Saturday, September 12, 2009

Marinaded Grilled Chicken, Roast Corn & Cole Slaw



Cole Slaw
** All measurements and seasoning's are approx.
1 head of cabbage shredded - Green or Purple or mixed.
1 carrot shredded
½ onion sliced thin
½ of a ¼ cup (is that an 1/8th?) of bread & butter pickle juice
½ of a ¼ cup (is that an 1/8th?) of red wine vinegar
½ of a ¼ cup (is that an 1/8th?) of extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Use a food processor to shred your cabbage or slice it thinly by hand. Same with carrot. Add onion.
Mix together in large bowl.
In small bowl combine pickle juice, vinegar, evoo, mustard, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Wish till combined.
Pour over cabbage and mix thoroughly.
Let sit at least 1/2 hour before serving.
Marinated Grilled Chicken
** All measurements and seasoning’s are approx
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
¼ cup Bread & Butter pickle juice
¼ cup White Wine
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
Season chicken breasts w/ salt & pepper. In large zip lock bag combine pickle juice, white wine and garlic. Mix. Add chicken breasts to bag and massage the marinate into the chicken making sure everything is coated. Seal the bag making sure to get all the air out. Put on plate to avoid any spilling and place in the fridge for ½ to 1 hour, turning every so often.
Shake off any excess marinade and place chicken on grill. Don’t move chicken. Leave on grill about 3-4 minutes, then lift up chicken. If it doesn’t stick to the grill then turn it ¼ turn on the grill to get the criss cross grill marks. Leave on grill about a minute or so. Flip chicken and repeat. Depending on thickness of chicken, time may vary. I like to then put them in a sealed container to continue w/ the carry over cooking in case it’s not fully cooked through while it rests but also retaining it’s moisture.

Roasted Corn on the Cob
4 ears of corn
Butter
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
White Wine
You can wrap each ear of corn individually in aluminum foil or do 2 per package. Rub corn w/ butter. You don’t want to coat it, just get the butter on there for flavor. Sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder on corn and drizzle EVOO over corn. Roll the corn around to coat it with everything. Just before you fully close the corn in the foil, splash it with a bit of white wine. Seal corn firmly.
Place corn in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or so. Corn can be eaten raw so this is just a matter of cooking it till you want. You can raise the temp of the oven to 400 and cook for 45 minutes if you’d like.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Grilled Steak Bruschetta


This is a very versatile recipe as you can change up many of the ingredients/measurements.

1 loaf Italian or French Baguette
5 cloves garlic – 1 whole, 4 minced
1 bunch basil – thinly sliced
½ red onion finely diced
½ cup Crimini mushrooms – chopped
2 cups fresh (or canned) chopped tomatoes
Mozzarella cheese
4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
4 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
Grilled steak – thinly sliced


In medium bowl combine minced garlic, ¾ of the basil, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, EVOO, Balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper. Stir to incorporate ingredients and set aside to marinate.

Slide Mozzarella cheese. Slice bread on angle to give a larger service area. Drizzle bread with EVOO. Grill bread until golden brown. Rub remaining whole garlic clove on grilled bread, grating the garlic into the bread.

Layer bread with steak. Spoon tomato mixture over steak. Place slice of cheese (cut to fit bread) on top. Bake in 500 degree oven until cheese is melted and bubbling and browned on top. Sprinkle lightly with salt and add remaining sliced basil as garnish.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Turkey & Italian Pork Sausage Lasagna w/ Mozzarella, Provolone, Asiago, Romano, Parmasean & Ricotta Cheese. Home made sauce and parmasean garlic bread



Ingredients:

Sauce:
2 Carrots
2 Celery Stalks
1 Peppers (red or green)
½ Large Onion
2 Zucchini
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 tsp. Thyme
1 Bunch Basil
2 cans crushed tomatoes or 2 jars of your favorite sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Salt
Pepper
2 tbs. Sugar

Meat:
1 package or tube of Italian Pork Sausage
1 package of Ground Turkey (ground Beef is optional)
4 Cloves of Garlic – Finely chopped
½ Onion – Finely diced
1 Cup Mushrooms - Sliced
1 Bunch Basil
Salt
Pepper
2 Pats Butter

1 box uncooked lasagna
16 oz. Ricotta Cheese
Parmesan Cheese – Shredded/Grated
Mozzarella Cheese - Shredded
Asiago Cheese - Shredded
Provolone Cheese - Shredded
Romano Cheese - Shredded
* Easier to buy multi shredded cheeses and mix together in large bowl. They usually come in 8 oz packages.
Butter
1 Egg
2 Tbs. Sugar
Salt
Pepper

In a food processor put carrots, celery, peppers, onion, zucchini, garlic, thyme. Pulse until grinded into a pulp. In the bottom of a large sauce pan on high, coat the bottom of the pan with EVOO. Add mixture from food processor. Constantly stirring. Season with salt and pepper. After about 2 minutes reduce heat to medium high and stir occasionally. Looking for mixture to cook about 10-15 minutes total and start to break down. Once broken down add tomato sauce and 2 table spoons of sugar. Add more salt and pepper to season. You need to season every layer. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 30-45 minutes. Add a handful of basil chopped or un-chopped to the sauce and stir in until wilted. Set sauce aside.

In a large heated (on high) skillet add 1 teaspoon of EVOO and 2 pats of butter. Add in onion and mushrooms. Sautee until mushrooms and onions start to caramelize. Add in garlic. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add in Italian Pork Sausage and Ground Turkey. Keep breaking up the meat and stirring. Salt and Pepper to taste. Brown meat and stir in ½ bunch of finely chopped basil at the end. Drain oil from meat. Set meat aside.
In medium bowl stir in Ricotta Cheese, 1 egg (beat egg separately), 2 tbs. sugar and salt and pepper. Combine well and set aside.

After boiling a box of lasagna noodles in salted water (box may say to cook 13-15 minutes but undercook to about 10-12 minutes because they will continue to cook in oven), drain noodles and lay on flat surface. Pat dry if needed.

Butter the bottom and sides of a large casserole dish. Spoon some of the sauce and lightly coat the bottom of the dish. Layer the noodles slightly overlapping on the bottom of the dish. Spread a layer of the Ricotta Cheese then a layer of the meat then a layer of sauce then sprinkle the cheese. Repeat layers until top of casserole dish end w/ noodles. Sprinkle a generous layer of cheese on top of noodles. Drop pats of butter (about ¼ of a pat of butter each time) across the top of the lasagna.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes – 1 hour at 375 degrees until top is golden brown and bubbling.

Split a large loaf of Italian Bread or French Baguette in half or cut off individual large slices. Drizzle with EVOO. Toast in oven until golden brown. Brush bread with 1 clove of fresh garlic. The garlic’s oils will grate into the toasted bread. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese. Pop back in oven for about 2 minutes to let the cheese melt into bread.

Depending on the size of the casserole dishes this will probably make 2 family size lasagna’s which is a perfect way to make dinner and at the same time have a whole other lasagna to pop in the freezer for another night w/o having to double up on the work.