Mt. Olympus Lamb Chops

My sister Michele sent me some fabulous salts and seasonings. When I opened the package I was so excited to find these very special seasonings.
One of the seasonings she sent is Mt. Olympus Greek Style Seasoning.  Michele loves lamb, and she swore that this seasoning would transform a chop into something fabulous!

Here's what I did to make the lamb chops.

2 tablespoons of Mt. Olympus Greek Style Seasoning
3-4 cloves crushed garlic
3-4 tablespoons of fine minced onion
1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
1/2 cup of olive oil
Juice from 3 lemons
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together and then let the lamb chops sit in the marinade. It will be more like a paste.  Let them rest in the mixture for at least an hour, and then flip them over and let them rest for another 1/2 hour or so. I like to let my meat stand at room temperature before cooking.
Put the lamb chops on a baking sheet and place them in a 425 degree preheated oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes turn the chops over and bake another 10 minutes. These chops were a good 1 1/2 inch thick. My family likes them medium to medium rare. If you prefer them to be cooked at a different temperature, just keep them in the oven a few more minutes.
Take them out of the oven and let them rest for a few minutes. (This rarely ever happens in my house. )
Place the lamb chops on a platter and serve with some fresh sliced lemon.
I served these with some fresh spinach and a rutabaga and leek puree.  Very yummy!

Enjoy!
Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Baked Skirt Steaks

If you love steak you probably love skirt steak.  There's just something about the cut of this meat with all the fat running through it that gives it the most delicious flavor. Did I forget to say how tender this cut of meat can be if prepared well?
I just had a manicure today so I didn't want to cook the steak under the broiler. We all know that cleaning that pan is the biggest pain in the butt! So tonight I baked the Skirt Steak. Trust me, it works...and the end result is a delicious steak that you and your family will love.
I marinated the steaks in a teriyaki style sauce. When rushed and don't have time to make my own I will reach for Yoshida's Special Sauce. It is an amazing soy based sauce that can adjust to any recipe. To the sauce I added 4 - 5 crushed cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of rosemary, and 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds. Mix it all together.
 I know some of you are thinking that you don't want the rosemary in this...that it's a weird combination, but you have to believe! Keep the faith!
In a baking pan I placed the skirt steaks so that they were in a single layer and then sliced a large onion and tossed it on top of the steak. Then I poured the marinade over the steak and onions.

Let the steak stand at room temperature in the marinade for one hour.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Flip the steaks over in the pan and then cover it with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes covered. Uncover and then bake for another 10 minutes.
Your steak should be a beautiful medium rare. It will be tender and absolutely delicious! I promise!
Enjoy!

Buon Appetitio
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Pork Chops and No Applesauce

Hello friends, it has been awhile since I last posted. Since leaving for Vegas life has been full. Some days I feel as if there aren't enough hours in the day.  I have been cooking, making meals for the family, and then while eating realize that I didn't take any pictures to show you what's been cooking.
Last night I did remember to take a few pictures.
The butcher had some lovely center cut pork chops and I asked him to cut them 1 1/2 " thick for me. I was debating on whether to stuff them or make them with some peppers and onions. I know my husband loves pork with peppers and onions. For that matter so do I. Throw in some artichoke hearts and make a reduction sauce with balsamic vinegar and you're all set to go.

Start by heating up your pan and then adding olive oil and a little butter just to coat the bottom. After seasoning the pork chops on each side with salt and pepper I browned the chops on each side.
After the chops had a nice sear I removed them from the pan and added the onions, peppers and some chopped garlic. I sautéed these until they had some nice color. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, getting all the good stuff on the bottom.  I added Balsamic Vinegar and tossed in a can of artichoke hearts and put everything into a baking pan and then into the oven to finish it off. I also added some hot cherry peppers. I love the heat!

This is very easy to make and it's also a real crowd pleaser.

I have some lovely pictures to share with you from my trip to Vegas. I'll try to get them up and on the blog within a few days.

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Stuffed Pork Chops

I am stuffing everything at the moment and having such a great time doing it. I don't know what it is about eating something that has been stuffed, it's so fulfilling!  Pardon the pun! Anytime I see something stuffed offered on a menu I know I'm usually in for a hearty meal.
There are so many different stuffings you can make depending on what you like to eat.  If you've been following me for a while you know that my family loves sausage. Let's get stuffing!
I started off with a rack of pork. Looks great, doesn't it? I cut the rack into individual chops.

In a pan I cooked the sausage, taken out of the casing with some garlic. After the sausage was cooked thoroughly it was pulsed in the food processor about 5 times.
I let the sausage cool and then added a pound of fresh chopped baby spinach leaves, and a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese. If you would like more cheese, go ahead and add it. I have big hands! LOL!

I added the stuffing to each of the chops and then seasoned the pork chops with salt and pepper.

I made an egg wash by beating a whole egg in a dish. I dipped the pork chops into the egg and then lightly dragged them through the flour, giving them a light dusting on each side. These went into a large frying pan that had a few tablespoons of olive oil and butter in it.  On high heat I seared each side of the pork chop to give it a lovely color.

After searing on both sides they went onto a parchment lined cookie sheet to finish in the oven.

They were baked in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15- 20 minutes on each side, for a total of 30 - 40 minutes. Don't over cook.
They were finished with a demi glaze porcini and mushroom sauce, and served! You can find my recipe for the sauce here.  Enjoy!  We did!

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Calamari Ripieni

Sometimes I just surprise myself while cooking! Really! During the hurricane warnings I decided to marathon cook. While looking in my freezer I decided to cook up what would defrost quickly if we lost power.  I grabbed 5 pounds of calamari and a few packages of extra large jumbo shrimp. What to do, what to do....I had just finished jarring 60 quarts of tomatoes...so the ideas kept coming.
I started off by making a tomato sauce with onions, garlic, fresh herbs and some olive oil. While that was simmering I started thinking about the calamari and decided to cook half of it in the sauce and have that over pasta, and the other half I would use to stuff the calamari. YUM!
OMG! These came out so good. I made a stuffing using the tentacles from the calamari, celery, onion, garlic, capers, parsley pesto, breadcrumbs, and lemon juice. I sauteed all the ingredients in a little olive oil and it looked a little something like this!

I didn't add alot of breadcrumbs, just a small handful! I seasoned with salt and pepper and started to stuff the tubes of the squid.

When stuffing the tubes of the calamari, don't overstuff. Only stuff half way. If you over stuff, they will burst open while cooking. Keep stuffing until all the tubes are stuffed. If you would like close them with a tooth pick at the opening.
I started cooking an onion in some olive oil.  And when the pan was nice and hot I added all the calamari tubes to the pan. I got a nice sear on each side.

Now it's time to make the sauce!  I just added a little bit of the fresh tomato sauce and let the calamari simmer for a few minutes. It doesn't take very long for the calamari to cook. You just want them to be tender.  These were absolutely delicious!  My family felt like Christmas Eve after this dinner!

Let me know if you make these. And as always if you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them. Leave a comment. Make my day! MWAH!

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Veal Chops

I love Veal Chops. I will sometimes make them caprese style, but wanted something a little different. I sent my husband out for mushrooms and he came home with some beautiful Porcini mushrooms. I wanted to make these on the grill, but we were having some very funky weather in New York, severe lightening and thunder storms with heavy rain. I was not going to stand out in the rain with an umbrella!
These were very simply prepared, seasoned with salt, pepper and rosemary. They were seared in a very hot pan with an equal amount of olive oil and butter. 3 minutes on each side gave the chop a beautiful color! I finished them in a 375 degree preheated oven, until they reached an internal temperature of 150. I let them rest for a few minutes after taking them out of the oven (this helps the meat stay nice and juicy) and served them with a champagne, mushroom and onion sauce. (Could this be a demi glaze?) Delicious! Recipe for my sauce is below!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Buon Appetito!
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Sauce
4 Tablespoons of butter (unsalted)
2 Tablespoons of flour
veal stock, 1 cup or more
red wine, 1/2 cup
salt, 1 teaspoon
pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
rosemary, a fresh sprig, leaves removed from stem
1 medium onion sliced thin
1/2 cup porcini mushrooms
1 tsp orange zest* optional

Start your sauce by melting the butter and mixing in the flour until you have a little bit of a paste.
In a separate pan saute onions in a little bit of butter until they are golden.
 Add the veal stock to the butter and flour mixture and mix with a wire whisk.  Add the onions and now add the sliced porcini mushrooms.
Add the wine and season with salt, pepper and rosemary. At this time I added the orange zest. Let the sauce reduce, over a low flame.  If it is too thick add more stock. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning to your liking. You should not taste the alcohol from the wine, it should have cooked off.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Pulled Pork

I'm  really not into the wet and goopy BBQ sauces. I am more of a marinate it, and dry rub kind of a gal.
We're a mixed family in that regard, my guys love the sauce! I try to make this so the pork has the taste of the BBQ sauce without being loaded on. If they want more sauce, it's always on the table and they can spoon it all over their own dishes.
Awhile ago I stumbled on a marinade Mojo Criollo made by Goya, I bought it in a pinch and since the initial use of this mojo sauce I have fallen in love. I've used it on chicken, pork chops, and a pork butt to make the pulled pork that I am about to share with you.

Pulled Pork
For this you will need
a pork butt  6 - 8 pounds
soy sauce
sesame seeds
scallions/ green onions
Mojo Criollo
Luzianne Cajun Seasoning

Marinated the boneless pork butt with one 24 oz bottle of Mojo Criollo and let it sit for at least 24 hours. After letting the pork marinade I like to use some kind of a rub.  While in California I found Luzianne Cajun Seasoning . It's great. I really love the flavors. Generously rub the seasoning all over the pork. I then made a mixture of soy sauce, chopped scallions and sesame seeds and poured that all over the pork.
Now it's time to cook it. You'll need some time, this cooks at a low temperature for a long time. I just start the oven off with a high heat and then turn it down!
Put the pork in a 450 degree oven  for 15 minutes and then turn down the heat to 300 degrees and let the pork cook slowly for 5 - 8 hours.  And that's all it takes.
When it comes out of the oven it should have this fabulous crust on the outside and the meat will be juicy and tender on the inside. Let the meat cool down, this is usually where I burn the tips of my fingers being impatient not waiting for a cooling period because I can't wait to rip it apart and start pulling on the pork to taste it!

I think was was an 8 pound piece of pork.   The picture below is what it looks like "pulled"

We like to make these into a burrito, pancake kind of a meal. Almost like a Peking Duck but with pork!
This is served on a flour tortilla with some sliced green onions, cucumbers, lettuce and avocado.

Lay the flour tortilla in your dish and start layering what you want in your "pancake"

Start with some meat and some gravy, then add the vegetables that you desire.

Then roll it up.

I served this with a piece of Pork Belly and some extra avocado and veggies on the dish with just a touch of some very hot chili sauce. Delicious! Definitely worth the prep and baking time.
I hope you enjoy!

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

Let me tell you right now, this dish is a winner! There's a little story attached to how I got the recipe for this amazing burger.
While in the city taking Asian Techniques classes at the I.C.E. ,  I became friendly with a woman in the class. Her name is Gail.  I have the tendency to talk to people all around me, where ever I am, and I make friends! I have some friends who often scold me for this, like the time we were in Tennessee and the woman I invited to have drinks with us was CRAZY, but that in itself is another story for me to share with you another day! LOL!
Gail and I decided to meet early the last day of class. I had heard about a foodie event that was happening in the city, a one day event to meet Richard Blais, the Top Chef winner, who was doing a pop up restaurant cooking pork dishes for Pork Be Inspired .  We had an absolute blast waiting on line, tasting bacon ice cream, talking to people, people watching...we saw Carson what's his name from Queer Eye, all while waiting to meet Chef Richard, who happens to have the same birthday as me! Anyway, Gail tells me that another foodie friend is in town, and she wanted me to meet him because of our common interest in everything culinary, he was also a contestant on Season One of the MasterChef show! Here comes Scott Fischer, bigger than life with more personality than I could have ever imagined.  We had a blast, going all over NYC, uptown, downtown and all around, all while sharing his experience with me and Mike Z, who had also tried out for Season 2 of MasterChef. Unlike him, we didn't make it to the show...we were cut, but that is another story for another day. However in between sipping dirty Martini's,  Scott did share a recipe with me and I have his permission to share it with you!!  I've probably changed things up just a little bit...you kind of get a little fuzzy after 3 Martini's!
Enjoy!

Buffalo Style Chicken Burgers
1 pound white meat ground chicken
1 pound dark meat ground chicken
2 ribs of celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and grated
Hot Sauce (I used Moore's Buffalo Wing Sauce)
Cheddar Cheese
Chipotle Ranch dressing (Marie's makes a nice one)
salt and pepper

***I added blue cheese
and upped the heat by using some  Cabot Habanero Cheddar Cheese

In a bowl combine the white meat and dark meat ground chicken. I don't know why you have to use both, but I can attest that it was very juicy, and tasty.

Add to the meat the 2 ribs of celery, which you have chopped, and the 2 carrots which you have grated.

Mix it all together and add some salt and pepper. Now here's where I got a little fuzzy, I don't know if I was supposed to add hot sauce to the mixture, so I didn't.  But I did think that it would be amazing to add some of the cheddar cheese into the meat so I went ahead and did that. I would have also added some of the blue cheese, but my darling daughter, Zoe, doesn't like blue cheese, so I kept that to the end. The mixture was a little soft, so I refrigerated it for 15 minutes and then I made patties. I got 7 really nice size burgers from the 2 pounds of meat. You could definitely get 8 out of it.

 In a hot frying pan, which I sprayed with some non stick spray I added a few tablespoons of the hot sauce into the frying pan and cooked the "burger" in the hot sauce. I added hot sauce to the top of the burger before flipping it.

When they were cooked through, it took at least 15 minutes to cook, 7 - 8 minutes per side on med/high heat, I put them on a kaiser roll, added crumbled blue cheese, more Cabot Habanero Cheddar, lettuce and tomato, with a dollop of the Chipotle Ranch Dressing.

They were fabulous! If your husband, boyfriend, wife, girlfriend, fiance, son or daugher or whom ever you're cooking for love Buffalo style chicken wings they are going to love these burgers! I served them up with some home fries, corn on the cob and some slaw! Grill these up for the Memorial Day Weekend. Your guests will love these,  and it's something different from the usual burger. You'll get some great feedback. I did the night I made them for my family! :)
Thanks, Scott!

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Chicken Soup and Chimichurri Sauce

If it's Monday in my house it means that we are having soup for dinner.  You can turn a very simple Chicken Soup into something very different by serving it up with a sauce on the side. Tonight that sauce is a Chimichurri Sauce.
When ever I make Chicken soup I use a whole chicken in the pot, covered with water and seasoned with salt and pepper and a bay leaf. I add celery, onion and carrots to the pot and let the chicken gently simmer until the chicken is done.  From this simple stock you can go in many directions just by adding some additional ingredients. Add some ginger, garlic, green onions and some sherry and you have the wonderful beginning of a broth for Wonton Soup. Add some egg yolks and lemon juice and you're absolutely going to love the flavors that develop into an Avgolemono Soup. Feel like something Mexican? Try adding some cilantro, chopped green peppers and scallions to your stock and you're on your way to making a delicious Chicken Tortilla soup. You'll be amazed at all the delicious stocks that you can make.

The stock is delicious, and my family loves the stock with the vegetables cut up and cooked with a small shaped pasta, such as Ditalini.  The problem I have is getting anyone to eat the plain, boiled chicken. It's funny how history repeats itself. When my mother would make boiled chicken we wouldn't eat it either, until she made this fabulous sauce to accompany the boiled chicken. We didn't know that we were eating Chimichurri Sauce. She just called it a Green Sauce or Salsa Verde!  There are so many sauces that my mom used to make that we now know have culinary names.  I'll be sharing some of these sauces as I go along and who knows, I may even learn the proper culinary names for the sauces, instead of calling them brown sauce and green sauce! Are you along for the crawl?

Chimichurri
One bunch of fresh parsley chopped fine
3 - 4 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped fine
a pinch of oregano
a pinch of salt and pepper
a pinch of red pepper flakes
3 - 4 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Chop everything and mix it all together in a bowl adding olive oil.

I took the chicken off the bone, the dark meat went into the soup pot and the white meat was arranged on a platter and topped with the Chimichurri Sauce.

and for those who love Balsamic....
drizzled with some glaze

What can be better than a nourishing cup of soup with a delicious chicken chimichurri?

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo

Lorraine

Veal Bolognese

This is one of John's favorite dishes. John is my oldest son. He's not home right now, he's on location with work and will be missing this meal. That's why I'm making a whole bunch of it, reserving what's not getting tossed with the pasta tonight, (before adding the cream) and I'll freeze it. I'll make him a nice bowl of Rigatoni when he gets home next week.

This is made with ground veal, it really is an amazing treat. The veal has such a delicate flavor that marries so well with the other ingredients, a carrot trinity. (Onions, carrots and garlic)

If you don't want to use veal,  use beef and or pork , they also work very well in a Bolognese Sauce.

 To make this Bolognese Sauce you will need the following:

1 pound of ground veal

3 carrots, grated

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 quart fresh tomato sauce or

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

rosemary, a pinch

porcini mushrooms*, 3 tablespoons

some people like to add celery to this dish, I don't, but you can!

In a sauce pan heat up a few teaspoons of olive oil and brown your meat.

Add the chopped onions, grated carrots, and chopped garlic to the meat.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 Add the quart of tomato sauce, and with a wooden spoon stir until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Add additional seasoning and the porcini mushrooms*

Simmer for 2 - 3 hours until the sauce turns a nice rich color.

At this time, if you would like, add some milk or cream to make the sauce "pink"

Serve the sauce over a thick cut pasta such as a Tagliatelle, or a Rigatoni.

*porcini mushrooms can be purchased dried. Reconstitute them in water, or some white wine. You can add the liquid from the mushrooms to the meat sauce but make sure you strain the liquid. Porcini mushrooms can be gritty.

Serve the pasta with some grated parmesan cheese, or the cheese of your choice, and enjoy!

Buon Appetito!

xoxoxo

Lorraine

Chicken Piccata

I love Chicken Piccata!
The term Piccata simply means "sharp" referring to the capers and lemons used to make this simple, and  delicious dish.  Originally this dish was made with veal,  but with the price of veal cutlets, this dish is made on a regular basis in my house with chicken. Hey, almost everyone loves chicken cutlets!
Some people use flour in this dish. I choose not to. I get a nice sear on the chicken without using any flour. Just let your pan get hot and leave them alone so they get color!

Let's get going.
For this dish you will need
8 - 10 chicken cutlets (boneless chicken breasts)
2- 4 Tablespoons of sweet unsalted butter
2 - 4 Tablespoons of olive oil
white wine (sorry I never measure this one!)
 fresh parsley, chopped  - a few tablespoons
2 - 3 Tablespoons capers or more to your taste
2 Lemons, juice and the zest from one
salt and pepper to taste
 2 - 3 anchovy fillets*

Heat up your frying pan. Get it nice and hot. While it is heating up, season your boneless chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

Add the oil to your pan and start to cook your chicken on a medium/high heat. Try to get a nice sear on the chicken. I think 4 minutes on each side will do it. Try not to crowd the chicken in the pan, they will get a nicer color if you don't crowd them.  My picture is a good example of crowding! I rushed it...we were hungry! lol

When all the chicken is cooked on both sides, remove the chicken from the pan, leaving any juices from the chicken in the pan and add your butter, and the anchovy fillets at this time. (The anchovy's are totally optional...I just love the extra zing they give to this dish)  I used a fork to mash the anchovy fillets.

Add your chicken breasts back to the pan and add your wine, lemon juice and zest,  parsley and capers. Let the chicken cook in the liquids for a few minutes until the alcohol burns off from the wine. You will see that the sauce starts to thicken a little.

I like to serve this dish with rice and a vegetable. Tonight that vegetable is zucchini!
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Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine