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Pineapple Ginger Buckle

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Anyone who knows me knows I’m not much of a baker. You see cooking is an Art, a pinch of this, a dab of that, it’ll be okay. Missing an ingredient, there are a lot of things you can substitute, you just have to be creative and work with what you have. Baking on the other hand is a Science. You really have to follow that recipe and do things in the right order with the right ingredients or it just won’t come out right. Missing Baking Powder? No, you can’t substitute Baking Soda it will just fall flat.

So When my Friend Tony left me with a big beautiful Pineapple and a huge hunk of ginger I started think about what to do with them. Thai curry came to mind but I knew it would be a tough sale for the husband so I started to think dessert. What could I do with this that would be a good dessert. Being the novice baker that I am it needed to be simple and easy and something I had all the ingredients for.

Several years ago my sister, who by the way is a fantastic baker, made a Blueberry Buckle while we were on vacation and it was amazing. It looked simple enough and I thought it would be something I could handle so I started digging around on line for a recipe. I found one that looked good on the blog “A Taste Of Home” and thought let’s go with it and see what happens if I make it a Pineapple Ginger Buckle.

Well, it turns out this is a great recipe, how could it not be, it was her Grandmothers. I followed the recipe substituting the Pineapple for the Blueberries and adding fresh grated Ginger and, because I had some in the pantry, flaked coconut.

WOW, this thing is amazing. The sweetness of the Pineapple with the bite of that fresh Ginger and the crunchy Coconut, absolutely to die for.

Now I understand that I will not always be so lucky when making substitutions while baking but after this experience I may have to do more of it. After all we are all stuck at home with nothing to do, so I might as well learn a new skill.

 

Pineapple Ginger Buckel

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 9 Servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup Butter Softened
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1 Egg
  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Milk
  • 2 cups Pineapple Chuncks Drained
  • 3 tbsp Grated Fresh Ginger 1tbsp ground dry ginger
  • 1/2 cup Flake Coconut

Topping

  • 2/3 cup Sugar
  • 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
  • 1/3 cup Cold Butter Cubed
  • 1/2 cup Flake Coconut

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternating with the milk, beating well after each addition, fold in the ginger, pineapple and coconut. Pour into a 9X9 greased baking pan.
    For the topping, in a small bowl combine the sugar, flour and coconut, cut in the butter until crumbly, I had to get in there with my hands and mush it up really good. Sprinkle the topping over the pineapple mixture and bake in a 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Spinach Bacon and Mushroom Quiche

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When you have several pounds of fresh spinach to use up you start to get creative. Years ago when I first moved to St Louis there was a restaurant here called Tippin’s and they specialized in pies; all kinds of pies, they had fruit pies, cream pies and believe it or not quiche.

That was the first time I had Spinach Bacon and Mushroom Quiche and it was love at first bite. The best thing about Tippin’s was that you could walk up to the counter and buy a whole pie to go. This was one of my favorite dinners when I didn’t feel like cooking after a long day and I was so sorry when they closed down here.

So, when I found myself with an over abundance of fresh spinach I thought, why not try to make one. After all I had a frozen pie crust in the freezer, bacon, eggs, onion, I think I can do this.

I scoured recipes for quiche until I felt comfortable with the mix of ingredients and decided to just jump in there and see how it turned out.

Most of the recipes I found called for you to pre-bake the shell, so I did, but I wouldn’t do again,  it was over done by the time the quiche was finished and really isn’t necessary. So from now on and in this recipe I will skip that step.

Quiche is really very simple, it’s just eggs, a little cream, some cheese and what ever else you happen to have in the fridge, mix it together, pop it in the oven and in 45 minutes or so you have dinner. It’s a great way to use up left overs or those little bits of frozen vegetables that you have bagged up in the freezer just waiting for something……

So next time you’re at the store pick up a frozen pie crust or two and keep it in the freezer for quiche, it makes a great dinner with little effort.

Spinach Bacon and Mushroom Quiche

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course Breakfast, Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Frozen Pie Shell
  • 5 Slices Thick Cut Bacon
  • 1/2 Small Onion Chopped
  • 8 Med Mushrooms Sliced
  • 2 Cups Chopped Fresh Spinach Loosly packed
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1 Cup Heavey Cream
  • 1 Cup Shraeded Italian Cheese Blend
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • Freshly Ground Pepper

Instructions
 

  • Take the pie crust from the freezer and let it thaw. I usually put it in the fridge over night then when I'm ready to cook it is too. Place the pie crest in a pie pan, crimp the edges if you want to and set aside. Slice the bacon into 1/4" strips and fry up in a small pan until crispy. Remove and set aside. Add the mushrooms, onion, spinach, salt and pepper to the pan and suate until soft. Remove from the heat and let it cool. In a small bowl beat the eggs unitl smoooth and add the cream and cheese, When the veggies are cool add them and the bacon to the egg mixture, stir well to incorporate and fill the pie pan with the egg mixture. Bake in a 375 degree oven 45-50 minutes until the custard is set and a knife comes out clean.
    Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

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What do you do when Tony Tomato calls and says he has 20lb’s of fresh spinach, you send out a blast email to the Cook Book Club and tell them you’ll divide it up and put it on the front porch for them to pick up. Just because we’re practicing social distancing doesn’t mean we can’t share the wealth and eat well.

 

After all 20lb’s of spinach is a lot of spinach. I got 7 grocery sacks full of this beautiful stuff and my first recipe is an old favorite, Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing.

Everyone knows bacon and spinach just go together and when you put that warm dressing on the salad the spinach leaves start to wilt and get soft and luscious.

I’ve made this warm dressing for years and tried several different versions. Sometimes I would use celery seed and dried basil and marjoram, to give it a bit of a kick but this version is my favorite. When you add the shallots to the vinegar they do a sort of quick pickle. You get the flavor without the harshness of the raw onion. Very simple and oh, so good.

If you don’t have a shallot use a little bit of onion, preferably red it will be close enough. I do recommend that you use sherry or tarragon vinegar for this recipe if at all possible, they seem to work best.

This salad makes a great side dish or a main course, just top it with a bit of chicken breast or shrimp and you got a full meal.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

For The Salad

  • 1/2 lb Fresh Spinach about 8 cups
  • 2 Hard Boiled Eggs sliced
  • 12 Cherry Tomatoes halved
  • 1/2 English Cucumber quartered and sliced
  • 3 Slices Thick Cut Bacon sliced and browned

For The Dressing

  • Rendered fat from your bacon
  • 3 tbsp Brown Sugar
  • 4 tbsp Sherry Vinegar
  • 1 Shallot Thinly sliced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • In a small skillet cook your bacon until nicely browned, remove from the pan and set aside. Assemble your salad ingredents. To your bacon drippings add the brown sugar, viegar and salt and pepper. Then add the sliced shallot and let it simmer in the dressing for several minutes until it gets soft. Pour the hot dressing over the salad, toss and serve.

Zesty Italian Roasted Chic Peas

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  Being stuck at home, just like everyone else, I’m looking for fun and interesting things to do and for me that’s cooking.  I’m trying to limit my trips to the store so I’m using up a lot of my pantry staples, and I just happen to have several cans of chic peas on the shelf.

Roasted Chic Peas are a tasty and versatile treat. Once you get the roasting part of it down they can be seasoned with anything you happen to have on hand. Over the years I have made these with Chili Seasoning, Cinnamon and Sugar, Pappy’s BBQ seasoning and today I decided to try  Good Seasons Zesty Italian salad dressing. You know, the kind that comes in the package that you add oil and vinegar to. I also had some of it on the shelf and decided why not?

After visiting several websites and trying several different techniques I finally came up with one that I think works the best if you want your chic peas to be crunchy, which I do. There is nothing worse,  in my opinion than soggy roasted anything much less chic peas. The secret is to roast them for about 20-25 minutes with no seasoning or oil at all and let them get good and dry in the oven, then when you toss them with your seasoning you pop them back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so and they come out wonderfully crunchy.

Most of the time I’m pretty good at estimating the amount of oil/seasoning I need for something. I can pretty much tell how much a teaspoon is with out measuring, but when it come to the amount of oil  I use in this recipe I get out my measuring spoon. Too much and they’re soggy and oily, not the effect we are after, so measure carefully on the oil and have fund with the other spices.

Zesty Italian Roasted Chic Peas make a great snack or a wonderful topper to soup or a salad for extra crunch and protein.

Zesty Italian Roasted Chic Peas

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 4 People

Ingredients
  

  • 1 14.5oz can Chic Peas
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp Good Seasons Zesty Italian Salad Dressing Mix

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Drain the can of chic peas and pat dry on a papper towel. Don't worry if they are still a bit wet they will dry out in the oven. Place a piece of parchment paper on the baking sheet, this will help you to get them off when it's time to season them. Put the chic peas on the baking sheet, spread them out well and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes , shaking them around every 10 minutes or so. While the chic peas are roasting put the Italian seasoning and oil in a small bowl and mix well. After 20-25 minutes take the chic peas out of the oven, grab the parchment paper on either side and make a funnel to transfer the chic peas to the bowl of oil and seasoning. Mix well to coat and return to the baking sheet and the oven for another 20-25 minutes until the chick peas are golden brown and crunchy.

Italian Bean Soup

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If you’re like most everyone these days your stuck in your house looking for something interesting to do and thinking about what  you’re going to eat. This is one of my favorites.  It’s a pantry staple, one pot meal that’s hearty and satisfying. I probably make this twice a month all winter long because I always have the ingredients on hand and it’s fast and easy.

All you do is brown up some Italian sausage and start opening cans. 20 minutes later you have dinner. I was watching Rachel Ray one morning several years ago and she was making one of her famous “Stoups”. You know, not quite a stew but hearty enough to be a full meal. Well in her version she used pasta and made this a pasta fagioli. Now anyone who knows me knows I’m not a huge pasta fan, too carb heavy, but what she had going on looked really good and quick and easy. So, I decided to make my own version minus the pasta and with extra beans and veggies. Turns out Rachel was on to something and this has been part of my meal rotation ever since.

This recipe calls for 1/2 pound of Italian sausage. Trust me, that is really all you need, just enough to give it the flavor your looking for. Don’t use a whole pound, it’s just overwhelming if you do. I always buy a pound in bulk, use half and put the other half in the freezer for next time. If you can’t find bulk sausage then links work perfectly fine, you just need 2 and simply cut them out of the casing and brown like you would hamburger.

Italian Bean Soup is as healthy as it is versatile. I ran it through my fitness pal just to get an idea on the calorie count and to my surprise it came in at just under 375 calories per serving. Pair it with a crusty piece of garlic bread and you’ve got dinner for under 500 calories. Let’s face it you can’t beat that.

When it come to versatile well, you can add and substitute tons of different things to change it up. It just depends on what you have in the pantry and your specific taste.  Spinach or kale make a lovely addition to this if you happen to have it on hand. You can also change up the beans, so if you don’t have garbanzo beans just use two can of kidney or cannellini or even pinto beans for that matter. If you’re cooking for a crowd and want to stretch this add some pasta and make it a true Pasta Fagioli.

Oh Yea, one other great thing about this recipe, It freezes beautifully. So make up a big batch and put some in the freezer for later. You’ll be glad you did.

 

Stay Healthy my friends!

 

Italian Bean Soup

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine Italian
Servings 6 Servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 lb Italian Sausage
  • 1/2 medium Onion Chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 2 Carrots Diced
  • 2 stalks Celery Diced
  • 2 cloves Garlic minced (1t garlic powder)
  • 1/2 Bell Pepper (Any Color) Minced (optional)
  • 1 14.5 oz Can Chicken Broth
  • 1 14.5 oz Can Diced Tomatoes
  • 1 14.5 oz Can Garbanzo Beans
  • 1 14.5 oz Can Kedney Beans
  • 1 14.5 oz Can Cannellini Beans
  • 1/2 cup Red Wine
  • 1 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tsp Fennel Seed
  • 1 tsp Dried Basii
  • 1 tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Optional

Instructions
 

  • Brown sausage in large dutch oven or soup pot. When brown add onion, celery, carrot, garlic and kosher salt and sauté until vegetables start to soften. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, wine and spices and scrape up any brown pieces off the bttom of the pan. Add beans, liquid and all to the pot. (Your making soup so you will need the liquid) Simmer for 15-20 minutes and serve with freshly grated paresan cheese and garlic bread.

Notes

I have added chopped Kale and Spinach when I add the beans and it is a great addition
 

Stuffed Pork Chops

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I’m looking out the window at the snow this morning, AGAIN. Seems we’ve had a lot of it lately and there’s more on the way. It makes me yearn for summer and the grill. After eating all kinds of fattening comfort food the last month or so I was looking for something lighter, yet warm and filling.

Stuffed pork chops seemed the way to go. I have made these several times and I usually grill them but there is no reason you can’t do these in the oven, after all there’s snow on the ground, who wants to fire up the grill today.

These pork chops are stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan, Mozzarella, and panko bread crumbs which gives them a nice Italian flare. Pair them with balsamic glazed brussel sprouts and my orange and fennel salad (see my post from 2/06/2019) and you have the perfect light dinner.

When I make these I look for a chop that’s at least 1″ thick, any thinner than that and it’s almost impossible to cut the pocket and get the stuffing in. So in this case the thicker the better. I usually use a boneless loin chop but a rib chop works just as well if that’s what you prefer.

This is a simple and easy dish to put together that’s perfect for guests or “Date Night”. You can do all the prep in the morning or the night before and keep them in the fridge, then when you get home all you have to do is pop them in the oven and bake or throw them on the grill.

Stuffed Pork Chops are a great diversion from the ordinary heavy comfort food that we tend to eat this time of year and I think you will find them a great addition to you rotation.

Stuffed Pork Chops

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 People

Ingredients
  

  • 4 1" thick Pork Chops
  • 1 1/2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese Grated
  • 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese Grated
  • 1/4 cup Sun-dried Tomatoes Chopped
  • 1/4 cup Pine Nuts
  • 2 cloves Garlic Minced
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Pepper
  • 1 tsp Dried Basil
  • 1 tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions
 

  • Using a paring knife cut a deep pocket in the pork chops and set aside. In a small bowl mix together the panko bread crumbs, cheese, sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic, and spices. Mix well, I usually use my hands for this as a spoon just doesn't do it. When well mixed add the olive oil to moisten and mix again.
    Divide the stuffing mixture in 4 parts and stuff each of the chops. Season the chops with salt and pepper or your favorite grill seasoning and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until the internal temp reaches 160 degrees. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
    You can cook these on the grill if you want to, they really are even better that way. Just use your meat thermometer and cook until they reach 160 degrees turning half way through the cooking process.

Quick Cassoulet

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Our friends the “Millers” came up to St Louis last week for their annual “Christmas Shopping Trip.” It’s always good to see them as we have been friends since almost the beginning of time. I was trying to come up with something unusual to fix for them and thought of this one. I’ve made it several times over the years and it’s always a crowd pleaser.

A traditional Cassoulet is a time consuming prospect that can take the better part of a day to complete, not something you pull off on the spur of the moment. Several years ago I was watching Cat Neville on PBS and at the end of her show she prepared this Quick Cassoulet. It looked so good I had to try it. A cassoulet that can be ready in a couple of hours, sounded to good to be true but I gave it a shot and fixed up a batch. I pulled up her recipe online and made it just the way she did. It was really good, but I found that it had way to much liquid for my liking and decided to cut back on that and substitute sun dried tomatoes for the can of diced tomatoes. I also substituted fennel bulb for the celery and added some extra herbs and spices.

I have to give a shout out to Jacques Pepin for the next change I made to this recipe. I was watching him one day as he was braising some chicken thighs. He began to pull the skin off the thighs because as we all know when you braise chicken the skin gets rubbery and yucky. Anyway, he said to take the skin and lay it out on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven and let it get nice and crispy, then crumble it up like you would bacon and put it on a salad. I know, it’s a blinding flash of the obvious, but one I that had not occurred to me before. This recipe calls for a layer of panko bread crumbs scattered on top for the last 30 minutes of cooking time so I took the crumbled up chicken skin and added it to the bread crumbs for some extra flavor and crunch and instead of using butter to coat them so they would brown I used that lovely chicken fat that was left over after cooking the skin.

I know what your thinking this recipe is a heart attack on a plate they way I make it, but I only do once a year or so and you have to be able to live a little once in a while or life is no fun.

Jerry was happy to dig into it with a good bottle of RED and at the end of the evening there was nothing left on his plate but a thigh bone.

I think he liked it.

This is a wonderfully hearty meal that is just perfect for a cold winters night. It’s stick to your ribs good.

Quick Cassoulet

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Course Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 lb Bacon
  • 4 Sausages
  • 4 Bone in/skin on Chicken Thighs
  • 3 cans Cannellini Beans drained
  • 1 small Onion chopped
  • 1 large Carrot diced
  • 1/2 large Fennel Bulb diced
  • 1/2 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes chopped
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Sage (1t dried) chopped
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Rosemary (1t dried) chopped
  • 5 cloves Garlic minced
  • 1 cup Dry White Wine
  • 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley Diced
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Instructions
 

  • Cut the bacon into 1/4" strips and brown it up in the bottom of a dutch oven. When brown and crispy remove from the pot and set aside. Brown the sausages in the bacon fat that is left in the pot. When brown remove from the pot and set aside. Pull the skin off the chicken breasts and stretch it out on a cookie sheet. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and put it in there for about 15-20 minutes until it becomes brown and crispy. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown in the remaining bacon fat in the dutch oven. When brown take it out and set it aside. Chop up your onion, carrot and fennel and brown in the bacon fat in the bottom of the dutch oven. When it starts to get soft add the minced garlic and let it cook for a minutes or two. Drain the liquid off the beans and add to the pot with the diced bacon, sun dried tomatoes, wine, chicken broth, sage and rosemary. Give it a good stir to mix well and and nestle the sausages and chicken thighs on top. Cover and place in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. Depending on your pot you may need to add a bit more chicken broth during the cooking process, just check on it every once in a while while it's cooking.
    Take the cooked chicken skin off the cookie sheet and chop it up and add it to the panko bread crumbs, then take the chicken fat that is on the cookie sheet and add it to the mixture. Give it a good stir to coat the bread crumbs.
    After 1 1/2 hours pull the pot out of the oven and sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Return to the oven uncovered for 30 minutes so that the bread crumbs can brown up.
    Serve with a crisp salad and crunchy french bread.
    Note: if you can't find fennel substitute celery.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

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They say necessity is the Mother of Invention and I believe they may be right. Tony Tomato came by to see me last week, I needed tomatoes. I broke down and bought some at the store the other day, cut into one and immediately threw it in the trash. It was white inside and full of all that tough woody stuff, just disgusting. Not what I’m used to getting from Tony.

Tony’s Family Farms supplies the local restaurants here in St. Louis with Fresh tomatoes and they are the absolute best. To find out where you can find his wonderful fresh vegetables click on the link below and check out his website for a list of the restaurants he sells to. You’ll be glad you did.

http://www.tonytomato.xyz

We we were having friends for dinner on Saturday and since I now have an abundance of fresh herbs in my garden I decided to make my Stuffed Tomatoes, better known as “Tomates Farcies”, see my post from March 4th. These are just wonderful and I knew my guests would love them. As always Tony was happy to oblige with wonderful fresh tomatoes from his gardens.

Just one problem, I was doubling up the recipe and some how or another I made way too much stuffing for the tomatoes I had. Looking at all that left over goodness I thought, Meatballs. I could use up my left overs and make Spaghetti and Meatballs.

This is a bit of a different twist on ordinary Meatballs as these are made with Pork instead of Beef. They’re loaded with fresh herbs, onion, mushrooms, garlic and cheese and oh so good. Once you make meatballs with pork I don’t think you will ever go back to using ground beef, I know I won’t.

Not only that, but when you make your sauce with fresh tomatoes there is just nothing better. If only I were Italian, I would have made my Nonna proud.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 2 People

Ingredients
  

Meatballs

  • 1 lb Ground Pork
  • 1/4 cup Mushrooms Chopped
  • 1/2 medium Onion Finely diced
  • 1/2 medium Shallot Finely diced
  • 2 tbsp Chopped Parsley
  • 2 tbsp Chopped Basil
  • 1 tbsp Chopped Rosemary
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Thyme Leaves
  • 1 small clove Garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup Heavy Cream Or Half & Half
  • 2 tbsp Panko Bread Crumbs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup Shredded Swiss Cheese

Sauce

  • 2 cans 14.5 oz Tomato Sauce
  • 2 Tomatoes, Peeled and Chopped
  • 1/2 Onion Diced
  • 3 med cloves Garlic Minced
  • 1 cup Red Wine
  • 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
  • 1/8 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
  • 1 tbsp Chopped Oregano
  • 2 tbsp Chopped Basil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
 

Meatballs

  • Heat up olive oil and saute the onion, shallot and mushrooms until they are tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic at the end and saute for a minute or so to combine the flavors
    before you take it off the heat. Transfer to a plate and let them cool. In a medium bowl combine the bread crumbs and cream and let them sit for a few minutes so the bread crumbs absorb the cream. To this add the ground pork, onion mushroom mixture, fresh herbs, salt, egg and cheese and mix well.
    Roll into 1 1/2" balls and place on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. You don't need to cook them all the way through just enough for them to not break up when you put them in the sauce.

Sauce

  • The best way to peel fresh tomatoes is to get a pot of water on to boil, drop the tomatoes in the boiling water for about 1 minutes, remove and place in a ice bath to stop the cooking. Lift them out and you will be able to easily remove the peel. Core the tomatoes and chop and set aside. In a skillet with deep sides, add a bit of olive oil and saute your onion until it gets soft, about 8 minutes, then add the garlic and let it blend with the onion for about a minute. Add the tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, wine, brown sugar, oregano and crushed red pepper. Simmer on a med low heat stirring occasionally. When you take the meatballs out of the oven add them to the sauce and continue to simmer for another hour until everything is cooked through and the flavors have combined. 5 minutes before serving add your fresh basil.

Putting it all together

  • Cook up about 8oz of Spaghetti when done drain and add to the sauce, stir well to coat the pasta and serve with a sprinkle of fresh Parmesan.

Notes

If you don’t have access to fresh herbs you can use dry, the ratio to convert fresh herbs to dry is 3/1, so if the recipe calls for 2 tbsp fresh you would use 2 tsp dry.
If you don’t have access to fresh tomatoes you can use canned, use one 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes instead of the fresh ones and it will turn out just fine.

Zucchini & Corn Salad

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Doesn’t this picture just scream SUMMER!

I ran across this recipe several years ago and I just loved it. Of Course I changed it up to suit my taste; don’t I do that with most everything, but it is just perfect for a summer cookout or pot luck.

When my friend “Tony Tomato” came by last week he gave me some zucchini and I knew immediately what I was going to do with it, Zucchini & Corn Salad. It’s fresh and light and crunchy and herby and delicious. Not only that, but it goes with just about anything, from a steak to chicken to seafood.

So, when my friend Ernie came over to teach me how to make Fried Green Tomatoes this week I decided this was the perfect dish to serve with them and a juicy pork chop. It was a great dinner.

Having made this recipe dozens of times I’ve learned a few tricks. First of all you want to slice the zucchini very, very thin. My mandolin just won’t get it thin enough. I’ve sliced it in rounds by hand but that takes way too much effort and the slices still tend to be too thick. So, I finally invested $7 in a good vegetable peeler and found that it works perfect. You will have some waste this way because when you get to the middle of the zucchini the seeds get mushy and it doesn’t want to slice, so when I reach that point I simply turn it over and do the other side until I can’t get any more off of it and throw the rest away. The seedy part is not that great anyway. The other thing to keep in mind is that when you add the salt the zucchini bleeds, The salt draws the moisture out of the zucchini and you end up with a lot of water in your salad. So don’t salt it. Add the salt to the dressing and dress it at the last minute so that it’s flavorful but doesn’t have time to get runny. One last thing about this salad is tossing it. The zucchini ribbons tend to stick together and it’s almost impossible to get it evenly incorporated using a spoon. The best way to do this is to wash your hands and dig in there separating the zucchini ribbons as you go so that everything blends together evenly.

Zucchini & Corn Salad

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Servings 8 People

Ingredients
  

  • 2-3 Medium Zucchini
  • 2 cups Frozen Corn
  • 1 Orange or Red Bell Pepper
  • 2 Green Onions
  • 1/4 cup Chopped Italian Parsley
  • 1/4 Cup Chopped Basil
  • 1 cup Crumbled Feta Cheese
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes

Instructions
 

  • Slice your zucchini as thin as you can get it lengthwise, I use a vegetable peeler. Thinly slice the bell pepper and green onion. Add to a large bowl with the corn, parsley, basil feta and red pepper flakes. Get your hands in there and toss, separating the zucchini strips with your hands as you go. They tend to stick together. Mix the olive oil, vinegar and salt together in a small bowl. Just before serving add the dressing and toss again. You can make this ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until your ready to serve, just wait to add the dressing until right before serving.

Risotto with Morrells

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My friend “Tony Tomato” came by to see me yesterday. He pulled his van into my drive and opened up the doors to more wonderful stuff than you can imagine. Micro Greens, Cucumbers, Squash, Beets, Lettuces, Mushrooms and of course Tomatoes! Just look at all this wonderful goodness. I’m in heaven, this is going to be a fun weekend with lots of good cooking going on.

If you want to make sure you get the finest produce available when you go out to eat check out Tony’s website for the restaurants he sells to. I promise you wont be disappointed in the quality. https://tonysfamilyfarms.com/available-this-week/.

I couldn’t wait to do something with those gorgeous Morrells, so I decided a quick Risotto with Morrells would be the perfect dinner. One thing I have realized about Risotto is that the leftovers are not that great. The starches in the rice get gummy when it sits over night in the fridge and it doesn’t reheat well, so I try to make just enough for two so we don’t have any leftovers. This can be a trick sometimes but I think I have finally nailed it. The ratio for Risotto is 3/1, 3 parts liquid to one part rice. 1 cup of rice is simply too much for two people and 1/2 cup is not enough, so this time I did 3/4 cup rice with 2 1/4 cups liquid and it was the perfect amount for two.

A lot of people think Risotto is difficult. There is a misnomer out there that you have to stand over it and constantly stir it for the twenty minutes or so that it takes to cook, but nothing could be further from the truth. Now, don’t get me wrong you do have to watch it and you do have to stir it, but I made the bread and salad to go with mine and cleaned up my mess while the rice was cooking. Temperature matters on this one as well, you don’t want it to boil, just keep it at a nice simmer. If you cook it too fast the liquid will evaporate before the rice is cooked through and you don’t want that. You also want to keep the broth just warm. I keep it on the lowest setting and it works perfectly every time.

So the next time you’re looking for a quick and wonderful dinner think Risotto with Morrels or any other mushroom you can lay your hands on. It’s a wonderful dinner that is perfect for any night of the week and special enough for date night.

Risotto with Morrells

Marie Cook
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian, Japanese
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup Aborio Rice
  • 2 1/4 cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 boneless Chicken Breast
  • 1/2 medium Onion Chopped
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • 1 pint Morrell Mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 1/2 cup White Wine

Instructions
 

  • Get your chicken broth on the stove and let it start to heat up. I use Jameson's soup base to make mine but canned will work as well. Quarter your Morrells, put them in a bowl and cover with water. You have to really clean these mushrooms so let them soak for about 10 miuntes, then take them out of the water and drain on a paper towl. Cut up your chicken breast into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper, dice the onion, and mince the garlic. Get you skillet hot and add a bit of olive oil, then the chicken pieces. Brown the chicken then add the onion and mushrooms and let them cook for about eight minutes, then add the garlic and the rice to the skillet. Let the rice cook without liquid for about 2 minutes then add the wine. Turn the heat down to medium and add the broth two ladles full at a time, stir gently and just let it simer until almost all of the liquid has been absored by the rice, then add two more ladles of the brothand stir. Contnue to do this until you have used all of the liquid. When the final ladle of liquid is almost completly absorbed add the the parmesan cheese and stir to incorporate. Serve with garlic bread and a nice salad.