Bolognese meat sauce--ragu
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter plus 1 tbsp for tossing the pasta
1 cup onion
2/3 rds cup celery
2/3 rds cup carrot
2 cloves garlic
1 lbs ground round
1 cup sweet loose sweet sausage
1 cup whole milk
Whole nutmeg (grated)
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups Italian whole plum tomatoes chopped with their juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ lbs pasta
Freshly grated reggiano parmigiano cheese
Chopped parsley
Instructions:
Place onion, celery, carrot and garlic in food processor. Give a coarse chop and place in oil and butter and sweat until it has become translucent. Add salt and pepper. Add the beef and cooked sausage. You can cook the sausage the day before and drain on paper towel. Stir the meat until the beef has lost its red color. Add milk and gently simmer. Add about ½ teaspoon of nutmeg and add wine. Add tomatoes. Turn down heat to a simmer and cook up to 3 hours but at least 1 and ½ hours.
Make your fresh or dried pasta, drain; add the remaining butter, Bolognese sauce, parmegiano cheese and chopped parsley.
Enjoy
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Roasted lamb with pesto
Ingredients:
4 to 6 lbs boneless leg of lamb (butterfly)
1-teaspoon rosemary
1-cup fresh mint
1/3 rd cup pine nuts
2 large garlic cloves
1-teaspoon coarse ground pepper
1 ½ cups red wine
1 ½ cups chicken broth
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp soft butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Instructions:
Combine rosemary, mint, breadcrumbs, pine nuts, butter and oil, garlic, salt and pepper in food processor. Use several on and off motions.
Place lamb, fat side down. Spread pesto over meat. Roll lamb from short end and tie with kitchen string. Be sure lamb is at room temperature before roasting begins.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees, roast for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and continue roasting for 50 minutes. Meat thermometer should read medium rare at 150 for medium rare. Place on serving platter and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Add wine and broth to roasting pan, reduce slowly to 2 cups of liquid and serve after degreasing with sliced lamb.
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Lamb shanks
Ingredients:
Baked in oven or cooked in Dutch oven on top of stove
4 lamb shanks
½ cup carrot-chopped
1 large onion-chopped
4 garlic cloves
½ cup celery-chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Rub lamb with garlic. Make a slit in each shank, insert garlic cloves, and then season with salt and pepper. Brown in hot oil and butter on all sides in dutch oven. Remove from pot and set aside. Sweat onions, oregano, carrot and celery in pot. Return lamb to pot. Pour wine around the meat. Bake at 350 for 2 hours. Baste after ½ hour. This is delicious made the day before you serve it. You can also freeze it. It is served with rice or risotto.
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Sautéed broccoli either Italian rabe or traditional broccoli
Ingredients:
2 bunches broccoli
Salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 tbsp. Chopped parsley
Instructions:
Steam or boil the broccoli. Add salt, drain and cover with ice water if you make this ahead. Otherwise sweat the garlic in the oil and turn up heat to medium, add broccoli, salt and chopped parsley. Heat for about 4 minutes and serve on warm platter. Prepare Swiss chard and spinach in this same fashion. Delicious and fresh!
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Italian ricotta Easter pie
Ingredients:
1 recipe of pasta frolla sweet Italian pastry dough
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt 8 tbsp cold butter (1 stick)
2 large eggs
For the hulled mwhite wheat kernels for ricotta filling, you will need ½ cup white kernels or arborio rice or barley. Salt
For ricotta filling
1 lb whole milk ricotta cheese
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla exract
1 teaspoon orange flour water
¼ cup candied orange or lemon peel
Cinnamon to sprinkle over ricotta filling
Instructions:
Soak wheat kernels in a covered bowl or pot in ¾ inches of water over night. Then in a saucepan put wheat and salt with 6 cups of water and cook until tender (about 2 hours) .add water if the wheat appears to be drying out. Drain when wheat is cooked and refrigerate until ready to make the ricotta filling.
Mix ricotta and sugar, stir in eggs one at a time, stir in orange zest, vanilla, orange flower water and candied orange. Put in 9-inch pie shell and top with cinnamon.
Make pie dough in food processor: place flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in food processor. Add cold butter & pulse several times, add eggs and pulse to form a ball.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. You can make this several days ahead. Make two balls, one for the bottom, one for the lattice strips on the top. Roll out the dough on floured surface. Bake in 350 degree oven for 35 to 45 minutes.
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Francesca’s Favorite Salmon - - So Easy!
Ingredients:
2 Lbs of very fresh salmon filets
1 large garlic clove
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme
2 tablespoons fresh butter
Instructions:
Slice six pieces of salmon and place in a large glass or porcelain shallow dish. Rub the garlic clove on both sides of each piece of fish. Wisk the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, honey, olive oil and thyme in a measuring cup. Also mince the garlic clove and add this to your mixture. Pour this marinade over the salmon and turn salmon in the marinade. Leave the fish in the marinade for no longer than 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Set oven to 425 degrees and place fish in a buttered baking pan. Pour marinade over fish and dot fish with butter. Bake for about 10 minutes and then turn on broiler and broil for about 5 minutes. Serve with fresh broccoli, brown rice, couscous or quinona, plus a green salad.
This is a very healthy, delicious menu that is so easy and quick to prepare. Enjoy!
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Francesca’s Yummy Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
I love these cookies. This is my very own version of the popular and healthy oatmeal cookie:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons good quality vanilla
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups old fashioned oatmeal (not instant)
¾ cups chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup dried cranberries or golden raisins
Instructions:
Mix butter & sugar, add egg and mix thoroughly. Add vanilla. Gradually add the remaining dry ingredient with dried fruit into the batter with the buttermilk. If you do not have buttermilk make it yourself with 1/3 cup milk and a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar.
Drop teaspoons of the cookie batter on very lightly greased cookie sheets. Set cookie sheets in preheated 400-degree oven for about 7 minutes.
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Francesca’s Crock Pot Pea Soup
Ingredients:
3 fresh, peeled raw carrots
1 large stalk celery
1 small peeled Idaho potato
1 large sweet onion
1 large clove garlic
salt, black and cayenne pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh or dried thyme
2 cups chopped baked ham, or two ham hocks
Instructions:
8 to 10 cups half water and half chicken broth. Or you can also use a couple of cups of skim milk to make the soup even more nutricious. But you will want to check the thickness of the soup at the end of the cooking time and add liquid of your choice. I either make my own chicken broth or use one of the new box varieties such as Kitchen Basics.
1 large bag of green dried peas , either Publix, Goya, etc.
Place carrots, celery, potato, onion and garlic in food processor and process very fine.
Place these ingredients in bottom of crock pot, add ham, peas ( look at them and wash them thoroughly with warm water). Add the liquid and stir. I cook on low for about 8 hours. I serve the soup over toasted wheat baguettes that I can’t serve unless I serve with a soup or sauce. This is a nice way to use up day or two old bread. This soup freezes well and is very good.
Serve soup with a lovely green salad and this will make for a hearty wonderful weeknight meal.
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CHICKEN MARSALA
Ingredients:
4 whole chicken breast (fillets)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (homemade or a good quality brand)
1/2 cup or 1 stick clarified butter (like Emeril’s in the box)
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups of sliced button and Shitake mushroom
1 cup sifted flour for dredging
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 shallots diced
1/2 cup Italian parsely chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
Salt, pepper and cayenne to taste
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg is optional
Instructions:
Dredge each side of the chicken breasts in flour. They should be ¼ “ thick. You may pound them gently between two pieces of waxed paper or parchment paper. Use bottom of a pan if you have no meat pounder.)
Brown the chicken in ¼ oil to ¾ butter. You can tell when to turn the chicken when you see it “bleed” or puff up. It takes about a minute and ½ depending on the thickness of the meat.)
When all the meat is browned and cooked, take it out of the pan and start your sauce.)
Deglaze the fry pan with the lemon and ¼ cup of the chicken broth. All the brown pieces are loaded with flavor. )
Add most of the mushrooms and a teaspoon or two of the butter and oil and make sure you spread out the mushrooms so that they brown nicely.
Add the rest of the mushrooms after placing the first batch of sautéed mushrooms in a dish off your range.
Saute the remaining mushrooms and set aside with the other mushrooms. )
To make your sauce, add the wine rest of chicken broth, butter and seasonings. You can always add more wine to taste, chicken broth and/or butter. Taste the sauce for seasoning and return the chicken and mushrooms gently to the pan.)
Serve nice and hot with Orso and sprinkles of Italian parsely. Enjoy!
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I SUGGEST A NICE GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLE WITH THE CHICKEN MARSALA
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BROCCOLI RABE
Ingredients:
Take 3 heads of Broccoli Rabe – trim the stems and wash thoroughly
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Coarse sea salt and ground black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
Reggiano Parmegiano cheese wedge
Instructions:
Steam the broccoli in water until al dente (cooked on the hard size).
Remove from pan and place in a bowl of ice water. This method will keep the broccoli or any green vegetable nice and green.
Refrigerate the vegetable until ready to sauté it in the olive oil, adding minced garlic ,nutmeg, etc.
Serve topped with some Reggiano Parmegiano grated cheese
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BISCUIT TORTONI
Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup diced candied red cherries
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons brandy or cognac
1/2 cup crushed macaroon cookies
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup toasted, chopped almonds
Instructions:
Try to dry out the macaroons before using them so buy them a couple of days before making this delicious dessert. Crush them in your food processor or blender.
Beat egg yolks with sugar until smooth and thick. Stir in macaroon crumbs, almonds, cherries and brandy.
Beat room temperature egg whites until stiff; fold into egg mixture. Fold in all but l/4 cup of the whipped cream very gently.
Pour into a 6 to 8 cup jello mold or spoon into freezer trays and freeze at least 4 hours before serving.
Garnish with small dollop of cream ,perhaps a few blueberries or raspberries, and a piece of fresh mint.
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