Gnocchi

Brown Butter Fried Gnocchi

Absolutely my new favorite side dish. Absolutely!

Prep Time: 5 minutes to get water boiling
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4 as a side

Ingredients:


1 pkg gnocchi (just buy the shelf stable kind, it's great!)
3 - 4 tbsp butter
fleur de sel (or fresh ground sea salt)

Directions:


1. Get a pot of water boiling and add half the package of gnocchi. Cook according to directions (boil for about 3 minutes, until they start to float). Be careful not to over cook of they'll be too mushy. Remove the cooked gnocchi and repeat with the second batch.

2. While the first batch of gnocchi is boiling: In a frying pan over med-high heat melt the butter until starting to brown. First it will foam, then when the foam goes it'll start to brown and you'll see lots of little tiny brown bits form. Yumm.

3. Add the cooked gnocchi to the pan and fry, stirring frequently, until the outside is golden brown and crisp. Sprinkle with the slightly bit of salt. Enjoy!

Chevapi and Crostini

This is an absolute favourite of Bo's, being that he's Croatian/Serbian it's basically a staple. There's a little butcher shop about a 45 minute drive from here that you can get them at, but they aren't hard at all to make, it just comes down to how lazy I'm feeling, lol.

Chevapi

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground pork
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb ground lamb (or ground pork if you can't find lamb)
1 egg
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbl Vegeta (a Serbian jarred spice mix, optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your grill (if using)

2. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix with your hands until well combined.

3. Roll into rectangular mini sausages, 3" long and 3/4" in wide.

4. Place all of the chevapi in a single layer in a disposable foil baking pan and place onto your preheated grill on med-high heat. You can also cook these on a griddle, or in a large frying pan in a couple of batches (try to cook them all at once though, because it takes a bit of time). Turn the chevapi about every 7 or 8 minutes, once that side is well browned and has a slight crust. Be careful not to over cook though.

Note: These are fantastic on there own, but equally good dipped into ketchup or tzatziki sauce. Bo likes to load a bunch into a bun sometimes too for a sand which of sorts.

Make Ahead: After you've formed the chevapi you and just wrap them as a batch in plastic wrap, then put them in a zip-lock bag and freeze them for later. I like to do this on a weekend, make a huge batch of them then just pop them out of the freezer whenever we want!

Crostini

This is the easiest way to make brilliant little toasts to accompany a dinner

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bakes Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 6 - 8

Ingredients:

1 baguette or Parisian loaf
olive oil
Fleur de sel (or sea salt)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees

2. Slice your baguette into 3/8" think (1cm) slices and place on a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet

3. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt.

4. Bake for 10 minutes and removing from the baking sheet immediately.

Glazed Roast Peameal Bacon, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Carrots

You all may think, my god, could that roast be any sweater???

Well, no, probably not, but it's only the outer crust that is coated with sweet carmel goodness, so it's really not that much when you eat it. Unless you're like me and hog both the ends. Yumm! I also pour the meat sauce over my mashed potatoes, it's heaven!

Glazed Peameal Bacon

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Serves: varies depending on size of the roast, expect three ¼" slices per adult.

Ingredients:

1 peameal bacon roast
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tsp ground mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place your roast in an oven proof baking dish (yeah corning ware!), making sure that it's big enough to leave 1 or 2 inches around the roast.

3. In a small bowl mix together 1 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup orange juice, and 1 tsp of ground mustard. Pour this over the top of the roast, then put the roast in the oven. Use a turkey baster to baste the meat every 15 minutes.

4. When the roast reaches 110 degrees (about 30 minutes into cooking) mix together the rest of the glaze (1 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 tsp ground mustard). Use this to bast the meat with every 10 minutes until it's finished cooking (the internal temperature is 170 degrees)

5. Remove the roast from the pan and let rest for 15 minutes, tented with foil. Pour and of the juices back into the pan with the glaze "sauce" and use to pour over the meat if that floats your boat.

Enjoy!

 Out of the oven

Resting

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

6 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chucks (the size of a golf ball)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/8 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
2 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tbl grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place potato chunks into a large pout and cover with water.

2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Drain the potatoes in a colander.

4. Use a potato ricer with fine holes, and rice the potatoes back into the pot (not over any heat). If you don't have a potato ricer, just put them back in the pot and mash them.

5. Add the sour cream, milk, butter, garlic, salt and pepper to the pot and mix well with a wooden spoon, making sure that the garlic is evenly incorporated through the potatoes. If they still seem a little dry, add a but more butter and milk.

Enjoy!

NOTE: Instead of using the butter and garlic, you can just use some of my garlic butter if you have it on hand in the fridge!.

A NOTE ON POTATO RICERS:
I was a huge skeptic on potato ricers, I thought they were a waste of money, I thought it would be faster to just mash the potatoes, or drag out the hand mixer and beat them into submission. I was wrong though. Walking through the grocery store one day I saw one on sale with 2 disks (different sized holes) for $10. I figured ok, I guess I'll try it. It is SO much faster then mashing by hand, and the texture can not be beat. They turn out so fluffy and so smooth. I really do highly recommend getting one.



Sweet Carrots

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

8 medium to large carrots, peeled and sliced into ¼" rounds
1 tbl honey

Directions:

1. Place the carrots into a medium pot and cover with water. Add 1 tbl honey and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Cook at a rolling boil for 10 minutes, until fork tender.

2. Drain and serve.

Teriyaki Chicken, Roasted New Potatoes and Broccoli

This was a nice and easy meal to make, though it did require a little bit of prep work on the teriyaki sauce.

Teriyaki Chicken

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can use any type of chicken though, just adjust your cooking times)

1 tbl cornstarch

1 tbl water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together the cornstarch, water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.

3. Coat your chicken with the sauce and the place it on a cooling rack over a rimmed cookie sheet (if you're like me and dread the clean-up, line the sheet with foil first). Baste the chicken with the sauce every 10 minutes during cooking.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 20 minutes, until no longer pink, juices run clear and the internal temperature is 180 degrees. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, lightly tented with foil to absorb all their juices.

NOTES: Because Oliver was having a major freak out during cooking, I didn't baste the chicken at all during cooking and it still tasted quite good. I just threw some sauce on at the end and cranked the broiler up for a minute. I've also made chicken thighs like this (boneless, skinless), by putting them in a glass baking dish and just covering with the sauce (no basting) and it was great too.

Roasted New Potatoes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Bake Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 6

 

Ingredients:

 

2 lbs small new potatoes (I prefer red)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tbl salt (I prefer freshly ground sea salt)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (this stuff is like gold, check your spice isle)

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

 

2. Slice the small potatoes into halves, and medium to large potatoes into quarters. Just try to make the potato pieces close to the same size.

 

3. Put the potato chunks onto a rimmed baking sheet and top with the oil, salt, Italian seasoning and Old Bay Seasoning. Use your hands to mix it all together, making sure that each piece of potato is well and evenly coated with oil and the spices. Make sure that the bottom of the pan is covered in oil too.

 

4. Arrange all the pieces skin side down. Doing this first ensures that the cut edges cook a bit, and means that they won't stick to the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, and then toss the potatoes so that they're now cut side down. Bake 15 minutes and then toss again.  Bake for a final 15 minutes. 

 

Quick Cook Broccoli
 
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients:
 
3 heads of broccoli, tips cut into manageable pieces and stalks removed
4 tbl butter
salt and pepper to taste
 
Directions
 
1. Add the broccoli and butter to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir frequently until softened and bright green in colour, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 
NOTE: A few other tasty additions to this broccoli are minced garlic, slivered almonds, chopped peanuts, sliced bell peppers or red pepper flakes (for some heat)

Buffalo Chicken Bites, Baked Macaroni & Cheese, Garlic Toast, and Garlic Butter

Buffalo Chicken Bites

Ok, so Bo felt like something tossed in my chicken wing sauce, but not chicken wings. He didn't know what he felt like, so I went with chicken bites, nice and easy to make. And they were delicious! They were even delicious the next day warmed under the broiler (though completely different tasting, not as spicy, like a warm spice).

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Bake Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 (so long as you have something else on the side)

Ingredients:

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut unto bite (or two-bite) size pieces

1/3 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups Italian style bread crumbs (or regular breadcrumbs with some Italian seasoning mixed in)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup butter

1 cup hot sauce (we use and love Franks Red Hot, I highly recommend it)

Directions:

1. Take 3 zip-lock bags. Put the flour, salt and pepper in the first, the eggs in the second, and the breadcrumbs in the third.

2. Toss the chicken cubes in the flour mixture until well covered, then put the chicken pieces into the egg mixture and move around until all the pieces are wet on all sides. For the bread crumbs, toss about 6 pieces at a time, and make sure that you let any excess egg drip off before moving them to that last bag (you don't want to gum up the breadcrumbs). Place the chicken pieces onto a plate, because you're ready to fry.

3. Now, I have one of those ridiculously unhealthy but FANTASTIC counter top deep fryers. Bo and I love chicken wings, especially in the winter in front of the TV while we watch a hockey game. I thought it was common for people to have deep fryers, until our cousin Jenny looked at it with pure disgust. So, I get it, you make not have a deep fryer. So, put a couple of inches of oil (I use peanut for deep frying) in a pot (a cast iron one retains the heat best, think Le Creuset or Kitchen Aid who makes a good imitation) and heat it to between 350 and 375 degrees. Drop your chicken in, and fry until deep golden brown, about 8 minutes

4. While the chicken is cooking, it's time for the sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then whisk in the hot sauce. That's it, we're done.

5. Toss the cooked chicken in the hot sauce and enjoy!

NOTE: When I do a breading like this I usually double bread them because it will give you a ridiculous crunch, this time though it was late and I just didn't have the time. If you'd like to, at this point cover the chicken pieces with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (you can do this for a couple of hours if you want to do most of the prep ahead of time). Then, you repeat the egg and breadcrumb dip, then continue with frying.

   

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

 

I love macaroni and cheese. It's that comfort food for me like no other (those of you for whom soup is your comfort food, I feel for you). I saw this recipe on Cooks Country TV (by America's Test Kitchen). Now, I have a serious hard on for America's Test Kitchen, I have never made a recipe by them that I didn't love, and that didn't turn out exactly as they said it would (and I've got over a hundred of their magazines and almost every cook book they've put out). That said, baked macaroni and cheese is my thing, I immediately saw some tweaks that would make this even better, but I will say that their white sauce base kicked my base's ass. Anyway, here's "our" recipe for baked macaroni...you will love...trust!

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Bake Time: 25 to 30 minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

4 slices white sandwich bread , torn into large pieces

11 tablespoons unsalted butter , 6 tablespoons melted

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbl + 2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1 pound elbow macaroni

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk

2 teaspoons hot sauce

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon dry mustard

3 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and macaroni to boiling water and cook until just al dente, about 6 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup macaroni cooking water, then drain and rinse macaroni in colander under cold running water. Set aside.

3. White the macaroni is cooking pulse bread in a food processor until ground to a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and Parmesan and pulse again to combine. Pour breadcrumb mixture into a small frying pan and toast the crumbs until golden brown, stirring almost constantly.

4. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons butter in the now-empty pasta pot over medium-high heat until foaming. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture turns light brown, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the evaporated milk, hot sauce, nutmeg, mustard, pepper and 2 teaspoons salt and cook until mixture begins to simmer and is slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1/2 cup reserved pasta water until cheese melts. Stir in macaroni until completely coated.

5. Transfer mixture to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and top evenly with entire bread crumb mixture. Bake until cheese is bubbling around edges and top is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

MAKE AHEAD: Cooks Country TV has directions for making this ahead of time. I can't speak for how well this works because I haven't tried it, but here is their directions in case any of you want to give it a go. If you do shoot me a line and let me know how it goes so I can let others know.

The macaroni and cheese can be made in advance through step 3; since the pasta continues to absorb moisture, adjustments must be made to avoid a dry filling. To do so, increase amount of reserved pasta cooking water to 1 cup. Pour filling into 13 by 9-inch baking dish, lay plastic wrap directly on surface of pasta, and refrigerate for up to 1 day. The bread crumb mixture may be refrigerated in airtight container up to 2 days (Don't toast the breadcrumbs first though, that's something that I added to get a better crunch from them). When ready to bake, remove plastic wrap, cover macaroni mixture with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle bread crumbs over top, and bake until topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes longer.

Garlic Toast

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Bake Time: 5 minutes

Here's just a quick run down for my garlic toast, which is SO easy to make, and so fantastic to eat!

Ingredients:

Calabrese bread (it's got a nice dense crumb that holds the topping well)

Garlic butter (store bought, or recipe below)

Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Slice the bread into 3/4" thick pieces and spread one side with the garlic butter mix (I usually cheat here and buy it at the grocery store, but it's so easy to make too!)

2. Top with a light sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, and for this I actually prefer the store bought pre-grated stuff (like Kraft) to the real thing. Go figure.

3. Place on the middle rack of your oven and broil for about 5 minutes, until the top is a little crunchy feeling and starting to turn golden brown. Watch this carefully though, as it can go from golden to burnt very quickly.

Garlic Butter

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together

Notes: This butter is also fantastic on steaks, melted to dip seafood in, and mixed into mashed potatoes. It also stores well in your fridge. Simply roll into a log using plastic wrap and refrigerate, cutting off what you need (example, cut 1/4" rounds and place atop a steak straight off the grill).

Quick cook zuccini

Cook-top Roasted Zucchini

Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini, cut into ¼" slices
3 tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste (fleur de sel, french gray, sea or kosher (in my order of preference, lol)

Steps:
Heat the olive oil until it's very hot in a large skillet (this is important, as it allows room for the water in the zucchini to evaporate) over med-high heat.

Add the zucchini to the pan and let cook for 3 to 4 minutes over medium - height heat, until brown spots appear. Flip over and cook on the second side for an addition 3 to 4 minutes until also browned. Don't stir the zucchini.

Turn off the heat and remove the zucchini to a heat proof bowl using tongs, leaving the oil in the pan. Add the garlic to the pan, and working very quickly, smooch the garlic into the pan and oil using a spatula. Do this for a minute or so, until the garlic is fragrant and softened, but not brown.

Pour the garlic oil and salt over the zucchini and toss to coat. Serve while still hot.