Italian Eggs

Saw this recipe in my latest GQ - have to stay fashion forward too!

Italian Eggs

Ingredients - Serves two

Two, split and toasted English Muffins
Four slices of Prosciutto
4 large eggs
2 T butter
Prepared Pesto
Parmesan Cheese
S & P

Toast split English Muffins, I like mine crisp.

Gently saute eggs in butter. Towards the end sprinkle with S & P to taste and some grated Parmesan cheese.

To Serve:

Place the toasted English muffins on a plate, layer with one slice of prosciutto, egg, pesto and additional cheese, serve immediately.

This would be a great Brunch, more tasty and creative than traditional Eggs Benedict.

I served with fresh cantaloupe and blackberries and strong black coffee. Felt like I was in Italy.

Bon Appetit!

Last of the Easter Ham!

My earlier quote, "Eternity is two people and a ham" is almost true, but now the ham is in its final form(s).

Even though it is a warm day, I made bean soup. Very easy, they serve this version, by mandate, in the U. S. House of Representatives.

Take trimmed ham bone, place in pot, cover with water, add 1 lb. Navy beans, add salt and pepper to taste and any nice pieces of ham that remained on the shank and simmer for three hours.

Then remove and cool the shank, clean the remaining meat from the bone, discarding any fatty pieces and add the meat back to the pot. Meanwhile, saute a large chopped onion in some butter until translucent, then add to the soup, taste add S & P if necessary and serve.

I had more than enough ham for the soup so I made a quick ham salad.

Processed 1 1/2 cups ham, placed in a bowl and added 1-2 T reduced fay mayonnaise, a 1/2 t of Dijon mustard, 2 T of pickle relish and S & P, served on toasted English Muffins for lunch.

Taps for the ham.

Bon Appetit!

Brined and Roasted Chicken with Herb Butter

Bought two whole chickens at Costco, averaged under $4 a piece, put in the freezer for awhile, Found a new recipe in the local paper last week that began by brining the chicken in a large pot.

Fill pot 1/2 way with water, add 1 C each Kosher salt (it has less sodium than regular salt and no iodine aftertaste) and sugar. Mix until dissolved, add whole rinsed chicken and top off with more water. Place in the refrigerator and brine for 6 hours or overnight, Drain, discard brine dry chicken.

For the herbed part mix 5 T of unsalted softened butter with your favorite fresh herb(s), I used Thyme, S & P, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, some chopped shallots and chives. Mix and then spread 1/2 of the mixture under the skin of the chicken. I used a small wooden spreader to loosen the skin then to spread the mixture in the chicken. Spread the rest of the mixture over the outside of the chicken. Sprinkle with more S & P.

Place a sliced, peeled onion, some chopped or baby carrots and whole garlic cloves in the chicken cavity. Tie loosely and place in shallow roasting pan. Add a can of low sodium chicken broth to the pan.

Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, (I have convection oven so I placed on "Roast", it browns up quicker), baste every 20 minutes or so then raise the temp to 400 for an additional 20 minutes or until the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer reads 165.

Remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes, (keeps all the juices inside for a much moister and flavourful chicken), carve and serve with steamed asparagus and mashed potatoes. You can make a gravy from the broth by mixing some butter and flour and stir in to the broth, bring to a boil, strain and serve.

Bon Appetit!

Italian Dinner

On our second trip to Rome, Italy we went to a small, local restaurant near the Pantheon, St. Ignacio, The Cave. It was Easter the restaurant was packed with all locals but we had a great waiter who ran around serving everybody very ably - he even called himself Speedy Gonzalez, the kids, especially Theo, loved him.

We had one of our best meals there, pasta with Bolognese sauce and I learned about some foods I had never had before, lemon-rice balls, an appetizer and Limoncella, a tart, lemon-flavored aperitif.

Theo ate so much of the Bologenese that I had to learn to make it at home. Here it is.

Make a ragu of 2 large chopped onions, 4 stalks of finely chopped celery, 1 C shredded carrots and 1 C of diced pancetta. Saute until soft in 1 T of Olive Oil and 1 T of butter.

When the vegetables are soft, stir in 1 1/4 Lb. of lean ground beef and 2 large minced cloves of garlic. Heat the meat through so no longer pink.

Increase heat, stir in 2 T tomato paste, 1 T of flour, cook 1-2 minutes longer, Add 2/3 C each of beef broth and red wine, Add 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes and 2 t of dried Oregano and several grates of Nutmeg,

Simmer for 45 minutes, serve on your favorite pasta.

I made a nice Antipasto salad and some easy garlic and olive oil bread cubes. For the latter take a cibatta or other dense Italian bread, cube and place in large bowl. Drizzle, liberally, with olive oil and grated Parmesan and Romano mixed with parsley, oregano and S & P. Mix and serve with forks or toothpicks, this disappears every time I make it.

Had Limoncella on the rocks with Italian cookies from Cantoro Market for dessert, felt like we were back in Rome - almost.

Bon Appetit.

Oven Beef Stew

Went to my Boston School of Cooking Cookbook by Fannie Merritt Farmer to look for a beef stew recipe. Found a great deal at Kroger on really lean cubed beef and wanted to try something new.This recipe was different than anything I had made before, here it is.

Oven Beef Stew

1 1/2 lbs cubed lean beef

2 cups hot beef broth

1 chopped onion

2 Cups canned chopped tomatoes

1 Cup sliced carrots, or whole baby carrots

2 sprigs parsley

2 sprigs fresh Thyme

9 whole peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt

1 Cup peas

3 T flour

3 T softened or room temperature butter

Place the first 9 ingredients in a casserole, mix and place in a 250 degree oven for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Mix the softened butter and flour, add a ladle of broth and mix, add back to the stew to thicken, add the peas.

Cook for an additional 1/2 hour and serve over egg noodles. This was really good. Didn't brown the meat or do anything else. It was no fuss and great.

Bon Appetit.

Deviled Ham

Continuing to use up my Easter ham - eternity is going by pretty fast.

Made deviled ham from a recipe in my Gourmet cookbook. Really simple and really good. Anyone remember the Red Devil Brand of canned deviled ham?

Take 3 cups of ham and place in food processor, pulse until just chopped, place in a bowl. In processor add 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup of Chutney and 1/2 stick of softened butter, process, scrape out and mix with the ham.

Serve on a toasted English Muffin or crackers. A great snack. Really different than a ham salad.

Soon - split pea and ham soup, almost glad it is still cool outside!

Bon Appetit!

Slow Cooker - Easter Ham

Went to Charlevoix this week. The Birmingham Schools were off the week BEFORE Easter this year, the first time in twelve years, we were surprised and went up north a week earlier than expected, had our Easter ham dinner on Palm Sunday instead.

You know what they say about a ham? - "Eternity is two people and a ham." Not quite that bad but there are usually a lot of leftovers. I'll make split pea and ham soup, ham salad and some other dishes but this is what I made first.

Found a nice slow cooker recipe from a fellow Twitter user and made it for dinner. I have only begun to use the slow cooker and only up north, but I am finding that I and the rest of the family, like the outcome(s). The preparation is easy, we can do things all day and the house smells great when we get back from our activities, a really nice side benefit.

This one was really simple and here it is:

Slow-Cooker Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

3 lbs medium-sized potatoes, peeled and sliced thin, (I used a mandoline).

1 medium onion, chopped

1 c grated sharp Cheddar cheese

1 c chopped cooked ham

1 can reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup

1 C of sauteed mushroom or a can of mushrooms

½ c water

Combine the potatoes, onion, cheese and ham in a slow-cooker.

Stir together the mushroom soup and water in a small bowl until well mixed; pour over potato mixture in slow-cooker. Cover pot. Cook on high heat for 4 hours or until the potatoes are tender. You need to stir occasionally as it began to brown and stick to the pot.

Stir the mixture again just before serving. Makes 6 servings.

I served with some broccoli, onion cheese bread, from an earlier blog and steamed asparagus. Theo was waiting all day to eat as it smelled so good. Leftovers to bring back home too!

Bon Appetit!

Dover Sole

Bought some frozen Dover Sole from Trader Joe's. A great price, $7 for six pieces of nice sole. Looked in my Gourmet Cookbook for a recipe, found the simplest and best recipe. Dry fish, sprinkle with salt, dredge in flour mixed with S & P and Paprika, saute in hot butter - wow! Made some tartar sauce with low fat mayo, pickle relish, tarragon and a smidge of Dijon mustard - magnificent.

Served with a brown rice medley and steamed French cut green beans, a balanced meal.

The side was a broccoli cheese corn bread from a TJ recipe: Mix TJ corn bread mix, 4 eggs, 1/4 C milk, 1/2 C chopped onion, 8 oz of grated sharp cheddar and a package of thawed broccoli florets, bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. I add some red pepper flakes for a bit more bite. Makes a big dish, tastes great - bring to a pot luck like I have - it gets raves.

Up North tomorrow for several days - making a corned beef in the slow cooker. Easter back home, out or cooking, we'll see.

Bon Appetit!