hardarts cafeteria where you put the nickles in the slots and got your food out of the little glass windows……..oooohhh for some of their mac and cheese today. Our favorite for pizza and other Italian dishes, besides Joe’s, was Anna Marias on east 87th street. It was owned by Hector and his wife, back then and they had the best pizza within a short walk of our block, we frequented the place a lot. One of our favorites was their meatball parmesan sandwich that we would share, practically no one could finish one on their own back then. Tonight I went retro and made us each a meatball parm, the two sandwiches I made put together wouldn’t be as big as one of the ones from way back when, but they were more than enough for each of us and we are both stuffed to capacity. Alas the neighborhood has undergone many changes over the years and Hector sold out long ago to return to Italy after his young son was tragically killed in an accident. The H&H Automat closed and so did most of the other places, a few do remain but even they have changed over time. It is nice however to be able to re-create a lot of the things we enjoyed way back then. Perhaps that is one of the things that fueled my desire to always be in the kitchen, the ability to return to those old familiar tastes we grew up with, the other being to remember my childhood spent with my grandparents and the love they showed me.

 

The reason I made them is because I had made a bunch of meatballs with a little gift that hubby had bought me. It is kind of a one trick pony and as such I usually don’t have those kinds of gadgets in my kitchen where real estate is in short supply. It is an electric meatball maker, a novel idea for sure. I was going to return it to the store but the fact that hubby went and bought it for me on his own makes it sort of precious to me so it will stay here and I will make room for it. I thought it would turn out a decent meatball, but was surprised when it turned out a great one in under 15 minutes!  They were all even sized, perfectly browned all around and retained their moistness. Part of the thrill was I didn’t have to stand at the stove and turn and brown them, or turn on the oven to bake them. I made three batches of them the other day so I made the sandwiches tonight with some of the leftovers, we all know sauce and meatballs only improve with age.

 

 

I’ve been thinking that it may also be possible to make a sort of round calzone in the machine, in theory it should work if you use a stiff no too wet dough. Also I think I could do arrancini (rice balls) in it, my mind keeps trying to think up other uses for it, after the holidays I’ll have more time for some experimentation and will let you know how it works out.

 

If you would like to also enjoy these sandwiches you will need a few leftover meatballs, I used 6 tonight. Two sub, hoagie, or po boy rolls…….whatever name you call them by they are just small rolls a bit longer than a hot dog bun and they need to be of a sturdy variety to hold all the gooey goodness.

 

Preheat the meatballs in a bit of sauce, make sure they are heated thru. Split the roll legnthwise and place the meatballs inside. Now sprikle a bit of good parmesan cheese on them and then liberally cover them with some sliced fresh mozzarella. Place them into a warm over for about 15 minutes until the cheese melts and the roll gets crispy. That’s all there is to it. It’s a great meal to make when you have leftover meatballs, especially during this season when everyone is rushing around trying to get all their holiday things done.

 

 

What do you make when it is Thanksgiving week and you’re up to your elbows in the prep for the holiday and then you realize you need to get dinner on the table shortly?  Well, with a few basic ingredients and a pressure cooker you can make this in about 40 or so minutes, counting prep time and all!

 

I’m sorry for the horrid picture but as I went to take the pics the camera decided to yell that it needed new batteries and off it went. Oh well I thought I was prepared since it also happened not too long ago and I had bought a large package of the size it needed. Unfortunately what I forgot was that when we had the power outage last week for quite a while I had used them in all the lanterns and flashlights in the house and now they were all pretty weak too, none of them were strong enough to get more than this lousy picture. I think it is time for me to get a new camera………and maybe even learn to use it!

 

Chicken and Tomatoes

 

2 large bone in skinless chicken breasts or any parts you prefer

 

1  28 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes

 

1 clove garlic minced fine

 

1/2 small onion, diced fine

 

2 teaspoons of mixed Italian seasoning

 

1/4  cup of dry white wine

 

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

 

salt and pepper to taste

 

Brown the chicken in just a tiny bit of oil in a pressure cooker, add the seasonings and the garlic and onion and saute a few minutes. Add the white wine and then the tomatoes on top, do not stir the tomatoes into the wine yet. Close the top on the cooker and bring it up to high pressure, cook for 15 minutes and then remove from heat or shut the cooker off and allow the pressure to reduce naturally, stir the contents and break up the tomatoes if you like. See easy and really quick!  We had this with some Colavita Long Ziti pasta, I love this stuff and it is great in casseroles too, layered with cheese and meats and baked like you would do a lasagna.

 

In case I don’t get a chance to post before Thanksgiving I hope you all have a wonderfull holiday, shared with good family, friends and food!

 

Hubby and I have over the years grown tired of the same old canned jellied cranberry sauce that is the standard on most Thanksgiving tables. I have over the years also tired many, many different recipes for all kinds of cranberry dishes and we liked none of them. I had just about given up on ever enjoying the cranberry again until the year before last when I tried something on my own. I love raspberries, absolutely LOVE them, and I usually have a bag of frozen ones in the house when fresh aren’t in season. I was preparing for the big dinner two years ago and was again debating on the cranberry issue when I decided to try something and I made this up as I went along. Hubby loved it, he couldn’t get enough of it. I have to agree with him, it was really good and a little different compared to the usual jellied cranberry sauce.

 

You will need one bag of frozen raspberries, they are usually packed in bags of around 10-16 ounces and are pretty reasonable in cost. You will also need one bag of fresh whole cranberries, usually sold in the fresh vegetable section of your supermarket. You’ll need one packet of unflavored gelatin, I keep a box of Knox gelatin here in the house so I always have some handy. You may want to add some raspberry flavored liquor too, I add Chambord……….yummmmmm.  You’ll need some plain white sugar or sugar substitute if you prefer that.

 

Place the packet of gelatin into 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl to soften it, set it aside for the time being.

 

Put the cranberries into a medium saucepan and add about 1/2 cup of water, bring it to a simmer until the cranberries start to pop open their skins, stir them every minute or so. When most of them have popped, add the raspberries, no need to defrost them first.  Continue to cook until the raspberries begin to cook down and some of the liquid boils away, about 5-7 minutes.  Add  1/2 cup of sugar and continue cooking until the sugar disolves. Add 1/4 cup of Chambord if you are using it. Simmer another minute and then remove from the heat. Add the softened gelatin to the mixture and mix it in well. Pour it into a decorative bowl and chill thoroughly. If you find it isn’t swwet enough for your taste you can add more sugar as it is cooking, so taste it. You can also add some lemon rind to balance the sweetness, about 1 teaspoon of just the yellow is good. You can also pass this through a fine mesh strainer if the seeds from the raspberries bother you, but I don’t.

 

I hope you like this if you try it. I’ll be making it on Tuesday so the flavoes have enough time to meld together for our dinner on Thursday.

Last year I was hoping to get some recipes up on here so you would be able to make a few dishes from all those turkey day leftovers we always have. I didn’t manage too well did I?

 

So tonight I am going to put one up here to go with the other from last year (you can do a search for Nov 2010 and find that one). Usually people make chicken ala king but I also like turkey ala king.  There’s no picture right now as I have to wait to have the leftovers from the big day, but at least if you want to you can read over the recipe and have what you need to make it on hand and save yourself a trip to the crowded stores on Friday.

 

Turkey ala King

 

4 cups of chopped turkey

 

1 green pepper diced

 

2 shallots diced, you can also use a small onion instead

 

1 package frozen sweet peas, defrosted

 

cooked rice, amount depending on how many you are feeding

 

1 quart half and half, heated to a simmer

 

1 cup strong turkey or chicken broth, no salt added, heated to a boil

 

1/2 cup all purpose flour

 

4 tablespoons butter

 

1 package fresh mushrooms sliced

 

1 tablespoon jarred pimento drained

 

salt and pepper to taste, added at the end

 

Place butter into a deep sauce pan and melt, add the shallot and the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms give up their liquid, add the diced pepper and saute another minute or two. Saute until the pan is almost dry and then add the flour, mix the flour into the rest and cook and stir for 5 minutes, be careful it doesn’t burn. When everything is well mixed start adding the turkey broth, stir it constantly to smooth out the lumps, when the broth is all added then start adding the half and half. When the sauce is smooth and thickened add the turkey meat and bring it all to a simmer, allow to simmer for 3 minutes then add the peas and pimento, turn off the stove.  Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.  I usually add a bit of dry sherry to the dish but it isn’t required. Serve it over boiled rice or buttered noodles, along with a salad it makes a nice meal.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!