In the Kitchen With Mattie

Archive for December, 2009

 

A nice warn dish for a chilly day. We are headed into rain again so the humidity is going up high and it is cold and damp outside, a perfect day for some rib sticking food and few things can beat a simple stew for sticking to those ribs.

 

                                                     Beef Stew

 

 5 pound chuck roast, trimmed and cubed into 2 inch pieces

 

1 large onion quartered

 

1 shallot diced

 

2 cups strong unsalted beef broth (preferably home made)

 

1 cup dry red wine

 

1 teaspoon salt

 

1/2 teaspoon pepper

 

1 teaspoon Maggi seasoning

 

2 bay leaves

 

1 sprig thyme

 

 

1/4 cup flour mixed with 1 cup water

 

1 pound carrots cleaned and cut into thirds

 

3 large russet potatoes peeled and cut into 6ths

 

Trim visible fat from beef and season with the salt and pepper. Heat a large shallow saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pot and let heat, when hot add enough beef to barely cover the bottom of pan and brown on all sides really well, lower the heat if it seems to be burning. If your pan isn’t big enough to do it all in one batch then do several batches, don’t crowd the meat as you want it to brown not steam. When it is all browned, remove it to a platter, add the shallot and the onion to the pan and allow them to cook a few minutes until they start to brown a little. Add the wine and deglaze the fond from the bottom of the pan, add the beef back to the pan and pour the beef broth and the Maggi seasoning to the pan. Cover the pan tightly and allow the meat to braise over a low to medium flame for 90 mminutes, test the meat for doneness, it should be almost fall apart tender. Add the carrots and the potatoes to the pot and continue cooking for another 30 minutes until they test done. Remove most of the meat and vegetables to a bowl or large platter with a slotted spoon. Bring the juices to a boil and add the flour and water mixture, stir and boil for 5 minutes to thicken, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, remove the bay leaves and thyme sprig, pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables, serve in deep bowls with some crusty bread.

 

 

Another chilly day and we were tired of leftover turkey and ham so wanted something different. We both decided on stuffed cabbage but I wasn’t really looking forward to doing the stuffing of it today for some reason. So I decided to make something I used to make that has all the same ingredients but half the work, it tastes exactly the same as my regular stuffed cabbage.

 

                                                        Unstuffed Cabbage

 

2 pounds lean ground beef or mix of beef and pork

 

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

 

1/2 cup regular rice, pre cooked for 10 minutes and drained

 

1 medium onion chopped fine

 

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

 

1  teaspoon salt

 

1/2 teaspoon pepper

 

1 large egg

 

2 cups beef or chicken broth

 

1 14-16 ounce can diced tomatoes

 

1 12 ounce can tomatoe puree, optional, use if you like a thicker sauce

 

1 large head fresh cabbage chopped into large pieces

 

Put meat into large bowl, add salt, pepper, onion, parsley, egg, bread crumbs and mix well, add rice and mix again, form meatballs about the size of a golf ball or a little larger.  I mostly use a pressure cooker to make this dish but have done it on the stove top too, the directions are the same but the cook time is drastically different, for the pressure cooker you will cook this for 12 minutes at high pressure, for the stove top it will need to cook more than an hour at a low simmer so it doesn’t burn.

   Into the pot you are using put a layer of the chopped raw cabbage, put a layer of meatballs on top of it. Put another layer of cabbage over the meatballs then another layer of cabbage and so on, until all is used up. The top layer should be cabbage. Mix the broth with the tomatoes and pour over everything in the pot. If using the pressure cooker let cook for 12 minutes after it comes to high pressure, if using a stove top pot check a meatball after an hour of steady simmering to make sure it is cooked thru.

     I have at times added peeled potatoes to the pot along with the meatballs and cabbage and let them cook at the same time. This dish re-heats very well and the flavor improves the next day, I have also added saurkraut to it and it gives it an old world taste, just layer it in with the cabbage at the beginning. If you like an old european taste add the kraut with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar for a sweet/sour taste. Change it around to suit you and your families taste, there are no rules here!

                                                        

 

It is the night of Christmas Eve and we wanted something on the lighter side because of the food fest to come tomorrow. I had a few frozen chicken breasts here and some peppers that I wanted to use up so these became the basis of tonights dinner.

 

                         Grilled Chicken with Peppers and Fettuccine

 

3- average 8 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled and sliced

 

2-3 mixed color sweet peppers, cut into thin wedges

 

1 medium to large sweet onion, cut into wedges

 

1/2 cup dry white wine

 

2 cups chicken broth

 

3 cloves garlic smashed, or one head of shallot diced fine

 

1/2 teaspoon sage

 

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

8 ounces fettuccine noodles cooked al dente and rinsed, set aside

 

Grill the chicken in a Foreman type grill or in a stove top grill until just barely cooked thru, set aside to rest, then slice into long strips or dice into chunks.

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat and when hot add the olive oil and let it heat. When hot add the onions and peppers and saute until they begin to soften and take on a little color, add the garlic or shallot and cook another minute or so until it is fragrant. Add the wine and cook until it is almost gone then add the sage and the chicken broth and parsley and heat to simmering. Add the pasta and the sliced cooked chicken breasts and toss and heat thru until all is piping hot. Serve with some parmesan at the table. This was a nice light dinner and was just what we needed tonight because we know we will be really overeating tomorrow.

 

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and we pray for a wonderful New Year for us all.     Mattie

 

We had decided last night to have a pork roast today for dinner. Unfortunately I forgot to take it out of the fridge when we made that decision and so at about 3 o’clock this afternoon when I would normally be starting to think about dinner I suddenly remembered that it was still frozen. I was wondering what to do when I suddenly thought, the pressure cooker!  I usually use one of my pressure cookers when I make pork with saurkraut but had never done a “roast” in it, having nothing else ready for dinner I decided to give it a shot, it was a great meal.

                                         Pork “Roast” in the Pressure Cooker

 

1  3-4 pound center cut pork roast

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 can chicken broth or pork broth if you have it

1 tablespoon Maggi seasoning

1/4 cup all purpose flour mixed into 1 cup water

 

Heat pressure cooker and season meat with salt and pepper. Place meat into hot cooker and sear it on all sides. When well seared add the broth, the rosemary and the Maggi seasoning. Close cover on the cooker and cook for 60 minutes if your roast is frozen as mine was (about 30 minutes if not frozen). Reduce pressure in cooker after timer goes off and then remove cover, place meat on platter to rest before cutting. Bring juice in cooker to a rapid boil and boil for about 7 minutes to reduce a little, add the flour mixed with water and continue to cook another 7-10 minutes until thickened and reduced. Slice meat and serve with the gravy. It came out very moist and tender, I think cooking from a frozen state might just be my new favorite way to make a pork roast.

We do happen to love most Italian dishes so I tend to make a lot of them. This is a simple one if you have access to a high quality fresh ravioli and some sauce on hand. I happen to like to hand roll ravioli if I have the time. Often the ones you can buy seem to skimp on the fillings. I found this great fresh one being sold at the local Sams Club and gave it a try in this dish, both hubby and I loved it’s light pasta and fresh taste, the little pockets were filled with a nice tasting filling too. I guess I won’t be hand rolling ravioli as often anymore. I made a simple tomato sauce for the dish and I will start off with that recipe for you. Altogether if you are using fresh pasta it will take you about an hour to get this dish on the table.

                                                     Simple Tomato Sauce

2  28 ounce cans whole tomatoes, chopped by hand into pieces about

       1/2 inch big

1 medium onion diced fine

3-4 cloves garlic minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar (optional if tomatoes are a little bitter tasting)

1/2 cup wine, red or white as long as it is a dry type

Heat a medium saucepan and when hot add oil and allow it to heat. Add onions and saute until they give up their moisture, add garlic and saute a minute, add seasonings and cook another minute or so, add wine and cook until wine is almost evaporated. Add crushed tomatoes and stir well, let simmer about 15-30 minutes until it thickens a little and reduces in volume.

                                                           Baked Ravioli

1 package large round cheese or meat ravioli

3-4 cups tomato sauce

1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced or grated

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, when it boils add the ravioli and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and add to the pot of sauce, mix well.

Into a 2-3 quart shallow dish spoon a layer of ravioli and cover it with a layer of the cheese, continue layering until you have used it all. Place the casserole into the oven and cook for 30 minutes until the cheese if melted and the dish is hot throughout. Serve it with a salad and some garlic bread, you’re done! Quick and easy.