Tortellini alla Panne

    This is one of my favorite pasta dishes, Italian comfort food. Tortellini in a creamy cheese, with bacon and peas. It is a quick and easy dinner to put together in less than an hour. First off set a pot of salted water to boil. Next chop up a 2-3 cloves of garlic, or more if you like. Put a skillet on the stove and add a nice pat of butter, once it is melted add the chopped garlic to soften over low heat, do not brown it will get bitter. Now add about 1-1/2 cups of heavy cream and about 3/4 of a cup of freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese, or parmesan if you prefer. Add some diced ham, bacon, pancetta or even prosciutto, ect.... When the tortellini is cooked add it the skillet, and then toss in the peas, I use frozen, heat everything through. At this point you can add more cheese or pasta water depending on your desired consistency, and fresh cracked black pepper.

*serve with a nice salad and garlic bread

*use any pasta of your choice, make it your own

Saint Patrick day My Way

 I am not a fan of the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner, here is my version. I made a mustard and honey glazed point cut corned beef, latkes with a dill sour cream, and hand cut coleslaw. First off I cooked my corned in water, onion, bay leaved, and whole peppercorns until tender. Next I made a mustard and honey glaze with equal amount of dijon mustard and honey. I glazed the corned beef and put it under the broiler. For the hand cut coleslaw, I followed my mothers recipe, hand sliced cabbage, hand sliced onion, and grated carrot dressed with mayo, white vinegar, salt and pepper. I don't have a latkes recipe of my own, so use your own, or find a favorite on line. 

Fettuccini Clams Casino

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 I had some bacon in the fridge that I had to use, and this is where this recipe began. I cooked the bacon in the oven, on a sheet pan  at 425 until crispy, and I set it aside. Meanwhile I chopped up 4 cloves of garlic, sliced up some tricolor baby bell peppers, and sauteed them in butter, and olive oil until soft. Then I added 2 cans of minced clams with their juice, and some chopped fresh parsley. I then chopped up the bacon and set it aside. I decided to toast some panko bread crumbs in butter and added salt, pepper, grated pecorino romano, and lemon zest, I also decided to add some lemon zest and fresh parsley to the sauce.When the pasta was cooked I added it to the sauce, added the chopped bacon, and some starchy pasta water, you can add another chunk of butter at this point, I did. I tasted it to decide if I had to add more salt and pepper, and garnished it the the toasted panko crumbs.

*this is a company worthy dinner, with a side salad and a nice glass of wine.

**garlic bread and a nice dessert will send this meal over the top

Hoisin Soy Chicken Thighs Over Sesame Soba Noodle Salad

This is one of those dishes when I just grabbed ingredients and created,  I didn't write down what I did and it turned out great. A lot of people are requesting the recipe, so I am going to give it my best shot to explain what I did, and give you a general idea on how to recreate it. The first thing I did was make a sauce for the chicken thighs, I used boneless and skinless. For the sauce I used equal amounts of hoisin, and soy sauce, then I added about a tablespoon each of sesame oil, Shaohsing (Asian cooking wine), rice vinegar, sambal (chili garlic paste), 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, 5 smashed garlic cloves, and about 10 slices of peeled ginger, and a little water, whisk good and at this point taste it for the right balance of hot, sour, salty and sweet, adjust if needed, set aside. Next I made a sauce for the Soba noodle salad with about 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 heaping tablespoon of peanut butter, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar,  and 1 clove of chopped garlic, set aside. Now that my sauces were made I sliced up about 12 raw sugar snap peas length wise, grated 2 large carrots, and 3 green onions sliced, and added them to a large bowl. Next I boiled 2 bunches of soda noodles according to the package directions, make sure not to overcook them or they will fall apart, and be mushy. Drain them and toss with the chopped veggies, and sesame peanut butter sauce and let it sit while you cook the chicken. I cooked the chicken in a pressure cooked but I am sure you can do it in a skillet. I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and browned them on both sides in a tablespoon of vegetable oil, put them all back into the pot with the hoisin soy sauce mixture, covered the pressure cooker and let it come to full pressure over medium heat. I cooked it at full pressure for 5 minutes, removed it from the heat, and let it decompress naturally before I opened it. If you are doing it in the skillet, I would do it exactly the same way, and simmer them uncovered for 5 minutes, or until cooked through, and the sauce thickens. I put the noodle salad down on a pretty platter, put the chicken on top, I garnished with a little sauce from the pan, and sesame seeds.
*this looks time consuming but it only took me about an hour to prepare
**you can make the sauces way in advance, they would probably taste better
***better than takeout and healthier too

Thai Style Grilled Pork Skewers

I like to listen to cooking podcasts at work, I was listening to Milk Street Radio the other day and they were describing Moo Ping, and it inspired me to make these, with what I had on hand in my cupboard, and it turned out amazing. I really didn't measure anything, but this is what I basically did. I sliced a 5 pound pork butt as thin as I could and set it a side in a large bowl. Next I made the marinade in a separate bowl with fresh sliced garlic and ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, vegetable oil, sambal, brown sugar, salt, pepper and fresh basil. I just kept tasting and adding, until I had the right balance of hot, sour, salty, and sweet, then added enough water so I could cover all the pork. I poured the marinade over the pork, and put it in the fridge to marinate for 3 hours. 

Next I threaded the pork onto bamboo skewers that I soaked in water, I packed them on pretty tight, I got all 5 pounds on 3 large skewers. Then I grilled them slowly on medium low heat, about 300 degrees on my gas grill, covered until nicely browned and a little charred, about 30 minutes. I served it over a bed of baby greens and sliced tomatoes, simply dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper, because my husband is on the Keto diet, and he loved it. Give it a try, you won't be sorry!

*you can serve this with white rice too

**this easily can serve at least 4-6 people with sides and a salad

***very affordable for a cookout or dinner party

****you can use any marinade you like its very versatile 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast Stuffed With Tomato And Mozzarella

Sometimes, I have a basic idea in my mind, and just go into the kitchen and play, tonight was one of those nights. I knew I wanted to stuff chicken breast, and wrap them in bacon. I opened my fridge, and pulled out things I thought would go good together, and this is what I came up with, it was quite tasty! First I made the stuffing with, approximately, because I never measure, 2-3 cups of stale bread, 3 green onions sliced, 1/2 cup of diced mozzarella, 10 grape tomatoes sliced, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, a handful of grated cheese, a little squirt of balsamic gaze, salt and pepper to taste, and enough water, or chicken stock, to moisten. Let it sit a bit to break down the bread, and distribute the liquid. Next, I butterflied the chicken breast, try to use small breast, that are not too thick. Season the inside and put about 2 tablespoons of stuffing inside. roll, and wrap them in bacon. This takes patience, take your time!

Now I placed them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. I then put a lot of fresh cracked black pepper on top, a nice drizzle of balsamic glaze, and sprinkled with a little more chopped parsley. I baked them at 400, for about 30-40 minutes, or until the bacon was crispy. I served them with garlic and cheese stuffed acorn squash, and tomato and mozzarella flat breads. 
*you can stuff and wrap the chicken breast up to a day ahead of time for an easy company dinner
**any side dishes would go well with this dinner, or just a nice side salad
***Chardonnay, or Rose would pair nice
****the hardest part of preparing this dish is butterflying the chicken, a very sharp knife is a must

Egg Roll In A Bowl Plus

I have been making some low carb meals for my husband, this turned out delicious. Most recipes call for ground pork, but I had some left over pork roast, so I used that. I chopped it up into a small dice, about 2-3 cups worth, then I sauteed it in a tiny bit of oil until brown and crispy. Next I added 2 tablespoons of hoisin sauces, and cooked it for another 3 minutes of so. Next I added 1/4 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and a few drops of sesame oil I cooked it another 5 minutes. Next I added 2 cups of finely shredded cabbage, and 1 cup of grated carrots, stirred to combine, cooked it another 3 minutes, and garnished with sliced green onion, and sesame seeds. 

I realized I had some phyllo dough in the fridge, so I decided to make some of the mixture into actual egg rolls. I cut the log of phyllo in half, made six layers, brushing with lard in between, but you can use oil if you like. Then I simply stuffed, rolled, brushed the top with more lard, and sprinkled them with sesame seeds. I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 5-8 minutes just until lightly brown and crispy. They were so light and crispy, I served them with some pineapple chutney and my husband loved them.

*this is a quick easy meal to put together on a week night
**you can make the egg rolls smaller for a nice party snack