In the Kitchen With Mattie

Archive for November, 2009

 

Tonight was a very simple roast chicken. At a little past 3 this afternoon I still had no idea what to make for dinner but did know that I had a chicken in the fridge that I should cook up.  I took out the chicken and trimmed off all the fat I could then rinsed it and set it to brine (1/2 cup salt, a few garlic slices, some thyme in one cup boiling water until salt disolves, then add mixture to 1 gallon ice water) for an hour. While it brined I prepared the last of the fresh green beans I had, peeled 2 huge russet potatoes and cut them into large pieces. I put the green beans in to steam and put the potatoes in a large bowl with some olive oil, salt, pepper and a little mashed garlic. I set the oven to 425 and let it pre-heat while I made a simple stuffing for the chicken (see the stuffing recipe). After the bird was stuffed I put it into a roasting pan surrounded by the potatoes and then brushed a little olive oil on the bird, I set the pan in the oven for about 90 minutes. It came out with a lovely crisp skin, the breast meat was very moist because of the brining and the potatoes were heaven, light and very crisp. The shame of it was that hubby got called out to work all day and night so he missed probably one of the best tasting roast chickens I have ever done, I shared it with our 3 ShihTzus and the crazy cat……….they loved it as much as I did. It was a quick non fussy dinner and was done in a little more than 90 minutes. Proof that you can make a decent meal without hanging out over your stove all day!

Mattie

Tonight we had salisbury steak with onion gravy, rice, fresh green beans, fresh carrots and fresh broccoli………..did I tell you we like lots of veggies around here.

      For this salisbury steak you will need:

      2 pounds of lean ground beef

      1  cup fresh bread crumbs

     1 whole egg

     1/2 cup milk

     1 green pepper finely chopped

     1 medium onion finely chopped

      salt and pepper to taste

For the gravy:

     1 large onion sliced into rings

     2 tablespoons butter

     3 tablespoons flour

     2 cups beef broth

     fresh ground pepper

 

Put the ground beef in a bowl and add the egg and milk, mix well then add the onion, green pepper, salt, pepper and the bread crumbs,  then mix well with your hands. Form into 8 “steaks” and then cook in a large heated skillet until done. Remove from skillet to a platter, add the butter to the skillet and let heat, add the sliced onions and ground pepper and saute until they are beginning to take on some color, add the flour and let cook for a minute or two. Slowly add in the beef broth, whisk and stir until it comes to a boil, allow to boil until it thickens then add the steaks back into the gravy and continue to simmer another 5-10 minutes until the steaks are heated thru. I form them into rectangles because the shape packs well into hubbys favorite  microwave dish, he takes leftovers the next day for lunch, he says they taste even better than the night they are made. We usually have them with either rice, wide noodles or fresh mashed potatoes.

Mattie

 

I made a large pot of bolognese sauce last week and then let it cool and froze it in several containers to be used in lasagna and pasta dishes. Here is my recipe for my bolognese sauce.

Bolognese Sauce
4 pounds of lean ground beef
1 pound of ground pork or use italian sausage with the casing removed
2 large onions chopped fine
8 cloves garlic chopped fine (more if you love garlic)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
3 carrots cleaned and chopped fine
3 stalks celery washed and chopped fine
1 cup wine, I use white but red is common
1 cup heavy cream
3 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil

Put a large wide bottomed pot on the stove to heat, when hot add the oil. When the oil is hot add the onions, garlic, carrots, celery and the salt, saute these for about 10 minutes being sure to keep them from burning, add the crushed red pepper and cook a few more minutes.
Start breaking up the meats and putting them into the pot, stir often to make sure it all cooks and doesn’t burn.
When the meat has all lost it’s red color turn up the stove a little and add the wine and the oregano, allow the mixture to cook until the wine has almost evaporated. When the wine is almost gone add the heavy cream and mix it into the meat well, keep stirring it often until the meat has absorbed the cream.
Add the crushed tomatoes and parsley, and stir into the pot well, lower the stove and simmer the sauce for about 2 hours, taste and adjust the seasonings, keeping in mind they will taste different when allowed to sit overnight.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool, package into serving size portions and freeze. This is a good sauce for pasta and especially for lasagna and other baked pasta dishes. If you like your sauce thinner you can add more plain tomato sauce to this. I hope you enjoy it. Mattie

This is the basic stuffing recipe I use, you can add apples or other fruits and nuts to it to vary it if you like. You can also add some cooked bulk sausage to it for a different taste.
This will stuff a 25 pound turkey, with some left over, cut the recipe down for smaller birds.

16 cups of toasted bread cubes
1/2 pound butter
3-4 cups of turkey or chicken stock, depending on your breads dryness
2 cups of diced onions
2 cups of diced celery
1 cup of fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon sage leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion and celery in the butter for 10 minutes, add the stock and bring to a simmer, add the thyme, sage and parsley. Put the bread cubes in a large bowl and add the wet ingredients, mix together thoroughly with your hands, taste and add salt and pepper. Fill cavity of turkey with mixture and bake any leftover in a separate baking dish.

When I make this I typically use a home made bread that I add some of the same seasonings to while I mix the dough, then bake it, and let that bread dry out for a week or two before I use it. Any mixture of different breads or rolls can be used, you want the bread or rolls to be stale and toasted though so they soak up the broth. How much broth you will actually need depends on how dry your bread is, and how moist you prefer your stuffing.

 

Happy Holidays!

Mattie

 

This is a very simple dish to make, especially if like me you keep some boneless,skinless chicken breast on hand for last minute meals. We love fresh spinach here so you will probably see it in a lot of our meals……we actually love most veggies but you’ll see more green ones than others.

For this dish you will need:

1 nice size boneless, skinless chicken breast per person

1  pound of fresh spinach, cleaned well

1 shallot diced finely

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 slice proscuitto (can substitute any ham) per breast

1 slice smoked provolone (can also use cheese of choice) per breast

2-3 roma tomatoes diced

1 tablespoon capers, drained

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon oregano, use fresh if possible

salt and pepper

 

For the topping, dice the tomatoes, and place in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper, add the capers and the oregano. Mix in the oil and the vinegar and let stand one hour.

In a grill pan or a regular sautee pan cook the chicken breast, seasoned with the salt and pepper until almost done, remove them to a plate. Into the same pan add 1 tablespoon of oil, add  the shallot and sautee about 2 minutes, add the chicken broth and stir up the browned bits from the chicken, add the spinach to the pan and let it wilt. Put the breasts back on top of the spinach and cover each with a half slice of prosccuitto and cover that with a slice of cheese, cover the pan and allow the cheese to melt. Or preheat the broiler and place the pan under it to melt and brown the cheese, make sure you are using a broiler safe pan though.

Plate the spinach and chicken and top each breast with some of the tomato mixture. We had this tonight with crispy roasted potatoes. It’s a quick meal that’s ready in about 15 minutes if you omit the potatoes and serve it with a salad and bread.