Category Archives: MAIN DISH RECIPES

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND CANNELLINI BEAN CHILI

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It all started with me wanting to try out a recipe for sourdough cornbread. (And I know, sourdough and I appear to be joined at the hip these days. But I love everything sourdough, so why not a sourdough cornbread? After all, many cornbread recipes include buttermilk. Which is also sour. So logic dictates that sourdough cornbread should be delicious. And BTW – it is! Recipe to follow in the next couple of days.)

Anyway, I wanted to try out my recipe for sourdough cornbread yesterday so that I could serve it last evening. So I got to thinking about what to serve with the cornbread? Mr. C. and I love chili. We also love Italian food. So why not a chili that smacks of Italy, with a bit of Southwestern flavor thrown in for good measure. (And authenticity.)

So yesterday, I went on line looking for a chili recipe containing Italian sausage and cannellini beans. And there it was on the reneeskitchenadventures.com site. Of course I messed with the recipe, but I am pleased to give credit to Renee for the bones of this delightful dish.

Now, who knew Italian and Southwestern flavors would mix so well? But OMG, this was one of the best pots of chili I have ever produced, much less tasted. And ever so easy to prepare. But Italian seasoning and diced green chilies in the same recipe? Radical to say the least. But isn’t that fun! And what cooking should be all about! Coaxing the best out of every single ingredient you use. Sometimes it feels like magic to me. How a smattering of this and a dash of that can make such a difference to the final product. Of course there is one combination of ingredients I know I will never prepare. But none the less, it’s fun to imagine. For your reading pleasure: The well-known incantation of the Three Witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

As always dear friends and far-flung readers – stay safe, stay inspired, stay positive, and keep smiling. (Even if no one can tell you’re smiling under your mask!) Oh – and make this chili. It’s really great!

1 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 lb. bulk Italian pork sausage (I use sweet Italian sausage from our IGA on Camano Island)

1 med. onion, chopped

1½ c. diced bell pepper (red, orange, yellow, green – or a combination)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. dried oregano (preferably Mexican)

¼ tsp. kosher salt

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, opt.

freshly ground black pepper

14 oz. can diced tomatoes (preferably Italian)

4 oz. can diced green chilies

2½ c. vegetable stock  

2 c. cooked cannellini beans*

Heat the olive oil in a large, covered Dutch oven. Add the meat, breaking it into small pieces as it browns. Remove the cooked sausage and set aside.  

Add the onion and peppers to the Dutch oven. Cook until the onion begin to soften. Add the garlic; cook for one minute.

Stir in the cumin, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, oregano, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, and black pepper.    

Add the canned tomatoes with juices, green chilies, and vegetable stock. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for a good hour.

Just before ready to serve, add the reserved meat and the cooked cannellini beans and bring back to a boil. Adjust seasoning.

Serve in soup bowls. Pass the extra virgin olive oil. A small drizzle on top of the soup tastes mighty fine. And corn bread is perfect on the side.

Note: And while I know you are wondering why I don’t just leave the cooked Italian sausage in the pot the whole time, I believe my reasoning not to do so is sound. Unlike ground beef, which is inherently fairly uninspired tasting, Italian sausage is replete with flavor. (The spices bring a lot of the flavor to the mix.) If you leave the cooked sausage in the broth for too long, all that yummy concentrated flavor will be leached away. Yes the flavor will still be in the saucy part. But it’s really nice to bite into a piece of Italian sausage that still tastes like Italian sausage!    

*You can use canned cannellini beans, but I prefer to cook the beans myself. And no, you don’t have to soak the beans overnight or cook them in an instant pot. When I’m in a hurry, I simply wash the dried beans, place them in a covered pot, add lots of water, bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, cover the pot, and let the beans gently simmer until they are tender. I check the pot every 30 minutes or so. When the beans are getting close to being done, I add salt to the water.

When the beans are finished cooking, I take the pot off heat and just let the beans sit in the water until I’m ready to add them to the chili.

(I realize my way of cooking beans goes against convention. Soak the beans the night before, etc. But most of the time, I am not efficient enough to know the day before what I am going to serve for dinner the next evening. That takes planning. I just happen to take a much more relaxed approach to the whole undertaking.)  

SHRIMP, GREEN BEAN, AND MUSHROOM STIR FRY

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While I was face timing with daughter Paula the other night (I think “face timing” is the right term for her being able to see every wrinkle on my face and me being able to see how beautiful she is), she told me about a great shrimp and green bean dish she had prepared for dinner that evening. It sounded just like the kind of dish that Mr. C. and I would also enjoy. Easy to prepare, containing ingredients I almost always have on hand, and easy to prepare. (Oh wait, I already said that, but it bears repeating.) So of course I asked for the recipe. Being a good, dutiful daughter, she gladly acquiesced. So I served this dish last evening with steamed rice. And there was much rejoicing at the Carr dinner table over my decision to give this delightful dish a try.

Now to tell you the truth, I had been a bit concerned about the combination of green beans and shrimp in a dish. Green beans and mushrooms, no problem. But shrimp and green beans together? Can’t say I’d ever tasted these two lovely ingredients sharing equal prominence in the same dish before. Then I went on line. There are an abundance of fantastic recipes for shrimp and green bean dishes out there. Which rock had I been hiding under all these years? Because after preparing this recipe, I tasted for myself that shrimp and green beans are indeed a great combination! And what better way to use these two fabulous ingredients than in a delicious and easy to prepare stir fry! (There’s that “easy to prepare” statement again. Must be true if I’ve bothered to mention it THREE TIMES in this post!) Anyway…………

Now you too have a great new dish with which to dazzle and delight your family. And don’t we all need a little “dazzle and delight” right now. I don’t know what it’s doing outside where you live, but here on Camano Island it’s Juneuary in full bloom. Foggy (I can’t even see the water, much less the mountains), rainy (actually pouring would be a better descriptor), and chilly. And yes I have lived in Western Washington long enough to know that June is often rainy (and cold). But that still doesn’t make it OK in my book. Bring on the summer sunshine and warmth of August darn it!

But aside from the weather, the inhabitants of Chez Carr are still doing well in spite of the extraordinary circumstances which we are currently experiencing. (The Coronavirus threat still alive and well, hostile reactions to peaceful protests, fake news, and political leaders for whom the words compassion and humanity appear to be totally foreign concepts.) But through all of this we have steadfastly remained sane (not easy in today’s world) and committed to each other and to the well-being of those around us.

So as always – please think love rather than hate, display strength rather than weakness, and please, please reflect empathy rather than condemnation. Love and peace to all.

water

1½ tsp. granulated sugar, divided

2 T. vegetable oil, divided

1 lb. fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 lb. large raw shrimp

5 tsp. sesame oil, divided

½ med. onion, chopped

8-10 mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 T. minced fresh ginger

1 T. oyster sauce

1 T. soy sauce

2 T. mirin (can sub dry sherry or sweet Marsala wine in a pinch)

2 tsp. corn starch

Bring a pan of water to a boil. (Just enough water to cover the beans.) Add 1 teaspoon of the sugar, 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil, and the green beans to the boiling water. Cook the beans for 4 minutes, remove from heat, then pour into a colander. Rinse with cold water (to stop the cooking process) and set aside.

Whisk the salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil together in a medium sized bowl. Add the shrimp and stir to make sure every bit of each shrimp is coated with the mixture.

In a large fry pan or wok, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the shrimp and cook just until done. Do not overcook. Using a slotted utensil, remove the cooked shrimp to a small container and set aside. Add another 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil to the pan, along with the onion and mushrooms. Cook until the onions are softened and the mushrooms start to brown. Add the garlic and ginger; cook for one minute.

While the onion and mushrooms are cooking, whisk the remaining ½ teaspoon sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, mirin, 2 remaining teaspoons of sesame oil, and corn starch together.

After the garlic and ginger have cooked for one minute, add the cooked green beans and the cooked shrimp. Stir in the soy sauce mixture and stir until all of the veggies and shrimp are covered with the sauce and the sauce is slightly thickened. Serve immediately. Great with steamed rice on the side.

        

BAKED CHICKEN WITH SOUR CREAM AND MUSHROOMS

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OK, before you get all hot and bothered about the can of cream of mushroom (c. of m.) soup used in this recipe, let me just say that I stopped buying cream of mushroom soup by the case after my kids were all out of the house. But as a working mother, c. of m. soup really came in handy. And to this day, I always have at least one can in my pantry. Why you ask, when it’s so easy to build a white sauce? Well, in case you are new to reading my blog, you know that on occasion I welcome a little help as much as the next cook. And of more importance, some of my favorite recipes, like this decades old standby, are perfect as written. So who am I to choose culinary purity over recipe integrity?

And yes I understand there are unpronounceable ingredients in canned c. of m. soup. But I probably only use c. of m. soup a couple times a year. So don’t bother writing me defending your choice to never use this scary ingredient laden product. I understand your position. But I’m going to pigheadedly ignore the facts and stick to my guns on this one. (Hey – if our political leaders can ignore facts, and crazy people can bear arms, I feel it’s acceptable for me to defend my use of c. of m. soup on a very sporadic basis!)

Anyway, now that I have explained myself, I can get back to telling you about this great dish. It’s really easy to prepare. And it tastes like you have been slaving in the kitchen for hours. And it’s comfort food to the max. And it’s company worthy. (When it’s once again safe and sane to entertain guests, that is!) So now’s the time to make this delightful chicken dish in preparation for serving it to guests in (hopefully) the near future.

As always – stay safe, stay positive, and who knows? Maybe someday food scientists will discover that disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate are actually good for us!  

And sorry about no picture. Some days I just space out on parts of my duty as keeper of the blog. I blame it on my age.

8 pieces of chicken (boneless, skinless thighs or halved breasts)

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 c. sour cream

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1/3 c. chicken broth or water

1 can cream of mushroom soup

8-10 sliced button or cremini mushrooms

paprika (Hungarian sweet paprika is best for this dish)

Place chicken in a shallow, lightly buttered baking dish. Lightly sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Whisk the sour cream, lemon juice, chicken broth, and soup together. Stir in the mushrooms.

Pour evenly over the chicken. Sauce should coat and almost cover the pieces. Sprinkle generously with paprika.

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 90 minutes or until the chicken pieces are done and the top is lightly browned.

Great served with Simple Baked Rice Pilaf (recipe on site) and a steamed green veggie. A nice chilled Semillon is also perfect with this meal.

CHICKEN STEW WITH SOURDOUGH HERB DUMPLINGS

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Yesterday morning I awoke feeling overwhelmed by conditions around our nation. None of which I or most of my fellow Americans have absolutely any control.  Coronavirus is still alive and well. Social injustice protests (which I whole heartily support BTW), even peaceful demonstrations, were still being met in a military fashion by fellow Americans. Radical opportunists were still making things worse by displaying guns and using threatening gestures to stir up even more dissent. Even though I’m sure the only thing most of these rough guys really cared about was getting to play the second amendment big old white guy with gun card. And worst of all, our nation’s leaders still more concerned with aggrandizing their personally perceived accomplishments, rather than leading our country from a position of true concern and humanity.  

And then here I am, almost 76 years old, blessed with everything I need to live a wonderful, fulfilling rest of my life. And yet, I couldn’t seem to reconcile my happiness with the hurt, unfairness, and hate that has been shown to others simply because of skin color, sexual persuasion, faith affiliation, economic disparity, or any of the other myriad differences that keep people apart. I felt simply at a loss as to how to proceed.   

So based on my mind set yesterday, I decided to prepare comfort food for our dinner last evening. And believe it or not, it helped. There is just something about chicken soup/stew that makes things, if not actually better, just a little more tolerable.   

So if you too could use some comfort, let me recommend this recipe. The stew is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. The dumplings are light and airy and perfectly seasoned.

So as always – stay safe, wear a mask when appropriate, and let your example of goodness speak for itself. And in case you were wondering – I feel better today. Some days are just easier than others.

Stew:

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 T. butter

4-5 (1½ – 2 lbs.) large boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into small bite sized chunks   

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 small onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 tsp. granulated garlic  

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

½ tsp. dried thyme leaves

1 bay leaf  

1 T. dried parsley

1 T. chicken flavored Better Than Bouillon

3½ c. water

1 c. whole milk (low fat or 2% is fine)

1/3 c. flour

chopped fresh parsley, opt.

In a large covered pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, and cook until the meat is lightly browned and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the onion, carrots, and celery; sauté for 6-7 minutes or until the veggies begin to soften and brown.

Stir in the granulated garlic, poultry seasoning, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Stir in the Better Than Bullion and the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover the pot, and allow stew to simmer for about 30 minutes to combine flavors. Meanwhile prepare the dumpling batter.

After the stew has simmered for 30 minutes or so, add the cooked chicken along with any accumulated juices. Taste and adjust seasoning.

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and flour. Slowly add the milk/flour mixture to the pot, stirring to combine all the ingredients. Bring mixture to a low boil and cook for a minute or two or until the stew thickens up a bit. 

Using an ice cream scoop (you want the balls of dough to be about golf ball size), drop the dumpling balls on top of the simmering stew, about ¼-inch apart. If you aren’t already cooking the stew at the lowest temperature on your stove burner, do so now. Cover and cook until the dumplings have doubled in size, about 15 minutes. (Don’t even think about peeking at the dumplings before the 15 minutes are up. After that you may take a gander. The dumplings should feel dry to the touch when they are done. If in doubt, run a toothpick through one. If it comes out clean, the dumplings are perfect.)

Serve the stew piping hot topped with dumplings and garnished with fresh parsley. This is a one dish dinner. At least it is in our house! 

Dumplings:

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 c. sourdough starter

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 egg

1 T. minced dried onions

1 T. dried parsley  

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper together. Add the sourdough starter, oil, egg, dried onions, and dried parsley. Stir until well combined. Let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes or until the stew is ready for the dumplings to be added.

OVEN BAKED PORK CHOPS WITH RICE AND MUSHROOMS

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I hate dry pork chops. Absolutely hate them. And that’s just what I fixed the other evening when I prepared this recipe. But wait. I have a solution to the problem and that’s just what I’m going to share with you in this post. But before I provide you with what I call “pork chop enlightenment”, I’m going to start with the very reason for this recipe in the first place.

It had been a long, exhausting day of developing recipes, writing up an introduction to a post, cleaning house, and performing my 20 minute daily jazzercise workout.  So the thought of cooking dinner that evening brought with it absolutely no enthusiasm. (Usually I’m gung-ho to start cooking. But not this evening.) But I had defrosted two lovely pork chops, and they were patiently waiting on my drain board to be transformed into a culinary tour de force. (Right, like that was about to happen!) Anyway……..

What I really wanted was for dinner to almost cook itself. So I decided a dish that contained both meat and side, then slapped in the oven to finish cooking, was as close to not really cooking as I could get. That and a simple roasted veggie dish, and dinner was served. So I started throwing ingredients together and came up with this winning combination.

I decided to fry the pork chops until they were nicely browned (I apparently still had a modicum of culinary prowess left in my tired old body), and then throw them on top of the rice while the whole mess cooked in the oven. But like I stated above, the pork chops came out way too dry. So how to fix that for next time? Because there was sure to be a next time. The overall dish was just too good not to make again in the future. So, really, how to fix the pork chop problem? Simple remedy. Don’t bloody bake the pork chops so long! Duh Patti!

For perfect pork chops, the internal temperature should never exceed 145 degrees. (My pathetic pork chops, although I never actually checked, must have clocked in at 350 degrees! What was I thinking?!?!)

So if you too could use a recipe for a really easy main dish to fix after an enervating day, give this dish a try. You will absolutely love the rice. In fact, the rice alone could easily be prepared without any regard to the delicate sensibilities of pork chops everywhere. Just a simple, but delicious side dish.

As always – stay safe, stay secure, and keep having fun in your kitchen.

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 lg. thick boneless pork chops (about 1 pound) – all fat removed and cut in half

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 T. unsalted butter

1 c. long grain white rice

¼ c. chopped yellow onion

¼ c. chopped celery

8-10 button or cremini mushrooms, sliced

½ tsp. ground dried mushroom powder*

¼ tsp. granulated garlic

pinch paprika  

2¼ c. beef stock

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Heat the olive oil in a small fry pan. Season both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper. Place the pork chops in pan.  Fry until they are nicely browned on both sides.  You aren’t cooking them all the way through. You just want the nice brown color on both sides. Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium sized covered Dutch oven or pan that can be used on a cook top as well as placed in the oven. Add the rice along with the onion, celery, and mushrooms. Stir and cook until the rice begins to brown slightly and the onion, celery, and mushrooms soften a bit. Stir in the ground dried mushroom powder, granulated garlic, paprika, beef stock, and Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes. After 35 minutes, remove the lid, place pork chops on top of rice mixture, and continue baking uncovered until the internal temperature of the pork chops reaches 145 degrees. Remove from oven and let rest for 3-4 minutes before serving.

* Dried Mushroom Powder: Can be purchased online or you can make mushroom powder at home. Start with any type of dried mushrooms. Place in your blender or spice grinder and let it whirl. (My spice grinder is an inexpensive coffee grinder dedicated just for the purpose of grinding herbs, spices, and anything other than coffee!)

Store mushroom powder in an airtight container. Great for adding depth of flavor to almost any dish that calls for mushrooms.

   

LEFTOVER MEATLOAF SOUP

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Most of the time, when I’m in my right mind that is, I prepare meatloaf and form it into 2 loaves. We eat one, and I freeze the other one for later use. Well our lives are a bit screwy right now (I blame it on cabin fever) and although I formed and baked the meatloaf as usual, I forgot about freezing the second loaf. (OK, I got lazy and let it sit in the refrigerator longer than originally planned.) And since we had loved the meatloaf the first night and enjoyed the meatloaf for lunch the next day, by the third day when I suggested a hot meatloaf sandwich for dinner, Mr. C. who is the resident leftover lover, turned a bit pale. Too much of a good thing really is too much! So, how to change things up a bit to disguise the fact that we were going to eat meatloaf 3 days in a row!

Now, to my knowledge, there is not a dish that remotely resembles Italian cuisine that Mr. C. doesn’t like. Me too. So I thought to myself, why not make an Italian style soup that just happens to contain square meat balls. (Your quasi oxymoron for the day.) After all, I had used Italian sausage along with ground beef in the making of the meatloaf. So I proceeded to concoct a soup that I felt would totally wipe out any latent thoughts of meatloaf from Mr. C’s memory. The recipe you find below is the result of the extreme effort it took me to come up with this dish. Not!!

So if you ever find yourself with extra meatloaf, and want to use it in a new and delicious way, give this soup a try. Easy to prepare, simple straight forward ingredients, and hardly any prep time involved.

But don’t limit yourself just to soup. The chunked up meatloaf could just as easily have been used as an ingredient in a rich tomato sauce served over al dente spaghetti. Or as a savory meat topping for pizza. Or part of a heavenly, cheesy lasagna. There are simply endless possibilities.

But I must say, this savory soup really hit the spot the other evening. And served as a reminder of what we love so much about Italy. And since we won’t be going to Italy this year, or anywhere else for that matter (boo coronavirus), it was lovely to dine on a dish that evoked great culinary memories. In a word, the soup was bellissimo!

As always, peace and love to all.

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

½ c. chopped onion

1 med. carrot, diced

1 c. diced celery

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 c. beef broth

1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes (Italian preferably)

¼ c. red wine (I use Gallo Hearty Burgundy)

1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

freshly ground black pepper

1 c. lightly packed chopped spinach  

½ c. dry elbow macaroni, cooked al dente

2 c. diced leftover meat loaf (or how much ever you have)

freshly grated Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, or asiago cheese – for table

Heat the olive oil in a large covered pan. (I use my Le Creuset Dutch oven.) Add the onion, carrot, and celery. Sauté until the onion is tender.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the beef broth, diced tomatoes, red wine, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the carrot is tender.

Just before you plan to serve, stir in the spinach, cooked pasta, and meatloaf. When everything is hot, you are ready to serve. Pass the grated cheese. (And don’t worry if the meatloaf chunks fall apart, who cares! The soup will still be perfect.)

And no, I don’t advise cooking the pasta right in the soup. (Don’t really want to thicken the broth.) But it’s your soup. So carry on however you wish.

     

CREAMY ASPARAGUS SOUP WITH GARLIC CROUTONS

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So as always when I am preparing a new dish that might not become one of Mr. Cs favorites (this being a green vegetable dish after all), I offer McDonald’s as an alternative. And last evening was no exception. But McDonald’s wasn’t even remotely considered after the first bite. This soup was absolutely delicious. And with homemade bread on the side, it made for an especially wonderful meal. (Recipe for Sourdough Rye Bread with Onion and Dill to follow.)

And of great importance, I had been able to use a bunch of asparagus that really needed to be consumed. Fresh veggies have a pretty good shelf life, but in our last delivery from a local organic farm, I received 3 bunches of asparagus. (1 bunch in our regular veggie and salad box, and 2 that I had requested be added to our order. What was I thinking?)

One bunch I had already roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan. (see recipe below) And I know, everyone knows how to bake asparagus. But its asparagus time in the city! So I felt some of you might appreciate a little ”kick in the pants” reminder of how easy and fast asparagus is to prepare. And since the recipes below (if you can even call them that) are terribly simple, I thought I would include them along with this soup recipe. Think of it as your bonus for today. And don’t we all need a little bonus right now, or am I the only one going slightly batty from being quarantined? (That was simply a rhetorical question. You need not address the issue.)

Anyway, back to this delightful soup recipe I found on the onceuponachef.com site. It’s super easy to prepare. Or should I say – supper easy to prepare. Works either way. And the best part. It’s not loaded with scads of nasty, fatty calories even though it’s creamy and rich tasting. And isn’t that lovely!     

So as always, love, peace, and happy cooking to all.

And no offense to McDonalds. It’s just kind of a running joke between Mr. C. and me that if a new recipe doesn’t work out, there’s always McDonalds. And God bless them – each and every one of their golden arches! Always a clean bathroom and predictable food to boot!

1 bunch asparagus, bottom ends peeled and the last 1 inch discarded

2 T. unsalted butter

1 med. yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 c. chicken broth

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper, plus more for garnish

1 T. fresh lemon juice

2 T. heavy cream

¼ c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus a little more for garnish

garlic croutons (see recipe below)

Melt butter in a large covered pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not allow to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.   

Cut the asparagus into ½-inch pieces. Add to the pan along with the chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the onion and asparagus are very tender. Purée the soup with an immersion blender until completely smooth.

Bring the soup back to a simmer and stir in the lemon juice, heavy cream, and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Taste and adjust seasoning. To thicken the soup, allow it to simmer, uncovered, until the desired consistency is reached. (I simmered mine for 10 minutes.)

Ladle the soup into bowls. Top each bowl with garlic croutons, freshly ground black pepper, and a tad bit of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Note: Parmesan Crackers (recipe on site) would also be great with this soup.

Garlic Croutons:

1 T. butter or extra virgin olive oil (or a combination)

2-3 c. cubed crusty, chewy bread

granulated garlic

Melt butter or olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add bread cubes and slowly sauté until crunchy and browned. (This takes upward of 45 minutes, so plan to make croutons when you are working on other dishes and are close at hand.) Stir frequently. When the bread cubes are golden brown and crunchy, lightly sprinkle with granulated garlic. Cool and store in an airtight container.

BONUS ASPARAGUS RECIPES

Baked Parmesan Asparagus:

fresh asparagus, trimmed, washed, and dried with paper towels

extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

finely grated Parmesan cheese

Place the asparagus spears on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil then massage with finger tips to make sure the asparagus is completely coated in the oil. Then lightly sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes in a preheated 450 degree oven or until the asparagus is tender. Remove from oven and sprinkle with as much Parmesan as you want. Serve immediately.

Baked Prosciutto Asparagus:

16 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed, washed, and dried as well as possible

8 slices prosciutto, cut in half

2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

Wrap each asparagus spear with prosciutto, starting at the bottom, and spiraling upward. Place the wrapped spears on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle very lightly with pepper. Bake for 5 minutes in a preheated 450 degree oven. Remove from oven and carefully turn each spear.  Return to the oven for another 5 minutes, or until asparagus is tender and the prosciutto is crisp. Serve immediately.

BAKED TERIYAKI PORK TENDERLOIN

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And yes, I forgot to garnish the meat with sliced green onions before I took this picture. But I was hungry, and in a hurry to get dinner on the table. But the green onions were great in our scramble this morning. Sometimes the old lemons/lemonade thing is just what is needed.

I love teriyaki. I love chicken teriyaki, beef teriyaki, shrimp teriyaki, halibut teriyaki, the list goes on and on. But, and this is a big but, to make a great teriyaki dish, you have to start with a really, really good teriyaki sauce. And this my friends, is the best teriyaki sauce I have ever made. Or eaten for that matter!

I found this teriyaki sauce recipe (actually classified as a glaze) by Emeril Lagasse when I was looking for a new recipe for halibut. After making and posting Emeril’s fabulous halibut recipe (Baked Teriyaki Halibut), I thought at the time that the sauce would also work beautifully for other meat or seafood dishes. I hate to brag, but I was spot on in my thinking.

So yesterday I got a hankering for a teriyaki dish. I decided to use the lone pork tenderloin I had been eying every time I opened my freezer door. We love pork tenderloin BTW. So it sounded really yummy to combine the same teriyaki sauce recipe I prepared for the halibut dish, with this lean, mouth-watering hunk of succulent pork.  

So that’s just what I did. And I am so glad I prepared this last evening. It was an easy dish to throw together. And the flavor was beyond excellent. The pork was tender because I only baked it to 145 degrees. (Any longer in the oven and it would have tasted like teriyaki jerky. Which in and of itself is lovely, but not what I was going for last evening.) So be careful not to ever overbake a pork tenderloin.

Anyway, the flavor of the marinated pork was marvelous, the texture perfect, and the sauce lightly dolloped on plain steamed rice was like a gift from the teriyaki Gods. Served with Sunomono (Japanese Cucumber Salad), our evening meal was a pleasure. (See recipe below.)

So to all of you cooks out there who are valiantly trying to keep your family well fed through this most difficult time, I salute you. This coronavirus pandemic is crazy difficult. But don’t hesitate to prepare this recipe, although it’s crazy too. But in the case of this pork tenderloin dish, it’s crazy good!

As always – peace and love to all.   

1/3 c. mirin or rice wine

½ c. low sodium Tamari or soy sauce

1 T. sugar

2 tsp. minced fresh gingerroot

1 garlic clove, finely minced

pinch cayenne

1 pork tenderloin, silver skin* and extra fat removed, then cut in half lengthwise

sliced green onions, garnish

Combine the mirin, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and cayenne in a small saucepan. Pour about a third of the mixture into the bottom of a baking pan. (I use a 9×9-inch Pyrex dish.) Place the tenderloin halves on the sauce and turn to coat. (If need be, cut the tenderloin halves to fit into the pan in a single layer.) Marinate for 1 hour on the first side. Flip the meat and marinate for another hour or 2, or until you are ready to place in the oven.

Meanwhile, bring the rest of the teriyaki sauce to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until reduced a bit. Remove from heat and set aside.  

Bake the tenderloin in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 9-15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Remove from oven and loosely tent with foil for about 5 minutes before slicing on the diagonal.  Serve garnished with green onions. Pass the remaining teriyaki sauce. Great served with Sunomono. (See recipe below)

* The silverskin is sinew on one side of the pork tenderloin and looks like thin, silvery fat.  You need to remove it because it will become tough and chewy when cooked.  To remove the silver skin, slip a very thin, sharp knife in between the silver skin and the meat, then cut it all away. Take care to just remove the silver skin and not a lot of the beautiful meat itself!

SUNOMONO (JAPANESE CUCUMBER SALAD)

2 T. white distilled vinegar (that’s right, the old fashioned kind)

2 T. sugar

pinch kosher salt

1 English cucumber, partially peeled and very thinly sliced

Combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature. When ready to serve, pour the cooled dressing over the cucumber making sure each slice is coated with the sauce. Serve immediately.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND VEGETABLE SPAGHETTI

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You know the old saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, well that doesn’t necessarily apply to “older” cooks like myself. Because I learned a terrific new trick when I found the foundation for this recipe on the inspiredtaste.net website.

Ever heard of dried mushroom powder? Well, if you have congratulations. But why in the heck didn’t you let me in on the secret? Of course if you’ve never heard of it either, you’re off the hook. But boy oh boy, regardless, you are going to be very glad you are reading this post today.  

Dried mushroom powder is the real deal. And to think I’ve been using dried mushrooms for years, but never thought to grind them up. Bogles my mind to realize the number of things I do know about cooking, compared to the extraordinary amount of ingredients, techniques, cooking secrets, etc. I have yet to learn. It’s so exciting! I absolutely love to learn. And if it’s about food, well then, all the better! But before I learn and share any more culinary secrets with which to thrill and amaze you, let’s talk more about dried mushroom powder. And yes, it’s just like it sounds. Dried mushrooms finely ground in a blender or spice grinder.

But why bother to make dried mushroom powder you might ask. Why not just use re-hydrated pieces of dried mushrooms in this or any other recipe? Well there are two very good reasons. 1) Dried mushroom powder adds an extra depth of flavor to dishes without adding bulk or texture. Great in soups, stews, pasta sauces, or any dish that might benefit from a bit of umami* (savory or “meaty”) flavor. 2) Not everyone likes mushrooms. And finding a piece of dried mushroom in a dish might be enough to make them unwilling to even give the dish a try. But when added as an ingredient that they can’t see, well, all’s fair in love and fine dining as far as I’m concerned.

And speaking of fine dining – this pasta dish is so good as to be outrageous. Easy to prepare, takes little time to cook, and looks like a million dollars.

So please give it a try. And as far as dried mushroom powder goes, I really couldn’t taste any fungi in the sauce. But there was just this “something” that added richness without smacking you in the face with its inclusion. Some might use the word “subtle” even. But that may even be too strong a word. Oh heck, just make this dish and see for yourself. And yes, I will be adding mushroom powder to many of the dishes I serve from now on. Both new and old favorites.

So as always – peace, love, and great pasta to all.       

4 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage

1 c. chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced  

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. fennel seed

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 T. tomato paste

1 (28-oz.) can whole or diced tomatoes (Italian if possible)

1 c. drained and roughly chopped roasted red peppers

1 T.  mushroom powder, opt. – see note below (I used ground porcini mushrooms)

1 c. small chunks of zucchini or yellow squash

8 oz. spaghetti, cooked al dente (save some of the water)

4 loosely packed cups of cut spinach leaves

1/3 c. fresh basil chiffonade

grated Parmesan, Pecorino-Romano, or Asiago cheese for serving

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the Italian sausage, breaking it up as it browns. Using a slotted spoon, remove the sausage to a container. Set aside.

Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally until translucent; about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the oregano, fennel seed, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, roasted red peppers, mushroom powder, and zucchini chunks. Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 5-10 minutes. As the sauce cooks, use a spoon to break up the whole tomatoes into smaller pieces for a chunky sauce. Stir in the cooked sausage. Let burble for a couple minutes.

Take the sauce off the heat. Stir in the spinach and basil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Toss in the al dente spaghetti, and leave alone for a minute or so to allow the pasta time to absorb some of the sauce and to let the spinach wilt. (If the pasta seems dry, add about a quarter cup of the pasta cooking water. Still dry, a bit more water.) Toss again, serve, and pass the grated cheese. 

Dried Mushroom Powder: Can be purchased online or you can make mushroom powder at home. Start with any type of dried mushrooms. Place in your blender or spice grinder and let it whirl. (My spice grinder is an inexpensive coffee grinder dedicated just for the purpose of grinding herbs, spices, and anything other than coffee!)

Store mushroom powder in an airtight container. Great for adding depth of flavor to almost any dish that calls for mushrooms.

* Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, bitter, salty, and sour. It was classified as such over a century ago and is best described as a savory or “meaty” flavor. The word “umami” in Japanese means “a pleasant savory taste.”

CHICKEN MARBELLA

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This recipe from the famous Silver Palate cookbook, reduced by me to feed 4 rather than 6-8 at table, is absolutely delicious. It beautifully combines the brininess of olives and capers, with the sweetness of dried prunes and brown sugar. I know! Say what?

But you just have to trust me when I tell you that this combination of flavors is amazing. And the great thing about this dish is that it is stinkin’ easy to build. You marinate the chicken one day, and bake it off the next. The chicken is succulent and the sauce is fresh tasting and unique and positively divine served over mashed potatoes.  

I loved this snippet from an article published on May 6, 2007 by Christine Muhlke in The New York Times, so I thought I would share it with you.

“If there’s such a thing as boomer cuisine, it can be found in the pages of “The Silver Palate Cookbook.” With its chirpy tone and “Moosewood”-in-the-city illustrations, the book, published in time for Mother’s Day in 1982, gave millions of home cooks who hadn’t mastered the art of French cooking the courage to try sophisticated dishes like escabeche, wild mushroom soup and that new thing called pesto. Years later, mothers sent their grads into the world with their raspberry-vinaigrette-stained copies. And now, with the 25th-anniversary edition, a new generation will try dishes like chicken Marbella, which once seemed as risky (capers! prunes!) as the East Village.The Silver Palate was born of the women’s movement. The co-authors, Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso, a caterer and an advertising executive respectively, realized that they couldn’t have it all and dinner too. (“There were school schedules, business appointments, political activities, art projects, sculpting classes … weekends in the country or at the beach. … It was much too much,” they later wrote.) If they couldn’t be wonder women, they figured, who could? So just days after the blackout of ’77, they filled the niche with a nook: the Silver Palate, an 11-by-14-foot shop on New York’s Columbus Avenue stocked with tarragon chicken salad, ratatouille, salmon mousse and brownies made from scratch. “The city was primed,” Lukins said recently over lunch in Manhattan. Indeed, that same year the gastro-temple Dean & DeLuca also opened. At the time, two women opening a business together was “wild,” Lukins said. So were blueberry chutney, pâté maison and poppy-seed dressing. “But people wanted to learn,” Rosso said. “They started to trust us. We began serving bisteeya, torta rustica — in those days, people hadn’t heard of them. As we discovered new things, like balsamic, we could teach them.” Their menus and newsletter, published to demystify the Silver Palate line of condiments, helped form the basis for the cookbook. The cheerful, chatty voice and the tips, menus and quotations that appear on almost every page were a way to make cooking cozy and fun, Rosso said, as well as to tell readers: “Don’t make a big deal with the food. Get some balloons up in the air and have a picnic!” Now in their early 60s, they are an unlikely pair, Rosso with her highlights and diamonds and Midwestern cheer that sometimes culminates in a “whoop-ee-doo!”; Lukins with her no-nonsense hair and red Bakelite jewelry, a brow arching over her reading glasses as she uses the title “Marat/Sade” to describe a square bathtub. After they sold the Silver Palate in 1988, Rosso returned to her native Michigan to buy and run the Wickwood Inn in Saugatuck with her husband and published two cookbooks; Lukins has written three cookbooks and has been food editor of Parade magazine since 1986, a job she and Rosso took over from Julia Child. The two had a public falling out in 1991, when Lukins objected to something Rosso, who had started a newsletter, wrote about her. Today they have the alternately fond and strained patter of a divorced couple at their child’s wedding.”

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much I did. Food preparation has come a long way over the decades thanks to women like Lukins and Rosso. It has also suffered setbacks. I think home cooking started to change when women began to have careers outside the home and convenience foods came into fashion. And it certainly didn’t help when home economics (defined as cooking and sewing) was eliminated from the curriculum in many school districts. Some thought cooking and sewing skills could and probably should simply be learned at home. (Well they sure as shootin’ didn’t know my mother! She couldn’t sew on a button, and her cooking skills were rudimentary. And that’s putting it nicely!)

So where does that leave us today? Well, since you are reading this post you obviously are interested in this recipe. And must love to cook. And hurray for that.

So to all of you, who like me, are passionate about providing ourselves and our families with healthy, nutritious, and delicious food, keep doing what you’re doing. You are making a difference in your families’ health and well-being. Virtual hugs from Chez Carr. (Oh, and try this recipe. It’s da bomb!)  

  • 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 T. red wine vinegar
  • ¼ c. pitted prunes
  • ¼ c. pitted Spanish green olives, halved
  • 3 T. capers with a bit of juice
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely pureed
  • 1 T. dried oregano (Mexican preferably)
  • ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half   
  • ¼ c. light brown sugar
  • ¼ c. dry white wine
  • 1 T. finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

OK, if anyone out there is a WordPress expert and knows how to make a list, without those annoying spaces (like between kosher salt and pepper), could you please show me the way. I need help. Thank you!

Combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper in a 9×13-inch Pyrex dish or shallow casserole. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

About 30 minutes before you plan to bake the chicken, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Turn the chicken over and make sure it is in a single layer in your baking pan. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with the brown sugar and pour the white wine around them.  

Bake, basting frequently with the pan juices, until the thigh pieces yield clear yellow (rather than pink) juice when pricked with a fork, 35-40 minutes. The internal temperature should be at least 165 degrees.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Moisten with a few spoons of the pan juices and sprinkle with the parsley. Pass the remaining pan juices in a sauceboat.

Chicken is great with creamy mashed potatoes and a green salad or veggie.