My Meat Sauce

My grandfather use to be very secretative when it came to his sauce, actually when it came to his food in general. Now my meat sauce isn’t really his recipe exactly but it’s close. What’s the key? Pork. Its amazing what pork can do to a red sauce.  The below is not a typical meat sauce nor is it a bolognese (no carrots or celery).

Ingredients

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 cup of red wine

2 pork braccioles (thin pork cutlets wrapped up with parsley, cheese, and prosciutto)

2 minced shallots

1 minced garlic clove

6 links of plain sausage meat (remove casing)

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

3 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

In a pressure cooker saute shallots and garalic in olive oil until translucent. Cook sausage meat in with onions and shallots. When sausage meat is browned, add tomato paste and stir.  Then add the mushrooms, crushed tomatoes, red wine, and braccioles.

Now set your pressure cooker on low and cook for the appropriate times on your pressure cooker (mine is about 15-20 minutes). Let your pressure cooker cool and when it is ready, remove the lid. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for an additional 30 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Tomato Tarts

There is nothing simpler than a tomato tart in the summer.  If you grow tomatoes and never know what to do with your leftovers, this is a great way to use them.

4 lbs of tomatoes

4 tbs of Dijon Mustard

2/3 cup of shredded swiss cheese

1 ts. garlic powder

1/4 cup of finely chopped herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme)

1 pie crust (make your own or buy a Pillsbury pre-made)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

- Bake crust for 10 minutes, remove, and let cool

- While pie crust is cooling, slice tomatoes into slices and drain excess juice in a collander

- After crust is cool, then spread the mustard on the bottom. Evenly sprinkle the cheese top of mustard and then arrange the tomato slices in one layer (like dominos)

- Sprinkle garlic powder and herbs ontop of tomatoes and bake for 15-20 minutes

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Roasted pork tenderloins are a bit tricky – they can easily dry out in the oven if you leave them in too long. I usually try to counteract this by browning the pork on the stovetop and then roasting it covered in foil. You should defintely make this – even if its just 2 of you – the leftovers can be used for salads, sandwiches, and even breakfast.

1 lb. pork tenderloin

2 tbs of garlic powder

2 tbs of paprika

1 tbs of ground cumin

1 ts. of sea salt

1 bunch of sage

4 tbs of white wine vinegar

1/2 cup of water

 

For Meat:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

- Combine all spices (except sage) and roll tenderloin in spice mix.

- Brown the meat in a frying pan on each side for approx. 4 minutes each

- Remove meat from the pan and place in baking dish with water and vinegar. Place most of the sage underneath the pork (this will make a delicious broth for gravy) and place 3 springs of sage ontop of the meat. Wrap the dish in foil.

- Bake for 60-75 minutes (depending on the typical ‘hotness’ of your oven).

For Gravy:

- Warm 1 tbs of butter in the pan you used to brown the meat

- Add 1 tbs of Wondra to the butter and mix until melted.

- Slowly add the drippings from the baking dish into the mixture and cook under medium heat until thick

- After gravy is thickened, wring out the sage that rested on the bottom of the pork into the gravy. The juices from the sage should be a dark green and will add wonderful flavor.

 

Braised Beef Short Ribs

This is a perfect dish when its cold outside…it smells great and it warms the house for 4 hours!

8 beef shortribs
2 tomatoes
1 large yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 large carrots
1 1/2 cups of red wine
1 cup of beef broth
1 cup of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Chop the tomatoes, onions, carrots, and garlic into large pieces (if you make them too small they will disintegrate into the sauce). Place in a large baking dish.

Brown the meat in a pan with a touch of olive oil, transfer to the baking dish and pour wine/broth over the meat. Cover with foil and place in the oven for 4 hours.

Chicken Wing Burger

This is great – its a take on chicken wings which are super delicious but FATTY!

Patties:
1.5 lb of ground chicken
3 tbs of garlic powder
3 tbs of minced onions
2 ts. of Old Bay seasoning

Sauce:
1/2 cup of Red Hot sauce
2 tbs of butter

Topping:
1/2 cup of chopped scallions
1/2 cup of blue cheese crumbles

Saute onions with a touch of olive oil until translucent. Let cool. Mix patty ingredients together and lightly form patties. Spray with a non-stick cooking spray (like Pam) and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Simmer Red Hot sauce and butter together until combined and set aside.

Preheat Oven to Broiler, put 2 tbs. of chicken wing sauce ontop of patties and broil for 3 minutes or until slightly brown. Place ontop of wheat buns and top with cheese and scallions.

Mustard Glaze Duck Breast

Duck doesn’t have to be expensive anymore. Grocery stores such as ‘Stop N Shop’ are now carrying separate breasts and legs that cost about $3-4 each. If you are cooking for two, this a wonderfully cheap meal that should be in your dinner cycle. I use a mustard glaze for the duck because I love the way mustard pairs with the duck meat. However, you could use an apricot/orange glaze, a chinese five spice rub, etc. Anything you like.

Ingredients:

2 duck breasts

1 lemon

1 onion, sliced

1/3 cup of dijon mustard

3 tbs of white wine vinegar

2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

1 tbs of garlic powder

Salt and Pepper

 

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees

Score the skin-side of the duck with a knife in a lattice pattern, being sure not to cut through to the flesh. Season each breast with salt and pepper on both sides. Sear duck breasts in a skillet, fat side down,  for 10-15 minutes on high – in order to get a nice dark crust and reduce the fat. While the duck is searing, mix mustard, vinegar, oil olive, and garlic powder together to create glaze.

Remove duck breasts from skillet and reserve the rendered fat for later recipes. Grease a casserole dish with a little bit of olive oill and cut 1 lemon and 1 onion into slices. Place onion slices in pool in the middle of the casserole and season with salt and pepper, then top with lemon slices. Brush the tops of the duck breast with the mustard glaze and place ontop of the lemon slices. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes for medium duck.

Warm Roasted Garlic Hummus

Hummus is one of those delish dishes thats good for any occasion. Its great as a snack when you’re watching a movie, perfect for a party when you don’t want to serve a fatty dip, and great on a sandwich for a healthy lunch. Unforunately, there is a lot of mediocre hummus out there being sold to unsuspecting customers across America. Don’t settle for mediocre when you can make it yourself at home in less than 15 minutes.

This recipe serves it warm (since thats my favorite) but you can serve it chilled or room temperature – just omit the oven/topping part.

Hummus Base

1 roasted head of garlic 

1 16oz. can of chickpeas, drain MOST of liquid but save at least 3 tbs.

1 ts. kosher salt

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Topping

3 tbs butter

1 cup of sliced button mushrooms

1 ts. Kirmizi Biber – turkish red pepper (or cayenne is you can’t find) 

1 minced shallot

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place garlic in oven safe pan and drizzle with olive oil. Roast garlic in oven for 20 minutes. After cooled peel the cloves from the head and set aside. Leave oven on.
 
Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process the chickpeas and the garlic together. Add the rest of the hummus base ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste for seasoning.

Change oven temperature to 400 degrees.

 Place in oven safe shallow casserole dish (earthenware maybe?). Heat butter in a skillet and add mushrooms, cayenne, and the minced shallot. Cook until soft. Pour over hummus base and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with wedges of flatbread.

Ultimate Roast Chicken Recipe

This is truly the Ultimate Roast Chicken recipe. The chicken itself is stuffed with an entire head of roasted garlic, herbes de provence, and butter.  This makes the chicken incredibly moist and creates an amazing gravy afterwards.

Ingredients

3-4 lb. chicken

1 head of garlic

2 tbs olive oil

5 tbs butter

3 tbs herbes de provence

1 onion

3 carrots

2 cups of sliced button mushrooms

fresh thyme/sage

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-Roast 1 head of garlic ahead of time in the oven for 20 mins. After roasted, blend in food processor (or blender or something) garlic, olive oil, butter, sea salt, and herbes de provence.

-Chop up onion, carrots, button mushrooms and add fresh thyme and sage. Coat veggies/herbs lightly with olive oil and lay them in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

-Spread herb/butter/garlic mix under the skin of the chicken on a little on top of the chicken (just to moisten it up).

-Roast for 20 mins in the oven per pound (1.5 hrs for 4 lb chicken)